FAWKING MIND BOGGLING - HitR 2016
- Thread starter FJ60Cam
- Start date
This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate
links, including eBay, Amazon, Skimlinks, and others.
I would have subscribed earlier, but I didn't want to be the first to post after Braswell's post
Thanks, Andy, for stepping up
Thanks, Andy, for stepping up
- Thread starter
- #26
So the email came through - we were headed to Utah to run the Hole in the Rock trail. @Cruiserdrew laid down an ambitious itinerary. In a display of pure genius, he scheduled some rest time smack in the middle. A real "Overlanding" curve ball that, if we could hit it, promised to be a home run.
This year's guest list was huge. There were lots of new (to me) names on the list. (By the way, I think I've discovered the secret to being added to the guest list. Hit me up on the repeater for details.)
Excitement levels were at an all-time high. After about a thousand emails, the list was whittled down to the firmly committed. A meal plan roster was developed and rendezvous logistics were worked out.
The group would be arriving from all directions. Getting everyone to the right place at the right time would require the same level of coordination that FedEx uses nightly with their fleet of jets.
This year's guest list was huge. There were lots of new (to me) names on the list. (By the way, I think I've discovered the secret to being added to the guest list. Hit me up on the repeater for details.)
Excitement levels were at an all-time high. After about a thousand emails, the list was whittled down to the firmly committed. A meal plan roster was developed and rendezvous logistics were worked out.
The group would be arriving from all directions. Getting everyone to the right place at the right time would require the same level of coordination that FedEx uses nightly with their fleet of jets.
- Thread starter
- #28
Whoa Bro... we're only on page 2 
- Thread starter
- #29
(it's still mid-January)
- Thread starter
- #30
It's still January. Plennnnnty of time to finish turning your 60 into an 80. Or put a full float rear axle under your BJ70, or figure out how to use your Aeropress...
Somehow time fast-forwards till the week before the trip and you find yourself still needing to install a prototype radiator on your V8 swap or slap a turbo on your 3B. There will be little time for troubleshooting. That will have to happen on the road. I had to pull an all-nighter or two the nights before leaving to wrap up my long list of unfinished business.
I took off work early the day of departure to grab some some extra beer & groceries and pack my truck. I was only running on 2 hours of sleep, so I was not very efficient. By the time I rolled out, it was 7:30 at night.
Somehow time fast-forwards till the week before the trip and you find yourself still needing to install a prototype radiator on your V8 swap or slap a turbo on your 3B. There will be little time for troubleshooting. That will have to happen on the road. I had to pull an all-nighter or two the nights before leaving to wrap up my long list of unfinished business.
I took off work early the day of departure to grab some some extra beer & groceries and pack my truck. I was only running on 2 hours of sleep, so I was not very efficient. By the time I rolled out, it was 7:30 at night.
- Thread starter
- #31
FLIGHT V8J68, THREE 6 HYBRIDS WORLD HEADQUARTERS-ABQ, CLEARED FOR TAKEOFF
Last edited:
- Thread starter
- #32
I take off into the sunset, on a mission to GTFO of Memphis as fast as possible.
I apply pedal to floor and am soon flying around the south leg of I-240. As I lose speed for slow moving traffic, I begin to hear a slow but steady muffled clunking against the bodywork. It sounds like it is coming from the fender area. Like maybe I'm shedding parts or something.
&@$%. I haven't even hit the trail yet and the welds on my suspension swap are already letting go. Or so I fear.
I pull off at a very dirty and dangerous exit and park next to a sidewalk dice game in progress and start looking over the front end with my flashlight. I find nothing out of the ordinary, so I hop back on the interstate, and try like hell to get on the bridge and across the Mississippi. At full cruising speed, the noise goes away, so I try to write it off as NBD.
My sign that I am fully committed to finding adventure...
I apply pedal to floor and am soon flying around the south leg of I-240. As I lose speed for slow moving traffic, I begin to hear a slow but steady muffled clunking against the bodywork. It sounds like it is coming from the fender area. Like maybe I'm shedding parts or something.
&@$%. I haven't even hit the trail yet and the welds on my suspension swap are already letting go. Or so I fear.
I pull off at a very dirty and dangerous exit and park next to a sidewalk dice game in progress and start looking over the front end with my flashlight. I find nothing out of the ordinary, so I hop back on the interstate, and try like hell to get on the bridge and across the Mississippi. At full cruising speed, the noise goes away, so I try to write it off as NBD.
My sign that I am fully committed to finding adventure...
Last edited:
- Thread starter
- #33
It is Thursday night and we are to hit the trailhead at noon Sunday. PLENTY of time to get there. But everyone was so excited that we talk of meeting at the Halls Crossing Marina campground on Saturday, the meeting time getting earlier and earlier.
Then, a few days earlier, @beno tells me that he's heading up to ABQ to hang with cruiserdan and that I should meet him in ABQ and we can roll to Halls Crossing together.
wut???
The wheels in my head start spinning... ABQ, cruiserdan... FAWK! Maybe the almighty can BLESS MY TRUCK!!! I had dreams of this happening on our Rubicon trip a few years ago, but we passed through town at odd hours. I cross my fingers and ask beno if he would carefully approach the Shaman with my request. Word comes back that he is willing. But I have to make it to Albuquerque by noon Friday. C-dan is leaving for his new gig in Salt Lake City at the Cruiser Museum, and am warned that cruiserdan WAITS FOR NO ONE. beno even sends me the GPS coordinates of C-dan's monastery, being careful not to send the actual street address lest I accidentally give away the secret location. The gravity of the situation hits me as I realize just how precious this information that I possess really is.
Fast forward back to Thursday night. There is NO way I will make it to C-dan's house by noon the next day. It is mathematically barely possible, but I've only had two hours of sleep and it is now very dark. There is no way I will be able to stay awake. I try not to think about it and keep the pedal mashed. I plan to stop at the rest area in Fort Smith, AR and grab a few hours of sleep. Just enough to get back on the road and stay awake until sunrise, when daylight should help keep me awake and carry me the rest of the way. It looks unlikely I will get to meet the Shaman, but it won't be for a lack of trying.
Then, a few days earlier, @beno tells me that he's heading up to ABQ to hang with cruiserdan and that I should meet him in ABQ and we can roll to Halls Crossing together.
wut???
The wheels in my head start spinning... ABQ, cruiserdan... FAWK! Maybe the almighty can BLESS MY TRUCK!!! I had dreams of this happening on our Rubicon trip a few years ago, but we passed through town at odd hours. I cross my fingers and ask beno if he would carefully approach the Shaman with my request. Word comes back that he is willing. But I have to make it to Albuquerque by noon Friday. C-dan is leaving for his new gig in Salt Lake City at the Cruiser Museum, and am warned that cruiserdan WAITS FOR NO ONE. beno even sends me the GPS coordinates of C-dan's monastery, being careful not to send the actual street address lest I accidentally give away the secret location. The gravity of the situation hits me as I realize just how precious this information that I possess really is.
Fast forward back to Thursday night. There is NO way I will make it to C-dan's house by noon the next day. It is mathematically barely possible, but I've only had two hours of sleep and it is now very dark. There is no way I will be able to stay awake. I try not to think about it and keep the pedal mashed. I plan to stop at the rest area in Fort Smith, AR and grab a few hours of sleep. Just enough to get back on the road and stay awake until sunrise, when daylight should help keep me awake and carry me the rest of the way. It looks unlikely I will get to meet the Shaman, but it won't be for a lack of trying.
Last edited:
- Thread starter
- #34
Somewhere, deep into Arkansas, the thumping noise reappears when I have to slow down for some big-rigs doing the two-lane slow race. I happen to look over in the median and see what looks like some kind of shadow flapping in the side of my driver-side headlight. I surmise that the headlight surround is somehow loose and dangling by a thread, with the wind holding it in place until I slow down.
I wait for the next major exit with fuel & coffee to pull off. Sure enough, that is exactly what happened. I only had half of the required screws the last time I put it on, and one of those has fallen out, leaving it dangling. I perform the corrective surgery with zipties and declare the patient good-to-go.
I am at a truck stop, so I pull over to the pump, start pumping and head inside for a much needed restroom break and coffee. While I'm inside, Onur calls and we discuss the next day and again I am trying to do the math to see if I can make it before C-dan leaves for SLC. But I am in zombie mode and can't do the math.
I pay for my coffee, hop in the truck and take off...
...ripping the still-inserted-into-my-tank-gas-nozzle away from the pump
I wait for the next major exit with fuel & coffee to pull off. Sure enough, that is exactly what happened. I only had half of the required screws the last time I put it on, and one of those has fallen out, leaving it dangling. I perform the corrective surgery with zipties and declare the patient good-to-go.
I am at a truck stop, so I pull over to the pump, start pumping and head inside for a much needed restroom break and coffee. While I'm inside, Onur calls and we discuss the next day and again I am trying to do the math to see if I can make it before C-dan leaves for SLC. But I am in zombie mode and can't do the math.
I pay for my coffee, hop in the truck and take off...
...ripping the still-inserted-into-my-tank-gas-nozzle away from the pump
Now I'm definitely subscribed!...ripping the still-inserted-into-my-tank-gas-nozzle away from the pump
- Thread starter
- #36
I recommend everyone do that at least once in their life 
- Thread starter
- #37
Ripping the pump hose off snapped me right out of my zombie state
That plus my big gulp of trucker coffee bought me a few hours of drive time. I was still a few hours shy of where I wanted to pull over for a few zzz's, so every little bit helped.
I eventually made it to the Fort Smith, Arkansas rest area, but I mis-remembered there being a second one a little further down the road. Well, there is, but that is the one I just passed up. The first one is on the other side of the interstate. Oh well, surely there is one in Oklahoma...
The next rest area ended up being quite a ways down the road. I finally rolled into it about 2:30 in the morning. I found a spot away from people and set my alarm for 5:30.
5:30 came quick, but those few hours of sleep were just the ticket. I got back on the road, OKC being the next stop for fuel/breakfast/coffee.
After an hour or so on the road, I started smelling something burning from the floorboard area. I smelled it most of the night, but couldn't find any spots hot enough to ignite, so I ignored it.
Now that it was kinda daylight, I decided to investigate. I was running with the back seats folded down, so I had to unload most of the truck to check things out. When I flipped the back seat up, I practically burned my hand. It was hot as s*** under there, right above my muffler. The seat was trapping all the heat in and the carpet was starting to melt.
Add heat shield to list of future mods.
I folded the seat back into the upright position so that the heat wouldn't get trapped in, but the burning smell was permanent, at least when things heated up. I repacked the truck accordingly and peeled out. There's always some kind of drama like this when you have a Frankenstein truck, I guess.
That plus my big gulp of trucker coffee bought me a few hours of drive time. I was still a few hours shy of where I wanted to pull over for a few zzz's, so every little bit helped.
I eventually made it to the Fort Smith, Arkansas rest area, but I mis-remembered there being a second one a little further down the road. Well, there is, but that is the one I just passed up. The first one is on the other side of the interstate. Oh well, surely there is one in Oklahoma...
The next rest area ended up being quite a ways down the road. I finally rolled into it about 2:30 in the morning. I found a spot away from people and set my alarm for 5:30.
5:30 came quick, but those few hours of sleep were just the ticket. I got back on the road, OKC being the next stop for fuel/breakfast/coffee.
After an hour or so on the road, I started smelling something burning from the floorboard area. I smelled it most of the night, but couldn't find any spots hot enough to ignite, so I ignored it.
Now that it was kinda daylight, I decided to investigate. I was running with the back seats folded down, so I had to unload most of the truck to check things out. When I flipped the back seat up, I practically burned my hand. It was hot as s*** under there, right above my muffler. The seat was trapping all the heat in and the carpet was starting to melt.
Add heat shield to list of future mods.
I folded the seat back into the upright position so that the heat wouldn't get trapped in, but the burning smell was permanent, at least when things heated up. I repacked the truck accordingly and peeled out. There's always some kind of drama like this when you have a Frankenstein truck, I guess.
Last edited:
- Thread starter
- #38
I stop outside of OKC for a recharge and get back on the road just ahead of rush hour traffic.
As in passing through OKC, I am reminded of my best friend, Tom, who saved our lives on the Rubicon trip. I still have his number so I send him a text saying I'm passing through and thank him again for the help. He calls to see if I can stop for breakfast. I explain that I just ate and that I am on a mission to see a Shaman in ABQ, and have time for coffee at best. We decide we will try to possibly meet up on the return trip.
So I again mash the motor, wheels pointed West.
As in passing through OKC, I am reminded of my best friend, Tom, who saved our lives on the Rubicon trip. I still have his number so I send him a text saying I'm passing through and thank him again for the help. He calls to see if I can stop for breakfast. I explain that I just ate and that I am on a mission to see a Shaman in ABQ, and have time for coffee at best. We decide we will try to possibly meet up on the return trip.
So I again mash the motor, wheels pointed West.
Last edited:
- Thread starter
- #39
Blah, blah, blah, more Oklahoma, then... Texas!
Last edited:
- Thread starter
- #40
Meanwhile, the night before, beno arrived in ABQ just in the knick of time to see cruiserdan's son's high school graduation...
...and is now hanging at the monestary with C-dan and @DanS HJ-45 ...
...and is now hanging at the monestary with C-dan and @DanS HJ-45 ...
Last edited: