theesotericone's Trails and BS Thread

[theesotericone]

The second one could have been prevented but we thought we only had a little ways to go till the top of the hill haha. We were wrong!

LMAO. Yes we where. Lesson learned? 3 wheel drive lo/lo locked is not enough to complete Thompson Hill without blowing the other CV to shreds.

Here's a photo Andy just posted on TW. Possibly the worse place to break on the whole trail. This is where my passenger side outer tie rod decided to blow. It's called Divorce Rock. I can assure you it's steeper then the photo makes it look. Notice the winch line and strap from my sliders to a tree? Yeah, that was to keep the rig from sliding into an even worse spot. lol

Here's that pesky tie rod:

Here's the scene of the breakage.

 

[Black798]

Yeah. I'm pretty sure it is a record. If anyone has broken more I've never heard of it.

I went two years without any breaks. Then it all caught up to me. I need to look into the front suspension and possibly get some limit straps for the Kings. That was the only change to my rig pre-trip. When I compared them to the Billie/Eibach combo both had the same length though. I'm at a loss to explain it. Maybe it's just bad luck.

I think the limit straps would be a worthwhile investment. They help to take the load off the CVs, ball joints, and tie rods at full droop. I've never broken a CV with mine installed, knock on wood lol, and they really help the suspension be more smooth when it tops out.

That's insane about that tie rod. You are the first one I've seen break one, let alone break it and bend it in half. I've seen it happen on a few new trucks but their tie rods are wayyy smaller.

 

[Road Bull]

Man, that's crazy town on all the broken CV's. How were you set up before all the breaks? Locked? Front and rear? Crawling? Sounds like one burly trail!

 

[Rockdawg84]

there is a learning curve with Duals especially with an auto. you won't feel things begin to bind and now you have the torque to simply bust through. Looking forward to the pics and more details :guitar2:

 

[habanero]

Wow, certainly looking forward to the trip report on this one!

 

[theesotericone]

I think the limit straps would be a worthwhile investment. They help to take the load off the CVs, ball joints, and tie rods at full droop. I've never broken a CV with mine installed, knock on wood lol, and they really help the suspension be more smooth when it tops out.

That's insane about that tie rod. You are the first one I've seen break one, let alone break it and bend it in half. I've seen it happen on a few new trucks but their tie rods are wayyy smaller.

What size limits straps did you use? I'm looking at TG and I think 8" would be plenty of strap. The clevic pin is 6 7/8" with 3 3/4" of thread.

Yeah, that tie rod was impressive. More impressive was where it broke. [MENTION=118730]AssBurns[/MENTION] got on the radio and said "STOP MOVING." lol

Man, that's crazy town on all the broken CV's. How were you set up before all the breaks? Locked? Front and rear? Crawling? Sounds like one burly trail!

there is a learning curve with Duals especially with an auto. you won't feel things begin to bind and now you have the torque to simply bust through. Looking forward to the pics and more details :guitar2:

OK. Here's the order of breakage as best as I recall,

The first CV to go was the drivers side OEM. I was about half way up Thompson Hill when it let go. The drivers wheel was at 50% turn and under about 75% compression. The passenger was at full droop. I was pulling onto a 18" or so rock. I actually got to watch the bearing go flying as I heard the snap. I was not locked in the front when this one happened.

I figured 3 wheel drive would be fine to get the rest of the way up. About 200 yards from the top the OEM passenger side let go. It's blind so I have no real idea why it went but I was locked when it did obviously. AssBurns was nice enough to provide a tug those last 200 yard so I could get to camp.

Back to camp and [MENTION=135317]rkntoy[/MENTION] gave me some motivation to replace them. We did the passenger side that night. It received an O-Reilly shaft. The next morning we did the drivers. It received a Napa shaft.

Later that day my tie rod broke and was replaced. It put a fair amount of stress on the passenger side CV. I think that lead to a premature failure of the O'reilly shaft about 1 mile later. Again, I was not locked in front.

I was out of CV's at this point so Assburns donated one of his. I company called TrakMotive. It lasted till the last day.

Coming down the final 200 yards of real crawling I heard the familiar snap and subsequent rattle. I pulled off trail and attempted to put another donated CV from AssBurns in. Once in we couldn't even get the lower ball joint lined back up. It seemed the CV was too short. I gave up and threw in some stub shafts and drove out in 2wd lo/lo.

Here's most of the carnage. [MENTION=118730]AssBurns[/MENTION] will have to post a pic of the last one as he took it to get it warrantied.

OEM.

OEM

O'Really

I have another NAPA that I'll put in the passenger side soon. I looked the spindle and ball joint over closely and neither appear bent. I have no clue why that last shaft wouldn't allow me to bolt the LBJ back to the LCA.

With the duals I can steel feel everything in the wheel. I wasn't blipping throttle or hitting full lock. I wheeled how I've always wheeled. Before the duals and after. I never lock the front unless I'm stuck. I never hit obstacles at full lock or at least I don't if it can be avoided. Maybe I was doing something stupid and didn't even know it or maybe I just had bad ****ing luck.

Either way, it was really getting to me at the end. It will be addressed with limit straps. I'll fine tooth comb the front suspension and see if I can find anything. I don't think I will but I'll look.

Even with all that carnage everyone in the group was super chill about it. I'm pretty sure I was the most pissed off about holding everyone up for the repairs. lol

 

[rkntoy]

What size limits straps did you use? I'm looking at TG and I think 8" would be plenty of strap. The clevic pin is 6 7/8" with 3 3/4" of thread.

Yeah, that tie rod was impressive. More impressive was where it broke. [MENTION=118730]AssBurns[/MENTION] got on the radio and said "STOP MOVING." lol






OK. Here's the order of breakage as best as I recall,

The first CV to go was the drivers side OEM. I was about half way up Thompson Hill when it let go. The drivers wheel was at 50% turn and under about 75% compression. The passenger was at full droop. I was pulling onto a 18" or so rock. I actually got to watch the bearing go flying as I heard the snap. I was not locked in the front when this one happened.

I figured 3 wheel drive would be fine to get the rest of the way up. About 200 yards from the top the OEM passenger side let go. It's blind so I have no real idea why it went but I was locked when it did obviously. AssBurns was nice enough to provide a tug those last 200 yard so I could get to camp.

Back to camp and [MENTION=135317]rkntoy[/MENTION] gave me some motivation to replace them. We did the passenger side that night. It received an O-Reilly shaft. The next morning we did the drivers. It received a Napa shaft.

Later that day my tie rod broke and was replaced. It put a fair amount of stress on the passenger side CV. I think that lead to a premature failure of the O'reilly shaft about 1 mile later. Again, I was not locked in front.

I was out of CV's at this point so Assburns donated one of his. I company called TrakMotive. It lasted till the last day.

Coming down the final 200 yards of real crawling I heard the familiar snap and subsequent rattle. I pulled off trail and attempted to put another donated CV from AssBurns in. Once in we couldn't even get the lower ball joint lined back up. It seemed the CV was too short. I gave up and threw in some stub shafts and drove out in 2wd lo/lo.

Here's most of the carnage. [MENTION=118730]AssBurns[/MENTION] will have to post a pic of the last one as he took it to get it warrantied.

I have another NAPA that I'll put in the passenger side soon. I looked the spindle and ball joint over closely and neither appear bent. I have no clue why that last shaft wouldn't allow me to bolt the LBJ back to the LCA.

With the duals I can steel feel everything in the wheel. I wasn't blipping throttle or hitting full lock. I wheeled how I've always wheeled. Before the duals and after. I never lock the front unless I'm stuck. I never hit obstacles at full lock or at least I don't if it can be avoided. Maybe I was doing something stupid and didn't even know it or maybe I just had bad ****ing luck.

Either way, it was really getting to me at the end. It will be addressed with limit straps. I'll fine tooth comb the front suspension and see if I can find anything. I don't think I will but I'll look.

Even with all that carnage everyone in the group was super chill about it. I'm pretty sure I was the most pissed off about holding everyone up for the repairs. lol

It's all good - you were just the designated breaker for this trip.

Here is a pic of part of the last one...

 

[Black798]

What size limits straps did you use? I'm looking at TG and I think 8" would be plenty of strap. The clevic pin is 6 7/8" with 3 3/4" of thread.

I am using a 9 inch poly preformance strap and the clevis is a kit from poly performance as well mounted off of a set of Sonoran Steel mounts. There are some pictures of the install on one of the first pages of my build thread.

If I were to do it again I would go with 8 inch straps. The 9s work fine but I have them very close to as short as I can go to get the limit I want. Currently they are set so that once the straps are stretched out fully the suspension is about 1/2 an inch short of full droop.

I also would say while the Sonoran Steel mounts are nice, they're overpriced for what you get. I believe they are in the 50 dollar range and all they are is a piece of flat stock with a notch cut in it and a piece of Dom tubing welded to the end.

 

[rkntoy]

I am using a 9 inch poly preformance strap and the clevis is a kit from poly performance as well mounted off of a set of Sonoran Steel mounts. There are some pictures of the install on one of the first pages of my build thread.

If I were to do it again I would go with 8 inch straps. The 9s work fine but I have them very close to as short as I can go to get the limit I want. Currently they are set so that once the straps are stretched out fully the suspension is about 1/2 an inch short of full droop.

I also would say while the Sonoran Steel mounts are nice, they're overpriced for what you get. I believe they are in the 50 dollar range and all they are is a piece of flat stock with a notch cut in it and a piece of Dom tubing welded to the end.

I thought about putting limit straps on, but for my use pattern I couldn't think of a time when a front tire would be at full droop and with a lot of traction at the same time. I can see the application if you are doing high speed stuff.

 

[Unner]

You guys had quite the trip! Before you left you said there's lots of things you're worried about, but your shocks aren't one of them. I bet you were't expecting to break 4 CVs though haha.

How'd the Kings do?

 

[theesotericone]

I thought about putting limit straps on, but for my use pattern I couldn't think of a time when a front tire would be at full droop and with a lot of traction at the same time. I can see the application if you are doing high speed stuff.

Anything to help from blowing CV's at this point is worth a try. I'm fine limiting droop by 1/2" to an 1" if it means they get stressed less. There a must for high speed dirt but I think they will also help with crawling.

You guys had quite the trip! Before you left you said there's lots of things you're worried about, but your shocks aren't one of them. I bet you were't expecting to break 4 CVs though haha.

How'd the Kings do?

I expected to break a CV. Maybe even two. But four? FML. lol

Kings did great. I get a lot less body roll when coming off obstacles. The truck just feels a little firmer with them on as well.

The driver side rear finally rotated a little after the fourth day on trail. I didn't use as much loctite on that side. I'll pull them when I get the truck in the garage on Sunday and add more loctitie.

 

[Unner]

Anything to help from blowing CV's at this point is worth a try. I'm fine limiting droop by 1/2" to an 1" if it means they get stressed less. There a must for high speed dirt but I think they will also help with crawling.




I expected to break a CV. Maybe even two. But four? FML. lol

Kings did great. I get a lot less body roll when coming off obstacles. The truck just feels a little firmer with them on as well.

The driver side rear finally rotated a little after the fourth day on trail. I didn't use as much loctite on that side. I'll pull them when I get the truck in the garage on Sunday and add more loctitie.

Can you grab a picture of where you're putting the thread locker when you do pull them? I'm a little confused from your post earlier about where you put it. I'm glad you're happy with the Kings. If you ever doubt the money you spent on them just hit a rough raised set of train tracks at 55 mph. I did that on my way to work this morning and it put a smile on my face. :lookout:

 

[Scramble]

Looking forward to the pics from this trail!

 

[theesotericone]

Dusy/Ershim 2018​

I can't say for sure where the saying "It's a doosey" came from. I looked online and there are 4 possible origins. I'd like to add a 5th. The Dusy is a doosey.

It's not the hardest technical trail, although there is plenty of technical. It's not the most scenic trail, although it's pretty scenic. It's not the longest trail, although it's plenty long. It's not a lot of things.

What it is is challenging. The length, remoteness, and constant small to you've got to be kidding me obstacles make it one of the toughest trails you can do in Cali.

Challenges are why I wheel. I like to push myself and my rig hard. You will never know what's possible, or what your limits are, till you push harder then you ever have. I knew the Dusy would provide that and it did. I found my rigs limits. I luckily never found mine. Although it was hard to resist throwing shit after the 4th CV snapped.

I'd like to thank everyone in the group for being all around great people. We all managed to keep smiling and enjoying the trail. Rocks where stacked. Smiles. Winches came out. Smiles. CV's where replaced. A lot. Smiles. Quarter panels where dented. Smiles. Sliders and skids where beat to crap. Smiles.

The group was [MENTION=118730]AssBurns[/MENTION], [MENTION=135317]rkntoy[/MENTION], two fellas from TacoWorld, and myself. Most of these photo's are not mine. I didn't take a lot so I'll have to change that during Dusy/Ershim 2019.

Here's the start of it all. Going south to north.

The top of Chicken Rock with Voyager Rock in the background.

Locke Dome.

3 3rd Gens on a bridge.

[MENTION=118730]AssBurns[/MENTION] doing his thing.

[MENTION=135317]rkntoy[/MENTION] enjoying an easy section.

Squeezing and scrubbing.

Lot's of the trail looked like this:

And this:

Does this look good?

At least it's not rocky here.

Up and over

The new Kings allowed for 2.5" more droop in the rear. I needed every inch of it.

Some drops are bigger than others on this trail. This is a medium. lol

Just more of the same.

Very happy with my departure angle.

The group near the end.

I tracked the whole route with Backcountry Nav. We traveled 31.9 miles on the trail. Are average moving speed was 3.5 MPH. Here's a fun graph of moving speed for the trip. Take a guess where Thompson Hill is.

Here's the track of the trail.

The Dusy/Ershim lived up to every bit of the hype that surrounds it. It's a spectacular trail. The challenges it constantly throws at you means you need to be on top of it mentally for a very long time. I'm glad I did it and plan to do it again next year. I just plan on bringing a few more CV's next time. lol

 

[AssBurns]

Awesome! Glad we all got to enjoy the trip even with all the hiccups we had.

By the way like haft the photos aren’t working. Not sure about anyone else.

 

[TonyB66]

Same here. This section, for me at least has no photos...

Squeezing and scrubbing.

Lot's of the trail looked like this:

And this:

Does this look good?

At least it's not rocky here.

Up and over

The new Kings allowed for 2.5" more droop in the rear. I needed every inch of it.

Some drops are bigger than others on this trail. This is a medium. lol

Just more of the same.

Very happy with my departure angle.
++++++

Anyone else see a "face" on Locke Dome?

Really good stuff Matt! Curious to see how your rig evolves to address the limitations you experienced...

 

[BackOff]

Looks like some fun stuff.

All but the CV deal that is...
I posted this in rkntoy's build but maybe I was not specific enough.

Over on Inv4drZm's build he keeps breaking cv's... he did a 22* grind/Dirtking mod of the inner cups to allow more articulation.
Starting at post #385.

http://www.toyota-4runner.org/4th-gen-t4rs/207661-inv4drzms-build-thread-26.html

:beer:

 

[Wedgy]

Awesome !!

same here, about half the pix aren't showing

 

[theesotericone]

Awesome! Glad we all got to enjoy the trip even with all the hiccups we had.

By the way like haft the photos aren’t working. Not sure about anyone else.

Same here

same here, about half the pix aren't showing

looks like lots of photos are missing.

Are you guys viewing them on a phone or on a comp?

At work today I couldn't see the missing ones on my phone. I came home to fix them and they show up on my comp. The missing ones are from other peoples Drive. I'll DL them to my comp then up them to my Imgur to fix it. Just curious what platform you guys where using.

 

[TonyB66]

Computer here. The photos missing, at least for me, I referenced in my above post... Nice shots.