[TheDurk]

Originally Posted by theesotericone

Paging @TheDurk

OK. I'm in need of a little electrical help here. Specifically, the wiring diagram for the key ring illumination light and door ajar switches for a 97. Now the story.

Last Thursday a buddy and I ran the Rubicon. About a mile from the end of the trail there's a pretty deep rutted water filled section about 40 yards long. I hit it pretty hard to try and keep good momentum. The water was maybe mid height on the door. After about 20 yards my rig dies. Like someone turned off the key dies. I know my airbox is well clear of the water line so I'm positive it's electrical. I turn the engine over about 40 times and it sputters to life. About 2 seconds later it's idling perfect and I get out of the water.

We finish the trail then head up to Buck Lake. Maybe another 2 miles of crawling. The trucks running like a champ. Nothing seems wrong at all. I get to camp and shut off the motor. As soon as I do the key in ignition beep starts. I check the gauge cluster and none of my doors are open. I get out and open one. The door ajar light does not come on. I proceed to open and fully close all doors. Nothing changes the key in ignition alarm in still going strong. I pull the key out and it stops. I few minutes later I notice the key ring illumination light is on. It stays on for a few hours before I finally just pull the neg cable.

The next day I start up the rig and the same symptoms. I can live with the key in ignition beep but the key ring illumination light is killing me. Also, the fact that I lost the door ajar light on the cluster makes me want to find the issue. Any ideas? Or better yet, the diagram would really help.

Thanks man

One 97 EWD coming up. As stated, the integration relay is probably the first suspect.

[MattJakobs]

I'm surprised I haven't ventured in this thread before, guess some of that has to do with me not being as active on here anymore, but damn this thing has seen some shit. Jealous of some of the trip reports you've had, I need to head to a few of those but I've got a few things to prep before.

Still happy with your Savage skids? Getting new skids is next on my list and I think it's hard not to pick those.

Those RCV axles look pretty damn impressive too.

I'll have to keep a closer eye on this thread for sure.

[AssBurns]

Originally Posted by MattJakobs

Still happy with your Savage skids? Getting new skids is next on my list and I think it's hard not to pick those.

Those Savage skids are pretty impressive. After wheeling with him many times on pretty damn hard trails and they were (at least at the time) still straight. I definitely would recommend them after seeing how well they last to his abuse.

[theesotericone]

Originally Posted by MattJakobs

I'm surprised I haven't ventured in this thread before, guess some of that has to do with me not being as active on here anymore, but damn this thing has seen some shit. Jealous of some of the trip reports you've had, I need to head to a few of those but I've got a few things to prep before.

Still happy with your Savage skids? Getting new skids is next on my list and I think it's hard not to pick those.

Those RCV axles look pretty damn impressive too.

I'll have to keep a closer eye on this thread for sure.

I'd absolutely recommend the Savage skids. Mine are the older style but I'm sure the new style is equally as strong. I've abused them for almost 3 years and I've only had to take a sledge hammer to straighten them recently. They're bomber.

I actually haven't been updating the thread with any recent trips. I am spending my time on another site now that most of my wheeling buddies are also a part of. So far this year I've run a few hard trails. Isham Canyon, another "secret" trail in Ridgecrest, The Rubicon, Slickrock, Swamp Lake, Mirror Lake, Strawberry Lake, and Coyote Lake. lol

Originally Posted by AssBurns

Those Savage skids are pretty impressive. After wheeling with him many times on pretty damn hard trails and they were (at least at the time) still straight. I definitely would recommend them after seeing how well they last to his abuse.

The super secret trail finally bent them. It was an easy fix with a 12lb sledge. They still bolt up fine and haven't bent on any of the other trails I ran since. That just shows how hard that trail was. We where either both wheeling really, really well or we both got lucky. lol

This is one of my favorite photo's from that trip. To the casual observer it doesn't look like much. To me it says: "See that fixed winch anchor? Yeah, we didn't use it. In IFS rigs on a "buggy" only trail". lol

[AssBurns]

Originally Posted by theesotericone

I'd absolutely recommend the Savage skids. Mine are the older style but I'm sure the new style is equally as strong. I've abused them for almost 3 years and I've only had to take a sledge hammer to straighten them recently. They're bomber.

I actually haven't been updating the thread with any recent trips. I am spending my time on another site now that most of my wheeling buddies are also a part of. So far this year I've run a few hard trails. Isham Canyon, another "secret" trail in Ridgecrest, The Rubicon, Slickrock, Swamp Lake, Mirror Lake, Strawberry Lake, and Coyote Lake. lol





The super secret trail finally bent them. It was an easy fix with a 12lb sledge. They still bolt up fine and haven't bent on any of the other trails I ran since. That just shows how hard that trail was. We where either both wheeling really, really well or we both got lucky. lol

This is one of my favorite photo's from that trip. To the casual observer it doesn't look like much. To me it says: "See that fixed winch anchor? Yeah, we didn't use it. In IFS rigs on a "buggy" only trail". lol

Yeah that spot was steep, loose, and full of big rocks. It only got steeper as we went. Definitely the hardest trail I've done. I can't wait to get mine back together and see what else we can tackle. I think we are at the point that we can finally start taking the Hammer's trails as serious contenders for our next trail runs. (well I just created a thread for the dates of our next Hammer's trip.) Let's see what we can pull off with minimal breakage. Maybe I'll actually have RCV's by then.

[theesotericone]

Originally Posted by TheDurk

One 97 EWD coming up. As stated, the integration relay is probably the first suspect.

Thanks for that and sorry for the late reply. I finally got around to looking at it. All I did was unplug the pigtail from the integrated relay. That solved the elimination key ring issue.

Strangely enough all of my door locks still function fine. I'm not sure what that relay really does but I'm sure I'm going to leave it unplugged. The only other system I've noticed it has affected is the key in the ignition alarm.

Thanks for the help man.

[theesotericone]

OK. I've been really slacking with posting trip reports. We had 2 feet of fresh powder above 8000' yesterday and today I decided to go plow through it. I ended up doing Buttermilk Loop(7S01). I've posted about it here before and it's a fun trail in the summer. In the winter, or late fall, it's a bit more nerve wracking. Here's the goods.

[spartacus]

You mentioned before you are more active on another site. If it is not a private site then care to share, which one? Really enjoy reading your trip reports and pics.

[eimkeith]

beautiful!

[Road Bull]

Those are great pictures man! Looks awesome. Is it the snow covered off camber bits that are nerve wracking? It sure looks a lot different with snow.

[theesotericone]

Originally Posted by spartacus

You mentioned before you are more active on another site. If it is not a private site then care to share, which one? Really enjoy reading your trip reports and pics.

I don't have a build thread on the other site. There's some content of what I wheeled this summer spread out over a few trip threads. It's pretty much a site where some other guys that wheel hard hang out so it works for me to plan trips there. And the BS on the site are second to none. lol

If you have a thick skin you'll fit in just fine.

Home | IFS OFFROAD

Originally Posted by eimkeith

beautiful!

Yep and thanks. I wouldn't trade where I live for anywhere else in the US.

Originally Posted by Road Bull

Those are great pictures man! Looks awesome. Is it the snow covered off camber bits that are nerve wracking? It sure looks a lot different with snow.

There's a few nerve wracking sections and the fact I was solo and left all my tools in the garage didn't help. I was only planning on a recon run and ended up just going for it because the snow conditions where really good.

It's a 13 mile point to point trail and for about 11 miles of that I was breaking fresh track. Right after the shot of my rig in the stream there's a steep off camber uphill. It's a big way to go if you slide out near the top. That's usually the worst of this loop in winter. This trip though an easy section was pretty sketch.

The last 2 storms we got dumped about 4 feet. About 10 miles in, at 8500', is a long meadow. That meadow had wind drifts that where higher then my hood. It's about 1/2 mile long. So, for 1/2 a mile, I was in 2nd gear lo, rear locked, holding 3500 RPM's with the occasional bump off the rev limiter to plow through those drifts. It was a situation that if I lost momentum it would be game over. There's no winch points and no way to self recover if I got buried. lol

[TonyB66]

Matt, found myself looking at these photos again this morning. So scenic, beautiful. I am reminded of my Whitney trips.

While doing some reading on Buttermilk Loop (7S01) a page on off-road.com has an excerpt:

"We frequent these parts often and think Bishop is the ideal place to set a base camp for exploring the northern Owens Valley region."

I'm sure you feel that you are in a sweet spot down there. Thanks for sharing, and the link to the IFS Offroad forum. Looks like zero moderation, lol. See plenty of familiar names...

Hey, you noted that you forgot your tools on this trek. As far as "parts" go, what did or do you bring? With the RCV IFS, I imagine you don't carry a spare. Maybe some fluids like distilled water, oil (engine & gear), extra pair of headlight bulbs?

[theesotericone]

Originally Posted by TonyB66

Matt, found myself looking at these photos again this morning. So scenic, beautiful. I am reminded of my Whitney trips.

While doing some reading on Buttermilk Loop (7S01) a page on off-road.com has an excerpt:

"We frequent these parts often and think Bishop is the ideal place to set a base camp for exploring the northern Owens Valley region."

I'm sure you feel that you are in a sweet spot down there. Thanks for sharing, and the link to the IFS Offroad forum. Looks like zero moderation, lol. See plenty of familiar names...

Hey, you noted that you forgot your tools on this trek. As far as "parts" go, what did or do you bring? With the RCV IFS, I imagine you don't carry a spare. Maybe some fluids like distilled water, oil (engine & gear), extra pair of headlight bulbs?

Anytime you want to make it over this way just let me know. There's more then a few amazing camping spots that you can drove to at over 10000'.

IFSoffroad is not for the faint of heart. It's a place where a lot of folks that got banned from other sites are now hanging out. The core group of guys a wheel with are all there so I spend a lot of time there now. Plus, it's just fun to not pull any punches because you're worried about moderators.

For fluids I carry 2 gallons gear oil, brake fluid, oil, and power steering fluid. I always have 5 gallons of tap water with me. If I ever have a rad blowout I'll just use that. The whole system would get flushed when I get it back in the garage so I don't bother with distilled.

Parts that are always on my rig. Starter rebuild kit, alt rebuild kit, 8 grade 10.9 lbj bolts, driver and passenger spare spindles with lbj's, 2 outer CV stubs(just in case those RCV's do ever break), 2 SPC UBJ's, 2 each outer and inner tie rods, and a field weld kit.

Anyone who wheels hard should really invest in a field weld kit. I made mine for about 75 bucks. It allows me to hook up two or three batteries in series. That amperage gives you plenty of juice to be able to produce strong welds to repair damn near anything.

[TonyB66]

Originally Posted by theesotericone

Anytime you want to make it over this way just let me know. There's more then a few amazing camping spots that you can drove to at over 10000'.

IFSoffroad is not for the faint of heart. It's a place where a lot of folks that got banned from other sites are now hanging out. The core group of guys a wheel with are all there so I spend a lot of time there now. Plus, it's just fun to not pull any punches because you're worried about moderators.

For fluids I carry 2 gallons gear oil, brake fluid, oil, and power steering fluid. I always have 5 gallons of tap water with me. If I ever have a rad blowout I'll just use that. The whole system would get flushed when I get it back in the garage so I don't bother with distilled.

Parts that are always on my rig. Starter rebuild kit, alt rebuild kit, 8 grade 10.9 lbj bolts, driver and passenger spare spindles with lbj's, 2 outer CV stubs(just in case those RCV's do ever break), 2 SPC UBJ's, 2 each outer and inner tie rods, and a field weld kit.

Anyone who wheels hard should really invest in a field weld kit. I made mine for about 75 bucks. It allows me to hook up two or three batteries in series. That amperage gives you plenty of juice to be able to produce strong welds to repair damn near anything.

Thanks Matt! Would be nice to formally meet you someday and check-out the beautiful scenery...

I read the thread over there on ADD deletion, and it was quite tame and informative. A couple other threads, I see what you mean about thick skin. I found it quite funny and liberating, IMO, so I'll try to check it out periodically.

Appreciate you sharing the parts and fluids you carry. Very helpful. I can see how a field welding kit would be really nice to have too. Would be neat to see how or where you keep all of this stuff. I read somewhere, I think that other forum, that you are using a rifle case or two on the rack. I hear ya on the tap water as you'd be flushing it once back to civilization. We actually have distilled on tap here, as odd as that might sound. You know, piss in the radiator will do the trick too. Several guys, plenty of beer...

[theesotericone]

Originally Posted by TonyB66

Thanks Matt! Would be nice to formally meet you someday and check-out the beautiful scenery...

I read the thread over there on ADD deletion, and it was quite tame and informative. A couple other threads, I see what you mean about thick skin. I found it quite funny and liberating, IMO, so I'll try to check it out periodically.

Appreciate you sharing the parts and fluids you carry. Very helpful. I can see how a field welding kit would be really nice to have too. Would be neat to see how or where you keep all of this stuff. I read somewhere, I think that other forum, that you are using a rifle case or two on the rack. I hear ya on the tap water as you'd be flushing it once back to civilization. We actually have distilled on tap here, as odd as that might sound. You know, piss in the radiator will do the trick too. Several guys, plenty of beer...

The field weld kit stuffs nicely into a 18" Stanley toolbox. I also carry the spare tie rod ends in there. I have two 42" Plano All Weather cases that I keep tools in. Those fit perfectly in my Rola rack and I secure them with two ratchet straps. I thought about mounting them solid to the rack but I like having the option to easily remove them and it only takes a few seconds to remove the ratchet straps when I need them.