Just got back from first offroad trip

So i just got back from my first offroad trip at Flagpole Knob near Harrisonburg Virginia. I have to say i had a blast. These trucks are extremely capable right out of the box. I went with a couple of friends of mine who had an 11' Silverado, 05 Ram and 06 Ram all with A/T's and i was having no problem keeping up with my stock street tires.

I do have two complaints though. On my ride home i noticed my tranny was acting up a little bit. When I would accelerate on the interstate from say 30 or 35, the tranny would rev to about 2500 - 3000 rpms and sit there for about 3-6 seconds before switching ot the next gear. I was thinking maybe i overheated my tranny on the trail? I drove in D and probably never exceeded 10mph on the trail for the most part. It seems ok now but i feel like maybe its shifting harder than normal now. Is this something i should be worried about?

I also developed a nasty squeek from the rear driver side leaf spring. Maybe just mud in the leaf pack i need to wash out? The truck only has like 3500 miles on it so i feel like i shouldnt be having these problems already. I didnt dog it down the trails or anything. Any incite would be appreciated.

 

Did you by chance go through any deep water?

oh ... and

 

my transmission does that after every time i wheel. my best gues is that the computer realizes there is an increased load on the truck while wheeling and holds the shift point longer. it continues this on the highway for a little not realizing right away that conditions have changed. that's all that i could come up with. don't worry though, it'll go back to normal.

as for the leafs, with off roading comes swueaky leafs. you can clean them out, but you'll have to do it after every trip to keep them remotely squeak free

 

I just got done washing the Taco and i went underneath and sprayed it out real good. Cured the squeek for now. Im surprised i didnt have more scratches. The Toyota paint is much better than the Honda paint i had on my Si before this truck.
here are a few of the pics. Sorry, I dont know how to embed them.
these dont really show the difficult of the trails. there where some tough uphill spots with running water and large rutts. there was also alot of pretty large rocks as well. Overall a very fun trip.

 

i might have to check this place out sometime, looks like fun.

 

Sweet man! Does your truck have any kind of package with it?

 

Yup, she's broke in! Lol. Nice.

 

Its an SR5 package. Nothing special. Im hoping to get some wheels and A/T's this week.

Yes the place was pretty awesome. It was totally free and there were some pretty tough spots on the trails for stock trucks. Lots of nice hill climbs and plenty of rocks and streams to cross. I'd recommend that place to anyone. Especially a new person to offroading like me. Its tough but not to tough for new people.

 

Nice! Looks like you had a great time.

 

I'll be doing this trip with a Jeep friend of mine soon. He was up there a couple weeks ago telling me how we need to plan a camping/wheeling trip. We did another trail in GWNF back on Memorial Day weekend. Loads of fun.

 

Very cool!

Want to go again in August?

 

Pretty badass pictures, haha I got pretty far in stock dunlops when they still had tread on them .

Anyways, Yeah the transmission is one of those Electronically Controlled Transmissions with "Intelligence" - ECT-i, so it probably did program it's self for when you were out off roading.

And the squeaking is normal, first time I went off roading my truck squeaked like no other afterwards.

 

looks like a good time... nice pics too

 

Im definatly down for going again soon. if you decide to plan a trip let me know, we can meet up and hit the trails.