Cheap tricks in off-roading you've learned along the way...

[jinxspot]

I used to love reading the cheap tricks section of four wheeler magazine back in the day... once us gearheadz put our mind to something we seem to get er done one way or another!!! Post up some cool ideas and cheap tricks you've learned along your travles.
:greg:

Heres some quick examples that I have:

Spraying plastics with WD40 to keep the mud from sticking.
If you frequently ride dirt bikes and hit mud you can help eliminate the buildup of mud sticking to your plastics by sparying them with a light coat of 4D40.

Using Ether to seat a bead on the trail.
When your in the back country with a 44 bogger on a wide wheel and can't seem to get it so squish out to the bead of the wheel a light spray of ether on in the tire and a match will almost instantly inflate the tire and seat the bead with a small exsplosion. quicking fill with air and your up and running again. (it also helps start trucks every now and them too!!!)

Chaining a highlift to the bumper to make it a winch.
I was 16 years old and buried in mud in the north coutry of Michigan all by myself, a few beers later my buddy and I realized that we could use the highlift as a winch by chaining it the bumper and flipping the mechanism on the jack to pull instead of lift. Now-a-days its common practice to use one in this fashion in a pinch.

 

[jinxspot]

Another good one I used was running H1's, H2's and stock dodge wheels to keep the retro fit of running 1tons to a more narro track width in a jeep!!!

H1's are 16.5, but they offer something like 7" of backspacing
H2's and Dodge steelies are 17's and offer like 5" of backspacing

Both wheels effectively keep the track as narrow as possible and keep the leverage off the kingpins or balljoints and in my case portal boxes! And when ya consider H2's are aluminum you are getting a cheap & light wheel that can be modified to a DIY beadlock!

 

[STAG]

Welding the spider gears to each other for a cheap locker

 

[sheddiggs]

Subscribed!

 

[STAG]

Inverting the shift fork in the housing of a D30 axle with vacuum disconnect to make it full-time engaged.

My old XJ wouldn't apply vacuum to the housing so I had no 4wd until I flipped the fork.

 

[STAG]

Using vacuum to unseat a stuck tire bead -

take the vacuum hose off your intake manifold (the one that goes to your brake booster) while your engine is running, and using a long piece of similarly sized tubing place one end on your now-empty vacuum fitting on your motor and the other end on your valve stem (you'll have to pull the valve core)

I've done this, it helps a lot. You may still have to step near the bead to get it to break.

 

[jeeper]

Using vacuum to unseat a stuck tire bead -

take the vacuum hose off your intake manifold (the one that goes to your brake booster) while your engine is running, and using a long piece of similarly sized tubing place one end on your now-empty vacuum fitting on your motor and the other end on your valve stem (you'll have to pull the valve core)

I've done this, it helps a lot. You may still have to step near the bead to get it to break.

I'll have to give this a shot! We have always drove another car or truck on the tire to break the bead.

 

[Gravy]

I learned this from an old timer.
1. small plastic trash bag to drain your diff fluid into on the trail.
2. Do your diff fix.
3. tie a knot in it and throw the bag back into the diff and bolt it up the cover.
4. r/p will chew up the bag and you will not have wasted a drop or gear lube

It will get you off the trail if you don't have any extra fluid and need to do a diff repair.

 

[STAG]

Saw this one done too-

When you bend your tie rod, after you get it bent back straight, take off one tie-rod-end and slide your Hi-lift jack handle over the tie rod and reinstall the TRE to keep it from rebending to get you off the trail.

In the case that I saw it, if you don't have a hi-lift jack handle, borrow your buddies handheld hack-saw and a section of tube from his exo-cage.

 

[sixstringsteve]

- welding in a pinch: 2-3 batteries, jumper cables, welding rod

- ratchet straps are extremely useful for on-trail repairs

- wrenches can be welded to broken parts

- using a ratchet strap to tie the axle to the frame while jacking it up. This prevents the tire from drooping so you're actually lifting the wheel vs flexing it out.

- rescue tape really does work

- always have a spill kit because things can get messy fast

- if you don't have ether to reseat a bead, a ratchet strap will get you by in a pinch

- unless you have a selectable locker, make sure you have a full-size spare

- when you break a hardline or soft brake line, vice grips can be used to kink it closed enough to hold pressure. That way you can use the other 3 brakes.

- if you're a novice mechanic like me, keep a repair manual in your rig at all times, along with a code reader and a voltmeter. The manual will help you keep your cool and remember all the little steps that are needed to fix the rig.

 

[mbryson]

...
H2's and Dodge steelies are 17's and offer like 5" of backspacing

Both wheels effectively keep the track as narrow as possible and keep the leverage off the kingpins or balljoints and in my case portal boxes! And when ya consider H2's are aluminum you are getting a cheap & light wheel that can be modified to a DIY beadlock!

Dodges have more backspacing than the H2. At least 1/2 per side. My hubs got seriously abused while running Dodge alum wheels.


Curious about the cheap DIY beadlock on the H2. They are not the strongest wheel out there but I like them.

 

[skippy]

I have also been looking for a set of H2s to beadlock and do a bead stiffener on the inner lip

 

[jinxspot]

When your trying to release a Birfield snap ring from the actual axle shaft.... slam the shaft into the round frame brace in the rear of the truck to create a slide hammer effect that will eventually POP it out.... be careful to not let it hit another ride with a 3K paint job on the other side of the truck (seems like the yota truck was made for that mod on the trail)!!!

 

[jinxspot]

1. If you have a small crack in a gas tank or petcock I have used a bar of soap and rubbed the leak to try to seal things up and seem to help a whole lot because it gells when the two chemicals meet!!! (and it gets your hands clean too)

2. If your running a power steering box tapped for hydro assist you can carry plugs to fit in the ports if you happen to blow a line... simply plug the holes and go back to typical power steering without the ram and you can continue the trail no problems for less that 2bucks.

3. Ive seen expanding boat plugs fix a stripped, missing or broken Tcase, Engine, Differential fill/drian plug holes.... I carry a couple in my small parts tackle boxes now.






4. When you need to get extra leaverage on a box-end wrench you can double the legnth with another box end wrench like this (shown in a tightening configuration):
(be very careful with putting all your weight behind it... I've broke a few pittsburgs)

 

[DaveB]

The bar of soap idea works well on gas tank leaks. It got us home from Moab late on a Saturday night. I covered the soap with duct tape to keep the water from washing it off.

 

[SpeedyVic]

4. When you need to get extra leaverage on a box-end wrench you can double the legnth with anothe box end wrench like this (shown in a tightening configuration):
View attachment 80251

You can gain extra leverage on a allen wrench using the same method.

 

[jinxspot]

The ultimate we've all used: Soda bottle for a funnel... all sorts of diff sizes and shapes and colors



Moster truck steps with welded chain links for your foot hold... The vertical chains swing freely and the horizontal chains get welded for the platform.... Go as high as ya want and still jump in and out with style!!! (What's the joke, fat chicks can't jump, hahahaha couldn't resist)


Hockey pucks for a body lift:
I've done it and it works well, although I would only go as high as 2 pucks for safety duh...

 

[rockmike]

A buddy of mine hooks his spare tire up to the air vent on his air compressor to suck all the air out of his spare tire so he can fit in tighter spaces.

Machine a 2mm S.S. spacer to put in the yoke on a toyota drive line flange,this takes up the extra slop and will exept a samurai driveline.Put in spacer this will center up the index on the samurai d.l. to the toy flange then rotate 30* and drill bolt pattern.

Weld a couple beads on your link arms or tierod bars do you can get a good grab on them to tighten jam nuts,this way you can get away with a pair of channel locks if ya dont have a pipe wrench handy out on the trail.

Im sure y'all know the zip tie trick to know if youre bottoming out your shocks.

 

[1adam12]

Always have jb weld.

 

[STAG]

I have also been looking for a set of H2s to beadlock and do a bead stiffener on the inner lip

I will have mine for sale in a few weeks.