The Lair

I was trying to send him kayaking in the alligator river wildlife refugehonestly I'm more scared of the mosquitos down there than I am of the gators and bears. I'm pretty sure I saw a panther down there one time as well

 

If there's a refuge for gators I hope it's to make boots!

I'm with ya though, fuck them skeeters!

 

Nice

 

With as much water as we had over the winter, those bastards are the size of small dogs this summer!

 

It actually is a great place to visit after the bugs die down. I try to go at least once a year. Miles and miles of dirt roads and good fishing.

https://www.fws.gov/refuge/Alligator_River/visit/plan_your_visit.html

If you are looking for adventure, a great way to explore the refuge is by canoe or kayak, using the Refuge’s 15+ miles of color-coded Paddling Trails. Explore the Milltail Creek Paddling Trails!


See the front page has a old man kayaking......it must be safe. I wish they let you primitive camp down that way I would go a lot more often.

Edit:O snap they reintroduced red wolves!!!!

 

Unless its like where old Eskimo’s go to die; they paddle into the sunset never to return. Except you get eaten by gators not polar bears.

 

I know the place well well yaked it with my pops. Never seen a gator that far north. Y'all should check out merchants Mill pond. You can yak down the river and camp on platforms. The neuse river further south you can do the same thing.

 

Was feeling ambitious and took the rear seat out of our Camry to clean it after my son spilled a fruit and cereal bottle all over it. I had spot cleaned it at the time, but wanted to deep clean it because it was milk based and can get rather ripe if it is left in the heat.

It was far worse than I thought...

 

Ewwwwww!!! Great decision to clean it. I’m doing some cleaning too, just of the house.

 

Things have sure in here.

 

Haven’t had anything exciting happen recently with the truck. Things are coming though!

 

Finally changed my oil and rotated my tires this weekend. Now I just need to drop the skids and do the axles and transfer case. I installed the Fumoto valve the last time I changed it. It really made things easier just draining into the gallon jug. I might add one to my car too. Of course crawling out from under the truck I kicked over an open jug of oil. Luckily it was only 1/3 filled so not too much of a mess but damn I am so freaking clumsy. I had to use a pry bar to get the oil filter access panel removed. I suppose I put it back in there too soon after I painted everything. Dumb ass. That bitch was in there.

Now I need to concentrate on some tires for those steel wheels I bought. Oh and lug nuts I suppose. I have the TPMS already. I'll be back to solicit recommendations from y'all.

 

Cooper ST Maxx. /discussion. STT Pro if you need or want the beef.

 

These are definitely contenders. I know a lot of you guys roll on them and they are off road approved. How are they in the Maryland snows on road though?

When I get these wheels, they are going to be my dedicated winter set as well. I know we've been lucky the past couple of winters but I need to be able to commute from the house out in the country to the city and back. It would not be an issue if I did that with the normal traffic but when I go home at night it is usually after the evening rush. The salt take a break (they deserve it) and the roads can get pretty messy. It can be anything from fine dry snow to hard packed over a frozen layer and is mostly everything in between. So far my Ridge Grapplers have served me well. My Duratracs on the 4R and Tundra were awesome.

I think I am also going to go with 285's so I need to plan for that too ( @EatSleepTacos , Road Trip South! ).

 

I give the Maxxs 5/5 Gunshots for snowy urban weather. Mine do really well fighting the idjits on days we get snow in the SLC valley. They do well in the soup that the DMV area gets as well.

Keep in mind the Coopers run larger than other tires in the same size category. My 265/75R16s that should be 31.6" run a smidge over 32". So it may rub more than other 285s if thats what you go to.

 

Your truck is pretty bad ass Conner! I think this is the first time I am seeing it. The scenery there though. Wow. So yea, I guess in Utah you get your fair share of deep snow. Yea, it's that soupy shit that scares the fuck outta me most of the time. Ours will be in the form of ice pellets over a near freezing roadway. Sometimes I wish they would just let it stay hard packed. However, if they do, then that freezes overnight. The only thing good on ice is ice skates. Or true dedicated winter tires with a billion sipes in them. I read a article last night that said the tread was designed to mimic the snowball effect. Meaning that it packs snow in the treads on purpose under the premise that like making a snow ball, the snow will stick to itself adding more traction.

I've run a lot of different tires. My BFGs were the absolute worst. They loaded up so bad and would become track slicks. I had to constantly spin them just to get up my driveway.

 

Thanks man. It's been a labor of love to get it here.

Yeah, the refreeze and soup between lanes is always the scariest part. We have hella dry snow generally in UT, so it packs down well for driving most of the time. That ice base that the roads build up back east really would make me consider a true winter tire. The ST Maxx do have stud holes so they can be turned into winter tires if it comes down to it, but I think they would be fine as is.

 

@EatSleepTacos

I scored this from my in laws for my birthday! So stoked!

 

I have the same or very similar C1. Love it. Really good resolution even at night. The parking mode sensitivity is a little wonky, but once you figure out which sensitivity setting to leave it on, it works like a charm.