Playing in the creek
10My car is in the shop for a week so I rented a Toyota Tundra as I am interested in getting a truck when I give my daughter my car. It’s stupid big and a lot of fun. It was a beautiful this morning so I got out to play in the creek. In restrospect, I probably should have had it in 4WD as the ass-end tends to kick about a bit with all the power. Good fun!
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Faster, faster!
When I was young and foolish (as opposed to old and foolish now
), my friends and I liked to go four-wheeling on the many miles of logging roads here in the woods of the PNW. I had a surplus US military 4WD Jeep into which I had transplanted a contemporary German-made 2 liter 4-cylinder engine. Fun rig and light enough that if you got too stuck, you could usually pull it out with a block-and-tackle or hand cranked come-along. (I only ever had to walk out once! And that was because I managed to get so much mud packed into the clutch that it would no longer engage.)
One of our favorite tricks to play on newbies was what we called “Splat”. We’d find a nice open muddy spot and squirrel around, slipping and sliding. If you spotted someone stopped with their window down, you could drive toward the open window, then throw it in reverse and spin the tires, throwing mud at the victim. You could even steer the spray for maximum effect by turning the front wheels as you spun backwards!
Nice music and well-produced video but that’s pretty mild 4-wheeling. But driving through creeks is fun. I’ve had my own Jeeps for about 30 years. In Hawaii rented a Jeep got to out to many cool places, beach at Southernmost point in US, top of Mauna Kea where the observatories are, and one area in a valley where you have to drive through a river to get there.
I’ve had a Jeep for about 30 years and at one time had a vintage Willys but sold it as it was scary dangerous and needed someone more mechanically-inclined. Don’t do any real 4-wheeling now. But use a 4WD truck with camper to drive across country almost every Winter. On each trip I’m glad to have 4WD at least once or twice.
2 tips: 4WD in a truck or old Jeeps or Toyotas is real 4WD and not like AWD and in mixed conditions on pavement you probably don’t want to use it unless a special situation comes up.
On ice , 4 wheels with 4WD can slide out of control just as easily as 4 wheels with 2WD. Don’t get a false sense of security on ice.
@pmarin Heh… I wasn’t trying to sell a hardcore 4X4 video
It was just fun to get out and quite a bit better than listening to my wife repeatedly saying ‘did you empty the dishwasher?’ 
@capnjb @pmarin Well, did you?
@macromeh @pmarin Not yet. I did however, make a butter crust for all the tart cherries my wife and daughter picked. So, I think I’m off the radar for a minute.
@capnjb @macromeh @pmarin
Tart cherries?! I’m so jealous! We used to be able to buy them around here from time to time but it’s been years.
@Kyeh @macromeh @pmarin We have an orchard around here and we tend to pick way too many. We have a manual mason jar pitter, and my daughter took the job and pitted several pounds. So, I made the butter crust… may do a lattice top tomorrow. We back to woods and there have been several cherry pit spitting contests from our deck. Dad is undefeated
@capnjb @macromeh @pmarin
Oh, I’m so envious!!!
@capnjb @Kyeh @pmarin We have a (semi-dwarf) tart cherry tree (and also a weird one with grafts of 4 different sweet varieties). For whatever reason, while both trees had lots of little green cherries in May this year, they all disappeared by mid-June. And I’m pretty sure the local wildlife didn’t snatch them when green - they always wait until they are at least showing some color before raiding them.
Same thing happened with our plum tree.
Big disappointment.
@capnjb @pmarin @macromeh
Weird! My apple and plum trees didn’t even blossom this year; it’s too bad because we’ve had record rains this spring so they’d had plenty of water for a change.
@capnjb @Kyeh @macromeh Looked like I was going to have a good cherry crop on 2 trees. At least one was Washington Rainier cherries which are wonderful (lighter orange-red, not solid dark red). I’d been able to snack on some but realized I’ll need to come back with a ladder to get most of them. Knew my time was limited because the birds were eyeing them and I’d come out and see a few birds and yell ‘Hey You, go away.’
These bird bastards, not sure what type they are, apparently got the whole gang together and raided the tree a few days ago. I could tell right away because there were scattered leaves on the ground under the tree, torn off during an apparent feeding frenzy. Not a trace of any cherry left on either tree.
@capnjb @macromeh @pmarin
That’s tragic!!! I love Rainier cherries; they sell them in the stores here and they’re incredibly expensive.
@capnjb @Kyeh @pmarin Our 3 apple trees have a few developing apples but nothing like previous years. However the two pear trees + two asian pear trees are thick with (not yet ripe) fruit. And of course, the crab apple tree (which we don’t use, but the deer like) has its regular bumper crop.
Strange season this year.
@Kyeh @macromeh @pmarin I got lazy and didn’t do a lattice crust ('twas a long day). But there was pie
@capnjb @Kyeh @macromeh @pmarin Possums and squirrels are both stupid enough to eat underripe fruit, and squirrels will strip a pecan tree before a single nut is ripe. I consider both vermin as a result. Raccoons will wait until the item is ripe before stealing it. Also vermin.
@capnjb @macromeh @pmarin YUMMMM!
@capnjb @macromeh @pmarin @werehatrack I have a lot of Italian plum trees and the fruit produced varies a lot each year. One year I had very little and I was watching and waiting for it to be ripe on this one tree. It was almost there and then I woke up and found it stripped, and there was a big pile of bear poo right next to it!
I encountered that bear a few evenings later half a block from my house; it saw me and veered off into a driveway, to my relief.
@capnjb @Kyeh @pmarin @werehatrack Sounds like it was the plum stealing bear who was lucky!
It’s a rental! When I owned my '77 VW Scirocco I drove it harder off road than this.
@yakkoTDI Was temporarily working in Houston a long time ago (1985). I was taking over from another guy who was tired of being in Houston, and I was young and it was an adventure. You can drive on the beaches there, pretty much do anything except drink beer in your car before noon on Sundays (it was legal other times). On beaches west of Galveston, He did donuts in his rental car and all sorts of stuff. Got back OK and he was laughing that there was sand on the roof of the rental car when he returned it.
I was back there with my own rental car a month or so later. Some quality vehicle like a Chevy Cavalier.
Tried the same thing and got stuck in some dry sand. Had to pay some other young guys hanging out in their 4WD truck $20 to pull me out. Seems they had a fairly good racket for getting beer money.
Not going to lie. I tore up more mud in a 1990 acclaim and a 1999 Saturn. Just cause there were big puddles at the end of the corn fields I was inspecting. And I might have been a little dumb/got stuck ONE time. Not enough momentum.
But I get it. Had some fun. Nice property.
Getting a new one or a beater? It’s easier to not worry about the latter when you are doing… things… lol
@unksol Actually those Saturns were pretty good vehicles. Also one of the first to embrace being ‘towable’ behind motorhomes, while most other brands said it was bad and would void your warranty. Also very good general-purpose affordable vehicles. Was sad to see the brand go away.
@unksol Beaters are also very good when kids are learning to drive.
My kid swore she wasn’t going to drive the ghetto van - her name for it because of the peeling and faded paint and small dents- (van was only vehicle we had and was18 years old at the time, era of the peeling paint, it died at 25 years and 3 mo and had an antique car plate (Yes!!) on it when it hit 25 years old) and then she did. Because. Of course. Driving. She learned to drive with it despite claiming it was terminally embarrassing to drive something that ratty looking.
She backed into a lamp post not once but twice in an empty shopping mall parking lot when I was teaching her to back up. Dent didn’t matter. It already had a bunch of small ones and an axe hole when a student went through the faculty parking lot putting a hole in each car. I filled my hole on both sides with clear waterproof bathtub caulking and when the thing finally died no rust there.
And I had to fix the ignition kill. The shop nearly laughed me out of there. They said, “Who’d steal that thing?”. I said, “My daughter.”. They said, “Good point.”. So one Saturday morning not long after that (with not even her learner’s permit yet) she came to me and said, “Mom the ghetto van is broken.”. And I asked, “And how would you know that?”. Eyes wide, she gasped and covered her mouth with her hand. Told on herself.
Best $25 I ever spent.
Yup beaters have their place in life.
@pmarin @unksol I had a '99 SC2. Then an L200. My wife had a 2003 L300. She drove the paint off it. We were a Saturn family for a long time.
@capnjb @pmarin the Saturn’s were excellent. I prefer the S to the L but. They should have left it alone. Them trying to upscale it was not a good idea. I liked some of those cars too. But. It was hard to really call them Saturn’s. They had plenty of other brands they could have done those under
BTW on topic of 4WD and AWD, was talking to my brother-in-law about some Jeep roads (rocky mountain passes in Colorado) many years ago in my real Jeeping days in the 90s. Looked it up online to see if I remembered it right, and there are online sites now with reviews from people who try roads and comment on how it was. Was amused to see the term ‘Not Subaruable’
Fact is that Subarus seem to be awesome for a lot of conditions and you see tons of them in Colorado. They beat up the older Subarus they’ve had and they seem to get through all sorts of stuff. I was able to buy an older one I’m still playing with (needed something fixed so I can get it inspected and registered). So there is no doubt they are highly versatile.
But probably not for real serious 4WD stuff. I think there is a new version Outback with some more rugged features and more ground clearance, but serious 4WD in trucks or Jeeps is kind-of a different category, especially when I see some of the ridiculous size tires and lifts some people put on them (though usually used to drive to work or to the store).
HIKING! VIKINGS! STRIKE KING [BRAND FISHING LURES]! AWESOME!
@pmarin I think it’s ground clearance really. There was a newer package a year or two ago with an extra inch or two I think
Also one of the most versatile cars no longer around, a Toyota Tercel AWD wagon from around 1990. Had one as a rental car in Colorado, and my (future) wife and I tried as many crazy mountain passes in a week driving around the Rockies loaded up with camping gear. It was amazing how much it could get through and how it was great for carrying the camping stuff. Some roads were definitely out of the question, and there were one or two situations where I had to back out because not enough ground clearance and no geared low-range. In that way I guess it was similar to a Subaru which was just becoming popular here at the time. But Subaru ran with the concept and Toyota seemed to move on to trucks and fancy SUVs. The Tercel was the budget cheap Toyota line; that made the old AWD Tercel wagon a surprisingly cool vehicle at the time.
@pmarin I worked a summer job in '66 or '67 with a guy named Tercel. Had never heard it before. Or since, other than on the car. I guess his mother was ahead of her time. Wonder where Toyota ran into him at?
@phendrick @pmarin
@Kyeh @pmarin Never figured it for a dictionary word, except as a car.
@Kyeh @phendrick That is cool. Never knew what the Tercel name came from.
Anyway thinking about that Torcel 4WD wagon, this is what they looked like. I think they could bring that back now as a budget 4WD (really more like AWD) wagon and it would be a success.
/image 1989 Toyota Tercel 4WD wagon
@Kyeh @phendrick Looking at the picture /image pulled up that thing is retro as S$#t and I love it. Thinking back I can’t remember it might have actually had geared 2WD/4WD transfer case which would make it more of a real off-road-capable vehicle. But don’t think it had low-range. Can’t remember if it was 5-speed shift or automatic. I think 5-speed shift, back then that was still common in lower-priced rental cars, and automatics sucked at the time.
I want one of those now. The one in the random internet image is rockin’ by the way, don’t remember it being that cool, but the roof rack and so-totally-retro stripes. Amazing.
@Kyeh @phendrick @pmarin The contemporary version is the AWD Toyota Corolla Cross
@Kyeh @phendrick @pmarin It’s kind of like a poor man’s DeLorean time machine. It goes back 15 minutes at a time and you only have to get it up to 35MPH.
@capnjb @phendrick @pmarin That could actually be useful - kind of like:
https://shirt.woot.com/offers/introducing-control-z
@phendrick @pmarin I didn’t know about the Tercel name either; I just got curious and looked it up.
@Kyeh @macromeh @phendrick Didn’t know about that Corolla Cross – strange! Almost looks like every other compact semi-SUV out there these days (which is about 60% of everything out there it seems). Except for those weird fender bumps especially the front flared fender. Just weird, but in its defense, distinctive.
/image dog jowls
@pmarin Oh my gosh I had one of those (a 1983)!!! I first was in one in Germany when worked there and the outdoor program I worked for had one. The one I got failed the PA inspection due to body rust (so likely if I had ever been in a car accident all that would have been left is a little pile of rust dust on the highway LOL) so my cousin gave it to me (it was already a family hand-me-down). I flew there and then had to drive it about 500 miles home. I LOVED that thing. The push the shift to turn 2 wheel drive into 4 wheel drive got me through the streets of IL that were loaded with snow and not yet plowed, gas mileage was great, plenty of room for junk. When I moved to OK I sold it because the A/C was out (was out when I got it), too expensive to fix and I figured I’d get more for it in IL than in OK due to the A/C situation. I sold it for exactly what I had in it including all costs to get it and maintain it. Great car!!! And other than gas free for the years I had it.
Update from Jalopnik I just saw today was very timely. Apparently FJ is making a return with retro styling. (well, in fairness, neo-Bronco already did that, so they can’t even say “first!”). Sorry it’s Jalopnik and it will torment you with popup ads.
https://jalopnik.com/new-toyota-land-cruiser-for-u-s-will-reportedly-get-re-1850581005?utm_source=jalopnik_newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=2023-06-27