I've washed mine 4 times now, disassimbling it more every time.
That mud is nasty. I think a couple moore times oughta do it.
Took a part the seats to clean them, think they will come back around.
The gauges are Ok if you don't mine looking through the fog.
Still want to drain all oils (there is like 20 quarts).

I did see that I bent a lower control arm, probably in the Frame Twister. Came out of it pretty hard.

I was the last to leave to the camp site, except for Toby, who stayed to 'wheel through the weekend! :eek:

Mar's going to get to the pictures. She's just catching up on some other stuff.

Funny you should ask....

I just spent the day washing the Cruiser. The stuff in Hollister is waaay different than what we have here at home, it's really sandy and rocky, and seems to leave a "film" on everything. Lots of silt. I can't seem to get the "film" off of anything in my engine bay.

Just to be safe, I wore gloves when I washed it, in case any of that poison Oak decided to hitch a ride home with me. :)

Haven't done much repair work on it yet (the straps and "driftwood" are still holding the tranny together :), and it still works!, although its leaking pretty badly ). I bent ALL the suspension links except one, so I will have to be replacing those too. The truck drives really funny now, it kind of hobbles along. We'd really get some points now for Ride and Drive!

Also sheared off the teflon sperator on the coilover on the passenger side (we did that in the Obstacle Course at the end.... somehow :D ) I popped the diff covers and they're fine, so are the hubs. Still have to rebuild the OBA system too, since the original one cratered on Monday, and I gave Toby back the one we hobbled together for the competition.

I have the new Tranny case coming in Monday, so I will likely drop the driveline tomorrow night and get it ready. Total damage was minimal in terms of cost, probably less than $500.00.

It should be ready to go by the weekend. My garage is a mess still, all the tools, spares and crap from the week are spread all over the place.

Tim

I washed my truck before I left since I had to spray the clutch out to drive it anyway. I have not even taken my truck off the trailer yet. I was so burnt out from working on it every single day before TTC, that I don't have any motivation to fix anything. I am going wheelin' this weekend so I have to fix a few things before then. Everyone wants to see my truck now because I'm the guy that went to the Top Truck Challenge. Now I feel like everyone will try to compete withme so they can say they out wheeled me.:rolleyes:

Oh, I'm also planning on building stronger lower bars. Anyone else doing this too?:D

Originally posted by mudtruck44

Oh, I'm also planning on building stronger lower bars. Anyone else doing this too?:D

What kind/size are you using now?

I run 1-3/4" x 1/4 wall 4130, but only on the lowers. They bend.

Think that 1-3/4 x 3/8 DOM would be stronger and cheaper though. :D

Did any of you guys pre-wax/treat the truck before hand?

I am just wondering cause I had only the front half of my truck painted and all nice and waxed and even southern clay would not stick but the other half which was in beat up old paint it stuck like glue. Likewise I cleaned and tireshined one tire as I had to take it off to replace the tube, when I went out next time all the mud just slid right off while the rest had pounds of it stuck to them. Now I tire shine everytime before I go through mud. I am sure for the extra edge (and easier clean up) someone had to think of something like that or better.

Ron

Originally posted by WOLF359
Just to be safe, I wore gloves when I washed it, in case any of that poison Oak decided to hitch a ride home with me. :)



Good thing... John is just getting a poison oak breakout on his leg. He's washing it now with Technu...:skull:

Evilfij, yes, we did wax the car (a few times) just before hand and it is cleaning up nicely (at least the exterior).

Toby still has the small tires on it and it's still full of mud. ANd he can clean it himself because i just now got rid of all the Poison Oak:flipoff2: :skull:

When I finally tried to get my truck off the trailer, it wouldn't turn over. We had to whack the starter and now it works fine. I guess that the tank trap water is pretty hard on stuff.

Truck was dirty 'til Saturday. Took the pressure washer to it for about an hour. Got enough of it off that I'm happy. Any of the rest, the brush around here can scrape off. No prob's with the interior, though. My carpet didn't even get wet, either in the mud pit or in the tank traps. (So much for deep water in the traps, eh John!)

Motor starts and runs okay. Glad that Andy washed out the alternator and starter right away. Gotta do a few minor tweaks, though. And I want to flush all the fluids too.

None of our crew has any any Poison Oak, not even Andy who was running my winch cable in the tank traps while in his shorts and T-shirt.

Gotta replace the rear torque arms before the truck is even drivable again. Debating over ditching the leafs and going link suspension F&R with air bags. That and a few other things (like hydro steering) and she'll be ready for the trails again. Too busy building axles, though, so that will have to wait for a while.

Body isn't that bad, but bad enough that I may just replace the tub. The cap bolts on just fine, but I can't get the tailgate to close now (think that rust was starting to take its toll). I'm gonna take off the cap again to see if I can get the tailgate to close before I got to that trouble, though.

--Rob

i did a bit more cleaning in the last couple days, and got the new Tranny case today. Also got the material for the new lower links. It's pretty beefy stuff, about .370 or so wall 2". I doubt during "normal" wheeling I'll bend links as much as I did at TTC, but it's always nice to have the beef.

Other than that, I need to do a bit of re-wiring and get the compressor fixed and it should be ready to go.

Tim.

Originally posted by JR


What kind/size are you using now?

I run 1-3/4" x 1/4 wall 4130, but only on the lowers. They bend.

Think that 1-3/4 x 3/8 DOM would be stronger and cheaper though. :D

why don't ypu build them to match the bending moment? That is what i am going to do one mine.

Originally posted by TRD


why don't ypu build them to match the bending moment? That is what i am going to do one mine.

Is this code for aluminum?

What I was using was actually fine until it was abused.

It depends on how high the links are, what the truck weighs and how it's abused, I suppose.

Originally posted by ryeguy
Body isn't that bad, but bad enough that I may just replace the tub. The cap bolts on just fine, but I can't get the tailgate to close now (think that rust was starting to take its toll). I'm gonna take off the cap again to see if I can get the tailgate to close before I got to that trouble, though.

--Rob

Sounds like a rotted out tailpan; after 2-3 years of my tailgate being essentially useless, I replaced the tailpan (mine was in 3 pieces) and the gate works like new. You can either buy them, or do like I did and just make one out of 2 x 3 tube.

Pete

Originally posted by JR


Is this code for aluminum?

What I was using was actually fine until it was abused.

It depends on how high the links are, what the truck weighs and how it's abused, I suppose.

no. I am saying make them in a long diamond shape. that way when they are supporting the weght of the rig they don't bend.

-- side view
/ \
/ \
/ \ ---
\ / MIDDLE 0 looking down it
\ / ---
\ /
--

Yea that'll work.

If using rod ends at both ends, it flip flops some.

Clearance is not as good, otherwise it's strong.:)

Bro,
I picked up a couple gallons of H.P. washer fluid. One's a soapy solution and the other's a degreaser. They're in the truck.
regards, as always, jefe

Originally posted by pcorssmit


Sounds like a rotted out tailpan; after 2-3 years of my tailgate being essentially useless, I replaced the tailpan (mine was in 3 pieces) and the gate works like new. You can either buy them, or do like I did and just make one out of 2 x 3 tube.

Pete

Hm. Maybe some spare angle iron will do the trick. I want to finish off my little tool box back there anyway. Want to build a "bed" in there that is level with the seat when it's folded down.

--Rob

There was a write up on CK5 about it from someone who made their own, including a couple diagrams. Mines not quite the same, but it works. Basically I have 2 x 3 x 1/4 thk rectangular tubing running from bed post to bed post, and on the from I welded up some plates (one top and one bottom) with a piece of pipe between them for the stock body bold to go through. IIRC, for the hinges I welded some 1/4 or 3/8" plate to the bottom (so it would line up properly), then drilled and tapped the holes. I also added some triagular gussets on the inside, going from the bed rails to the new tailpan, since I don't have the hard top on anymore. Really helped stiffen up the whole body, even though the floor wasn't even connected to it at first (rotted out). And since its tied to the frame through the rear body mounts, I plan to bring the rear legs of the cage down to it.

Pete

Well, I just got signed up with p.o.r. so lets see if I can do this right. Looks like this is the place to be, I see most of the tcc guys are talking here, so here I am. As far as the clean up goes, a lot of water, soap, scrubbing and help from friends and it's done. I was pretty suprised I didn't find much damage under all that mud. I forgot to turn off the fan before the first mud hole in tank trap and blew a fuse, one of my toggle switches quit working and the left front fender is a little bent but other than that it's ready to go. In fact it's on a trailer headed to the rubicon right now, I'm heading up tomorrow after work. I have a feeling there's gonna be a lot more damage from this weekend than at tcc.

Originally posted by mrtwstr
Well, I just got signed up with p.o.r. so lets see if I can do this right. Looks like this is the place to be, I see most of the tcc guys are talking here, so here I am. As far as the clean up goes, a lot of water, soap, scrubbing and help from friends and it's done. I was pretty suprised I didn't find much damage under all that mud. I forgot to turn off the fan before the first mud hole in tank trap and blew a fuse, one of my toggle switches quit working and the left front fender is a little bent but other than that it's ready to go. In fact it's on a trailer headed to the rubicon right now, I'm heading up tomorrow after work. I have a feeling there's gonna be a lot more damage from this weekend than at tcc.

Hey mrtwstr,

Welcome to the cruel world of POR. Glad you signed on, now we have 8 of the 10 (plus the other Toby, the alternate).

It was great to meet and compete with you in tcc.
You went from first alternate to fourth place, congratulations I think you made the biggest jump. What the fawk do the F.W. reading voters know anyway?:flipoff2: They all are looking for another "flexy van". I hope when we're up your way we can 'wheel sometime.:beer:

john

Hey John, great to hear from you. Tell Marilyn and Axle Jack we all said hi. Yeah I agree, it was awesome wheelin together. Everything about the tcc was awesome!!! Met some really cool people and got to see some awesome rigs in action. :smokin: I felt really lucky just to get to compete in TCC, then I saw the rigs I was gonna compete against and figured I was screwed. I figured I would be lucky to get 10th out of 10. Winding up in 4th was too cool. Hell yeah, if you ever get back up here give me a call and we will have some fun, I will do the same if I get down your way. www.lavenderbrothers.com

Cool that you are finally on POR Toby. Just wanted to say hi and that your run in the obstacle course kicked ass!

Ditto what Jesse said Toby.... that was some finesse driving in the Obstacle course. Welcome to PBB... newbie :flipoff2:

:D

Tim.

Thanks Tim and Jesse, great to hear from you guys. The obstical corse was a blast. I was really trying to capitalize where being the little guy was an advantage, gueas it payed off in that event.