[bzmarsh]

Anybody still interested?

I made a trip to visit friends in Cool (on Georgetown Road) this weekend. Lots of rigs going in...

[Billy D.]

bzmarsh, on 19 June 2010 - 09:12 PM, said:

Anybody still interested?

I made a trip to visit friends in Cool (on Georgetown Road) this weekend. Lots of rigs going in...

I am always interested but my finances have not changed and I don't think they will for a while
I also wanted to go to Pyramid lake next weekend and it looks like that may be out too

[fj40Tim]

bzmarsh, on 19 June 2010 - 09:12 PM, said:

Anybody still interested?

I made a trip to visit friends in Cool (on Georgetown Road) this weekend. Lots of rigs going in...

I would consider riding along, if someone had an extra seat, but I've been having too many issues lately to trust my cruiser on the 'con. I need to get the engine swap done, but don't see it happening soon.

[rsc71]

bzmarsh, on 19 June 2010 - 09:12 PM, said:

Anybody still interested?

I made a trip to visit friends in Cool (on Georgetown Road) this weekend. Lots of rigs going in...

looks like i am out,am going to be working out of town.I may try to go in Aug

[Storm]

I'm in!

[bzmarsh]

Cool, I'm almost done with my dual radiator setup, with the benefit of including a rack for dual batteries...but affording another Optima PLUS gas and prep for the run...owitch...I'm tryin'!

[bzmarsh]

Mapping...thru Susanville to Carson City to South Lake Tahoe:

Google Map #1

Same ol' same ol' to Pollock Pines and Icehouse Road:

Google Map #2

Both maps are +/- a few miles...preferred route? Votes?

[Billy D.]

bzmarsh, on 01 July 2010 - 07:32 AM, said:

Mapping...thru Susanville to Carson City to South Lake Tahoe:

Google Map #1

Same ol' same ol' to Pollock Pines and Icehouse Road:

Google Map #2

Both maps are +/- a few miles...preferred route? Votes?

The Trail start's or end's (depending on direction of travel) in Tahoma, Ca so you may want to check for directions to Tahoma.

[bzmarsh]

Looks like we're "on". Leaving Sunday 7/11/2010 as far as I know (communication, or rather planning and communicating plans, isn't our strong suit), going up Highway 70 by way of Graeagle:

Google map - looks like it'll be a real adventure just getting to the trail head!

FJ40Tim is riding with me. Storm's got a passenger this time, too.

I've got my second radiator in, partially tested. Burned my arm on the exhaust pipe. Need to wire the relay for the fans still. Got the two batteries. Got the half-doors on, new plywood (painted lovely satin green) for the bed, touched up the paint where Leroy picked up a bit of rash while daintily picking its way through the tulips last year. Thinking about getting a reman starter...then packing and shopping and packing some more...then gas gas and more gas and off to Red Bluff.

Storm says: "a front shock is bent, rear spring is bent, battery won't seem to hold a charge (2yrs old optima purchased on the way outa town to the rubicon if ya remember)., need a new belt to run the york ac (which has a summer wiring problem, some times it works, some times it don't). other than that I'm all set!"

What could possibly go wrong?

[rsc71]

that is an interesting way to get there for sure.good luck guys!!

[XLT]

A real nice ride (all 2 lane) take 89 from 36 just before Chester all the way to Truckee then to Kings Beach. Have a great trip whatever way you go.

[Billy D.]

Have a good trip and have fun man I wish I could go

[Storm]

what an awesome trip! sweeeeeeeet.
Leroy has some new battle damage and of course we worked on my rig every 1000ft.

[bzmarsh]

Back safely. I think everything met expectations - the route to Homewood was nice, much better than driving 99 or I-5 to 80 and up. The 'wheeling was awesome as usual. There's no letdown. As Storm put it, "You have to watch every rock." The carnage was minimal, just enough to keep it interesting. Camping was great, weather was great, company was as good as it gets. Burgers on the way home were good, and we're all home safely.

Pics are on the way...

Here are some teasers:

Click here for a Movie of Storm dropping down a shelf

Just puttin' along



Storm almost loses a mirror



An "Oh ####" moment: Storm loses a diff drain plug



Just before a dip in the creek

[rsc71]

how did the new cooling system work out?looks like a fun trip,wish i could of made it

[bzmarsh]

rsc71, on 15 July 2010 - 05:34 AM, said:

how did the new cooling system work out?looks like a fun trip,wish i could of made it

The 2nd radiator with fans, and the vented hood, worked out great. I hadn't tightened a hose clamp on the bottom port of the new radiator well enough, and it blew the hose clean off about 10 miles out of Red Bluff. There's a rubber adapter that goes from the 1-1/2" stainless steel hose to the 1-1/4" radiator port, and evidently you have to really crank the hose clamp down hard on the adapter - which I hadn't done. Once we refilled the system (including pushing a screwdriver down into the thermostat to hold it open while I filled the engine block hoping it wouldn't crack), it worked great. Pulling I-80 over Donner Summit it never broke 205 degrees, and on the trail the low-speed fan would turn on, cool a while, then turn off. VERY nice to have that peace of mind.

The hood vents worked out well; I don't have real data but it seems like they let the air flow quite nicely. They're just soffit vent covers from Ace Hardware, 4" x 16", but the two cutouts gave it almost 100 sq. in. of opening.

Like last year, we pretty much had the trail to ourselves. Never once got stopped by someone going our direction - everybody was going the other direction or just were out of our sequence.

Not to ruin the whole story, but the radiator hose fiasco was one incident. There were several highway stoppages while we waited for Storm's engine to cool off, once of which nearly terminated Tim when the overflow bottle blew its top and spewed in his face. We thought we'd have to put him out of his misery and leave the body in the ravine, but he was ok. Scared the #### out of all of us at the moment.

Then just a little bit into the trail from the Tahoe side I tore the top off a rear tire valve stem. Put on the spare tire and off we went. Going down Cadillac Hill in the gathering dusk, we discovered that neither rig had working headlights. I made out ok just using the single rock light in front. Storm's buddy Tony used the deer-killer 10-million candlepower searchlight to illuminate the trail, stars, treetops, our eyes...

Next day...hmm. Couple electric fan wiring problems? Storm's auxiliary radiator spritzer? It was fairly uneventful, just good wheelin'. Oh yeah, Storm tore the drain plug out of his front diff crossing a water hazard. He took a crazy line (one which Leroy would never have made because of the tight-turn exit) and ended up doing the "Austin Powers on a golf cart in a tunnel" thing. He finally exited the water hazard after scarin' the bejeezus out of Tony, and from the other side of the water I could see the gear oil coming out as he drove. After putting a new plug in (he had two spares!!) and refilling the diff we used two oil cleanup kits (all we had) and some sand on the rocks to clean it up and were on our way.

Got to watch a Scout-based buggy clear the Big Sluice which was a real treat. The buggy was way cool, rolling on 40+ IROKs with a Ford 460/C6 combo and NP203/205 doubler. The driver wasn't afraid to bang it around and apparently had a lot of confidence in its strength. After watching the performance, Storm was seriously considering trying it in his cruiser. I declined, and after some consideration Storm postponed it for another day.

That night we popped the bead on the tire with the torn-up valve stem (put it under the front bumper and put the high-lift on it, using the weight of the 454 to my advantage, for once). Tim had seen a valve stem replacement process, so the three of us (Tony observed) ganged up on it and finally wrestled the old one out and used the dish soap to slip the new one in. After a few false starts with the matches and carb cleaner, Storm and I got a good bead set (Tony and Tim observed and filmed for Funniest Home Videos $10,000 prize). BLAM sweet!

On the way out next day Storm noticed a new noise, so after investigation we saw his exhaust was rubbing the tire. Didn't used to do that, so more investigation...the left rear spring centering pin had sheared off, allowing the top leaf to slide backwards. We had a major operation going replacing the centering pin (again with the spare parts nobody but Storm hinks of) and were off again. Almost. At the same stop we discovered that 4 of the 6 bolts holding the cruiser's right front hub on were sheared off. Just 4. What the...unlock the hub and continue.

Made it to Wentworth Springs campground and licked our wounds and had a lovely afternoon with the campground to ourselves. I noticed that the rear springs' rear shackle hangers on Leroy had bent the frame up. Musta come down hard on them!

I got a fix-it ticket on I-80 for lack of mud flaps. Storm was genius in not stopping, else he'd have gotten the ticket too (the CHP Ocifer said so).

I'm hoping the other guys have better memories of the "incidents"...there are a lot of stories to fill in!

Thanks:

• Tim, for company, trip narration (knows everything about north state road projects), gas money, coffee, Coors at the camp, GPS services, skeeter bait services, and bear intimidation (read: snoring) services.
• Storm, for company, stories, world-class spotting on the trail, line-choosing ("I agree with Storm's line." "I disagree with Storm's line. Oops! Ouch!"), lunch at the Round-up Cafe in Sierraville, and more...(Storm's wife for providing enough vittles for a platoon - thanks, Denise! )
• Tony, for company, humor, cooking services (Mmmm! Fried Spam!), fire awareness ("You're on fire. You're on FIRE. YOU ARE ON FIRE!"), and ice cream at the Round-up Cafe.

[fj40Tim]

bzmarsh, on 15 July 2010 - 08:04 AM, said:

The 2nd radiator with fans, and the vented hood, worked out great. I hadn't tightened a hose clamp on the bottom port of the new radiator well enough, and it blew the hose clean off about 10 miles out of Red Bluff. There's a rubber adapter that goes from the 1-1/2" stainless steel hose to the 1-1/4" radiator port, and evidently you have to really crank the hose clamp down hard on the adapter - which I hadn't done. Once we refilled the system (including pushing a screwdriver down into the thermostat to hold it open while I filled the engine block hoping it wouldn't crack), it worked great. Pulling I-80 over Donner Summit it never broke 205 degrees, and on the trail the low-speed fan would turn on, cool a while, then turn off. VERY nice to have that peace of mind.

The hood vents worked out well; I don't have real data but it seems like they let the air flow quite nicely. They're just soffit vent covers from Ace Hardware, 4" x 16", but the two cutouts gave it almost 100 sq. in. of opening.

Like last year, we pretty much had the trail to ourselves. Never once got stopped by someone going our direction - everybody was going the other direction or just were out of our sequence.

Not to ruin the whole story, but the radiator hose fiasco was one incident. There were several highway stoppages while we waited for Storm's engine to cool off, once of which nearly terminated Tim when the overflow bottle blew its top and spewed in his face. We thought we'd have to put him out of his misery and leave the body in the ravine, but he was ok. Scared the #### out of all of us at the moment.

Then just a little bit into the trail from the Tahoe side I tore the top off a rear tire valve stem. Put on the spare tire and off we went. Going down Cadillac Hill in the gathering dusk, we discovered that neither rig had working headlights. I made out ok just using the single rock light in front. Storm's buddy Tony used the deer-killer 10-million candlepower searchlight to illuminate the trail, stars, treetops, our eyes...

Next day...hmm. Couple electric fan wiring problems? Storm's auxiliary radiator spritzer? It was fairly uneventful, just good wheelin'. Oh yeah, Storm tore the drain plug out of his front diff crossing a water hazard. He took a crazy line (one which Leroy would never have made because of the tight-turn exit) and ended up doing the "Austin Powers on a golf cart in a tunnel" thing. He finally exited the water hazard after scarin' the bejeezus out of Tony, and from the other side of the water I could see the gear oil coming out as he drove. After putting a new plug in (he had two spares!!) and refilling the diff we used two oil cleanup kits (all we had) and some sand on the rocks to clean it up and were on our way.

Got to watch a Scout-based buggy clear the Big Sluice which was a real treat. The buggy was way cool, rolling on 40+ IROKs with a Ford 460/C6 combo and NP203/205 doubler. The driver wasn't afraid to bang it around and apparently had a lot of confidence in its strength. After watching the performance, Storm was seriously considering trying it in his cruiser. I declined, and after some consideration Storm postponed it for another day.

That night we popped the bead on the tire with the torn-up valve stem (put it under the front bumper and put the high-lift on it, using the weight of the 454 to my advantage, for once). Tim had seen a valve stem replacement process, so the three of us (Tony observed) ganged up on it and finally wrestled the old one out and used the dish soap to slip the new one in. After a few false starts with the matches and carb cleaner, Storm and I got a good bead set (Tony and Tim observed and filmed for Funniest Home Videos $10,000 prize). BLAM sweet!

On the way out next day Storm noticed a new noise, so after investigation we saw his exhaust was rubbing the tire. Didn't used to do that, so more investigation...the left rear spring centering pin had sheared off, allowing the top leaf to slide backwards. We had a major operation going replacing the centering pin (again with the spare parts nobody but Storm hinks of) and were off again. Almost. At the same stop we discovered that 4 of the 6 bolts holding the cruiser's right front hub on were sheared off. Just 4. What the...unlock the hub and continue.

Made it to Wentworth Springs campground and licked our wounds and had a lovely afternoon with the campground to ourselves. I noticed that the rear springs' rear shackle hangers on Leroy had bent the frame up. Musta come down hard on them!

I got a fix-it ticket on I-80 for lack of mud flaps. Storm was genius in not stopping, else he'd have gotten the ticket too (the CHP Ocifer said so).

I'm hoping the other guys have better memories of the "incidents"...there are a lot of stories to fill in!

Thanks:

• Tim, for company, trip narration (knows everything about north state road projects), gas money, coffee, Coors at the camp, GPS services, skeeter bait services, and bear intimidation (read: snoring) services.
• Storm, for company, stories, world-class spotting on the trail, line-choosing ("I agree with Storm's line." "I disagree with Storm's line. Oops! Ouch!"), lunch at the Round-up Cafe in Sierraville, and more...(Storm's wife for providing enough vittles for a platoon - thanks, Denise! )
• Tony, for company, humor, cooking services (Mmmm! Fried Spam!), fire awareness ("You're on fire. You're on FIRE. YOU ARE ON FIRE!"), and ice cream at the Round-up Cafe.

Great summary! Much better than I bored my wife with last night - I think she stopped listening when I told her about the boiling water in the face trick. She kept asking why I thought this was fun?
I had a great time - In many ways it's better than driving my own rig - nothing to worry about and I learned a lot from the pro's. Thanks for letting me ride along!
The only thing that would have made it better would be to watch you guys do more McGiver tricks repairing rigs on the trail - I know it's bad, but I was really hoping for more carnage - we had too much relaxation time - though you guys were very entertaining.
I'm trying to figure out how to download the pic's and post... it may be a few days.

[rsc71]

sounds like the breakage was less then last year looks like good times

[Billy D.]

reading this makes me depressed I couldn't go but I am gald you guys had a great time. Maybe I'll get to go next time.

[bzmarsh]

I'm waitin' for Storm to chime in. He may be out of town on a job...