Octanejunkie's 4runner Journal - 2WD

[octanejunkie]

So you are around 3" lift up front and 4" in the back?

-Charlie

Pretty much, until I install my winch, then I expect the front to drop some

Also seems like my rear has settled some, I'm not scraping the top of the garage anymore unless the roof caved in :shrug:

 

[octanejunkie]

Arrowhead wheeling weekend, June 2018: Day 1, Cleghorn

Ran Cleghorn Saturday June 9th with FB buddy Casey Patterson

https://youtu.be/ziG6eez0vp8
https://youtu.be/lhs1FbY5xO4
https://youtu.be/wiMQlpSlBIY

Sorry for the crap audio lol

Needed a tow in one spot. I aired down afterwards and had no problems the rest of the day.

We did about half of the alternative routes and only turned back on 2 because the exits were super gnarly

Overall the truck did great, hooked up well and climbed things I thought would be impossible with only 2WD. Next up, sliders then SPC UCAs

Sent from my Pixel XL using Tapatalk

 

[psraff]

Man, that pic freaked me out. At first glance I thought it was your back corner, and I was looking DOWN an edge of a cliff.

Hate it when pics rotate when they're not suppose to. LOL

 

[theesotericone]

Next up, sliders then SPC UCAs

Nice man.

ALWAYS air down first. It's got more benefits then just increased traction. It also let's the tires act as a mini shock absorber. Your rig and your kidneys will thank you.

Have you ordered the sliders yet?

 

[rallypoint_1]

That's great! I am sure that rear locker helped a whole bunch.

 

[TonyB66]

Man, that pic freaked me out. At first glance I thought it was your back corner, and I was looking DOWN an edge of a cliff.

Hate it when pics rotate when they're not suppose to. LOL

I viewed it while under my 4Runner and thought the same thing! Thought maybe it was me being somewhat upside down...

Glad you are out having some fun Mike. I personally feel learning to navigate and overcome situations with 2WD has it's benefits, for you the driver. Enjoy!

 

[octanejunkie]

Man, that pic freaked me out. At first glance I thought it was your back corner, and I was looking DOWN an edge of a cliff.

Hate it when pics rotate when they're not suppose to. LOL

Pics don't do it justice

Sent from my Pixel XL using Tapatalk

 

[octanejunkie]

Nice man.

ALWAYS air down first. It's got more benefits then just increased traction. It also let's the tires act as a mini shock absorber. Your rig and your kidneys will thank you.

Have you ordered the sliders yet?

We didn't air down today as we were mostly overlanding/exploring and don't need to air down for downhills lol

Paint drying on my sliders this weekend, actually

Sent from my Pixel XL using Tapatalk

 

[BrianSD_42]

Looking good on the trail. Only towed once haha well that's pretty good given the circumstances. I've never done Cleghorn but it certainly looks a good time.

 

[theesotericone]

Paint drying on my sliders this weekend, actually

Who's sliders did you go with?

 

[octanejunkie]

Who's sliders did you go with?

XO-Fab 60"

 

[octanejunkie]

Looking good on the trail. Only towed once haha well that's pretty good given the circumstances. I've never done Cleghorn but it certainly looks a good time.

Thanks lol
If I had stayed on the edge of the trail and aired down before we headed out I'm sure I would have made that climb unassisted. I did similar climbs later in the day and had no trouble.

2N47 Cleghorn is iconic in the area, a fire road with several offshoots of varying difficulty just like 2N33 Pilot Rock, but there was some wild and crazy stuff on both of those trails I wouldn't do even if I had 4WD because I don't want to break my DD, but if you're gonna go that far I would make a long weekend of it and try to hit a few more trails in the area.

3N17 White Mountain, 3N69 Gold Mountain, 3N93 Holcomb Creek and 3N34 Dishpan Springs are some of the the most popular while 3N10 John Bull is one of the most difficult with it's infamous Gatekeeper section

 

[BrianSD_42]

I've done 3N17, 3N34 (down). Was good times. I would say that 3N34 is not passible in 2WD locked, even the easy way which is down.

 

[Unner]

Looks like a good time. Airing down makes a huge difference, but airing back up sucks...

 

[octanejunkie]

Looks like a good time. Airing down makes a huge difference, but airing back up sucks...

I picked up this little pump off Amazon

Worked well connected directly to the battery. Airing up each tire from 28# to 45# took about 3-4 mins per tire

Now I just need some deflators...

 

[Wedgy]

"The pictures don't do it justice" !!!

I can tell just looking that when it rains that's where the water goes and it's rutted deep as sh#t. I used to WW kayak stuff like that, wet and dry...called creeking in the summer when it's dry(rough on boats/paddles but it works). Not sure if would prefer going up or down in a 4x4 but it looks like some really great scenery. looks like a great time !
Side note; when airing down are tires more prone to puncture ? Places I hunt have sharp shale. Looking for durability, traction, quiet on highway, occasional snow.

 

[octanejunkie]

Arrowhead wheeling weekend, June 2018: Day 2, Dishpan Springs loop

The house we stay in up in Arrowhead backs right up to US Forrest land and there is a trail head on the same street, which we've hiked a few times, but it's recently become an OHV area. Although "our" local entrance is NON OHV and there's little traffic there's nothing to stop my street legal vehicle from entering, so today we did some exploring from the house

Down a super rutted trail you find the trailhead for 2N28Y, which is OHV rated easy. Easy is relative, for the complete neophyte with a stock rig it's way too loose and steep in some areas to be considered "easy"

Click pic for VID_20180610_105131 by Mike Stern, on Flickr

This trail is well marked and appears on the Lake Arrowhead OHV map that is sold in local stores for $4 which lists many of the trails around the lake and as far out as Devil's hole and Silverwood Lake.


Click pic for VID_20180610_104641 by Mike Stern, on Flickr


Click pic for VID_20180610_105131 by Mike Stern, on Flickr

Here is a section I chose not to do without sliders due to a tight turn, downhill and off-camber with a pinch-point between two rocks on a steep, loose downgrade. After hiking the section I found an approach into this section directly above through a step-down rock garden that a lifted rig could roll over no problem. Next time it's on the menu, but today was a mellow day, so we rolled around it on a different section of 3N34

From there we followed the map and signs to connect with 3N34 towards Deep Creek and Willow Valley. Our destination was a rocky outcropping in a peaceful meadow we had seen the first time we went out, although this time a picnic and blanket were packed.

A view of the rig from our picnic spot

After lunch we headed towards Pinnacles staging area on 3N34, this section is intermediate but all that means is it's rocky and bumpy and a good thing we didn't overstuff ourselves at lunch for risk of seeing lunch again, but we

Following our map, we found a way from 3N34 via 2N75 back to our neighborhood without every touching a highway!

This took us up a ridge line road with amazing views of the valley below and all the green grasses and wildflowers in bloom

Our exit transitioned to a paved road that ran between two houses and looked as unassuming as could be

It was literally a 2 minute backroad drive to the house from here.

Connecting these trails together means we never need to take 173 to a trailhead again and will allow us to explore all the rest of the trails in the area literally from our own backyard.

Our view from the deck

Finishing up a perfect day

 

[Mark_BC]

Side note; when airing down are tires more prone to puncture ? Places I hunt have sharp shale. Looking for durability, traction, quiet on highway, occasional snow.

Less prone. The tire conforms around objects. Airing down is the most effective "mod" you can do for off roading and it's free. The difference is night and day, conpletely different handling. You can just float over stuff.

You are more prone to running the tire off the bead but generally only at 15 psi range and if you stress it out.

Don't drive fast on pavement with low air or you can overheàt the tire.

 

[octanejunkie]

Less prone. The tire conforms around objects. Airing down is the most effective "mod" you can do for off roading and it's free. The difference is night and day, conpletely different handling. You can just float over stuff.

You are more prone to running the tire off the bead but generally only at 15 psi range and if you stress it out.

Don't drive fast on pavement with low air or you can overheàt the tire.

I aired down to 28 lb (from 45) and it made a night and day difference on trail, however I didn't like it on pavement at all and aired up as soon as I could lol

FWIW I only aired down my rear tires since I'm just 2WD

 

[rkntoy]

I aired down to 28 lb (from 45) and it made a night and day difference on trail, however I didn't like it on pavement at all and aired up as soon as I could lol

FWIW I only aired down my rear tires since I'm just 2WD

You run 45psi?

And 28psi isn't really airing down.