Inventive guys, the rest of their camper build is pretty sweet too. IIRC that was the build that convinced me a full kitchen was possible (not slide-out) in the back, and to ditch the built-in stove for separate single-burners I can place anywhere.
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Haha! Full circle! This whole time, I’ve been telling myself I want to do the single burner with the LPG hose like you do to preserve space. What a world.
234,250-something
- NEW TCASE GEARS
O. M. G. Game changer. Not as low as a Wrangler (70+:1), or even ol’ Rocinante (52.3:1 with them), but I’ll take the jump from, what, 27:1 to 43.2:1.
@humming we talked about this in Stormy’s thread last summer. Was only a pipe dream then, but wow. What a difference.
I learned I have to leave the trans in L or else it runs through first gear instantly, then second gear a second later. But left in low, well, I’ve never–ever–done anything like this before.
It was all I could think to do, absent any obstacles in the neighborhood.
Left in drive, I can do about 15mph at 2000rpm. Wow.
I am VERY happy with this.
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Wow, that is MAJORLY good crawl speed
Do you know what your low range reduction is, what your diff gears are, what your tire size is, and what your transmission’s first gear reduction is? I’m kinda dying to know your crawl ratio now…
I do, in fact! Ironically, all the numbers were in Stormy’s build thread until now. 
Am I missing something about tire size, though? I guess it would play a role (ha!), but I’m not sure. If it helps, I’m on well-used 31s.
I MISSED HAVING THESE GEARS.
Rocinante had these gears. When I told Toasty I was looking for an early Montero, he was excited to tell me John Hughes was selling one with “crawler gears” installed. He said it was a seriously good mod and I would love them. When I test drove the truck, John told me he was selling me the tcase and throwing in the truck for free. That’s how I sold the truck a couple years later. They were both right.
Rocinante was a 5-speed manual.
- 3.967 first gear
- 4.625 final
- 2.850 4L (48% reduction set from Mark’s Adapters)
- 52.290
Rocinante’s crawl ratio
Fezzik will be a little different because he’s an automatic, but man oh man do I want to get out and try these suckers. Might be sooner than later.
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Side note, they’re is a local guy with a solid axle swapped Amigo with double t cases that has a 211:1 crawl ratio. He’s @radmigo on Instagram. His rig is so awesome
That’s amazing. I’ve followed and reached out for the interview!
211:1 is amazing. Here’s what 580:1 looks like. (Triple-case Taco). Wow.
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That IS pretty freaking cool! Damn!
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Man, 580:1 you better hope your tire slips. I’d be scared at that point of twisting axles or driveshafts all the time. Your motor has A LOT of leverage at that point.
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At this point it’s just pulling the Earth towards itself. 
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234,419
- swapped SS18 lens
- installed window vents
My Diode Dynamics SS18 light bar has three, 6-inch sections. It can be changed up do whatever, but I had it setup with clear driving, flood, and driving lenses.
The lighting was awesome, but the flood lens turned every oncoming sign into a spotlight back right back at me. So I swapped it out for a wide lens more like a clear fog lens.
I ordered this before the Xmas trip but it was on backorder and didn’t ship in time. I’ll see about getting a picture at night soon.
Next, I installed a set of lexan window vent hoods or whatever they’re called. Looking forward to a rainy day to try them out.
Check out those wiper arms in need of painting!
Still lots to do on Fezzik. Timing belt is coming up next month imo.
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If you want to sand blast them before painting, swing by the shop. Should have my full size blaster in by the end of the week.
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236,029
- oil change
I do 5k intervals on my oil changes.
My last oil change was a couple nights before we left for Iowa City–back in December. We did 4,000 miles in the two weeks that followed. It took me me three months to do the next thousand.
And then I got busy, forgot, and went 1,000 miles over.
Lifter tick in full effect. Yay. Talking to Josh Mead about it a couple months ago, he suggested running 5W-30 instead of the 10W-30 Rotella I’ve run for years. Ironically, I switched to Rotella because it cleared up lifter tick.
You know, I love my skid plates–but I haaaaate removing ALL of them to do an oil change. And I REALLY hate it when they’re covered in oily filth.
I didn’t get any pictures–because it was a PITA dealing with the skid plates–but clearly my transmission pan is leaking. And has been for some time. The edges are crusted with muddy oil sludge.
But these pictures suggest the front axle might also need some new seals. That is, unless the oil pressure sending unit is leaking everywhere. I hope it’s the OPSU. I would hate to think something’s wrong with my new axle!
And here…
And. Here.
I expect to be scheduling the timing belt job in the morning. Before I take him in, I’m removing the front the skid plates, jacking up one side of the truck as high as I can get it, and pressure washing e v e r y t h i n g. I hope it turns out the leak isn’t the axle.
See also, the plate under the oil pan was coated in oily sludge–and I got 4.5 quarts of oil out of the drain pan. Seems weird to me that I could be losing that much oil but still get more than I’ve ever got out of the oil pan on a change.
#treadlightly
In other news, lots of wheeling pictures to follow. Despite my kvetching, I love my ADD armor and used it well yesterday on Turkey Creek between Sunset Point and Bumblebee.
Teaser…
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Fezzik is looking tough with that bumper and the fresh wrap.
Bummer about the leak(s). Hopefully not too bad to change the pan gasket and filter on the trans?
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OPSU can leak to Exxon Valdez levels.
Does it smell like gear oil?
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I think it might smell like gear oil but I didn’t think to sniff the paper towels I used to clean off the skid plates before they went on. I’ll be dropping them in the next couple days to pressure wash so we’ll see.
I’ll also order another OPSU this morning just in case. Cheap as they should be, it’s simple insurance and can’t hurt to replace either way.
Thanks gents.
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Okay. Picture dump from the Turkey Creek run on 4/4/21!
I was really looking forward to a chance to try out my new gears. Turkey Creek did not disappoint. All in all, it’s about a 20 mile trail—but it took us six+ hours to do it. Yeah, there were many stops, but only because it’s a bit bouncier than we expected.
First, Pixel “Night Sight” with colored flames. Man, I just love this shot.
Some trail shots. We should have known a trail crossing a creek back in the bush would be mostly rocky riverbed, but you live and you learn. (And you get shaken like that lady in Airplane! for six hours.)
Coming upon active mining operations and literal red tape, John went upstream to scout alternates. In the end, we went right across here, to the right of the tree with the red tape tied to it.
THIS IS WHY I BOUGHT A MONTERO.
P had a blast.
During a break under some giant cottonwood trees by the creek, I walked ahead to check out a big rock feature that looked like it could make for some good pictures. If we’d had more time, I could have stayed in this little valley for hours, trying different lines and stuff. Alas, we had to move on, so I dropped off the step below and smashed my rear bumper cap up.
A few minutes later, I crossed the stream and packed up my due-for-replacement-this-summer BFG ATs with super slick mud and couldn’t get up the bank on the other side. With no alternate route, I could have backed up and made a run for it, but decided to let the girls out and ride the strap up.
And John wanted to try out his new snatch strap, anyway. (Mine was buried under all my camping gear in the back because why would I need a strap on dirt roads? Assumption is the mother of all fuckups.
About halfway through the trail, we climbed out of the delightful, riparian riverbed, and up into the dusty mountains. Here’s one of those must-do climbs.
Here’s a video John took. He stopped recording to spot me through that bit. I made it.
“The Ledge”, as they call it, seems to be the most remarkable obstacle on the trail. It’s a narrow slot in the end of a ridge. It’s off-camber, with big, off-camber steps, and while you can’t really see it here, has a pretty gnarly dropoff on the outside.
You gotta keep your wheels close to the rock wall and take it nice and easy so as not to get tippy. If you get tippy and you’re lucky, you tip over into a 3-foot tall rock formation. If you’re not lucky, you do a slow rollover down into the creek.
My outer tailgate latch broke on me. I think just the little plastic doodad that clips the rod to the handle broke, but I had a zip tie on the handle when I realized this was a perfect job for a Titan Strap. new handle is already in-hand. Might install it this weekend.
We had lunch under more cottonwoods by a bend in the creek. I watched about a dozen Jeep and side-by-sides crawl up the other side with their lockers on. When John rolled out and took that line, too, I realized I was gonna have to take that line.
FEZZIK DID GREAT.
I spent a LOT of time in 4L on this trail. The new gears made a huge difference in slow speed control. It was tricky managing the gear changes in 4L, as they were pretty abrupt—even with an automatic—but I was getting the hang of it at the end.
Where I was stopping at the base of hills to grab L and lock the diff at first, toward the end, I was climbing hills in 2 to bring the revs (and torque) down to reduce wheel spin, switching the locker on and off as I was moving.
And when things flattened out between obstacles or hills, I let off the gas, let the truck coast to idle speed, then shifted into D and drove on. If we were doing 15mph at any point on this trail, we were hauling ass.
A F*cking Nightmare
V’s exact words.
V loved the riparian bits, but V gets car sick. Always has. We were both expecting a mostly dirt roads experience with a couple climbs and obstacles in between. If we had known this was going to be six hours of being tossed like a rag doll, she would not have gone.
By the time we crawled out of the valley, three hours in, V was fully sick and trying not to throw up. She thought she’d just get out and walk when things got that rough, but most things were that rough, it was pushing 100°F/38°C, and she’s recently been diagnosed with plantar fasciitis.
She has gotten over her fears of rollovers, body damage, and being stranded, but even Dramamine didn’t touch the nausea she had going on in the final hours. Imagine feeling like you’re gonna hurl and your only option is getting out and climbing a loose, rocky hill in the heat when every heel strike feels like a red hot nail being driven into your heel. (Did you see her and Penny and the dog walking behind Fezzik in the video up there?)
Yeah. I’m surprised we’re still married. She’s a trooper, though. After a very quiet drive home, we talked about what happened, what she’s up for in the future, and how we can factor her needs into our trip plans.
Not only did the crawler gears work a treat, my ADD armor really saved the day. Wait 'til you see the fresh scars on my skid plates. Wow. Pics to follow. For now, here’s some shots of tire damage. I sacrificed the tires on my side to keep her as close to an even, semi-shoulder ride as possible. All this damage is on my driver side tires.
The chassis took a beating on this trail. If I hadn’t had my armor, I would have destroyed my engine pretty quickly. Just look at some of these impacts at the frame level.
At one point, we hit something on the front of something else and it straight stopped us dead in our tracks. I don’t know what it was or where it hit, but there was a very large clump of mud on my passenger LCA where it mounts to the frame.
In the end, though, this was probably the most extreme off-roading I’ve ever done. I was in 4Llc most of the day. I had to use the locker dozens of times. And I had to get pulled over an obstacle to continue. V will never do anything like this again, at least, not for this long—but I will.
I might even see when the other Monteros are doing the Rubicon. Maybe I throw sliders on there and go.
Fezzik can handle it now.
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Dang man! I have got to do that trail! I didn’t realize how cool it was!
Fezzik is a monster!
That sucks that it’s so hard for V. But it can still be a daddy daughter activity!
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