Oh man, whatever you do, don't complain about pinstriping! You will get stripped of your man-card.
Black Balsam 2014 October 24-26th (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter the gimpey one
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Oh man, whatever you do, don't complain about pinstriping! You will get stripped of your man-card.
That's minor pinstriping.
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- Upstate South Carolina
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It was a great time! You took some great pics too. Looking forward to more good times.
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@Wallygator , sorry you couldn't make it. Wish we had cell service up there so we could have come and met you. It was a great, relaxing weekend.
Yeah Teddy it was a major bummer for me (the family had a blast) when I couldn't get past that one giant 3' high, off camber slab of granite accross 3/4 of the trail without help. Had to back out of some tricky stuff in order to turn around. So I was on the right trail? I drove onto the trail from the main parking lot at Black Balsam. Looks like the same place you all met up.
Oh I'm not complaining about the pinstriping G8, just saying where there was none, there is now o'plenty.
In all we had a blast trying to get to you guys. Learned a lot about the 62 since we don't get to wheel it much. It was like a billy goat and I was impressed at how capable it is in 4 low.
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I had a great time as well. Great to get out camping finally. My old Tacoma held up pretty good, had an air bag light on for the last 3 months and banging down the trail some how managed to turn the light off. However my steering is a bit off now.
This is what my new straight is. Doesn't pull though...hmm.
This is what my new straight is. Doesn't pull though...hmm.
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On the ride back I had a new Corvette Stingray pull over and let me pass. Guess I must have been pushing him
Big thanks to everyone who helped me out while I was up there whether it was advice, a bit of chili or bratwurst, or some juice for my phone which died on me. Lets me know I joined the right club.
Pinstriping and dragging my rear diff over a couple of the rocks just adds character and memories to my truck. She's tough and she can take it after all she's a Toyota!
Pinstriping and dragging my rear diff over a couple of the rocks just adds character and memories to my truck. She's tough and she can take it after all she's a Toyota!
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Great pics everyone!! Really makes me jealous and I heard the wind was a non factor!!!
Great pics guys. Thanks for sharing. I have had something planned "for me" the last few trips and have not been able to make it up. This past weekend, I had my 2 and 4 year old on my own while my wife was in Ohio in a wedding. I want to make the Black Balsam trip sometime, soon!
I love the looks of that place and will make every effort to make it up there next year. Hopefully we can replace that white Jeep in the photos with a white Fj40!
I love the looks of that place and will make every effort to make it up there next year. Hopefully we can replace that white Jeep in the photos with a white Fj40!
Figured out why my steering is messed up. Broke 2 bolts on my passenger side lower ball joint (I already snapped one before hand replacing the ball joint, the second one gave way on the trip). It is supposed to be flush and is bent in now. It is a minor miracle that the other two didn't snap on the ride home.
Thanks Teddy, yes I definitely need to experience that more. That was our first time in the rocks as there is not much of that in FL where we came from. We can't all be born with unfounded knowledge like Jimbo was.
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- #178
My 60 is sitting on 235s and I made it fine. 4 low is your friend.
Yeah, you did dodge a big bullet. The stress on those bolts is pretty great just under normal driving. Something you need to put a wrench on every so often just to check the torque. Saw an FZJ80 break off a couple of knuckle studs at SCC and it was a bitch to repair because they messed up the threads in the process of breaking and extracting.
Took the day off from work and got my truck back on the safe side of things.
I had probably the hardest and most unorthodox extraction I've had in a while. I remember why I only had 3 bolts in there to begin with, I had broken off an extractor in there a while back. I tried beating, banging, drilling that stupid thing for over an hour and came up with this solution to drill above where the extractor was and beat it out from the backside. There is still plenty of metal around to support the knuckle, eventually I'll try and weld that hole back up.
Top is the bit of extractor I was trying to get out. Bottom is what my 2 bolts looked like when I got them out. I re-tapped one hole and Heli-coiled 2 more, installed new hardware and lock washers. Would have been real scary to think if that thing went on the highway.
I had probably the hardest and most unorthodox extraction I've had in a while. I remember why I only had 3 bolts in there to begin with, I had broken off an extractor in there a while back. I tried beating, banging, drilling that stupid thing for over an hour and came up with this solution to drill above where the extractor was and beat it out from the backside. There is still plenty of metal around to support the knuckle, eventually I'll try and weld that hole back up.
