Northern Illinois 4Runner Group

[Decipher]

I’ll take a good hard look at 10/2 but so far it’s looking good for me.

I pushed my 4Runner much further than I thought I would and I never needed anything more than a recovery strap and shackle. Winches are great but I’ve never needed one. Ive saved friend with traction boards but the things I’ve been able to do with those basic items has me feeling pretty comfortable. Can’t wait to get the GX out to see what she’ll do! I’ll report back but I’m excited. I also have 4 talk about radios for trail use that have proven valuable.


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[Decipher]

I’m all in on the 2nd!


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[Sp00ner]

Nice!

I verified with my better half, so good to go.

I'll throw something in the main forum as well.

She'll likely have to stay here and watch the lil guy, but we'll see if we can get gramma to watch him. Usually she'll call in a bomb threat for the opportunity to hang out with him for the day, so we'll see.

You guys both been out there before? I've only seen pics and some videos.

I'd probably be looking at rolling outta here as early as possible, which for me on a Saturday is 6-7am, it's looking like a 3 hour drive from my house.

 

[Decipher]

Which NW burb you in? I’m also amongst the NW burbs (Crystal Lake).

Don’t forget that Indiana is an hour ahead too so that may mean leaving earlier as well. We can try to catch up somewhere along the route and caravan down.

I’ve been there once before and it was awesome (for the area at least). There’s a little something for everyone…driving through the trees, sand dunes, mud pits, rock climbing…it has a lot to offer for one park.

Don’t forget your flags and if anyone has their own talk about radio they want to use they’re welcome to or to use one of mine. Last time I went, I trailered
Down a friend on an ATV who was super helpful in scouting routes for us if we didn’t know which way was better to go. This area can be as easy or as challenging as you’d like.


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[Sp00ner]

Which NW burb you in? I’m also amongst the NW burbs (Crystal Lake).

Don’t forget that Indiana is an hour ahead too so that may mean leaving earlier as well. We can try to catch up somewhere along the route and caravan down.

I’ve been there once before and it was awesome (for the area at least). There’s a little something for everyone…driving through the trees, sand dunes, mud pits, rock climbing…it has a lot to offer for one park.

Don’t forget your flags and if anyone has their own talk about radio they want to use they’re welcome to or to use one of mine. Last time I went, I trailered
Down a friend on an ATV who was super helpful in scouting routes for us if we didn’t know which way was better to go. This area can be as easy or as challenging as you’d like.


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Oh, you're right down the street, relatively. I'm in Lake Zurich. I'm guessing you would head down... 14 or 31? to 90? I'm right off 12. Could intersect in/near Barrington most likely.

I have a couple handhelds, but I have NO idea what they are (in terms of bands/type/compatibility), I'll toss em in my box, but having something would be way better than nothing.

I'm pretty stoked, personally. I've been wanting to push more than I have been with some support nearby. Certainly nothing anyone would consider extreme, but I've been REALLY conservative this far since it's always solo with the family in tow.

 

[Decipher]

Oh, you're right down the street, relatively. I'm in Lake Zurich. I'm guessing you would head down... 14 or 31? to 90? I'm right off 12. Could intersect in/near Barrington most likely.

I have a couple handhelds, but I have NO idea what they are (in terms of bands/type/compatibility), I'll toss em in my box, but having something would be way better than nothing.

I'm pretty stoked, personally. I've been wanting to push more than I have been with some support nearby. Certainly nothing anyone would consider extreme, but I've been REALLY conservative this far since it's always solo with the family in tow.

Awsome! Yeah let’s meet up. I’ll PM you and we can exchange numbers.

And push we shall. You’re going to be insanely surprised at how capable your rig is and how it makes difficult stuff look easy. I’m excited too!!


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[Dean22]

We're still in. I'll shoot you my email/phone in a PM. We're on the south side, so we'll pass on the convoy. We'll try to get there by 9AM Eastern, opening time.

Dean

 

[Decipher]

We're still in. I'll shoot you my email/phone in a PM. We're on the south side, so we'll pass on the convoy. We'll try to get there by 9AM Eastern, opening time.

Dean

Sounds great dean! I’m all for getting out early. I’m a morning person anyways but I’d prefer it that way anyways!

Last time I was down, there was an incredible amount of vehicles at the entrance. The park is huge so out on the trails, it wasn’t an issue but it may be a little harder to find everyone than it might seem. We’ll get a group text thread going.

Anyone else going should chime in. I have 4 talk about radios to use and share.


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[Decipher]

And just like that…I’m out for this weekend.

I was prepping my rig and changing spark plugs as part of my overhaul on the truck. Substantial oil above and possibly below the spark plugs. So I’m working with at least a valve cover gasket, possibly a head gasket. Ugh. I really needed this trip. Sorry fellas.


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[Sp00ner]

And just like that…I’m out for this weekend.

I was prepping my rig and changing spark plugs as part of my overhaul on the truck. Substantial oil above and possibly below the spark plugs. So I’m working with at least a valve cover gasket, possibly a head gasket. Ugh. I really needed this trip. Sorry fellas. View attachment 387578


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WTF... I thought you bought the American Prado not a Ford?! #ShotsFired.

Obviously let us know if anything changes. Better to find it now than when it pukes the rest of the oil out somewhere else.

 

[Dean22]

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

 

[Decipher]

WTF... I thought you bought the American Prado not a Ford?! #ShotsFired.

Obviously let us know if anything changes. Better to find it now than when it pukes the rest of the oil out somewhere else.

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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[Decipher]

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


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[Sp00ner]

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


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Wet!

 

[Decipher]

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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[Sp00ner]

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.

 

[Dean22]

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

 

[Dean22]

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

 

[Decipher]

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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[Dean22]

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!