Washington off road weekend 1st time (pics)

[zenofchaos]

Just picked up my new (to me) '03 4Runner last weekend. This weekend I got to put her through the paces a bit. Here's a nice pic I took of I-90 from Tinkham road. As you can see, the weather was uncharacteristically good for March in Washington.

I noticed that for basic off roading the 4hi without difflock works great. I found myself going up not crazy, but slightly questionable inclines with ease. Here's a king of the mountain pic

After getting a bit off the beaten path my friends and I decided to have a little fun:

I've shot almost every caliber of handgun, but this was actually my first time firing a .357!

After dropping a few ounces of lead we made our way up the trail until we found snow

The ruts were up to about 2 1/2' deep. The snow there has melted and refreezed a few times. Here's where I find the limitations of the non-locked diff. Just bouncing off the ruts every once and a while was causing the vsc to go crazy! Once I locked in the diff, the handling was a lot more familiar (my first vehicle was a '78 Ford Bronco with full-time 4WD) We climbed the trail until the sun started to go down

The next day we grabbed my dad and headed out to Greenwater. The weather was much different then the day before It started out sunny, but right around 2PM heavy clouds set in. Here's a pic I snapped right before we were surrounded by fog

We ended up just driving another 20 min up the trail until we cleared the clouds. After that we busted out our small arsenal and had some fun:gun4:

10 Bonus points to whomever can identify the rifle on the left

After a full day of scouting camping sites we headed back through a really nasty rainstorm. Unfortunately the rain washed off all the mud I went through all the trouble to collect...

So overall I'm really impressed with the vehicle. I think in the nasty stuff the difflock will probably be a close friend. I tried to use the DSC, but all the really steep inclines I went down were only about 10' long. Still waiting to try that. The vsc pisses me off sometimes, but I think I can learn to work with it. I'm glad you can fool it for at least a couple of seconds...

So I just have a few questions. I have BFG Radial Long Trail T/A's. Does anyone have any experience with these tires? Also, is it normal for 4lo to beep constantly? I went between D and N while stopped, and even went to park, but it was still beeping.

Overall, love the truck. Plan to head back out soon.

 

[CJ3Flyr]

:bigok: Looks great! Is that a Redhawk revolver? I have a Super Redhawk that I haven't had out of the case in 5 years, You make me want to go shooting;D

It looks like you were in some pretty deep snow!

 

[12guns]

Rifle is either a Brittish .303, partiallly sporterized .303, or possibly a "jungle carbine".
I would love to have that old 10-22 if you're interested in selling!

 

[zenofchaos]

Well CJ, the gun is actually a Ruger Security-6. My roomate picked it up about a week ago. I'm still trying to determine the differences between this one, and the Redhawk.

The snow did get pretty hairy for a while. I can't really say it was too bad, because I didn't even get to the point of airing down my tires...

12 Guns answered the rifle question correctly! It is certainly a British .303. Don't think it's a jungle carbine, as those were manufactured after mine was (mine was built in 1942) I believe it's a Lee-Enfield #4 Mk 1.

As for the .22, that's my dad's baby he's had for years. Good luck trying to get that one away from him!

 

[2003Can4runner]

If your 4lo was beeping you weren't actually in 4lo. You have to come to a complete stop, put it in N and then engage 4lo.

 

[SV_Dude]

Nice pics and nice arsenal... I myself have a Brit .303, along with about 12 or 13 other guns with my 1906 Winchester pump action .22 being the most rare. My newest editions are a Kimber 1911, Taurus .357 Mag, and just today I added a XD-9 sub compact as a pistol for the wife. At least that was the reason I told her I was buying it "Honey, it's for you"

Just my little bit of advice though, when shooting:

Lean forward and roll your shoulders forward. Your shoulders will move back and take up some of the recoil as you fire and you'll re-acquire your target much faster and be more accurate. :hunter:

 

[SV_Dude]

Is that the original stock on the 303? I thought all brit's had a solid wood stock even above the barrel? My 303 has the wooden stock going all the way to the front sight post. I just did a google search and couldn't find another 303 like yours that had the partial wood stock. I would like to see more pics of your 303 if you don't mind.



n/m Just googled sporterized .303. Looks good, is that a custom stock mod or just an aftermarket stock?

 

[bak3rme]

..man, u guys can just pack up and drive a little way and enjoy some of the most beautiful views in North america. we however, have the stupid appalacian mountains that i can ride my bike up and down around inside and out. i flew over the rockies once and i stared out the window for the entire time in awe. we made a trip that covered the rockies all the way to alaska and back down into russia and eventually japan.. mountains awe me lol

 

[theizzardking]

if you guys ever go over hi-2 or up to baker hit me up i'm in stanwood and do alot of mountian driving out that way.
later,
jason