Back to basics 2014 CCSB

And that's why I have leafs in the front older than I am and leafs out back not quite that old! Coilivers = corroded mess up here and that leads to me being pissed.

 

Ya, this was mostly just me sucking ass at proper prep and cleanup. Never really been to something Salty like this. Oh well. Lesson learned.

 

Took some time during my hangover for some little projects the other day. Installed 2.5deg rear shims to try to shake my driveline vibes, installed my extended brake lines, put on 1.25" wheel spacers for clearing the new rear shocks, checked around for my front end clunk, and did an oil change. Shims did nothing for the vibes, brake lines were a royal PITA and are not quite kosher but should work, and can't find the clunk, but saw lots of dented things. Picked up a mid skid off someone here in prep for getting a front pelfrey skid, so that should help. Still searching for answers on my driveline vibes. Planning on another little trip this weekend that should be a fun one for getting out and going camping. Need an alignment, my front end is feathering the tires pretty good.

 

My alignment shop sucks. Took 3 hours to do it early in the morning, got my interior greasy, but seemed to have done the job...except now my traction control light is on and won't go off. Looked up the computer reset deal on it but I havent gotten around to trying it. Vibes are still there so I decided to try making some simple spacers. I had the perfect sized pieces of 1/4" plate so I cut and drilled 2, added a washer each to make it about 3/8" and put them in. While I was down there, noticed that my carrier bearing looks a little worse for wear already, at 40k miles... Spacers have helped, but looks like I may need a new carrier bearing... Debating the wookie strength mod pillow block. We'll see. Didn't get out last weekend, but looking to make a little trip to Big Bear this weekend.

 

Fun time this weekend bombing dirt roads in the rain and exploring Big Bear. Went with my personal installer/tuner/parts pusher from AccuTune Andrew, who brought their JK on 40s. We ran Gold Mountain and explored some other areas, started on John Bull and cut out before the real stuff. Waiting on my front Pelfrey skid I just ordered before getting too rowdy. Went pretty well, only a few bumps and thuds getting through the trails. Having some droop is nice in back, plus the new tunes feel even better: More balanced front to rear, soaks up double bumps better than before, etc. They're buddies of mine, but i'm still a happy, paying customer of AccuTune who can't speak enough about their tuning on shocks. My truck gets better and better every time they tune it. Andrew wants to dial back the flutter stack a little to handle small chop better, while still keeping good bottoming resistance, and allowing full use of the DSC adjusters by making it soft for unloaded trips when dialed fully open, and then dialing up those shiny, pricey DSC knobs when I load the bed.

 

I have zero use for Accutune since I'm a knuckle dragger with leafs, but I did buy my air bumps from then specifically because of all the free tech they dish out!

 

They tune solid axle rigs as well, but only on the rebuildable shocks. They have a ton of data points from different vehicles to help nail down a decent tune out of the box. If you're in the market for shocks, or just wanna go fast, check em out. We all started on beat toyotas on leaf springs, so they know the market

 

The only time my truck goes fast is on the highway to the trail! If I ever did buy coilovers it would be from them for sure!

 

Curious what the total offset is to clear the 2.5”s? Or tire/ wheel specs. Spacers? If bought again would you still get the dsc. the kings are a lot cheaper but i hear good things about the fox’s. Anyway truck looks great thanks

 

From what I gather my rims are 4.5" BS, 0 offset, and I got 1.25" spacers. I havent taken the thing out near enough since I used them to test the clearance or load capacity/shock adjustability with the DSCs but I feel like they're even more important in the rear than the front I also have. Front was noticeable for moving from street driving to hitting the dunes, rear would be great for changing from unloaded to loaded up. I also just don't like Kings. I've seen enough QC/design/tuneability issues with them from my friends at AccuTune to steer clear from the hype machine King builds it's brand on. Consumer shocks and pro shocks are different animals with them.

 

I hear ya i went from fox emulsion coilovers to kings with adjusters and thought they’d be night and day better but wasn’t that impressed. Didn’t feel like an improvement. Thanks for the info i may send the coilovers in to AccuTune for them to play with when i get fox rear shocks. The kings are quite a bit cheaper but i think you’re right they’re worth it. Dig the truck man!

 

Accutune did some tech articles on the difference between the two adjusters. I forget the real nitty gritty, but the king ones had minimal effect compared tot he fox, I believe. Fox also sells some shocks with just the compression adjustment I think. Thanks for the props, i'm enjoying it, but just not enough. Once it cools down I aim to be out much more often. This year has been more for plane trips around the country/world. Next year will likely be more truck trips.

http://accutuneoffroad.com/articles/how-king-compression-adjusters-work/

http://accutuneoffroad.com/articles/how-fox-dsc-dual-speed-compression-adjusters-work/

 

Since last update, I sold my crawler to an Ultra4 driver wanting a trail rig, bought a skid on July 5th and got pelfried on it, bought a BAMF skid from @JLee and had it at my door in 3 days, powdercaoted and everything. This thing is super beef and well made, thanks again! Brakes were toast so I put some new pads and dimpled/slotted rotors from brakeperformance.com, my go-to spot for brakes. Installed the skid and brakes today and test fit the pelfrey mid skid I bought awhile ago off someone. Debating running it or selling it...

Looking forward to the big bear trip this weekend!

 

Great trip up to Big Bear for the SoCal family reunion trip. Ran Gold Mountain with @dwphoto @CaliRaisedLed @MojaveMadman @MSN88longbed and @Taco TRQ. Ended up taking Wildhorse Meadows Road back to camp, which was a lot of fun until John got a flat.

Had a blast, no issues, skid was nice to have, less pinging the old one on stuff. No real problems, just a good weekend playing around in the dirt.

 

I've struggled with finding a decent way to mount my giant 20lb C02 tank, and had an idea that required just the right size of pipe. I ended up getting a perfect piece of pipe from my Father in Law (please, hold the jokes) and got to work. Welded a plate to the bottom and some little d rings to the sides, drilled 2 holes in the bottom and rattlecanned it. The single bed mount bolt i used was easily leveraged by the tall tank, so I decided to drill a hole in the composite bed and add a second point of attachment, which made it rock solid. Add a shorty ratchet strap and it's good to go. Easily installed or removed, and securely holds the tank more or less out of the way, and in a place my air hose can reach anywhere on the truck.

Also, found a bit of scuffing on the gas tank from the leaf spring retainer bolt, so I need to flip that asap

 

Did a little impromptu trip exploring Anza Borrego, Truckhaven, etc areas in East SD county. Made a spot in Sheep Canyon outside Borrego Springs, surrounded by SD bros, lots of full kit Instalanders and some Winnebago hippies. Fun little trip though.

AccuTune used my truck as a test bed for some new tunes a few weeks ago, since the mall crawlers are complaining the tunes are too stiff. I must go too hard in the paint, because I thought stuff was just fine before. Now the base stuff is caddy soft, which is nice, so I cranked the DSCs a little to make up for the few hundred pounds of gear and firewood we threw in the bed and it was dialed. Bombed all over the desert loaded up without ever hitting the bumpstops hard. Dialed them back out once we dropped our payload from the beer and firewood consumption the night before. Love my bed lights for camping.

 

Looks like a good one... I wanna make it out to Anza at some point soon.

 

It was cool, but I'm not itching to go back to the trails I did any time soon. Some ok scenery, but just kinda boring...

 

@*TRD* Hit me up to run some trails in Big Bear this past Sunday so I get the green light to leave the wife at home and picked up another buddy who manned the camera and we shot up there and decided to run Holcomb Creek. Definitely not just a walk in the park, but only had to stack rocks once. Used the sliders plenty though.

Really dig the new tunes on the truck, and the DSC adjusters on my shocks give them a really nice usable range. Time to install that mid skid and chop the end of my exhaust off.

 

Went out to JV for a night to hang with a friend and observe the Sh!tshow it's become. Cruised out to the mineshaft and back, twice (buddy dropped his keys at the mine...). My C02 mount ended up flopping around a lot because it's loose enough to have a bit of play in choppy stuff so when I got home, I added a 1/2" cinch bolt, we'll see if it starts wrecking the bottle on the next trip.