SDmtnbkr
Member
Wait... I thought you installed the RCV CV's? Did you pull them out for some reason?
theesotericone's Trails and BS Thread
- Thread starter theesotericone
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Wait... I thought you installed the RCV CV's? Did you pull them out for some reason?
rkntoy
New member
Pretty sure he found some time in the three months since that post to put them in and leave them there.
theesotericone
New member
Actually, I've found time to pull them out 2 times. The good news is the RCV's themselves are bomber. I haven't even come close to snapping a CV in many, many miles of wheeling.
The bad news in the boot clamps they use are a joke. So, I've had to pull them twice to reboot them with a better clamp. The ones I put on have been holding very well for the last 200 miles or so of dirt.
Other then that the rig is bullet right now. Everything is exactly where I want it and is performing great. My goal for this year is to just wheel. No more money is going into the rig. Well, unless I break shit. Which I probably will. lol
having fun
New member
Dayum, sorry for blowing up your like box. Took a couple of days to go through this amazing build/trail/fishing adventure.
I see what you mean now with them "GOLDENS"!
I've always been one for the outdoors, mainly mountains and forest, but you have some amazing views there. Being a driver, doing some runs threw your area, I can see more of the beauty there is by your adventures.
In my beginning yrs, always had adventures with running with built 3rds, not quite the the extent you have done.
I've always been doing more of them, what would you call it, harder/extreme trails, at least to what my ride is capable/built to. Always looking for them hard to get to fishing holes.
One thing it looks like, remind me not to try to follow you, LOL.
Notice on your front diff brackets, you might try to weld on some support sides to them, just a suggestion. Some of the gen4 earlier yrs tend to break also, so I did this for mine.
Subbed your thread here, looking forward to some more adventures and carnage.
I see what you mean now with them "GOLDENS"!
I've always been one for the outdoors, mainly mountains and forest, but you have some amazing views there. Being a driver, doing some runs threw your area, I can see more of the beauty there is by your adventures.
In my beginning yrs, always had adventures with running with built 3rds, not quite the the extent you have done.
I've always been doing more of them, what would you call it, harder/extreme trails, at least to what my ride is capable/built to. Always looking for them hard to get to fishing holes.
One thing it looks like, remind me not to try to follow you, LOL.
Notice on your front diff brackets, you might try to weld on some support sides to them, just a suggestion. Some of the gen4 earlier yrs tend to break also, so I did this for mine.
Subbed your thread here, looking forward to some more adventures and carnage.
theesotericone
New member
Glad you enjoyed the thread.
We've talked a few times in the NorCal Wheeling thread. The East Side has the dramatic scenery but the West Side has all the hard trails. As the crow flies from my house to the start of the Dusy is 50 miles. It takes me 7 hours of driving to get there because of all that damn scenery in the way. lol
I've mentioned a few times to tag me when you guys get some trips together. I'm doing the Dusy again in late August. I'll run the Rubi whenever anyone wants to go. There's a trail in by Donnell Lake called the Niagra Rim trail that I'm stoked on. Swamp Lake, Strawberry Lake, Coyote Lake and the Spanish Route are also on the list.
Let's get a group together and hit them up some weekend. I'm always looking for like minded folks to go out and wheel with. If there's fishing along the way that's always a bonus.
The diff brackets seem to be doing fine. There hasn't been any carnage in a while and I'm hoping to keep it that way this year. lol
SDmtnbkr
Member
Oh wow, I wonder if RCV would let you send them a new boot kit to use, instead of their own, when assembling them. Interesting. BTW....which boots did you go with?
Both of my OEM axles need replacement, (heavy vibration when I lifted the truck even close to 3in, went away once I dropped it down to about 1.5in, and both have torn boots). I've been pricing options for CVJ and end up right at $600 with shipping and return core shipping. I guess this is probably a more money than sense statement, but.... $600 for axles that have a decent chance of breaking when I go to 35's or $2,000 for ones that you'd literally never have to worry about. You break one CVJ, that's $375 to replace it because you won't have a core to turn in.... or I doubt they'd take your snapped core. Maybe partial payment? IDK, but then you'd already be at $1,000. And I have no intention of selling my rig, pretty much ever lol, so the investment might be worth it.
It's a tough call. I guess I'll have to wait and see how yours do, and how your diff does. I won't be bumping to 35's until next year anyway. Thanks for all the write ups you do and accidental R&D you do haha. You should really get a check for the testing you do on parts!
theesotericone
New member
I am still using the boots that came with the RCV's. I just put a better clamp on them. So far they seem to be holding up fine.
As far as what CV's to go with it really depends. If you don't wheel hard NAPA Cv's will do just fine. I have snapped more then a few of them but I'm also pushing my rig very hard.
I looked at Lotus and RCV. The price of Lotus is 600 a CV. So, 1200 out the door. With Lotus they have only redone the outer cage. The inner cage is factory components. Since I have snapped CV's at the inner cage that just didn't make sense to me. They also only offer a one year warranty.
RCV on the other hand has redone both cages and offers a lifetime warranty that they honor. I pressed RCV pretty hard to get them back produced. As soon as they did I purchased them. Total price was just under 2000. So 800 more then Lotus but a much better product and a much better warranty.
If you want to get into big rocks and play get the RCV. If you just want to do normal wheeling get the NAPA's and save the money for beer. lol
theesotericone
New member
Paging [MENTION=10169]TheDurk[/MENTION]
OK. I'm in need of a little electrical help here. Specifically, the wiring diagram for the key ring illumination light and door ajar switches for a 97. Now the story.
Last Thursday a buddy and I ran the Rubicon. About a mile from the end of the trail there's a pretty deep rutted water filled section about 40 yards long. I hit it pretty hard to try and keep good momentum. The water was maybe mid height on the door. After about 20 yards my rig dies. Like someone turned off the key dies. I know my airbox is well clear of the water line so I'm positive it's electrical. I turn the engine over about 40 times and it sputters to life. About 2 seconds later it's idling perfect and I get out of the water.
We finish the trail then head up to Buck Lake. Maybe another 2 miles of crawling. The trucks running like a champ. Nothing seems wrong at all. I get to camp and shut off the motor. As soon as I do the key in ignition beep starts. I check the gauge cluster and none of my doors are open. I get out and open one. The door ajar light does not come on. I proceed to open and fully close all doors. Nothing changes the key in ignition alarm in still going strong. I pull the key out and it stops. I few minutes later I notice the key ring illumination light is on. It stays on for a few hours before I finally just pull the neg cable.
The next day I start up the rig and the same symptoms. I can live with the key in ignition beep but the key ring illumination light is killing me. Also, the fact that I lost the door ajar light on the cluster makes me want to find the issue. Any ideas? Or better yet, the diagram would really help.
Thanks man
OK. I'm in need of a little electrical help here. Specifically, the wiring diagram for the key ring illumination light and door ajar switches for a 97. Now the story.
Last Thursday a buddy and I ran the Rubicon. About a mile from the end of the trail there's a pretty deep rutted water filled section about 40 yards long. I hit it pretty hard to try and keep good momentum. The water was maybe mid height on the door. After about 20 yards my rig dies. Like someone turned off the key dies. I know my airbox is well clear of the water line so I'm positive it's electrical. I turn the engine over about 40 times and it sputters to life. About 2 seconds later it's idling perfect and I get out of the water.
We finish the trail then head up to Buck Lake. Maybe another 2 miles of crawling. The trucks running like a champ. Nothing seems wrong at all. I get to camp and shut off the motor. As soon as I do the key in ignition beep starts. I check the gauge cluster and none of my doors are open. I get out and open one. The door ajar light does not come on. I proceed to open and fully close all doors. Nothing changes the key in ignition alarm in still going strong. I pull the key out and it stops. I few minutes later I notice the key ring illumination light is on. It stays on for a few hours before I finally just pull the neg cable.
The next day I start up the rig and the same symptoms. I can live with the key in ignition beep but the key ring illumination light is killing me. Also, the fact that I lost the door ajar light on the cluster makes me want to find the issue. Any ideas? Or better yet, the diagram would really help.
Thanks man
TonyB66
New member
I'm no Durk of course. Water halfway up the door you say. Maybe a sensor there, in a boot I believe. If so, clean it out. Might have some water and crud in there. Just a thought man...
Hope your place was ok from the earthquakes.
4Runner4Leon
Senior Member
Check these out, they're for a '98. The integration relay is a common element for the key illumination and the door switches.
TheDurk
Elite Member
One 97 EWD coming up. As stated, the integration relay is probably the first suspect.
MattJakobs
New member
I'm surprised I haven't ventured in this thread before, guess some of that has to do with me not being as active on here anymore, but damn this thing has seen some shit. Jealous of some of the trip reports you've had, I need to head to a few of those but I've got a few things to prep before.
Still happy with your Savage skids? Getting new skids is next on my list and I think it's hard not to pick those.
Those RCV axles look pretty damn impressive too.
I'll have to keep a closer eye on this thread for sure.
Still happy with your Savage skids? Getting new skids is next on my list and I think it's hard not to pick those.
Those RCV axles look pretty damn impressive too.
I'll have to keep a closer eye on this thread for sure.
AssBurns
New member
Those Savage skids are pretty impressive. After wheeling with him many times on pretty damn hard trails and they were (at least at the time) still straight. I definitely would recommend them after seeing how well they last to his abuse.
theesotericone
New member
I'd absolutely recommend the Savage skids. Mine are the older style but I'm sure the new style is equally as strong. I've abused them for almost 3 years and I've only had to take a sledge hammer to straighten them recently. They're bomber.
I actually haven't been updating the thread with any recent trips. I am spending my time on another site now that most of my wheeling buddies are also a part of. So far this year I've run a few hard trails. Isham Canyon, another "secret" trail in Ridgecrest, The Rubicon, Slickrock, Swamp Lake, Mirror Lake, Strawberry Lake, and Coyote Lake. lol
The super secret trail finally bent them. It was an easy fix with a 12lb sledge. They still bolt up fine and haven't bent on any of the other trails I ran since. That just shows how hard that trail was. We where either both wheeling really, really well or we both got lucky. lol
This is one of my favorite photo's from that trip. To the casual observer it doesn't look like much. To me it says: "See that fixed winch anchor? Yeah, we didn't use it. In IFS rigs on a "buggy" only trail". lol
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AssBurns
New member
I'd absolutely recommend the Savage skids. Mine are the older style but I'm sure the new style is equally as strong. I've abused them for almost 3 years and I've only had to take a sledge hammer to straighten them recently. They're bomber.
I actually haven't been updating the thread with any recent trips. I am spending my time on another site now that most of my wheeling buddies are also a part of. So far this year I've run a few hard trails. Isham Canyon, another "secret" trail in Ridgecrest, The Rubicon, Slickrock, Swamp Lake, Mirror Lake, Strawberry Lake, and Coyote Lake. lol
The super secret trail finally bent them. It was an easy fix with a 12lb sledge. They still bolt up fine and haven't bent on any of the other trails I ran since. That just shows how hard that trail was. We where either both wheeling really, really well or we both got lucky. lol
This is one of my favorite photo's from that trip. To the casual observer it doesn't look like much. To me it says: "See that fixed winch anchor? Yeah, we didn't use it. In IFS rigs on a "buggy" only trail". lol
Yeah that spot was steep, loose, and full of big rocks. It only got steeper as we went. Definitely the hardest trail I've done. I can't wait to get mine back together and see what else we can tackle. I think we are at the point that we can finally start taking the Hammer's trails as serious contenders for our next trail runs. (well I just created a thread for the dates of our next Hammer's trip.) Let's see what we can pull off with minimal breakage. Maybe I'll actually have RCV's by then.
theesotericone
New member
Thanks for that and sorry for the late reply. I finally got around to looking at it. All I did was unplug the pigtail from the integrated relay. That solved the elimination key ring issue.
Strangely enough all of my door locks still function fine. I'm not sure what that relay really does but I'm sure I'm going to leave it unplugged. The only other system I've noticed it has affected is the key in the ignition alarm.
Thanks for the help man.
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theesotericone
New member
OK. I've been really slacking with posting trip reports. We had 2 feet of fresh powder above 8000' yesterday and today I decided to go plow through it. I ended up doing Buttermilk Loop(7S01). I've posted about it here before and it's a fun trail in the summer. In the winter, or late fall, it's a bit more nerve wracking. Here's the goods.
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