testing!
The next day I had the chance to do a little wheeling so I met a friend and we headed out around Estacada OR. We planned on a light trip to test things out. We got in and found a good obstacle to try. It had a vertical face of about 3ft.
I bumped up against it and just added a little more right foot and the front end popped right up.
I lightly bumped it a couple of times to see if the back would pop up but since I have no locker out back I'd end up spinning a tire and loosing traction. This is when I heard a crunching sound come from the rear end. I'll be needing a new tail light.
I decided to give another harder bump with more throttle and I found my weak link. My homemade front driveshaft snapped. If I would have been able to keep all the splines I think it would have held up but this broke right passed the weld. Talking to my friend I think he came up with a good idea and it doesn't look like I'll need all the slip I built into this shaft so I'll keep this female and get another male to replace my broken one. I'll have to lengthen the tube again.
I took the shaft off so as not to run the risk of it binding and blowing out my Tcase. My buddy asked if I wanted to park it and wheel with him but I told him I'll just play around in 2WD. So we went exploring and I followed him around. There were a couple of spots I needed a yank if I couldn't bump over an obstacle but I still had fun. He was impressed on all the places I could get to in 2WD and I was impressed too since it's an open rear end. Those tires just kept on biting.
We just left the strap on the front after the first yank to make it easier. We found some mud pits (more like deep puddles) to play in.
And then we found a nice rocky climb to play on. I did park mine and scout/ride along with him on this section. It will be pretty challenging when it gets wet and we'll definitely be coming back to this one. So we wheeled up in his rig and got to the top and it was the top of this mountain with a fantastic view!
These are two shots looking down at different spots.
Second incline section
After that we headed back down the mountain to call it a day. So for carnage I broke a front shaft, got a few more scratches (they'll buff out
), and cracked my rear tail light. On his rig he busted a lower shock mount on his front axle. Good testing day and good to re-energize for building the last few things to pound around in it.
I was turning onto my street to my place (10 houses from mine!) and a cop two cars back and in the other lane jumped over and pulled me over. I got the ol' fender flares and mud flaps warning so it looks like that'll be my project next week. Mud flaps will be easy but flares might be a little more difficult. I might just see if I can get by with flaps for a while.
I also slapped together another little video from clips.
YouTube - Wheeling in Estacada OR 9-2009
13/64 for the drill bit. Makes a big difference. Make sure to run a decent cooler or you might run into cavitation problems. Be careful when you pull the restrictor, the spring wants to pop outta there and dont loose the bushing! Ask me how I know!
. Even the rear if it becomes available and things fit up. What size dies do you have so I can pick up some tube?
