Builds My '78 FJ40 "44" (3 Viewers)

[Solace in Solitude]

Chester and I took Teddy for his first drive and short (1/2 mile) hike today.

He loved it and performed seamlessly, sleeping the whole drive home.

I carried him for half the hike... I didn’t want to chance bleeding paws... he is, after all, Dianna’s pride and joy.

Couple of pics

 

[77HesterSue]

How do you like Teddy compared to a full golden?

 

[4Cruisers]

Chester and I took Teddy for his first drive and short (1/2 mile) hike today.

He loved it and performed seamlessly, sleeping the whole drive home.

I carried him for half the hike... I didn’t want to chance bleeding paws... he is, after all, Dianna’s pride and joy.

Couple of pics

View attachment 1592091 View attachment 1592092

Good shot with Mummy Mountain in the background. Have you ever been up Griffith Peak (the highest peak on the left side of the 2nd photo), at the other end of the ridge (to the east) from Charleston Peak? It's a great hike.

 

[Solace in Solitude]

How do you like Teddy compared to a full golden?

He’s a great dog! Very quick learner, loves to play, loves to learn, no shedding.

He’s the first dog we’ve had in 45 years that wasn’t a full blooded GR... and I have to admit, he’s even smarter than a GR... never had a poodle, they must be smart.

Dianna wanted a ~35lb Golden Doodle... but, Teddy thinks he’s bigger than Chester.

 

[Solace in Solitude]

Good shot with Mummy Mountain in the background. Have you ever been up Griffith Peak (the highest peak on the left side of the 2nd photo), at the other end of the ridge (to the east) from Charleston Peak? It's a great hike.

I’ve driven a few trails in the Spring Mountains, but haven’t hiked any over there.

I like to get as far from crowds as I can and always (probably incorrectly) view the Springs as more likely to be busy.

 

[waiting for time]

Chester and I took Teddy for his first drive and short (1/2 mile) hike today.

He loved it and performed seamlessly, sleeping the whole drive home.

I carried him for half the hike... I didn’t want to chance bleeding paws... he is, after all, Dianna’s pride and joy.

Couple of pics

View attachment 1592091 View attachment 1592092

I love that picture with Chester sitting proud next to Teddy.
But the big question is, is Diana going to let Teddy go on all your trips?

 

[Solace in Solitude]

I love that picture with Chester sitting proud next to Teddy.
But the big question is, is Diana going to let Teddy go on all your trips?

Maar natuurlijk, Michael! Dianna heeft haar alleen tijd nodig en we hebben avontuur nodig!

Dianna is completely supportive of whatever we want to do and it affords her the 'alone' time she needs, in order to recover from the excitement of living with maniacs!

 

[77HesterSue]

He’s a great dog! Very quick learner, loves to play, loves to learn, no shedding.

He’s the first dog we’ve had in 45 years that wasn’t a full blooded GR... and I have to admit, he’s even smarter than a GR... never had a poodle, they must be smart.

Dianna wanted a ~35lb Golden Doodle... but, Teddy thinks he’s bigger than Chester.

You must have used a good breeder. A friend has a Golden doodle and she is dumb. Glad Teddy is with you. Quite the life a dogs has with you!

 

[Solace in Solitude]

You must have used a good breeder. A friend has a Golden doodle and she is dumb. Glad Teddy is with you. Quite the life a dogs has with you!

A great breeder, in Santa Clara, UT!

We’re very happy to have him as well... our lives are better, because of our dogs!!

 

[Solace in Solitude]

Speedo cable broke a couple of weeks ago... Finally got around to lubing and installing the new one today... I was dropping the skid plate anyway, to remove about 2 lbs of various sizes of stones..

While I was under there...

• I checked tranny and tcase bolts... None loose.
• Checked fluid levels
• Snugged down the oil pan bolts

 

[65swb45]

Danny

Picturing you on your back under your 40 reminded me of a salty dog I met when I first started wheeling. They called him “woodbutcher “

I remember at a campfire one night he told this young, impressionable guy (I was 21 at the time) that while he was under his rig doing routine maintenance he would take a can of black spray paint and tag all the low spots on his undercarriage.

That way if he tagged a rock while he was wheeling, he would be able to pick out the fresh scratches for the old ones and give those areas a little closer inspection.

 

[Solace in Solitude]

Danny

Picturing you on your back under your 40 reminded me of a salty dog I met when I first started wheeling. They called him “woodbutcher “

I remember at a campfire one night he told this young, impressionable guy (I was 21 at the time) that while he was under his rig doing routine maintenance he would take a can of black spray paint and tag all the low spots on his undercarriage.

That way if he tagged a rock while he was wheeling, he would be able to pick out the fresh scratches for the old ones and give those areas a little closer inspection.

That's a great idea, Mark... and a cheap high!!

 

[TheHardWay]

The cheaper the high, the more parts you can buy

 

[Solace in Solitude]

The cheaper the high, the more parts you can buy

Yep. Can't wait for that YUGE tax cut Christmas present.

 

[handcannon]

He’s a great dog! Very quick learner, loves to play, loves to learn, no shedding.

He’s the first dog we’ve had in 45 years that wasn’t a full blooded GR... and I have to admit, he’s even smarter than a GR... never had a poodle, they must be smart.

Dianna wanted a ~35lb Golden Doodle... but, Teddy thinks he’s bigger than Chester.

Being smart really depends on the dog. We've had some mixed breeds that were really smart, and some not very smart. Same goes for purebreds. It can depend a little bit on the other dogs they are with, -IF- that other dog has some good smarts themselves. Anyway, sounds like you have a real good one again. Good news!!

Don

 

[Skydog]

Danny :

I'm literally thinking you and I are quite similar. Likely very much so. The FJ40 that I'll be rebuilding, like yours but mine's a '79, will serve primarily as a dogger car. Although it's still in bits & pieces, we've already got a fantastic dogger car here, a '96 4Runner. But my on-going stories seem to be very similar to yours. Your writing within this thread seems to be much like mine. Although, I've long been doing the same within the mountainous forests throughout all of North Georgia, I too had lived out West.

Regardless, my snapshots seem to somehow parallel yours. Very much the same in perspective; and just like yours, all from the heart. Due to my massively strong love, admiration, and respect for all animals, of all types, I'm not at all a hunter. Nor will I ever be. But like you, I've mountaineering and survival skills that far surpass the vast majority of others. So, it seems your interests in nature, in wildlife, in other people, and in FJ40's - remains an interesting parallel to what's within me.

Regarding Teddy and Teddy's seemingly high intellect : my late dog, Grady, who's been and will remain the avatar of mine here on this board, as she remains the same for on my Facebook profile - was also intelligent. Not only intelligent, she was abnormally beyond that. In every essence, she was at the level of genius. So much so, I've not ever crossed another animal, of any type, that equaled her massively high intellect. She would actually study things prior to acting upon them. And the way she would then go about doing things, would literally blow the mind. It's been my experience that most humans are not even so as creative in thought or logical as she was. She was left-pawed too.

As a mix of a mix of a mix of whatever breeds, and as a puppy whom I rescued from the downtown streets of Atlanta, one evening while inline speedskating with buddies, Grady (her finding me and my finding her in the middle of a street in front of Atlanta's Grady Hospital) was noticeably then and grew to be abnormally strong; endlessly ruthless; and completely genius. Like you, I've stories galore of her massively adventurous life along my side.

In this image below, Grady & I had just trekked through a large & vast wetlands area swamp, in northern Georgia, on the cold day of Christmas, 2008. She was muddy & smelly & cold. And so equally was I. But she & I trekked-on, not minding a bit.

Below is an image made this past Sunday, of my current three doggers : Cody, Granger, and Annie. As seen, the three had just returned after chasing after and then bonding-up with a pair of coyotes.

A not too unusual scene for us, as I've experienced this a number of times before. Off they silently go, where they went, I don't know; then lots of dog barking off in the distance; and then lots of high-pitched coyote yipping mixed-in; and then the distant forest becomes a combined sound of that of a circus. And then it stops. And all becomes quiet.

And as I stood there at the top of this deforested hill & looked down toward where the noise had come, way-on-down to somewhere within the treeline seen here below - - out from down there along the treeline and into the clearing emerged my dogs mixed together with two coyotes. The five in an in-trail line, walking together. They walked together, one after another, perpendicular to my position : from the trees, into the clearing, and back into the trees.

I had to wait for a little while for my doggers to return.

The four of us then trekked to the bottom of the opposite side of this hill; where, the three doggers traversed back & fourth and stayed within a pretty creek there, named, Amicalola Creek, which is one we like to frequent.

Annie along the same creek. For years & years now, we just can't get enough of it. But like anything in nature & the great outdoors, one MUST FULLY RESPECT nature & the outdoors - and the fragile environment; else-wise, things can go south really quickly ... and we, here, know this first-hand :

~Marc

 

[Solace in Solitude]

Being smart really depends on the dog. We've had some mixed breeds that were really smart, and some not very smart. Same goes for purebreds. It can depend a little bit on the other dogs they are with, -IF- that other dog has some good smarts themselves. Anyway, sounds like you have a real good one again. Good news!!

Don

Good point Don!!

I know I feel smarter around good dogs than I do around people.

 

[Solace in Solitude]

@Skydog

Marc,

You’ve eloquently expressed the joy we experience, with our dogs, and your pictures are always gorgeous!!

 

[Skydog]

@Skydog

Marc,

You’ve eloquently expressed the joy we experience, with our dogs, and your pictures are always gorgeous!!

Now you've motivated me to share another recent one. The one below was made the other week. The three doggers had found & irked a skunk. Soooooo, we're now taking a very much needed, impromptu bath !!

It's been cold the past few weeks, here in North Georgia. Not too many days ago, we, and the rest of much of the South, received our biggest, one-day snow fall we'd seen in decades. Regardless, when it's cold, it's never easy to wake-up and get out of bed, let alone out from under a cold morning's blanket !! .... Cody here CAN NOT STAND to be cold - even by the slightest. Early on, he self-learned to place his own self under the bed sheets or bed blanket. And when it's even slightly cold, it's under the covers or blanket he religiously goes :

Thanks, Danny, for sharing your own photographic stories & written adventures.

~Skydogger

 

[Solace in Solitude]

Well... I finally got tired of wasting my old age trying to figure out why my oem fuel gauge no longer registers fuel level for the aux tank.

I dropped the tank, to clean it, and verified (yet again) that the OEM sender works fine.

I quit trying to track potential wiring problems and rewired the aux sender to gauge... Including the Pollak and the DPDT switch... all to no avail.

So, no more wasting time with this... I bought an aftermarket gauge and sender pair... 240ohms/33ohms.

I’ve got the tank back in place, the gauge and sender wired and only have to install the new filler hose, to be finished with this.

But, it will have to wait until my aches subside.

In the meantime, I visited with my spine surgeon this morning and all is good... I have an intact backbone.

My knees are also good. But, I have something called Chondromalacia Patellea in both knees. All that means is the tissue under my kneecaps is enflamed. Ibuprofen, ice packs and PT.

They only hurt when I kneel on my kneecaps... like when I worked on the aux tank... excruciating!

Anyway, when I had spine surgery in Aug, 2016, the surgeon had just ordered a custom Icon FJ44... this morning, he told me he was going to get to drive it, for the FIRST time, tomorrow... 17 months later.

I saw a picture... it looks just like this one... but, has a 7.0 liter engine... just add wings!