Target carrier (2 Viewers)

[J Mack]

If you want to get out sometime this week I'm up for getting out again. We are off for spring break.

We just got back from an Easter adventure, I should have given you a call. We took Blacks Creek road up to Prairie then bounced over to Featherville. The plan was to take James Creek over the hill but it was still closed (6 + feet of snow at the entrance) so we turned around and came home, still about 250 miles of backcountry trails.


I go in on the 30th to talk to the surgeon and see what it’s going to take to fix my back so this week might be out for me depending on what he says.

 

[PabloCruise]

Ha, I guess my comment was a bit misleading. I’ve only destroyed two of the twelve tires in 5500 miles. I originally bought five 33”-12.5” KM2’s for the pig and drove it for about 550 miles with the SBC while I gathered the parts for the Cummins swap with the intent of having about a 2.5” total suspension lift when I was done, the Cummins engine was taller and without major transmission tunnel modification it was not possible to get the oil pan height the same as the SBC so a 3.5”-4” suspension lift was needed and the 33” tires looked silly. I bought five 35”-12.5” KM2’s and destroyed the first one at Cruise Moab with just a couple hundred miles on it and now this one right at the 5000 mile mark.

The tire damage was in no way a tire issue but just another example of how this pig can’t even get a normal flat, it has to eat the tire beyond repair not once but twice. This is the only vehicle I’ve owned that spectacularly fails continually, this pig has eaten more high-end parts for no apparent reason in such a short period of time that I’m starting to believe it was built on some sort of Japanese ancient burial ground. Hell it was eating parts before it even ran and although not all of the spectacular fails where manufacture defects every time I have called a manufacture to describe their part failure I always get the WOW we have never had that happen before story.

Like I say, "Pigs are demanding mistresses"...

 

[PabloCruise]

We just got back from an Easter adventure, I should have given you a call. We took Blacks Creek road up to Prairie then bounced over to Featherville. The plan was to take James Creek over the hill but it was still closed (6 + feet of snow at the entrance) so we turned around and came home, still about 250 miles of backcountry trails.


I go in on the 30th to talk to the surgeon and see what it’s going to take to fix my back so this week might be out for me depending on what he says.

Ouch... Hope they can get a fix for your back, that is no good at all.

 

[J Mack]

Ouch... Hope they can get a fix for your back, that is no good at all.

Remember this from the Cruise Moab trip?

Well a friend and I entered the rock crawling competition with a new stock Jeep Rubicon, by our unofficial in cab timer we were the clear winners with the fastest time on our second run but the official time keeper was a Toyota guy timing an event at a Toyota rally so we were getting a +10 Jeep penalty added to our time, so like the idiots we are we decided to try to make up the 10 seconds and jump everything….. He now has another new jeep to replace the one we totaled and I’m going in tomorrow to see if there is a fix for my back.

 

[scrapdaddy]

That's a shame, back pain is no fun. Hope the Docs can help.

 

[mtnmort]

Good Luck.

 

[mtnmort]

How'd your back appointment go?

 

[J Mack]

X-rays and MRI, I’ll get results Wednesday..

Thanks!

 

[J Mack]

The back is finally working well enough that I can get out to the shop and work on the pig, I’ve been losing the charge on the A/C slowly over time but I need to disassemble the inter cooling piping to get to the charge ports, not a big deal if you can stand or bend over for any length of time but for me it’s taken three mounts to get to it, after pulling a vacuum for 15 minutes and recharging the system the low pressure port Schrader valve was a little loose and leaking. Easy fix and now I’m back in action…

Since I had it apart I decided to add a catch can to the crank case breather, I had added the center valve cover with the built in breather that was supposed to stop the common Cummins leak but it only slowed it down, when making 35# of boost it would fill the line with oil mist from the extra blow by and leave a 3” spot every time I parked, I couldn’t find a place to hide it so I just bolted it to the last available spot in my engine compartment, seems to be working well so far and with a little luck this pig will stop marking its territory..

 

[scrapdaddy]

Engine bay sure looks nice! Does the catch can have a drain of some sort?

 

[J Mack]

Engine bay sure looks nice!

Thank you Ron, this engine has a little over 6500 miles on it now and is starting to show some rust coming from the uncoated bolt holes but other than that the Cerakote is holding up well..

Does the catch can have a drain of some sort?

Yes it has a mini ball valve on the bottom for now, I will keep an eye on the amount of oil collected and either run a stainless line from the ball valve to empty the can if I only collect a small amount or put a check valve in and drain it back to the oil pan if I collect a large enough amount to necessitate it. Basically if I collect less than a quart between oil changes I’ll just drain it at every oil change, if the amount is greater I will divert it back to the pan so I don’t have to top off the oil level every 1000 miles. From what I understand this is not uncommon when you start running higher boost on a Cummins so I’ve limited mine to 35#.

Maintenance schedule is pretty simple right now every 3 tanks of fuel is just over 3200 miles so I change oil at every fourth fill up.

 

[NikP]

Glad to see you're at least able to wrench a bit. I'm two weeks post-op from lower back surgery and the Dr wants to do a cervical fusion once I'm able. I'll be out of commission for months.

I'll just live the dream through all the guys posting here. I love tracking your work and seeing what you've done.

 

[scrapdaddy]

I'll just living the dream through all the guys posting here

In my case, living the nightmare! Sorry to hear about your back, I know it can take 6 months to fully recover surgery.

 

[J Mack]

Glad to see you're at least able to wrench a bit. I'm two weeks post-op from lower back surgery and the Dr wants to do a cervical fusion once I'm able. I'll be out of commission for months.

Wow, take care man that doesn’t sound like any fun at all and I’m usually a pretty good at judging fun.

I'll just living the dream through all the guys posting here.

I know exactly what you’re saying, I just got off the phone with @Rzeppa canceling our 2016 Cruise Moab trip but I’ll be keeping an eye on the forums looking for updates wishing we were there.

If I’m able to avoid surgery we’re still going to try to make some events this year..

 

[scrapdaddy]

What, am I going to be the only limping old bastard out there!

 

[bobm]

Nope. I'm still sorta here

 

[PabloCruise]

I know exactly what you’re saying, I just got off the phone with @Rzeppa canceling our 2016 Cruise Moab trip but I’ll be keeping an eye on the forums looking for updates wishing we were there.

If I’m able to avoid surgery we’re still going to try to make some events this year..

No Cruise Moab? Oh that is too bad - I think we will be there, but probably not in the Pig :-(
Good luck with your back, I am sorry to hear you are hurting.

 

[PabloCruise]

What, am I going to be the only limping old bastard out there!

Now I know who to look for!

 

[PabloCruise]

Glad to see you're at least able to wrench a bit. I'm two weeks post-op from lower back surgery and the Dr wants to do a cervical fusion once I'm able. I'll be out of commission for months.

I'll just living the dream through all the guys posting here. I love tracking your work and seeing what you've done.

Fusion? Wow, that is some serious stuff. My Mom has 2 in her back, her mobility is not great :-( Best wishes for your recovery.

 

[tucker74]

What is it about these old pigs ... four weeks out from back surgery here Got away with a dual micro-discectomy, the alternative was worse (fusion).

Tucker