Lost Corner Exploration

I love night wheeling! We should do a night run for sure

 

We didn't intend to be out that late. I was having fun but everyone was just exhausted. Trails that were on the map were nowhere to be found in person... Including a dead-end on a knife Ridge. More details later... I havnt slept since Saturday night so time for bed now

 

Well, we made it to Canada and back. Awesome trip. The OPEN roads through the Carlton Complex Fire cannot be described with words.

I just got home. I should be able to start going through photos and stuff in a bit.











...Oh, and we saw a moose, and transported a dude that crashed his dual sport to a hospital.

 

No editing yet, just havnt had time, but I figured I would throw a few of these on here



Broken shock hoop on the only first gen. (just couldnt keep up with the 2nd gens heh heh)


Damn log came out of nowhere and attacked Mike's truck


epic hill climb to ravens roost




overzealous 4runner. Though all things considered, a stock 4runner with an elocker is damn capable!


This is the other reason why they call Ben tripod


The remanents of the forest fire. We wheeled through this for hours during the night and early morning, cool and spooky


Proper edits, and more to come later (though I just realized I only shot jpegs and didnt get raws...sigh )

 

Do me a favor and just quit posting pics up now. I need to stop being jealous I pulled out of this trip. Damn lack of money

 

A major "THANKS" to the great photographer on this trip!

After I regain my composure and lick the wounds on my ego, I'll be looking into making some improvements to the 4Runner. It was pretty good on this trip, so I'm not sure where to start.
*In the background, I'm hearing voices shouting "Recovery points! Recovery points!" ...and that is good advice

 

Did you NEED to have a locker for that hill climb or could you do it without one?

 

In that photo, I am stuck! In fact, the lack of clearance of my rear bumper and tow hitch brackets prevented me from continuing up OR back down. You can see the trailing gouges from the tow hitch brackets in the dirt behind the rear bumper. So... the answer is, "I don't know" - the locker didn't help me, but I did have it locked for that attempt.

The truck was able to climb a ton of really challenging terrain without the rear locked though. I never got stuck once with the rear open, when locking the rear later got me through the obstacle*. But, if a section was really steep AND muddy, I would lock it beforehand.

*I tried climbing one muddy hill open first, and later locked, but I really think it was momentum that got me through.

ETA: After getting out of that jam, with some great help and some boards to give me more rear-end clearance, I climbed a route to the right of that with the rear open - no sliding, no wheel-chirp.
From this picture, you can see the two routes. I got myself stuck on the one on the left. Everyone climbed the one on the right without problems.

 

I got into Ellensburg around 5PM and then went off to Seattle to buy a sleeping bag from SalmonTaco. Got home around 8:30, talked to my neighbor, and hit bed around 11?
Really sagging today. I'll have some pictures and maybe a video up later... though my videos will be cheesy hold-overs till we get David's Oscar-nominated release

Listen to what Shooter had to say on this one. The only thing I would add is that a locker can help take some of the strain off the vehicle and add more slow speed control. As always, the rule of thumb is, "as slow as possible, as fast as necessary!" Modifications such as tires, crawl boxes, and lockers simply increase that potential, though they are not necessities. After all, Shooter's stock truck got stuck less than any of the other participants on this trip!

I hope not to bruise your pride on saying this, but I was following you during part of the trip and I'd like to critique what I saw. I only do this because I was definitely in your spot at one time, and I'd like for all forum members to become better - especially me, cuz I like doing cool trails and looking badass
It seemed that your motions were a bit sharp. I would suggest taking it slower and try to predict a course of action before committing. Don't worry about keeping up or holding anyone up. We would rather see you take it safe and ask for assistance.
Your rear end bounced quickly. I'm not sure if this was a result of stiff rear suspension or maybe you were stabbing the gas? Try to crawl over stuff. Ease the gas. Ride the brake a bit. In some cases, use two-footed driving to add more control.

Before getting too far into mods, invest in a class with Bill. I've taken two, and they are far more worthwhile than anything I've added to the truck.

 

Heh you should be proud of how you drove that 4runner. Just keep in mind when it goes bad..... Having the extra equipment is worthwhile.

Fix that rear clearance issue, get a cb, slightly more aggressive tires for when it gets wet, sliders, and beefier skids for when your stock ones get banged up enough.

 

Here are a few pictures I have edited...

DSC_0019 by awilson013, on Flickr
DSC_0031 by awilson013, on Flickr
DSC_0047 by awilson013, on Flickr
DSC_0056 by awilson013, on Flickr
DSC_0058 by awilson013, on Flickr
DSC_0066 by awilson013, on Flickr
DSC_0070 by awilson013, on Flickr
DSC_0075 by awilson013, on Flickr
DSC_0082 by awilson013, on Flickr
https://www.flickr.com/photos/118613423@N07/14951636166/in/set-72157646231221788/
DSC_0179 by awilson013, on Flickr
DSC_0189 by awilson013, on Flickr
DSC_0196 by awilson013, on Flickr
DSC_0200 by awilson013, on Flickr
DSC_0203 by awilson013, on Flickr
DSC_0374 by awilson013, on Flickr

 

No worries, those are pretty accurate observations. My rear is in fact very bouncy at the moment, I've up'ed the spring rate to hold my 600lb payload at a 1-2" lift above stock empty height without upgrading the stock shocks yet and they aren't up to the task of damping the springs. At least that's what I think the issue is and uprated rear shocks are on my short list.

In the rocky sections I was having trouble picking a line that would best protect my tires and suspension at the speed the group was moving and in retrospect should have just dropped back more often than I did. Not that I felt the speed was unsafe, but there were definitely times where it wasn't a comfortable pace for me.

 

I blame Ben and David for egging me on to go faster and faster...

Sorry though. That was my first time leading a group in something like that. Lesson learned.

 

Thanks. Yeah, I am pretty happy that I was able to hang Your suggestions for additions sound like a great start. I'll work on it slowly. I want to buy the rear shocks from Joe and get my lift installed.

 

Heh don't be sorry. It was a fun pace but I am comfortable on forest service roads at night going 40. That was so much fun blasting down that trail. As long as we wait at major intersections and people are within cb range..... It's all good!

 

I would place a cb high on that list since your truck stock wasn't too shabby

 

Damn, shoulda seen if I could have bumped training till this week... Looks like a hell of a trip.

Love the views you guys got!

 

No complaints here, just explaining why it probably looked like I was driving erratically. Trying to keep up with only 30ft of visibility from the dust in front probably wasn't the best idea.

 

Feeling like I missed out on a great trip!

 

Damn, I'm so jelly. That trip looked amazballs.