"Wheeler's Anonymous"

my rear diff/drain plug continues to be a magnet for sharp rocks...some new love marks on my IFS skid and sliders but nothing too bad. Worst was a blown out sidewall on my brand spankin' new ST Maxx tire...shit sucked, especially since I was a dumbass and only got the 4 a couple weeks ago and told myself I'd get a full-size spare in the near future. Ended up cruising around the rest of the time with a 32" KO2 up front and for the 200 mile ride home, since no shops were open today. Alignment was wonky as shit on the freeway but other than that it worked out OK.

Coyote Flats ruled, really glad I could make the trip...the mountains and scenery in the Eastern Sierras are unreal when you're up at 10k+ feet.

Rebecca got some photos of the hard stuff at the end but mostly of me stalling on the boulders and pulling Mike backward so he could get over that first obstacle lol. Gonna go through some of the shots tonight and the stuff I took with my camera yesterday and post them up soon

 

these are great..
http://www.trail-gear.com/product/4821/magnetic-drain-plug

couple of years ago while in my crawler I was hung up on the front against some rocks, all the back and forth I was doing loosened the front drain plug and lost all my fluid and the plug. I now carry spares both in the crawler and in the taco..

 

You got a reputation for pulling 2nd gens out of trouble.lmao. My line choice sucked right there.

 

here's a few that Rebecca got of that spot, she has a pretty cool video of the recovery too that I'll have to get from her later...too big to text/email


you can see my mismatched front tires here lol

 

wait, was there a chili cook off this year?

 

It's pretty interesting what goes for rubbing people the wrong way these days.

you know, like informing people they should be considerate of others when shooting guns in the pitch black night near camp or to pick up after themselves. stuff like that.

 

Greased my UCA and LCA bushings yesterday and checked the torque on said bolts.

No more squeaking or poping. Really need to check the torque on those bolts more often.

 

Give it a couple weeks and you’ll be squeaking again lol. You’ve got TC UCA’s right?

 

i really need to get that done, haven't had any squeaking but way over due for it.

 

Yeah so did I. Last MJT trip there was this horrible sound when I would turn the wheel when we got to the top. We couldn't find the issue but as we were heading out the rattle got louder and louder. Pulled over and started checking bolts and when I checked the UCA i could spin it with my hand.

Lucky @eon_blue had his tools with him.

 

Upper and Lower so twice the squeaking.

 

I’ve had to grease mine more than I expected because they start squeaking. I’m sure people that don’t know, it Sounds like my whole front end is about to fall off. I’ve also seen a couple threads on here with people saying it’s a pretty common thing with TC.

 

spherical bearings are like that especially when they're put in dusty environments. always stay w/ dry lube because the wet stuff is sticky and holds on to junk which ends up scarring the teflon liners or the metal balls. in an ideal situation, they'd be taken apart and cleaned w/ a dust free microfiber cloth and lubed up using dry graphite powder after every use. but wtf has time for that?

In the long run, if the squeaking really annoys you but you still hit up trails, you do have other options. There are enclosed designs like JBA where they use GM ball joints w/ rubber boots and are easily replaceable on the trail. SPC/Light Racing UCAs w/ rubber bushings.

But yeah, I just put up w/ the squeaking and replace the bearings when there's an unacceptable amount of play.

 

My uniballs aren't squeaking yet.
Just the bushings.

 

Then grease them?

 

Yeah it’s the bushings that always need to be lubed up, I don’t know the specifics, but like I said, I’ve heard that TC UCA’s are known for that. In the end I really don’t care too much and grease them whenever I remember that I need to.

 

iono man, ran into some of the so-called socal idiots on sunday.

 

Id say there’s a good amount of entertainment in the socal threads lol especially if you need to kill some time or don’t feel like working

 

yeah, i never had a problem w/ my poly bushings squeaking. they're old too like 80,000 miles old. 3rd owner. but the spherical bearings are always making noises. I can use dry lube before the trip, but the second i hit a water crossing, they're going to squeak again. There isn't any major play, but I'll probably be replacing them in the near future at the end of the season. Though technically w/ a habitat, there's no end of the season.

 

I did.