Winkle99 Build Thread

On Tuesday December 8, My daughter and her boyfriend, who are visiting from North Carolina and I wheeled Red Elephant Hill trail off of I70 north of Lawson, CO.

The narrow trail presented dry rocky dirt, small ice patches, and snow increasing as altitude and shade increased. My daughter and her boyfriend took turns driving.


Later, I was driving through an off camber section (between trailsoffroad.com waypoints 16 and 17) in about a foot of rutted snow when the truck slid off to the right and I bumped into a tree. The abrupt stop caused my daughter, who was sitting in the extended cab section, to bang her head on the headrest post. She got a small bump on her forehead. The next day it was gone. The truck has a small scratch on the bumper. I remember riding Slaughter House gulch in the snow two seasons ago and learned, in a similar off camber situation, that my usual throttle out technique just causes the truck to slide down hill more. So this time I was more cautious and
1. Used the snow shovel to dig a path though the snow for my tires to follow
2. Placed Maxtrax on the downhill side tires
3. Wrapped the recovery strap around a tree and my rear bumper.
4. Attached each recovery strap end to my Hi Lift jack
5. Used the Hi Lift jack to winch the truck onto the Maxtrax
6. Locked the rear diff
7. Backed up onto the trail with out issue.

At this point it was around 1:30 pm. We ate lunch and decided to turn around and head back down.


Near the exit of the trail, where I was airing up, we found a mine tunnel.


I definitely want to try this trail again in the summer. There are some challenging obstacles going uphill (north) that took some thought and ingenuity to overcome.

 

Saturday Dec 12 went to Rainbow Falls to give my daughter and her boyfriend more seat time 4 wheelin'. As we made our way up the trail, about a dozen women in with their seasonally decorated Jeeps were coming down. They were finishing up their annual Ugly Christmas Sweater fun run. We made our way to Little Moab and watched various Jeeps climb the dug out steps. Moab Hill looks like it has endured a lot of traffic this season. I let them do all the driving while I kicked back in the extra cab section and took in the scenery.





Had to crank the wheel like @m3bassman does in his photos to make the truck look cooler.

On the way back it started snowing. We stopped to help a woman with a dead battery. Baptized the jumper cables I keep in the bed. A great day with family!

 

On a warm Christmas eve, I removed the skid plates and pressure washed Winkle's underside to clean up the mud from hitting the trails with my daughter and her boyfriend. Skid plates saw some action this season:


A drill with a wire brush attachment removed the surface the rust. I primed with Rustoleum containing zinc, followed by Rustoleum Satin Black.
Yesterday, I sprayed Fluid Film on the clean frame.

Today I drove the 100 Series


and took the doggos for a hike on a small portion of the Colorado Trail at the Platte River trailhead:






It was good to get out on a sunny day that was warm enough for a short hike without a coat.

 

At 156796 miles - out with the old and in with the new:


The original plug wires were date stamped 1998. The previous owner must have installed the NGK single electrode spark plugs. Their center electrodes looked OK. They were the greyish/brownish color I expected and none showed any signs of oil. I installed original equipment

$18 K16TR11 Spark Plugs, Pack of 4

K16TR11 dual electrode Densos from Groove Toyota. The guy at the parts desk told me they come pre gapped. He was right. All gaps were 0.043". I verified the gap with my new feeler gauge.

 

I love your build and thread. I have the same truck, just different color and fewer miles, and less cool stuff. Wondering if you would do everything to mine that you've done to yours... (except the trail damage)
Actually, I'm considering having mine painted. I saw that you had Maaco do some work for you, so I got an estimate from the same shop (although I think he only priced the problem areas, so I'll need to get that clarified). Are you still happy with that work? I'm reluctant to take it there but that shop seems to get good reviews.

 

Thanks! I enjoy the old school look with the modern upgrades.
Regarding Maaco - I am very happy with their work. The paint looks as good now as when I picked up the fender 5 months ago.

 

Going back a bit, but from where did you get your black door handles? Have they worked well for you?

 

I purchased door handles from carparts.com in September 2017 - Part numbers T462136 (driver) and T462135 (passenger). They still feel firm and have held up well, but Winkle is a weekend warrior that sleeps in the garage with only 20000 miles added since purchased 4 years ago.

If they break, I will replace with T1A metal door handles @JKO1998 recently posted about in the "What have you done on your Tacoma today" thread.
However, he says they are out of stock until at least the end of March.

 

April 17, 2021 at 157830 miles - Performed some Spring maintenance:
1. Sometimes my power steering pump whines too loud. Like in Moab on Flat Iron Mesa at Tilt A Whirl:

The pump and rack are new, so I thought maybe its not the pump but the idler pully that is whining. So I installed a new pulley. However upon inspection, the original pulley is fine. Maybe it occurs at high angles of attack? Oh well, it doesn't happen very often - the mystery continues.

2. Installed a new PCV valve and grommet just because I read awhile back that @303tacoma did that.

3. My drivers side door weather strip was ripped down by the sill. Not anymore. Installed a new door weather strip. Eventually my door will close again when the rubber softens up.

4. Checked suspension bolt torques. Found a rear lower shock mount bolt backing out again. I installed previously with lock washers in addition to the normal washers. Well, that didn't work, so I removed the lock washers and installed the bolts with blue locktite instead.

5. Checked for cracks in various places such as coil buckets, radiator support, engine mounts, frame - no cracks.

6. Took winkle to Discount Tire for tire rotation and balance.

7. Went skiing at Keystone April 2 and hit a top speed of 54.1 mph on the Starfire run. Weeee!

 

Issues:
1. I could hear a sinusoidal noise emanating from the passenger side front bearing that increases in frequency at higher speeds and becomes louder around curves.
2. The high CV axel angle from my 3 inch lift causes the CV boot accordion edges to rub. The Automatic Differential Disconnect (ADD) design locks the CV axel to the wheel hub, so the CV axel rotates with the wheel. The continuous rotation along with the rub creates a groove in the CV boot. My inner CV boot groove is deep enough for me to want to replace before it tears.
3. I want to learn how to swap a CV axel and make sure I have the tools to do it.

Solution: I swapped from my original ADD hubs and CV axels to manual hubs and CV axels.
Was:


Is:


I bought refurbished hubs and CV axles from @zippsub9, an excellent resource. The hubs have new bearings, the CV axles have new boots and the spindles are gusseted. The manual hub design allows me to unlock the hub from the axle eliminating wear on the CV axles and boots when driving on the highways. Another supposed benefit is if I happen to break a CV axle on trail, I can unlock the hub from the axle and still drive home. Unfortunately, that is not always the case as @Reh5108 taught me. @Reh5108's CV axel broke and mangled the hub in the ~20 yards it took him to move to a spot to fix it. Another downside, as @Blackdawg and @johntoyota taught me, is the manual setup is weaker:
1. Manual axles are 7% smaller in diameter compared to ADD axles.
2. Manual axel spline count on the wheel end is 26 verses 27 for ADD. (They are both 27 on the differential side.)
3. Manual axle spline length is 0.75 inches verses 1.5 inches for ADD. Picture shows ADD on top, manual on bottom.


While the driver's side CV axle was removed, I removed the needle bearing and installed the ECGS bearing. I installed new seals.


I also installed new OEM lower ball joints.

I now have the knowledge and tools to swap CV axles and hubs. Those C clips are a pain! I am better removing/installing them now. My CV axles were easy to remove from the differential thanks to @Timmah! suggestion to keep the axle horizontal. I did not have an extra set of hands to hold the axle while prying it out, so I zip tied the axle to the spring to keep it horizontal. CV axle installation into the differential went smooth as well with the C clip opening facing the ground.

I will drive the manual setup this season.
I will source new bearings and seals for the original ADD hubs, along with some high angle CV boots to replace the grooved inner boots on the ADD axles. I need to find a shop to press out the old and press in the new bearings. Sometime in the off season I will switch from manual to back to ADD so I have the stronger setup that has worked so well for me in the past. I will also purchase an ADD CV as a backup. I am not sure what I will do with the manual setup once uninstalled.
Learning by doing.

 

Good on ya for learning. It'll pay out for sure if you are ever in a remote place and something breaks!

 

Looks good brother. I have heard many discuss the smaller dimensions, but haven't seen many (read as never) show evidence of weaker axles or breaking manual over ADD axles. I am sure there are any number of variable and factors that play into the real world application versus a scientific laboratory approach. However, I would be happy to help you out next season. I am going to start stocking up ADD hubs and setups as well. You can get by with a broke ADD axle in a bind but it is much more challenging if it doesn't break at the right spot. The outer CV nut must stay snug and tight along with the outer cup in behind the knuckle inside the bearing. The remainder of the axle will spin if you aren't able to get it out and you must secure it so I doesn't tear up other things. For me, I know there must always be a weak point, and as along as I am willing to deal and mitigate that than everything else will be fine.

 

I wheeled a rocky, tight mountain trail yesterday and the manual setup worked great! Thanks again for your help!

 

158606 miles
Issue: Air conditioner pulley bearing started whining after running Winkle through a half dozen or so water crossings that were deep enough to submerge the A/C compressor. Since I replaced the idler pulley in April, another possible cause is I tensioned the belt too tight causing extra stress on the bearing. The belt had 0.25 inch deflection but how much force is required to achieve that deflection?
I ordered the clutch assembly (pulley, clutch, electromagnet) from Camelback Toyota for $142.24 shipped. Ordering only a pulley was more expensive then the assembly. Also, I didn't feel like searching for the right size bearing, then pressing out the old and pressing in the new.
This time the tension is a little less. If I hear the shrill sound of a slipping belt, then I know I must tighten a little.

Here is a picture of the old clutch, electromagnet, and pulley. In the middle is a tool I made. I used it along with a pulley puller to remove the old pulley.

Winkle is stealthy quiet again.

 

Took a 5 day trip through Aspen, Crested Butte, Taylor Park, Mt Antero and Buena Vista (Pike - San Isabel and Grand Mesa - Uncompahgre - Gunnison National Forests).
Two of my friends from pre kid days were texting each other one day. One lives in San Diego, CA and the other in Columbia, Maryland. We had recently achieved empty nest status and decided to put together this trip. This is our first post kid adventure. My friends, who have never wheeled before, expanded their comfort zones as we took on challenging off road trails. We travelled over a few passes including, Kenosha, Independence, Pearl, Taylor, and Tin Cup. We hiked to CraterLake/Maroon Bells, hiked a part of the Continental Divide Trail and wheeled/hiked up to the top of Mt Antero (14300 ft). Colorado offered picturesque camp sites with yellow Aspens, cold running streams and a full moon.
Here is the route we took:


Thursday 9/16
My friends arrived the previous day to begin acclimating from sea level to 6000ft, the altitude at my house. My wife was kind enough to let us use her 2005 100 series - Lexus LX470. The family truckster hadn't seen a real trail yet. It accumulated 217K miles hauling kids to soccer games and my wife to the mall. It now sports brand new Slee rock sliders and, as @teamhypoxia might approve, brand new Michelin Defender LTX M/S FTW!

We left at 8:00 am. My friends drove the 100 series and I drove Winkle to avoid wheelin' solo just in case. We headed west/south on Hwy 285 over Kenosha Pass


to Hwy 24 past Buena Vista to Hwy 82 over Independence Pass




to Lincoln Gulch Campground, south of Aspen (9,600 ft)


After setting up tents we took Winkle a few miles towards Portal Campground (10,500 ft)


to the Grizzly Lake Trailhead #1990 by Grizzly Reservoir


We hiked up to 11,600 ft before turning around to get back to the campsite for dinner before sunset. The altitude taxed our 58+ year old bodies a little. It was a good first hike.








After a tuna with rice pilaf dinner, we gather around a warm fire, drank brown water and shared stories. We nodded off early in order to wake up the next morning to head up to Aspen to catch the first bus to Maroon Bells.

 

Friday 9/17
I wanted to catch the first Shuttle to Maroon Bells to see the rising sunlight off the mountains. We had to get up early enough to eat, break down camp and drive north to Aspen. So I surprised my friends at 6 am to a rendition of "Sound of Music" on the violin. They never heard me play before, although I am not sure one would call what I did playing.

As we hiked along Maroon Lake Trail #2197, we saw a moose hanging out in the lake posing for the tourists.


We noticed an international flavor as we passed hikers speaking languages from various parts of the world. We enjoyed the scenery as we continued on West Maroon Trail #1970.




And here is the iconic photo of Maroon Bells reflecting off Crater Lake, which has shrunk to the size of a large pond this Fall.


We topped off the fuel tanks in Aspen then headed out of town on scenic Castle Creek road to where the paved road meets the dirt road.


We ate lunch and aired down. It was time to introduce my friends, who have never wheeled before, to Pearl Pass.






We topped off our water supplies at the natural spring. No giardia for us!


We met two couples riding in a newer stock 4Runner heading back towards Aspen. They were on their way to Crested Butte but turned around when they reached the first ledge. The driver warned me about the challenge and asked if I was planning to take it. I said, yep.

We reached the first ledge. My friends had doubts we could climb it, not knowing how capable the vehicles are. Winkle with its decent approach angle climbed without issue.


I jumped into the 100 Series and made the mistake of trying the same line as Winkle and, with too much skinny pedal, was rejected by the ledge. I backed up and took a different line with success.


We continued along a rocky section


We captured more scenic views:








until we reached the Pearl Pass summit




On the way down towards Crested Butte, there were challenging sections of trail, where my friends tested the obstacles.


We made it down then took West Brush Creek Road 738.2A to look for a campsite. The first site was open but we opted to check out the others. It is open range and the cattle did not like us riding through their territory. The young males were showing off their bravery by playing chicken with Winkle. Winkle just crawled in 4 lo and eventually they moooved.


With cows come cow patties and every other campsite we checked was full of them except the first one. So we set up camp back where we started.

 

Saturday 9/18
The morning sun illuminated our campsite view.


We ate a relaxing breakfast and showered off the dust using a

$40 Riigoo Camping Shower Portable Shower for Camping Outdoor Shower Camp Portable Shower Head Handheld Camping Shower Pump Powered by Upgraded Rechargeable Battery, 1 Year Warranty

showered head powered by a battery operated pump in a 5 gal paint bucket.


As we left the campsite, the next occupant entered.


We stopped by Crested Butte briefly to pick up some food for the next few days and top off the fuel tanks. At the gas station, we saw the two couples in the 4Runner on Pearl Pass that we met yesterday. They asked if we had made it over the pass and we proudly showed them pictures and videos. It was fun talking with them again. Our story may inspire them to try Pearl Pass again after upgrading their 4Runner.
We headed south on Hwy 135 then left on Cement Creek Road and started climbing.






We reached Reno Divide where I was presented with a choice, on the right was Italian Creek FS759, on the left was Italian Pass FS642. I choose the right path because there was a "Maintained By" sign posted by a local 4 wheeling club. In the narrow shelf road section we met an ATV going the opposite way. We talked about how to maneuver around each other. The ATV moved to the uphill side as far as possible and waited as I slowly started passing on the shelf side. I made the mistake of turning too far shelf side and Winkle's passenger side tires slid off the edge. I immediately stopped.

$17 Sun Company 201-F Lev-o-gage Inclinometer | USA-Made Level Gauge for Off-Road Vehicle, Jeep, Truck, RV, Camper, Trailer, or Boat

Level-O-Gage was reading 27 degrees. Not too bad but bad enough that I wanted to put a strap on Winkle and get pulled out without tipping. I told my friend, "Get out" but when he opened the passenger side door, his first step would have been a doozy. Oops - bad suggestion. He exited on the driver's side. The ATV backed up so that the 100 Series could get through but we had to move a large tree branch to create enough room.


We strapped Winkle to the 100 Series and the "Husband Recovery Vehicle" pulled Winkle out of its sketchy situation.



Later my friend negotiated this rocky section like a wheelin' veteran.


At 12,000 feet, we cruised past American Flag Mountain. We skipped it due to large amount of trail bike, ATV and Side by Side traffic heading up and down.


We at lunch at this old cabin remains,


checked out this refurbished cabin,


drove by smilin' rock,


and arrived at Dinner Station Campground (9650 ft) along the Taylor River. We chilled some stragglers that weren't in the cooler,


played a couple of tunes,


and decorated the site with some @johntoyota celebratory camp lights.


Another great day in Colorado.

 

Awesome! These all just made me smile. I look forward to camping with you again my friend.

 

Sunday 9/19
After a little night rain, we woke up to some scenery that my friend says reminded him of Yellowstone with a valley in between two mountain ranges.




The rain subdued the dust without creating mud on the forest service like roads. We stopped off at Taylor Park


the town of Tincup,


cruised around Mirror Lake at 11,000 ft




and continued on FR267 up to Tincup Pass at 12,154 ft






We stopped and had lunch where FR267 intersects with Tunnel Lake Trail (1439), part of Continental Divide/Colorado Trail.
We hiked up to the tree line (~11,800 ft) before turning back.




There are still some flowers blooming


We drove through St. Elmo



then relaxed in the Mount Princeton Hot Springs near the Chalk Cliffs.


We backtracked west on Chalk Creek drive to camp at the Chalk Lake campground. Our last camping night, we enjoyed a warm fire and a full moon.

 

Monday 9/20/2021
My sea level living friends, acclimated over the previous 5 days to high altitude and off roadin', were ready to take on a 14er, Mt Antero.

We gained altitude fast as we climbed along Baldwin Creek,





then crossed the creek,


broke through the tree line


and started up the first set of switchbacks.


There was a dusting of snow.


The second set of switchbacks near the top have an intimidating look upon approach. They remind me of one of the switchbacks on Radical Hill, except there are 3 or 4 of them that make you feel like your are flying without wings because there is nothing around. Kudos to my friend who claimed to have a fear of heights and who drove up the narrow, steep, tight switchbacks valiantly.

One of our other videos captured this conversation:
"I might just get out and walk."
"No shame in that."

Here's a video that tries to capture a section of the switchbacks:


The trail delivered us to a flat parking area at 13,650 feet, only a 625 foot climb in altitude to the 14,275 peak


We climbed from cairn to cairn, catching our breath as needed.




Until we made it to the top


The top is normally windy and cold, but this day, not too bad. We took our time and enjoyed the view.




We drove back down and made it into Buena Vista for a late lunch, then sped home for dinner.
I took my friends to DIA Tuesday morning for their flights home. This was a great trip, filled with fun memories. What will we do next year?