Little Red Turbo Creeper

Got a new tune going for the truck and its running pretty smooth. I had to get a few miles underneath it to let the LTFT's start doing their thing
Did a little Freeway run and topped it off with some slow steady forest roads and even a little 4low crawling through some thick brush.

 

I greased my driveline and upper control arm's last night in preparation for a trail run with a local group that met up at 7am this morning (YUCK!)

While I was under the truck I stuck my finger in the Low Range E locker guard to see how much dirt has collected and some how the cap for my driveline ended up inside there. It's been missing for months if not an entire year! Idk how it ended up in there because I could barely get it out without taking the guard off.

Only way in or out was though the top, one in a million shot!

I scraped out the old grease and dirt as best as I could before jamming it back in and pumping it fully of grease again. It was a little bent so I did what I could to reshape it, hopefully it stays put this time. now if only I could find the cap for the front drive shaft too

 

Crazy find!

 

Dispite having to set an alarm for 6am this morning we still ended up having a good time with the local trail run. We took the Elephant Gap trail to the Barrack's trail and followed it all the way back to Hwy 89

Group shot shortly after hitting the trail

Was a bunch of Jeeps, one SxS, two Samurais, a sweet FJ40 and two Tacomas. The other tacoma was a 2023 almost completely stock except for a 30+ gal fuel cell.

Quick shot while having lunch.
Lots of people commented on how clean the truck is and that they wouldn't expect it to be out there on the trails


We saw some rocks

Lots of sandy roads and a handful of river crossings. On our 3rd crossing of the Virgin river the FJ40 took a bonus line and got rejected, he tried again and got rejected again, the 3rd time was not the charm either, he hit the bank with the sounds of a glorious 2UZ swap echoing through the canyon launching the front axle a few feet in the air before coming down hard. The engine noise masked the sound of a U joint on the front drive shaft snapping and he was about to give it another go but I shouted and got him stopped before he jammed the now dangling driveline into the dirt, a sight similar to that of a bull elephant in a good mood.

Unfortunately this all happened so fast I was unable to get any footage but here's a broken U joint and the drive shaft strapped out of the way (perks of having a trailer to get you home at the end of the day).


And another shot of FJ40 in my mirror but he wouldn't be behind me for much longer

He didn't have any issues getting through the rest of the trail in 2wd.

Me on the other hand...

I chose the wrong bonus line but for different reasons. It got deep very quickly, my poor carpet can confirm. If I had the locker on before hand I may have been okay but I wasn't expecting it to go from a calm rocky stream to a giant mud hole in a difference of 5 feet.

any amount of throttle resulted on the rear drivers tire digging deeper and deeper so with several smiling faces standing around snapping picture I graciously excepted the FJ40's offer of a winch line, all it took was maybe a foot of assistance I WAS SO CLOSE!

My brakes were very squishy for a while after that one

Another shot of the mess just before airing back up. Luckily my wife was quick enough to get her window up but the rear passenger was halfway down so theres a bit of mud in the cab too


That was my first time needing to use the bow shackles and I have still yet to use my own winch. One thing at a time I guess.


Immediately after getting home I popped some trim pieces and pulled up the carpet for some air flow


We had an awesome time and will be back for more but man am I exhausted

 

Completely blew my mind. I thought it was a random washer or a quarter at first

 

All cleaned up again

 

Side note the cap on my rear driveshaft already yeeted itself, this time it didn't magically wind up in the E locker guard either but at least I was able to grease it

 

Lol

 

What's your reason from running a different weight oil?

 

Turbo

 

Trip looks great, awesome you got back again. Pics were sweet, thanks for sharing.

 

Quick little mod before heading down to Trail Hero
TEQ off road dash mount with the radio clip and the RAM quick grip make a great combo.


The radio clip notches needed to be like 1/16" wider (if even that much) for the clip to sit in place like it should so I had to take a file to it and that's a tad on the annoying side specifically since it's supposed to be designed for a Baofeng radio but oh well




Aluminum is easy to file and there's no worry about rust so no big deal. It fits like it should have been designed now

 

I guess I should probably post the few obligatory fall photos I took

It's officially pumpkin spice season





The mountain behind me in the last photo is something I see out my kitchen window most days.

 

Spent another day bouncing around Sand Mountain with a horde of Jeeps



The rock sliders came in handy today and sacrificed a bit of paint along the way.







Can you spot the taco?

Our trail guide for the day was in the beefy Ford Expedition with a bobbed back end. He's on Instagram as Geeks 4x4 and while he may be calling Washington state his home base I remembered him from my first semester at SUU about 10 years ago now crazy how small the world can be


The convoy had to take a small break to find a workaround for the massive wash that completely removed the trail from existence up ahead.



We weren't far from the Flintstone house me and @time623 stopped at a few weeks back and eventually made it to the same spot my truck stalled and didn't want to start again for almost 10 minutes so I needed a little redemption.

Redemption was had. The group stopped at the Flintstone house and I rushed straight to the front of the obstacle before they even started talking about it. I mean somebody had to show all these big jeeps the way up and my redemption was had (but of course I don't have photos only dash cam footage).
Half the group if not more decided not to try the obstacle and a couple gladiators made it look difficult even after I made the loop up and around it 3 times. Someone needs to swap out their rubber duckys for chickens I guess.

After that we headed towards the Top of the World for a second helping of redemption since I got stuck in the sand last time.

The second portion of redemption went down smoothly and I was the second person the attempt the steep sand hill. The trail guide took a bonus line up and told us to follow a different path and the first jeep to attempt the regular climb fell short by about 150 yards so I jump into the sand bowl and let the turbo eat to show them how it's done. Admittedly I was worried my skinny pizza cutting tires would leave me half way up like the jeep but I needed to pee and the bathroom was at the top so failure wasn't an option.


A couple people in our group are still visible at the bottom when I had finished with the outhouse, I say bottom but they had to drop into a big bowl from there and then begin the assent. We had one jeep trying to go into limp mode so they ended up turning back the way we came in with another 2 jeeps to insure they made it out safely.

That was definitely a harder way up than we took on my last trip towards the top of the world and I tried to explain the easier route to those reluctant to make the climb but aside from the 3 who turned back everyone eventually made it up, only one jeep needed a little tug and it wasn't even the jeep liberty.


Tomorrow's trail should be a bit more technical and challenging so hopefully the sliders are the only things to lose some paint along the way.

A small side note for the maybe 30 miles it took today my truck drank half of it's 18 gal tank. That loose sand and turbo combo eats into the MPG's like it's nobody's business.

 

After a few more fun days in Sand Hollow during Trail Hero I'm pretty exhausted but we had a lot of fun. There was a bit of a heat wave the entire time and the AC was struggling at times but we managed.
Both Wednesday and Thursday the truck ran non stop both to keep the fluids flowing through the turbo and to keep the cab cool for my passenger since he couldn't get out of the truck, wheelchairs don't do very well in the deep sand. My buddy is a real car guy and watches a lot of off road recovery videos on YouTube so he was excited to see some of the places from the videos and more so excited that we never needed such assistance

We couldn't get much of a view for the trail breaker event but binoculars were handy at least for as long as we could stand baking in the sun.

They sure do know how to put on a show but it's much easier to watch during W.E. Rock when they are in town.

There was handful of sweet Toyotas out there amongst the overwhelming amount of jeeps





There were a few more but I didn't get a lot of opportunities for photos.

 

Our trail ride on Friday was much quicker as a group of 5 vehicles instead of the previous party of 63 vehicles on Thursday's trail (it was two groups of 30 riding side by side to the same destination).

When we got to the staging location I quickly realized the trail guide was another person we've wheeled with, Dave, he was our guild on the trail when I tried to sink the truck in the Virgin River last month. At the end of that trail run we started talking about our Trail Hero plans and Dave was a bit sceptical with my trail choices for Little Red and was blaten enough to ask if I had ever even been wheeling on sand mountain. I'll just say there was some personality clash beyond more than the usual Jeep vs Toyota stuff but we weren't going to Let that slow us down.
During our drivers meeting for the Milts Mile Light trail run around 8:30 am he had already begun to rub me the wrong way, I'm not a morning person so that's not a difficult task but telling me what bypasses I would be required to take before I even got to see the obstacles wasn't helping.
We made it off the pavement and started heading up the trail right on schedule so props for that. The lead vehicle and tail gun had CB radios to communicate with each other and I was glad to only have a GMRS that day.

(Dave's Jeep was ahead a little ways out of the shot) the white jeep in front of me only had 20,000 miles on it so understandably they were the only vehicle to use a bypass that day.

The trail was enjoyable and our small group was keeping a quick pace. Upon arriving at the first main obstacle the trail guide asked us to come watch him climb it and wanted to make sure we all saw the hole in the middle we needed to avoid. As he went up I thought his front passenger tire was a bit close to the hole but I assumed he knew what he was doing and then he started turning to the drivers side a bit too soon and just like that the back passenger tire went right where he was telling us to avoid. The angle was steep and the hole was deep bringing his front drivers side tire way off the ground and very nearly flipped his jeep. The front end lifted so high gravity squirted windshield washer fluid out of the passenger side nosle making it look like the jeep was wetting itself. I couldn't help refrain from thanking him for showing us the line not to take. Unfortunately I didn't have my phone to get a photo since it was sitting perfectly secured in the RAM mount.

Eventually we snaked our way through the desert stands an rocks towards the main obstacle of out trail named Hard Left Turn and again the guide volunteered to go through first so we could see how it's done. Before he went through I took a good look and walked the obstacle already in disagreement with the line the guide was suggesting.

The ledge he's placed that drivers tire on seemed too early to me (especially with my smaller tires) and looked at the good way to bend a tie rod. Ironically he ended up sliding forward to the little divot in the rock that I had planned to put the drivers tire in from the beginning. It put quite a lot of pressure on the side wall of his drivers tire when it finally did start to climb and it pinched down hard enough that I could hear air hissing out for a breef moment.

He sure does now how to lift a tire that's for sure.
Next up was the yellow jeep and he spotted her through the same path he chose but those beefy tires climbed up quickly and she kept here foot down even while he was instructing her to slow down. Ironically her engine stalled at the same time he asked her to stop. Those big tires were helpful but really limited the turning radios creating their own difficulties but she still handled it quite well


After her the guy driving the white Jeep in the back of the Convoy pulled up and followed the same lane as the guide had instructed

I think he went up the smoothest out of the Jeeps. After he went up the trail guide pointed out the bypass for me and the other white jeep to go around but I had other plans. While the guild was distracted I lined myself up at the bottom where I wanted to with the drivers side tire right in the notch of the wall. As soon as I got to that point he came over and started telling me I was in way too deep and needed to back up about 2 feet and try again.
He told me he wasn't going to drag my truck back to the bottom of the hill when it brakes and then said I was going to need to winch out of there
All i could this was shut up and let me drive, I was right where I wanted to be.

Just a couple quick turns and I was on my way





I even managed to keep all 4 tires on the ground. I guess someone is going to have to think twice before telling me where I can't go.

A couple days later we went back out there without a convoy as part of the volunteer clean up crew and I got a couple pictures of the obstacle itself. The paint from my bumper was already gone from the other groups passing through in that 48 hour period

It was was very bright out there and pictures did turn out great but it's still a half decent reference

 

Saturday's group run was hardly a group at all with only 4 vehicles in total. We were headed up the West Rim Light trail through The Funnel and up The Stairs before going back through the Toll Booths and over to the outhouse.

It's a pretty easy trail and I had just been through there with @time623 (but in the opposite direction) so I wasn't really interested in talking photos and with just the 4 of us we were moving right along. While we waited by the outhouse I hinted towards the trail guide that The Hobbit House was just ahead and I was interested in swinging by that landmark since we were heading towards The Top Of The World the Hobbit House was hardly a detour and we found our selves there shortly but I had no interest in seeing if anyone was home instead I aimed straight for a bonus obstacle I really enjoyed the other day but this time there was a Jeep full of teenagers who all had recording devices at the ready

I've been referring to this obstacle as The Steep Toll ever since we stumbled across it. No cash or cards accepted here but it will let you through in exchange for a little paint. That tiny bit of shade was such a relief for the 5 minutes we spent letting the others inspect the Hobbit House before they gathering around to watch me climb and graciously offer their youthful video skills.

we've joked for years that if you ever need a photo taken ask a teenage girl because they always know how to work a camera.
for some reason I like this picture with the nose up in the air a lot (screen shot from a video my wife took)







I've got the videos put together on my Instagram if you want to hear the paint exchange being payed by the rock sliders but I forgot to get my receipt for this year's tax deductions so I may have to go through it again soon.
After that we headed towards the Top of the World but it was crowded and none of us cared for the obligatory photo with the signs so we headed for the smooth sandy roads leading us out to the water tower road.

I managed to get a couple pictures of some sweet rigs in the parking lot where we aired back up. Some may recognize the tow trucks for instance


I was particularly drawn towards this guy


After that we headed for some lunch at a delicious Thai food restaurant in Hurricane called the Mekong Kitchen for a very satisfying meal. We liked it so much we went back a couple days later to try it again

 

Our final day at Sand Hollow was much quieter since most of the crowds had already packed up and departed. We weren't there for a group trail ride this time but instead as volunteers to help with the clean up. When we got there they suggested the area around Razzle Dazzle hadn't been assigned to anyone so we headed that way. Razzle Dazzle was a fun trail with some pretty solid obstacles and I was happy to revisit a few of them. I chose to take Milts Mile Light up the mountain instead of fighting my way up hill through the deep sand, I know the truck can make it up but it generates a lot of heat in the transmission and engine so I'd rather not stress it.
Going up Milts Mile eventually put me back at Hard Left Turn, I was tempted but chose to play it safe and used the bypass since we were on our own.

Once passed Hard Left Turn we made an actual hard left towards the deep sands.

Cell phone pic above vs camera below.

We'd be dropping in and cutting across then climbing right back out of there but not before picking up pieces of sun rotted plastic bottles and snagging a few decent shots.


The temperature was about 2 degrees cooler than the past few days out there but it really felt much better and my AC didn't seem to be struggling as much. I think going at my own smooth pace was a benefit













If I had only parked 10ft closer this shot could have some real potential. This cottonwood tree was growing in a pretty cool fashion, I should have played around with it a little more but I didn't want to mess with editing out the used TP stashed underneath it.

OK that's the last of the photos I took while parked there.
With my cargo pockets packed with trash it was time to get back in and progress forward dropping in then climbing back out put us close to the Parade Deck at the top of The Fallen trail so we decided to checked that out since I didn't get the chance to see it while up there with my buddy earlier that week.
Stashed in the rocks were little tributes and trinkets beneath a flag pole surrounded by 5 benches, each dedicated to separate branches of the military.




I'm not sure how they intended to squeeze everyone from Thursdays trail ride in there for lunch and a concert, like most places it was better to visit without the crowd.

After a long moment of silence sitting on the bench in the center dedicated to the Marines with thoughts of my friends past I eventually went around and straightened a few of the trinkets in their designated cubbys to insure they appear a little more presentable for the next guy passing through.

Soon we were back in the truck heading towards the fun obstacles Razzle Dazzle has to offer while keeping our eyes peeled for the glint of beer cans and monsters left behind.


Picking up cans seemed to come with its own reward as not every piece of trash we stopped for ending up being trash

I guess I have a talent for finding misplaced pocket knives. The blades are always open too, luckily it didn't find a tire

We eventually found ourselves at the entrance to a few good obstacles on Razzle Dazzle that were calling my name so with a smile on my face I looked at my wife and she knew lunch would be delayed a little longer as I played in the rocks.

When we finally made it back to the parking lot we exchanged a couple banners and a stuffed bag of trash for a swag bag plus a case of monsters, not bad for a quiet afternoon playing in the sand.

 

My steering rack finally started to show some signs of age with the passenger side boot started rapidly disintegrating (its had a small hole since I got the truck) and the inner tie rod ends appear to have a bit of play now. To remody this I tried to order a replacement steering rack assembly but somehow managed to only order the rack

Clearly not what I was hoping for. After that showed up I was pretty worried I wouldn't be able to return it since it was a special order part so I thought I had made a $435 mistake. The next morning I got ahold of the dealership that sent it to me and explained the situation, they said if I drove the 250 miles to their location they would exchange it for me but they didn't have the rack assembly in stock so I'd have to wait for them to get one in before making the trip.

The replacement steering rack assembly was supposed to be there before Trail Hero started but that didn't happen so I abused my old one all that week to make sure I could send it off properly and it held up just fine aside from a bit of squeaking.
Finally on Thursday morning they let me know the rack was waiting for me so I let the wife know I'd be gone when she got home but should possibly be back in time for dinner if the 500 mile trip went according to plan... It did not

I arrived at the dealership around 3:30pm and immediately after that the parts depot guys were no longer sure if they could make the exchange because it was a specialty order even though we had already gone over this a few weeks ago. I was about to start getting upset since I'd be adding an additional $150 in gas money to the prior mistake and if still need to buy a new rack on top of that but thankfully someone else stepped in and did some computer magic to make things happen and the original rack price of $435 was refunded. Then they brought out a remanufactured steering rack listed at $575 plus a core charge, I was about to pay that price but again someone else stepped in and waved the core charge then discounted the steering rack an additional $135 bringing my total to just $5 more than what my previous refund was and on my way out I snagged a couple complementary beverages to offset the price all together so I'm happy with how the negotiations ended.


But that's not what lead me to miss my dinner deadline, since I was in the area I reached out to a friend from our trip into Colorado early this year to drop off a small gift, he mentioned Racing Anxiety should be having their weekly group meet that I'd never be able to attend due to the distance until now and that's when the next curve ball came in. Since I was available they decided to do a quick trail run with two other vehicles from the Colorado trip (one of which i had just bumped into during Trail Hero) so dinner would have to wait and the quick 500 mile round trip was getting longer.
I contemplated bringing my camera before leaving the house that morning since I was heading further north on a night the Aurora's might be visible but after convincing myself that it was highly unlikely I'd see them from inside the bright city lights and I'd most likely be home before sundown anyway I decided against it
I always seem to need a camera shortly after convincing myself I don't.
Thankfully camera phones are half decent because I had no idea what I was doing and still managed to get a couple shots of the northern lights from the spot we were airing down at.



It's nothing fancy but it sure was awesome to see for a couple minutes before heading further off the pavement on one of the dustiest roads I've ever gone down. I was really wishing I had a functional snorkel that night at one point I hit the shoulder of the dirt road and it kicked up so much powdered clay dust in front of me that it blacked out my passenger headlight and the diode dynamics SS3 fog light. The people camping just off the road were probably regretting their location. It wasn't all dust either at some point we crossed a small mud hole that devoured my tires and left it's sticky fingers all over the undercarriage.




But there was no rest for the wicked (except for when they need to manually engage hubs in the middle of a mud hole (dang shaky picture)

It's hard to see but he was crawling on the window ledge to avoid the mud.

Eventually we made it back to pavement and aired back up

my EZ Flate compressor sitting on the garage counter was of no help, it was left behind like my camera on the shelf deemed unnecessary for the quick road trip. My "dinner deadline" almost became breakfast as I rolled back into my garage shortly after 3am.

 

Another Oil change in the books at 341,700miles

Mobile 1 euro spec full synthetic 0w-40 with 16oz of MotorKote, a Toyota YZZD3 filter and a new magnetic drain plug.


I will say it's annoying to remove the skid plates to get the job done but they are in need of a good cleaning anyway.

I also sent another sample off to Blackstone to see how the oil is trending. I went closer to 4,200 miles between changing it this time and there were a lot of hard dirt miles this go around so I'm interested to see what the report has to say.