great pictures!
Wheelin 12-26-2012 San Domingo Wash Area
- Thread starter Tools R Us
- Start date
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A rock had it's way with LongDuck's tie rod, had to apply someengineering of our own to get him home.
Inkpot let the air out of a tire. Will need to get it patched, if possible. If not, may have to mount Chasetrucks' spare, spare, that Jim S had recently taken possession of, into Rootbeer's spare wheel and put it on Trailbus's carrier, so Inkpot has a spare. Or something, maybe?
Looks like you guys had a great time. Would love to join you, just can't make it work this time.
Feel free to use the spare if you need it.
Wonderful area! I had a great time, great people, great trail! Web wheeling doesn't cut it (John where's your saw?). I've been in a bit of a funk lately, so this was good for my head. It did me good to hang with some friends and see some pretty country.
Well, there is a small chance
you could talk some of us into going back to that area again when you are available. 
Besides proving that a spare tire
is a good idea to keep handy, we also found use for my axe, saw, and hammer.
Mother nature had decided to narrow the trail to a single track right where the pix of Juan and Trent getting spotted thru the gap. We had to do a little trail maintenance.
Could not see much damage to my tire yesterday, so will investigate this AM. We'll see if I need to take you up on the Spare Spare Offer. TIA!!
John
Here are my quick pictures from the air down spot;
Sharing some festive Christmas cookies with my brother;
The view from the tail gunner position;
On the trail damage to my LandCruiser, with the help of jjgarcia, Inkpot, and ToolsRUs, we got the LandCruiser into the shop, up on jack stands, and removed the tires/wheels to get at the bent tie-rod. The damage was all my fault due to poor driver technique, and I was behind the group (tailgunner) and trying to catch up, picked a bad line across some rocks, and got hung up. I radio'ed ahead to have them hold up for me while I got free, and in my haste, I managed to make matters worse by engaging the lockers (F&R) and try to drive off. Instead, all 4 tires dug down into the loose gravel, and the full weight of the truck was resting on the tie rod, bending it upward. I gradually worked the truck back and forth over to one side, clearing the obstacle beneath and freed myself, but once I got going again, the steering wheel was canted right about 70deg, and I knew there was a toe issue. In hindsight, this was entirely avoidable had I taken the time to get out, look at the hang-up, and stack some rocks to get lift - live and learn, and I learned a lot on this trail run about making it through a difficult run... After pulling back from the rock I hung up on, the rock was levered up vertical, laying like a tombstone in the middle of the trail. I drove around it picking a better line and caught up to the group.
Sure enough, once we got to air up and noticed the tie rod bent upward almost touching the front U-joint, Tools and I measured the toe with a tape measure at 2" toe OUT, far too much to make the 20mi trip back to my house. I pulled out my tow strap and Tools wrapped it around the bend, braced it with some leather and wood, and InkPot gave it a gentle tug to straighten it out enough to get back on the road. At this point it was getting pretty dark. The trail fix worked great, and the steering wheel was only off by about 15deg for the ride home.
Today, we pulled the tie rod (and drag link - bent at some date in the distant past!) and Tools, InkPot and jjgarcia straightened them both out using the arbor press and some impressive technical skill;
Both links were nearly perfectly straight when done, and we rechecked alignment at 1/8" toe-in - perfect! A half-turn of the drag link when I got home centered up the steering wheel, and now the LandCruiser is steering beautifully!
Special thanks to ToolsRUs, jjgarcia, InkPot, and the others at the shop today - you guys amaze me with your enthusiasm and knowledge of all things LandCruiser!
Sharing some festive Christmas cookies with my brother;
The view from the tail gunner position;
On the trail damage to my LandCruiser, with the help of jjgarcia, Inkpot, and ToolsRUs, we got the LandCruiser into the shop, up on jack stands, and removed the tires/wheels to get at the bent tie-rod. The damage was all my fault due to poor driver technique, and I was behind the group (tailgunner) and trying to catch up, picked a bad line across some rocks, and got hung up. I radio'ed ahead to have them hold up for me while I got free, and in my haste, I managed to make matters worse by engaging the lockers (F&R) and try to drive off. Instead, all 4 tires dug down into the loose gravel, and the full weight of the truck was resting on the tie rod, bending it upward. I gradually worked the truck back and forth over to one side, clearing the obstacle beneath and freed myself, but once I got going again, the steering wheel was canted right about 70deg, and I knew there was a toe issue. In hindsight, this was entirely avoidable had I taken the time to get out, look at the hang-up, and stack some rocks to get lift - live and learn, and I learned a lot on this trail run about making it through a difficult run... After pulling back from the rock I hung up on, the rock was levered up vertical, laying like a tombstone in the middle of the trail. I drove around it picking a better line and caught up to the group.
Sure enough, once we got to air up and noticed the tie rod bent upward almost touching the front U-joint, Tools and I measured the toe with a tape measure at 2" toe OUT, far too much to make the 20mi trip back to my house. I pulled out my tow strap and Tools wrapped it around the bend, braced it with some leather and wood, and InkPot gave it a gentle tug to straighten it out enough to get back on the road. At this point it was getting pretty dark. The trail fix worked great, and the steering wheel was only off by about 15deg for the ride home.
Today, we pulled the tie rod (and drag link - bent at some date in the distant past!) and Tools, InkPot and jjgarcia straightened them both out using the arbor press and some impressive technical skill;
Both links were nearly perfectly straight when done, and we rechecked alignment at 1/8" toe-in - perfect! A half-turn of the drag link when I got home centered up the steering wheel, and now the LandCruiser is steering beautifully!
Special thanks to ToolsRUs, jjgarcia, InkPot, and the others at the shop today - you guys amaze me with your enthusiasm and knowledge of all things LandCruiser!
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Tools and the gang to the rescue!Not to be confused with Kool and the Gang
