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4WD Adventures
Art Eatman:
I've been playing in/with Toyota 4WD PUs since 1982. Meddling around down in my country means going over some really rough country--and occasionally some wet stuff.
It occurred to me that I have a sort of a record: I've crossed the Rio Grande when the water got above the headlights. Some years later, I crossed Terlingua Creek with water above the headlights. My buddy, watching and a tad nervous, said he wasn't sure I'd make it after the taillights went under. But, I did.
Anybody else have the occasional nervous moment?
Art
Guest:
I thought you were supposed to drive across / down the creek to wash the mud off ...
Gee, It was normal to go 4-wheeling for something to do. I mean one can watch TV to see critters and have the phone ring - or do as we did, have the red and blue lights interupt the live animal viewing at night.
I mean I shot moving targets with a shotgun...if'n you want to learn to shoot "moving" targets with a rifle, you gotta shoot stationary targets out of moving vehicle. For "safety reasons" - one needs a 4wd to get back in the woods to shoot guns....that "know target and what behind it" dealie....
Karman Gias are not 4wd. They will float you across the creek that rose a bit quick...the trick is to get a lot of speed, aim up creek and that way you only end up 6 blocks down the city park creek and can leave by driving thru the Pavillion - Well I figured the girl needed to actually understand what 'sealed bottom" meant...
Had a boss once buy a brand new Int'l Scout. He never licensed it or bought tags. It was for his "farm". Now he did immediatly have 4 helmets a 5 pt buckle system put inside, and roll cage built for it. His "farm" was a bit hilly and had some ponds fed by BIG creeks. He made sorghum molasses and some other clear stuff that went into mason jars...
Upon hiring, my first day at work involved keys to the farm, where the fishing gear was, and a tour of the property. Quickest distance b/t two points is a straight line...makes no never mind if there are trees, ditches, creeks...
"BANG" shotgun blast! "Momma is telling us supper is ready" ....we only rolled over once, and cleared some more a path he was working on. That Scout came to town twice a year to get tires, dents hammered out, and whatever else needed fixing...most often the roll cage and brush guards. The hash marks on the dash noted how many times it was rolled...
The mostest fun a fella can have is when a anal / retentive, OCB fella gets a new Ford Bronco that gets the tires Armor-Alled if the grass from the lawnmower blows on them. It is a sin to have a 4 wd that has never been off paved roads.
His wife was a country girl, hubby was told we needed to run down the road and pick up some 'mater. We didn't tell him we were going to the country, onto country roads....much less gravel,dirt and the muddy ones .... I was driving and knew the 'backway".
Picture a vanilla white Bronco arriving back home "finally" with the wifey laughing so hard she peed herself in the driveway, the Bronco was Chocolate Brown, even up on the roof top, huge clods of mud going "plop"..."plop" on this pristine driveway, only thing not muddy was the area on the windshield were the wipers were used....
Hubby didn't smoke, hubby liked fine wines....hubby literally fell out of the Bronco, smoking one of my smokes and drinking a warm Bud....he even kissed the ground.
All I did was go for 'maters...his wife wanted Arkansas Home Grown and I knew a place where to get 'em fresh off the vine....
He has this aversion to 'maters for some reason I hear...
*grin*
Still think the old 70's Broncos were better....
Sylvilagus Aquaticus:
Heehee!
My oldest's girlfriend just bought a nice '76 Bronco for a toy. It has a little lift kit on it, the requisite big tires and a new longblock, but it needed 'a little more'. Kid and I stuck headers, a new intake and a 4 barrel on the anemic little 302 last month and made a drastic improvement in it. They're off in the Sabine riverbottoms this weekend with it, so I'll probably have a good report by Monday for you.
Muddin' was one of the only one of the past-times we had in the Bottoms. One of my best friends got tired of breaking his Chevrolet 3/4 ton 4wd's so he bought a Land Cruiser, only to figure out that that big 6 cylinder engine was only good for keeping his wallet emptied out at the gas station and the parts catalogues, not getting across the swamp. After awhile, it was swapped out for a 350 Chevy, then when that proved insufficient, a more drastic transplant took place- 5 ton military axles and transfer case were hung underneath a substantial body and frame lift. When the 350 proved to be too limited, it was swapped for a 454. For seriously deep areas, modified military 5 ton hubs were welded into 72 inch tractor rims with chevron tread tires. It wasn't fast, but it sure was loud.
Late one rainy Easter weekend as the Sabine was rising quickly, he got a call from a guy who had managed to snag his new F250 over a stump along a pipeline right of way just before the water started coming in through the dash vents. The truck was still somewhat visible from the road as the owner had the good sense to leave the high beams on as he swam away and they made a decent navigation hazard beacon that could be seen for about a half mile. The Yota was brought out along with his 10 ton wrecker, the plan being to take the KW wrecker to a spot close enough for the Toyota to crawl the cable out to the now fully-submerged pickup, where the owner would voluntarily drop off into the cold water and attach the winch cable to the frame, which was well-lit by all the refracted headlamps. At that point, the KW winch truck would take up the slack and reel in the F250 like a largemouth bass on a frog lure.
In plan, anyway.
You get 5 guys in an old, loud, tall yet remarkably stable vehicle at 0300, 4 of them soaked to the skin and in coming off their ethanol very quicky and the prospects of going back over and into cold water loses its' appeal pretty soon. The Yota crawled loudly out over the right of way to the drowned Ford easily enough, but it took two of the frogman cowboys to find a suitable attachment point for the cable. Once it was hooked about an hour later, the radios crackled and the slack came out. Took some straining and the KW slid a bit in the mud, but it came out, all right...truck, mud, stump and all. Seems the divers had looped the cable around the stump and front axle as well.
Needless to say, the truck found its' way to the auction shortly. Someone got a heck of a deal on a low-mileage diesel F250 4wd that always had a funny smell to it. The Yota was driven sporadically after that, being only quasi-street legal, and it still exists, but never became 'competitive' on the 'professional mud-bog circuit' as its builder had hoped it would.
Regards,
Rabbit.
mtnbkr:
--- Quote ---Anybody else have the occasional nervous moment?The only time was when I drove my dad's 2wd Ford Ranger with street tires across a gravel bottomed and rain swollen creek with enough firewood in the bed to push the suspension down to the bumpstops. The water was above the bottom of the doors. I got stuck halfway across for about half a second, but gunning it got me moving again.
Chris
K Frame:
Back in 1992 I took a rented, brand new Mitsubishi Galant backroading on the NRA Whittington Center. The big nervous moment was crossing a dry wash. I was sure that I was going to get hung up on the frame and have to walk 5 miles back to the center to have someone with a truck pull my sorry butt out. Fortunately, I was wrong, and I didn't have to make the humiliation hike.
I guess the rental place never looked under the car when I returned it, as I never got a bill for anything. I know there were some interesting under carriage dents that weren't there before.
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