Steering knuckle studs mishap at Rocky Uphill in CTW2016 (1 Viewer)

[pilotuku]

I got complacent. I usually check knuckle studs on a long trip like this.

Last I've checked the knuckle studs was at Rubithon this past June, and did a couple of short trips between June and September. I left California on to Portland without checking. The rest is history.

Nevertheless, regardless of the challenges we had, we all had fun!

This is when you see who your real friends are. And thanks to TLCA for an awesome organization, the birth of Cascade Cruisers came, then it's members.

I'd like to extend my appreciation to the Oregon crew:

Chad - @CreeperSleeper
Mike - @boots4
Matt - @ThreeEyedBandit
and most especially to Anthony aka @RadarFJ40 for being selfless and got us back on the road by driving back and forth to LCNW to pick up parts needed. Faster than Amazon Prime!!!

Tillamook Forest at its best!

It all happened on this trail! Rocky Uphill trail... I thought I felt I lost my steering! When I heard someone behind me say: John! Your tire came off... I thought my wheel studs sheared!

When I got off, I said... Ummm, this is more than wheel studs.
This is my uncle checking what else did I messed up! Uncle Joe on his 60 is behind me, he's secured on a tree through a strap, and got me on his winch for security. I was in a mini rock garden going down hill on a muddy terrain with no tire. What's the worst that could happen?

Then came off the tire... And woalla! Thankfully, uncle Joe always carry his bottle Jack and it was really helpful!

So here I am taking the caliper and some other stuff out of the way. Mike @boots4 was kind of cheering me all the way! Lol!

 

[Cruiserdrew]

Bad luck man! This was @PabloVTA 's break at Rubithon this year. Good to see @boots4 helping you out. Dang. It's a weak spot for sure.

 

[richardlillard1]

Between the knuckle studs, the front axles being pretty much glass, the rear axle shafts that snap constantly, the head gaskets, the PHHs, etc all, why do we even own these trucks?

 

[pilotuku]

While I was clearing things at the truck, uncle Joe is dismantling the assembly and assess the carnage.

And here I am dumbfounded! I have the Slee offset trunion bearings and these are what's left. Didn't even bother collecting the rollers that came off of it. The race, at this time is still on the knuckle.

Anthony @RadarFJ40 had already took off with my my friend Ron on his Hundy at this time which was about 5pm on Saturday. It was about an hour drive into LCNW Portland. He has all the parts I needed at the shop.
I had a few parts but didn't have bearings and steering stud. At this point we only have two studs, one is broken and one is good. Bunny, my other friend walked up the trail and found one more. But that only gives me two useable ones. I was planning on taking one off the driver side so that would make it even three each side.

I only saw this ingenuity on YouTube, didn't know it would happen to me. Great idea Mike! I have to get off the trail and it's getting dark! It's about 300yards till I get passed the gatekeeper/filter.

 

[pilotuku]

Bad luck man! This was @PabloVTA 's break at Rubithon this year. Good to see @boots4 helping you out. Dang. It's a weak spot for sure.

Yeah I heard, he was the tail gunner and I didn't see him up until he caught up with us before Buck, that was after we fixed and replaced uncle's broken birf. We didn't get to camp till 9pm.

 

[pilotuku]

And it got dark! @CreeperSleeper and Ron kept kicking my driver tire to keep it straight. At some point we he a jack handle wedged to it and strapped it on my slider and bumper to keep it straight. If we thought about that earlier, i would've been out earlier than this!

Chad taking his winch out to pull me sideways towards the driver and away from the wall. At this point it was hard to kick the tire.

This was around 8pm and Anthony is back bringing parts and he was pulling me down, while uncle controlled the descent with his good 'ol 8274....

I have at some point here damaged my passenger fender because of the big rock on my way! This was when Matt @ThreeEyedBandit happen to find us and he used a hilift to get my right fender off the wall. I have a picture of that but I haven't downloaded it yet. We have another rider that has been taking these pictures all time while we were sweating!
This was my third log at this time and were almost there and made it wth this last log!

 

[pilotuku]

Trying to wedge a log crosswise to get it over a small rock so it won't hurt the tie rod, yeah, we didn't remove it all the way!

And we made it to the fire road at around 11pm!! At this time Mike and Chad had to leave since we're on a flat ground. Chad had a flight at 6am and Mike needed to get home as well.
Well, they've done enough. That's a trail leader and tail gunner!

With this set up, I will never have slippage on the passenger front tire! Who needs a locker!!! Lol!

 

[pilotuku]

At this time, I realized that I forgot to tell Anthony that I had Slee teunion bearings so that means that the race are not stock as well, and what he brought were OEM taken from a parts rig...

So, without a second thought, he drove back to Portland and picked up OEM race, this time he was alone. He got back around 1am.

Anthony actually came back with a whole knuckle assembly, birf and axle mated together, steering arm with the race in it already.
We didn't have to re assemble everything! What a friend! Made everything easier and quicker!

 

[bluecruiser]

Spent a night on a trail with same issue. Not fun. Glad you guys found a solution. Moral of the story, if you wheel at all, "check your nuts!"

 

[pilotuku]

At 4am, she's back up and ready to head back to camp. We got to back at 5am and packed up.
Before we fixed her up, two of our riders went back to camp before midnight to et some sleep because they will be driving us back home for sure.

We left camp site at 6am and drove back to the Bay Area.

Along the way somewhere in Grants Pass the 60 had a frozen tensioner bearing and temp sky rocketed on the climb at some point.
I was so frustrated and I almost called out @retrofive as our last card for parts.

But I thought to myself, hey this is a Chevota and we should be able to get parts anywhere!
Luckily O'reilly was just 6miles going back north and so I back up on the pass and they had the belt and bearing available. $80 later we were back on the road!

I got to Mountain House by 8pm and uncle Joe got home at Salinas by 10pm.

The amazing story to this is, a great organization with members willing to go all the way to a fellow member! No man left behind!

Anthony aka @RadarFJ40 is the man! Who would think that a man I just met at Rubithon last year, we kept in touch and a friendship was built from there!

He saved me from getting a divorce!

This was the morning ( few months ago) after he spent the night at my place when he purchased his sexy Lexxy after he picked it up from SoCal from another mudder.

We both have sons the same age and I hope that it will go a long way!

I will load more pictures as I get them downloaded....

Lesson learned, check yer NUTS and don't be complacent... I did! I always did check these nuts but I guess I didn't this time! Oh well, it was part of the adventure and it was well worth it! Can't wait to be back to CTW2017!


-John

 

[1973Guppie]

At my last doctors visit he told me I need to check my nuts. I told him those godamn nuts are torqued to 75 foot pounds, checked them yesterday. He looked at me weird.

 

[baldilocks]

Sorry to hear about this John. On the positive side, these mishaps bring people together strengthening rapport and teaching us a thing or two. Thanks for sharing, we can all learn from this and we were not even there.

 

[richardlillard1]

It's not Chevota. It's Toylet.

 

[jcardona1]

Between the knuckle studs, the front axles being pretty much glass, the rear axle shafts that snap constantly, the head gaskets, the PHHs, etc all, why do we even own these trucks?

I must be one of the rare few that hasn't had drivetrain issues while wheeling. I should play the lotto!

 

[sea bass]

Did you guys ever think that these trucks were not meant to go rock climbing, but instead go across the Sahara, they are great off road vehicles but I see so many posts like this, or maybe it's just lack of maintenance

 

[Heckraiser]

I was looking forward to the story after I saw the post in the weekend thread. I'm thinking I might need a different hobby.

 

[Cruzerman]

Did you guys ever think that these trucks were not meant to go rock climbing, but instead go across the Sahara, they are great off road vehicles but I see so many posts like this, or maybe it's just lack of maintenance

I've been wheeling Cruisers for 25+ years. Wheeling in my 45LV, my 40 on 36" swampers, my 60, and now my FZJ80. I have never experienced any major breakdown. IMHO, cruisers are totally over-built. Yes, you can put them through too extreme a situation, but that would be stupid on the drivers part. I was at CTW too, did every trail on the poker run (except the one that had a broken Jeep blocking the trail), did the Friday run as well. Stock FZJ with some lift, 35" tires, and some body armour. That's all. IMHO, these rigs aren't just designed to run across the sand.

By the way, I had a great time at CTW. Breaking down is always a possibility. It is awesome how people help each other out.

 

[jcardona1]

Did you guys ever think that these trucks were not meant to go rock climbing, but instead go across the Sahara, they are great off road vehicles but I see so many posts like this, or maybe it's just lack of maintenance

To be fair, no manufacturer builds a vehicle with the intent it will be used for rock crawling. If you push a vehicle past its intended limits, stuff will break. This is why the aftermarket world has always been a booming industry and exists for every type of motorsports whether it be drag racing, track racing, drifting, rock crawling, or pre-running. If you do these activities on stock components something will break, it's just a matter of time. The FJ80 is not bulletproof, especially when it comes to rock crawling. The upgrades are out there, but most guys can't justify the cost.

 

[boots4]

Hurray for marriage saved! Great to see it on all fours again. Glad I could help and that we finally found a log that held up; seemed like the longer one worked better. Were you able to "buff out" the passenger fender?

 

[pilotuku]

Hurray for marriage saved! Great to see it on all fours again. Glad I could help and that we finally found a log that held up; seemed like the longer one worked better. Were you able to "buff out" the passenger fender?

Hey Mike, honestly, I haven't touched the truck yet. I just unloaded my stuff and it ha been sitting on the driveway! My son he been sick since I got back and the truck can wait.

I'm sure the mud is already a concrete now. I'll have to pressure wash it when my neighbors aren't looking so they won't see my mess!
I have to order rebuild kits and have them ready at least.

The second log worked better, I agree.

These were the first ones we've used...

Thank goodness we're not in Cali, we wouldn't find any logs to use! Lol.

Next year when I come back, we need to go back there and tackle the unfinished business Mike....

Thank you once again!