Tuttle Trip 2012

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Will bring suits then. New Victorian Inn number was 402-228-8808.

Forgot you have a compressor, so I won't worry about it.
 
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^^ That doesn't look like much fun, hope everything was okay.

Hope you guys had a great trip, :princess: and I went to graduation and got our boat ready for the up coming season. I was thinking about you guys all day. This is about the most off roading I did all day!

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How is the cleaning going? I'm sorry your trip turned a bit nightmarish.

It took a while to get your truck unstuck. We should put together the entire narrative of that recovery too - it isn't every stuck that requires two winch trucks, a pulley, a shovel and throwing a 2nd truck through another nasty mud hole on the gamble it could make it through to aid in the recovery.

After we got you back to the park entrance, the rest of us headed up to play on the nice dry rocks with very few trees. It was a nice break after being in the densely treed swamp with the sippy holes in the morning.

We need to get some of the more fun shots posted up so that we can show that it wasn't just pain - i.e. there was some fun to be had too.

I still haven't washed my truck and recovery gear yet. Good thing the local power wash accepts credit cards - I don't think I'd want to carry that much weight in quarters.
 
Haha, no need to apologize.

The cleaning is going pretty well...I found out that if I hustle, I can have the entire interior stripped down to nothing in 50 minutes. Seats, carpet, side panels, console, door panels, etc. I had to take it all out...not awesome. But, such is life...

Everything got power washed and Simple Green'd... I pulled all the grommets in the body panels and floor to rinse it out, the doors had to get completely cleaned out to clean up the drain holes. I still think I need to clean out the rocker panels better...not sure how to do that, though... The stupid LX rocker panel cladding is in the way and the only way to remove the cladding is to pretty much break all the clips off...

I also had to pull off all the wheels and remove the brake calipers and pads to clean out all the mud. My u-joints were making a ton of noise so I got those greased up along with the slip yokes. I still need to drain/refill the diff fluids and make sure the breathers aren't clogged...I'll try to do that tonight or tomorrow before I do much more driving with it.

It messed up both of my PS wheels pretty good. They were OEM wheels that were refinished in September '11. They got pretty trashed...there must have been some tree roots or rocks down in that mud put that were up against the wheels/tires. They also made a couple small knicks in the sidewall lugs of the DuraTracs... Scary! But, it could have been so much worse! Just thankful it didn't pop a bead or puncture the sidewall...

I need another matching rim for my spare to rotate in, anyways...so I'll just replace the trashed wheels with new ones over the next 3 tire rotations...no biggy.

So, all in all nothing too major or expensive...just a lot of labor! Although it didn't end up being as carefree of a trip as I hoped I still had a decent time. It was a good group of guys...fun to be around.

A huge thanks to Scott and Dustin for all the hard work they put into getting me out and a major thanks to Grench for sacrificing his truck into the mud pit to finally get me out! You guys are awesome!

Once I'm done with all the friggin work to get the truck back in top shape I'll go through the photos and get them posted...

Glad you guys had fun after I left! It was a bummer to leave early...but I'm thankful I did due to the time I've had to spend on getting the truck back to normal...
 
2ELO I hope you have pics of before/after cleanup....if you have time you might want to add some heat shield to the floor as the floors are nice and toasty for summer...

I got a few shots on my phone during the trip and believe I have all plates covered and faces removed--here is the link:

Pictures by aaronclough - Photobucket

I have the raw pics/vids at higher resolution/HD vid also.

Trip was fun, and glad Grench made the trip--not sure what we would have done to get 2ELO out without the Grenchmobile. Pics don't really do it justice--vids show it a little better.

All in all it was pretty fun, and I am still amazed about the variety of terrain at Tuttle. Rocks over mud anytime!


AC
 
It was just too muddy down there to even be fun. Had a good time meeting everyone. This is the only picture I've got. I don't need to worry about blurring out the plate as its under water :).

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Everything does look like a muddy mess... I was in K.C. the weekend before I know that the metro area got 3+ inches of rain so I am sure Tuttle got some of that.

I am really :crybaby: I missed this but looking at the pictures I might have had to tow my truck all the way home because of stupidity. We will have to work towards another meet up/wheeling trip. I will keep an eye out on Nebraska4x4 for the Cora(sp?) event that would be a good time to meet up, it is usually in August. August might be the first weekend I can come across for a free weekend.
 
Videos and pictures never seem to do justice to how steep the hillsides are or how deep the muck holes are. That first video where I'm dropping into that water hole - the downhill slope into the water was at least a 65-70* angle.

I'm going to want the HD version of that AC - how large is the file?
 
I got both diff oils drained and refilled last night. Good thing! The oil was less than two years old and probably had less than 10k miles on it...but it definitely looked to have some water contamination.

Do you think I need to change the transfer case oil, as well? Also, it looks like the t-case breather is a royal pain to get to and make sure it's clean/clear...

I'm going to do the diff breather relocation today...
 
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Have you ever changed your transfer case fluid?

Draining it isn't so bad - filling it is a long slow process.

The book specifies a rather obscure gear oil for the diff. I filled mine with 80/90 gear oil - which I/you can get anywhere.

YMMV
 
I never have changed the t-case fluid...but I've only had the truck 8 months...

I used 75W-90 Mobil 1 synthetic for the front/rear diffs...I also read that you can use the same in the t-case?

I have one of those little pumps that attach to the gear oil bottle...will that help speed up the process for refilling the t-case? Apparently the t-case only takes 2 quarts?

Also, I realized that I was looking at a FJ60 when I saw the bad location for the t-case breather. For the 80 series the t-case breather just extends to the transmission fill tube. Interesting...
 
I never have changed the t-case fluid...but I've only had the truck 8 months...

I used 75W-90 Mobil 1 synthetic for the front/rear diffs...I also read that you can use the same in the t-case?

I have one of those little pumps that attach to the gear oil bottle...will that help speed up the process for refilling the t-case? Apparently the t-case only takes 2 quarts?

Also, I realized that I was looking at a FJ60 when I saw the bad location for the t-case breather. For the 80 series the t-case breather just extends to the transmission fill tube. Interesting...

That would be the stuff. If you're going synthetic on your fluids, it makes good sense to do it there too.

My plan was/is to use less expensive fluids and change them more often.

I doubt if you've contaminated the center diff - but if you've never changed it, it's probably a good idea to do so regardless.

I thought I recalled the T-case taking closer to 3+/-. It was hard to tell since I was using a suction gun to fill from.

I finally washed my truck last night. :D I still have to vac out the interior - lots of mud clumps.
 
Alright! Transfer case fluid changed and diff breathers extended!

I extended the rear breather up along the fuel filler neck and terminated it with a cheap little inline fuel filter at the top of the wheel well behind the liner (got that idea from one of CDans posts). For the front, I took the line up along the PS reservoir neck and zip tied the filter to the reservoir.

The old t-case oil was a bit dirty but otherwise fine. It took just under 2 quarts to refill.

I think the truck is back to normal again! Phew!

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I have a BBQ to go to tonight and leaving town tomorrow morning for my niece's 3rd birthday in Hastings. Hopefully I can get the photos done Sunday afternoon or evening...

I saw atomicshawn's breather setup and it definitely looks slick...However, I am not convinced you wouldn't see negative pressure in the lines, especially during high RPMs...
 
I am not convinced you wouldn't see negative pressure in the lines, especially during high RPMs...

2x.

At worst it could supply some slight vacuum to the axles while they're under additional external pressure from being under water.

The other option would be to put it on the high pressure side of a turbo or supercharger - but then you'd be pushing against the seals.

I suppose if someone were to get really really particular about the whole thing, they could set up a pressure monitoring system at the axle level so that it could equalize the pressure on the line to the momentary pressure on the axle.

or you could just run the diff breathers up under the hood near the firewall and call it good (what I did).

If you have regular water intrusion that high - then you'll have additional concerns around electrical, insulation, need for the driver to wear scuba gear, etc...
 

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