Trojan4x4
New member
Not sure if has been suggested before or if you checked...but make sure the rear tires are not out of round or feathered. That could contribute to the problem you are having (unless it's fixed now).
theesotericone's Trails and BS Thread
- Thread starter theesotericone
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Not sure if has been suggested before or if you checked...but make sure the rear tires are not out of round or feathered. That could contribute to the problem you are having (unless it's fixed now).
AssBurns
New member
You probably get that a lot where you live. We don’t get a whole lot of mud out here but if someone sees that your rig is muddy, they will always say “Looks like you had some fun!”. Then I always have to say “No. I hate mud” and they always seem confused. Mud definitely sucks.
theesotericone
New member
Mud is great. For nothing. lol
It's all part of the game though.
theesotericone
New member
Man, I'm glad you asked. I really need a kick in the ass. I have no clue at this point. I had the cash saved up and I just ended up using it for a trip to Australia instead. So, now I'm back to saving mode. If I stop spending money on stupid things like vacations and my IRA it'll happen a lot sooner. lol
I've been having this mental back and forth on whether I REALLY need them or not. I do and don't is the reality. I'm sure a lot of guys here can relate.
I'm shooting to have the cash saved up by early June but that's still up in the air. Then it will just be the mental commitment to actually buy the damn things. It will literally be more then I paid for me rig. lol
The Dusy-Ershim is the real deal. There's a few other trails that are technically harder but not nearly as long. It's gonna be a fun trip.
When do you think your rig will be ready to go?
AssBurns
New member
Well at least a trip to Australia sounds like it was probably worth it. Traveling is usually worth it if you can afford it. Also keep funding that IRA! That way you can keep offroading and traveling once you retire [emoji1619]
The answer to whether you NEED lockers or not is a no brainer once you have driven a rig with lockers, especially dual locked. Literally, I can get through just as much, if not more with 2wd and rear locker than I could with 4wd and no locker. It’s just different things that are doable, like soft stuff is difficult for me right now. Being dual locked is a big investment but definitely worth the ability to get through some serious stuff or get out of some bad situations. If you can afford it, it’s worth it for sure.
Now the question of when I’ll get mine done. Well that’s a good question. I’m getting a tax return that will be paying off some bills I have, so that opens up some room for more monthly savings. I’m hoping by summer to have it fixed. Might be sooner, might be later but by summer is my goal. My dad wants to do the Rubicon in late June for his birthday, but if I don’t have my front diff fixed by then, it’s obviously not gonna happen. I’m also working on gathering all the parts for my rear 4 link which is gonna cost me a few hundred more dollars by the time I replace my cat, and muffler then buy all the metal for the links and crossmembers. I also am on the lookout for some hydro bumps if I can find them for the right price, so that’s another few hundred bucks possibly there too. My money has/will be focused on that project first unfortunately.
Road Bull
Senior Member
It's a constant struggle. It's funny. Before I had the 4Runner, and decided I wanted to build it out, I had a 1994 Toyota extended cab that was great, but a stock rig. I had always wanted a built rig but really had no idea how to go about doing such a thing.
Then I found THIS forum, and down the rabbit hole I went. There are too many great things that you can do to mod these things. And everything is only just, that, much, further, and THAT much more money. I really have gotten to a place where I am happy with things as they stand. Besides good maintenance, most other things come down to (wants). I want gears and a locker, lights, TRED Pros, and a roof rack. If I ignore other things in my life like house needs and vacations visiting my family, then I get there faster. But sometimes it is hard to justify. I am sitting on 225K miles and trying to decide on a big purchase, it just means that I might skip seeing family a bit longer. Parts come and go, but when family goes, they're gone. So sometimes I feel guilty about spending a ton of dough on stuff. Still... A bit here, and a bit there, and I'll get there.
Unner
New member
Mudding is the only offroading most people know here. Some new people moved into the neighborhood a couple months back, apparently from Arizona. We had like 10 inches of rain in February so they thought it would be a good idea to drive their 2 wheel drive Ram 2500 into the yard to pull a stump. Needless to say they were stuck. I winched them out of their front yard. Afterwards the wife came up to thank me and said to her husband "I bet he takes that thing muddin'..."
I try to avoid it when I can, but if I can't it's not a big deal. I don't go seeking it though like some people around here...
I want gears and lockers too, but it's such a big chunk of money to spend at once. All in all it's not that huge of a percentage that I've spent on the truck, but to spend it all at once is way more intense than buying a bumper here, sliders there, new coilovers, etc. If I ever have a diff go bad then I might take the opportunity to upgrade. Otherwise I will probably let it be for now. I've been denied once by an obstacle because I wasn't locked, in Mojave. I might could have made it, but I decided not to risk it and turn around and take the bypass that was 100 yards back.
theesotericone
New member
Cool. So we both have a rough time frame of summer. Let's shoot for August for the Dusy. That will give us both some time to procrastinate. If we're both ready to go sooner great.
I'm already getting grief from my wife already about the trip. She want to come so we can climb at Courtwright. I told her I'm just going wheeling that trip. I know she won't enjoy 30 miles of technical low-range so I'm going solo.
I'll need to make it happen in 3 days I think. I could drive out Thursday after work. So figure Friday and Saturday on trail with Sunday as a chill out and drive home day. The stat of the trails about 6 hours from my work so I think that's doable. Or I could just take a week off and make the wife happy. lol
Yeah man. I keep thinking of why I'm really investing in a rig with 245,000 miles on the clock. It's a hobby for me. Like climbing and fishing.
It's also an addiction. I never go into anything half-ass. I always want to be very good at what I choose to do. I've already achieved that with climbing and fishing. To be good at technical wheeling you do really need lockers though.
That's the back and forth in my mind. To be good I need to run the hard trails and test myself and my rig. I've done some without being locked. There's others I know I shouldn't do until I am. I could also save that cash and just not run those trails. But then I won't meet my own personal goals of being very good. The minds an interesting thing. lol
AssBurns
New member
That was always my plan for the front, unless I had a spare $1,500 laying around that needed to be blown in one fell swoop. Having at least a rear locker is such a huge improvement in capability. I would at least recommend slapping in a lunchbox locker until you decide to jump into dual ARB's or something. Or look for an e-locker to swap in in the meantime. If I didn't have an e-locker already, I would have done one of those two things as my first mod. Even before tires probably.
I think August is a good time frame for me. My wife will definitely be coming. She really digs that kind of stuff. I used to be into backpacking before buying my rig, but it was always really hard to plan trips because she has crappy lungs due to some asthma issues. So she was never able to come with me on any of the cool backpacking trips, especially at higher elevations. That really limited how often I was able to get outdoors because she loved it too but physically wasn't able to do it. Now that we can just drive to a lot of cool places, we are able to get out more often.
I have been talking to a couple people that have ran that trail and they both said take 5 days minimum so you can really enjoy the trip. I hear 3 days will pretty much be wheeling all weekend with no time to spare. I would be super down to do it in 5-6 days to take some time to fish, climb (not that I can climb at all), hang out drink beers, hike, etc.
Unner
New member
I've got an elocker axle housing sitting in the shed, it's been there for like 2 years now... I can't find a good deal on a diff that I trust though. Everyone wants crazy money for a 200k+ mile diff, and at that point I feel like I should just put it towards gears/lockers. If I ever do find a good deal I'd probably do it though.
theesotericone
New member
It's cool that you and the wife found a way to get to some of the out of the way places together. Now that I know that I'll talk to my wife and see if she's down for it. I'm thinking she would say yes with the stipulation that we climb at Courtright for a few days. The fishing does look pretty good at a few of the lakes along the trail as well.
I'll keep my ears open for a decent low mileage locked diff for you. Trusting them isn't that hard. Either they work or they break. You'd still have you old axle and diff to swap back in if that ever occurred. Do it. lol
theesotericone
New member
Upper Buttermilk Rd(7S01) to McGee Creek
In a Blizzard
We finally have a really good size storm coming into the high country. I talked to my boss last night about taking a 4 day weekend. He was more then agreeable to the idea. So I had some time to get in a little snow wheeling.
I decided to go check out Upper Buttermilk Rd. It starts at 6500' and winds it's way up to about 8000' at it's high point. The weather was perfect for snow wheeling. Blizzard warnings are out. Huge rates of snowfall and really high winds made the timing seem about perfect. lol
Here's the forecast for today. Lots of red. lol
Looking up at a normally scenic view. All I'm seeing is impending doom.
The start of Upper Buttermilk Rd for those that haven't been. The snows barely even here at 6500'.
About a mile in and roughly 7000'. It's starting to look a little better. Or worse depending on your mind set.
That's more like it.
Cutting the only tracks in about 6" of snow at 7200'. Almost all of that snow has fallen in the last 45 minutes.
This is about 7500' and it's getting deeper fast.
That's the end of the photo segment. There's a few reasons. Reason one, I was wearing tennis shoes and my feet where getting cold and wet. Not my smartest choice of footwear but it worked. lol
Reason two is that beyond this point it got deep enough that stopping wasn't the brightest idea. More of my mental focus was being directed at driving then I'd care to admit. I was solo as usual and I was the first one in here in a long time. Plus it was dumping snow. Wheeling in a group you can afford a mistake if it happens. Wheeling solo in deep fresh powder mistakes aren't really an option.
The only mistake I made I was able to recover from. That last photo is about 3 miles in. Another mile and there's a well defined fork that the main road follows to the right. In whiteout conditions I managed to miss it. The left fork ends up back on the main road in about 1/4 of a mile.
I realized I missed it right after I entered some deep whoops. Now, in summer, these are fun and the rocks are just enough to keep it interesting. In winter, with 18" of fresh powder and blowing snow, not as fun.
That section was innocent looking. The wind had blown the snow into the whoops making it seem like I was still on the main road. As soon as the drivers side tire started to slide I knew exactly where I was. I knew I was aired down to 8PSI. I knew there was about 150 yards of off camber, downhill, deep ruts with rocky bottom. I knew I was going to slide. My biggest concern in that moment was blowing a tire off the bead if I impacted a rock hard enough.
I managed to keep enough control to counter the sliding that was occurring. I also managed to keep just enough speed to make it through without loosing anymore of the little control you have under those conditions. With that section done I was soon back on the main road.
About 5 miles in you come to another downhill section that crosses McGee Creek. This is one of the few tricky sections on the main road in normal conditions. I decided to turn around here. It's further in than I'd planned on going and it's also flat enough where I was that getting stuck wasn't a worry. I turned around and headed back the way I came. Except this time I stayed on the main road. lol
AssBurns
New member
Besides Courtright, are there other climbing spots throughout the trail? I'd be down to do some activities out there along the trail for a couple days while you and your wife do some climbing.
theesotericone
New member
Yeah there's probably some. lol
Dogtooth Peak. Behind East Lake. Fishing, climbing and wheeling? This is starting to sound like a lot of fun.
AssBurns
New member
Yeah there's probably some. lol
Dogtooth Peak. Behind East Lake. Fishing, climbing and wheeling? This is starting to sound like a lot of fun.
Talked to my wife about it last night. She is definitely interested in the trip. Sometime in mid to late August would work for us. Also we talked about possibly heading back up to Bishop area in late June to either get back up to Coyote Flat or some other 2-3 day weekend trip worthy area if you would like to join us.
theesotericone
New member
I also mentioned the trip to my wife last night. Once I showed her the photo of Dogtooth Peak she went to her comp to pull up a photo she took from Mt Goethe a few years ago. That photo was a zoomed in photo of Dogtooth Peak. Keep in mind those two peaks are about 27 miles apart. So I think she's in. lol
Anytime you guys come up to Bishop just let me know. Coyotes rad, so are a lot of places in the Whites. Just choose your location and I'll meet up with you.
BrianSD_42
New member
Looks like the snow day was lot of fun. I'd love to get out there for some first snow. Super jealous!
Hey do you pack a sleeping bag or overnight emergency bag when you go on these excursions? Out alone in what is basically a blizzard .... Getting stranded wouldn't be the worst if you had adequate stuff to camp like a small tent + sleeping pad + 20 degree bag, extra water and plenty of food. I could also see a HAM radio with a decent 4 ft antenna being of pretty good use in an emergency.
Hey do you pack a sleeping bag or overnight emergency bag when you go on these excursions? Out alone in what is basically a blizzard .... Getting stranded wouldn't be the worst if you had adequate stuff to camp like a small tent + sleeping pad + 20 degree bag, extra water and plenty of food. I could also see a HAM radio with a decent 4 ft antenna being of pretty good use in an emergency.
theesotericone
New member
Here's a few posts where I mention this exact thing.
http://www.toyota-4runner.org/2840170-post2.html
http://www.toyota-4runner.org/2874758-post336.html
Yes, I go prepared for the worse case scenario. This most recent trip I forgot one very important thing though. Boots. I don't know why my brain thought my trail runners would be a good idea for snow wheeling. Once I realized my potential footwear issue I quickly found an answer should it come to hiking out.
I always keep a few plastic bags in my rigs seat pockets. Those work great for making a waterproof layer between your socks and shoes. You pull them over your sock. Tape them up around the mid-foot then again above the ankle. Put your shoes back on and start hiking.
This trip I was never more then 5 miles from the road. For me, even in snow, that's about a 2.5 hour hike out. No biggie. Next time I'll make sure to have my boots with me though. lol
Road Bull
Senior Member
There is no substitute for experience. Forums, pictures, and video are nice as it's part of the learning process, but you still need to get out there and try it out. I grew up riding thee and four wheelers. Riding those taught me a fair amount about knowing what you can and can't do. Granted, typically, in a SUV you are more limited by the size and weight of the vehicle, but that is just part of the challenge to overcome. Our last snow ride gave me a lot of recovery experience with traction boards. (I would love to pick some up now). But traction boards alone don't guarantee success. In fact, it was still a fair amount of work and shoveling to ultimately get us all turned around.
I love those pictures of your blizzard run on Upper Buttermilk Road. It's crazy how much a little snow changes the whole feel of the landscape too. Man, it really looked like it was coming down too! I have started carrying my 0* sleeping bag, snow pants, parka, and snow gloves with me during the winter months and definitely on snow trail runs. I also keep a large tarp in the vehicle, good for both potential repairs / recovery as well as a shelter if needed. I bet those snow covered woops were exciting. LOL. It's always a bit of a shock to find the snow has hidden a surprise like that.
How long does the snow stick around up there?
I used to be an M1-A1 tank crewman. The night driving was always exciting. The night vision periscope that the driver used showed little in the way of depth perception. So if you were riding along you might see a ditch, but not really get much of a feel for how deep that ditch was. But, the people with half their torso out of the hatch would find out real quick with their ribs. I remember following another tank's IR taillights when suddenly they seem to shoot up in the air. STOP!! It was hard to see at night, but they could have rolled that tank into what turned out to be a rather large ditch.:lookout:
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