Hey Connecticut!

Don’t park in that parking lot!

 

Did plan "B" instead,lol.
Had the Thanksgiving dinner.

Right on the other side there was a Magma FJC.
Magma is rare as teeth on a hen.

 

Morning Connecticut

 

Good morning all

 

Morning everyone. Happy Sunday.

Going with the fam apple picking at Blue Jay Orchards in Bethel.

 

Let me know when you're giving away the pies!

 

LOL!

 

Got a call today from Matt.

Asked if I could come up to his house for my Fluid Film application,

Hell Yes

Thanks Matt

 

Morning everyone.

Happy Monday.

Back to the grind.

 

Morning guys,

So I checked out a trail in Pleasant Valley NY which shouldn't be too far from you guys if anyone is interested. I heard from another user that it's pretty fun, and my girlfriend and I went there yesterday for some exploration.

So we get to the trailhead, and there are like 5 other trucks there. Mostly Tundras and F150s from what I could tell. All spotless. 2 are blocking the entrance to the trail so I pull over to sit for a moment to see if maybe they are just rearranging. It becomes clear they're just hanging out, so I hop out to ask them to move.

"Hey everyone, is it ok if we go on through to that trail?"

"Sure" they reply. So I just kind of stand there, because no one is moving towards the truck...

"Thanks, I just need to get around this truck please"

"Oh, you can't take vehicles there"

I told them I have maps calling it a "Jeep trail"

"No you can only walk it"

I point out the "Access Road Speed Limit" sign to them.

"You're going to get stuck in the woods"

I politely tell them I will be ok, and head down the trail. At first it's super easy, mostly just dirt and gravel, but there are a few rocky sections which are rougher than I'm used to for access roads. We see a couple "No motorized vehicle signs" down smaller trails, but they're obviously walking or biking trails where a truck wouldn't fit anyways. My buddy told me to "Keep driving the wide path, until all Hell breaks loose". Well, we come to a fork and both are obviously use by vehicles. I check the map and going left is shorter, so we play it safe.

Besides one mud "pit" (Barely a pit) it just leads to another parking area, so we turn back to find the fork again. We pass some very friendly hikers, an older couple with their dogs, who say hello to us. This is a good sign because it means vehicles aren't super out of place here.

We start up the other trail and it's definitely rougher. Every so often we see a "parking in designated areas only" sign which again, reassures me I'm not trespassing or anything. I know you can hunt here so I'm guessing hunters will take trucks and side by sides up here. We come across a decent mud holes, I hop out, and start poking at it. All hard bottom with mostly dirty water and a little mud on the top. No way we're getting stuck. My girlfriend has been getting better at driving a manual so she hits it and throws some mud up on the sides. I washed it yesterday, but she looks better dirty anyways.

It definitely gets more "traily" and less "access roady" now. Rocks you need to be aware of, legit mud that I didn't want to go through without a winch or another vehicle, etc.

Finally we got some a spot that I go "Wow, I did not expect this". A steep hill, maybe 20 feet up, with some pretty damn big rocks. I pick my lines and begin making my way up. Nope, not working. I roll back a little, readjust, and try again. I don't know what it's called but I'd seen it on lots of "Offroad fail" videos, where the vehicle just kind of bucks and bounces because it can't grab the obstacle in front of it. Obviously not as extreme as those videos, but I'd never experienced it before. I roll back, air down, and really figure out my lines. It's scary, but we get up.

After that it's mostly just tight trails. If you have a new truck or care about your paint, this isn't a trail for you... We end up having to turn around at one point due to a down tree, but there was a fork in the road a few hundred feet prior. That ends up putting us out right by the parking lot from the first fork we took.

I considered going back to half brag/half inform the guys at the beginning that it's a doable trial, maybe even invite them to run the easier part with me, but I didn't have the energy. We just wanted to get home


Below is where we stopped for lunch. There was a small off shoot I backed into so we could si ton the tailgate and eat, without being in the way of any vehicles


This is the biggest mudhole we encountered. It was all surface mud with hard bottom, so I actually let me girlfriend go through this. She is still getting used to the manual but can take off in first and get to second. We haven't gotten up to 3rd gear speeds yet



This is just me airing up again. I was sad there was not more mud on the sides, but my wheels don't poke out far. Still a ton of fun though. There were more mud pits I want to try, but not without another vehicle or a winch



Let me know if anyone wants to go! This was in the Taconic Hereford multiple use area. It can be done in probably 45 minutes at a steady pace. Spotters will help but I don't think absolutely necessary. Stock trucks can do it but it can be a little hairy and I'm not an experienced enough spotter to say "Yes I can get you up that no problem". Going down should be easier

 

I'm down for a trip Chess..

 

Whats up, happy monday!!! My front shocks showed up today!!!! Now to find out where my rears are, from another company!

 

I have ff for 2 more trucks then im done for the year. Shoot me a PM to setup a time, it needs to be dry.
Thanks @TOMB for stopping by yesterday, truck is rust free!!

 

I haven't been off-road since my previous truck 12 years ago but from what I remember (or maybe just my own gut feeling), up hill was much less of a pucker factor than downhill. Maybe harder to get traction going up but I always felt better going up. Going down hill, you are always riding the brake and if gravity and momentum become stronger forces than the brake and traction, then you're f'd. Plus I always felt like I was going to flip tail over nose if it was steep enough especially if you're bumping over rocks and riding the brake. Up hill at least you can stop and re-evaluate or back back down and pick another line or bail all together. Down hill, you can't always stop if it's slippery and backing up and picking a new line or bailing is also not always an option.

 

That actually makes a lot of sense. I could definitely see myself panicking, smashing the brakes, and sliding down the hill...

 

Good fun
fair warning though...
Broken CV at Rausch.

Bent tie rod yesterday up in NH.
This is from bucking your truck.
You should not do risky things without at least 1 other truck with you and if you don't have spare parts when you wheel you could get stuck.
I'm just trying to give you some advice because I'd rather not see a thread...

Help I'm stuck because I was being an idiot

 

THIS!

 

No I appreciate you looking out, thank you! It bucked for a second so I backed up, aired down, and picked a better line.

Do you keep an extra tie rod with you? What was the winch for, so you don't roll backwards?

 

No I have alot of spare parts but didn't have a tie-rod.
Had to winch it up the hill to get it out of the way... Only place to do it.
The other 2 guys ran into town and grabbed me a new 1 while I went to work.
This trail fix was extremely dangerous on account of the hill I was on.
Winch stayed on chalked both tires on driver side and I threw another strap around a tree to the bumper.
Very precarious situation...
Then I had to work on it.
Luckily I was uphill working otherwise I would have waited for guys to get back.
No point in risking my life to fix my truck.
They got the part I put it back together, all set back on the trail.
If I was by myself and that happened how much of an idiot would I have been.
Not to mention all the calls I would have to make to get needles help to me.
This is exactly why I don't wheel without another truck.
Dirt roads are 1 thing, actual wheeling is a different animal.

I actually enjoy breaking stuff also and doing trail repairs.
It's fun to me and sets me up for building a better truck and having more knowledge about fixing it in different ways.

 

Saturday was a great day

But Sunday, yesterday, was an epic day on account of breaking, recovery, fixing, and the last pic on here is a 6' ledge that went up and there was 5 of them in a row!

Pics never do anything justice