Headed up to coyote flats for the weekend with my new to me project which I thought I had gone over everything and had well prepared. Luckily I am an over preparer, as you can see by the first aid kit we put together.
Truck had some heat issues the day before on a trial run on a short trail in tahoe so I cut louvres in the hood which worked great. I have more than enough fan and radiator but not enough exhaust to get it out from under the hood plus the turbo puts out a lot of heat. That solution worked great until the rad fuse blew and I didn't notice until temps spiked up to 250+ new fuse let it cool down all better.
Problem #1 solved.
Truck was running like a champ cruising up the ascent with stable temps and endless power until the throttle linkage disintegrated and disappeared. No problem, metal zip ties to save the day. 5 minutes later back on the trail.
Problem #2 solved.
Now past the main ascent and easy sailing until I started intermittently loosing fuel pressure., it would drop from 15 down to 2 then back up and down randomly, quick change of the primary filter no change, change the secondary filter, no change. limped into camp inspected lines for leaks, nothing, though the tank to primary filter hose looked like it might be a little cracked, replaced the hose with spare, no change. Maybe a sticking check valve on the lift pump, replaced pump with spare no change. At this point I was a little stumped I had gone through the entire fuel system with no resolution. Slept on it then woke up and realized I forgot that stupid pre screen inside the tank. Sediment in the tank that I didn't even know was there was shaken loose on the trail and clogged that. Cleaned it out and ran perfectly. I basically rebuilt the entire fuel system because I forgot to check the in thank screen. Stupid mistake and an oversight that cost me a few hours and a bit of stress but it was great from then on.
Problem #3 solved.
So I came down a little hard on my front right corner, nothing major really just caught the edge of a boulder the truck should have easily shrugged it off. except that there was no body mount bolt on the front right side so the right fender and radiator support lifted up and in by two inches nothing matched up hood not latching everything just askew.
Used the high lift jack as a spreader ratchet strapped to the top of the radiator top support in conjunction with using a spare bolt to pull the rad support and fender down onto the frame via the body mount, that plus liberal and aggressive percussive maintenance.
Problem #4 solved ish, needed a bit more body work than I was willing to do on the trail but at least everything closed up again.
This was my wife's first time off road so she assumed we were going to have to hike out after the first mishap, also only my second time out in this rig so I learned a lot about it and what areas still need work.
The motor and tranny though was exactly what I wanted, and the fact that I could put a bed in the back that slept two plus the dog is great. That and bringing our espresso machine because I have endless storage made for a pretty comfortable outing, if you ignore the hours spent working in the sun to keep the truck moving...
We didn;t get to explore as much as I hoped with the delays caused by the trucks issues but it was still a fun trip and I learned a lot more about what needed to be improved and fixed.
Went overkill on the first aid kit. C-collar, fluids, meds, I'vs, sutures, plaster splinting material, meds skin glue, blod clotters, plus more and all the normal stuff.
packed up before we headed out
camp site
night shot lit by the fire and a flashlight
My dog being a weirdo
Wife and dog hanging out inside while I work on the truck
cooling off after I replaced the rad fan fuse
Truck had some heat issues the day before on a trial run on a short trail in tahoe so I cut louvres in the hood which worked great. I have more than enough fan and radiator but not enough exhaust to get it out from under the hood plus the turbo puts out a lot of heat. That solution worked great until the rad fuse blew and I didn't notice until temps spiked up to 250+ new fuse let it cool down all better.
Problem #1 solved.
Truck was running like a champ cruising up the ascent with stable temps and endless power until the throttle linkage disintegrated and disappeared. No problem, metal zip ties to save the day. 5 minutes later back on the trail.
Problem #2 solved.
Now past the main ascent and easy sailing until I started intermittently loosing fuel pressure., it would drop from 15 down to 2 then back up and down randomly, quick change of the primary filter no change, change the secondary filter, no change. limped into camp inspected lines for leaks, nothing, though the tank to primary filter hose looked like it might be a little cracked, replaced the hose with spare, no change. Maybe a sticking check valve on the lift pump, replaced pump with spare no change. At this point I was a little stumped I had gone through the entire fuel system with no resolution. Slept on it then woke up and realized I forgot that stupid pre screen inside the tank. Sediment in the tank that I didn't even know was there was shaken loose on the trail and clogged that. Cleaned it out and ran perfectly. I basically rebuilt the entire fuel system because I forgot to check the in thank screen. Stupid mistake and an oversight that cost me a few hours and a bit of stress but it was great from then on.
Problem #3 solved.
So I came down a little hard on my front right corner, nothing major really just caught the edge of a boulder the truck should have easily shrugged it off. except that there was no body mount bolt on the front right side so the right fender and radiator support lifted up and in by two inches nothing matched up hood not latching everything just askew.
Used the high lift jack as a spreader ratchet strapped to the top of the radiator top support in conjunction with using a spare bolt to pull the rad support and fender down onto the frame via the body mount, that plus liberal and aggressive percussive maintenance.
Problem #4 solved ish, needed a bit more body work than I was willing to do on the trail but at least everything closed up again.
This was my wife's first time off road so she assumed we were going to have to hike out after the first mishap, also only my second time out in this rig so I learned a lot about it and what areas still need work.
The motor and tranny though was exactly what I wanted, and the fact that I could put a bed in the back that slept two plus the dog is great. That and bringing our espresso machine because I have endless storage made for a pretty comfortable outing, if you ignore the hours spent working in the sun to keep the truck moving...
We didn;t get to explore as much as I hoped with the delays caused by the trucks issues but it was still a fun trip and I learned a lot more about what needed to be improved and fixed.
Went overkill on the first aid kit. C-collar, fluids, meds, I'vs, sutures, plaster splinting material, meds skin glue, blod clotters, plus more and all the normal stuff.
packed up before we headed out
camp site
night shot lit by the fire and a flashlight
My dog being a weirdo
Wife and dog hanging out inside while I work on the truck
cooling off after I replaced the rad fan fuse
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