Little Red Turbo Creeper

Aside from the minor inconvenience of the stinging nettle and loosing another vehicle from the convoy during the night because "it just wasn't what they were expecting" day three went without a hitch for us and one less vehicle meant 2 extra portions at the breakfast table. While we waited for Pop's to ready the Dutch oven full of eggs, cheese, potatoes, and perfectly peppered shredded beaf we had another morning course on different types of recovery gear and a few does and don'ts of each. By the time the course was over breakfast was hot and ready to be wrapped up in flower tortillas.
Before I knew it we were back in 4low headed up the mountain side once more, this time with much more contrast. @turbodb would have been in heaven if you haven't already explored that area I'd recommend making the trip.




This summit was a little higher than Ophir pass at above 13,000ft and to say it was breathtaking would be an understatement.





The water looked so inviting though it had to be cold being so high up. Given the chance I would have loved to go for a quick refreshing dip.


Not a bad spot to stop for lunch (admittedly I would have preferred the pond)




Don't mind my mobile lunch as I wondered around










I couldn't help but be drawn towards this old bucket




After snacking on some snacks and watching a couple people eat some grasshoppers we loaded up and prepared to leave seconds after we began moving someone announced over the radio that there was a fox and 3 kits hanging out over by the bathroom. I'm not sure what was more surprising the foxes or the fact that there had been a bathroom available the entire time and no one thought to mention it until we were leaving while me and the wife were both uncomfortabley holding onto our breakfast but It would have to wait a few more hours.

At least we had a constantly changing scenery to keep us distracted





That was the last of the photos I took before we made it back to the million dollar Hwy and headed into the town of Ouray but before that I did find a window of opportunity to pick a handful or two of wild raspberries while a couple of the slower vehicles played catch up with the group.

While we waited Bill from capivara let another guy drive his truck for a while and instructed him to go through a big puddle. about 2ft from the end of the puddle his engine cut out and was struggling to start again but after a few tries and a bit of water shot out of the tail pipe the problem seemed to have worked itself out. A few miles down the road we all stopped to air up before getting back onto the million dollar Hwy where his engine fan shattered sending fan blades in every direction. He'll be needing a new radiator and a few other things for his 95 taco but he didn't let it get to him for a second.



To Pop's relief we had dinner at a restaurant in town where Bill from Capivara (I believe it's the Argentinian spelling of the word) Industries secretly picked up the tab before anyone had a chance to pay truly an outstanding guy.

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Thankfully this time when we pulled into camp after dark it was the same spot as the night before so there we no more cactus or stinging nettle incidents, just a couple of moose instead

 

What an amazing adventure! You've a knack with a camera my friend. It is definitely a vicarious experience reading through.

 

Great photos and storytelling! I always love a good trip report!

That looks like an awesome trip! And quite the set of places to gather into a single outing - nice! Looking through my list of places, I don't think I've been to Ophir Pass on either of my Alpine Loop visits, so I'm definitely going to need to make a third trip. Shucks.

It reminds me a lot of Corkscrew Gulch, which is - I think - my favorite place on the loop (so far).

​

 

I appreciate the kind words.
Ophir pass was one we did a second time without the group on our way home to get us from Hwy 550 (the million dollar Hwy) to Hwy 145 and that southern half of Hwy 145 was in its own right an amazing piece of Hwy. I found myself sandwiched between two US forest service vehicles like my own personal escort as the truck lapped up the smooth and curvey stretch of canyon road in the dark between Ames and Dolores but I'm getting ahead of myself.

The fourth morning we packed everything up while Pop's prepared a french toast feast with an amazing fresh ground sausage. I'm usually not a huge fan of sausage but even I found the desire for seconds overwhelming.
Our mornings course was on wilderness first aid, admittedly I missed most of the course while still gathering my camp supplies but they did still give me a nice tourniquet to add to the first aid kit in my truck.
There were a handful of vehicles needing attention including our tour guides 88 4runner and Capivara's 95 tacoma. The teams EMT was having major transformation issues in his old red dodge "Blood Bath" so it was a sort of free for all for those of us still up and running. One of the younger Jeep Cherokee drivers wanting to go up Black Bear pass but the only other crew vehicle still in the running was Mammoth (the large white Tundra in several of the earlier photos) but he was reluctant to take such a large vehicle up the narrow and tight trail so they asked if I would be willing to step in and guide the trail. I felt honored they trusted me to do so and excepted the challenge. The tour guide joked saying that if we died at least it would be on a double black diamond trail rated a 9 (looking now it's a 6/10 in OnX)

The teams mechanic (and driver of said mammoth) had purchased a fuel filter for my truck as a cheap and easy possible solution to the trucks momentary shuttering/blogging down under rapid acceleration so we quickly installed that before heading out of camp back onto the million dollar Hwy towards the trail head. We arrived shortly, aired down, and selected the all important 4lo then began our assent. I was too occupied for pictures searching every clearing, tree, rock and shadow for one of these black bears to no avail and before we knew it we had stumbled straight into a locked gate marking the trail Closed due to recent weather events so we tucked our tails and headed back down. Before the highway I noticed another dirt road would take us over to the nearby Porphyry Gulch trail and since we had already aired down we opted to take that to it's end and back just incase one of those elusive bears happened to be near by but it wasn't in the cards for us that day.
A little disappointed and maybe slightly relieved we made it back to the highway and began airing up. Thankfully Zack in his white Cherokee had a big boy air compressor tucked nicely behind a body panel that made quick work of my little 32's

I knew most of the crew would be back in Ouray taking advantage of cellular services looking for parts or searching the gift shops for the right momentos but we stopped at camp to see if anyone was home first to let anyone without service know we were off the mountain, no one was home. While we were there a passengers in the white Cherokee went and grabbed the air compressor he brought even through he didn't have a vehicle thinking it could save me a little time when next we needed to air up. After that it was time to find some lunch and using the newly found cell service we located the majority of the group in Ouray having burgers at a place called Maggie's. They have a basket with sharpies where anyone can reach them, it's a bold strategy.

I opted for green chili's with bacon (similar to my order at Blondies in Naturita) and the juicy burger vanished in seconds leaving nothing but crumbs in my beard as evidence to its existace.
#leave no trace.

We would begin our trip home after lunch and as we prolonged the inevitable with small talk and conversation the time passed quickly. I informed our new found friends that we'd decided to take advantage of Ophir pass to get back to Hwy 145 and head towards Blanding where we planned to spend the night at my father's recently built home.
While fueling up the truck my mind wondered to how long it would take to air up again once we passed Ophir the mountain and then it hit me, Heber (the passenger in the white Cherokee) had his compressor with him so I called and asked if he'd be willing to sell it. He stated that he considered selling it earlier and was in need of some cash so we struck a deal and went back to get it. this dragged out the goodbyes again but it was obvious he had taken great care of the compressor and made sure I knew exactly how to store the hoses in their bag and how to care for it in the future.

Once more and for the final time we were heading south on the million dollar Hwy.

Ophir pass isn't something I'd consider difficult especially aired down in 4lo and we had timed it almost perfectly. Along the way up we saw an abundance of wildlife and every time I tried to put my camera away something else would pop up asking for it's picture to be taken so I'd oblige (those are still on the camera but I'll get to it dont worry).

As we reached the summit the moon was rising brightly in almost it's full glory as the sun was setting in front of us (but still high and bring enough to make me squint trying to see the trail). I did manage to get a couple quick shots from the drivers seat on our way down though.






we stopped for a photo of the rising moon and to splash some cool mountain stream water on my face a couple on their honeymoon rolled up in a Jeep Gladiator and asked if there was a town ahead of us where they could get gas

There is a small town but no place to get gas. Their fuel light was on and we had almost a full tank still so I pulled the 5 gallons of spare fuel from the bed and added it to their tank. They were also a little lost and shaken from the pass as novice offroaders from Michigan so I instructed them to follow me to the Hwy but from there we would be heading in different directions. When we reached the highway they insisted on giving me what little cash they had on hand which was about equal payment for the fuel. They mentioned they would love to come back out and do it again but would definitely prefer a guild so I passed them the information for Racing Anxiety and The Summit Tour we had been riding with and gave them my number in case they had any further questions.
Then it was time for me to test the second hand compressor

I have a feeling I'll be getting plenty of use out of it in the future.
More often than not I don't air down and when I do it's not very much because of the hassle of airing back up but this is a game changer. Once the air had been replaced we hit the pavement and didn't stop until we reached the comfort of a real bed back in Blanding.

 

Now that we're home again I have a few things to repair. First of which is the passenger side dif seal for the CV axle.

I hate the smell of gear oil.

The dif was first mainly because I had a seal on hand from when my drivers side started leaking a while back.



I may have pushed the seal in a little too far, it was leaking pretty good still just after parking it but after a quick drive around the block the leak has mostly resolved itself so I'll keep an eye on it and see what happens. I did order another replacement seal along with the seals and stake nut for the front drive shaft on the transfer case. If you look you can see a droplet of smelly gear oil here

Don't worry about the mug and gunk, I got the skids back off so I can clean it up properly under there.


I hate cleaning baked on mud but occasionally a little peer pressure turns me into a puddle slut and on this trip we had lots of rain so mud was happening regardless

 

@turbodb I knew your picture looked too familiar.
For some reason I have a good memory for landscapes and while looking over OnX maps just now I could see the exact route we took. Turns out we were on Corkscrew Gulch and camped right there in Irontown at the trail head. Looks like Corkscrew ends right next to Lake Como (which I really wanted to jump in) then we continued on California Gulch to the Columbus Mine (where we had lunch and the foxes were hanging out near the bathrooms that we so desperately needed to use) afterwards we took Mineral Creek out to the Engineer Pass Staging Area before heading towards Ouray for diner. we snagged lots of wild raspberries along mineral creek heading out

 

Blackstone oil analysis came back yesterday

I mistakenly used a bit of brake parts cleaner in the intake before switching to carb cleaner while doing the injectors shortly before this oil change, I'm not sure if could have caused some contamination. Coolant in the oil definitely isn't something I want to see but I'm not going to worry about that just yet.
Viscosity is looking better as expected since I'm sure there was some residual 5w30 left in the engine from the initial switch to 0w40.
They said to try 5k miles on the next oil change but for consistency sake I will probably still change it around 3.5k miles on this next round.

 

I pulled the passenger side CV back out to do the dif oil seal again


I didn't push the seal in too far this time

I used the old seal as a sacrificial surface to tap the new seal into place and that seemed to do the trick. As soon the the old seal started to catch on the inner lip of the hub I stopped tapping

 

May be time for some head studs. Prevent the head from lifting.

 

I'd like some built heads to go with the studs.

 

@BassAckwards was having that problem. Lifting the head under boost. Not sure how much boost he was running when that was happening. Hopefully he'll respond.

Head studs alleviated the problem.

 

Transfer case is sealed back up and topped off




The small companion flange seal was super easy. Pressed it right in with my thumbs

 

I did hit 7.4psi a couple times when I had the electronic boost controller wired in on a nice cool rainy day.

I also got the engine pretty warm a few times coming back and forth from St George on I-15 during that heat wave we had in early July.

While I'm in absolutely no hurry a new engine/major engine work has always been anticipated since I bought the truck with 313,000 miles.

I'd really love to eek out a few more years though and turn my focus towards gears and 35's

I told the wife when I bought my current ST MAXX's I'd replace them with 35's when they wore out or by the time I turned 35 whichever came first so I've got 18 months at the latest.

 

Mine was having this issue on my 2TR with the stage 1 URD SC kit pushing around 7psi. However, I did have quite a few other supporting mods, so it was probably making a little more power than with just the stage 1 SC alone. The ARP studs solved that issue though. I ran 15lbs after that without issues with the HG before bending a connecting rod

 

I'm really pretty happy with low boost. It's only pushing 2.2 around home or 3.4 when I drop altitude and go St George. Yes I'd like to turn it up a little more to maybe 4psi at home and mid 5's at lower altitude but I usually drive like a grandpa

 

This weekend was another exception to the usual grandpa driving.

We met up with @time623 in Hurricane, made a quick obligatory adventures first stop at Maverick for some electrolytes and fuel then headed for Sand Hollow.

We had a general idea as to the trails we would be taking but there's so many different overlapping trails it's hard to pick one and stick with it. We mainly stuck to the East rim out to the Flintstone House where we took a quick detour after a few pictures

The house seemed a little draft to us


While we got back in the truck and prepared to leave a little rock wall caught my eye and the intrusive thought said surely I could climb that and we did but it took about 10 minutes longer than I was expecting due to the truck stalling out at the top.
At least @time623 got a couple shots while I was trying to get things going again.

At least it died with the front wheels in a crack so I wasn't going to be rolling anywhere (much more so on the drivers side) .

It would crank then barely idle at about 250rpms for a few seconds and die again but after a quick power nap we were back in business.

I should let you guys take all my photos but from here on the rest are mine and probably not as good. After 2 tries we were both over the bonus obstacle and headed for smooth sandy tracks that would quickly disappear into the dunes in front of us.




After a couple quick rainbow style track were left on the side of the dunes we were ready to find the trail and get back to a more solid driving surface. This is when one of us went right and the other went wrong, should have both gone right.

The actual trail

The actual fail.

I thought it was going to be able to cut across the deep sand with my Turbo Powa but ended up stalling a second time (I don't think the Haltech was to blame this time). As soon as it died I just left it, I wasn't about to start digging deeper with fruitless attempts, instead I got out to take a look and get a couple quick shots and before I could get back in we heard the sounds of a sand buggy coming to the rescue. A welcome sound even if it was a SxS. With their arrival I knew we'd definitely be fine so I hopped back in and fired it up. The truck must have some pride left as I was able to back out unassisted and got back to the slightly more packed sand to continue on towards Completion Hill.

Another SxS showed up right as I was taking that picture. It's a love hate kinda thing when they are involved.


Onward to the West Rim in search of the Hobbit House.
But just before we got there I found another detour, it was like the Toll Booths but this one has a much steeper toll. As I lined up I thought to myself I'd probably get halfway up and run out of traction or something but the dang truck just ate it up. My rock sliders paying for themselves again here.

We approached this rock from the south but I climbed it on the north side so I had an idea as to what was on the other side and knew it was going to be a very tight squeeze. I had to climb out of the drivers window to get this picture and wish I would have taken about 5 more steps backwards so you could see it better but I was lost in the moment still surprised the truck climbed it to begin with.

Before lumbering back through the window I asked for a spot on the way down just in case. With smile on my face I told my wife it's a true racecar now because I had to go through the window. Probably my favorite part of the day. I really wish I had to an inclinometer for that one.
I'll have to put together some of the dash cam footage for sure.

Right we were here for the hobbit house so there's that


I think all of our minds hand shifted towards food at this point and the band of 13 must have recently passed through this hobbit house on their way to the lonely mountain because there was no food to be found in the pantry so we set off again towards the actual Toll Booths

The last time I was here was with my Grandpa in his Jeep Willys and my black 2nd gen (I believe it's pictured in the first page of this thread )

Now onto The Steps and The Funnel.
We kind of glossed over the steps without noticing even though we took the "harder line" I didn't notice until I saw the metal plack behind me. here's The Funnel




The hunger and heat was getting to us all at this point and we were glad to be on the last stretch of trail. Eventually we found the pavement and began airing up the tires, a task made much easier with my recent spur of the moment purchase during our trip to Colorado.

While the compressors were compressing we discussed our hunger pains and decided to find a place to fill our bellies once the tires had their fill and I know from past experience that the River Rock Roasting Company has good food and their open on Sundays which can be a challenging find in Utah and it was also in the direction we both needed to be traveling so we soon found ourselves seated around a table coincidentally eating the same turkey bacon avacado sandwiches and gulping down cups of ice water.

After dinner and some small talk we said our good byes and headed for the comfort of home a little envious as to where the journey would be taking our newly found friends over the next few days.

 

Nice truck, like a twin to mine! I haven’t daily driven mine since 2020 though, only got it out 1 time this year and that’s likely to be it unfortunately.

Lot of great pictures I’ll definitely follow along.

 

We need to get back out to Colorado more so maybe we'll catch you out there one of these times. The turbo has made it much more pleasant to drive on the Hwy's so hopefully we'll be raking in the miles

 

That would be awesome! I took the family to Moab a few years ago we are itching to get back out that way, I absolutely love Utah.

What’s next up on your build? I’m real close to pulling the trigger on a supercharger. Just trying to rationalize the cost for a vehicle I’m only driving 250 miles a year at the moment.

 

I'm still getting the turbo setup dialed in so I haven't been thinking about what's next too much, however the list of wants is never ending.

Long travel with 35's, gears, and a front locker would be great. I'd also like a high clearance rear bumper with a tire carrier.

I've smacked the back bumper a handful of times in the last 30 days, there's a reason I only have a cheapo knockoff right now haha