I could just send em to ya we have a ton of them jus layin around.

 

Congrats on the tow rig. Moab here we come!

 

I might snag some of them from you next summer. I've got 2, that should hold me over for now. Thanks for the offer!

Thanks! Yup, I need to get back out to Moab. It's been almost 5 years now. Maybe this spring. I wanted to head out this fall but it's not going to happen. Have fun in Nov with the family!

You got an extra Addicted Off Road windshield sticker for the Dodge?

 

Aight that sounds good. I will set them aside for ya.

 

Is this want you needed?

 

Just to start off, this trip was by far one of the funnest things I've ever done

DIRTCO lives in Frisco (just outside of Breckenridge) and has been inviting me to go snow wheeling for years. I've never been able to make it up (rig is usually torn apart during the winter) but finally had the chance to see what this snow wheeling thing is all about. I'm hooked

DIRTCO knows of a great place to snow wheel. It doesn't see much traffic and doesn't have many off-camber or super steep climbs. Perfect for snow wheeling. His 4Runner is on fresh 35" MTR's and my sits on 39.5" Iroks (bald fronts and 75% rears). He's also got a turbo

My winch was only used 3 times, twice on myself and once on Jeremiah. The shovel was only brought out once. Crazy considering we wheeled for 5 hours. The snow wasn't fresh. It had a 1-2" hard crust and the rest was 1 to 3 feet of sugar snow. Not the most ideal snow to wheel it but whatever.

DIRTCO lead the way at the start of the day while I tried to figure out how to wheel the white stuff. Once he was having a hard time breaking trail, I tried my hand at breaking trail. Just the couple extra inches of tire and bald front tires (didn't dig down as bad) allowed me to break several miles of trail that we didn't think we were going to even have a shot at.

The 22RE ran at redline for several hours Didn't bother it at all.



First stuck of the day. This was about 5 minutes onto the trail This took a winch pull and some shovel to get out.


DIRTCO breaking trail



Letting the rigs cool off.


This is what we were breaking though most of the day. Since it was sugar snow, it took everything we had to break. If it would have been fresh or wet spring snow, we could have driven through snow twice as deep.







This was where we stopped and turned around. I could have bashed it but would have taken us hours to get 100 more feet up the trail. It was a solid 2-3 feet deep with some of the drifts even taller.



Trying to turn around.



2nd big stuck for me of the day. Glad I have a winch.






Where we stopped for lunch. After coming down, we drove up 2 more times and bombed down our tracks. It was a blast.

Here's some footage of Jeremiah bashing some snow
[YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GdbalfTMihU[/YOUTUBE]

We both got quite a bit of footage, he's going to send it to me and I'll get it edited up and will post up the video.

 

Pictures from DIRTCO!






I was almost stuck in that pic but managed to back out, hahahahaha!

 

Isn't snow wheeling fun!! Nothing gives a rush like it.

If you are ever looking into some new areas for snow wheeling, check out the Snowy's in southern Wyoming. Lots of good places just like that. I especially like late May when the run off is happening and the snow is soft...it's game on!

 

2/27/2011

The Race to Moab - 2011

Decided to start tearing down the 4Runner to get it ready for Moab in 3 weeks. I noticed some drivetrain vibs while snowbashing with DIRTCO in Breck earier this year. Same with snowbashing with Brandon last weekend. So I pulled the cases to check them out along with install my new twin stick.



Got the cases out


Twin stick ready to be installed


Trying not to make a mess but anytime I'm working with gear oil, it's bound to happen


Have to remove the reduction box from the rear case to install the twin stick




Not good. Found a loose ball bearing from the bearing around the coupler That's probably part of my driveline vibration.

So, I called my buddy Joe and he's got the same dual case adapter (10 degree rotated version though) and I was going to take the bearing from his adapter. My adapter must be old because it looks nothing like his adapter. I'm hoping the bearings are the same. I'll be calling Marlin in the morning to see if I can swap the bearings without issues and to order a new bearing. Not really what I was hoping to see 3 weeks before Moab.

 

3/1/2011

Exchanged PM's with one of Marlin's employees and he is sending me out a bearing for my adapter, no charge I think they had a bad batch of bearings during the year I bought my adapter. Bearing should be leaving Fresno CA today so hopefully I'll have it soon. I guess I'll start tearing apart the front axle tonight.

 

Made some great progress this weekend. My old crossmember only mounted to the front t-case (rather than both cases). I decided to step up to new crossmember that attached both cases. The forces those mounts see is unreal with dual cases. It didn't help that the t-case mount was loose and striped 3 of the 4 bolts holding it on. I'm guessing that was the majority of my driveline noise.

New dual case crossmember skid plate from Addicted Off Road showed up Friday. 50 pounds of 3/8" thick press bent steel My bearing from Marlin showed up Saturday.


Cases out and apart, just waiting for the bearing. Might as well start tearing down the front axle for a rebuild and knuckle swap.


My 35" rollers and 39.5" Iroks


Trying to keep all the nasty gear oil mixed with grease (Birfield soup) off the garage floor.


I still need to tear the other side down.


New crossmember from Scotty at Addicted.


Got the shift fork interlock pin out and the twin stick I ordered from Addicted Off Road installed. Going to be nice to have 2wd low for the trail. I might actually make a couple corners that I used to have to 2-3-4 point turn


The messy garage. Lots of room to work though!


Dual cases back together. I had to buy all new hardware for the t-case mounts. $1.50 a bolt x 8. Red locktited them in so they don't come loose anymore.


As far as I got tonight. The cases are bolted down to the crossmember but I'm having touble getting the driver's side frame mounts to line up with the crossmember. Good time to stop for the night.


Jack holding up the drivetrain for now.

Stuff to get done before Moab
Get the crossmember fully bolted to the frame
Hook up front and rear drivelines
Fill t-cases with oil
Install t-case shifters and rubber boots
Tear down driver's side front axle
Clean up replacement knuckles
Install 5th studs
Pull 3rd member and install differential stud eliminator bolts (ordered from Fastenal, should be here Wednesday)
Red Locktite the damn knuckle studs in so they never come loose again
Reassemble the front axle
Install front lights on bumper
Install rock lights
Fab new bumpstop brackets

 

Lookin good Aaron. It'll definitly be Moab ready. That should be a blast.

 

Great work Aaron! That beast is going to be fun in Moab with the new goodies, and even though its a pain to find busted bearings, sure beats finding them on the trail after they've taken out more expensive parts.

Can't wait to see the photos from Moab!

 

coooool....you are gonna like the twin sticks

 

Still plugging away on the 4Runner. I didn't get as much done as I wanted yesterday and haven't gotten a chance to work on it today

My uncle brought me over a die grinder and a carbide burr to slightly grind a couple of the holes in the crossmember. I also had to tap one of the holes to get the bolt to go in. I also got the 5th stud setup finally done.

Pulled the dumbass of the day yesterday. Took my cleaned up knuckles, steering arms, and 5th stud brackets over to my dad's old house to use the welder. I even thought about which arms needed to go on which side (passenger vs. driver). Got everything burned on nice bought it home. Guess what, wrong arms on the wrong knuckles

So I took the cutoff wheel to them and go everything cut off and ground down. Luck for me, all I had to do was swap the arms and reburn the bracket to the steering arm. Only took an extra 15 minutes to fix my mistake.



After cutting them apart and cleaning them up with a grinder



Fully welded. Should help out a ton in keep my knuckle studs tight.

 

Looks good, man. You and DIRTCO have about the coolest rigs on here. It is neat to see them together. Your tailgate swap has inspired me. I will be following suit shortly. The taillight tins look great too. I wonder what it would look like painted all the same color...

Have fun in Moab!

 

Very nice buildup thread Love what you have done to the runner, my 85 pu will get dualtransfers "soon" as well. Subscribed!

 

Moab pictures from the end of March


Somewhere on Behind the Rocks


Bottom of White Knuckle Hill


Behind the Rocks












Slick Rock Dome on Moab Rim


Moab from the Moab Rim overlook




Start of Poison Spider


Poison Spider Waterfall


Still on Poison Spider



Moab with the La Sal Mtn range covered in snow


Somewhere on Golden Spike


Golden Crack on Golden Spike trail





Bottom of Hells Gate (drove up it twice )


Bottom of Escalator. Ended up trying a couple of times before I climbed it.

[YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q3Vk7lcats8&hd=1[/YOUTUBE]

[YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s8yiYBuhKvo&hd=1[/YOUTUBE]

 

Sweet pictures! I wish I could of made it

Are you going to have it painted in time for the Jambo?

 

We will make it out there sometime soon. I love Moab. I need a couple of weeks out there

The plan is to have it painted by then. I've got the paint and supplies to spray it. Just needs a good DA sanding and some small primer work on the bare metal. A buddy of mine here in Pueblo is going to let me work on it at his shop so I don't have to spray it in my own garage.

It's going to bright