"Wheeler's Anonymous"

https://youtu.be/_OsJjS6Vbok

 

*Sigh*

 

hahaha it's opposite with me, i jump into my girls F150 it feels like a boat compared to my truck.

 

damn, Even with no wight loaded?

 

that's right, forgot about the newish tires!

 

SWEET! I didn't know that he was filming the whole time haha. It was SO FUCKING WINDY at the top of White Mountain it was unreal. Never in my life have I been in that kind of wind, and I lived in Texas where we'd get tornadoes every year. It damn near blew me off the top of the mountain when I got out to take a piss. I literally at one point had to drop to my knees to keep my hands and feet on the ground, it was that strong.

Love the footage of my recovery at the end on Gold Mountain, holy hell those rocks were slick in the snow and ice. We decided to call it at that point, Alex got up that spot after a few tries but it took the Jeep a good 20-30 minutes to get over it (his front locker wasn't working) and then of course I tried it last with my 32's and no front locker, lol. Got up it with my front end but my rear tires just couldn't find traction on those slick rocks.

Coming down the mountain on the 18 was the sketchiest driving I think I've ever done, we were in the middle of the snowstorm clouds (literally) and you couldn't see 5 feet in front of you, much less the road. Crept down the 18 in 4lo most of the way until we were low enough that the snow turned into rain. Fun times!

And I saved myself from having to spend another $500 at that shop that ripped me off last month putting in my CV axles by learning how to do it myself in the snow in under a half hour, thanks Alex!!

 

Don't know about the other guys but I was at 15 psi.

 

Oh for sure, I was really bummed and ready to head back down the mountain to go home and Alex asked if I brought a CV with me, sure enough I had grabbed it at the last minute that morning before leaving because I've been a little nervous about it since the last one blew a boot. Luckily Alex had his 35mm socket for the axle nut and his 250lb torque wrench (mine only goes to 150) but other than that it was pretty basic. Using the Hi-Lift in the snow without jack stands was really sketchy but it worked out. Yesterday I retorqued everything in the driveway and used blue locktite since we did it so quick and dirty, but it worked. Lost maybe a half a quart of gear oil but it didn't really matter. I keep extra under my seat but that would have meant needing to drop my skid plate in the snow, and that did not sound like a good time without my floor jack.

I'm definitely going to grab a couple NAPA axles and the right tools for the job before Mojave at the end of the month, in case it happens out there. I still have one of @SlipperyTacos axles in on the driver's side and I don't really trust it now haha. Don't know if it was the axle or the shop's install, but the inner joint went out causing it to clunk like crazy in 4hi as it rotated. Luckily the boot didn't split so there wasn't a grease mess to deal with.

 

Ah good call, I do have my stock bottle jack in my truck that I could put under the LCA (won't reach the frame anymore). For Mojave I'll bring my 6 ton stands. We kept the front tire under the skid but still...if that hi-lift were to slip and your head was in the wheel well over the brake rotor when it dropped, even with the tire there that could become a makeshift guillotine...

 

Hit my slider on Gold Mountain hard enough to put a good size dent in it, that's never happened before...oh and smashed my blinker lol. Probably just keep it like that until I convince myself to get a front bumper.

 

Tell that @Shmellmopwho guy he needs better steel

 

haha it was a pretty hard hit, coming down the mountain in the dark we went down one of the obstacles we came up, tried creeping over it but as soon as the front tire went over it slid forward and dropped probably a good 2 ft on the rock. I had a friend with me sitting on that side on the truck who's a pretty big dude probably your height but 270lbs so I doubt that helped.

 

Woulda been extra bad without sliders!!!

 

ouch yeah, don't even want to know what that would have looked like haha

 

Agreed

 

Heck yeah brother! Was a blast getting out in the dirt again!

Let's plan another run soon!

Oh, and should have listened to me.. I went the back way down the 18. No traffic, in 2wd and doing 35 down the backside of the mountain. Took just under 2 hours to get back to Whittier.

 

haha damn....luckily it wasn't bad traffic wise, there was hardly anybody on the road due to the conditions but my buddy had a ton of anxiety about the snow/ice on the road (Californians...) so I had to take it real slow.

Let's do Cougar Buttes early next month before summer hits! Oh and I watched a video this morning of that Garden of Eden trail you were talking about at the cafe on Saturday, holy hell that trail looks crazy.

 

I was wondering why I couldn't tag him lol