AdventureTaco - turbodb's build and adventures

Awesome write up. I might have to get some specifics from you on the whereabouts of that mine shaft next time I go out there. I didn't know that existed.

Here's a few photos I took from that cave (right of the awkward selfie) https://www.instagram.com/p/BWyiCdVhd97/

 

Well, I did a little on the truck this morning. I mean, who doesn't cut up a bumper they paid good money for, am I right?

...more to come.​

 

lol how much weight did you save? haha

 

As any of the more intelligent sex will tell you... Every fraction of a pound counts.

 

When it comes to weight, Id argue they don't know much actually..haha lot of mis conceptions.

 

Agreed. Strikingly similar to this situation then, ehh?

 

lol so jerry can mounts are too tall is the misconception???

 

OMG. Now I can't tell if you're just toying with me, or you're really not getting it.

For your sake, I'm going to assume you're toying with me.

 

Love reading your trip reports. Last summer we came up through the dry side of Oregon instead of the coast or I-5. It was very different than expected, we're going to have to get back out there again.

If you don't feel like hauling the big honking Geiger counter around you can get one that's not much bigger than a 9v battery over at Electronic Goldmine, but you'll need to figure out a housing for it: https://www.goldmine-elec-products.com/prodinfo.asp?number=C7061

 

Glad you're enjoying the reports. Another installment coming tomorrow I think. As for the Geiger - I'm not ever planning on carrying that one around. It was purchased as a gag gift - to "test" some alcohol a buddy had brought back from China that was rumored to have it's distillation accelerated via radiation. Of course, it wasn't radioactive at all.

 

Unfinished Business #2 - Highest Truck in Oregon

Hoping to catch the stars as they danced through the sky, you may recall that I'd setup the camera to take as many 30 second exposures as it could, until its battery ran out, through the cold night. As morning rolled around, I grabbed a second camera battery and popped out of the tent into the 21°F weather to take a look.

...Only to discover that my second batter was also dead - I'd forgotten to charge it before the trip! So I plugged in the my little 175W inverter and let a battery charge for an hour. As a side note, I should say that I really like this inverter. Plenty of power for charging camera batteries and my laptop, and no cooling fan so it's completely quiet. I won't be running any hair dryers with it, but that's just fine with me.

Battery charged and another hour of warmth for me, I finally had a chance to check out the previous nights display. Not. Too. Shabby. At all.

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It was a great start to the day, and with the sun now up and warming the playa to a blistering 26°F, we found ourselves out of the tent attempting to eat a bowl of cereal before it froze. Moving quickly so we could climb in the heated truck, we were soon on our way - a quick stop for a photo of our so-close-but-so-far destination before we headed south to start the ascent up to the highest road in Oregon.

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Now, as one should always do, I'd done my best to plan an all-dirt route from the Alvord Playa to the top of Steens Mountain. Most of the land around each - since they are essentially next to each other - is a sprinkling of BLM and private land. And usually that's not a problem - ranchers are generally pretty good, at least in these parts, of leaving gates unlocked and relying on responsible use - closing gates that you open, etc.

So, as we headed off the main drag an onto our first road onto the mountain along Carlson Creek, we were glad to see that while there was a gate, it was unlocked and a sign posted by the BLM noted the various allowed uses - driving included. So we drove through, aired down, and were on our way...

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Apparently however, that "driving" was only for the first mile - at which point a locked gate across the road and a smaller opening for hikers and hunters. Well shoot.

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Now, a mile or two out of our way is nothing to be concerned with - generally. So we took a look at our offline map and planned route - and noted that just a couple miles down the main road there was another entrance to the mountain...which eventually rejoined the road we'd planned to take up Carlson Creek. And so with that, we were off to Bone Creek and attempt #2 at summiting the highest road in the state.

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Where we were almost immediately turned around on Carlson Creek, Bone Creek was just the opposite and we continued to climb up into the hills for several miles, marveling at our ability to adapt, patting ourselves on the back. We were - you might say - counting our chickens.

And that seemed to be working just fine. We passed through several gates - some of them open and some not - without incident, none of them locked. We rejoined the original road/route about six miles in and then turned up towards the top of the first ridge we'd climb on our way to Steens. We summited that ridge and took in the views back towards the playa.

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And then, our chickens bit back. Not 100 yards down the west side of the ridge - a locked gate for the Roaring Springs Ranch. The bummer was that the sign had a note that hunting (and thus travel) was sometimes allowed via written permission - which may have come with a key - but I'd not contacted them prior to the trip, so we were keyless, and now another hour+ behind schedule.

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That's just part of the adventure though, so we turned around and headed back down. This had been our last hope of reaching Steens Mountain Loop on dirt, so it was time to air up, grab some fuel at Fields Station, and use the skinny pedal liberally to try and make up a bit of time.

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My liberal use of the skinny pedal is apparently different than most, and so it was a little after 12:30pm when we finally arrived at Steens Mountain Loop and started up in earnest. We were both hungry at this point, and so only a few stops were made over the next 20 miles - for some wild horses and our first view of the snowy summit - just so we could put a few miles behind us before we stopped again!

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Now, about 20 miles up the south side of the loop, there's a turn-off. This leads to the Riddle Brothers Ranch, and was something I'd thought we should do when I planned the trip. @mrs.turbodb had come to the same conclusion when reading her book - 100 Hikes / Travel Guide: Eastern Oregon - and we were glad to hear that it was open "from mid-June through October." It was October 12, so that was perfect.

Except that "through October" at the Riddle Brothers Ranch actually means "not through October," because a little more than a mile from the ranch, the gate was closed! We were batting 1.000 on the locked gates, that's for sure.

Luckily in this case there were plenty of signs inviting us to walk around and make the two-mile roundtrip on foot, so we ate a quick lunch and then got underway.

Almost immediately, we saw the first cabin. It belonged to Ben Riddle - the youngest of the bunch - who arrived in 1896 to make the ranch his home. His brothers - Walt and Fred - followed a few years later and worked the land, producing 150 tons of hay each year which was sold along with mules and horses to the U.S. Cavalry for WWI.

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Though he was the youngest, Ben also was the first to die - of suicide in 1915 - after several bouts with depression. His brother Fred would continue to ranch the land until he was 82 (in 1952), the livestock changing from mules and horses to cattle after The War.

We continued down the Little Blitzen River towards Fred's house and the main ranch complex, the river a constant gurgle to our north, ice starting to creep further from its banks.

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If Ben's cabin had been tiny and isolated, Fred's was anything but. Nicely constructed, he had several outbuildings, including a guest house, tack shop, and large barn - all of them in reasonably good condition now that the BLM has acquired the ranch and preserved much of what was left.

We took our time exploring.

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A screened porch and small guest house made for some nice livin'.​

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Table's set for the next meal in a reasonably well appointed kitchen.​

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Anyone looking for some nice tunes out on the farm?​

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The oldest drill press I've ever seen. Still worked great!​

Eventually though we knew we had to get back - we had a long way to go before the day was over - so we hoofed it back up the road to where we'd left the truck so we could continue on.

It was about this time that we really started gaining elevation. Steens Mountain is a long, wedge-shaped mountain along its western side, and as we climbed higher we finally started to get views down into some of the deep canyons and gorges - Big Indian Gorge the first one that we got a good look at - the snowy summit just visible in the distance.

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Up and up we went - probably another 15 miles of trail falling behind us as we made our way to the top - snow starting to show up along the side of the road as we neared 9000-feet above sea level; gorge views more and more plentiful.

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It was about here - at another spectacular view of the top of Big Indian Gorge - that we passed a Sequioa (@wildernessbound) and FJ Cruiser (@bhartl) having lunch on the side of the road. I note this only because they later recognized the truck and contacted me - such a small, cool, world!

The summit wasn't far now, and as we made the final push we discovered that there were actually two summits - one only 3 feet higher than the other - at 9,738- and 9,735-ft respectively. We decided to go to both!

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The higher summit - to the south - was the snowier of the two, the road pretty well iced over with the white stuff. It's also the summit with a ton of radio gear, all located a half mile away from the parking area.

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Well, we weren't going to get within a few hundred feet only to say we hadn't been to the top, and so we set out on foot - the sun warm but the wind cold - for the last half mile. The views here to the west were spectacular, especially those of Wildhorse Lake in the valley below.

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The views to the west weren't quite as good - Steens ridgeline extending out just enough to block the best views of the Alvord Playa below. Still, the jagged ridge itself was nothing to complain about.

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Hoping for an even better view from the second summit - officially the East Rim Overlook - we headed back to the parking area and set out north. Only a mile or so away, we could see the East Rim Overlook from our current position and it looked very promising.

As we arrived, we knew we'd reached the premiere spot on the mountain. Not only did we have a view of the amazing west side of Steens as it dropped over one mile to the Alvord Desert, we also had a spectacular view of the desert itself.

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On top of that, because the road on the actual summit is closed half a mile - and several hundred feet - from the top, it was at the East Rim Overlook that we could officially declare ourselves the highest truck in Oregon!

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It'd taken us nearly all day - it was now just after 4:00pm - but we'd made it despite our best efforts at self-distraction. And now, we were in a pickle - we had a little less than two hours to get back to Fields Station for fuel before they closed at 6:00pm, and our fantastic cell phone service on the top of the mountain suggested we would arrive at 6:04pm.

It was time to boogie!

@mrs.turbodb had more confidence than I did at this point that we would make it. "You drive a lot faster on these roads than the mapping apps expect you to." she said.

Guilty as charged? I guess I hoped so, as we pressed the speeds upwards of 50mph down the north side of the loop.

Always the thinker, @mrs.turbodb got travel times to several waypoints along our way - the first being to the small town of Frenchglen at the bottom of the mountain. Even by that point, we were already 7 minutes ahead of schedule, but I still figured it was a good idea to call Fields Station and let them know we might be there just a couple minutes after closing.

Turns out, they didn't care - they were closing at 6:00pm sharp, and if we missed closing time, we were welcome to come back the following morning. So the race was on, again!

Ultimately, we made it with several minutes to spare and @mrs.turbodb even managed a nap along the way. Our fuel tank full, we headed back to the playa - because any time you can camp on the playa, you should. We arrived just as the nearly-full moon was coming up over Big Sand Gap - a spectacular sight.

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Tonight, there was another reason we want to be here as well - reinforcements were on the way. Sometime around 9:30pm we expected to see Ben @m3bassman, Will @willhaman21, and Nate @nateshrum show up on the playa so we could all adventure together the next day.

We eventually picked up Ben on the ham radio - right on time it turned out - and after a bit of blind-leading-the-blind-in-the-dark, we finally got all three of the new trucks out onto the playa and into camp. Smiles, introductory handshakes, and hugs were shared, and even though we were all freezing cold, we stayed up until 11:00pm chatting about this and that, the new guys running around to take photos of their #instafabulous trucks all lit up on the playa as Ben, @mrs.turbodb, and I caught up on each others recent adventures.

Finally though, our feet frozen, it was time to hit the sack. We had big plans for the next day - we were going to tackle Big Sand Gap, the same spot we'd gotten stuck six months earlier - and I for one needed my beauty rest.

Little did I know that Big Sand Gap would not be the coolest thing we saw the next day.

 

Unfinished Business #3 - We Find Jessie Combs Last Track

The night wasn't quite as cold as the previous had been, but it was still well below freezing when I looked out the tent door to see an amazing glow on the horizon. Whether I liked it or not, I knew I was going to spend at least a few minutes out there as the light started to spread across the Alvord Playa - before hoping I wouldn't be in too much trouble for climbing back into bed to warm up again.

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The cold had gotten to everyone overnight, which meant that they were either driven out of their tent early - like Nate @nateshrum - or remained bundled up as long as possible - ahem, Ben @m3bassman and Will @willhaman21. Regardless, by a little after 8:00am, everyone was up and moving about - the first look of the playa in the daylight, with Steens Mountain rising up behind it, understandably exciting for the newcomers.

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Ben at some point decided to drive his truck around a bit - not all that fast though, so I'm not sure what he was really up to. Nor was Venice - his travel partner for the trip - as she took off after him rather than being left behind.

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Though the Playa will heal itself over winter, this little display didn't go un-admonished . Though, I guess the front brakes are working just fine.​

Breakfast was the next order of business and while @mrs.turbodb and I had cereal and granola bars, Nate fired up his stove and put together what looked like a seriously tasty breakfast burrito for the rest of the crew. The three of them would end up cooking most meals together, which is something the groups I'm out with don't generally do, but seemed to work well - at least for the one day they were there! (And is not all that different than how we often do a group breakfast or two, now that I think about it.)

This was also the point where Nate pulled out his drone. This of course caused much ogling - since drones still seem reasonably rare - and if I'm honest, a bit of concern from my point of view. It's not that I don't like drones - I think they are pretty cool and you can do amazing things with them - but I didn't want a day full of stops to launch the drone, staging of the trucks for the perfect trailing shot, etc. - because we had plenty to keep us busy, and we'd be stopping enough for photos as it was. As it turned out, this wouldn't end up being an issue at all however, because the drone's SD card was MIA.

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And with that, we set about the important - and frankly required - task of speeding across the dry lake bed. For anyone who hasn't been, it's hard to describe the surreal experience that racing across the playa provides. You're literally pushing your truck as fast as it'll go - and you can see the ground immediately around you racing by at 80+ mph - but all of the landmarks in the distance appear completely stationary. It is truly a bit disconcerting. And it's also a blast.

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We spent a good hour - or more - making our way around and over various parts of the playa; our GPS track looked as though a toddler had been scribbling frantically with a large crayon - no rhyme or reason evident in our movement. But, we were on a mission - one that was ultimately a success. Just a couple months before - August 27th on this very playa - Jessie Combs [wikipedia] [jessiecombs.com] had arrived to make an attempt at the women's land speed record. The previous record had been set here in 1976 - some 43 years earlier - by Kitty O'Neil. Driving the North American Eagle, Jessie Combs hoped to break that across the same ground. Unfortunately - in a tragic accident, she was unable to stop the jet car as it reached speeds over 550 mph on the playa, and she was killed in the aftermath.

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All of our searching was to pay our respects. Eventually, in the south west corner of the playa, we found what we were looking for. Three distinct impressions of Jessie's final runs.

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Making one more pass across the playa, we followed the tracks to their end in the north east corner. She'd used as much of the playa as she was able, on each of several runs. We milled around for a bit here at the end - taking in the views and wondering aloud about what had transpired - before eventually continuing on our way.

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Now nearing noon, our next destination was surely easier to find. One of the most prominent land features of the playa, Big Sand Gap was formed when - during the Ice Age - this desert’s basin filled with a 30-mile-long lake. When the water finally spilled out, it did so here - at Big Sand Gap - launching a colossal flood that roared down the Snake and Columbia Rivers to the sea. With three additional trucks in tow this time, @mrs.turbodb and I also hoped it also led to redemption from our last trip.

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The gap itself was as easy to reach this time as it'd been the last, and with the sun already halfway through it's daily arc, we decided this would be a great place to eat lunch - after all, the view couldn't have been much better. So we pulled out our chairs, made some sandwiches, and relaxed with a view back the way we'd come - Alvord and Steens ever-present in these parts.

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Refueled, now was the time to finally air down and then get to it. Playa driving is best with full tires, but we knew from experience that the road east would benefit from a little extra cushion. So, that's what we did.

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Well, the initial going was reasonably easy. We expected as much, really - the road through Big Sand Gap looked well enough traveled and in good shape as it exited at the Playa. The interesting bit - we assumed - would be several miles up the road, where we'd previously gotten stuck.

We could tell we were getting close even without looking at the map to see the GPS waypoint we'd dropped. While dry now, much of the plateau had clearly been under a few inches of water for quite some time, saturating the ground and making it a muddy mess during the winter and spring months - and as the mud dried, the ruts from previous attempts at passage were obvious.

But dry, they were nothing to fear.

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With Nate and I though, Will was next up on an especially flexy section, where just the right wheel placement got him in tricycle-mode for a moment.

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Not to be out-done, Ben decided he'd do the same, perhaps with a little extra flare as he performed his signature wheel turn while his front passenger was in the air. Yep, that's the Ben we all know!

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From there it wasn't long before we passed the now-innocuous looking site of our previous excitement; a quick photo not really suggesting that anything dramatic had taken place just six months earlier - water and time quickly filling in any holes we'd left behind.

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Beyond that point we knew it would be smooth sailing - I mean even in spring when there was water all around, we'd had no trouble with the rest of the road. So we picked up our speed and had a great time with the few small puddles that were left on the road.

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First to hit the puddle get the clean water.​

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Water is a little dirtier for the second truck.​

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Brown water, but still good height with a little extra speed!​

And with that, we were through the Big Sand Gap road. It wasn't the most eventful or the most beautiful road we'd traveled, but it was a nice one to finally check off, for sure! Plus, it was only the first leg of a 90-mile loop we were making for the day - so we had plenty more ground to cover as we stepped on the gas.

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In planning the trip, I'd envisioned us working our way counter-clockwise around the Alvord Desert - east of the playa and west of US-95. However, we quickly discovered - in a throwback to our excursion the previous day - locked gates! Two of them, on roads that traversed less than a quarter mile (if that) of private land surrounded by BLM caused us to re-route nearly 30 miles north on the highway before diving back west onto dirt and towards our next destination - Mickey Basin and Hot Springs.

It was about this time that both Will and Nate were on-and-off the radio about how much fuel they had left. Their last fill-up had been on their trip over from Boise, and they were now running on fumes - their fuel lights illuminated for the last good chunk of miles. So, just as Will noticed his truck starting to sputter, each of them decided it was a good time to show their fuel tanks a little love by emptying a 5-gallon Jerry can into the filler.

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Fuel taken care of (or so we thought) - we continued on. The land we were passing through now was primarily sage desert, but that didn't mean we weren't having a good time. We passed perhaps the most beautiful bovine watering hole we'd ever seen, and the wide open lands and reasonable roads meant that we could keep the speeds high - as long as we lengthened the distance between trucks to account for the dust!

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Having to make up additional ground due to our re-route, it was just a little after 5:00pm when we arrived at Mickey Hot Springs. The sun not far off the horizon, we'd stopped only a couple of times along the way to take in the sights, and we'd skipped a few places along the way that I suggested as great spots to explore on a future trip.

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But there was no way we were skipping Mickey Hot Springs. Only discovered in 1992 when one of the bubbling pools became a 6- to 8-foot geyser, Mickey quickly received national attention as the only natural geyser in Oregon. Each time we've been, the geothermal activity here has been different - sometimes extremely active and other times calm and nearly dried up - all dependent on the season and recent rainfall. This time - in the middle of fall - it was somewhere in between. A few pools bubbled with bursts of water shooting 1-2 feet in the air, but much of the color we've observed in previous visits to the pools was missing this time. Still, the water here averages 180°F, and even the ground we were walking on was warm - so there was no question about whether we were going to test out any of the pools.

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We'd spent all but the last few minutes of daylight at Mickey Hot Springs, and it's always nice to be on the Playa for sunset - so with 20 minutes of driving or so to complete our loop, we headed out. I'd say we were about five minutes from our destination when Ben came over the CB to let us know that, "Guys, I've just run out of fuel."

He was driving tailgunner and bringing up the rear, so the rest of us pulled over on the side of the road while he transferred 5 gallons of fuel into his tank - something he should have done earlier when we were already stopped for refueling (ahem, ).

So it was that as we pulled onto the Playa, the sun was already down over the western horizon; the moon just showing itself over Big Sand Gap to the east.

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As we drove out to find the perfect spot to camp, the light dusting of clouds in the sky behind us lit up with the last of the evening light. We were soon all out of the trucks, our cameras clicking as the light danced across the sky and our trucks continued to roll along - a 4Lo race into the sunset.

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Eventually the clouds ended their cooperation and we wrapped the photoshoot, deciding that the several-hundred feet our trucks had covered "undriven" had put us in the perfect spot to call it an evening.

As dinners got made, so did a campfire - the first I've had on the playa - and it was wonderful! Easily cutting through the brisk night air, we'd all brought plenty of wood and the fire burned strong and bright through the still night for several hours - all of us happy for its warmth and each others company as we discussed the events of the day, and our departure plans for the next.

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October 13, 2019.

With clear skies for the first several days of the trip, sunrises had been nice, but limited to that orange-and-pink glow along the horizon. The same could not be said for our final morning, and that was A-OK with me. As I looked out the tent at 6:15am, it was clear that this was going to be a special morning over the playa - one that meant I was going to be a little chilly for a while.

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Eventually of course, the sun rose as it always did - the amazing colors fading under its bright light. Even so, the view across the cracked lake bed towards Steens Mountain was no less dramatic - something I marvel at each time we visit.

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Our discussion the night before revealed that @mrs.turbodb and I would be departing first - our 10-hour drive meaning we needed an earlier start than the rest of the crew - but that didn't mean we weren't all up to chat for a while and play with Venice before saying our goodbyes.

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We also took a few minutes to look over the trucks to make sure they were ready for the highway. @mrs.turbodb filled the tires, I added some fuel to the tank, and Ben removed his front wheel to investigate an alignment issue.

That turned out to be a good thing too, because the rear cam on his lower control arm was completely loose - something that could have been less-than-ideal at highway speeds!

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Eventually the trucks were all squared away and we could delay no longer. As we'd done in the beginning, we shared hugs, handshakes, and warm wishes before heading our separate directions. And as the dust kicked up behind us, Steens Mountain looming in our mirrors, I looked over at @mrs.turbodb and said, "I can't wait to come back next time."

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Dan,

Thanks for this last write up about Alford Playa.
The sunrise on the playa, at 5AM, was stunning!
We didn't venture to the south area of the playa, only the north end as we stayed at the Alford Hot Springs.


We has quite the unannounced audience in the top right of the photo.

 

So, today I replaced these. Both sides looked like this.



Was going mostly as planned until I ran into this...since I had no replacements and hadn't even thought that one of these would break while in use... (which is still perplexing to me, though you can see the wear on the shock eye as well!)



Found some snap rings the right size at Napa, but before heading down there, I had to move the truck (which was on three wheels at the time for obvious reasons) about a foot back out of the garage, so I could close the garage door.

This was a sketchy procedure, since a floor jack was holding the front of the truck up, and the plan was to back up slowly and have the jack roll along the ground.

With @mrs.turbodb watching the jack to make sure the truck wasn't slipping off it, I slowly backed up. Went fine...until I got clear of the garage and instead of taking the truck out of gear (R), I let up on the clutch.

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Truck jumped (as it tried to stall). @mrs.turbodb screamed. Clutch back in as quickly as I could.

@mrs.turbodb freaking out. She was 100% sure the truck was going to fall. Truck was only on the floor jack 1/4". Luckily, I was able to slowly exit, and get jack stands under the frame and skid so I could lower and reset the floor jack.

Very close call to a very bad situation.

In the end, everything OK and shocks are ready for more abuse.

 

I'm sure ADS would be interested in your findings on that.

 

Is that the stock bolt your using for lower shock bolt?


When I first got my truck had ome with stock bolts, an wen I wen saw 2.5 I had to use a smaller grade 8 to fit misalignments an had to use same grade 8 for fox , if you used stock bolt which is bigger, misalignment would be thinner which would lead to your situation

 

I've already chatted with Tyler quite a bit. Plus, two orders - since I first ordered a bunch of the spherical bearings (which I knew were bad), and only after I got one out the first time did I find out about the misalignment spacers. Not really their fault as far as I'm concerned; I'm not easy on them.

A. 27K and change on the spherical bearings and misalignment spacers (and shocks). 135K on the bolts.
B. Yeah, well... I didn't think of it being quite as sketch as it ended up being when I started. In fact, the jack stayed under the skid the entire 12" I needed to move, just fine - in fact, we all know that the jack routinely moves under a vehicle as you lift the vehicle - the friction is way greater where it contacts the truck than the friction on the wheels. It was the screw up at the end that almost cost me.

I thought about doing what we did with Mike's truck, but I had the LBJ off, and of course the wheel off, and thought I could shortcut a bunch of work.

Yes, that's the stock bolt, original from 1999. It's a 14MM, vs. the 1/2" that aftermarket shocks generally use (my rears use 1/2"). It does lead to the inner sleeve of the misalignment being a little thinner, but in my conversations with ADS, this shouldn't happen, regardless. Tyler says it's very rare to have to replace the misalignment spacers.

In my case, I think what happened - though I don't know for sure - is that the original OEM bolt got worn over the first 100K miles when I had the OEM and then Toytec coilovers. Both of those are of the metal-sleeve-in-a-rubber-bushing design, and I didn't really check the condition of the bolt when I installed the ADS. Rather - I made sure it was straight and that the threads were in good shape, but I didn't really think that if the smooth part of the shaft was worn, that it'd be any sort of problem.

Of course, wear there is a problem - because loose parts wear faster - and so I think that initial wear caused even more wear on the bolt and misalignment spacers (perhaps even faster, since there was no rubber to absorb the impacts). You can see the result of the 135K miles worth of wear on the bolt in my photo above - there's a nice groove where the misalignment spacers have worked their way into the steel.

 

Plus I'd say your 27k are a lot harder than most.

 

I have done 4 of my Toyota's that way, for your use i don't think it would be worth it. If you are dragging your tail all the time it's worth it. Remember that a flat bed can weigh 2xs as much, plate steel vs sheet metal. I can pick up my oem bed by myself, a flatbed good luck.

 

I thought that my spherical bearings would need to be replaced every 30K or so, but even talking to Tyler at ADS, he thought that 30K was too few for misalignment spacers. 60K+ was what he thought. Anyway, we'll see over time if this continues to happen.

As far as diameter change. I hate to say that I do not own calipers. *gasp* I know, hard to believe. Maybe the @mrs.turbodb.santaelves will find their way to this post and change that for Christmas. * I do know that Mike @Digiratus has some though, so I'll check out the diameter difference in the next several days since I think there's still a little more work to be done on his truck. I do have new 14MM OEM bolts - I bought 4 since I figured I might as well have two spares around just in case after replacing my original pair - so I'll be able to give good numbers.

Just from eyeballing it, I think between 1/32 and 1/16 (between 1-2mm) has worn off of the circumference of the bolt where it was up against the spacers (and lower shock bushings before I had ADS).




* very unlikely. And probably OK. I don't need here reading all this juicy TW