Here are my pics...
Well guys, got home yesterday in one piece from Truckhaven. What did we have? Something like 30 vehicles and close to 50 people show up? Thanks to Rick and Char for inviting us along for the fun.
The good news is that everyone had a blast. Christina and I caravanned out with Tim and Julie. Tim did great on the trails and I know he had a fantastic time. We also had the opportunity to wheel with an excellent and experienced group of people. I can't wait for the Arizona run next month to go wheeling with you guys again.
The bad news is that I broke the truck within the first 30 minutes of wheeling. I decided to go out with the "Big Dawg" group on the traditional night run and the truck was doing great. I subjected the suspension to its most work yet and the Deavers continue to amaze me with how awesome they are. We were in canyons and washes only about a foot wider than the truck (one of those mirrors folded in affairs) with an enourmous amount of suspension flexing terrain. I definately need to trim the gas tank skid plate because the driveshaft has now been polished by it.
Also this was enough to bend the upper differential bracket (frame flex?) and cause the diff to drop down and clearance the collar on the lower subframe. This caused quite a bit of noise until all the metal was worn away.
Limping back to camp, I parked the truck for the night. Saturday morning I made the executive decision to hit the trails witht he easy group to see how the truck would hold up. We were doing great (with only the occasional front driveshaft noise) until I noticed that the driver's side frot axle popped out of it's front seat and started leaking diff fluid. Once again we limped back to camp. I got the axle fixed later that evening and took Jim (Buckin' Bronco II) out for a ride in my truck for a test run. Everything felt great until we flexed the truck for some pictures and I snapped the front CV again.
So, Jim and I limped it back to camp and with the help of Jeff (Jefe) and Winter we put a new axle (a used Jefe spare - THANKS JEFF!) back in. Having only one more spare left in camp, I decided to park the truck for the weekend, rather than to tempt fate.
However, the weekend was not a total loss. Once the Saturday night run came along, Jim asked me if I would like to co-pilot the Bronco with him.
"Hell Yes!" I thought...
Jim and I took off and I was having a blast riding in his Bronco II and learning about how it worked and the story behind it when Jim asked if I wanted to drive! After a millesecond of hesitation and confirming with him that he hadn't lost his insanity, I swapped seats with him. He told me that he wanted to get me trained in the Bronco for some possible future co-pilot duties.
All I have to say is the Buckin' Bronco is AWESOME! I had more fun than a person was allowed to have. We crawled our way over 75 degree inclines and down the other side witout a problem! At Jim's insistance, I took lines that I didn't even know existed. Jim would say, "drive down that." And I would. "Drive up that," and I would.
We crawled up this one "cliff" and the only thing you could see out of the windshield was the Moon (formerly straight above us). I told Jim that the moon sure looked cool. He replied, "It sure does , now keep crawling." Oh yeah.
Anyways, thanks a bunch for giving me the chance to drive the Bronco Jim. It really made my night. And hopefully I passed phase one of my driver's training!
Fortunately, we got home in one piece, and the truck even got 17.5 mpg on the way home. On the agenda for this week is another axle shaft and a trip to RCD to figure out what I broke/bent. I think the axles breaking are all part of the same problems. I'll let you guys know what i find out.
Here are some pics!
The morning driver's meeting...
Group 2 on the trail...
Go Tim!
Pre-breakage...
continued...
