My first 4x4 trip... | Ford Explorer Forums

  • Register Today It's free!

My first 4x4 trip...

stopandstare

Well-Known Member
Joined
June 26, 2008
Messages
108
Reaction score
0
City, State
Washington State
Year, Model & Trim Level
'99 XLT SOHC 4WD
After driving lots of Hondas I decided to get a truck. Something I could haul work equipment and friends in. I fell in love with a '99 Explorer XLT with 65k miles on it. $6500 later I had my first 4WD vehicle.
l_be52232a8bf767e1fd516bf7d3bc513b.png

^^My Explorer on the lot ^^


Last weekend I went camping in Tahuya, WA, and discovered how awesome Explorers are for camping trips:
l_17fa142d0b1382d9180f56d295c3794b.png

Note: I removed the running boards because I think it looks more 'aggressive' without them.

While I was in Tahuya I met some guys that were going to go out and find some mud to play in. I thought, hey, that sounds fun. The leader of the pack was driving this Jimmy with 35" tires:
l_36180b09db2af233f2a75078caa98a1c.png


So we get out there, and I beat my poor Explorer to hell (anyone know a good way to get brush scratches out? Holy crap!) We dont find any mud, and on the way back we run into a series of small mounds in the road, which from the side would look like: -----\_/\_/\_/-------
I nose into the first, and start to come up.....and stuck. I had high centered the truck from bumper to bumper. It was late at night, so I didn't take any pics, but I made this illustration in MS Paint:
l_fe4f8526e5150b9f197ce5b40ce019dd.png


Me and the driver of the Jimmy spent a good amount of time jamming rocks & logs under the tires, trying to gain some traction/lift. We got the jack out to lift one side (to put more weight on the opposite tire) and about that time he says to me: "I thought you said you had four wheel drive?" I tell him I do. He then asks me why my front tires aren't spinning. Oh frick.

Last week I made this little modification:
l_cb18f11599baa11e04ebb5d2ce8bdc86.png

^^That would be the brown wire mod, which disables the TCCC, making the X 2WD

One flip of a switch and I crawled out of that stuck like it never happened. Though I felt like a dork and had a lot of explaining to do...:p:

I'm loving my Explorer, and this forum has been a great resource!
 



Join the Elite Explorers for $20 each year or try it out for $5 a month.

Elite Explorer members see no advertisements, no banner ads, no double underlined links,.
Add an avatar, upload photo attachments, and more!
.





DOH!


The only place you should have trouble with at Tahuya is the rock piles. Time for TT and shackles:D
 






We actually never made it to the 4x4 park, couldn't find an entrance...The only spot I found had huge rocks that made it impassable to a truck. I guess I need to find someone that knows the park to lead me in.

The road we were on was some DNR road out by Hobhias Campground. The TT and shackles are definatly on the TODO. Once I sell my Honda I'll be getting 31's too.
 






welcome and nice x u got there
 






I'm not sure where you camped but it always pays to have a map.

we camped at Effeindahl pass.
 

Attachments

  • Tahuya map_Page_1-1.jpg
    Tahuya map_Page_1-1.jpg
    135.1 KB · Views: 107






welcome and nice x u got there

seriously Sam is this just always on your clip board waiting to be pasted into a thread???????
 






I'm not sure where you camped but it always pays to have a map.

we camped at Effeindahl pass.

The access point on Effeindahl pass was WAY too rugged for my x, huge boulders blocked the path. It looks like I should have tried to get on via Sparr road? Maybe next month I'll make another attempt. For now I've got to wash my x and pray all the brush scratches buff out....:eek:
 






No way. That IS the access to the 4x4 trails.

If you're buffing out the cascade pinstriping, stick to the road. Not trying to be mean but you can't go offroad without scratches here in the NW.
 






Fair enough, but cascade pinstriping? LOL
 


















Featured Content

Back
Top