Cynicalriders "J0hnny5 is ALIVE!" 01 build thread.

Thanks Mike!

So we are back moving along the trail at a good pace and things are looking up. At this point we are back on the right side of the creek after just crossing it again, and we come across some down trees. Now thankfully I have a chain saw with me, but it's not a big one. It's a Echo 16" my dad had actually gifted me because he upgraded. I had plenty of fuel on me but no extra bar oil.

This is the mess of limbs that blocked our path:



At this point we had to make some choices. We could back track the trail we did that day so far. But even backing up from our current spot would be sketchy at best. Then we need to make it safely past the two points that gave us trouble, and this is barring any new issue that might occur coming from the opposite direction. Not to mention, temps were dropping and things would likely get icier and slicker.

Second choice is I chop through this and we continue on. But what else lied ahead of us? Would we be continuing on only to get stuck behind an even bigger tree that I know I can't chop up?

We talked it out and I felt the best option was try to push forward. I sent Nick to go recon ahead of us, we were supposed to be at the end and a more main road should be just ahead. At this point as I'm cutting I am running all the scenarios in my head that can go wrong. I was afraid the chain could dull out or snap, rendering us stuck. I was afraid the chain would jam up, rendering us stuck. I was afraid of how the hell I can safely cut the large limb that spanned over us around 7 feet in the air. I knew our trucks won't be able to go under it, and it would need to be cut. But how?

I did have a back up plan in mind though. We were in a cellular dead zone, but I did have my sat messenger with me. Worse comes to worse, we had some friends who will be in the area the next day who have some really big fucking chain saws (@Wheelspinner ) so we could have just made camp that night, and gotten the rescue the next day. Not ideal though.

So of course one of those fears came true. I should have been more careful with how I planned my cuts and got the chain saw jammed. At first I tried to use my splitter as a wedge to try to free it. That didn't do shit.

Nick came back from recon and said we should be able to get out no problem, there were multiple ways out as well as what looked like 4WD tracks at one point. He then suggested we grab a high lift, lift from the bottom and free the bar. Made sense to me, so I went and dug the high lift out and started raising the log. Sure enough, it released the bar and got the chain saw free. As I kept cutting (a lot more carefully this time) Nick was moving what I cut out of the way along with any other small branches.

We were making progress, but were definitely going to be leaving there in the dark.

After I got through the biggest piece on the ground, I wanted to make sure we could figure out the large piece crossing above. I figured I'd cut the thin side first, the part that is laying on the ground that is easy to access. Well it turns out physics and luck was on our side, there was enough weight on the other side of the tree that was balanced in the V that I was able to just lift the one side up, and let if float at a safe height!

You can see it floating here:



This got me stoked as I saw the two most difficult problems solved and kept cutting what was left on the ground.

Eventually I got it clear enough for me to be able to pass:

IMG_2185 by Michael Halat, on Flickr
IMG_2186 by Michael Halat, on Flickr

I did however need to break the chain saw out again a couple more times to get Nick through. The 3rd gen is wider and some of the logs I caught were getting sucked under his LCA and getting wedged in. Eventually we got it out, got him through and kept going.

At that point everything else was relatively drama free, just had a gorgeous fresh water water crossing and then we were back on pavement.

I was so thankful to be out of that damn trail, and was excited to get to camp. Nick and I decided we would cheat for dinner, and fueled up as well as got some McDonalds. It really hit the spot since we were starving. We had a 2 hour drive down PA backroads to our next camp site. Eventually we got to the entrance (we couldn't find the first entrance) and were met with 8 inches of unplowed snow. After being in 2 high for a while, it was weird going back into 4wd again, inches from pavement. We put our rigs into 4 high and started down the trail, or should I say UP. We gained 1000ft in 1.8 miles in the snow. I lost momentum about halfway up and put the truck in 4 low and crawled up in second. Once I got the pace down, we were going pretty well. There was only one other set of skinny tires I was following up, and they must have had chains because their tracks did not slide one bit. I however was a little squirrely on the way up being that I was wider than the original tracks by a little bit.

We ended up passing where our camp site would be and tried to get to the back side of the camp site via a field we were just driving through. The original site was in a terrible location for winter camping. 0 tree coverage, at the highest point, and no way for us to get our trucks close to the fire ring. We set off to find another site, and thankfully we did. It was down the back side of the mountain by a little bit (a problem for tomorrow us, not today us) but it was tucked nicely in the woods.

We set up camp and desperately tried to get a good fire going, and though we had it going for a little, it did not last. Clearly the wood I brought was garbage.

I did get some sweet photos though:

IMG_2189 by Michael Halat, on Flickr
IMG_2192 by Michael Halat, on Flickr
IMG_2193 by Michael Halat, on Flickr

The ice encrusted on everything made everything shimmery. The only downside was getting nailed by it all when the wind kicked up.

The next day we had to pack up quickly to meet everyone at the local offroad park, AOAA. Fortunately climbing back up the hill we had to go back down wasn't that bad.

Pics from the offroad park:

IMG_2197 by Michael Halat, on Flickr
IMG_2199 by Michael Halat, on Flickr
IMG_2202 by Michael Halat, on Flickr
IMG_2203 by Michael Halat, on Flickr
IMG_2205 by Michael Halat, on Flickr
IMG_2206 by Michael Halat, on Flickr
IMG_2217 by Michael Halat, on Flickr
IMG_2219 by Michael Halat, on Flickr
IMG_2223 by Michael Halat, on Flickr
IMG_2224 by Michael Halat, on Flickr
IMG_2226 by Michael Halat, on Flickr
IMG_2231 by Michael Halat, on Flickr
IMG_2232 by Michael Halat, on Flickr
IMG_2252 by Michael Halat, on Flickr
IMG_2255 by Michael Halat, on Flickr

I was supposed to camp with Nick one more night but he got called into work, and after the exhaustion from the previous day I decided to not risk it solo and headed home. I definitely plan on checking the other location out though.

Full album from the weekend:

https://flic.kr/s/aHsmw5LH4W

Overall it was a very fun trip, even with all the stress. I can't wait to come check the area out without snow and explore more campsites that's for sure.

 

No truck stuff, but some garage stuff. New tool box and fixed lighting:

IMG_2309 by Michael Halat, on Flickr
IMG_2311 by Michael Halat, on Flickr

And got myself a new DD:

IMG_2266 by Michael Halat, on Flickr
IMG_2269 by Michael Halat, on Flickr

2017 Corolla SE with 20k. Really been enjoying it so far. Hoping less time working on the old DD means more time working on/enjoying the toys.

 

I need a toolbox like that

 

Watch for a sale, I got the same one super cheap after about a year of watching. I love it, and there are knock outs in the top section for power cords, I mounted a power supply in the top section and have USB LED lights mounted in the lid, DeWalt charger, old Iphone for tunes and old computer speaker system all hooked in. But to top it off the box is great I highly recommend it. Mine is not laid out nearly as nice though, and double stacked beer fridges wins

 

It's a game changer for me, that's for sure.

Yeah I have been keeping an eye on this stuff every year around black friday. Finally was able to pull the trigger this year.

More garage mods to prep myself for digging into the R6 motor:

Organization is finally done, mobile work bench is finally cleaned off, and used my label maker and some rolls of magnetic strips to create clean moveable labels for the tool box. I will likely memorize the tool box so this will help more if I have my buddies over. I also figured the magnets would be great in case I ever need to move stuff around or wanted to change how I had the box organized.

IMG_2320 by Michael Halat, on Flickr
IMG_2322 by Michael Halat, on Flickr
IMG_2323 by Michael Halat, on Flickr
IMG_2324 by Michael Halat, on Flickr

I also installed a bench vise I got from my boss on the mobile work bench as well.

IMG_2321 by Michael Halat, on Flickr

 

That garage looks amazing, Mike. Looking forward to seeing progress on your bike build. I know you’ve been trying to get that up and running for a while.

 

Thanks dude! Still have a bunch of mods the garage needs to be a little better, central air hose, some outlets, insulation, a wall mounted gas heater, a welder and table, and some overhead shelving for my camp gear is all on the list for "some day" items.

And yeah it's been almost 3 years since the chain snapped on it. I am absolutely fixing it this winter. I miss riding. Whether or not I keep it is another story though. Might sell it and pick up a DRZ, or something similar that I can play with in the dirt too.

 

Sounds kickass, dude! I’m definitely jealous of the work and storage space.

My good friend had a sweet DRZ that he’d ride almost every day. They’re fun bikes for sure.

 

Fixed for you

 

great idea on magnetic labels! Garage looks awesome!!!

 

Hahahaha no, I don't think I'll be going full retard anytime soon. Honestly once I get back on two wheels again I'm sure I will forget the truck exists and be happy with a mid travel setup.

 

Thanks man!

 

honestly your garage, @MY50cal , and @Chux 's garages are all goals lol

 

Haha if you like ours check out @6 gearT444E 's pole barn. Love @MY50cal 's floor, and @Chux always changing his setup always lights my motivational fire. This is the first time the garage has gotten love since I originally painted it probably.

 

haha @6 gearT444E is a long term goal lol I have a garage now, but it's just for storage. My gf's crosstrek can't even fit it's too small. There should be a check out my garage thread lol

 

Garage is in the process of a full renno to be a workshop @Nimble9

 

wow looks wayy different than when I saw it last! A whole ST MAXX treadlife ago haha.

Stoked to see the garage build!!!

 

There actually is:

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/show-off-your-garage-or-workshop.201114/

But I get most of my inspiration from Garage Journal. Lot's of awesome builds there, and lots of ideas.

I've got a build there too:

https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=287171

Always funny seeing the truck as a baby still.



32's and no lift

 

Can’t even look at garage journal. I’ll get divorced

 

Nice update on the garage Mike! Having a clean and organized work space makes life a lot less stressful

Cleaning and organizing as you go helps tremendously, it keeps everything simple instead of hitting a full "spring cleaning".

That place is almost worse than TW!