SEAN_at_TLT

dood, it's korner uv Kali bro...aight! Sheesh!

FWIW, our Tacoma is closest to a pre runner (long travel IFS) but the specs are actually very similar to your 4Runner (4wd/4cyl/35's/5.29's/ARB/105WB/etc) except for the Marlin which we will have in there at some point. My point is just that if our pre runner can wheel pretty hard (~90% as good as yours?) then how come your truck can't jump very good (~25% as good as ours?) or go fast? Do you see what I'm getting at...

Why not build a truck to be as versatile as possible within reason???

here's some wheelin' form my corner of Kali...

slow and steady,


Fast and smooth,

sschaefer3

Dinero - $$$ - Mula - Money - American Dollars

The Total Chaos front end truly is an excellent product and is extremely well made and thought out.

The draw back is the cost. It is very high. Much more expensive than an Ultimate Marlin even with Marlin installing it and making all kids of custom levers.

You have to pick your path in this world unless you are loaded, I'm just an average guy like everyone else. I choose the crawler.

Why, because with the "Frankenstein Front End" which is very cheap. (Spacer $120, Shocks $200, Blue Boots $15.00) Assuming you have a 99 or 00 your good to go for $335. Add $120 for all other years.

I now that TC stuff is great but for 5K in parts alone, it sure better be. If I ever fine the Lost Dutchmans Gold Mine or a money tree growing in the desert, Heck I'll grab one in a New York second. But until then, I'll stick to my bargain basement front end that "just works"

So when are you ever going to attend an event? We'll all be in Moab in 2 weeks. Even Bruce with his TC.

SEAN_at_TLT

We went out the Easter Jeep Safari this spring but it was last minute and we didn't get to bring any vehicles. We will absolutely bring the Tacoma next year and maybe another vehicle as well (CJ7 or one of the 4Runner's). Jesse brought the Tacoma up to TTORA takeover in Tahoe this past July (I was in Canada at the time). We put in a new passenger side CV the day before and it failed because there wasn't time to clearance the inner flange to handle the extra droop of LT. We were flying by the seat of our pants just to get the truck up there. Other than that the Tacoma was featured at SEMA last Nov. and we were out at the Top Truck Challenge this summer, obviously not participating. That's two big wheeling events and two pretty high profile industry events this year, not bad IMO. Jesse and I run TLT and that is a heavy undertaking to say the least. We develop at least one sometimes as many as three new articles monthly between coordinating with manufacturers and installing products on project vehicles. We both also have other full-time jobs. We plan to go to more events next year, maybe even make it down to your neck of the woods but at this stage in the game (operating a relatively new company) we have a few good hard years ahead of us before we get too much flexibility. I think it is realistic to say we will make it to at least three big events next year. Probably San Felipe in March, Moab in April, and at least one other 4x4 event (Takeover?).

As far as the dinero, we are most definitely not loaded but we are dedicated to what we do and hard working much like yourself.

Keep in mind that a lot of the modifications you have made to your truck although very nice are not necessary and could easily add up to some "desert worthy" upgrades if you were so inclined. I understand though that your priority is mostly in the rocks and it only makes sense for you to modify your rig to accommodate that. Either way we are all guilty of spending too much $$$ on our trucks be it one way or the other...

sschaefer3

Hey great, I look forward to seeing you (specifically YOU and your 96 4Runner, not the Tacoma which is not yours) at the 2005 Tin Bender Jamboree in April.

Don't bring the Tacoma. There was not a single Tacoma at the entire event last year. Several 3rd Gen 4unners.

You can run Aftershock with me, Bruce and Cheese.

SEAN_at_TLT

I will definitely try to make it out there, but depending on when in April that event is it might not be possible. We already plan to make it out to Moab in April so two events that far away in the same month might be hard to swing. Possibly if the dates are close enough we can make it into one big trip, that would be really fun. Do you plan to go to Moab for the jambo or come to any CA events? What vehicles we bring to an event depends on a lot of things not just what we would like to bring, however there are few things in store for the 3rd. gen that might make it both the vehicle that we would want to bring and the best one for it. Hopefully the plans for it will stay on schedule and it will be ready by then, I wanted to come down for the Toyota event in AZ almost two years ago early March (forgot the name) but I went to San Felipe instead for the Baja 250 a week before.

All of the vehiles under the TLT banner are part of the business and therefore "ours". Anyway I really look forward to attending as many events as possible this year and I hope we can all get together and run some trails.