Well, that's no fun. I hope it's just the valve cover gaskets. Let us know how it turns out.

Haha. Me too…I’m insanely shocked to say the least but you’re right; it’s a blessing to find out now and not on this trip or elsewhere. I’m really disappointed with this find and especially with missing this trip. At least I have a warranty that’s covering the job so I’m already ahead there at least a few hundred dollars.

I can’t get in to the dealership until next week so have a blast and keep them shiny side up. Pics are a mandate and I’ll definitely catch you guys on the next one!


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Sooo…how’s it go today at the Badlands?!?


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Wet!

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That suuuuuuucks!!! Unless you like the mud. It’s been so dry lately too. Did you get to push the rig?


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Pushed the driver far more than the rig, there were... I dunno... 7-8 spots where I was like "this will be a bit tough", and in every case both of the 4Runners just drove right over whatever it was without a bit of drama. Even some of the deep mud I just drove right through, even had to stop in a small bog hole to get between some trees and it was uneventful.

The 'hardest' stuff we went through was this fairly long and winding trail that was just realllllly tight. Like, my 4Runner was the absolute largest thing that would make it between trees a few times. Had to tuck both mirrors more than once. Dean's 3rd gen being just a hair smaller made a huge different on that trail.

There were a couple hairy descents where I used crawl control, and a couple of climbs where I turned on A-Trac, but it only ever kicked in once (neither of which were actually needed, though there were 2 spots where crawl control made things easier. Never touched the locker.

It was definitely wet. And it was a blast! And most importantly, we kept the shiny sides up.

The rain turned out to be pretty cool. It made lots of puddles, but somehow it never got soft and spongy. The grip was excellent (Grabber ATX for me). Both trucks did everything we asked them to. And I didn't even have to fold my mirrors in!

It was great to be able to push some. My prior experience is all getting where I was going while trying hard to NOT get stuck, most often in a hatchback. There were a couple of spots that I thought would be difficult and one I really didn't think I'd be able to do. Even the impossible one turned out to be no real problem with a spotter.

We took a very little bit of video. I pulled a couple of stills and posted one video to Youtube.

Spooner - Nice to meet you! Thanks for setting this up.
Decipher - Next time.

Badlands 10/02/21 - YouTube

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How wet was it? I found a hole that left a mark...

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Oh man. That looks like a blast!!! It’s always a bit nerve racking with water crossings because you just don’t know what’s underneath and how deep they are. It looks like a great time!!! Thanks for the pics and experience sharing.

My truck will be fixed by tomorrow…it was in fact the valve cover gasket but they said everything else looked perfect so that’s good news for me.

My bro was handed the keys to a rental wrangler while his car is in the shop for accident repair and it’s ignited his long desire to get one. We may be going down this weekend pending his schedule. I’ll keep you guys posted if we do should you guys want to do another trip. The wrangler is of course stock but they’re insane even in stock form. I rented two while in Kauai both times and they were my introduction into wheeling.


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My sister-in-law will be in town to run the marathon this weekend. Luckily, I like her, as I'm also missing the Hoosier Challenge autocross so I can go cheer her on. I'm definitely going back. It's good, cheap, not-so-clean fun.

We were on a marked trail for a lot of the really wet stuff. I hoped the staff and other drivers would do the sensible thing and remove any big rocks from the low spots that get flooded, crossed my fingers, and went for it. Luckily, I didn't find anything lurking under the water!

Glad to hear it was only a gasket. Whew!

That first pic flying through the mud bog had me taking a hose to the engine compartment once I was home. It was... messy. Still is, really. Thankfully all the rain on the way home cleaned about 70% of it off the rest of the 4Runner, but that stuff is sticky as hell.

We're headed out to rural PA this weekend, been browsing some maps to see if I can find some 'trails' in the area. It's shocking how little there is in the national forests east and how much there is once you go west.

If you're going this weekend, there's a concert going on Saturday, so I would expect it to be a damn zoo. It was hard enough watching for the SXSs on a normal weekend. Thank god for the SUV area.

Great info again fellas. Thanks. I’m actually going this Sunday with my bro if anyone else wants to tag along.

He wants to go at least twice with this Jeep so I’m sure I’ll be heading back down in short order.


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I'm no Youtuber, but I managed to figure out how to string some clips together and even add a title page! Too bad we didn't get much of the good stuff on camera.

Y'all have a good weekend and careful with the rental.

Badlands Attica, IN 10-02-2021 - YouTube

Nice video! That was fun to watch. Videos are brutal because unless you’re outside filming at the right angle, it just never looks as challenging or interesting as real life. Nice job! I’ll report back with some pics.


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Back in town after a trip out east... still wiping that damn mud out of my engine bay. Finally googled it... simple green powersports cleaner and a pressure washer... here's to hoping that works.

Found a couple pinstripes that are making me a bit nuts too, should be buffable, maybe need to use the scratch repair kit on it.

The combo of being a car care nut and off roading is... challenging.

If anyone has anything on the docket for the week after Halloween, drop me a line.