Back to basics 2014 CCSB

That is correct.

 

So I stopped by my buddies at AccuTune to do a little shock tune at the shop. Andrew was trying a base tune in my truck and after using it a bit we decided to tweak it a little. While doing it, we checked my clearances for travel available and what I was using. With my current setup (stock length taco shocks, 3 leaf AAL with overload and archive garage flip kit with super bumps on a 1" pedestal) I have about 5" uptravel. On the current shocks, I still have almost 2" of shaft showing there, which means I'm limiting droop a bit. I want to say the shocks are 8.5" stroke. There are a few options on what I can do...chop the bump spacer and get a bit more uptravel but still crappy droop, chop the spacer and get some different application 2.0s like I have that are a bit longer stroke, leave the spacer and go with the tundra 2.5s that are also a bit longer stroke but obviously way cooler since...2.5s, or I just get it over with and get the BAMF or AG shock relocation towers plus chop the spacer and then get a longer 2 or 2.5 shock to maximize uptravel and droop a few inches. Any of these options will likely be paired with new springs, but really, the only smart decision is throwing more hard earned money at this lil bitch in the name of Broverlanding, working towards earning my prelander level up.

 

needs more roof top tent.
#prelanding is life.

How did the aal work out btw for your rubbing out back ?

 

Haven't gotten to really go test it out, it's only when it flexes pretty good really. Probably didnt do anything. haha

 

Also, new tune is tits on the road testing. We firmed up the compression and rebound because these things have no spring rate and I usually have a load in it when I'm off camping. A little firmer on the highway, but definitely doesn't blow through travel on a g out as easy. Heading to do a little off roading in AZ in 2 weeks so I'll see how it does.

 

you overlander you #mallready

Where you going wheeling in AZ?

 

Dunno really, a friend is having a birthday party around Parker and we're going to go do truck stuff during the day.

 

Bromode engage!

 

Took a trip out to a friend's place in Parker/Blythe and hung out for the weekend. Did a little dirt road bombing and had some fun. After my first time romping around, I happened to notice my driver rear shock had a jacked up resi/hose situation. Basically, the shock would rotate a little in it's mount (post mount) until the spring tender caught the resi/clamp and jammed it up into the upper mount, bending the hose and scratching up the body. Reset it and it just did it again, so I reset it and tightened up the top mount to try to keep it from rotating so freely. After that all was good. I was really surprised honestly at how well my new rear tune worked out. I was able to bomb some decent sized bumps pretty well all things considered.

On the way home, we decided to take the Bradshaw trail detour off the 10 just west of Blythe. Should have taken more pictures, but it's basically an old overland route for mining that's just a cool dirt road that winds across the desert. Didn't do too much exploring off the trail as I had no backup if anything happened or we got lost. Again, I was able to bomb the road pretty good, doing about 25-60 the whole way with only a few rough bottom-outs. The front can handle some decent bumps, but the rear just can't with how little travel it has really. Also, after about 20-30 minutes of sustained driving, you could feel the back start to fade, and it would just blow right through the travel to the bumps. We did about 70 miles or so of dirt before jumping on the gas line road to the red mountain trail and then back on the 10 near the summit. Then checked out the Nude Bowl around Desert Hot Springs, which was a little jaunt up a hill to an old pool that was part of a nudist resort before turning into a skate spot. All in all, pretty damn happy with the way the tuning from AccuTune let my truck handle the bumps this weekend, looking forward to making it even better with some new leafs and 2.5s on extended mounts, eventually.

Going to chop the bump spacer off the flip kit to get another inch of uptravel and dial the coilovers up a little to even things out before we go run Mojave Trail in a few weeks for a Broverlanding trip with some buddies.

 

Went on a little Broverlanding trip on Mojave road the other weekend, finally got around to the pictures. Truck did great, definitely had a few oh-shit-ouch moments, but truck came out unscathed. The front coilovers have a bit of preload in them now for sure, less bottoming out, even stance more or less. Went pretty minimal on gear this time to try and stay light and fast. Took off around 9 Saturday from Afton, ranger hydrolocked his motor, we towed him out to the road and got on the trail around 10 or so. Checked the lava tubes out, bombed a lot of dirt roads, got a few rock chips, had a lot of laughs, and made it to Laughlin by around 8 maybe. Gambled, slept and got an even later start home, planning to take dirt to the lakebed and hit the road from there. F-100 sheared an upper link bolt and on our way out to the road, at about 85, Bronco broke an axle and went for a bit of a skid. After a bit of time and a long night, he got his trailer to it and back home. Great trip, definitely want to go again. Baja trip coming in a few weeks, so some upgrades from are coming in preparation...

 

The ranger carnage...

 

Will buff out for sure

Assuming he just hit the crossing too fast?

 

Too fast, stock height, open element intake....

 

I was just thinking a snorkel really would have helped here.
#Nessieandhisunderwaterallies

 

Did a lil baja trip for a buddies bachelor party this weekend. Stayed at Horsepower ranch outside Ensenada and at the Old Mill in San Quintin. Great time, truck did fine but I have a clunk in the front end somewhere on some situations. The AC on, listening to SiriusXM playing Coachella sets was pretty clutch.

Also, rear upgrades are in the works, just waiting on Fox's lead time on some new 2.5s in back.

 

clunks are good.

Baja looks fun... still haven't been.

good shit bud !

 

Ya I need to learn some more Spanish and go back. It's a lot of fun, but the focus is really more on reliability than ability. Nothing we did was very hard, but 4wd was definitely nice to have in some places. It's definitely somewhere a few days/a week is nice to have to relax, take it all in and explore, not trying to jam through in 2.5 days and marathon back to the states to get your friends to their flights out of SD.

 

Sweet build! Sub'd for more trip reports

 

Took my truck down to AccuTune in Carson while I was on vacation and my buddy Andrew installed some Icon RXT leafs, B.A.M.F. shock towers and some Fox 2.5s with DSC adjusters. Also swapped the super bumps out for some other bumps Andrew is trying out that are a bit softer so the bottom out isn't so harsh. They fiddled with the tunes since they had the time, working on balancing the valving front and rear. Feels weird not doing work on my own truck, but I'm glad Andrew was able to sort it out. Towers took some modification to really try to get the full 12" of travel out of these things without lots of issues, and we're close. Tires rub on articulation and brake lines are too short, so I got some 1.25" wheelspacers and will be ordering some brake lines soon here. Not looking forward to the amount of trimming that will be needed once these wheelspacers are on...

After driving it around a few days, the truck feels super smooth through some big dips in the neighborhood and some very abrupt driveway transitions I took at speed. I set the leafs in the middle position, so one of the leafs replaced with the additional one, and it sits about the same, maybe a touch higher, than my old progressive AAL pack with overload. Should be perfect for loading with gear for a weekend in the dirt, hopefully soon!

 

PSA....wash your damn truck after a trip (or two) to salty environments.... This is after 1 trip on the lakebed from mojave rd and some beach driving in Mexico.... Coilovers under a year old