Austin's Supercharged Mid Travel Build

Isn’t that how the stock lca works? The lbj stops on the lca?

 

Yes it is, but it has a "landing pad" on the LCA for it.
The solo arm doesn't since it moves the LBJ forward an inch.
They could have easily incorporated one into the design to prevent that from happening, but who knows.

Some have talked about riveting a small UHMW pad or something onto the arms, but imo it's easier and better just to grind down the steering stop on the LBJ

 

Been absent on here for quite awhile. My engine slowly lost compression on one cylinder and eventually got to the point where it could barely run. I'm still not really sure why this happened. The good news is that I found an oem motor with 90k miles on it at a junkyard to replace my motor. I spent some time freshening it up a bit, cleaning it, doing valve cover gaskets, oil pan gasket, and seals. Now it's all ready to go in.



Old motor coming out.



I also installed some Bell Fabrication adjustable UCA's to pair up with cam eliminator plates. No more losing alignment.

 

huh cool UCAs

bummer about the engine.

 

Austin, have you received your Haltech kit yet? Did you get it from SNP?

I just got mine from him and hope to install it in the next few weeks.

 

I haven't ordered yet, still saving the pennies. Can't freakin wait though!

 

Finally pulled the trigger on the Haltech kit. Going to try to install it in a few weeks.

 

congratulations,
It’s a game changer for sure, you can tweak your timing numbers now for more power and have that power coming on at 2000rpms now.
WAIT, you didn’t get a Haltech Sticker?

 

I was supposed to get a sticker!?

 

I did as you can see, but that was a year ago

 

Installed the Haltech yesterday and did remote tuning today. Loving it so far! It's like a different truck under 3k rpm.

 

I posted this in the Haltech thread, but I'm curious if you've seen any change in the trans' shifting behavior at WOT.

 

Just wrapped up a week long and roughly 1500 mile Eastern Oregon trip with my girlfriend and a few guest appearances from friends along the route. The major destinations being the Alvord Desert, Owyhee Canyonlands, and Hart Mountain.

First stop was at the Alvord. The lakebed looked a little different than how I'm used to seeing it. Under the few inches of untouched snow was a sheet of ice making for one hell of a drifting playground.



We then headed south to the Fields Station to fuel up, this would be the start of 250 mile loop that would be almost entirely all off road.

We spent the first night at some hot springs nearby the Alvord. The snowy mountains made for an amazing backdrop at camp.



An old cabin along the route into the Owyhee Canyonlands. This place was surprisingly still furnished quite well but also doesn't appear to be used anymore.



Descending down a long, narrow, and rocky road towards our destination at some warm springs. This isn't the typical route into this area but by going this way it eliminates needing to wade across the Owyhee River to reach the springs. Something we weren't willing to do in roughly 10-15 degree weather.



The view from our campsite the next morning at the warm springs on the Owyhee. The fresh couple inches of snow made for an interesting climb back out of the canyon.



We then headed out the Owyhee and continued our off road adventure. Instead of hitting the highway back to the Alvord area, we opted for back roads through the mountains just north of the Alvord. This ultimately dumped us out at Mickey Hot Springs, a geothermal site where water is literally boiling at the surface of the springs.

After spending another night in the Alvord area, we then headed out to Hart Mountain.



Nearly to the Hart Mountain Hot Springs we saw something large standing out in the flat landscape. As we approached we realized that it was a semi truck buried in a couple feet of snow. The driver had no cell service and was quite panicked about the situation. He told us that he had followed directions from his GPS and continued following the route through the snow in hope that conditions would improve. After making sure that he had plenty of fuel, food, and water to survive out there for awhile we took his information down and backtracked to cell service where we called the local sheriffs department. Within just a few minutes they had a sheriff dispatched to go assess the situation and figure out how to get the guy out.

Due to having to backtrack and the large snow drifts that were across the road near where the semi got stuck, we opted to head out the way we came, hit highway 140, and loop around to the other side of Hart Mountain.



A roadside coyote on the drive out of Hart Mountain

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Along highway 140 we stopped for quick hike into a canyon. This spontaneous decision ended up being a highlight of the trip.

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Our first goal at Hart Mountain was to find some secret hot springs and camp there for the night. Before making it to the location where I had thought the hot springs might be, we stumbled upon this incredible petroglyph site.



Upon arrival at the secret hot spring our excitement was met with disappointment as we realized the hot spring was entirely frozen over. The hose that ran hot water into the tub had been blocked off, likely an action taken by the landowner as these springs are on private ranch land.

We then carried on to find our backup camp spot at the abandoned glass house. This leg of the road pretty much disappeared into a tall grass field with very little evidence of road ever existing. Between that, and the fact that is was night, I pretty much had to entirely rely on OnX to route me through this section to a point where the road improved again. After reaching the house and spending the night in the glass house driveway we went in and checked it out.







A fun surprise finding the signature of @turbodb here.

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Continuing on our route in hopes of connecting with the main road that runs through the Hart Mountain area, we passed by numerous other petroglyph sites.





Final push to the pavement.



After popping out on highway 140 in Adel, we headed to Summer Lake Hot Springs. A nice day at the springs turned into a not so nice night. Temperatures this night hit below zero degrees which gelled up the diesel in our diesel heater that had been getting us through the cold nights on this trip. This made for a cold and nearly sleepless night. Thankfully that was the last night of our trip anyways. We headed home that morning ready to get out of the frigid Eastern Oregon Desert and into the comfort of our home.

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Awesome, that's a cool route you guys took, through an awesome area. I've never been when it's been that snow covered (our last trip was threatening to be that, but we escaped in time), and it looks fantastic with the white stuff everywhere. Hope you found that hot spring you were looking for (and never showed) and that you enjoyed the entire adventure!

 

It was a really fun route, partially inspired by the write ups of trips you've taken out there. It's really interesting out there in the winter and most areas out there don't get enough snow to inhibit travel. We did find the hot spring, (same one in your Hart #3 write up) but unfortunately the hot water source tube was destroyed so all the water in the tub was frozen.

 

Looks like a ton of fun im jealous. I was planning a trip out there last summer but with the cost of fuel so high and taking to trucks I took a trip to the beach instead. How did you stay warm at night it was super cold recently.

 

I just use a Chinese 5kw diesel heater. Keeps the RTT plenty toasty even in negative degree weather.

 

Swapped out my old CVT tent for a new generic hardshell tent.





To mount it I purchased a bunch of 2040 aluminum extrusion. Then drew up mounting brackets in CAD and had them laser cut out and press-braked. Lastly, I tapped the ends of the 2040 and bolted it all together.



In addition, I made a roof rack for the tent so that I could mount rotopax, a solar panel, maxtrax, mountain bikes, etc...

 

Where'd you source the new tent from? Is it lighter than the previous RTT?

 

Outdoor Camping Fully Automatic Roof Tent SUV Universal Hard Shell Peaked Large Tent,Truck Tent Sleeps 2-3 People (Black)

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BK619RF6?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details

I didn't get a chance to weigh it but it didn't feel all that different in weight to my CVT tent.