rkymtnflyfisher
Trout Bum
I feel left out.
Builds Another Prado in Montana
- Thread starter AirheadNut
- Start date
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Great adventures I want to go.
- Thread starter
- #643
To continue: After a few hours of wheeling we came to the end of the trail at the boundary of the Absaroka-Beartooth Wilderness. The weather was starting to look a little ominous again, so we had a quick lunch and then walked about 10 minutes past the wilderness boundary to Goose Lake.
The lake sits at an elevation of about 9800' or 2987m, and the surrounding peaks are in the 11,000'+ range (3350m). My brother and I had intended to hike around the lake and through the saddle on the far end to Grasshopper Glacier, apparently named for the thousands of grasshoppers frozen into the ice. On the way back we were going to see if we could summit one of the peaks in the area too, but no sooner had we gotten to the lake then it started to rain a bit, and then thunder and lightning started to roll in. We decided that it wouldn't be wise to be wandering around in open country or on high exposed mountains in an electrical storm, so we enjoyed the view for a few minutes and then headed back toward the vehicles.
After waiting a while for the storm to pass we all hit the trail back toward camp.
The lake sits at an elevation of about 9800' or 2987m, and the surrounding peaks are in the 11,000'+ range (3350m). My brother and I had intended to hike around the lake and through the saddle on the far end to Grasshopper Glacier, apparently named for the thousands of grasshoppers frozen into the ice. On the way back we were going to see if we could summit one of the peaks in the area too, but no sooner had we gotten to the lake then it started to rain a bit, and then thunder and lightning started to roll in. We decided that it wouldn't be wise to be wandering around in open country or on high exposed mountains in an electrical storm, so we enjoyed the view for a few minutes and then headed back toward the vehicles.
After waiting a while for the storm to pass we all hit the trail back toward camp.
- Thread starter
- #644
The next morning dawned crisp and beautiful, with some scattered clouds and fog hanging in the valleys.
Heading back down the trail the obstacles that had loomed large in the darkness and rain on the way in didn't seem so challenging now.
Instead of going all the way back to pavement, we hopped on a different gravel road that took us back up into the mountains for a scenic loop over Lulu Pass, Sheep Mountain and Daisy Pass.
Heading back down the trail the obstacles that had loomed large in the darkness and rain on the way in didn't seem so challenging now.
Instead of going all the way back to pavement, we hopped on a different gravel road that took us back up into the mountains for a scenic loop over Lulu Pass, Sheep Mountain and Daisy Pass.
- Thread starter
- #645
The driving over Lulu and Daisy passes wasn't very challenging, but the vistas were stunning.
The road got as high as 10,300' (3140m) and we took a quick walk up to the top of Sheep Mountain at 10,600' and could see our campsite from the day before and the route up to Goose Lake spread out below.
After soaking in the views for a while we hit the road for home. My brother and I decided to take the long road home over Beartooth Pass. Overall we did 413 miles round trip, I refueled back in Bozeman and put in 18.831 gallons, trip average was 21.9 mpg. Definitely the best off-road trip I've ever done, hoping to go back next summer and do some hiking and peak bagging.
The road got as high as 10,300' (3140m) and we took a quick walk up to the top of Sheep Mountain at 10,600' and could see our campsite from the day before and the route up to Goose Lake spread out below.
After soaking in the views for a while we hit the road for home. My brother and I decided to take the long road home over Beartooth Pass. Overall we did 413 miles round trip, I refueled back in Bozeman and put in 18.831 gallons, trip average was 21.9 mpg. Definitely the best off-road trip I've ever done, hoping to go back next summer and do some hiking and peak bagging.
- Thread starter
- #646
Last weekend while out exploring in the mountains my LH electric hub decided to quit working, leaving me stuck in 2WD. Pretty sure the failure was due to some water ingress from the Goose Lake trip, but it has me considering going to manual hubs after all. A knuckle rebuild is in the near future and that would be the best time to do the conversion if I’m going to do it. I really like the electric hubs (when they work) but lack of parts availability long term is pushing me toward ditching them. There is a front axle from a solid axle era minitruck for sale near me for $250, would that yield all the parts I would need or is there something else I'm missing?
Here’s the parts list on the estimate that Cruiser Outfitters gave me last year.
I remember reading on this forumn that there is some parts compatibility with the older trucks and our Electric Locking Hubs. Sorry, but I couldn't locate it after a couple of searches. I recall needing most or all of the parts from the Birfields/CVs outwards (Birfs, Hubs, Spindles et cetera).
I didn’t have to change my birfs, just the spindles and hubs when I did my conservation.
- Thread starter
- #650
Thanks for the info! Looks like I should be set with a donor axle and a matching knuckle rebuild kit, assuming the spindles and hubs are in good shape on the donor.
GTSSportCoupe
2LTE abuser
I used spindle/hub from a FJ40 when I dumped my e-hubs. It was the type with bolt on brake rotor instead of press on (not sure of year, but I think mid 70s). I REALLY like those, much easier to change. I bought new landcruiser Aisin free-wheel hubs from partsouq. Retained everything else from the LJ78. Really happy with manual hubs.
Hello,
Kurt / @cruiseroutfit started a thread about spindles and compatible hubs not so long ago.
The parts list above matches the details mentioned in that thread.
Juan
I've detailed the E-hub conversion parts here:
Tech Talk: Converting from the electric/power hub to manual AISIN hubs
This has become quite a popular conversion in the recent years with the influx of JDM models making their way to the United States. While the novelty of the electric hubs is fun while they work, many choose to proactively swap to manual or wait and swap to manual when they have an E-hub fail...
forum.ih8mud.com
For those that have the time/ability to source the used parts, it can be done for a very moderate cost. For those that are in a rush or prefer all new Japanese parts, we offer all of it @ Cruiser Outfitters
- Thread starter
- #654
Thanks for the info! As much as I would love to spring for all new parts that just isn't in the cards right now, so a used axle looks like my best option right now. Anyone have any pointers for what to look at on a used axle? Any good ways to check for spindle or hub wear?
Snap some pics. @ $250 you can’t go wrong imo. I’d buy the mini-truck left overs from you, perhaps trade for some parts you’ll need?
I love reusing perfectly good old parts when possible. You really only need the end parts right? You are keeping your own axle housing and axles correct?
I would just take the ends all apart (hopefully they are not a rusted single mass) and degrease/clean them up looking for corrosion/pitting and general wear. There should be very little wear.
The convenience of power hubs is wonderful, but IMO not worth the ONE time you really need it and it.... does nothing. I would much rather get out to turn hubs once in a while and have it work every time. You will not regret it - unless you park in a huge mud puddle when you need to get out to turn the hubs.
- Thread starter
- #657
I took a nice, 160-mile drive after work this evening and now I have a donor axle! Hopefully I’ll have time to dig into it sometime in the next couple of weeks to see what kind of shape the internals are in.
In other news, I fueled up on my way home and finally broke the 800km/500mi mark on a single tank. 829km since the last fill up and it took 19.229gal for an average of 26.8mpg.
In other news, I fueled up on my way home and finally broke the 800km/500mi mark on a single tank. 829km since the last fill up and it took 19.229gal for an average of 26.8mpg.
- Thread starter
- #658
It took a lot of messing around but I successfully unloaded the donor axle single-handedly. Once I can free up some work space in the box truck I’ll start tearing into it and see what all I have to work with, then order a knuckle rebuild kit. I’m planning to knock out a bunch of repairs and upgrades over the Thanksgiving holiday, so I’m starting to put together lists of all the parts I’ll need to have on hand.
JDM Journeys
Moderator
Wow! That's impressive range! You have to be happy with that!
- Thread starter
- #660
Absolutely! Going to get a new custom tune over the next couple of months, hoping that will yield even better mileage. I'd still like to stick a 5 gallon can of diesel in the back and see just how far I can go before it starts to sputter.
