stickyTaco's boosted eff cancer build and ramblings

I was definitely due for one of these.

 

Yikes!

 

Yeah. I thought it wa s front and rear at first and didn't remember if I had the second spare with me. No cell reception either. Fortunately it was just the front and I did have the second spare so the drive out wasn't as stressful.

We were out checking out a 120 acres for sale north of town for a camping spot and possible cabin down the road. The neighbors weren't impressed...

 

TIRE CANCER!! THAT'S BULLSHIT!!

Cancer sucks.

 

Gonna be a busy weekend



I was pretty close to having regrets for not making time on the transmission and transfer case skid install when I blew that tire out last weekend...ground clearance is definitely less when you are running on a flat and I took a shot right next to the oil drain plug on the IFS skid.

 

Between the heat, the crappy air quality, and me being slower than I used to be I definitely underestimated the time to complete the list of stuff I was working with. The cab mount chop, and front suspension will be next weekend and fluids in September (trip to OK is delayed a month so no rush now to get fresh fluids in it).

The air filter was a mess after 5,000 miles. As much as I don't want the wind noise of a snorkel, it's starting to make more sense given the amount of dust.

Everything went smooth with the exception of the centering pins in the leaf pack that I had to notch to remove and I lost about 45 minutes when I disconnected the u-bolts on both sides and the axle housing moved forward and rotated on me.


Cleaned up the surface rust on the leaf springs and added the leaf to the pack that I pulled when I first installed them.


Flip flops seemed like the proper footwear for this.


Protected the vitals and a little less to get hung up on underneath the truck now.

 

Cut the cab mount this weekend and added 1/4" of preload on the driver's side coilover. I wanted to go 3/4" on driver and 1/2" on passenger but the threads on the spring compressor I was using got galled up and it didn't really feel safe to use. I'll run this for a bit and see how it feels. I may just end up replacing the 13" 600lb coils with a 14" 650lb coil.

New tires went on today (285/75/16) and I stuffed it when I got home to see how things fit and it looks like it'll work. Plates will get welded in later week.

 

Alignment complete and cab chop plates welded in. Posting here so I don't lose it. Updated truck pic too because hotness.

 

Figured out why I was getting a rattle that I could feel in my feet when the truck was cold. Before the exhaust would get hot and expand one of the bolts was vibrating against the skid plate.

It rubbed off the powder coating making it pretty easy to figure out how much needed to come off. Trimmed the skid with the angle grinder and painted the cut. It's nice to not have a truck that sounds like it is falling apart when it's warming up.

 

Quick overnighter with my son. Disbursed camping on NFS land is hard to beat.


Sunrise was nice over the city lights


Did some RC crawling too.

 

Another pic from the weekend. The smoke has sucked all summer. AQI is currently 63 which seems great compared to where we were a few weeks ago but I'm ready for some clear blue skies again.

 

Fuck cancer.

 

Trailer will be in Mexico mañana which is cool because I spent 2 hours loading the truck for another quick overnight trip. It'll be nice to just hitch up, stock the fridge, and go.



We did have another great site though.

 

Ship left port in Veracruz MX today. Next stop, Houston.

 

Supposed to be in port at 6am!

 

Just got the trailer update...apparently it was not on the ship that arrived in Houston


The container came off the ship in Colombia when it was in port a month ago for some reason and hasn't been loaded in another ship yet. Now it is scheduled to arrive in Houston 10/12 which means November pickup. The late pickup means that CO/UT are not looking good for the return trip due to snow so I'm starting to plan a southwest return trip instead.

I'm beginning to think the delays will keep coming and I won't be picking the trailer up until 2022

 

Seems weird they'd offload the container. Usually, those people are experts at load planning.

Bummed to hear it won't be here until later.

 

I'm guessing it came off because of storms in the gulf but I have no idea really. There have been demonstrations around the ports in Colombia too which have caused delays as well.

 

Never mind all the port delays...

 

Word. 60 days has turned into more than 120 days based on the new estimated delivery date.