Spring 2017

The informal Texas Overland Facebook group was launched by several Toyota off-roaders from the Austin, TX area back in 2015. Since then, the group has grown as a rather popular movement with over 2,000 members. The Devereaux brothers, Andrew and Chris, along with friend Laud Maroney, organized the 2nd annual Texas Overland Spring Round Up event, which took place in April 2017. It was held on the scenic Palo Pinto County, Texas ranch owned by Martin Spencer, who also owns CB Adventure Supply. Registrants received an email containing the GPS coordinates to the campsite on the ranch.

When you walk into the machine shop you immediately notice large state-of-the-art CNC milling machines with plexiglass doors and humming away behind them the whirring of cutting bits and splashing lubricant turning someone’s idea into reality. The neat rows of shiny chunks of aluminum parts on rolling carts nearby. The plethora of milling and cutting bits organized on racks throughout the space. That unmistaken smell of amachine shop, the raw metal it transforms and its workers shuffling about from station to station, concept to completion. Even the shop dogs have their place sleeping to the sounds of ideas being born. Here is where Factor55 machines all its parts in Nampa, Idaho.

I wanted to upgrade the electrical on my 2006 4Runner since I was going to be adding some electronic upgrades that I knew would really tax the factory electrical system. I started with the heart of the system:  the alternator. I ran some quick calculations to see what kind of power I would need to supply and size my wire accordingly. After doing some research and contacting a few companies, I decided on Mike Singer of Singer Alternators. His website is rather barren and he prefers it that way. He runs a smaller shop and he prefers customers contact him via the form on his website so he can address their individual needs properly.

On a map, the southeastern portion of New Mexico seems almost featureless. With large National Forest lands spanning the western and northern portions of the Land of Enchantment, why bother with what appears to be wasteland in the southeast? In early March, we set out to blaze a trail across this possible scenic area on as many unpaved roads as possible. Our Tuesday through Friday route took us through smaller National Forests, BLM land, and ended in the Guadalupe Mountains. We were blessed with great weather on our 520 mile journey.