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Hi Hab! Just got caught up on the happenings since mid-May. Great work per your usual.
I've been fine just off enjoying the boat and outdoors a lot this year. Not as much time for the Internet these days. Yes, I've been slacking in checking into YT.
I was getting worried about you, rw! Shoulda known when it comes to you and water if it can't be skied on it'll either be floated on or fished in. Outdoor distractions are best (but you can keep the water parts!).
Garden got off to a slow start- it rained so much this spring tilling had to wait. Still, flowers on the tomatoes, foot high peppers and corn, okra catching up.
Need to post up a bike rack I had somebody who can weld modify for me. Want to test it out first though, for a more informed report. Crossing fingers it works out well!
Thanks rw! Back in town, things to post, some minor-ish things to repair! Have about half a bajillion pics to sort through and maybe some sleep to get. Will post up as I get it together.
Thanks Terry. So far I've got green tomatoes and some green beans. We got started late this year because of so much rain. Dad said they've had over 5" this month in the Herman area.
96 4Runner 286,xxx miles
New windshield today! The glass company ordered the blue tint but it turns out it had brown. It was the original windshield, several chips, 2 big cracks, one of which was delaminating, and a metric ton of sand pits. They did offer to get the brown in this afternoon instead but I opted to go ahead with the blue and it looks fine. You can tell if you look out a side window, but it doesn't bother me. When we were holding the white paper up to the old windshield it was really hard to tell the color, very very subtle. On the plus side the new windshield has the darker band across the top. The old one did not.
Vacation Damage for the 96:
Have one rack boot to repair as the right one got shredded on something over vacation. I've already pulled the Beck-Arnley boot that was on my old rack off to use on the new rack. It will stretch over the outer tie-rod end so not a terrible job.
The left front sway bar link's washer got itself worked off over the nut so I've found a shouldered nut and better washers plus a couple of poly link bushings. Need to do the same to the right side- the links came with very small non-shouldered nuts on the tops.
The right rear sway bar link lost a lower nut....loc-tite for the next one!
And it was running a little hot (190-195 generally) for much of the trip. Did lose some coolant when it was working extra hard (a little over 200), like on 70 heading west towards Vail. Before with the radiator cap it would get hot and boil over for any hill climb, but not run hot. We did swap caps with the new one on the 99 knowing it prolly wasn't that and it wasn't. If it does a hard run and you let it sit running for a few minutes the temp comes down a little pretty quickly. Gonna keep an eye on it for awhile, poor thing sure isn't a fan of working hard at altitude.
And I did bend the bike rack swing-out arm. Repairable. It was mighty convenient to have the rack, contemplating some sort of skids so the arm can't be caught on stuff. It did last through some pretty tough beating before Mineral Creek tweaked it.
Headlight bulb burned out. The left front, of course, that the whole headlight has to be removed to replace because of the dual batteries. Now I have two different color headlights.
One of the air bags (in rear springs) got a split in it up near the top.
All the skids were used, and some things that didn't have skids were used too, but haven't found anything horrible....yet.
A few (million) vacation pics. We took both trucks this year, spending a couple of weeks in Utah and Colorado. Always a great time. Drove most of the day and part of the early morning with an hour's nap in Limon, we ended up napping a little more on the Front Range, then hiking the trail to Devil's Head fire look out.
On the way down from the look out
Then over Guanella pass (paved) to Winter Park to camp. This is the first and only time we used the awning as it poured for awhile before it cleared up in time for bed. It didn't take long to set up and did great. I used velcro straps to secure it to the trees.
Next day we rode most of the Tipperary loop. This is the kid's first time riding his own bike in Colorado and he did awesome. He showed excellent handling skills, surprising considering it was so wet this spring we didn't get nearly enough practice at home. It's not an easy climb to the fun downhill, especially as we were at 500' above sea level just a couple days before. Sure, he's not fast, but that's okay.
Then on to the Flat Tops wilderness area for some sleep and a lot of shooting stars. Next stop: Canyonlands, the Maze district.
The Maze District.
You must be self sufficient, have plenty of fluids and fuel and you must pack out EVERYTHING you bring with you. I highly recommend the PETT toilet and the individually wrapped GoAnywhere toilet bags. The orange bucket on my rack is for the 'end' results (sorry). Also, staying the trail is very important here. Don't bust the crust....the cryptobiotic layer that takes forever to recover from disturbances. We had a total of 20 extra gallons of gas and 10 gallons of water, plus everything else needed to survive, repair, whatever. It's a really beautiful and potentially unforgiving place if you don't care to watch your p's and q's. The camp spots we choose are in the interest of the most possible shade. Driving all day with the a/c = awesome. Nights were very comfortable (I get cold easy...).
We spent a night and Panorama Point and a couple at Doll House. Other than river rafters coming up from the, um, river, we had the place to ourselves. Hiked to the confluence the second day...
To the Point:
Up, down and lots of off-camber driving...
The crack has grown a lot and is just under my field of vision
And out of Panorama, heading back towards the main road.
What's that face? Prolly me hearing a pop and then the sound of the rear sway bar hitting the lower rear control arm. We won't be able to pick up another sway bar link until Moab...the 99 already lost its rear link, both of 'em on the right side.
And down the cliff (stop, turn off truck and listen, there's no passing here)
Vail is awesome scenery coloyota1023! Have ridden the bike up and down (pre-kid) Two Elk pass....and also took the easy way up in the lifts to do the single and double track down, enjoyed Fred's lunchbox. We are back home, pretty close to St. Louis MO.
and some of the less tilty stuff on the way to Hite from Teapot
The most tilt I saw was around 22%.
Airing up before hitting the highway. We usually have to stop at Hite for gas but did one less day so made it all the way to Monticello which is way cheaper.
We also got a weight on the trucks, but with almost no gas and several gallons less in water.
The 99 @ 5360
A night near Hamburger Rock outside of Needles, then on to the Needles district in the morning to wheel Elephant Hill to our next campsite in Devil's Kitchen.
06-26-2016, 02:25 PM
Outdoor distractions are best (but you can keep the water parts!). 
