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Full time wheeling & Travel

ridered3 said:
That looked rough. What route was that?
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It was the Russel Scenic Hwy, near the Chattahoochee National Forest. Honestly I should have known better but I couldn’t turn around once I realized I was on it, and by the time it got bad I was closer to the end than trying to turn around on an overlook pull off. I won’t make that mistake again.
 
TaltonOffRoad said:
It was the Russel Scenic Hwy, near the Chattahoochee National Forest. Honestly I should have known better but I couldn’t turn around once I realized I was on it, and by the time it got bad I was closer to the end than trying to turn around on an overlook pull off. I won’t make that mistake again.
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Gotcha. Scenic route are nice til you are 63’ and all that weight.

Just doing it for the Likes, Comments, Subscribers etc :lmao:
 
Today I drove into town today and when I got back I cut the truck off and check the fan at 190* and it spun very freely.
A buddy is shipping me one he had and removed cause it was too tight for his needs right to the campground and I will put it on before towing back to NC. I think between that and staying off of what is basically just like the Blue Ridge Parkway, I should be good. I have to drive down to Atlanta in a few days to meet with Partially Committed Racing so if it makes it here before then I could probably see a difference in the truck even without the camper but I'll know for sure when I head out of here.
 
TaltonOffRoad said:
Today I drove into town today and when I got back I cut the truck off and check the fan at 190* and it spun very freely.
A buddy is shipping me one he had and removed cause it was too tight for his needs right to the campground and I will put it on before towing back to NC. I think between that and staying off of what is basically just like the Blue Ridge Parkway, I should be good. I have to drive down to Atlanta in a few days to meet with Partially Committed Racing so if it makes it here before then I could probably see a difference in the truck even without the camper but I'll know for sure when I head out of here.
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That’s good on having a fan shipped and awesome on meeting with the Lee’s of PCR. They are good peoples.
 
I hit him up on facebook, he has a big group there too, and he mentioned he needs to get over here and up us all. so he is still kicking and getting things done. :beer:
 
Made it to Sand Hollow. I put a radiator in the truck while staying at a friends house in AZ. It made a difference, but only slowed down the heating up. When I left the Grand Canyon, I had to pull over once coming by the Hoover Dam. It was a pretty steep grade, several trucks were pulled over. It was also close to 100° outside.
Coming out of Vegas I was going up hill, slightly, for like 25 miles. It would slowly creep up to 230°ish and I’d cut the heat on which would make it stay there.

The crazy thing is, when the truck is that warm, and when it got to 240° near the Hoover Dam, I do not hear the fan. I feel like I should be able to hear the fan screaming, as if the fan itself is pulling me up the hill. I only hear it at cold start up and then never hear it again.
I’ve now put 3 clutches on this truck. If I replace it again I am putting an AC Delco clutch on it. I wish I could convert it to an electric clutch.

I’ve also accepted that I’m simply towing too much.

Anyways, here’s some pics of the adventure. In AZ I was hanging out with a guy with a pretty awesome YouTube channel, Wrecked Gear. We did some incredible wheeling, and I did things I didn’t even think was possible.
He will have a couple videos, one tomorrow, about our travels and us wheeling at Table Mesa.
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Also, had quite the close call in AZ. I almost lost the camper. The hitch had been down a little bit for a while, but it was braced really well and I was certain it was just that the mouth of the receiver had opened up a little. Well, when I got to Chino Valley after leaving Table Mesa I noticed it was wayyyy down. The camper was very low. After unhooking the camper I got my head up in there and noticed it was cracked. The diamond plate on the back was about all that was holding it on.
Bronson, from Wrecked Gear, had invited me to stay at their house for a week and that’s where I was when we noticed this. He made a call Monday morning and Southwest Krawlers in Chino Valley slid me right in for the emergency repair. They cut out the old hitch completely, and redid everything. It’s very beefy now with plenty of bracing. I am doing a video on this soon.
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And now I’m at Sand Hollow, where I’ll be for 2 months. Which we welcome after moving around so much over the last month, bouncing across the country. We are very happy with our campsite which is 15 minutes from the park.
I’ve went wheeling a couple times, very lightly since I’ve been alone.
Yesterday I went out by myself for a couple hours, just me and the dog. I spent more time out of the buggy than wheeling lol. It’s nice to have the time to explore and check things out. I went out to the West Rim and just walked around checking out all the amazing rock formations and sitting on the cliff enjoying the view looking over town.
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Also, one of the videos that I am the most excited about yet will be up Sunday. I did the interviews with Partially Committed Racing, Goforth Tire, and Cutler Fab. But by the time I filmed last with Cutler Fab, I have gotten a lot better at editing and I think this will be a very good video.
It's a little long, but the conversation and topics were flowing so well I didn't cut much out. I feel like it was all relevant stuff and shop talk that most wheeling guys would like to hear. A guy could even just let it play while driving and enjoy listening I think. We shall see. If no one else likes it, I sure did and will always be able to look back on it lol. Look for that this Sunday, as I'm finishing the final edit up this week!
 
TaltonOffRoad said:
Also, had quite the close call in AZ. I almost lost the camper. The hitch had been down a little bit for a while, but it was braced really well and I was certain it was just that the mouth of the receiver had opened up a little. Well, when I got to Chino Valley after leaving Table Mesa I noticed it was wayyyy down. The camper was very low. After unhooking the camper I got my head up in there and noticed it was cracked. The diamond plate on the back was about all that was holding it on.
Bronson, from Wrecked Gear, had invited me to stay at their house for a week and that’s where I was when we noticed this. He made a call Monday morning and Southwest Krawlers in Chino Valley slid me right in for the emergency repair. They cut out the old hitch completely, and redid everything. It’s very beefy now with plenty of bracing. I am doing a video on this soon.
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Holy chit, dude!:eek:


I'll be doing similar to what you're doing in about 3 years.
I'm taking notes of all of the realities doing this lifestyle.:beer:
 
TaltonOffRoad thanks for the update and glad you caught the hitch before it was too late! Sand Hollow (along with the travels in general) looks amazing!

What’s your overall combined weight of truck, buggy, and camper?

Do you think the GenY hitch played a role in the hitch issue or was the original hitch just a problem waiting to rear it’s head someday?
 
ridered3 said:
TaltonOffRoad thanks for the update and glad you caught the hitch before it was too late! Sand Hollow (along with the travels in general) looks amazing!

What’s your overall combined weight of truck, buggy, and camper?

Do you think the GenY hitch played a role in the hitch issue or was the original hitch just a problem waiting to rear it’s head someday?
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It was 32k and change.

It's not the hitches fault, but the leverage of how far it sticks out certainly played a role. But the fabricator that fixed it (Southwest Krawlers in Chino Valley, AZ) said that where it cracked there was a concentrated spot where a lot of heat was focused and no bracing.

I saw this for sale here in Hurricane, UT and I really want it. 14' bed and everything.
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TaltonOffRoad said:
It was 32k and change.

It's not the hitches fault, but the leverage of how far it sticks out certainly played a role. But the fabricator that fixed it (Southwest Krawlers in Chino Valley, AZ) said that where it cracked there was a concentrated spot where a lot of heat was focused and no bracing.

I saw this for sale here in Hurricane, UT and I really want it. 14' bed and everything.
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looks perfect. do it!

i might want your old truck.


32k, isn't too much. first a 5.4 and now a 6.2 f350 gasser trucks always loaded around 22-23k.... and peddle to the wood always. 70-80mph. never a single problem until , pop! the 5.4 made it till 275k mi. the current 6.2 has 4.30gears and 212k mi. and i expect many more out of it.
we do CA, ID, AZ, OR and UT a bit. travel times are in the 12-28hr range. of course there are 2-3 trips in the 4hr range at home WA. so far this year was glamis/ havasu for new years and we just got back from opening wkend at St Anthony's ID.
 
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TaltonOffRoad said:
It was 32k and change.

It's not the hitches fault, but the leverage of how far it sticks out certainly played a role. But the fabricator that fixed it (Southwest Krawlers in Chino Valley, AZ) said that where it cracked there was a concentrated spot where a lot of heat was focused and no bracing.

I saw this for sale here in Hurricane, UT and I really want it. 14' bed and everything.
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Thanks for the detailed response and was curious about leverage of that style hitch. I have no personal experience with the hitch and gross around 23k loaded so no experience with more weight either. So just curious really.

That white truck is a sharp setup (as if yours isn’t of course).
 
You may want to open up your fan clutch and add fluid. You can get several different viscosities from a toyota dealer.
 


Here is the Wrecked Gear video he did on my whole setup. He really shared a lot of helpful info with me, and was very encouraging and really pushing me to go after it with the YouTube thing. It has given me a steroid shot and I'm a lot more excited to get caught up on all my videos. Him among a handful or others have been very positive, telling me this could really go somewhere. I see it as just a hobby but I suppose the potential viewers could be quite large.
 
TaltonOffRoad said:


Here is the Wrecked Gear video he did on my whole setup. He really shared a lot of helpful info with me, and was very encouraging and really pushing me to go after it with the YouTube thing. It has given me a steroid shot and I'm a lot more excited to get caught up on all my videos. Him among a handful or others have been very positive, telling me this could really go somewhere. I see it as just a hobby but I suppose the potential viewers could be quite large.
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That’s great on some encouragement. All the big YouTube wheelers started out small just filming for a hobby.
 
TaltonOffRoad said:


Here is the Wrecked Gear video he did on my whole setup. He really shared a lot of helpful info with me, and was very encouraging and really pushing me to go after it with the YouTube thing. It has given me a steroid shot and I'm a lot more excited to get caught up on all my videos. Him among a handful or others have been very positive, telling me this could really go somewhere. I see it as just a hobby but I suppose the potential viewers could be quite large.
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i watched that vid this weekend, i like his site and glad you got to get on his show. too cool bud...
 
TaltonOffRoad I have really enjoyed the collaboration you have done with Jess and Bronson. Good to see you're still keeping the dream alive :beer: I can help get you in touch with some NM buggy guys if you end up making your way down here.


EDIT: I just watched your video with the XJ rolling on the Chute and thought you might hit up Pyleit for some wheeling. He seems to be pretty down to wheel with visitors and came across as a really cool guy the couple of minutes I spent talking with him on the trail at Trail Hero.
 
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