Rompin’ Taco - OR 4x4 Long Boi 🌮

[Romp-A-Taco]

5.29 gears installed front and rear @77k miles. Feels great paired with the 35 inch tires.

 

[bonifacio]

Body mount chop

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Did you make the plates or buy them?

 

[Romp-A-Taco]

Did you make the plates or buy them?

We made them. It was pretty easy, just made a cardboard template and cut them out of some steel sheet we had. We had to bend them a bit and once tacked into place we hammered them to shape and finalized the welds. Finished it up with painting the inside and out to prevent rust.

 

[InexperiencedWiseman]

What made you make the switch to the Dobinsons suspension? Bilsteins have any issues?
I've got the DCLB too and right now suspension is the most difficult choice other than tires

 

[bonifacio]

5.29 gears installed front and rear @77k miles. Feels great paired with the 35 inch tires.

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Did you order these assembled?

 

[Romp-A-Taco]

Did you order these assembled?

I did. Check out East Coast Gear Supply. They assemble the gears in used cores and ship them to you. When your done with the swap, you send your old ones back and they return your core fee.

I also had them install a front Eaton E-Locker. So I’m double locked now.

 

[Romp-A-Taco]

What made you make the switch to the Dobinsons suspension? Bilsteins have any issues?
I've got the DCLB too and right now suspension is the most difficult choice other than tires

So I went with the Bilstein 6112 originally because it was the best performance shock I could afford at the time. They are great and feel amazing compared to the stock suspension.

I ended up switching to Dobinsons because over time I had added a bunch of weight to the front end. (Bumper and winch) which dropped the front at least an inch. Even after adjusting the Bilsteins to the max height. I could have put a heavy # spring on them to gain more height, but I’ve been lucky enough to now be able to afford higher end suspension and decided to give Dobinsons a go. I’ve been loving them so far and the fact that you can adjust the dampening and rebound is a game changer. You can really feel the difference.

 

[bonifacio]

So I went with the Bilstein 6112 originally because it was the best performance shock I could afford at the time. They are great and feel amazing compared to the stock suspension.

I ended up switching to Dobinsons because over time I had added a bunch of weight to the front end. (Bumper and winch) which dropped the front at least an inch. Even after adjusting the Bilsteins to the max height. I could have put a heavy # spring on them to gain more height, but I’ve been lucky enough to now be able to afford higher end suspension and decided to give Dobinsons a go. I’ve been loving them so far and the fact that you can adjust the dampening and rebound is a game changer. You can really feel the difference.

When you say lost an inch. Is that from 2.5" @ max height?

 

[Romp-A-Taco]

When you say lost an inch. Is that from 2.5" @ max height?

Yes, I had the front coils set to the max height setting. After adding the weight to the front, the loss of lift height was very noticeable . I was looking into heavy springs to offset this and regain the height. Bilstein makes some for about $180. If you plan on adding weight to the front, I highly recommend going with the heavier spring to support the added weight.

 

[bonifacio]

So I need the front and rear. What did it run you and how much was the core refund?
Website is blocked from where I'm at.

 

[Romp-A-Taco]

So I need the front and rear. What did it run you and how much was the core refund?
Website is blocked from where I'm at.

The front and rear gears from ECGS came out to $5k out the door with a front locker included which was about $1.2k extra. The core deposit was close to $1.9k so at the end of the day I paid about $3k. If you do just the gears and no locker, you’ll be at about $2k or less at the end when you get your core fees back.

 

[Romp-A-Taco]

New bumper install. At the Helm Fab high clearance steel bumper.

 

[Romp-A-Taco]

Prinsu cab rack install and roof top equipment/goods rearranged. My buddy up here in Washington let me borrow his roof top tent for a recent trip.

 

[Romp-A-Taco]

Recent holiday road trip! 2,700 miles 150 off road miles 5 days of camping/overlanding friends, family, and good times!

 

[Mr_Gubbmint_Man]

Thanks for all the pictures - these really take me back to my SoCal days of ten-plus years ago. Pappy & Harriett's was a favorite destination when I lived by Joshua Tree - they still have the coin-activated player piano?

 

[Romp-A-Taco]

I had my buddy weld up some total chaos gussets for my spindles, then he painted them with Dobinsons party colors at my direction.

 

[slidoomz]

how loud are those duratracs?

 

[Romp-A-Taco]

how loud are those duratracs?

Not loud at all.

 

[Romp-A-Taco]

Trip Report: Oregon Dunes

 

[Romp-A-Taco]

Trip Report: Rattlesnake Canyon, Whitney Pocket, and Moab

 

[Romp-A-Taco]

Some updates:

I joined the iKamper family. I opted for the full size 2.0. It fits nicely on the long bed.

 

[Romp-A-Taco]

I finally upgraded my spare tire from stock to a 34” (285/75/r17) tire and located a 17” spare wheel to accompany it. I am running 35s but I was unable to get a 35” tire to fit in the stock spare location. I think I’ll be fine with the slightly smaller tire as a spare. I was able to get it to fit in the stock location with some work. Exhaust chop and hammered out the tire brackets. It clears everything barely.

 

[Romp-A-Taco]

95k tune up:

• Transmission fluid renewed - shifting is noticeably improved.
• Transfer case fluid change
• Engine coolant flushed at dealer
• Engine oil change at regular 5k interval.

Added a CBI Transmission skid

 

[Romp-A-Taco]

Trip Report: Mt. Shasta Chappie OHV to Hollister Hills ORV to Cleghorn Trail and Appla Valley for thanksgiving then back north to Walker Lake to Redmond OR BLM to home WA

 

[Romp-A-Taco]

Installed Rago Shackle Hangers. Had to reconfigure the spare tire location to the bed of the truck as it did not fit under the bed in stock location with the new hangers as they are much more beefier. See photo to show comparison of stock shackle and rago shackle installed on the truck. They provided about 1 inch rear lift. I’ll add some more photos of complete install and tire relocation later.

 

[Romp-A-Taco]

Trip Report: WBDR Section 1 Packwood to Columbia River. Very easy section, amazing views. We mad a loop from the Columbia River down to Umpqua, OR to do some camping and sand dunes. Then made our way back north and stayed at Barview Jetty Campground with beach access.

 

[Romp-A-Taco]

Sharing my cockpit.

I'm running the Taco garage dash mounts for my phone, ultra gauge, and radio mic.

I've included a few photos to share how I've set up my center console with the Rago Fabrication molle panels. I've got a passenger side phone mount down low and pouches for additional storage. This setup works great for big overland style trips with the family.