Featured 100 - spressomon (1 Viewer)

[spressomon]

I think so but not sure. I got tired of the incessant maintenance required with the former aftermarket arm components (spherical bearings aka "Uni-Ball" serving as the outer ball joint is just about the dumbest idea and application; ditto urethane inner bushings. Learned a lot...but damn it cost me LOL.

Custom arms with large spherical bearing ends (infinitely adjustable without the negatives of plastic bushing bind...), Hummer1 racing ball joints (rebuildable). As with all one-off custom fabbed anything with high end parts, they weren't cheap. OTOH, they've paid dividends over the past 10 years or so. The spherical bearing ends have been there from day one with zero maintenance and zero issues. And they allow up to 4º caster correction; more than I need or want but nice the adjustment range is that wide). Ideally, I'd like to have a matching set of lower control arms that position the bottom ball joint/knuckle 2 degrees or so farther forward. This would get the wheel centered in the well, eliminate rear of front tire to fender interference and provide better overall steering handling and stability.

The H1 racing ball joints require a different taper for the LC steering knuckle. Wasn't a big deal to ream the knuckle to the matching taper though. And if I had to do it all over again I would have had the arms clear 2.5" shocks; whereas these were modeled after 2.0" shock diameter.

 

[thetimmer]

Just putting this in here as I've had a few ask where/how I mounted the front shock reservoir cans. 1"x1" steel angle, tack welded to the front side of the upper control arm mount.

View attachment 2339548View attachment 2339549

Thank you this is just what I was looking for!

 

[paflytyer]

Look who's back! Seeing @spressomon on here is like seeing a unicorn dart across the trail in front of you. The O-ist of G's!

 

[spressomon]

 

[gregnash]

Now if he would ever show up to a club meeting. Think he is back this direction but not 100% on that... LOL

 

[spressomon]

^ in CC! I'm too old...for a club

 

[spressomon]

Round 3 for the rear lower control arm bushings. They seem to last me about 10-years so all in all, not bad especially since the rear suspension on the spressoWAGON has 22" of articulation which, when flexed out, really puts the twist on the bushings.

The upper bushings looked fine but, "while I was in there..." I opted to swap in new (OEM 80-Series since I had them in my parts inventory).

The super heavy duty custom upper and lower control arms were one of the best investments I made; still dent free and straight as the day they were fabbed. A little rattle can work and they almost look new LOL.

 

[spressomon]

From our trip a couple weeks ago...mountain alpenglow on the spressoWAGON and the mountains in the background. One of the better super blooms I've seen. ~800 miles of dirt. A 10/10 trip.

 

[spressomon]

And the obligatory espresso/cappuccino shot

 

[Skidoo]

Looks like you might of had fresh milk for your latte.
That espresso equipment looks like something out of Star Trek. Are you building your own devices now?
I have seen glimpses of your espresso gear over the years, but wonder which ones are your current go to units. Maybe a photo of all the gear used to make a latte in the middle of nowhere. Maybe it is all top secret, hush, hush and you would have to kill me if you told me.
Over the years I have seen a Ponte Vecchio Export, another more portable system, a bumper mount hand grinder, and think a couple of other pieces.

 

[spressomon]

The cow thing...was really a problem. I've never seen so many G-Damn cattle over such a large expanse of land...in my life. And of course what comes with cows? Cow s***. Everywhere. The trucks smelled of it the entire trip. It was so bad, while we detoured to Winnemucca to buy a new tire to replace one I sliced & diced, we found a self-serve car wash...which helped but didn't eliminate (pun ) the stench.

Yes, I've had a ton of different espresso making gear over the years; part of the fun I guess. My go to for non-electric press for the past 5+ years has been the EspressoForge. And steaming milk comes ala a Bellman stove top steamer. The latest grinder I've been allowing to audition , in the photo above, is a 1ZPresso JE-Plus hand grinder. I picked one up mainly because I can use a cordless drill to spin it. And it is very smartly designed and fabbed. But, it takes about 200 revs to grind 18-20grams of beans...we'll see if I have the patience for it. Otherwise back to the B-Plus Apollo hand grinder which features a different geometry of the burr set that only takes about 50-60 revs to grind the same. But the darn opposing neo magnets apart of the JE-Plus' catch cup is so darn smart...and sexy! And the small, neat padded storage case it comes in, doesn't require much room in the LC.

I still have the Mahlgut Grist MG-1 hand grinder. And with its 68mm burrs, is my favorite for speed and flavor. And it gets the nod when we're going to be camping in the same spot for more than a couple days...the set-up time is a bit of a deal breaker for one night stands though.

When we have the trailer in tow, I have hauled the Cremina but have gone back to the EspressoForge + Bellman because its so darn capable and provides unparalleled in the cup results. Truly! I did buy a Niche electric grinder for the trailer camp-outs...its fast!

@Skidoo One of these times we should plan a trip together! Can't believe for all the country you and I roll over, with some overlap, we haven't done one together. Yet!

 

[abuck99]

The cow thing...was really a problem. I've never seen so many G-Damn cattle over such a large expanse of land...in my life. And of course what comes with cows? Cow s***. Everywhere. The trucks smelled of it the entire trip. It was so bad, while we detoured to Winnemucca to buy a new tire to replace one I sliced & diced, we found a self-serve car wash...which helped but didn't eliminate (pun ) the stench.

Yes, I've had a ton of different espresso making gear over the years; part of the fun I guess. My go to for non-electric press for the past 5+ years has been the EspressoForge. And steaming milk comes ala a Bellman stove top steamer. The latest grinder I've been allowing to audition , in the photo above, is a 1ZPresso JE-Plus hand grinder. I picked one up mainly because I can use a cordless drill to spin it. And it is very smartly designed and fabbed. But, it takes about 200 revs to grind 18-20grams of beans...we'll see if I have the patience for it. Otherwise back to the B-Plus Apollo hand grinder which features a different geometry of the burr set that only takes about 50-60 revs to grind the same. But the darn opposing neo magnets apart of the JE-Plus' catch cup is so darn smart...and sexy! And the small, neat padded storage case it comes in, doesn't require much room in the LC.

I still have the Mahlgut Grist MG-1 hand grinder. And with its 68mm burrs, is my favorite for speed and flavor. And it gets the nod when we're going to be camping in the same spot for more than a couple days...the set-up time is a bit of a deal breaker for one night stands though.

When we have the trailer in tow, I have hauled the Cremina but have gone back to the EspressoForge + Bellman because its so darn capable and provides unparalleled in the cup results. Truly! I did buy a Niche electric grinder for the trailer camp-outs...its fast!

@Skidoo One of these times we should plan a trip together! Can't believe for all the country you and I roll over, with some overlap, we haven't done one together. Yet!

At least you're inside a cage- On our adv motorcycle trips out West, dodging cow pies on two track and ranch roads get downright dangerous at 45mph, or sloppy if you miss.

Looks like you're having a stellar day in the Nevada wilderness and enjoying a supremely well made coffee drink. Nice barista work on that foam.

Have you explored the area south and west of Gardnerville (Leviathan Mine Rd Area)? There's an interesting network of rugged trail, elevation change and back country camping down there; especially along the (creek/stream). Last summer we spent a week exploring trail South of Tahoe and then down towards Mammoth. From Reno we drove down and started our trip there, and explored this area just outside Gardnerville- wow really nice.

 

[Skidoo]

The cow thing...was really a problem. I've never seen so many G-Damn cattle over such a large expanse of land...in my life. And of course what comes with cows? Cow s***. Everywhere. The trucks smelled of it the entire trip. It was so bad, while we detoured to Winnemucca to buy a new tire to replace one I sliced & diced, we found a self-serve car wash...which helped but didn't eliminate (pun ) the stench.

@Skidoo One of these times we should plan a trip together! Can't believe for all the country you and I roll over, with some overlap, we haven't done one together. Yet!

We should plan on a trip. Hear you on the cattle, last trip in the Arizona Strip was camping with the cows.

 

[spressomon]

@abuck99 yes, been all over that general area; there are some real hidden gems there for sure!