Trail Fix

[Shawn]

It seems like everyone has a story of when they were on the trail and they or someone they were with broke.

I would love to hear your stories on what broke, and how you were able to do a "trail fix" to get it off the trail. This should give us All ideas incase it happens to one of us.

Here is mine.

Last Sunday on Constricter I broke my Left Front Spring. 4 of the 5 leaves shered right off leaving me with only the main leaf. I was able to remove the "U" Bolts, loosen the center pin and turn every other one so I had two in the front and two in the rear. I then took the broken off springs and slid then into the gaps were the springs use to be. This helped fill in the voids of where the springs us to be.

I made it all the way off one of the hardest trails I have done for some time.

Cool.

Lets here yours.

 

[BlackSheep]

Excellent story. You were able to make it work by using tools that you carried. My story is about a debt that I'll never be able to repay to a guy who I never even got his name....

I was running Pritchett Canyon with Jeremy and several other guys. Not too far before rocker knocker, you travel through a wash, then up a hill that has a decent size ledge in it.

Due to poor tire placement, my tie rod was snapped right at the rod end. Jeremy and the other guys helped me get out of the way for the next group, then we stood around scratching our heads as to how to proceed.

Immediately behind us comes a group of well equipped Cruiser's and a nice Toy pickup. One of the guys from that group comes over and asks what's up. We told him, then he and another from his group proceeded to break out the tools that most of us probably only dream of carrying.....an electric grinder, a wirefeed welder and a short section of 1/2" angle iron.

15 minutes later, I was bolting my welded tie rod back into place.

Makes you think about tossing out the dough for one of those on-board welders.....

 

[spencurai]

you almost did that guy a favor...just think, now he can tell his wife he actually used the gear he spent all that money on....he should be thanking you....

 

[jp008]

Over EJS a bunch of Suzukis decided to do the Tri-fecta (Poison Spider, Golden Spike, Gold Bar) We got past Double Whammy just fine, however the next obstacle was a little different. All but 1 made it alive. 1 Samurai stripped the teeth off of his rear pinion. We pulled him aside and pulled the drop-out. We then took a Hi-lift jack handle and inserted it where the chunk used to be. He drove most of the way out with out a strap.

 

[Brad Yates]

me and an idahoian went down to moab and did some crazy stuff and there was only 1 breakage - my trac bar. after reviewing the footage from our trip to golden spike (gemini bridges to gold bar rim to golden spike to breaking point and then back the way we came) i found that it broke at the weld to the axle joint when making my first attempt at the crack. it was still holding on somehow though while i went about another mile through some pretty rough stuff. it was awesome seeing in the video how the body would move all the way to one side and then my tires would start turning . so eventually when the sun was just going down the Heavy Duty Currie trac bar just fell out completely (after the Gd8 bolt sheared off)! one small group of cherokees and whatnot passed us and suggested that we wrap the axle and frame in a chain "X", then cinch it down with the winch. right before we had ourselves a nice little chain "X" 2 jeeps pop over the ridge. sarcastically we asked if they wouldn't happen to have a welder with them. guess what? THEY DID!! so we took off the trac bar completely with the help of my full tuffy box of tools (including air tools and York OBA). after close examination i found out 2 things. 1) the angels that we saving my @$$ where no other than the founders of nthdegreemobility. 2) they told me the weld sucked! mentioned something like it was a cold weld and no penetration. so they grinded it down a bit and welded it up real good. then since the bolt for the frame was cut in 2 we needed another one. i had a bunch of washers and stuff in my spares bag but a 5-6" long bolt is hard to come by in this neck of the woods. a body mount bolt worked just fine - especially since it was 1" longer due to the 1" BL. that setup got me out of the trail, back to camp, and all the way back to provo, and around town for a few days.. it was a really good trail fix. the key is the onboard welder! and air tools, and OBA, and all the hand tools i bring with me everywhere. GO PREPARED

 

[Andy]

This one time in Moab, we peed in the radiator.....

 

[Hickey]

Originally posted by Andy
This one time in Moab, we peed in the radiator.....

hehehe, I remember...

 

[Big John]

O I just remembered that before I bought the lift for my k-5 blazer I went wheelin with a couple of my buddys and two of the leaft springs broke on the back, but luckily they werent the main leafs. But then the broken ones decided to fall out on the way home. I pulled over and my buddy picked them up when he saw that they fell out. So I flexed out in the ditch and my buddys rocked the body until I could squeeze the two leafs back in, Luckily this got me home. Not the best thing to do but it got me home.

 

[bb88]

last year at EJS a buddy of mine in a Bronco broke his track bar we used the main body of my high lift jack for a replacement,after we got back to camp we trimmed it a little and he used it the rest of the week~~~he never did replace it this year at EJS another buddy cut up my maglite to splice his radiator hose~~~ that hasn't been replaced yet either~~~other peoples breakage sure is getting expensive

 

[mbryson]

Originally posted by Andy
This one time in Moab, we peed in the radiator.....

Doh.......





These two dudes helped me fix a broken upper ball joint on a D30 after I had busted an axle and the ball joint. We 'assembled' the ball joint and 'pressed' the lower back into place with my cool 3 lb. hammer and ratchet strapped the upper so it wouldn't come apart. I intended to get out to the trailhead and get a ride on a stretcher home.......the stretcher was gone and I drove it all the way home (38 miles).




Tie rod.......(OK--call me 'mister D30 tie rod')........Hi-lift jack handles work GREAT for sleeving bent tie rods (got me out of Pritchett one day). I ALWAYS carry a spare D30 tie rod and draglink.........


TODAYS TIP: Vise-Grips work excellent to pinch off a rubber line brake hose and drive home from 5 mile (very carefully......).

 

[Cody]

I blew my radiator pretty good one day up Mineral Basin. Stream water got me home. Not as good as urine, but it worked just fine.

 

[britney]

I personally haven't done any fixing, but I have done a lot of waiting. So my rule is .....Always bring a blanket, gallon of water, matches, and loaf of bread no matter how "short" the trail is. You may think it's annoying to haul around, but these 4 things will keep you going in the wee hours of the night if needs be.

I learned this the hard way on the trip Andy was pissin' in the radiator!!

 

[BlackSheep]

Originally posted by britney
I personally haven't done any fixing, but I have done a lot of waiting. So my rule is .....Always bring a blanket, gallon of water, matches, and loaf of bread no matter how "short" the trail is. You may think it's annoying to haul around, but these 4 things will keep you going in the wee hours of the night if needs be.

I learned this the hard way on the trip Andy was pissin' in the radiator!!

Good advice Britney!!

 

[cruiseroutfit]

recently...

A broken c-clip axle left me with a wandering axleshaft.... we were still a good 2 miles away from the trailhead and night was starting to set in... We dissconected my prake on the working side and locked up the brake completly on the broken side, we then used a chain and a rachet strap to securly fix the broken axleshaft and tire. Using 3wd I was able to drive out the rest of the Rattlesnake trail and all the way back down to the trailhead where we went and got a stretcher.... (thanks again Marc, Shawn, Tracy and Ollie )

A broken pitman arm left me stranded at the first waterfall at Cat Canyon, we used a bastard file and a survival knife saw (yes the little cable with loops at each end) to cut off 4" of a hi-lift handle. We crushed the handle enough to mame it sleeve over the two ends of the broken pitman arm. Then using 10 ft of parachute cord and half a roll of duck tape, we were able to limp it the couple miles back to the trailer. Good times...

 

[Brad Yates]

that's a good one cruiser! survival sawed the hi-lift handle ! i bet 1/4 elliptical has the most breakage but he always carries spares

 

[Wanker Delux]

jeez, it sounds like the handle is of more use than the actual jack...

 

[K85k03]

Y esterday while on a little 4 wheelin trip at our local Slick Rock we wher in my cherokee driven down one of the dirt roads when I could feel the cherokee rattling so I looked at the back driver side tire and it was wabling like a mother so I decided to pull over but before I could stop the back end hit the ground and we look over and there goes the tire right beside us. I had to chase it down another 30 yards the dang thing would fall over. Then we had to jack up the rear and brake into my tool box because somehow I lost the key to the lock I just used the jack it took a couple of good whacks but it came open, then we took a lug nut off of each tire to put the one back on, and had no problem all the way home.


I would suggest getting your lug nuts torqued right! No matter how much of a hurry you are in.

 

[Skyetone]

this is related... Well tracy didn't have what I needed. Figures

Always plan on getting yourself out PERIOD. I wish I had had some duct tape for shawn.. I did the trip before last trip.

I needed a welder to get my steering back together, took my stuff home. left the truck overnight. Now I want to see what it takes to trail weld with batteries, some stick and some jumpercables.

People were razzin me about my 3ton (90$) floorjack but I did a cv joint with a highlift and that was the last time I will. Axle work or even tires are way safer with a floorjack. I stacked rocks untill I got a flat bace high enough to jack up the front end.

Bailing wire is also a goodthing to take. I have some 10 guage strand electrical wire, good for multiple porposes.

I got a flasher fuze blown in moab, they didn't have one. Had to get my freind to bring one from SLC on his way so I'd have blinkers. Yea sounds laim I know... But later on I researched and found there is a fuze in my motor compartment that makes the motor run. Didn't have one of those, but I do now.

I run with spare , distributor, waterpump, alternator (lost the belt on easter, my spares were at home in a drawer. drove to lehi for a 5$ belt. Thanx gotmud), axles, had the tierods but the wrong side broke, alot of basic tools in my toolbox bolted to the truck.
I carry a gallon of antifreeze ,4 quarts of oil, a gallon of gear oil, powersteering fluid and a big brakefluid. VITALS. oh and a roll of blue towels.

The food and water idea is a good one. I went to get my rig the next day, had too much to carry and was sure glad to see a half a small bottle of water and a half a sobie in the rig. helped me out alot that night.

Thing I need to add, a bucket of the basic bolts and nuts needed to make my rig run. duct tape , a spare driveline (have the u-joint but what if I couldn't get it out on the trail), tracy makes me think radiator, but thats hard to carry in with ya

Plan on getting out yourself.... what parts have you wished you had or now carrie?

 

[Andy]

Originally posted by britney
I learned this the hard way on the trip Andy was pissin' in the radiator!!

Wait a minute, it wasn't my fault.

 

[tweakeyjeep]

For EJS we had a Cherokee with us... He broke his ATF line that is by the fan... Apparently the fan cut it open and he was almost running dry. We had some extra hose in another rig. We just used zip ties and duct tape to hook up the new hose... Fixed him for the rest of the week. good thing it was a trailer queen so he could really fix it when he got home.

Later on that week he tried dump bump and took the line to the left which is steeper. He kept trying. Finally on one of his last attempts, he bounced a little too high and broke 2 U-Joints. One in the driveline and one on his Dana 30. Took us a couple of hours to fix it at the base of dump bump, but got it fixed and running again.