Attn: Goodtimes (Highway To Hell Run This Friday).

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goodtimes said:
That is probably the biggest reason I haven't done more to my jeep than I have. It gets to where you spend more time working your ass off to get through a trail than actually enjoying it. I can run trails like upper ajax, Pyeatt Draw, etc., all day long and have absolutely nothing to worry about except what I am going to have for dinner after the run. Hell, I've been known to have fun on Chiva Falls...which is hardly more than a bumpy dirt road. The rock crawling has gotton so extreme that I don't even have a desire to build a dedicated trail rig anymore...let alone a buggy. In fact, I keep thinking about selling the jeep and getting something a little more versatile (bigger) because I really don't need anything as capable as the jeep....
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Really? Thinking about selling the Jeep? To be honest, I've gotten some really stupid offers for the buggy, and I've thought of selling it, but I know I'd regret it (mainly b/c I built it and it took so long).

How is Pyeatt Draw anyway? All I've ever seen is one ledge obstacle. Does it have some other good stuff too? It'd be nice to get up there when the temps heat up.

Sean
 
Sean K. said:
Really? Thinking about selling the Jeep? To be honest, I've gotten some really stupid offers for the buggy, and I've thought of selling it, but I know I'd regret it (mainly b/c I built it and it took so long).

How is Pyeatt Draw anyway? All I've ever seen is one ledge obstacle. Does it have some other good stuff too? It'd be nice to get up there when the temps heat up.

Sean
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Yea, I keep thinking about an 80 series....slide those dana 60's under it, maybe get rid of the radius arms and 4-link the front...bit of tube work to keep the body from looking like Spikes (no offense to Spike...but this WOULD NOT be a dedicated trail rig), couple inches of lift, 35" tires, and not much more. Basically build it to run the trails that I like, but give me some more room inside for gear on those longer trips south of the border. Right now I have to pull the passenger seat out if I spend more than a couple days living out of the jeep and have the dog along.

Pyeatt is a fun trail. Not really that difficult...but there is some fun stuff to play on. The wash is pretty wide, so there are bypasses around most of the challenging stuff. The very end is the only really challenging part. You'd be hard pressed to crawl it...there rocks are pretty smooth and just don't offer much traction...and it is a long way to the bottom of hole off to the right side of it. Once I got the jeep pointed up the steep part, the back end kept sliding off to the right, so we just hooked up the winch.

John Shotts has a bunch of pictures of the entire trails here.
 
I know you've got the 60's just laying around, but why not just buy an 80 with the locking diffs since you only plan 35s. With a set of long fields, you'd be fine...alot less work and money and it should be strong enough.

Just a thought.


Thanks for the tips on Pyeatt.....I'll have to give it a shot this year.
Sean
 
:flipoff2:

-Spike
 
Sean K. said:
I know you've got the 60's just laying around, but why not just buy an 80 with the locking diffs since you only plan 35s. With a set of long fields, you'd be fine...alot less work and money and it should be strong enough.

Just a thought.


Thanks for the tips on Pyeatt.....I'll have to give it a shot this year.
Sean
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The problem with the toy axles isn't shaft strength....I'm actually worried about overloading the bearings. I could probably exceed GVWR without even trying hard. Add an extra 40 - 50 gallons of fuel, 30 +/- gallons of water, enough gear for 2 people to live on for 2 - 3 weeks, then beat it down the road from San Felipe to Gonzaga Bay at 60+mph while fully loaded.....

Plus if I don't use 'em, I may as well sell them. And I can't quite bring myself to do that...yet.

Oh, right back at 'ya Spike.;)
 
Not to bang the drums too much, but I've never heard of an 80 series premature wheel bearing failure. If you want to compare parts sometime, I have a complete disassembled front axle in my shop- and the rear axle bearings are identicle with the full-floating axle. What would you do to overload it? The things were designed for expedition travels across continents like Africa without problems. C'mon over sometime and I'll show you all the nifty features that Toyota threw in the design to make the 80 the ultimate expedition truck.

-Spike [/pitch]
 
GVWR (stock)​
6470 Lbs. ​
Payload (stock)​
1636 Lbs. ​
Curb Weight (stock) 4834 lbs.
  • 1 gallon of water equals 8.33 lbs.
  • 1 gallon of gasoline equals 5.8 to 6.5 lbs.
So, 44 gallons of fuel weighs 255 pounds (assuming 5.8 lb/gal from the unconfirmed web-source above), and 30 gallons of water weighs 250. Add 300 pounds of people/dog, and you have already lost a full 50% of your payload capacity....and you still have no gear, no winch, no bumpers or sliders, no fridge full of food......

Not saying that 60's are the perfect solution (or even a reasonable solution), but they are a thought.

BTW, how wide are the toy axles?
 
Toyota is a pretty conservative company and I will bet that their USA published load numbers would reflect that. Read some of the Aussie mags, sites, they like to overload them. Some have cut the rear body off and added camper body's, totally loaded them up, roof racks, trailers, then beat them like a redhead step child with few failures. Some here load them pretty good, IIRC C-Dan wheels his at what 7500+ lb?

There are a couple of issues with them related to big tires/extreme rock crawling, but have never heard of problems for expedition work? If you need that much weight why not start with a bigger platform, like a suburban?
 
And don't forget Brian, if you're gonna lift it, you can use heavy springs and get some Bilstiens with heavy valving. Here are some of the available spring rates. http://www.sleeoffroad.com/products/suspension_pieces_springs.htm
Guys in Aus and Africa load the piss outta these rigs and spend weeks in them. You'd be fine. :cheers:
 
Hard to imagine how tight that trail musta been to damage that small body on your rig Sean. My persanl feelings are, if I get some damage then so be it, but I'm not out looking to do damage. I drive this tub every day, I need to at least keep it rolling.
 
MaddBaggins said:
And don't forget Brian, if you're gonna lift it, you can use heavy springs and get some Bilstiens with heavy valving. Here are some of the available spring rates. http://www.sleeoffroad.com/products/suspension_pieces_springs.htm
Guys in Aus and Africa load the piss outta these rigs and spend weeks in them. You'd be fine. :cheers:
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I'm not worried about springs and shocks...I can get basically anything I want (if I can afford it $$$). The bearings have to support all that weight though. The toy axles may be fine...or they may not. Or I might wait a few years and see what the market has to offer now that we are on the same page as the rest of the world with the sulfur standards in our diesel fuel. Basically, I'm kicking ideas around...and on the surface, the 80s appear to be a decent match for what I want.

Tools--I actually did start with a bigger platform. A 96' ram with a cummins. I took it on 2 trips last summer. The truck was simply to damn big. I'm looking for something that is comfortable on 3.5 - 4.0 rated trails (obviously it wouldn't be loaded for bear on the weekend runs), but offers enough payload and room to live out of with some measure of comfort. When I travel in my jeep, it feels like I am backpacking...just not much in the line of creature comforts (I am sure all you married guys know that creature comforts are usually required if the other half is on board).
 
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