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No one took the last minute bait for this morning so….. anyone up for wheelin this weekend? Pickle Gulch, Mammoth gulch to Miners Gulch to Yankee hill, Miller rock, any others between Idaho Springs and Fort Collins?
I’m surprised how little interest in wheelin I’m seeing from this group during the longest days of the year ……. Cmon folks, this is a 4x4/off-roading website. Let’s go outside!
I find this curious too.
My weekend is pending a trail with an out of state guest --- and the weather. Forecast, matching with guests schedule, don't look good but as of now I'm on hold until a last minute decision.
A lot of last minute requests don't get many takers. That's why there's a planning page so you can post in advance and give people time to plan. Most of us have jobs, families, and other things going on so we can't just go on a whim.
If you have a winch, you don't need to go with anybody else 😉
[QUOTE=JLWILLYS21;348978]A lot of last minute requests don't get many takers. That's why there's a planning page so you can post in advance and give people time to plan. Most of us have jobs, families, and other things going on so we can't just go on a whim.
If you have a winch, you don't need to go with anybody else [/QUOTE]
only posted one last minute request, thanks for the input though 🤦🏽
I have not been feeling well, and now have daily taxi duties for grandkids to/from summer day camp. Also concerned about my clutch.
I haven't had good luck with most of my last minute posts, so just giving some insight why they might not be working too well 😉
I’m sorry your not feeling well lately Tom, get well!!!
Im just trying to stir the pot and get folks out in the hills, especially all these new members who come on board! I’ve been quite active here for over 5 years and most new members post an intro and then are never heard from again. I’ve seen a good amount of new member posts over the last month and hoping to get some of those people out on some trails! Yes I have a winch and can go solo but it’s more fun going with others so I’m going to continue to be that annoying kid bugging everyone to go wheelin!
[QUOTE=JLWILLYS21;348983]I haven't had good luck with most of my last minute posts, so just giving some insight why they might not be working too well [/QUOTE]
I get it, but some folks can’t commit and are better with last minute plans so I’m always posting up short notice also just in case! I’m lucky because I live in the hills and have more flexibility than most to get out anytime I want…….
[QUOTE=RockyMtRebel;348973]I’m surprised how little interest in wheelin I’m seeing from this group during the longest days of the year[/QUOTE]
I planned on hitting you up soon to get some trails planned :)
I've been dealing with an issue of snapping bead lock bolts since I got them. At first I didn't have any extra bolts and didn't know how to replace them so I had to take my rig down to the shop that did all my work and be like guys, wtf?? (they're all the way down in the Springs which made this super inconvenient). Then it kept happening and I told them I need an extra set to deal with more as they break. I was able to drive to the trail and then see if and how many broke and then replace them before the run. The 2.5hr drive to Chinaman's Gulch resulted in 5 being broken, the drive home resulted in none. Typically it would happen from highway driving not ever when aired down and wheeling.
So I called Raceline and spoke to the guy who helped create my wheel and he had some suggestions for me. Originally me and others assumed it was due to the shop being lazy and over-torqueing. This guy said that was possible and if I was worried I could do as I was thinking by replacing every bolt but that he thinks it's more likely due to my type of tire that the ring was likely being slightly bent inward putting extra pressure on all of those bolts and that Raceline had these plastic ring spacer inserts I could install. I ordered 5 sets of bolts and spacer rings just in case.
Well one problem is as most people know I haven't done much work on my truck myself, the jobs I've wanted done were so big and complex it was just no way realistic for me to take most of them on. Here was a situation I really needed to own myself and felt I need to start taking on more at home. I had to order a whole bunch of tools and wanted to be able to bring them on me with runs so I would be less useless if in need. Things you probably all have already, impact wrench, full sets of impact sockets and regular sockets.
I hadn't been losing too many bolts and I went to go on the Pickle Gulch run a few weeks back, loaded up the family in the truck, had some spare bolts just in case and hit the road. We get about 10 miles out and boom I hear air coming out quick and I pull over on 470 where unfortunately the shoulder is not level at all. I lost 7 bolts in a row and the tire is starting to go flat. I thought ok, well I have a hi-jack and all my new tools to be prepared I should be good. I pull the truck over a little more to be more level and am basically sitting on a bit of a V. The great thing about my new struts is how much travel they have! Well the bad thing about my new struts is how much damn travel they have when I'm trying to jack the truck up. I used the hi-lift to jack the truck up by the rock slider and it just needed to much lift to get that tire off the ground because my shock just kept extending. I didn't have any other kind of a jack to do this safely either. I was able to get the tire off and then the truck started to roll back.. like an idiot didn't think about chocking the wheels and realized I was more unprepared than I thought even for something so simple like changing a tire. The jack fell and luckily I got my tire shoved under the axle quickly so there was no damage and no one was hurt. I decided to try and jack the truck up this time by the rear bumper hoping it would be more stable but still on this uneven ground V shape. Well at a certain height again the truck started to move and was unstable. I evened up having to call a tow truck and felt like a total failure and was pissed at myself for not taking care of the bolts sooner by putting my family in danger. Even the tow truck had a seriously difficult time getting my truck lifted safely because of the shock travel and the ground under the center of the truck being lower. We got my spare and headed back home.
I needed to assess the situation, realize where I went wrong and figure out how to prevent it from happening again. I got some advice from Shane on some of the parts he brings for these situations and realized I need to get a legit car jack for home ASAP so I can start fixing each of my bead locks. I got some jack stands and a 4 ton pallet jack and for on the road got a HMMV scissor jack with an axle adapter so that next time I need to change a tire I can lift up more safely, oh and of course got some chocks to make sure that I don't make that mistake again.
The last thing I needed was time, it's tough getting away from the family especially when I work so much but I made it a priority this week. I was able to successfully remove all my tires and replace all 160x bead lock bolts with brand new ones to exactly 18 pounds with my new torque wrench, and confirmed I did have a gap on my ring so I installed the spacers. I just mostly finished up last night, I still need to double check all the bolts and properly toque my lug nuts but then knock on wood I should be good to go and start hitting the trails again. I really hope this will solve all of my issues with the bolts.
It's been a learning experience and I want to try to continue being more prepared every time I go out and have learned some lessons along the way.
tl;dr I had to take care of some **** with my truck but plan on getting out on the trails a bunch in the soon future, friend. Last minute runs and weekday runs likely won't ever work out for me but I have no problem stepping up with planned events too.
I might be interested in running on Sunday
[QUOTE=RockyMtRebel;348985]I get it, but some folks can’t commit and are better with last minute plans so I’m always posting up short notice also just in case! I’m lucky because I live in the hills and have more flexibility than most to get out anytime I want…….[/QUOTE]
When I got my Willys I was out of work and would have hit you up for almost all these short notice trips. Now that I'm employed, kids in day camps, housework, etc (not to mention a new motorcycle), I haven't had as much time lately myself.
Keep posting though and I am sure you will find some takers occasionally. This winter I thought there were lots of great responses and I was surprised at how easy it was to schedule a run. As summer came up, it got more challenging to schedule meet ups.
I wanted to work on the trail restoration project, but I will be in the Ouray area that week tackling Black Bear Pass and Governor's Basin. These damn schedules!
[quote=RockyMtRebel;348984]I’m going to continue to be that annoying kid bugging everyone to go wheelin![/quote]
Please do - that's what this website is all about!
Since moving to Leadville I've been less inclined to head east to trails, given that there's trails up here that are generally very nice anyway. Even when I lived around Denver I drove to a lot of trails out here since they generally seem to be more scenic, there's more of them, and it's nice to be further from the city - though that was when I drove a rig that was better on the highway.
The bigger issue with that for me now is just how much highway driving that'd involve in my rig that is terrible on the highway. I wouldn't mind driving further to join y'all more on trails, but my rig's 3 cylinder 660cc engine and 79.5" wheelbase means that it gets pretty unstable above about 60mph, and it can't go nearly that fast uphill. Typically it takes about 33% longer to get anywhere in my Jimny than it would in a more highway-worthy car. I had a tow bar installed so that I could use my Explorer to tow it to further trails, but the front wheels fail to straighten back out after turning even after an alignment. I've considered a tow dolly, but the extra weight would push well past my 2-door Explorer's tow rating. Effectively this means that I avoid further trails unless they're easy enough for me to bring my stock '95 Explorer on.
That may all be a moot point soon, however, as my last day at my current job is next Thursday, June 30th. It's likely that I'll be moving back down to the actual front range for work unless I find something remote that pays me enough to continue living up here, which doesn't look terribly likely.
If y'all want to run Medano Pass soon, that is a further one which I'd be up for since it's easy so I can take my Explorer, and I really want to go ski down the dunes, and I can bring a couple of sleds for other folks. I also didn't get to see Zapata Falls last time since my passenger wasn't feeling well.
I’m at the end of the trail on T33 right now, 😎 surprised I have service here 😎
I've been spending most of my free time hiking, I got a new dog a few months ago and he's awesome. Also, most of the 4x4 trails just opened 10 days ago! :lmao: I might take the Jeep up to Yankee on Sunday afternoon, and I'm trying to take Monday off. I'll post up if I do.
Unfortunately I’m not able to wheel this weekend, one of my dogs started limping and I need to watch and care for him this weekend instead.
My schedule is already pretty busy on weekends, but living in the Springs day trips too far up north would be a problem for me. If anyone is up for some during the week moderate runs near the Springs, I might be up for it.