Recent content by emmodg

Some more pics as she sits today...

Really hate to do it but I’m putting the old girl up for sale. She’s a 2000 Limited w/factory rear locker. It’s been an ABSOLUTELY great truck and has never let me down; the only reason I selling it is I bought an HZJ77 that I’m building. - 285/75/16 BFG MTs on Tacoma steel rims running...

Yep - it’s like your driveway only dirtie and far from level... wait until you have to skid-out a truck with a busted rear axle (non-floating)!

Notice the tree straps being used on all live lines in this pull? They are being used as line dampeners.... We would stop and secure the vehicle and reposition the dampeners away from the fairleads as necessary.

A line dampener or "parachute" is anything SOFT placed over a winch line -BEFORE it goes live - to help absorb energy released in the event of a line snapping. You can use coats, other straps, a blanket, or even floor mats. SUperwinch and others make dedicated "line dampers" but other straps...

Find a good surplus store and get some Marston matting. They're 18" wide by 10' and they were used by the military and NGOs as portable runway/road "surface". They're aluminum and can be cut in half to make two mats. We used them all the time as traction aids! You can bridge with them some as...

If you’re talking about the screw-in “eye bolts” that are often used a 3/4” screw pin shackle will fit. (Obviously you’ll have to insert the pin through the eye as the shackle won’t fit. Many, if not all cars, have shipping transport “keyways” in their frames used for shipping. You can actually...

Oh yeah...There's a pic of a multi-tool being used as a toggle in a chain sinnet in the article - Don't do that. Use a piece of wood or even a rolled up magazine...

This is a pretty good article on the HiLfit jack and its safe use by the owner of one of the old driving schools I worked with. Lots of good info and it's the curriculum we used and is still used. https://expeditionportal.com/jack-of-all-trades-3/

Good recommendation right there. PLEASE learn how to use the HiLift the correct way! It's one of my favorite tools and the one I've seen hurt a lot of people who didn't know how to use it. We could easily spend an hour or two teaching this to students. It's a jack, a spreader, a come-along, a...

I haven't posted here in quite some time but this calls for a post! The passenger front corner meaning wheel/suspension area has been knocking like a mad man recently! I mean knocking! So here's what I've checked so far - Upper b joint is good, lower b joints I replaced, wheel bearing good -...

Yeah - we use XD on over 30 school trucks. (Masterpull and Superwinch are sponsors and have been good to us.) With that being said XD or Viking or old school Amsteel Blue breaks. We've seen it break in rock, sand, snow, and mud. Its broken on everything from an older FJ60 to one of our Hilux's...

You gotta do what you gotta do but there's nothing harder on poly or steel line than running out of a hawse or roller fair lead at that "sharp" of an angle. It puts tremendous strain on the line and then of course risks building up line on the drum quickly on one side. This leads to popping the...

We've been training with ARB blocks for years an have had only one failure - sheive clip broke. Remember - the block can encounter tremendous loads during re- directs depending on angle of "legs" into and out of block. The greater the angle the less force on block and when using a block for 2:1...

Well, I finished the sliders a few days ago but then got wrapped up with my winch switch install. (I get anal as hell when it comes to wiring so it takes me a while to get stuff like that done!) I finally got the switches in and working and I'm pretty pleased with outcome. You'll have to...