Brookline New Hampshire run November 30th | Page 8 | Ford Explorer Forums - Serious Explorations

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Brookline New Hampshire run November 30th

OK Dudes... lets roll. I just finished installing my shackles, and I figure I'll crank the t-bars in the Wal-Mart parking lot before we head out, and bring them back down before the ride home for some extra height.

I've got the tools and some spare parts loaded up, but hopefully I won't need any. (Knock on wood)

I might disco the rear swaybar when we get there, but with only 235/75s, I want to leave it on for the trip up.

See ya'll at 10 with full tanks of gas.
 



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see you guys in the morning! im preparing for tomorrow now, by getting drunk in front of my computer. hangovers and four wheeling go hand in hand my friends. :rolleyes:
 






Originally posted by V8BoatBuilder
OK Dudes... lets roll. I just finished installing my shackles, and I figure I'll crank the t-bars in the Wal-Mart parking lot before we head out, and bring them back down before the ride home for some extra height.

I've got the tools and some spare parts loaded up, but hopefully I won't need any. (Knock on wood)

I might disco the rear swaybar when we get there, but with only 235/75s, I want to leave it on for the trip up.

See ya'll at 10 with full tanks of gas.

With all the stuff you want to do you better get there at 9 lol. Cranking the t-bars isn't that easy and neither is taking off the rear sway bar. I hope you have been lubing everything up for a couple days if you are going to do it.
 






See you all in 10 hrs :-D Can't wait... just heard there's a possibility of a lil' snow tonight!
 






Originally posted by Scormunch
See you all in 10 hrs :-D Can't wait... just heard there's a possibility of a lil' snow tonight!

just a lil'? we finished getting at least 4 inches earlier tonight. hopefully it'll still be there tmw that far south of me. for you guys that is. :p i'll be on nice smooth dry roads, in my non-broken ex. :p have fun guys!! :)
 






The best laid plans of mice and men......

Well, this morning we were all ready, we hooked up with Mike so we could follow him up to Brookline. Yesterday my brother had checked my brakes and everything.....or so he thought.

As we crossed into Massachussetts, I noticed that my truck was handling very badly, so I called my brother on his cell and told him and they both stopped. They thought that maybe that my front end was out of alignment and we decided to proceed. About 30 feet later I heard this loud noise in back, I look out my side view mirror to see that my rear tire had come off my truck and that I was on the brake drum. I saw sparks flying from the back of my truck as I pulled over to the side of the road, not far from where you get on to the Mass Pike. Apparently when my brother checked my brakes he didn't tighten the lug nuts enough when he put my tire back on. Well my back tire is who knows where on I-84 in Massachussetts, I had to be towed to a body shop in Sturbridge, where the truck still is, waiting for repairs tomorrow. It will need a new brake drum, shoes and a backplate. As far as the tire, my brother is having his spare put on it and it should be ready by tomorrow. When the tire flew off the truck it caused some damage to the plastic lining the wheel well, and I have a hole near my gas filler where it was starting to rust. I'll take a few pics of the body damage with my digital camera when I get the truck back home.

I was lucky that nothing worse than a little damage happened since there was a lot of traffic and anything could have happened (like getting hit by a tractor trailer), and I had my youngest in the truck with me. I was freaking on the inside but calm and cool outside.......at least until I got the truck stopped.

I'm surprised that there wasn't more damage as I was going 65 when it happened. If I didn't before, I now know that Ford isn't kidding when they say "Built Ford Tough" :)
 






ouch! what a bummer! i hope you make it next time. i'm planning to be there (whenever it happens). i hope everything works out for ya!!
 






We missed you! I was the only stocker there and barely survived :p

I'm going to start a new thread with pics and videos I hope... need someone to host them though :)
 












Originally posted by Scormunch
We missed you! I was the only stocker there and barely survived :p

Thanks, I will definitely make it up there sometime. But winter is coming and I get nervous driving on the road in the snow and ice, nevermind offroading :)
 






Sandy - Sorry to hear about the wheel falling off, thank God no one was hurt and you were able to pull the vehicle to the side of the road. The same thing happened to my Dad a few years ago - a gas station didn't put on the lugs tight enough and the wheel of his car flew off on the highway.

4 Wheeling today was amazing. First time I've done anything that intense with a vehicle. Although my truck was too stock, I still wouldn't have called the trails "easy." From what I've seen in terms of photos, these were good moderate ones with lots of rocks, plenty of mud, water crossings, gullies and places to test the strength of my skid plates. I dented one of my running boards a bit, and busted an auxilliary reverse light. I'm also getting a weird clunking from the suspention. Considering what I did to the truck, I'm thoroughly impressed with it. The AWD prefored great, the lack of low range was only a hindrence once. I just need more ground clearance!

I took a bunch of photos, but would love to get everyone elses. I have plenty of webspace to host them on.

I'll do a writeup about it soon - this trip was amazing. Thanks again to everyone involved!
 






Sandy, Sorry to hear about your trouble. Someone must be watching over you to have escaped without any injuries.

After talking with Fred & Todd Trail conditions change with the weather. Trails which were easy last week are challanging this week. I'm going to second V8BoatBuilder's comments on todays's run. I had a great time as did everyone else. I have a minor shackle lift and left my share of red (undercarriage) paint on various rocks. IMO going offroad is a big step up to the plate. Once you do it and take a few swings your confidence in your abilities and your X will be greatly increased.

I must say that V8BoatBuilder went the distance today. If my X was as clean as his I would be hesitant to push it the way he did.
 






Well, I suppose it was a good thing I didn't go. My dog died Sunday morning after being part of the family for over 10 years :( . All you dog lovers know what its like.
 






Originally posted by DEROCHA
Sandy, Sorry to hear about your trouble. Someone must be watching over you to have escaped without any injuries.

Thanks John, I thanked God as soon as I stopped my X on the side of the highway.........then I got hysterical while talking to my brother on the phone, all the while trying to calm my ten year old daughter. He had to go up the Mass Pike to find an exit to turn around to get to where they towed me. When I called Mike and told him, he was going to come back too, but he was farther up the highway than my brother and I told him to go and have a good time, and to let Fred know what happened.

The place I was towed to found all the pieces that needed to be replaced except for the backplate, which I completely destroyed, having driven my Explorer on the brake drum across two lanes and about 30 feet. The place called all of the used parts places and junkyards and no one had the backplate, it's not an item kept in stock, since it is virually never ordered. Because of that I have to wait until tomorrow or Wednesday to pick up my truck since they had to send away for it.
 






Well, my truck is home, a little worse for wear and costing $680 for parts, 6 hours of labor and towing charges. They had to remove the axle to get the backplate off!!

The guy asked if I wanted to have the damaged backplate and I told him I wanted to take a picture and post it on my forum. Mind you this pic isn't the greatest because I have a crappy little digital camera (going to get a better one when I have the money) but will give you an idea of the damage
 

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