Mike Shull
Let’s go…
Looks like a close call.
Builds The honey badger build (2 Viewers)
- Thread starter Firemedic831
- Start date
This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate
links, including eBay, Amazon, Skimlinks, and others.
And paint our swing out rack. I missed spending time with you & Elsie, hope you got some down time to enjoy the place, next year camping behind kitchen with the Elsie, she needs an offical committee collar next year, maybe she could lead the wagon run ?
- Thread starter
- #1,443
Ya i never even got to get down to the river this year . We did have a Pancake Breakfast and that went well . I Plan to bring that back to everyone next year . Also A big Thank you to Tony for his Trail talk with Tony Tour. everyone really enjoyed that .
- Thread starter
- #1,444
So just a little update on the Sniper 1 vs Sniper 2 . So last year the sniper 1 would work great until it would not and you never knew when or where it would leave you stranded . When i ran the Rubicon last year with it. i burned a Full tank Plus 3 5 gal cans . This year with the sniper 2 I have had Zero issues and i burned 8 gal of fuel Running the Rubicon and driving back to South Lake Tahoe . Not a single hiccup at any angle
- Thread starter
- #1,445
Spent the day laying under the 40 checking every nut and bolt , Greased all the zerks . and cleaned her up . Heading back to the Rubicon this week then over to Fordyce . Had the inspector keeping a watchful eye on things today
- Thread starter
- #1,446
The 40 is killing it
Makes me want to get my hard doors restored. Looks great
- Thread starter
- #1,448
Things are getting spicy 
- Thread starter
- #1,449
Had a great week kinda I think 
. The 40 did great not a single hiccup until it had a hiccup . Will circle back to that . So a group of us meet at Meadow lake on Sat . Then Sunday most of that group drove over to Loon to run the Rubicon . I stayed back with the rest of the group and we planned on all meeting at Buck on Monday . Monday we drove over and started in . I was able to talk to some key people that put on Jeepers Jamboree so that was good . I plan to implement some of what I learned into the TLCA Rubithon event . 
. As we were just hitting Observation point 1 in our group said he heard something 
. But was not sure if it was a squeak or a click or just dust on his suspension 
. This really narrowed it down. And the sound went away . So we carried on . Just as we were heading up big sluice this time I heard the noise 
and told him to 
. Drivers side wheel bearing was dust . He had/ has a Dana 44 up front . Untill that day I really knew nothing about a D44 . Long story short we could not find a D44 set of bearing in the springs . But a 80 bearing is pretty close and worked so after a while we were off and running again . Made it to Buck with no issues . Tue we planned on running little sluice and just playing then head back to the springs . The springs was good as I needed to get some info sorted for next year . Wed morning we rolled out early as we wanted to start in on Fordyce to stay ahead of the organized runs starting the next morning . We found a great camp spot on the river and camped there Wed night . Elsie and I decided that it would be a great idea to hike up to winch hill 1 and get our eyes on it . ( that had to be the longest couple mile hike of my life . 
. In hindsight I should not have went and looked . The hike did Elsie’s feet in 
. Thurs morning the plan was get to winch hill 1 Take Elsie out just in case and someone would video . Me being me got there and kept rolling to just get my tires on it and I just kept going and just like that I went right up
Winch hill 1 no hesitation. And Elsie survived. Now things got a bit spicy. Because the one behind me I think got excited and thought just go for it . I have the video . Let’s just say he did not make it and in the process managed to break his rear side glass out . Break both front axle shafts. Completely break off the pass side knuckle a brand new tire and who knows what else 
. Now we have a dead rig smack dab in the center of winch hill 1 blocking the trail . And that group of 50 plus rigs that I wanted to stay ahead of was fast approaching . The short version is we drug it all the way down winch hill 1 to the bottom and out of the way 
. At that point my goal was to get moving ASAP to stay ahead of that group that had now caught us . I told our guy to just grab what ever important he needed and get in my 40 Let’s Go !!! I think he was in a bit of shock at this point on WTF did he just do and how are we getting that fixed and out . I would think about that After I cleared the trail. After clearing winch hill 1 I was confident and in my zone now . Cruised up winch hill 2 no problem . And shortly after another 1 in our group broke his rear locker and had no rear drive in his 80 . So we ran a strap to him and pressed on . Winch hill 3 piece of cake 
. Winch hill 4 I could not take the line I originally wanted cus there was a rig in the way . First try I bellied out so I backed up and reset and we cleared 4 . Got to 5 and there was a buggy wanting to go up the buggy line side so I watched as they struggled a bit . I went up the buggy side just as clean as could be yes we concord Fordyce 
. Mission accomplished. Fri was spent trying to relax but getting bugged all day about when and how and what and were bla bla bla on how to get the rig at 1 fixed and out Luckily was able to track down the parts and would have them in a few hours . At this point it was the afternoon and he wanted to go Now umm no . I had no intention to rebuild a broke rig in the dark . So the plan was hatched we would leave at 4:30 am . Well that evening we decided to go down to winch hill 3 and as we were driving over I noticed my battery was not charging . So I went back to camp and went and listened to the band and figured aww I will just tighten my belt in the am and roll as I heard the belt squeal. . Woke up early and tightened the belt and still not charging Crap Our recovery mission was not starting off good . He wanted me to just take a jump pack . Ya No. . Last thing I needed was my efi getting screwy because of low voltage . If I am being honest I kinda wanted to sit this fun out . But just like that Vichay Bun said aww just take my rig . Now I have all of 3 minutes of drive time in a new rig that I have never even sat in and I have to start on winch hill 5 seams like a great idea . So we are off I figured we could make it down in a few hours. Spend a few hours fixing it and be back by the afternoon . Well everything went to plan And we were rolling back before 2 . We hit winch hill 2 and this is when things started to go bad fast . Now I was very clear telling him to stop ! I needed to look at things to see the best way to get him up. Well some guy in a jeep told him to just hammer the throttle and don’t let up untill you clear it . And just like that full throttle dirt flying. Wheels bouncing me screaming to Stop. And then just like that he stopped to the sound of a broken rear axle . I may have said something to both he and the guy in the Jeep . So now we are at winch hill 2 Ugg. So we strapped him up to another rig ( the heaviest of the bunch and started pulling . It was not to long after that I was yelling at him to stop winching in and with the delay in his brain to actually doing . He now broke his winch by winching the block / hook through the fairlead and. Then snapping the winch line Ugg . I may have said something else at that point . The rest of the fun just kinda became a blur as somehow he would literally drive into every single rock that he could possibly get bound up into . 
. The list of breaking parts just kept growing . Transfer case check. Brand new spare tire he borrowed check brand new wheel he borrowed check. Front bumper check. Power steering check. The list just keeps going. And after 22 hours of pulling and winching . And the sun had come up 
. We got that pig out . I actually had fun driving the truggy . I then loaded up. And drove home. Have not slept since Friday and we all looked like we just came out of a coal mine . All in all it was a great trip. The 40 was great and I will get a new Alt ( I just did this last year ) so not sure why that happened. Maybe all the dust . Now the plan is to really pull it apart this winter and clean it back up. And swap engines .
. The 40 did great not a single hiccup until it had a hiccup . Will circle back to that . So a group of us meet at Meadow lake on Sat . Then Sunday most of that group drove over to Loon to run the Rubicon . I stayed back with the rest of the group and we planned on all meeting at Buck on Monday . Monday we drove over and started in . I was able to talk to some key people that put on Jeepers Jamboree so that was good . I plan to implement some of what I learned into the TLCA Rubithon event . . As we were just hitting Observation point 1 in our group said he heard something . But was not sure if it was a squeak or a click or just dust on his suspension . This really narrowed it down. And the sound went away . So we carried on . Just as we were heading up big sluice this time I heard the noise and told him to . Drivers side wheel bearing was dust . He had/ has a Dana 44 up front . Untill that day I really knew nothing about a D44 . Long story short we could not find a D44 set of bearing in the springs . But a 80 bearing is pretty close and worked so after a while we were off and running again . Made it to Buck with no issues . Tue we planned on running little sluice and just playing then head back to the springs . The springs was good as I needed to get some info sorted for next year . Wed morning we rolled out early as we wanted to start in on Fordyce to stay ahead of the organized runs starting the next morning . We found a great camp spot on the river and camped there Wed night . Elsie and I decided that it would be a great idea to hike up to winch hill 1 and get our eyes on it . ( that had to be the longest couple mile hike of my life . . In hindsight I should not have went and looked . The hike did Elsie’s feet in . Thurs morning the plan was get to winch hill 1 Take Elsie out just in case and someone would video . Me being me got there and kept rolling to just get my tires on it and I just kept going and just like that I went right upWinch hill 1 no hesitation. And Elsie survived
. Now things got a bit spicy. Because the one behind me I think got excited and thought just go for it . I have the video . Let’s just say he did not make it and in the process managed to break his rear side glass out . Break both front axle shafts. Completely break off the pass side knuckle a brand new tire and who knows what else . Now we have a dead rig smack dab in the center of winch hill 1 blocking the trail . And that group of 50 plus rigs that I wanted to stay ahead of was fast approaching . The short version is we drug it all the way down winch hill 1 to the bottom and out of the way . At that point my goal was to get moving ASAP to stay ahead of that group that had now caught us . I told our guy to just grab what ever important he needed and get in my 40 Let’s Go !!! I think he was in a bit of shock at this point on WTF did he just do and how are we getting that fixed and out . I would think about that After I cleared the trail. After clearing winch hill 1 I was confident and in my zone now . Cruised up winch hill 2 no problem . And shortly after another 1 in our group broke his rear locker and had no rear drive in his 80 . So we ran a strap to him and pressed on . Winch hill 3 piece of cake . Winch hill 4 I could not take the line I originally wanted cus there was a rig in the way . First try I bellied out so I backed up and reset and we cleared 4 . Got to 5 and there was a buggy wanting to go up the buggy line side so I watched as they struggled a bit . I went up the buggy side just as clean as could be yes we concord Fordyce . Mission accomplished. Fri was spent trying to relax but getting bugged all day about when and how and what and were bla bla bla on how to get the rig at 1 fixed and out Luckily was able to track down the parts and would have them in a few hours . At this point it was the afternoon and he wanted to go Now umm no . I had no intention to rebuild a broke rig in the dark . So the plan was hatched we would leave at 4:30 am . Well that evening we decided to go down to winch hill 3 and as we were driving over I noticed my battery was not charging . So I went back to camp and went and listened to the band and figured aww I will just tighten my belt in the am and roll as I heard the belt squeal. . Woke up early and tightened the belt and still not charging Crap Our recovery mission was not starting off good . He wanted me to just take a jump pack . Ya No. . Last thing I needed was my efi getting screwy because of low voltage . If I am being honest I kinda wanted to sit this fun out . But just like that Vichay Bun said aww just take my rig . Now I have all of 3 minutes of drive time in a new rig that I have never even sat in and I have to start on winch hill 5 seams like a great idea . So we are off I figured we could make it down in a few hours. Spend a few hours fixing it and be back by the afternoon . Well everything went to plan And we were rolling back before 2 . We hit winch hill 2 and this is when things started to go bad fast . Now I was very clear telling him to stop ! I needed to look at things to see the best way to get him up. Well some guy in a jeep told him to just hammer the throttle and don’t let up untill you clear it . And just like that full throttle dirt flying. Wheels bouncing me screaming to Stop. And then just like that he stopped to the sound of a broken rear axle . I may have said something to both he and the guy in the Jeep . So now we are at winch hill 2 Ugg. So we strapped him up to another rig ( the heaviest of the bunch and started pulling . It was not to long after that I was yelling at him to stop winching in and with the delay in his brain to actually doing . He now broke his winch by winching the block / hook through the fairlead and. Then snapping the winch line Ugg . I may have said something else at that point . The rest of the fun just kinda became a blur as somehow he would literally drive into every single rock that he could possibly get bound up into . . The list of breaking parts just kept growing . Transfer case check. Brand new spare tire he borrowed check brand new wheel he borrowed check. Front bumper check. Power steering check. The list just keeps going. And after 22 hours of pulling and winching . And the sun had come up . We got that pig out . I actually had fun driving the truggy . I then loaded up. And drove home. Have not slept since Friday and we all looked like we just came out of a coal mine . All in all it was a great trip. The 40 was great and I will get a new Alt ( I just did this last year ) so not sure why that happened. Maybe all the dust . Now the plan is to really pull it apart this winter and clean it back up. And swap engines .
Last edited:
- Thread starter
- #1,450
Random pics . The Bun Trail welder rig I was driving. That thing is unstoppable
Ditcherman
SILVER Star
“I may have said something” I can only imagine.
After reading this I can’t wait to go on my first rock climbing adventure with all my very first build ever homemade crap!
Maybe I need to add a welder to the budget…
Great story!
After reading this I can’t wait to go on my first rock climbing adventure with all my very first build ever homemade crap!
Maybe I need to add a welder to the budget…
Great story!
- Thread starter
- #1,453
I highly recommend getting a Bun trail welder to keep in your vehicle. Even if you can not weld someone will come along that can .
- Thread starter
- #1,455
They will be at Rubithon in 2025 with units for sale and have one set up so people can try there hand at it .
AgentOrange
TLCA #28372
Here's a couple that Jazmin caught as you went right up. I am already collecting parts and something with a center pin to fail is NOT going back in. I've already lost 80 pounds off the rig as well. That whole rack came off and I'm going to removed more. I'm mad at myself that I couldn't finish it under my own power. Lesson learned, moving on. It was still an amazing trip and well worth the effort to come out and even the break. I'd rather break and find weak points where I had this kind of support than on a run where I'm SOL. Thanks again for the invite for this. It meant a lot to me and we had a blast!
EWheeler
GOLD Star
Truck looks good on the trail, nice to finally see some actual photos of it in action @AgentOrange
I asked earlier in the thread what your WMS width was, now I realize I'm more interested in Outside tire to Outside tire widths. I have a 72" WMS rear tundra axle that I am considering putting under the crawler in place of the mini-truck rear axle that is there (custom width front would need to be built to match width wise). I would probably end up just a bit wider than you as I plan to run positive offset wheels but am still a bit nervous of ending up to wide.
Last edited:
Mike Shull
Let’s go…
I’m getting excited to get mine on the road after seeing these pictures, and to California.
- Thread starter
- #1,460
Those pics make that section look easy
. I had a great time. I never get pictures of me . I was lucky I got to run the trail 3 times 
. Up. Down and back up in the dark Next year we will be dialed in . I am really happy with how my 40 worked .
