AdventureTaco - turbodb's build and adventures

TW ftw. This site loads on the skimpiest of service. Anyway, I am goingto to be in the Bears Ears area tomorrow. Could @turbodb or anyone else recommend a good novice trail in the area? At least novice in the sense that I've never been here before lol.
DC 4.0 4x4 off road if it matters. TIA.

 

In that area, I'd head up to Bears Ears itself (I don't know the road, but there's only one that goes to the ears), and I'd also highly recommend going to visit Natural Bridges National Monument. If you can, hike down to the bottom as we did in Ruining Around Utah 5 – Canyoneering Natural Bridges National Monument. It's fantastic.

 

Thanks turbodb

.I'm poring over maps as we speak.

 

From your experience so far, are these F1 types worth the extra cost? Mine are just now starting to get noisy.

 

I need to check them after the last trip down to New Mexico - will be doing that tomorrow, I think (or at the very least, this next week).

I last checked at 7500 miles when I was doing the LCA bushings. I wasn't super impressed - one side seemed "OK" and the other side seemed "good." Though there was no rust (a difference for sure with the steel bearings), I thought they would still be tighter than they were. Now I have 15,000 miles on them, which is about where I've had to change out the generic bearings, so we'll see.

 

What is the difference between OK and good? Is it how sloppy they feel? Like OK won't hold its position?

Let me know what you find with the 15K check. I just verified mine are right at 16K in just a little over a year of use. I think it is only one making noise ATM. I am going to try and verify that today.

RE the new misalignment spacers in that pic. Were the bearings and spacers from Tim?

https://www.303shockservices.com/product-page/2-5-coilover-lower-mount-replacement-bearing-kit

 

A multi-point inspection would define "good" as a part that is past its "new" stage but still in its useful life. I would describe "OK" more toward replacement-as in "while you're here, we should take care of that but you should take care of it soon".

 

While this perspective is helpful, thanks for that, I am keen to hear Dan's take on this as I know first hand what he has put up with in the past.

 

Little bit of maintenance today.

• Oil change - a bit late (for me) at 9K miles. Just how trips and timing between them worked out. Oil looked just fine, so not worried.
• Driveline grease
• UCA grease
• 5-tire rotation
• Spherical bearing inspection after 15K miles. Passenger side is still "OK," driver side is "OK+" or "Good-" hahaha. Definitely not as tight as new - when a bolt/lever is needed to move the sphere. Definitely not loose - there is no space between the ball and retainer. I can move the ball by hand, relatively easily, though more easily on the passenger side than the driver side. Mike @Digiratus - I'd say that the movement is similar (though I could be misremembering) to the movement of yours when you brought your shocks over to adjust the ride height with the spring compressor. So, these SS bearings are certainly lasting longer than the COM10Ts I was running previously (where I was getting a jiggly joint at 10K miles), but I don't know if they would be better than the hardened steel versions. I don't know the price difference either, so it may be a moot issue.

As far as my rating scale goes, I guess it would be:

• New
• Good
• OK
• Time to Replace
• Oops

In the case of spherical bearings, "jiggly" is between Time to Replace and Oops. Worn bolts and chewed through misalignments is defniitely Oops.

Edit: And Mike - I got my misalignments from Tyler over at ADS at the same time I got all the COM10Ts. I'm sure @TMFFs are just as good or better. I'd just get it all from him now.

Also fabbed up some aluminum spacers from 1.5" round bar for Corbeau seat installation, which will probably be Wednesday.



Oh, and I took this photo that I don't really want to talk about but probably should. Leaking out of the top joint/seal/mushroom thingy. Is that something I can replace, or is it new rack time? Maybe I should post this in the daily thread as well. We'll see if I get responses here.

 

Thanks for the 15K feedback. Do you know the part number or FK identifier for the 'hardened steel' version?

For the leak, I'm pretty sure that Ben is or was fighting this issue. I believe he is planning to replace with a new rack.

It's a guess, but I suspect the entire rack has to come off to get to that seal. If true, I'd be inclined to replace the entire rack. A new OEM version comes with inner TREs too.

edit: FWIW, we replaced my rack at 176K and I think that is close to where you are now...

 

Thanks. And yes, I am near that mileage - over it actually now - 190K! (OMG, how can it be?) Anyway, I'll plan on replacing the rack, but first I'll monitor/ignore it and carry a quart of ATF just in case. I think Ben @m3bassman got away with that for quite a while.

The hardened steel versions are FKS10T. Just for your perusal if you are curious.

• COM10T - COM / COMH – FK Rod Ends
• FKS10T - FKS / FKS-T – FK Rod Ends
• FKSSX10T - FKSSX / FKSSX-T / FKSSX-TV – FK Rod Ends

Don't forget that you want the "tightest" version of these, designated by adding an "-F1" to the end of the part. So FKS10T-F1 for instance.

 

I recently replaced the rack in my truck. It had been leaking for some time. I went with replacement only because it was quicker.

 

Do you recall seeing an F1 marking on the bearings you used?

I can find F2 fit bearings all day long. But finding F1s, FKSSX10T-F1, is proving to be more of a challenge. Where did you purchase your F1s from?


A few things I found interesting (this is turning into a very deep rabbit hole):

1) F2 fit is considered the standard and by definition their new condition is what you (we) are describing as OK+ or Good.

https://www.fkrodends.com/tech/torque-specs__trashed/

In your research, you likely already saw this or something like it. But in case you haven't, check it out.

“The rod ends that we do with PTFE liners come in three different fitments; F1, F2, and F3,” Jay Langley explained. “In a less technical terminology, with an F1 fit you will need a bar to move the ball within the housing, an F2 fit you will be able to move the ball with your fingers but has some resistance, and an F3 fit will move freely.”

https://www.offroadxtreme.com/featu...king-fitment-on-ptfe-liners-with-fk-rod-ends/


2) ADS website lists FKS10T-F1 at $15 each. Based on the FK part number, these are not stainless steal and may not be case hardened and they are about $10 ea. less than FKSSX10T(F2) bearings I've been seeing elsewhere.


3) The imprints on the bearings in this pic do not actually say F! but the packaging below them does.



Here is a pic of the F2 fit bearing on the Kartek website. Hard to see but it looks the same as yours but Kartek says they are F2 fit.

https://www.kartek.com/parts/fk-rod...coated-uniball-spherical-bearings-f2-fit.html

 

Thanks both. I'll likely go for a new rack too, for expedience. After I procrastinate a bit.

It is quite the rabbit hole, and you're headed the same way I was when I did this, hahaha!

Where did you purchase your F1s from?
The only place I could find them online was here, for ~$20: FKSSX10T-F1 Tighter Teflon PTFE Liner Spherical Bearings, 0.625 Bore (offroadwarehouse.com) That said, after ordering, I chatted with Tim @TMFF and he mentioned that all the bearings he sells are -F1. I forget if they are the COM or FKS series though. I'm sure he can get anything, so in the future, I'm buying from him.

1) F2 fit is considered the standard and by definition their new condition is what you (we) are describing as OK+ or Good.
Yeah, I'd call the F2 fit Good, and the F3 fit is my OK, as they describe it. I didn't see either of the items that you reference, but FK sent me a similar PDF which I uploaded as an image in my post. Says the same thing, and after I read it, I knew I wanted -F1 for sure.

2) ADS website lists FKS10T-F1 at $15 each. Based on the FK part number, these are not stainless steal and may not be case hardened and they are about $10 ea. less than FKSSX10T(F2) bearings I've been seeing elsewhere.
Interesting. The bearings I bought from ADS were $7.50 each, so clearly not FKS. With the FKS only $5 less than the FKSSX (from offroadwarhouse), it feels a bit like a wash to me price wise. I'd probably ask @TMFF for a set of each, just to see if one performed better than the other, and then go with the better performer. I don't know why, but I wouldn't be surprised if the FKS perform better for some reason that I don't totally understand. In fact, no matter how these do, I'm going to get some FKS from Tim next time, just to try them out.

3) The imprints on the bearings in this pic do not actually say F! but the packaging below them does.
You are correct - there is no tightness (-F1) marking on the bearings themselves, only on the packaging.

 

After thinking about these tightness designations, I wonder how that might be achieved. The only thing that comes to mind is that the thickness of the PTFE layer might vary. In other words, the F1 spec bearings have a thicker liner compared to their lessor cousins.

From a cost of production standpoint, I cannot imagine a situation where the tolerances of either the metal ball or the race would vary to meet the different fit levels.

 

Make it a Loop (Bullet to Sheiks Canyons) - Cedar Mesa #3
Part of the Forty-One Miles of Mesa (May 2021) trip.

We got another good night of sleep on the edge of Bullet Canyon, and were up bright an early - or more correctly, dark and early - to start prepping for our long day. We were going to leave the truck and tent set up while we hiked - no need to pack all that away just to unpack again on our return - so we ate breakfast, made lunches, and filled every container we'd brought along with water. We were, after all, going to be hiking more than 17 miles - much of it in 90°F heat.

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About 3.5 gallons.​

I make the water situation sound sketchy, but we'd done some calculations based on the previous two days, and it seemed like we should have enough - assuming something didn't go terribly wrong and we were forced to spend the night or backtrack the majority of the distance. So yeah, just a little sketchtastic.

Everything ready to go, we departed camp just as the sun peaked over the horizon and spilled onto the mesa. We were getting an early start - and that was good. Not only would it allow us to cover some ground before things warmed up too much, but it also allowed us to take a more leisurely pace, exploring interesting discoveries along the route.

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Couldn't ask for a nicer morning.​

Before long, we found ourselves scrambling down the canyon walls - imposing from a distance, but there almost always seems to be a workable route once you get close enough.

I've mentioned the distance, but before going too much further, I should cover our plan for the day. I'd originally wanted to hike Bullet Canyon, primarily to see two ruins: Perfect Kiva and Jailhouse. As I'd researched the route prior to our departure, I'd come across several folks suggesting that, rather just hiking out-and-back - a 12 mile roundtrip, a better option is to hike all the way down Bullet Canyon, and then hike back up Sheiks Canyon - making the trip into a 17 mile loop. The main benefit of this, is that for just five extra miles, there is a lot more to see - both because we wouldn't be backtracking and because Sheiks Canyon is full of goodies.

Note: Visiting both Bullet and Sheiks Canyons require a pass - even for day use. For more information, check out BLM Utah Cedar Mesa Permits and Passes Information.

​

So, that was the plan. Actually, at the time we thought it would be 14 miles, but we neglected to factor in the mileage necessary to leave the main trail to visit all of the ruins. And that's how we ended up with a 17 mile track by the end of the day!

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Heading down into Bullet Canyon.​

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Miniature arch.​

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Opening up into the new day.​

Now walking down the wash, the going was easy and @mrs.turbodb was the one who spotted a tower ruin up on the rim of the canyon. With no mud chinking, I'm unsure if this had been rebuilt, but it was cool to see, regardless.

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Perhaps one of a series of communication towers along the rim of the canyon?​

With no idea what to expect along the way, we were curious from the start, and didn't hesitate to stop for a few minutes here and there as we ran into things that caught our interest.

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Flaking layers.​

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Parts of the trail were covered in fluffy "snow." Only this snow wasn't cold, unfortunately.​

A mile or so into the hike, we reached the second of several major drops in Bullet Canyon. In all, we'd drop some 1200 feet over its 7 mile length, but this was by far the most dramatic - the trail following a fantastic dry fall through a sandstone maze, the canyon walls rising up all around.

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We loved this half mile of trail, and were glad to be doing it before the sandstone heated up in the afternoon sun.​

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Exiting the dry fall, we were in a whole new world.​

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Nature's cairn, calling our names.​

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I've seen this cartoon before; glad I'm not a coyote.​

We continued a slow descent now - the next couple of miles bringing fabulous discoveries around every turn. It was so pleasant hiking in the canyon at this time of day, I'd really recommend it to anyone - even those who aren't interested in the ruins further along. Just remember: you have to climb out, too!

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The wispy clouds added a nice soft touch to this bold sandstone outcropping.​

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The most vibrant Claret Cup I've ever seen.​

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I see you down there. You're not going to eat me today...​

As we continued to crisscross the bottom of the canyon - the trail mostly staying out of what must sometimes be a wet wash - the sun continued to climb in the sky, and a couple hours into our hike, we were out of the shade, and happy that the sun was at our backs.

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Sheer wall.​

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Our first destination - Perfect Kiva - lay in the large alcove.​

It was at this point that I realized that the GPS waypoints I had for various sights along the way were simply suggestive. That was fine, though as I mentioned, by the time we were done, it added a few miles to our day. Not wanting to miss one of the primary reasons we'd done the hike in the first place, we scrambled our way up to the alcove and were rewarded with our first success.

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Perfect Kiva.​

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The entrance.​

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@mrs.turbodb: "Are you really going down there?"

me: "Yes, definitely."​

As I explored the site, @mrs.turbodb read through the ammo box of material left by the BLM for anyone lucky enough to find themselves in this special place. The history of Perfect Kiva was interesting to say the least, and revealed that the site may not be as "perfect" as the name suggests.

Well, that description - and the fact that we could see a few edges of the plywood used to reconstruct/reinforce Perfect Kiva - took a bit of the magic out of it for me, but was great to know nonetheless. We continued to investigate the site a while longer - to stay out of the sun as much as anything - before venturing back to the main trail down the canyon.

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White hand negatives.​

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This was an intriguing polychromatic panel that was originally inside a dwelling.​

While it taken us a couple hours and five miles of trail to get to Perfect Kiva, our next stop - at Jailhouse Ruin - was less than a quarter mile away, at least, as the crow flies. Double that for route finding up the side of the canyon wall, and it still didn't take us long to spot the iconic white circles (faces?) above the ruins.

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Back on the trail.​

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The inhabitants were either really good climbers, or had a ladder.​

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A dramatic sight. A warning to visitors?​

As striking as the rock art above this site may be, the name comes from the wood lattice window in one of the structures. It's not clear whether this latticework was left purposefully exposed or if part of the mud wall fell away, but whatever the cause, it surely adds interest to this small set of ruins.

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Not a very secure jail.​

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A wooden substructure was clearly used for many of the buildings​

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Handprints and patterns over soot.​

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A nice tafoni.​

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We found enough of this pattern to nearly construct an entire bowl.​

With another mile and a half to the intersection of Bullet and Sheiks Canyon - the apex of our loop - we were back underway just as another couple showed up at Jailhouse Ruin. Quick good mornings were shared, and we left them to admire as we'd done, our trail continuing west down the canyon.

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The Bullet Canyon views never let up.​

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I really liked the black water stain that snaked down past a granary ruin.​

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As we got closer, this tree in front of the granary caught my eye.​

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I'm always intrigued by the varied construction techniques. I wonder what leads to a rock exterior vs. mud?​

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The mouth of Bullet Canyon as it merges with Grand Gulch flowing to the left. Sheiks Canyon merges in here from the right.​

We'd covered seven miles of trail, perhaps a couple more with our side trips, and we both felt great. Our water situation was not a problem at all - despite two small leaks that we'd discovered in the containers we'd brought along - and we decided that a shady spot at the intersection of the canyons was a great place to rest feet and shoulders for a few minutes while we ate lunch.

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Filtered shade, a nice respite from noon-time heat. (87°F)​

Cognizant that we still had a way to go - and that we weren't entirely sure we be able to climb out of Sheiks Canyon (more on that in a moment) - we easily polished off our sandwiches and some chips, but we shared an apple and left our stash of four granola bars untouched. You know, just in case. We also redistributed water to reduce leaks, and then reshouldered our packs as we set off - the trail now leading up Sheiks Canyon, the sun at our back once again as it passed overhead!

Unlike Bullet Canyon, where the canyon itself was fantastic, but there were only a few historical sites along the way, Sheiks Canyon was packed with ruins and rock art, making it perfect to keep us moving - from one site to the next - on the second half of our journey. And it wasn't long before we came to Wall Ruin.

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Rather unassuming, and reasonably hard to access.​

Getting to the ruin was going to require quite a bit of scrambling and the scaling of a reasonably sheer cliff, so @mrs.turbodb sat this one out while I looked for the easiest route up. I was glad I did, because the ruin itself had some interesting little treasures.

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Hidden room.​

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The geometric "stairs" on the right were especially intriguing.​

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Patterned prints.​

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A horse-collar entrance.​

It was as we were leaving the Wall Ruin that we passed another group coming the opposite direction. As with the rest of the hike, there was a network of trails along the bottom of the wash, and in this particular location, we were separated by a 15' mini-canyon between the two trails. We shared greetings of course, and then asked where each other were headed. When we mentioned our plan to head up and out Sheiks Canyon - the route they'd taken in - the looks on their faces were of incredulity.

"You're going up?" "It's pretty steep." And, "Oh."

Well then, those reactions were certainly reassuring.

Not to be deterred, I asked for a bit more explaination, and soon realized that the description of climbing through boulders, and scrambling up loose dirt was exactly what we'd encountered on our way down through Bullet Canyon. A grin spread across my face and I glanced at @mrs.turbodb as I chuckled and said, "Wish us luck!" I'm not sure how she was feeling at that point, but I knew we'd be in camp for dinner.

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We found some deep shade at cave ruin not too much further along, and stopped to cool down.​

There are two significant climbs on the route out of Sheiks Canyon, and the first comes just a few hundred feet after the site I was most looking forward to seeing - solely due to its name - along the route: the Green Mask Site. As with many, the site was built into an alcove along the side of the wash, and I figured there'd be a fabulous green mask pictograph somewhere on the walls.

It turns out, there was so much more. This was one of the most interesting pictograph sites I've visited, with several civilizations inhabiting this same shelter.

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Colorful work of the artisans of the hunters and gatherers of the Archaic Period. (6500-1500 BC)​

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Black and cream colored plant representations. (Archaic)​

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Unfinished works of the Basketmakers. (BC 500-750 AD)​

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Striking female imagery.​

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A breech birth. Apparently, an adult woman mummy, who had died giving a birth to a breeched baby, was found under this panel.​

Of course, through all of this, our eyes were peeled for the Green Mask. Surely it would be a large glyph in a prominent section of wall - the site was, after all, named after this work. Ultimately, it took us two sweeps of the entirety of the alcove to find the mask. High up on the ceiling, it was much smaller than we'd envisioned, perhaps only 16 inches tall and and 12 inches wide.

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In a Basketmaker Period burial site in northeast Arizona, a full-face scalp or mask was found that had green and yellow stripes and red bobbed hair, almost identical to this mask painted on the wall.​

And with that, we began our ascent out of Sheiks Canyon. We'd gain nearly 600 feet - half of our elevation - in the next quarter mile or so, making our way up a rocky dry fall, and some loose sandy sections of trail. As we did, the views opened up behind us.

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This is why I wasn't worried. I constantly forget that people's definition of "hard" has taken on a new meaning in the last decade or two.​

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It's no Bullet Canyon, but I wouldn't mind living in a cliff dwelling here, either.​

With food and water no longer a concern, we each drank our fill, and shared the second apple we'd brought along in the deep shade of a rocky cave at the top of the major climb. I must say, Cosmic Crisp apples really are the best.

We stopped at three more ruins on our way out of the canyon, though none of them were as interesting as what we'd already experienced. We were starting to feel the miles on our feet and quads at this point - though my knees were surely happy that we were headed up, rather than down - and as if to give us a little bit of a break, a cover of high clouds helped to temper the sun just a bit.

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A granary at the Yellow House.​

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Yellow House, bright even in under cover.​

A mile later, we reached the trailhead for Sheiks Canyon. It was a bittersweet victory - not because we wished we were back in the canyon, but because we now had four miles of dusty dirt road to cover in order to complete the loop back to the Tacoma, which we'd left at the head of Bullet Canyon!

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Two cairns marked the trailhead. A false victory.​

We arrived back in camp just before 7:00pm, both in full agreement that the absolute worst part of the entire hike had been the reasonably flat - and 100% completely boring - road to camp. Our feet hurt, and we collapsed into our camp chairs overlooking the canyon. We'd done it, and with no drama.

After resting for a bit, we dragged our tired butts back to the truck and assembled dinner. We washed up a bit, and then a few minutes after sunset, we climbed into bed.

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A celebration in the sky - of our success.​

Tomorrow, we'd start the long journey home - a few sites to visit along the way. For now, we'd earned every bit of sleep we got.

 

Some of the artwork is simply amazing. Lots of detail.

 

I figured that I might as well ask. Turns out the PTFE thickness isn't the answer, it's all about tolerances. I guess when you're a bearing company, you can work out the process until you get whatever tolerances you want!

 

Once again Dan. Outstanding. Thank you for putting in so much effort, and sharing the results.

I wish I could hike 17 miles in one day and still walk..

 

Epilogue - Cedar Mesa #4
Part of the Forty-One Miles of Mesa (May 2021) trip.

With 22 hours of driving in front of us, we decided that rather than our usual sprint home, we'd split the time over two days. That meant we could sleep in a bit before climbing out of the tent, and also that we could stop a few times along the way so I could show @mrs.turbodb a few things I'd thought were cool on previous trips.

I awoke only for enough time to snap a photo without changing my horizontal position.​

After eating breakfast and packing up camp, we headed north on UT-261 to Natural Bridges National Monument. I'd visited and hiked the loop trail on the Ruining Around Utah trip that Monte @Blackdawg had organized a couple years earlier, and I thought that getting just a taste - of Owachomo Bridge - was a worthy stop on our way home.

The trail to Owachomo is less than half a mile, but there's quite a bit of elevation loss (and subsequent gain on the way back up). We could definitely tell that we'd used our legs the day before.

A traditional shot.​

And then I thought I'd try something new.​

From Natural Bridges, we jumped back on UT-95 and headed north. This route would take us to Hanksville where we'd fuel up before making the push to - and through - Salt Lake City, but first it would see us across the Colorado River near Hite.

As we neared Hite, the red sandstone was nicely framed by the Henry Mountains, and we pulled over for a quick shot at the top of a rise.

Utah won the landscape lottery.​

The only time @mrs.turbodb had been in the area prior to this was several years earlier when we'd visited with Ben @m3bassman and Zane @Speedytech7 on our first trip to The Maze. We'd never made it as far south as Hite, but she'd heard talk of the outpost, so we ventured in and I gave her a tour of the place; which is to say, she saw the gas station.

There isn't much to Hite except nice views. And shockingly reasonably priced fuel.​

Continuing north, our final stop before really pushing north was at an alcove along UT-95. There's an amazing multicolored pictograph of a life-sized shaman here, and I wanted to recreate a photo I'd take of Monte on our last trip through.

Hiking up into the alcove, we discovered more than I remembered from my previous visit. Several more modern names were etched into the sandstone, older sheep petroglyphs - repatinaed over the years, and even some petrified water ripples decorated the walls.

Roy Despain + Madeline | Sept. 1, 1941​

Two sheep, of different styles.​

Petrified ripples, likely the result of an ancient lake that once covered this area.​

And then, it was time for the final photo of the trip.

I think I like the original better.​

We'd had a great time by any measure. We'd continue on to Oregon before stopping for the night, making the final push home the following day. We'd hiked more than 40 miles in three days, and we'd spend the next week paying for it!

But that week has passed, and I must admit a certain itch to go back...