The Nomadic Life

[ides1056]

Just use whatever Toyota calls for. Not Amsoil synthetic. Buy the fluid from your dealer.

[AngryScientist]

Couple points:

-Amsoil has always been slimy with their advertising. If you listen to their sales copy they "exceed" every spec in the world, but have submitted their oils to very few testing houses to actually be tested. They claim their engineers independently verify that they would meet the specs. That doesnt fly IMO.

-All OEMs will have a spec for their various fluids, and it's fine, and sometimes advantageous to use aftermarket fluids as long as they actually meet the spec. BMW/VW guys see this as somewhat of a religion. I was deep in the weeds on this years ago.

-You MUST select the proper differential fluid based on what the oem calls for and what kind of diff you have. You dont want a fluid with friction modifiers additive in a clutch type locking diff, for example, or you will have major problems.

-I think 90k for a truck that tows often is too many miles between changes. Based on a quick search this is what Toyota seems to recommend. Be curious to hear what you see when you drain the fluid and what's on the magnetic drain plug, if it has one....

Inspect your rear diff every 15,000 miles or 18 months. If severe, replace the oil every 15,000 miles or 18 months.

[Too Tall]

Yikes.

[AngryScientist]

Yikes.

Yea, based on my experience I would say 15k intervals would be way too conservative, and toyota engineering is probably a little "tighter" than the American steel I'm used to working on so you're probably fine, but I wouldnt wait too much longer :)

[Too Tall]

Yea, based on my experience I would say 15k intervals would be way too conservative, and toyota engineering is probably a little "tighter" than the American steel I'm used to working on so you're probably fine, but I wouldnt wait too much longer :)

This helps as well: https://www.tundras.com/threads/tund...nce-guide.315/

[ides1056]

The service intervals on my Kubota tractors are expensively frequent but I follow their guidelines. Better safe than sorry.

[Too Tall]

The service intervals on my Kubota tractors are expensively frequent but I follow their guidelines. Better safe than sorry.

As if this thread drift hasn't gone far enough I'll cannonball this sucker.

I got to run a Kubota backhoe for a couple weeks this summer. Maaaan that's a fine piece of equipment.

[ides1056]

L-48 won’t take no for an answer.

[TonyP]

I drove and operated this for a number of years...
Attachment 122738
Nothing quite gets your attention like trying to make a lift and suddenly looking straight at the ground while the front end is pointed at the clouds.

[Too Tall]

I drove and operated this for a number of years...
Attachment 122738
Nothing quite gets your attention like trying to make a lift and suddenly looking straight at the ground while the front end is pointed at the clouds.

People like you need to learn to boom down a bit more gently ;) The worst day of my life was driving something similar one of these. Basically a truck with a drill rig...driver in front, operator/sadist in back. I still have a headache;)

[TonyP]

People like you need to learn to boom down a bit more gently ;) The worst day of my life was driving one of these:

Boom down had nothing to do with it. When the guy giving the signals says line up, it's line up, gotta trust him, even if the load feels too heavy.

I eventually bid off that job, a job I really enjoyed that could be a mite dangerous, because they made a man the foreman who had no experience doing that kind of work, couldn't find his ass with two hands and wouldn't take advice, or even listen to it, from anyone.

[Too Tall]

Boom down had nothing to do with it. When the guy giving the signals says line up, it's line up, gotta trust him, even if the load feels too heavy.

I eventually bid off that job, a job I really enjoyed that could be a mite dangerous, because they made a man the foreman who had no experience doing that kind of work, couldn't find his ass with two hands and wouldn't take advice, or even listen to it, from anyone.

LOL I get it. My "initiation", you may enjoy, at the mine was telling me to walk out and grease the boom point on our large Marion Dragline. The guys were howling.

[bigbill]

I drove around 5 hours yesterday to reach Catalina State Park just north of Tucson. Having the truck only squat an inch made a huge difference in handling. We traveled down in a group with me and my google maps on point. My wife pulled the big horse trailer with Syndicate and Valentino, and another friend had his horse trailer with two mares. I'll do a trail ride tomorrow (on a horse), but I brought a road bike and my gravel bike with slicks. Later this morning, I'm heading to Saguaro NP on the east side to ride the paved loop.

Photos, the two closest horses are ours. The dark thoroughbred is Tino, and the red is Syd. Tina is a former racehorse that had adapted well to eventing but is still a handful during dressage. Syd is a lifetime horse after being purchased off a kill lot for $400 about five years ago. My wife is showing both horses plus one of the mares in a Working Equitation event on Sunday. Syd usually wins his class; Tino is still a handful but gets better all the time.

Campsites are accessible here, either back-in or pull-through, with no length limit. Water and power (30/50) with a dump station on the way out. I backed in (F250, 33" bumper pull) with no issues and room for another vehicle in front of the truck. The guy across the way has a similar trailer but pulled it with a half-ton that was dragging ass; not sure how they got through the dips.

[ides1056]

I postponed going to pick up the T4 until the weather that is turning California into a mosh pit moves through and my son returns to college. The seller is amenable, which is nice. A fireperson who puts a premium on safety. I take the forecast seriously. Riding out the last storm in Bolinas was fun, but things started to fly around and it looks like more of the same is on the way. Highway 1 out of Stinson was closed as was Bolinas/Fairfax. I’d have had a look/see on my bike, but I expect there’s a mess to clean up in many places along the coast.

[bigbill]

On this trip we learned about running lights under the RV. In this part of the country, pack rats will get under your trailer and chew up the wiring. If you string lights, such as LED rope lights, under your RV, it keeps pack rats away. I think this mostly applies to people spending weeks at a time, but I got some lights anyway. About half of the RVs in this section of Catalina SP have them. It doesn't seem to affect our dark sky viewing.

[Too Tall]

On this trip we learned about running lights under the RV. In this part of the country, pack rats will get under your trailer and chew up the wiring. If you string lights, such as LED rope lights, under your RV, it keeps pack rats away. I think this mostly applies to people spending weeks at a time, but I got some lights anyway. About half of the RVs in this section of Catalina SP have them. It doesn't seem to affect our dark sky viewing.

That explains some things. I thought folks had these for purely festive reasons. Bill, I learn things.

[PaMtbRider]

I never knew that under lights served a practical purpose. I always thought they were just another way to spend money on your trailer.

[Too Tall]

I never knew that under lights served a practical purpose. I always thought they were just another way to spend money on your trailer.

Are you talking about a pickup truck right? :)

[AngryScientist]

On this trip we learned about running lights under the RV. In this part of the country, pack rats will get under your trailer and chew up the wiring. If you string lights, such as LED rope lights, under your RV, it keeps pack rats away. I think this mostly applies to people spending weeks at a time, but I got some lights anyway. About half of the RVs in this section of Catalina SP have them. It doesn't seem to affect our dark sky viewing.

I would have thought rodents chewing on exposed wiring would be a much bigger concern during longer term storage or idle periods? What to do during those times? How much stuff is there to chew on down there?

[bigbill]

I would have thought rodents chewing on exposed wiring would be a much bigger concern during longer term storage or idle periods? What to do during those times? How much stuff is there to chew on down there?

It's mostly the snowbirds who stay for two weeks at a time. One or two nights is probably safe, but I liked the look, and a 48' string of lights was $25. I'll coil them up and put them in a compartment this morning when we pack up.