protection question and off road pics from the weekend (1 Viewer)

[Randy88FJ62]

This weekend was the maiden voyage for my stock rig. I met up with a friend in Fresno and we hit bald mountain and camped at red lake in the western sierras. It was a lot of fun but I have many scrape marks under the vehicle.

33 in tires and 2 in lift in the future.

Question: Other than a little lift, what can be done to protect the under belly of my truck? I scraped everything on this trip. Do people modify the position of their shock mounts since they are so low? I want to look into protection through modification to minimize trail damage. I might throw in some better skid plates but that’s just a start. I’d rather fix things now than get stuck on the trail with broken parts.


Top of bald Mountain

Red lake where we spent the night

Rock Obstacle

Leaning Shot

Leaning Shot #2

Beginner water crossing

Tail Light Body Damage
I was almost off the trail when I had to jump up a big rock and the tree took a liking to me.

Rocker Panel Body Damage from Bald Mountain
This was the first body damage and hopefully not the last. J

 

[BGarcia88FJ62]

Pretty ballsy gettin after it stock and without any protection at all. But there are plenty of mod's and protection to be had either bought or home built. My first priority would be some sliders and a U-Bolt flip kit. Do a search on sliders and such, there's tons of info on this board.
Good luck to you .

 

[Randy88FJ62]

I have sliders made but did not have time to mount them. I prefer home built ideas mainly. I have a bender and a welder if that opens up the possibilities.

My main concern is spring perches and shock mounts. Does everyone just scrape them and forget about it or am i so low because of stock rig that it's just me?

 

[cfdlighthouse]

lift and tires need to be a priority, not just for ground clearance, but for articulation, traction, etc. body protection is good but need the trail capability first. just my .02

 

[Randy88FJ62]

I agree 100% with you. I'm researching and making my decision on the shocks/lift/tires right now and planning next step at the same time.

 

[LCOwner]

You just about maxed it out going into Red. I assume you didn't go into Coyote. The Gate Keeper probably would have kept you out anyway. I was on Bald too this weekend for the poker run. Great weather.

 

[IndianDoc]

Pretty ballsy gettin after it stock and without any protection at all. But there are plenty of mod's and protection to be had either bought or home built. My first priority would be some sliders and a U-Bolt flip kit. Do a search on sliders and such, there's tons of info on this board.
Good luck to you .

2X on the lift and the u bolt flip. Also check SOR and Man a Fre and others have armored u bolt hangers that give some protection to the ubolts but don't do much for the shocks.:whoops:

 

[Randy88FJ62]

You just about maxed it out going into Red. I assume you didn't go into Coyote. The Gate Keeper probably would have kept you out anyway. I was on Bald too this weekend for the poker run. Great weather.

When I got to Red Lake I was really happy to be done and ready to camp. My friend pulled me into Red Lake and that was pushing the limits of my truck.

I'll let you know next time I go up to Fresno. Always good to have Cruisers in the group.

I had one guy in a jeep say, "what's the deal with all the toyotas today?"


I'm still concerned about the shock mounts. Do people have issues with lifts and just take the beating?

 

[Trapper50cal]

Whatcha need

Obviously a lift and tires....

But the sliders are crucial too, keep the rocks off your rocker panels.

AS for shock mounts, either u-bolt flip then weld shock mount tabs to the axle

or Spectre now makes an "Extreme" u-bolt skid plate that mounts the shock higher then the base of the ubolt skid plate itself. The "Heavy Duty" version of this product is JUNK, metal is too thin and shock mount is "bolt-in"...The extreme version is thicker metal and the shock mount is welded to the side. I have the extreme version and have HAMMERED on them, they are stout and they keep the bottom eye of the shock up and away.

 

[Randy88FJ62]

Obviously a lift and tires....

But the sliders are crucial too, keep the rocks off your rocker panels.

AS for shock mounts, either u-bolt flip then weld shock mount tabs to the axle

or Spectre now makes an "Extreme" u-bolt skid plate that mounts the shock higher then the base of the ubolt skid plate itself. The "Heavy Duty" version of this product is JUNK, metal is too thin and shock mount is "bolt-in"...The extreme version is thicker metal and the shock mount is welded to the side. I have the extreme version and have HAMMERED on them, they are stout and they keep the bottom eye of the shock up and away.

Nice reccomendation trapper. Those u-bolt skid plates look nice. Not sure if I rather relocate the shocks above and onto the axle. I always feel that I hit the tip of the iceberg...

Any good links on lower chock mount relocation?

 

[Trapper50cal]

Nice reccomendation trapper. Those u-bolt skid plates look nice. Not sure if I rather relocate the shocks above and onto the axle. I always feel that I hit the tip of the iceberg...

Any good links on lower chock mount relocation?

I imagine u-bolt flip threads will have that data. Keep in mind that the compression/extension data used to ID which shocks to buy will be different if you move the shock mount that far from where it started. i.e. don't measure for shocks until you have the lift and the flip done (or the lower shock mount point figgered out.

 

[Randy88FJ62]

Question:
While I was offroading this weekend I had a weird idle problem. When rock crawling in gear it was ok but as soon as I let the RPM’s get down to around 650 it would oscillate about 100 RPM’s back and forth making the idle sound rough. Could it be the altitude? I was up around 6,000 ft in 85°F weather.

Another Question:
About 3 hours into my drive home on the freeway I stopped for gas. The car would not start again. I got a “clicking” sound every time I tried to turn the engine over. The starter was not engaging. It was a hot day 90°F plus and I was driving the engine hard around 3,000 RPM’s the whole way doing about 75 mph. All ground connections are good. Battery terminals are new and tight. The starter has replaced contacts from a month ago. What could have caused this starting failure? I tried starting the engine after 5 minutes again and it started. I noticed that it had a low idle and wanted to stall.

Back down at 2,000 ft elevation here at home I don’t have these problems. Anything I should be adjusting?

A note that might help: My throttle pull cable near my right knee doesn’t increase the RPM’s when I pull it out. Could this be related to the problem? My only guess is the throttle cable needs adjusting?

Thanks for looking over the long post.

 

[rondog]

Shock mounts

If you have issues with the shock mounts move 'em! You have the equipment! make some shock hoops while your at it like I did. Good luck.

When I got to Red Lake I was really happy to be done and ready to camp. My friend pulled me into Red Lake and that was pushing the limits of my truck.

I'll let you know next time I go up to Fresno. Always good to have Cruisers in the group.

I had one guy in a jeep say, "what's the deal with all the toyotas today?"


I'm still concerned about the shock mounts. Do people have issues with lifts and just take the beating?

 

[Randy88FJ62]

Rondog,
What size tires / lift do you have? Great setup!

 

[chicago]

If you have issues with the shock mounts move 'em! You have the equipment! make some shock hoops while your at it like I did. Good luck.

NICE!!!!!

Chicago

 

[chicago]

Now this is not an..."SOA is king" statement here, but I know EXACTLY where youre at right now. However, those are the SAME EXACT reasons that I went SOA on my rig.
The spring packs hanging up on EVERYTHING, KILLED ME. That and limited articulation...
Looks like you may have a wheeling "ITCH" (AEB the terrain in the pics) that may not be able to be scratched with an SUA configuration.
If youre gonna spend a lot of time on trails like that, youre most likely gonna be disappointed with the SUA options. At least that is what I found...Lifting these rigs (SUA or SOA) is an expensive undertaking either way...make sure you do what you WANT for the type of wheeling you plan on doing MOST, so you dont have to spend the money twice.

This is just my opinion, and take it however you need...Im just throwing it out there for you to consider...

Chicago

 

[Randy88FJ62]

Chicago,
You bring up the tough choice. I've only had this truck since May. I wish I could SOA straight up but the amount of research and time to go into it is not enough right now. I'd love to go SOA in a few years.

And yes i have the itch... Costs roughly $3,000 to go SOA right?

 

[Randy88FJ62]

A little help with post 12 please. Not sure of diagnosis.

 

[chicago]

Id figure a little more for safety by about 1K with gears and shafts and odds and ends...
As far as post 12...did you change your plugs recently?
Sounds like what happened to mine after I tried to put in some schnazzy plugs?
Any arcing from the wires?
Either that, Id suspect EGR, or a vaccuum leak.

Chicago

 

[chicago]

If you ULTIMATELY want SOA, and PLAN on it in the future, I wouldnt go hog wild on an SUA lift.
My rig when I got it had AAL's and a shackle lift with 33's. Relatively cheap and it did fairly well for what it was.
Get an aussie locker for the rear, throw some sliders on that motha and wheel that beotch. In the mean time, save some cash do some research on the SOA (if thats ultimately what you want) and have fun with it.
I had my rig for 8 mos. before I made the decison to go to the "dark side".

HTH...
If you have any ?'s on the SOA, shoot me a PM.
Im not a PRO by any means, but I learned a GREAT deal from the experience.
It just seems that youre in much the same position that I was when I first got my rig...

Chicago