I used every piece of armor on my truck today

Doc · 05-26-07, 08:34 PM

Did a little wheeling today. In the process I managed to use every piece of armor on my truck- and found a few places I need more armor.

I met up with a few other mudders and spent some time near Knoxville, IA at a private off road park. It had rained pretty heavily two days ago. But we were hoping it would dry out for us. Unfortunately, it rained again last night, and drizzled all day on top of that. It was a muddy, mucky mess. You didn't drive your truck, you pointed it in a general direction and asked politely to go that way. Most of the time, the truck drove itself. Oh Joy.

Anyway- back to the armor. Jim's sliders (solidrockoffroad.com) saved my doors from damage more times than I can count. The trees were thick in this wooded section and I was using the sliders like pin-ball bumpers. It was great. Not to mention the 2 massive hits they took when I crested a very steep hill and slammed the full weight of the truck on them, twice- on a large boulder that you just couldn't avoid. The first big hit shook the truck violently, and I thought for sure I broke something. But- it's all good.

The front bumper (sleeoffroad.com) took some significant hits. I literally ran head on into a tree three times. Like I said before, steering was just a general input- which is why I hit the same tree three times. The testiment to the build quality of the bumper is the fact that you can't see where I hit the tree. No dent, no ding, not even a powder coat chip. Great bumper.

The rear 4x4 labs bumper (4x4labs.com) got the least of things but saved me from some damage that could have been a lot worse. I slid sideways down part of a hill and smacked the quarter panel on a large tree. One big dent near the gas door, and another good one on the D pillar. I'm thankful it didn't break the sliding glass. Had the bumper wings from the 4x4 labs bumper not kept the tree from pushing in further on the body, I think I might have broken that window, and maybe the marker and tail light as well.

Oh, and I strapped a FJ out of a mud pit. Nice amount of water.... INSIDE the truck!

I also got to use my 12.5k T-MAX winch a bunch today, about three times. Pulled my 80 sideways to get me back on track, and out of a good stuck in deep mud. The mud I was stuck in was up to the axles on the drivers side of the truck, and when I was pulled out I brought a large wall of mud with me. That winch was probably pulling 2-2.5 times the weight of the truck because of the mud and the embankment.

Pics:

Poor FJ :(

The mud pit I was well stuck in.

Ah- it'll buff right out.

Flexy-Flexy!

beno · 05-26-07, 08:40 PM

FINALLY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We get to see you wheel Doc.....

Glad everything worked for you considering you have spent serious amounts of time and money getting her ready.

Did the family come?

Oh, and I like the dent. Soon your truck will be a happy mate next to mine bro....

Be good.
-o-

Doc · 05-26-07, 08:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by beno

FINALLY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We get to see you wheel Doc.....

-o-

I love you man......

Hey- I wheel, just not a lot. No, the fam did not make it. They are in Oregon helping out with the new twins! It's probably a good thing, the trails were very rough. I am not sure either of them would have enjoyed it much. You had to hit a lot of things at speed because of the mud. When it dries out you could crawl a lot more of it.

And, PS, by-the-way, my theory was right. I needed to armor my truck up before I got serious about wheeling. My truck would have been a real mess had it not been for all that armor.

It was a great day, it would have been more fun had it been dry- but hopefully it'll be dry for the Tall Corn Cruiser Classic (TLCA even) later on in the summer. It will be held at the same locale.

NaterGator · 05-26-07, 08:53 PM

You might be able to "wet-plunger" that dent on the side out a little.

I know chicks dig scars and all, but it's free and worth a shot if your

is gonna be on your case

619TOY · 05-26-07, 09:17 PM

Wow, I think you guys definately had more excitement than we did today. Great pics. Not to steal your thread but I thought you might like a taste of a SoCal run:Upper Coyote Canyon trail report 5-26 for comparison

calstyl2 · 05-26-07, 09:21 PM

I put a ball on the inside and inflated it to push out a dent just like that, came out very well, could only tell from the rear in the sun, then I caved it in about a month later, but it did work, rubber basketball or football

Doc · 05-26-07, 09:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by NaterGator

You might be able to "wet-plunger" that dent on the side out a little.

I already pounded out the majority of it from inside. Simply removing the access cover for the OEM jack area gave good access. I used a rubber mallet and a small block. It's not perfect, but it's pretty good.

wingman358 · 05-26-07, 11:01 PM

Nice pictures, and I like your rig. Cool Spitfire sticker, too! (Do you skate?)

2badfjs · 05-27-07, 07:41 AM

nice pics eric!

should of left the dent, it adds a bit of charm to the rig.

"don't be a romer"

Doc · 05-27-07, 07:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wingman358

(Do you skate?)

Back in the day. Not any more.

Quote:

Originally Posted by 2badfjs

should of left the dent, it adds a bit of charm to the rig.

I seriously considered that, but ended up taking the majority of it out with the hammer and block. It's not like it's perfect, and I don't plan on taking it to the body shop or anything at this point, I just don't want the truck to look beat up.

jditom · 05-27-07, 10:23 AM

Great pics and beautiful truck.
I have to show this to my friend and tell him his new FJ is nt waterproof.

PS I get my 4X4labs bumper next week!

Can't wait!

hatman406080 · 05-27-07, 12:18 PM

you the man "DOC" you pull out a FJ***.

"i think i will get my SROR rear bumper and a slider sooooon " hi,jim

Romer · 05-28-07, 07:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 2badfjs

nice pics eric!

should of left the dent, it adds a bit of charm to the rig.

"don't be a romer"

Ummm,

I like my rig the way it is. Just haven't seen it in almost a month since I have been in Australia.

2badfjs · 05-28-07, 09:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Romer

Ummm,

I like my rig the way it is. Just haven't seen it in almost a month since I have been in Australia.

bwahaha

i was wondering how long it would take before you saw this

Renaud33 · 05-29-07, 07:31 AM

Doc,
Glad you made down to wheel. Good to see some pictures posted. Hopefully Art will post up some of his. Even though it was a mucky mess it was still fun. There were so many trails we didn't do.

Larry and I went back down on Monday. What a mistake that was. I figured it would have dried out some on Sunday. It rained when we got to Knoxville and then poured a couple times on the trails. It was harder to get around then it was on Saturday. We didn't get too far before we turned around and headed back to camp. Spent 3 hours on the trails and most of that time was spent trying to get up a steep hill.(same hill that gave most tree rash going down it on Saturday) I had to winch a couple times and then my cable got messed up so I decided it was best to turn back around. I had to back half way down the hill before I could turn around. Yesterday Larry gave me the video footage from Saturday. Haven't had a chance to look through it. I am sure he will send you a couple DVD is you want them. I'll send you his email address.

packman73 · 05-29-07, 07:45 AM

I'll be posting my pics tonight...been a busy weekend. How was Saturday afternoon with Brent and the gang?

Doc · 05-29-07, 07:53 AM

Yeah, if you guys can put your pics on a CD and send 'em to me, that'd be great. I'd like to get some video of the runs too.

Art, your dad was pretty busy with the camera, did he get any good shots?

packman73 · 05-29-07, 08:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Doc

Yeah, if you guys can put your pics on a CD and send 'em to me, that'd be great. I'd like to get some video of the runs too.

Art, your dad was pretty busy with the camera, did he get any good shots?

Oh yeah I've got video and pics. I'll make a copy of the DVD he burned and send it your way along with the cd of the pics. PM me your addy.

Dudleyfj40 · 05-29-07, 04:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by packman73

How was Saturday afternoon with Brent and the gang?

Holly S**T, Man that place is nasty! I thought it was all over a couple of times. I did make it, but I think I screwed up something in my t-case. I have case fluid all over my underside. Probably a crack somewhere.

I my self don't have any pictures, my wife was to busy hanging on.

Dingman · 06-01-07, 04:39 PM

Hey Doc and gang (Kurt, Larry, Art, ect), I'm so so sorry that I missed ya on Saturday. I didn't finish the front axle rebuild until about 9 PM Friday night and then Sat still had to put the brakes, driveshaft and such back on and then go back over ALL the nuts\bolts to make sure they were all tight and then I had to start packing. Grrr. Didn't get there until about 3 PM on Sat and you guys were already gone! WTF!
Nevertheless, I got several hours of fun wheeling in that afternoon (yes, I like the mud, the more mud, the better for me). I did screw up one climb with a tree branch that got hung up behind a front wheel. I had already run over it once on the way up, but on the way back down (to repeat the run for the vid), I kicked up the branch. So, on my way back up, I'm mostly looking at the sky (me being short and forgetting my pillow to raise me up so I can see) I finally see the branch and try to run it over - bad idea. Had to stop to extract it. Lucky I didn't damage the brake line or shock.
(Whoa, accidentally closed this window and thought I lost all my text. Found a feature in Firefox to re-open the tab. Whew! FF rules)
The branch Incident: Google video, you can download the high res version there too.

EDIT: Gah, Google now makes you download a player to view the downloaded vids. crap.

RIGHT CLICK, SAVE AS download the higher res version from my website, fack googlevid, 51 meg RIGHT CLICK, SAVE AS