Colorado B.S. Thread

Usually no, but I think its still snowed in.

 

I think they can special order Snug Tops but they only mostly deal with ARE and ATC toppers.

 

I figured it would be a meeting of man children so you’d need an authority figure to lead the pack, like a kindergarten class.

 

Oh. I guess I missed the part where you had a brand requirement.

 

A stock 3rd gen will do fine. According to a recent report, it looks to be fully open.

 

You’re one to talk, Mr. Michelin Man

 

Recent report states:
Fully open and snow free as of August 11. There was one slightly narrow spot where people shoveled away a snow drift but it's plenty wide to get through safely.

 

So I'm just going to throw my two cents in here and say that I'm sure the vehicle is capable of it, but you as a driver and how comfortable you are might influence things. I was up there on the east side last Thursday the 8th. We had started out in Salida that morning, and I had been considering taking it over from the Leadville side, but I checked the Bushducks report and saw the one from the 6th, and the 'stock jeep stuck in snow, heavily rutted, can't imagine stock not taking damage' bit and decided I didn't want to mess with that (keep in mind this is a really good example of how personal opinions can influence trail status reports). So we took Weston instead and then in the afternoon, since we decided to stay in Fairplay, thought we'd drive up the east side of Mosquito as far as we could since I've never run all the way over before. We started up the west side from Leadville last year, but it was late in the day, the opposite way we were going, bad weather, and quite the bumpy trail so we didn't go too far.

But this time 'afternoon' turned into not starting up until around 4pm. Made it up to the point where it goes from 'road' to 'trail', the base of the hill up to the mine, and I got uncomfortable. Not because it was difficult, but because it was so late and we didn't want to be eating dinner at 10pm if anything was even open, and looking at the bowling balls in front of me and remembering that status report I just didn't think we had the time to do it. I'm sure we could have, even though I expected it would have been some careful line choice to avoid bending up the steps on my mom's 4 Runner any more than we already had with previous trips - and it is stock with stock tire size even though upgraded tires, as well as being fairly loaded down here. And we hadn't aired down yet either.



I started up the hill and got to a point where some rutted out rocks and shelves had me concerned about no armor/sliders and with the time just decided nope. A picture taken of me at the time I was evaluating something I couldn't see over from the truck though shows that I had a lot more clearance than I thought/felt like. I'm a bit rusty as I haven't been able to run much the past couple of years and have lost some of the 'feel' I had for the truck when it comes to clearance.



I absolutely think we could have done it without damage issues, but the time made the decision for me. If it had been closer to noon (like it was when we stopped for 'lunch' and prior to blowing time tracking down a hotel), I'd have kept going. As I was getting back down to the corner a guy in a stock looking Silverado came up and just blazed right on up in a straight line which was a little more embarrassing than the line of jeeps on 35s airing down we passed on the way out. And I'd keep those prior responses in mind - one guy lives on west side of it, and I'm sure most have run it completely at some point. I think maybe the Bushducks report was overstated, but you can also see how just a few days can make a big difference in status.

Also, bring your fucking DEET, because that place is aptly named. I had six bites in a one square inch area on my right hand in the few minutes it took to go up that far and back down. We had a wet winter/spring and they are everywhere (at least I assume this is just a 'bad' year for them because if this is normal that's the second worst area in the state I've ever been for mosquitoes).

 

When's the next "mod" day? By "mod" I mean maintenance. I need to get a bunch of stuff done in the next 1.5 weeks before taking off on my next road trip.
1) LCA bushings (I have new Whiteline bushings on hand)
2) CV re-boot (have kits on hand)
3) Drain/fill front diff

I'd like to get all this done at once and shouldn't take more than half a day, but there are some things I don't have:
1) Press - to press out the OEM rubber LCA bushings & press in the new ones
2) Extra alignment cams/bolts (I am assuming I can pull the old ones out and clean them up to reuse)

Also, an appropriate answer is "take/bring the LCAs and new bushings here to get them replaced" since that's really the thing I am most worried about.

 

I’d like a snug top XTR

Buy once, cry once.

 

The switch to WhiteLines took me longer than a day. My HF press doesn't fit the arms too well and confirmed that while doing @mountainmonkey 's arms. Need a press with a wider opening to be able to press the bushings without using the span between the 2 arms as the pressing zone. I guess you could have the guys at Foothills Off Road Transformations @Red Baron @YamaDirtrider build a tube the correct spacing between the arms that would give something to press against, just thought of that, not sure it is possible.

My arms required some prep and paint because of the rust that occurred because of the years of Colorado winters and the "c" strap I added to strengthen the bushing housing.

 

Thinking of doing a headlight retrofit like I did on my previous Taco and Prius. For those I went with the Mini H1 7.0 with excellent results.

Now that the Morimoto M-LED is available, I'm interested in the simpler setup that offers. No ballasts, igniters, etc. Anyone tried the M-LED yet? I would be concerned about it running too cool to melt snow and ice off the headlights in the winter.

 

I went a little bigger @SilverGhost

Am I cool yet?

 

Man you always been cool in my book

 

Are any friends here masters in the craft of cab mount chops? Would like to get it done before my new tires are out on. Hoping not to spend 300 at a fabrication place to get it done! Thanks in advance! Also I’m in the Littleton area. Will provide beer!

 

@YamaDirtrider

 

I am now thinking of just parking in my reserved spot off the street, putting wheel chocks behind the rear wheels, removing the LCAs and leaving it sit there hiding from my HOA and their "NO WORKING ON VEHICLES" rules. Then walking a few blocks over to the NAPA near me. It's a weird NAPA though - not a parts store, but a garage.

That and you'd be one of those people with annoying "WHITE" aka BLUE headlights from the stupid color temps on all of the LEDs on the market. 4500K FTW.

 

I've only run 5500K so far on my retrofits. I know some people might find that too blue but there are bluer options like 6500K.

 

I'd like a SnugTop too. But I picked my Leer 100 up for $200 on Craigslist. So far it's done the job. The $$ can go to front bumper, or Tundra brake upgrade, or armor, or ...

 

FWIW, DEET is so yesterday.

Do yourself a favor and get

$10 Sawyer Products SP564 Premium Insect Repellent with 20% Picaridin, Lotion, 4-Ounce

Sawyer Picaradin. Best price I've seen has been on Amazon.

10 day canoe trip in the border waters of Ontario Canada (think Minnesota skeeters, only worse), and I had only two bites all week. The Sawyer picaradin is greaseless, odorless, and won't melt nylon. I prefer the lotion. But the spray stuff (get the pump) works too.