Wheeling - Tugwell and Kennedy Main

[asutherland]

Cam, Paul, Lish and I went wheeling in Sooke yesterday.

We found an old railway bed that we think went to/from Sunro copper mines.

We found ourselves near Tugwell at lunch, so we stopped and cooked hot dogs It was an absolutely beautiful day.

On our way back, we decided to have a bit of fun in the rock garden, and then since (this time) there was no snow, continue up Kennedy main as far as we could go.

 

[asutherland]

After a while, the we stopped banging our diffs and axles into boulders and started smashing branches into our windshields and down the sides of the trucks.

It got VERY tight, VERY fast. The Fat Lady was not happy. Cam lost some chrome trim, got a couple significant dents from "branches", Paul broke a headlight, corner marker, his windshield, CB antenna AND FM antenna.

After a good half hour of this drama, we came across a creek crossing. A very, very deep crossing. I would estimate it was 1.5-2 stories high in about 70 meters.

Paul made it down, and then winched himself back up the other side. It was -very- steep.

I started, got about 3/4 the way down and then chickened out once I had about 3 feet of air underneath my back right and front left tires. Decided it wasn't worth it and we'd head back. I'm sure the Cruiser would have been fine, but I was past my limit on what I wanted to do. I have no pics of this part since I was too busy sh!tting my pants...

Paul turned around and headed back. Then he got very, very very stuck - jammed between a rock face and a large stump. After several attempts we managed to winch him out (good thing my winch rebuild worked!)

On our way out we stopped to enjoy the scenery. Overall it was a great day. Lots of teamwork, and everyone enjoyed themselves.

 

[Radd Cruisers]

Cool pics, thanks for sharing....

 

[slowandsteady BJ]

Yes an epic adventure indeed.

After a ~6 month rest the old Sixty fired right up and was ready to go. She took some damage (chrome bits) which I'm not sad to see go. The bush was so thick I thought both front corner lenses would surely have gone the way of the Dodo, to my delight they were both intact at the end of the trip!

I spent today cleaning the forest out of the truck and chasing some electrical gremlins including fixing the "crazy gauges" syndrome that so many 60 series fall victim to. It'll be nice not seeing that temp gauge spike out for no reason giving me heart attacks thinking the B was melting down.

Good teamwork on the trip especially with running snatch block winch lines back and forth over the YJ. It took three different pulls and set ups to free the "poor mans" 40 series, but we got it at last.

Good trip.

 

[Enigma]

Looks like a pretty cool trail, plans on heading down there again sometime?

 

[asutherland]

Looks like a pretty cool trail, plans on heading down there again sometime?

Probably not, the bush was uncomfortably thick. Unless I can get a few more inches travel out of my suspension and want to try that bluff again, there's not much point.

Cam jumped on the back corner of my rig as I was teetering in the air and the truck came down about 3 feet.

 

[GTSSportCoupe]

Thanks for the pics; that is some pretty hardcore stuff.

Andrew, do you run sway bars when you are wheeling? If so, would removing them improve your articulation and keep the wheels on the ground? I've been thinking of removing mine, but am a little uncomfortable with the effect it'll have on in town and highway driving.

 

[asutherland]

Thanks for the pics; that is some pretty hardcore stuff.

Andrew, do you run sway bars when you are wheeling? If so, would removing them improve your articulation and keep the wheels on the ground? I've been thinking of removing mine, but am a little uncomfortable with the effect it'll have on in town and highway driving.

Hey man,

I looked into that, lots of different opinions on here about the 80 sway bars, census seems to be that the rear one provides a LOT of driving stability on the road, where-as the front not as much. Removing the rear supposedly doesn't affect your articulation at all, and the front supposedly loosens up and allows easier flex, if not more.

However, that being said, I went as far as to remove the sway bars and test articulation on a RTI ramp. It didn't make a difference at all. My sway bars are drop-bracketed as well, so perhaps that helps. I think it really depends on the individual suspension setup.

My suggestion to someone wanting to remove the sways, would be to build a quick-disconnect bracket and use pins - that way you can easily disconnect them for wheeling (say while airing down) but you won't lose highway stability.

 

[GTSSportCoupe]

Hey man,

I looked into that, lots of different opinions on here about the 80 sway bars, census seems to be that the rear one provides a LOT of driving stability on the road, where-as the front not as much. Removing the rear supposedly doesn't affect your articulation at all, and the front supposedly loosens up and allows easier flex, if not more.

However, that being said, I went as far as to remove the sway bars and test articulation on a RTI ramp. It didn't make a difference at all. My sway bars are drop-bracketed as well, so perhaps that helps. I think it really depends on the individual suspension setup.

My suggestion to someone wanting to remove the sways, would be to build a quick-disconnect bracket and use pins - that way you can easily disconnect them for wheeling (say while airing down) but you won't lose highway stability.

Sounds like you are on top of it! That is cool that you didn't notice much difference with and without sways. 80's are awesome. Disconnecting sway bars makes a big difference for the LJ7x from what I've read. Most LJ7x owners that wheel just remove the sways altogether, but I suppose a quick disconnect system would be the ideal for a vehicle that doubles as a daily driver.

 

[seapotato]

Sounds like you are on top of it! That is cool that you didn't notice much difference with and without sways. 80's are awesome. Disconnecting sway bars makes a big difference for the LJ7x from what I've read. Most LJ7x owners that wheel just remove the sways altogether, but I suppose a quick disconnect system would be the ideal for a vehicle that doubles as a daily driver.

When you have the crushing mass of a collapsed sun like an 80 series does , it helps the suspension flex ,regardless of swaybars...;p


It's more noticeable the lighter you are.

Removing it made a big difference on my BJ70, and I really don't think I even noticed the difference in road manners.


Looks like a fun trip guys, I'd say I was jealous, but I made more progress on the boat this weekend that I have in the last year, so if I did , I'd be lyin'...

 

[GTSSportCoupe]

When you have the crushing mass of a collapsed sun like an 80 series does , it helps the suspension flex ,regardless of swaybars...;p

It's more noticeable the lighter you are.

Removing it made a big difference on my BJ70, and I really don't think I even noticed the difference in road manners.

Bahaha!

Good to know how no sways worked on your BJ70. I'll have to give it a try then. Easy to put 'em back on I suppose. How much does your BJ70 weigh out of curiosity? My LJ78 with a full tank of fuel (90l) and no payload at all is 4500lbs.

 

[asutherland]

Bahaha!

Good to know how no sways worked on your BJ70. I'll have to give it a try then. Easy to put 'em back on I suppose. How much does your BJ70 weigh out of curiosity? My LJ78 with a full tank of fuel (90l) and no payload at all is 4500lbs.

Holy sh!t. I could add my wife's car to that and still not be at what the Fat Lady weighs.

 

[seapotato]

Bahaha!

Good to know how no sways worked on your BJ70. I'll have to give it a try then. Easy to put 'em back on I suppose. How much does your BJ70 weigh out of curiosity? My LJ78 with a full tank of fuel (90l) and no payload at all is 4500lbs.

Don't remember, that was a few rustbuckets ago...


Probably not a helluva lot less than your truck tho.

All I have now is a gay little german car that goes 1200kms between fill ups.

It's really confusing.

 

[GTSSportCoupe]

Holy sh!t. I could add my wife's car to that and still not be at what the Fat Lady weighs.

Ouch! I thought the curb weight on those was around 5000lbs? 5200lbs with fuel? Of course as you add accessories it goes up from there.

All I have now is a gay little german car that goes 1200kms between fill ups.

It's really confusing.

It's helping you save money for your next cruiser project; haha!

 

[asutherland]

Ouch! I thought the curb weight on those was around 5000lbs? 5200lbs with fuel? Of course as you add accessories it goes up from there.

5,000lbs for the FJ80 I believe, then account for (much heavier?) diesel engine, dual batteries, factory winch, etc.

Mine is 6,900 without anyone in it and about a half tank of fuel.

 

[GTSSportCoupe]

Mine is 6,900 without anyone in it and about a half tank of fuel.

That is nuts! She is portly indeed. That is the same curb weight as a new crew cab F350 4x4 pickup.

 

[seapotato]

It's helping you save money for your next cruiser project; haha!

That and my utter disinterest in working on it leaves me with an amazing amout of free time.

 

[Radd Cruisers]

That and my utter disinterest in working on it leaves me with an amazing amout of free time.

I call bulls&^t, 1200 K on a tank, my new to me little volski gets around 750.

Completely understand the not wanting to wrench on my own junk, leaves more time to drink beer...

Rob

 

[seapotato]

I call bulls&^t, 1200 K on a tank, my new to me little volski gets around 750.

Completely understand the not wanting to wrench on my own junk, leaves more time to drink beer...

Rob

No bs. I'm at 1050 kms right now, and still have 1/5 on the gauge.


Ain't it great that all these modern allegedly fuel efficient cars get worse mileage than the old ones?

But yeah , cruiser'd out at the moment. Time to mess with boats for a while.

 

[asutherland]

Sorry to hear about your VW infection Ryan! I couldn't afford maintaining a VW, so I bought an 80 series that I wheel, instead.