Follow along with the video below to see how to install our site as a web app on your home screen.
Note: This feature may not be available in some browsers.
This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate
links, including eBay, Amazon, Skimlinks, and others.
Amen. He doesn't even have a transfer case skid which makes no sense to meI'm amazed by all your pics of wheeling and yours is the ONLY truck WITHOUT a boatload of body damage and the fact that it doesn't have an exo on it. That says a LOT for the operator!
Amen. He doesn't even have a transfer case skid which makes no sense to me
I just would hate to crack that aluminum caseI'm waiting for the creepersleeper version to be sold again! Tried to buy one from BIOR, but he doesn't make the integrated cross member/skid combo anymore. I should take a picture of my paper thin OEM skid, it's in pretty rough shape. I suppose I could make one, but I'm lazy.
Creeper's skid is pretty nice. I have a 1.5 gen of his (he was going through some s*** and his dad had the jig and made mine for me). I've managed to bend it, but still very functional and protective. I know the jig has moved on but maybe knolly or threeeyed can figure something out.I'm waiting for the creepersleeper version to be sold again! Tried to buy one from BIOR, but he doesn't make the integrated cross member/skid combo anymore. I should take a picture of my paper thin OEM skid, it's in pretty rough shape. I suppose I could make one, but I'm lazy.
Amen. He doesn't even have a transfer case skid which makes no sense to me
I love my cruisin off road skid. Frame rail to frame rail belly skid!
DEER VALLEY
This past weekend the wife and I made a solo run down to Deer Valley because my wheeling buddy @AMMO doesn't like Land Cruisers anymore. Local guys probably know the trail well. You'll also remember this one of the 40-something trails that were closed over 5yrs ago due to environmental concerns. Thanks to the hard work local clubs and organizations in cooperation with Forest Service, this trail is finally open for use. Previously the north side of the trail had been closed off due to litigation.
I've always wanted to run this trail as I heard it's one of the good ones in the area. We ran the trail north to south, from highway 88 to highway 4. Then took the scenic drive over Ebbett's Pass. Never driven this stretch of highway 4 before and gotta say it was absolutely breathtaking. Highly recommended for a lazy Sunday drive especially with the fall colors.
The trail itself was actually difficult. I underestimated just how tough this little trail was. And we supposedly ran it going the easy way. The first 4~5 miles are pretty mellow, a few rock gardens here and there. But the last mile (or the first depending on which direction you run it) are no joke if you avoid all the bypasses. I didn't bypass any obstacles and almost had to bust out the winch when I got myself wedged in between a few boulders. Running this section of the trail uphill (south to north) would be quite the challenge. I'd rate this trail on par if not tougher than Barrett Lake.
All in all, glad to have yet another trail in the area and look forward to running this one again. Deer Valley from the north side straight into Slick Rock on the other side of the highway would make for an awesome day of wheeling.
Couple videos. This first one is towards the beginning of the trail. Cool little frame twister half pipe thing. Tire fully stuffed on one side, hanging in the air on the other. Had to engage lockers to keep moving when I lost traction.
And towards the end you can see why I really need that damn diff protection (and 40s )
@jcardona1, yeah you passed me and my buddy camping out at the second creek crossing from 88-4.
Always wanted to say wassup and tried to wave you down but you were going pretty fast (couldn’t miss your 80 from a mile away as you gave me a lot of inspiration on my build) but maybe you though I was a psycho. Lol
Deer valley is a fantastic run! We went from 4 to upper blue lake and around the pass ontop if mountain then to the 88.
It was pretty crazy out there with the amount of 80’s we saw including yours on the trail (6 in total including ours). It’s good to see more 80’s on the trail!
View attachment 1551689
I have tested both Samsung and Apple and apple runs much faster than the Samsung. The only Advantage I saw with the Samsung is it didn't limit the size of the files you downloaded for the apple doesBeen working on a few small projects and haven't updated this thread so here goes:
NAVIGATION
Decided to join the 21st century and put a real navigation system even though I really don't need it and might not use it. Still cool to have I guess. I had an old Nexus 7 tablet just laying around so why not?
Started with the Panavise 75136-597 mount that goes behind the dash under the radio.
I then attached a Ram Mounts base (RAM-B-101U).
And lastly, to hold the Nexus 7 I used a Ram Mounts RAM-HOL-TAB18U.
Offline navigation is Gaia GPS which is a really slick program. Love the multiple layers. I spent several days loading and mapping out all of my local trails and way points. Ton of work but now it's fully synced to my account. However Gaia runs like dogsh1t on this old tablet, super laggy. It runs silky smooth on my Samsung Galaxy S8 so maybe I just need to upgrade to a new tablet with more horsepower.
Here is a picture of the setup. The trail you see on the screen is Hell Hole with Rubicon in the background:
All my local trails (the big body of water is Lake Tahoe)
12V DOMETIC FRIDGE
During the holidays I received a nice chunk of Amazon gift cards from work. Instead of doing the selfless thing and giving them out as gifts I decided to treat myself and bought a few things which I probably never would have otherwise. One of those was a 12v electric fridge.
I always viewed this as a nice-to-have vs a necessity because these days we rarely find the time to go camping let alone go for more than a night or two. But still, dealing with ice chests and soggy food is not fun. Doesn't matter how good your cooler is - ice will melt regardless.
So I splurged and bought a fridge. Ended up with a Dometic CFX-65W. Long term durability of these little refrigerators always makes me nervous but Dometic has a pretty good reputation in the outdoor world.
Here it is sitting in the sliding tray for my old Pelican 65qt cooler.
The Dometic, while having the same capacity as my old Pelican cooler has a much smaller footprint as the Dometic is quite taller. So I made a new sliding tray. The Dometic has 4 captive nuts underneath which helps keep it more secure. That means the tiedown straps on the handles don't have to be super tight and you can avoid causing damage to the handles.
The new sliding tray:
I also relocated the entire thing to the passenger side to help with weight distribution (gas tank and my fat ass on the driver's side). I put it as close as I could to the 4x4Labs water can basket.
And the new sliding setup. The existing drawer slides I have are longer than the Dometic. That means they will really extend and get the fridge completely outside of the rear cabin which is nice.
For power, I currently have it plugged into the line from when I had the Puma compressor a few years back. Still need to test it out and see what it does to may battery after running for a day or two. But I make pick up a set of 100w solar panels on Amazon as cheap insurance for the longer trips.