Coming soon...
Three Dudes, One Truck - Rubicon or Bust
- Thread starter FJ60Cam
- Start date
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Can't wait
tease
He was in Yosemite yesterday
Then that makes him not only a tease but an A hole!
I am just jealous ...been dying to go to Yosemite!
PICS Cam!!!
- Thread starter
- #6
Most of the good pics are on my camera (I hope!), so I just decided to wait til I get back to keep it chronological. Check out the Facebook album for a few phone pics.
https://m.facebook.com/media/set/?s...65413163444:mf_story_key.-1481895524652971001
I didn't take many pics of the trail with my phone.
https://m.facebook.com/media/set/?s...65413163444:mf_story_key.-1481895524652971001
I didn't take many pics of the trail with my phone.
- Thread starter
- #9
DONE!
After reading the title, I thought this was going to be a coming out thread.
- Thread starter
- #12
So...
I've been wanting to do the Rubicon ever since I've heard about it (who hasn't?), but never really considered it since I have a pretty mild truck and heard horror stories about the body damage involved if you even think about setting tire on the trail. Then about two years ago, while everybody was still hyped about the CLC trip to Moab (that I wasn't able to do at the time), Georg mentions that 2013 will be the 25th anniversary of the Rubithon event and puts out an open invitation to the Cottonlanders to join his outlaw run. He even promised he could drag my lowriding wagon through the trail without even a scratch! Well, sign me up!!
So I mention to baby momma that me an' the boy want to go. And I mention that I'll need a pile of $$$ to do some wrenchin' on the truck. And I'll need a bunch of free time to do said wrenchin'. And I'll need an even bigger pile of $$$ to pay for gas & motels for the 4500 mile drive to and from the event. No problem, she says. Two years is a long time. We'll just do a little at a time.
Fast forward to late 2012. Stephanie says this sounds like an awesome family vacation (we went through the same area on a long trip out west/northwest by car before we got married) and makes plans for her and my 3 three year old girl to fly out, ride the trail and stay along for the drive home where we'll do some sight seeing.
Fast forward to January 2013. I've done absolutely nothing to the truck, nor socked away any cash. Stephanie gets shafted on her vacation request and can't get the right dates off. She gives me and the boy her blessing to go without her and my daughter and we make a plan to start doing stuff to the truck every month.
Fast forward to May 2013. Four weeks to go. Still, nothing has been done to the truck. I decide to invite my dad to go with us, since he likes this sort of adventure (and maybe he'll feel sorry and chip in for gas
It's worth mentioning that he's the original owner of the truck!
I ended up spending every spare second of the last month prepping the truck as best I could. I built a rear bumper, installed a front locker & longfields along with a new compressor and wiring. I put fresh shocks on her. I replaced the weeping water pump. I changed every fluid in the entire driveline, rotated the tires, changed the spark plugs, top off the gas tank, checked every nut and bolt, adjust the rear brakes, and finally, two hours after our scheduled departure, declare it "DONE".
I've been wanting to do the Rubicon ever since I've heard about it (who hasn't?), but never really considered it since I have a pretty mild truck and heard horror stories about the body damage involved if you even think about setting tire on the trail. Then about two years ago, while everybody was still hyped about the CLC trip to Moab (that I wasn't able to do at the time), Georg mentions that 2013 will be the 25th anniversary of the Rubithon event and puts out an open invitation to the Cottonlanders to join his outlaw run. He even promised he could drag my lowriding wagon through the trail without even a scratch! Well, sign me up!!
So I mention to baby momma that me an' the boy want to go. And I mention that I'll need a pile of $$$ to do some wrenchin' on the truck. And I'll need a bunch of free time to do said wrenchin'. And I'll need an even bigger pile of $$$ to pay for gas & motels for the 4500 mile drive to and from the event. No problem, she says. Two years is a long time. We'll just do a little at a time.
Fast forward to late 2012. Stephanie says this sounds like an awesome family vacation (we went through the same area on a long trip out west/northwest by car before we got married) and makes plans for her and my 3 three year old girl to fly out, ride the trail and stay along for the drive home where we'll do some sight seeing.
Fast forward to January 2013. I've done absolutely nothing to the truck, nor socked away any cash. Stephanie gets shafted on her vacation request and can't get the right dates off. She gives me and the boy her blessing to go without her and my daughter and we make a plan to start doing stuff to the truck every month.
Fast forward to May 2013. Four weeks to go. Still, nothing has been done to the truck. I decide to invite my dad to go with us, since he likes this sort of adventure (and maybe he'll feel sorry and chip in for gas
It's worth mentioning that he's the original owner of the truck!I ended up spending every spare second of the last month prepping the truck as best I could. I built a rear bumper, installed a front locker & longfields along with a new compressor and wiring. I put fresh shocks on her. I replaced the weeping water pump. I changed every fluid in the entire driveline, rotated the tires, changed the spark plugs, top off the gas tank, checked every nut and bolt, adjust the rear brakes, and finally, two hours after our scheduled departure, declare it "DONE".
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- Thread starter
- #13
Day one - Sat 6/15/13
We get the truck packed, last little bit of wrenchin' done, pack up the new Edgestar fridge that I've owned for half a week (I ran it in the house for a few days, and for a night hooked up to the battery to make sure it works), and take off!
We get the truck packed, last little bit of wrenchin' done, pack up the new Edgestar fridge that I've owned for half a week (I ran it in the house for a few days, and for a night hooked up to the battery to make sure it works), and take off!
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Cruiserdrew
On the way there
Subscribing-but I know how it turned out!
- Thread starter
- #16
This would be a good time for some specs...
- 1985 FJ60, fresh for its age with only 195,xxx miles.
- JimC race motor (2F), desmogged, with about 60K miles on it, with a year-old TBI conversion.
- H55 5spd
- Front & Rear ARB lockers. 4.11 gears
- Beefy 4x4 Labs steering parts.
- Sliders. Front bumper w/winch. Rear Bumper w/ a tire carrier.
- 33" tires.
- Comfy Procar front seats!
Spare parts
- Misc TBI parts, extra injector, spare fuel pump
- All belts, set of spark plugs
- Misc hoses & clamps, nuts & bolts, lots of zip ties.
- Enough tools to take apart the truck
- Oil, Brake Fluid, PS Fluid, Coolant
I wasn't sure what to expect as far as the truck physically making it out there, let alone making it back. I've taken it on several 5-8 hour one way trips, mostly without issue. However, on one of those, the head gasket blew between two cylinders and I drove home from Chattanooga on 4 cylinders. On our last wheeling trip to Chatt, I jacked up an O2 sensor and something else with the TBI and had to drive home in safe mode.
I'm built pretty mild and I don't usually break stuff, so I didn't have spare axles and such. I upgraded to longs, hoping to decrease the likelihood of front axle problems. However, Georg said he had plenty of spares 4 sell if I wanted to stop by his shop on the way.
- 1985 FJ60, fresh for its age with only 195,xxx miles.
- JimC race motor (2F), desmogged, with about 60K miles on it, with a year-old TBI conversion.
- H55 5spd
- Front & Rear ARB lockers. 4.11 gears
- Beefy 4x4 Labs steering parts.
- Sliders. Front bumper w/winch. Rear Bumper w/ a tire carrier.
- 33" tires.
- Comfy Procar front seats!
Spare parts
- Misc TBI parts, extra injector, spare fuel pump
- All belts, set of spark plugs
- Misc hoses & clamps, nuts & bolts, lots of zip ties.
- Enough tools to take apart the truck
- Oil, Brake Fluid, PS Fluid, Coolant
I wasn't sure what to expect as far as the truck physically making it out there, let alone making it back. I've taken it on several 5-8 hour one way trips, mostly without issue. However, on one of those, the head gasket blew between two cylinders and I drove home from Chattanooga on 4 cylinders. On our last wheeling trip to Chatt, I jacked up an O2 sensor and something else with the TBI and had to drive home in safe mode.
I'm built pretty mild and I don't usually break stuff, so I didn't have spare axles and such. I upgraded to longs, hoping to decrease the likelihood of front axle problems. However, Georg said he had plenty of spares 4 sell if I wanted to stop by his shop on the way.
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- Thread starter
- #17
So we managed to fit everything in the truck no problem. However, with all the people and gear, we had a pretty full load. I think that was the first time outside of hauling a truck full of sod that I saw the rear of the truck level out. I couldn't believe we would be wheeling with the truck this full. 
We were exhausted. We did a test load the night before to see how we were going to fit everything, and I doubt any of us got much sleep after that from all the excitement. My crew took the opportunity to grab some zzz's (see below.)
This first day was pretty uneventful. We made it as far as Elk City, OK, just under 600 miles. When we got to town, we started looking for a place to stay. All of the top choices on Yelp (not sure how they made the top choices by the looks of them) were either full or only had crap rooms left. We finally found a decent room and started grabbing our stuff out of the truck.
That's when we noticed that the fridge was in the low 40's. It turns out the fridge hadn't run all day. The display was lit up, but the compressor wasn't running. I tried running it off the small inverter (but big enough by the numbers to run it) and that didn't work either. I thought maybe I had packed stuff too close to the vents and killed it with heat.
Now bummed about the fridge, we grab the coldest beers and head for the room...
We were exhausted. We did a test load the night before to see how we were going to fit everything, and I doubt any of us got much sleep after that from all the excitement. My crew took the opportunity to grab some zzz's (see below.)
This first day was pretty uneventful. We made it as far as Elk City, OK, just under 600 miles. When we got to town, we started looking for a place to stay. All of the top choices on Yelp (not sure how they made the top choices by the looks of them) were either full or only had crap rooms left. We finally found a decent room and started grabbing our stuff out of the truck.
That's when we noticed that the fridge was in the low 40's. It turns out the fridge hadn't run all day. The display was lit up, but the compressor wasn't running. I tried running it off the small inverter (but big enough by the numbers to run it) and that didn't work either. I thought maybe I had packed stuff too close to the vents and killed it with heat.
Now bummed about the fridge, we grab the coldest beers and head for the room...
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- Thread starter
- #18
Day Two - Sun 6/16/13
Happy Father's Day!
I went outside to check on the fridge (I left it plugged in just in case it decided to start back up), and was disappointed to find the temps in the 40s. However, there was a beautiful sunrise in the parking lot trying to make up for it.
We ate a good breakfast at the hotel and took off. A 'good' continental breakfast is one that serves some sort of meaty protein - sausage, bacon, ham. If I don't get a good serving of cholesterol, I tend to have a sugar crash and go into hypoglycemic shock.
First stop, Wal-Mart. We needed dry ice to stick in the fridge and a couple of things we overlooked. We didn't find any dry ice in Wally World, but they had plenty of AR's in stock. I take this as a good sign for our trip.
We locate some dry ice at a local supermarket and fuel up. I went inside to take a leak. When I open the bathroom door there's a kid standing right there. He looks up (I notice he's opening some sort of package) and says "Hey! Want some cologne??!!") As I am saying "NOOOO!!!", he gives me a big spray right in the shirt. Not wanting to scold a strange kid in a strange town, we get out of there with the inside of the truck now reeking of some knock-off teeny bopper body spray.
We get a good laugh because I HATE the smell of other people's cologne, especially when its so strong I can taste it.
Happy Father's Day!
I went outside to check on the fridge (I left it plugged in just in case it decided to start back up), and was disappointed to find the temps in the 40s. However, there was a beautiful sunrise in the parking lot trying to make up for it.
We ate a good breakfast at the hotel and took off. A 'good' continental breakfast is one that serves some sort of meaty protein - sausage, bacon, ham. If I don't get a good serving of cholesterol, I tend to have a sugar crash and go into hypoglycemic shock.
First stop, Wal-Mart. We needed dry ice to stick in the fridge and a couple of things we overlooked. We didn't find any dry ice in Wally World, but they had plenty of AR's in stock. I take this as a good sign for our trip.
We locate some dry ice at a local supermarket and fuel up. I went inside to take a leak. When I open the bathroom door there's a kid standing right there. He looks up (I notice he's opening some sort of package) and says "Hey! Want some cologne??!!") As I am saying "NOOOO!!!", he gives me a big spray right in the shirt. Not wanting to scold a strange kid in a strange town, we get out of there with the inside of the truck now reeking of some knock-off teeny bopper body spray.
We get a good laugh because I HATE the smell of other people's cologne, especially when its so strong I can taste it.
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Hope you don't mind me cluttering up your thread, but I know everyone wants to see your truck in action.
In the last one you are on deck for the drop. If I recall that was on the slabs that bypass the first sluice, maybe the big sluice?
It was great wheeling with you guys. He'll never forget that B'day celebration.
.
In the last one you are on deck for the drop. If I recall that was on the slabs that bypass the first sluice, maybe the big sluice?
It was great wheeling with you guys. He'll never forget that B'day celebration.
.
- Thread starter
- #20
Next stop, Texas! Me and my wife took our picture by the big sign at the first rest stop when we came through fifteen years ago. When I get to it, the rest stop is closed. So we drive through the grass to go get a picture.
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