2012 DWeb Utah Trip

[chris snell]

Seven weeks left. How's everybody coming along?

My truck is still down in Albuquerque for the LT230 rebuild but I hope I can drive it home next week. I ordered some new seats from RN, nothing fancy, just the factory style. Also picked up some of those MUD seat risers so I'm not so cramped. Still need to order some tie rod end spares since my spares look like shit. Also need to find a handheld CB since it looks like that will be our lingua franca. I think I will order some oil cooler lines from ECR because my rebuilds are coming up on seven years old. Also have some new door top seals and bulkhead vent seals. I'll have her buttoned up tight for the trip and that should help cut down on the dust getting all over my shit.

 

[chris snell]

On second thought, if we can come up with some FRS radios for everyone, that would be preferable to CB.

 

[p m]

Chris - I can pack a handheld CB or two if you need'em. FRS radios are kind of okay - sound quality is a lot worse than CB. I have a scattering of those, some are still in the factory packaging.

Replaced the front Bilsteins yesterday - poor POSs were coated with oil. Besides the front arms' bushings, those are the last suspension components I bought the truck with. Funny that I used to think that shock absorbers shouldn't affect the straight-line stability - with the trailing arms angled down even a little, they do.

 

[jrose609]

Did a full service today. Also changed out the injectors. About 100,000 kms on the old ones. One of the injectors was completely fouled. Coked up and nasty. Poor Tdi was probably only running on 3 cylinders. Runs pretty good now.

 

[chris snell]

I am still without my truck.

 

[jrose609]

Seven weeks left. How's everybody coming along?...... . Still need to order some tie rod end spares since my spares look like shit......... Also have some new door top seals and bulkhead vent seals. I'll have her buttoned up tight for the trip and that should help cut down on the dust getting all over my shit.

Picked up a new door seal kit from Tillery. They are from a D2 and supposed to be a lot better than the originals......which probably won't be hard considering the originals are 1997 vintage.

Tie rod ends are probably a good idea.......

 

[Some Dude]

Boy, one thing leads to another doesn't it? The weight of this new bumper and my gigantic PM1 battery really put the hurt on my medium duty front springs. OME 779s are on the way to solve the front sag and now I've got stars in my eyes for a Warn winch.

Stop the ride!! My wallet wants to get off...

 

[jrose609]

Boy, one thing leads to another doesn't it? The weight of this new bumper and my gigantic PM1 battery really put the hurt on my medium duty front springs. OME 779s are on the way to solve the front sag and now I've got stars in my eyes for a Warn winch.

Stop the ride!! My wallet wants to get off...

You know you will get a winch sooner or later. Might as well do it now......


Order up some synthetic winch line while you're at it.

The list goes on......and on.....and on........and on.

 

[muger80]

Any thoughts on Smittybilt Winches, I can not afford a Warn

 

[Some Dude]

Order up some synthetic winch line while you're at it.

I would have to put my foot in my mouth. I have a friend who is a climber and I'm always giving him shit about his collection of $300 ropes.

Any thoughts on Smittybilt Winches, I can not afford a Warn

They say the best winch is the one you have on your truck.

 

[p m]

They say the best winch is the one you have on your truck.

It depends on circumstances - if you're headed somewhere expecting to winch for hours every day, or if you plan on trusting your truck hanging on the winch cable, you need a winch that may cost not a small fraction of your truck's worth.
Otherwise, a cheap winch is better than no winch at all. You just have to be aware of its limitations.
I have a cheap - but 12k lb rated - Titan winch on my truck, a pre-cursor to that.

 

[chris snell]

If you've already got your recovery points squared away, I would install HD steering linkage and tie rod if you haven't already. Diff guards would also be a good idea. Winches are great but a lot of us have them already and can pull you out if you get stuck.

 

[Some Dude]

Appreciate the advice. I'll see what I can pull off before mid April. My March is starting to get full of winter stuff, but we'll see if something opens up. Snow pack is rotten everywhere and avy conditions are pretty terrible so one or two of those weekends may be abandoned.

I'm still trying to track down some jate rings for the front.

 

[jrose609]

Appreciate the advice. I'll see what I can pull off before mid April. My March is starting to get full of winter stuff, but we'll see if something opens up. Snow pack is rotten everywhere and avy conditions are pretty terrible so one or two of those weekends may be abandoned.

I'm still trying to track down some jate rings for the front.

Possibility for your new bumper...

Expedition Exchange has these for $15.

and these for $15

 

[Some Dude]

Yeah I've explored just about every avenue for adding points to the front of an ARB equipped D2 and that is one option but not my favorite.

I have to stop hemorrhaging cash into this truck right now and I can start up again next fall. Getting married this summer. Further upgrades beyond this bumper are unlikely before Utah.

 

[jrose609]

I have to stop hemorrhaging cash into this truck right now and I can start up again next fall. Getting married this summer. Further upgrades beyond this bumper are unlikely before Utah.

Congrats!

 

[Blue]

Possibility for your new bumper...

Expedition Exchange has these for $15.

and these for $15

That's exactly what I put on the front of my Safari Guard front bumper.

But the shackle mounting bracket is $35, the backing plate is $15, and the actual bow shackle is $15.

 

[jrose609]

That's exactly what I put on the front of my Safari Guard front bumper.

But the shackle mounting bracket is $35, the backing plate is $15, and the actual bow shackle is $15.

Makes more sense. $30 seemed way too inexpensive

 

[Ho]

I remember when the tradition started. Curtis Littlefield and I were fixing our broken cv joints.

Steve,

I've had them, but no broken CV:

 

[Ho]

Lifted truck, OME setup, got new tires, and bumper modeling is still in the works, thinking of getting a front drive shaft from Will since he has them on sale, any advice, still no lockers, any suggestions on steering relocation kit, any advice, I know its unprotected and I wanna save you guys the hazards of having to replace in the field

If you can't relocate the damper in time, at least try to get a spare tie rod. If you loose drive, you can at least be towed by the guys. If you loose steering, you are done.