Trip Report: Easter Weekend

Finally the first trip with the new truck since the build started. @Flemster and I have been looking for an excuse to get away from the shop for a while now. One of our first customers decided to share his secret spot with us and a few of our friends. The first camp spot of the year was located along the Arkansas river and it didn't disappoint. @4-Ripcord also tagged along and we got the chance to see his new camper in action.





Selecting a trail for the weekend proved to be difficult as there weren't a whole lot of options in the area for a group of nine rigs. We opted to run a quick loop on Chinaman's and it didn't disappoint. I was a bit worried about how the truck would perform without anything other than ATRAC. It handled everything like a champ and pretty much rolled through most of it with the 35's. The torque and power of the V8 took a little getting used to when crawling up obstacles. I was certainly happy to have the sliders as they got quite a bit of use on this trial.









Couple of shots by @4-Ripcord




A few more by @Flemster




After that we said goodbye to a few rigs and made our way back to camp for the night. Came across this old bridge and couldn't resist stopping for a picture in the water crossing.



The next day we made our way back to the Denver area but couldn't help but make a quick stop on an old backroad to enjoy what we thought would be the last of the Colorado winter.



@Flemster knows how to capture the V8 where it shines.

Killer build and stunning pics. The man has skills.

FINALLY!!! Killer job documenting everything so far. Putting my build thread pics to shame.

Nice truck, nice pictures.

Be mindful of that rear axle, 35's don't play nicely with the stock gears. I've seen it more times than not on the forum when moving to 34's or 35's and taking them on hard trails, R&P grenades; my brother's and mine included. And no we don't wheel like crazy people. Nothing a solid pinion spacer won't remedy.

I'm jealous you made it through Chinaman's. When I was there I blew a CV boot and turned around. Then a jeep guy drove by asking what the issue was; 'stupid IFS problems'.

Awesome pics! When everything calms down i want to get out and get some better pics.

Thanks!

Yeah, I have had quite a few people warn me about how quickly the rear-diffs go in these trucks. I did a lot of asking around and reading and the results are kinda inconclusive. It seems like a lot of times it comes down to people being on the gas hard or binding the rear axle. So I have opted to just be mindful of how much power I am putting in and what the truck is doing/not doing. When it goes it goes and ill have to get in there and figure something out. I'm hoping to get some lockers for the front and rear, which would make for the perfect time to throw a solid spacer in.

Chinaman's was a blast. Would really like to go back with a smaller group next time and really get to enjoy the trail a little more. My boot has been blown since before I bought the truck. I ran one on my third gen with a torn boot for a long time before selling the truck. Since then I have just opted for the "un-adult" thing and just carried a spare incase it goes. Ive spent too much money on Toyota reboot kits.

New Parts: DuroBumps

After seeing how nice everyone else's truck rode with aftermarket bumps I was quite a bit jealous. Couldn't be more excited to have these guys on the truck to smooth things out a little bit. I haven't had too many issues with the Dobinsons not soaking things up, but a little peace of mind is nice.

New Parts: Diode Dynamics SL1 LED Bulb Replacement

I have been looking for something to replace my stock projector bulbs since I got the truck. The 35W HID retrofit on the last truck had me feeling a little spoiled. Diode Dynamics reached out and asked if I would give them some honest feedback on the new 4th Gen bulb replacements they have been working on. Seemed easy enough to give em' a try and boy am I impressed.



The new LED bulbs are designed to work in both projector and reflector housings, while it seems like it might not be the best idea to run them in the later. They are plug and play so the install took a couple of minutes and I even managed to snap a couple of pictures along the way.



Old and new together...



Easy install... and BAM! The sun has exploded inside of my headlights.




Now for some output shots...







Overall, I am quite impressed with the output of these bulbs in an OEM housing. I do have to say I don't think these are nearly as bright as some of the high end HID kits, but for cost and ease of install they are worth checking out.

Trip Report: Memorial Day Weekend

Some photos in this thread are by @Flemster

Couldn't have asked for a more relaxing weekend away. @Flemster and I spent some time playing in the area around Woodland Park, CO.

We spent the first day messing around near "Moab Hill" and completing my maps of the Rainbow Falls area. I have been coming here for years but I haven't logged all of the trails in Hema yet, so it's kinda been on my list to wrap up.



The trails were still a bit soft from all the rain and snow we have been getting here in Colorado but a little mud never hurt anyone.







I failed to capture any photos of it but we spent a little over an hour working @Flemster 's truck up some of the more difficult lines on the actual Moab Hill. It may sound silly, but we have been working pretty hard at honing in our spotting and landscaping skills.

We wrapped up the day with a decent campsite away from all of the memorial day hubbub going on in the area. The sunset wasn't too shaby either...









The next day we met up with some family and old King of the Hammers buddies to run some of "The Gulches". These guys really are some of the best drivers out there and its always a blast going out with them. One of them has pretty much won every stock class event in their #4608 WJ Grand Cherokee. Now to add a little "challenge" to things they take a bone stock Grand Cherokee out on trails and show the "big boys" how it's done.





Hackett Gulch was a blast and the water crossings were pretty high due to all the snow runoff and thunderstorms. We happily let the stock Jeep take the plunges first before throwing our rigs into the mix. On one of the crossings the little jeep got stuck on a rock and needed a little hand.





After we knew where the rock was we all crossed and off we went. The water was working its way about half way up the driver door. Luckily the door seals held and I avoided getting any water into the intake.

That night we camped in the same spot as the day before since we got off the trail so late. The next morning we aired up and made the journey back to northern Colorado.

Very nice!! Such a fun weekend. My truck is relatively all fixed up too so ready for more!

Trip Report: Birthday Moab Run

Since I picked up the new truck I have been dying to get it out to Moab and run some of the harder trails. The last truck had 33's and a rear locker which worked pretty well and I still feel like I have so much to learn about this new truck out on the trail. We all pretty much decided to ditch our RTT's for the weekend and man was the wheeling fun. We were originally worried it was going to be way too hot but man was the weather perfect all weekend.

*Some pics in this thread are by @Ripcord

Seven Mile Rim

The first day was focused on travel but we opted to sneak in a little run on Seven Mile Rim for a warm up. We had several relatively new people in our group and it proved to be a great starting point for teaching spotting mechanics and trust.













Kane Creek Canyon Trail
I have been wanting to run Kane Creek for a loooong time. I always here people talking about how much fun/how hard it is. It was pretty much a requirement for this trip. We had a larger group and started that day a little too late but we believed we would be back at camp by 4:00 at the latest. T

he trail pretty much starts out with some fun little rock climbs and a few puddles to play in a little. The girlfriend quickly took over the wheel and opted to smash a puddle when I forgot to mention it was a bad idea.



The next little obstacle is a simple dip and climb... what could go wrong. Well, the 4th gen is a big girl and I found the perfect place to wedge my truck in the crack and back up into the corner of my stock bumper. The little crunch was a healthy reminder that I need to get started building my high clearance rear.



Next we had to squeeze the trucks through a little tight section that tips you towards the large boulder on your passenger side. We only had one Tacoma in our group kiss their door panel on the rock as their suspension just barely unloaded. The rest of us were within a mere inch of kissing it ourselves. Luckily I set my sliders up to point straight out rather than at an angle. This gave me a lot of room to use my sliders to pivot my truck up and around the rock.







After that it was smooth sailing for a while. The creek was pretty much all dried up which we weren't expecting with how high the Colorado river has been. On the other side of the creek section, there were a couple of small little rock sections that were worth spotting as we worked our way towards Hamburger Hill. The gas tank on the V8 4runner is absolutely massive and loves to eat rocks. A strong gas tank skid will be my next purchase for the truck.



When we arrived at hamburger hill we were past our 5:00 exit time and there was a group stuck in front of us. A couple of guys decided to take their XJ and tow rig (Dodge 2500) through the trail after their buggy blew a tranny. The XJ blew a bead and the Dodge was just about shredded to bits at this point. We gave the Jeep some air and helped spot their Dodge out of the way. All in all it cost us about another 2.5 hours. Once they were out of the way we took turns spotting our crew up the hill one at a time. After about and hour or so of spotting I got my crack at the hill and followed up behind everyone else.

The truck absolutely eats the rocks like they are nothing. I am finally learning how to apply the torque and also let ATRAC do its thing. Walked up just about the whole hill without any hiccups.













Once we were all through Hamburger Hill we started chugging towards the exit. There were a few more small obstacles that we did our best to just power through as the sun was setting in it was around 10:00 already.



We made it to the exit at about 11:00 and a member of our group had a part failure that became apparent as soon as he hit the road. The cam tabs on his lower arms sheared off on the trail and he lost just about all control of his truck. We finally babied his truck back to camp at 12:00pm... it was a long day.

Top of the World

The next morning we woke up much earlier with the hope of knocking out Top of the World trail on the way back home. We tried to make the best time that we could and get some of the typical shots you get at the top. It's always a blast hitting this one on the way home.



I always forget how bumpy this trail can get and man does it beat the crap out of you even with good suspension. We hit pavement and we boogied back home to try and make it home at a decent time. Moab is always fun, but man is it refreshing to make it back home to Colorado and all of its beautiful green.

Trip Report: 4th of July

For the 4th @Ripcord and I opted to have an "anti" trip. When we normally go out with our group we are always trying to pack in as much action as possible. This weekend we decided to just camp and decide on things as the came.

We settled for hanging around Crested Butte and getting as far away from the other campers as possible. We got some lake time in and walked around town. Boy was it relaxing just sitting at camp and a little day drinking here and there.

all-around quality. reminds me of a life id pursue if i werent a surfer on the beach in MA/RI

I miss being self employed, just so I can just say where closed, see you when I get back.

Nicely built rig!
Just be easy throttle in and you should be good until you get regeared. And just check them BJ on the SPCs, my only disappointment with them.

It's certainly nice now, just left the day job a couple weeks ago. Most of my trips have happened between Friday-Sunday up until now.

Thanks, I may hold off on regearing for a while. The truck still has so much power and torque compared to my last one. I do wanna double lock it at some point and I may do it then. Good to know on the SPC! Do you have the newer model or the old one?