So true! I'm slow at typing/inserting links, etc. and getting bumped out was getting frustrating. So far, the Remember Me seems to be working and no missing missives.

Looks like we may get a thunderstorm later today...99f and 26% humidity now. Enjoy the rain!

 

you met my family, so you know I'm essentially German as well; sprechen Sie Deutsch?

from your list, I like the ones above, but my own musical tastes are quite eclectic as well and include a variety of German pieces; might you be interested in any of those?

 

You have good taste in music Hrt4me. I don't really know any German music beyond some classical. Always open to trying new stuff as long as it's not weird food.

Got the rack in. It's not a terrible job, but it's not the funnest one, either. Pics n stuff later.

Buttoned it up this morning and took it wheeling. Did have to get tugged up one thing and try other things several times before I made them, but had much fun and only got a little dinged up and a whole lot pinstriped. Pics n stuff later, if there's any good ones.

I'm tired, sore and sleepy. G'night, y'all.

 

G' night, Hab!

Good on the rack and wheeling. But, dings? Uh, oh...comes with the wheeling, I suppose.

 

Minor enough dings. Kissed a tree just a little tiny bit, then I smooched a little harder. I also rubbed up on it too. After that I let it get all up in my rack.

I loved that tree lots but it's barely kiss and tell so no worries.

Pics aren't that exciting:



Charlie came up shotgun on a difficult spot, then moved to my seat and said maybe he should do the driving if I was gonna be bouncing around like that! He's my backseat driver.



Bumped the bumper on that dang tree, put good size dent in it, tweaked the eyebrow and marker light surround so the bottom of the marker was out of bounds. Also tweaked the bumper.






And fixed it pretty well this morning









And the modified Taurus visors are working great! They stay where you put them. Up, down, in the middle.

Oh yeah, used my slider too, that also worked great!

 

That same tree tried to take a bite out of my car as well. But my roof rack acted like sliders and I just slid on by.

I had mine dangling tires way up in the air several times. It's always a fun feeling when the car is doing these slow lazy swings back and forth.

I got plenty of pin stripes, three decent sized gouges in the rear bumper, and broke the right rear shock.

I had to get tugged up the same waterfall. Damp limestone - the tires just weren't having any luck with that.

 

Except for the little ding in the bumper corner, she fixed up real nice.
Sounds like the 99 got the worst of it for this trip.

 

Hanging some wheels


I had the front wheel dangling going up something steep too, but no pics got taken of that.

The shock broke at the top - the stud was rusted nearly all the way through. Original shocks with 195K miles on them, not really a big loss.

 

^^^ Looks like fun!

 

What you can't see is what's just behind him...



I allllmost made it out, had to be tugged a little to make it. Worst parts were the slick limestone and the hole with large immoveable rock that you couldn't back up once you got into the hole which was where you immediately slide into going in. I'm partway up it in this pic.

I'll have to try it again sometime.

 

As Paul Harvey used to say, "And, now the rest of the story."

 

Yeah, after everyone else had lots of trouble getting up that, I only tried a few times before accepting a pull from the '96. I didn't have the ride height to get a run at it at all. After my first attempt (where the rear slides over into the hole) I could only go about 1, 2, inches forward and backward. back into the rock/hole, forward until the wheels spun. I tried fast, I tried slow, just wasn't happening.

 

Poking around, found more from the vacation trip that I liked. Still looks flat, thanks camera.

Moab, Fins n things- a little light in the rear...mostly a little down in the hill....



Rest of these are Elephant Hill in the Needles district of Canyonlands...












That is all.

 

nice, thanks for sharing

 

I have to get out of NY, MOAB looks amazing.

 

Definitely on my list of places to go Hoping next summer but will see how ready the Runner is by then.

 

Thanks hrt4me, fletchy002, Webbuff. It was lots of fun! Definitely worth the trip even if everything starts looking orangey after a few days and you have to go up into the La Sals to literally chill. So much to drive out there (and mountain bike!), all sorts of levels of driving too.

 

so bottom line, skid plates will do me more good than sliders for the mild trails I want to run in Colorado and Utah, right?

 

Sounds reasonable. My rear hitch took the most hits that last vacation, followed by skids, front hitch and lastly, the one hit to the lower control arm mount. No slider hits.

 

I never posted these from the 96's rack and pinion r/r...
This is simply how I did it. I am claiming the not-a-mechanic status here. YOU proceed correctly- not necessarily how I did it!
I was able to do this with the wheels still on the truck. I did lift them a little off the ground when reattaching the outer tie-rod ends to the a-arm.

Secure steering wheel. You do NOT want it to turn, you'll mess up the (I think it's called) clockspring. Move is one thing, a little moving is okay. Turning is not.



IF you have a diff drop you have to remove it. The long bolt that holds the left side of the rack (driver's) has to come out under the front diff.



Remove sway bar. The brackets have one nut and one bolt, both are undone from the topside. Illustration of what the bracket looks like. I unbolted the links at the a-arm, it doesn't matter, unbolt them however you can to get the sway bar off and out of the way.



Unbolt and use a truck tie-rod end tool to get the outer tie rod ends off the a-arm. I use the rent-a-tool at Autozone and they always say 'oh, foreign' and try to give me the smaller tool. It won't fit.



I unbolted the upper bolt that holds the rag joint to the splined shaft on the power steering side. I should have unbolted the lower bolt instead.