Cincinnati Area Thread (Tri-State, Ohio/Kentucky/Indiana)

Welcome new folks!

 

I have done some mods, they're all cosmetic, but they're still mods. The wife isn't convinced I need a lift, or skid plates, or a snorkel or armor. Though I have made a good case for getting a full ARB front bumper, to fend off the deer of course. I do plan on getting some bigger tires though.

 

You could drive through a wall with the third gen arb bumper. That thing is massive

 

I know. I am hoping to use the bumper to convince the wife I need Bilstien 6112's and OME coils. We'll see though.

 

Good to see new guys in here. My stock 3rd Gen did fine at Rush so don't be afraid to learn what your stock truck can do.

Saying that, I need to get out with this crew more often. The Gorge is on my list!

 

May be interested. My pass will still be good, so there's that....Nothing like saving $40. After 6 visit's, I'm getting better at finding my way, but still get turned around at times. We found a new (to us) navigable red trail last weekend. It added some degree of difficulty to the usual route, as well as just something different. Also, try "Fish Fossil" (Class 3 Red) if you go. Very near Lower Rock Garden. Slander made it MOST of the way. If it wasn't soggy wet and raining, he would have made it all the way through. Trail 12 is now virtually an interstate....I think you could drive 3 vehicles wide through most of it. They've bought a couple new 'dozer's and apparently USED them. "Titan Trail" is now plainly marked as "not a trail" and orange snow fence blocks the way....So....

I'd go again just to talk with "Mr Personality" at the office. We all had to endure a 30 minute speech as we checked in, as to why he should beat his teen age daughter on a regular basis. If he starts off by asking you "Do you have kids"....do yourself a GIANT favor and say no....


BTW....For the new guys.....First, HOWDY!, Then, Black Mountain has as much to offer for stock and mildly modded vehicles (on green and blue trails) as any place you'll find. 90% of the tough stuff (Class 3 and above) are USUALLY side trails off the green/blue. That gives you the option of going around anything that you don't feel comfortable with. The sheer volume of mileage of easy trails will keep you busy and you can watch the more extreme guys on the tougher terrain. Short of getting high centered on rocks, there isn't a lot to get you stuck...Rock base trails....limited mud. There IS a lot of water holes, albeit not deep.

Take your own firewood. It's scarce. None available within reasonable driving distance of the park. (At bare minimum, have a chain saw handy)

 

Hey man it's a Harlan tradition, you have to talk to that guy and listen to some stories

 

His brother is there sometimes....You can't hardly get him to speak.

Sandy is STILL talking about your truck. She want's me to do to ours what you've done with yours.

 

Lay it on its side twice and smash it into a bunch if trees?

 

Oh...

I THINK she was talking SAS/Crawler/37's....But there's that raisin skin sheet metal too I guess!

 

I'm pretty sure that's a one-of-a-kind, bespoke finish. It may not be available for your taco without a bunch of work.

 

Ahhh! Sounds like you got the green light to build a rock crawler!!

 

Got green light. Still waiting on greenbacks.

I've got a 90% done FJ40 sitting in the garage. She wanted it for a daily driver. If I had my way, it would be crawler-ized. Neat part about marriage....I seldom have my way even though I pay for it.

 

3° of caster is so nice! Drives like a Cadillac now!

 

No offoading, just go with Bilstein 5100's like everyone else. If you want a little smoother ride, replace the front coils with some OME or Eibachs coils. If you don't want to buy coils, just compress your stock coils to 1.5" up front to make it sit a little higher. Most people also just go with an add a leaf in the rear leaf pack to raise the rear. That should do you well for just some height and no offroading. Plus will only be a few hundos if you don't grab coils.


Buttttttt you won't be fitting 285's without some trimming.


Search around on peoples builds. More than enough info for different needs on here.

 

You shouldn't have to add anything else to that to effect ride comfort.

There is also a tire size calculator somewhere on the forum that will help you. I would also imagine that Headstrong Offroad would be able to tell you what tires size would work best.

 

Sounds very similar to my build. I started with 5100s on the next to highest notch (1.75" maybe?). My center cap to fender was 21.25". I wanted a little more height so last week I replaced my OEM coils with OME 887 coils 1/4" taco lean spacer on the drivers side, and lowered the 5100s back to the lowest level. It now sits 22", so I gained 3/4".

I did some other things including LCA, SPC UCA, Cam Bolt Gussets, and swaybar delete. It now rides amazing! So much softer and no bump steer. I'm not sure how much of that is due to my caster change from the UCA, and how much of that is due to the 887 springs instead of my pre-loaded OEM springs.

 

If anyone hasnt voted for me in the calendar contest please do- with 1 day left I'm still in, but next person is now only 2 votes back.

If nothing else, do it so the whole calendar isn't just "Durr I drove to the desert and opened my RTT."

 

Dude post up some pics of this 40. I didn't know you had one. I love those

 

Only pics I have in the phone. My tent is thrown over it, still drying from last weekend. As soon as I get tires it can roll out of the garage. Waiting on seats at upholsterers now