This was a first Yotatech related run for me. I met a lot of really nice people and got a little more hands on experience. Also broke my first thing on my rig. Ahh it?s nice to be stretching out and establishing a little history. The roads to the trailheads were plowed so it?s easy getting to them. We tried a couple of different trails but didn?t get much further than a few hundred feet. The snow was top frozen and supported weight once, then started to fail making it easy to get stuck following in the softened tracks. I learned that chains take some time to get on right and still run the risk of coming off. One of the guys brought bolt cutters in case the chain wrapped around the axle. That?s experience speaking up, that thought never crossed my mind but I could see why he brought ?em. We both had chains come off. There were several people that decided that the snow on the trails made for more than they were into. I thought digging out, yank strapping, and winching was half the fun but the broken 4WD from just a snow bank makes it easy to see how heading back for a hot drink and coming back another day is appealing too. I had no idea Central City has so many great things to photograph. I?m planning to go back there on a photography run where wheeling will be the means and the pics will be the excuse.



Topping off the tanks



The yotaplow



Cool mining building



Snow sandwich



Don's Rig



How the heck does Ansel Adams make his photos look so good? Mine just look...so ordinary.



Me and my infamous grinny smile.



Another building



Jamie and katie make it through first? And they're running a Cherokee? I'm gonna get emails for posting this one.



Gracefull Ric....really gracefull lol! Notice the perfectly saved camera. Not a scratch on that baby.



Shane and Angie

 

awesome pics Glen, Ill post up the few that i got asap

 

heres a few of mine:
Glen busting through

Don Posin

nice little group shot

Im ready to hit it again, lol

 

WTH - why didn't anyone let us know?!?!?!

Looks a lot better than last time we were up there...

 

wanted to keep this low key, as most of the guys are new and asked not to post up.
it wasnt any better than a few weeks ago, we didnt make "any", farther than we did. but we did find Nevadaville, lol

 

Looks cold........but you guys always have a good time.

 

lol ric i bet that snow burritto was a brain freeze eh?

 

nice, that poser shot of don is sweet! o yeah, and i like the "yotaplow" haha, thats the way to get things done.haha

 

Well I found out why I had 4WD before the run and then only the rear drive after the Yankee Hill Run. Recognize the parts? I think that I got the wheels spinning too fast and then it found some dirt or rock to grab on. I didn't hear any noises until a couple of days later when driving around town. That's when I started to hear a click that got louder and louder over just a dozen miles or so.

When we were playing in the snow I caught myself revving high RPMs to help offset the low power of the 3.0. It wasn't until the third push or so before I started to really think about it. Not sure when it actually popped but I'm surprised I/no one heard it.

In case you don't recognize the part it's my axle. On the bright side, Ric pointed out that the CV boots were getting dry rot. Got a new boot on the passenger side now. I guess when it warms up I'll put the new one on the driver's side too.

 

Glen,
if ya want to work on it in the garage, let me know.
i think ya need to frame it, "My First Carnage"

 

That's my argument of how lockers PREVENT front drive damage ...

x2 for garage space offer

 

x2 on the locker argument.

 

Good point on the lockers.

 

Thanks for the garage space offer. This is my daily driver so I ended up biting the bullet and just had it fixed. Ended up being $512. Great point about the lockers. It's been on the list of have-wants but now it's starting to get closer to the must-needs. At least I can justify it easier like that right? lol

 

so, are ya ready to hit it again ?

 

$512

What the hell did they do?

 

he took it to a shop. Its seldom cheap at the shop.

 

TC,

He replaced the axle and put a new CV boot on. That's about it from what I can tell.

From the repair order:

"Replace Axle Assy, R&R Spindle and Replace Both Spindle Bushings"

$179.35 Parts
$288.00 Labor

 

Ohhh - that's where they gotcha.

Next time you blow a CV, let me know - I'll be happy to show you how to replace it. Or, if I blow one, I'll let you know. It's not hard at all - takes 1/2 hr - 1 hr.

 

But he killed a brass bushing.

I have seen that on late model hub swapped trucks and on birfield trucks, not old IFS trucks.

Thanks for seeing the light on the locker stuff. I think all five of us who have now read it will get the clue while the rest flounder.