Build Thread: Sixstringsteve's 2002 Tacoma double cab: Carlos

[sixstringsteve]

I will take none of your thanks. I sent you every classified ad I thought might catch your interest.

And I resisted them all.

 

[sixstringsteve]

This weekend was the first time I've ever had to use my winch. We could have turned around at any point, but we decided to keep on going over the pass, and that required winching. The winch performed beautifully and did it's job. I can now say I'm glad that I have a winch on my truck and that I've used it. I'm also glad that I always cover recovery gear including a snatch block.

These pictures only show how stuck I was. No pics of the winching, but I do have video (coming soonish).

The maxtrax were essential to reaching this point, but ultimately we needed the winch to make it around this icy hairpin.

 

[Tonkaman]

I like that your still rockin the flag, just incase it gets too deep ha ha

 

[sixstringsteve]

yeah, we were on our way to the sand dunes.

 

[sixstringsteve]

No, we use them all the time. They're incredible. Cruiseroutfitters (among other places) sells them.


Impression: sure, they're expensive, but worth every penny. We have used them on 4 different trips, and I'm sure we'll keep using them in the future.

 

[Kevin B.]

What pass was that?

 

[sixstringsteve]

not sure. It was up in the mountains above Eureka.

 

[Kevin B.]

mountains above Eureka.

*twitch*

 

[sixstringsteve]

huh?

 

[Kevin B.]

Where I flopped. Probably not the same canyon, but I think it'll be dry the next time I head up anywhere near there.

 

[sixstringsteve]

oh yeah, I forgot.

 

[SAMI]

FYI

http://www.ksl.com/index.php?nid=218&ad=28645333&cat=&lpid=0&search=sequoia&ad_cid=7

 

[sixstringsteve]

Cool, thanks. You already found a set, right?

 

[SAMI]

I'm not in the market for a set right now.

 

[sixstringsteve]

Here's the video of Cody and I using our winches for the first time.

[video=youtube_share;WMtB6CCa76M]http://youtu.be/WMtB6CCa76M[/video]

We would have been able to turn around just fine, but it was nice to be able to finish the road, and the winches made that possible. There's no way we would have made it up there without the winches. The funny part is that we got stuck about 100 yards from the peak. After that, everything was downhill.

 

[sLcREX]

I assume you were locked up front? The video somewhat makes it look like the driver tire was spinning more than the passenger.

 

[sixstringsteve]

Good observation! I do have lockers front and rear. In my experience, when you use lockers in deep snow, you typically get stuck more than with them off. They have a tendency to dig down instead of keep the momentum going. So I leave them off most of the time when I'm in deep snow.

Also, when locking the rear in snow, it makes the rear end want to slide downhill. I kept getting sideways on the trail when I was locked in the rear.

Additionally, whenever I have a lot of wheelspin, I leave the lockers off. A sudden spot of traction puts tremendous stress on the axle shafts and has the potential to snap them.

 

[sixstringsteve]

We spent a good 45 minutes trying to get up that hill without the winches. Even with 4 maxx tracks and lockers front and rear and 8 psi, we couldn't make any progress. There was a thick layer of ice under the 18" of powder.

 

[frieed]

chains

 

[sLcREX]

Makes sense, I have heard of lockers causing that sort of issue in snow, but I've never experienced it myself yet so I didn't know. I figured I would have tried lockers before the winch but you just went over that also. Good stuff though, it's nice to have all the equipment you need to continue on