Driving in Idaho with Pics

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ralphy1997

ralphy1997

10 Year 15 Year
Joined
Jan 20, 2009
Threads
15
Messages
391
Location
Rigby, Idaho
I just got back a bit ago from a 10 hour afternoon drive. My plan was to drive to a fairly remote camping spot (only accessible by ATV or 4wd) in south central Idaho, then hike to an alpine lake and enjoy a night camping in the process. I should have known things weren't going to work out when the fire alarm woke me at 4:30 because the batteries were low. . .

First picture is me after just getting off the pavement. Those of you who know Idaho, Lowman is in the valley just beyond my truck. The haze you see in the air is smoke from the most recent forest fire. If you look closely, you can see the smoke rising behind the furthest mountain above my hood. Sucky point-and-shoot camera!
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Drove in about another hour on Forest Service roads. Just when the road was getting pretty rough, I started to hear a horrible squealing noise from my rear wheel. Luckily I was right next to a fairly flat meadow. I had packed all of my tools, so I pulled over to take a look. (Remains of a half-started log cabin between my tailgate and hatch)
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Two different ATV groups stopped to make sure I was alright--may karma reward them. After taking the brakes apart, including removing the caliper, I still heard the noise when I rocked the wheel back and forth. I then reached behind the rotor and found what I thought was my problem--a nail. Looking closer at the nail, I realized it was a weird shape and had a flat end. It didn't look like any nail I had ever seen. I decided to remove the rotor to investigate. After several raps with a hammer, and a lot of tugging, I realized that the little prybar tool with the flat end that's in the tire change kit is just the right size to wedge in one of the slots in the rotor to provide leverage for pulling it off. Once off, this is what I found:
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If you know what you're looking for, you may notice that in the first picture, there's a greenish circular tab that's connected to a pin that holds the right e-brake shoe flat against the dust shield (is that what it is?). The one that's supposed to be holding the left shoe is missing. Parts of it were at the bottom of the rotor when I pulled it. That funny shaped nail I found was the pin that was supposed to hold the other tab in place and the shoe tight against the dust shield. The second picture shows the shoe standing out from the dust shield. I had discovered the source of the noise--all those parts had been loose inside the e-brake. I didn't take a picture of the parts but most of them are in good shape so they hadn't been rolling around long. Anyone know if that tab and pin (sorry no FSM for official part name) are available for purchase separately? Once I pulled the parts out, I put everything back together and continued on my way. No more sound. Note to self, don't use the e-brake any more until it's fixed--I chocked the wheels with rocks the rest of the trip.

At this point, I just want to say thanks to the creators and moderators of this site. Without it, I wouldn't have known how to do any of the maintenance items I have done on my 80. Had this happened before I discovered Ih8mud, I would have ended up with a seriously injured e-brake system and likely a torn up rotor. Thanks to information from this site, I had already replaced the pads and tightened the e-brake and was completely comfortable tearing into my own rig on the trail by myself. I knew what I was doing and could tell the helpful ATVers who stopped that I had things well in hand.

One more picture of my 80 in the meadow where I worked. Certainly not the most ideal place I've worked on my 80 but definitely the most idyllic.
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A couple of more pictures from the trail post surgery. When I got to the top of the pass where I was supposed to start my descent to the campground, I found out the road had been washed out this spring and hasn't been repaired so the road was closed (didn't take a picture of the sign--just imagine a "Road Closed" sign). I decided to turn around and go to an alternate destination. A little mountain town called Atlanta, ID. Pictures from the top of the pass. I love living in Idaho:
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Last two pictures. The first shows the west side of the Sawtooth mountains way off in the distance (the whitish mountains). The other one is what I call the license plate photo (if you've ever seen an Idaho license plate, you'll know what I mean):
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So to end the story, I was on my way to Atlanta: Idaho that is.

Some members here may have driven to Atlanta--that's great for you. Let's just say I still haven't. After driving for over an hour on the worst washboards I have ever seen and seeing a sign telling me I was only halfway there and being as it was dark and I didn't know where I was going to park to spend the night and not looking forward to driving it all over again the next day, I decided to turn around and come home (how's that for a run-on sentence?). It was the perfect end to the perfect day. About 10 hours in the saddle and now I'm ready for bed.
 
Makes me want to move to Idaho now... sounds like a great learning experience with the trail fix. Cool pictures too.
 
Very nice! I just spent 2 months in Lowman, lived on Lick Creek Rd. I spent a lot of time driving up Clear Creek Rd into Bear Valley. I was likely on the fire that you saw still smoking!

Did you make it up to White Hawk lookout by chance?
 
I love a good field repair! Well done.

Wonderful pictures and its always nice to see an 80 being put through the paces.


Glad you made it our safely.
 
That's some beautiful country. Reminds me of our hunting trip we took in Idaho last year. We were also in Central Idaho, I believe the town was called Challis (south of Salmon)...Very rough and steep country like your pictures are showing. Thanks for sharing.
 
Thx for the pics! I really do miss living in ID.
It is a gorgeous state and easily one of the most wild of the lower 48.

I made the trip to Atlanta once though not in a LC.
 
Hey Ralphy, I think I saw you (or someone with a rig similar to yours) headed west on I-84 last Saturday near Boise. We were heading east on our way back from Oregon in my Tan Spray-lined LC. It was about an hour before our tire blew it's tread...

Looks like a successful trail fix!

:steer:
 
ardentyota said:
Hey Ralphy, I think I saw you (or someone with a rig similar to yours) headed west on I-84 last Saturday near Boise. We were heading east on our way back from Oregon in my Tan Spray-lined LC. It was about an hour before our tire blew it's tread...

Looks like a successful trail fix!

:steer:
Click to expand...

It was probably me (around 10:00-10:30 PM?). I haven't seen another 80 my color with an ARB front bumper in the Boise area. Sorry I missed you. Hope things worked out well with the bad tire. That can be a scary situation depending on when, how and where it happens.
 
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