So Only1Balto's got a new BDS lift on his weiner dog EXT, and I was dissing it, but I helped him put in the lift because I'm a nice guy even though I've never actually wheeled with an EXT and I had to see if it would embarass me on the trails and the desert just got cool enough to visit and all that rot. Besides, I like to type a run-on sentence once in a while. :nono:
So we got up at 5AM, met for breakfast, and scooted out to Borrego where he had never been. I figured the amazing views would be as good as the offroading. So naturally I have to try him out first on Coyote Canyon, that starts out easy, but ends up tough.
He's got most of the pictures, but had a command engagement tonight, so I expect to see his pics later. Mostly he impressed me, got through water crossings up until the last one that was above my door sills, chose very good lines and didn't abuse the tires. Showed a lot of respect (certainly more than I do) for the truck, but I could tell he had a good time. It was a good day to leave the family at home, at least this first time out.
Finally the last water crossing was going to be beyond the capability of his lift and tires, so he parked and I drove while he took pics from the shotgun seat. I got to the bottom of the horrible rocky road, and his eyes got serious and said "no way." So I HAD to go on at that point, as he continued: "This is impossible." [BUMP] "This is insane." [LURCH!] "You're freakin' me out, Roadie." [BANG-CRUNCH!!] He said pretty much everything except the "safe" word: STOP! So I kept up until I got to the top again -#4 for me, but who's counting? :weird: And then we did another few hours of easier stuff.
Here's some pics of one of his water crossings, and then the water level on my side panels after the deepest one. Nothing got inside - door seals worked as designed. Oh, yeah, and the wheel caps came in that were backordered, and I slapped black acorn lug nuts on them with locks because the OEM lug nuts look out of place on a black wheel.