OC Mountain Trail Run

you're so jealous you didn't go wheeling today...

It was actually a lot of fun! Got to meet Kevin and his wife for their first time ever wheeling, and he made it up and over the Santa Ana Mountains without a single hiccup!

Weather was fantastic. Met up with Brad, Jay, Shane, and Kevin and just the 5 of us drove up. Went from about 11:00am to 5:00pm. Some of the bypasses we took were INSANELY challenging...enough to the point where none of us wanted to risk it and turned around. But some of the others going up were a blast.

Some pics.

 

Not really jelly of a fire road^

 

Cleghorn, Lytle, Bear...those are all fire roads. With bypasses.

Main Divide is a fire road with bypasses. When you gonna get that through you're head?

 

Had a blast. Was a pleasure meeting everyone and the wife had so much fun. Here are some photos below.

*edit* Phone was being weird, scroll down further to view a bulk of photos.

 

Sweet!

Yeah my phone was acting up a bit too today when I got home...must have been all the dust

 

There are like 20 more photos. Will upload later

 

Good times today everyone!

It was great meeting you Kevin, I wish I could have stayed longer. I could here Shane on the CB all the way down to the pavement and it sounded like you guys were getting into some mischief...haha!

Matt, Fish Creek Wash...let's do this again!

 

Set another trip up! I have been lurking on this one for months, ready to go. But of course, it was on a day I couldn't go.

 

That was pretty much precisely what the family wanted to do yesterday. Fun times! Wish Skyline was open

Chalk up another OC run where there are like two pics of my rig. Of course. Never get any good shots of me

I *WILL* conquer that Grand Canyon technical. Having looked it over, I know how to do it, have the right setup to do it, I just need fewer family members with me.

And Kevin- That was tons of fun having a first-timer come out. I couldn't think of a more perfect introduction to off-pavement driving than yesterday. Glad you and the wife had a blast. But beware: TacomaWorld is a trap. Before you know it, you'll be hearing the wife constantly complaining "Dude, it's a Brand. New. Truck. How much work are you planning on doing to a Brand. New. Truck.??!??" <--(ask me how I know)


Next one has to be more challenging. Like, LOTS more challenging. Johnson Valley, anyone? (Yes, kidding.........or am I??)

 

Man that looks like you all had a blast!
I really want to go to the next one.

 

I love this picture...

 

Wish you were able to come to the top with us man! Next time!

 

Found this today after Easter lunch.

Correct me if I am wrong, but it looks like the arm connecting to the torsion bar wasnt bolted on all the way? Because the arm is still in condition. The whole inside of my wheel well is shredded up though.

I am thinking this is due to a bad installation from the place I took it to get the lift installed?





What do i need to do to fix this? Still drives. Just clanging around =/ Should I take it back to the place in La Habra where I had the install done? Or take it somewhere else?

Thanks everyone.

 

Oh SNAP! Looks like your sway bar joint linkage came loose! I took my sway bar off months ago, and never looked back. Allows for more articulation of the front suspension, but it drives much more differently than when it's on.

If they removed that linkage to install the suspension, then I'd have them fix it. But be careful driving around like that. A loose linkage like that can bind up to your coils and cause some more damage. Try to drive slow and avoid bumps as much as possible. Any articulation of the suspension on the other side will push that sway bar up and down on this side, potentially causing some more damage or binding. Also, I'd make damn sure they look through the whole suspension and make sure it hasn't caused any other damage. That would be on them if it has.

Theoretically, they should just be able to put the linkage back together and fasten a nut on there to hold it in place, hopefully tightening it more this time. Never heard of this happening to a truck that hasn't opened that nut before.

 

That is the sway bar connecting bracket. Looks like the bolt fell off somewhere on the trail.
That bolt is not something that comes out on its own if it's torqued down correctly. It *is* a bolt that is often overlooked when re-tightening everything after suspension work is done. I couldn't think of any other explanation other than whoever had your front suspension apart forgot to torque it down properly when they were putting it back together.
If RTO was the one who did the work, then that's the first place I'd go to. They fucked up, and they need to do whatever it takes to fix everything, including thoroughly inspecting everything down there and replacing anything that is damaged *AT NO COST TO YOU*. -->MAKE SURE THEY USE ONLY FACTORY PARTS!!!<--
I suggest thoroughly inspecting every last crevice for damage before going, so that you know what's wrong before they do, and can verify it's all been fixed before they try to BS you. Make sure to check your CV boots: *any* damage to them will mean a blown boot very soon! Also check wiring (ABS), tubing (brake line), tire damage, anything soft (CV boots, bushings, etc.), anything that looks like it might be the slightest bit bent, and pay particular attention to anything that looks like it might have had constant, repeated impact due to suspension travel or wheel spin. Edit: Wait, you have 2wd- nevermind the CV boots.

 

Beat you to it!

Also, Kevin if I remember correctly, the sway bar, when loose, is very close to the shock body itself, just above the lower mount. Take a look at the 5100 and check for any signs of it being hit. If it has any damage, I wouldn't hesitate to have them replace the shock at their expense.

Also, what do you mean by "the whole inside of the wheel well is shredded up"? The tires rubbing on the plastic wheel well panels?

 

Nope. I copy/pasted mine from my PM reply to him. I didn't know he had posted here first.

 

Sorry was trying my best to explain what it looked like but was still in disbelief.

What I meant by shredded up is that it looks like the brake lines are mangled!

 

Where the arm has been hanging and banging around