COMPLETED Badlands October 19 & 20 2013

[ErikSS]

We had a great time this weekend. I just got in. I'm so tired I can't see straight. I must be old. I will post more as we go, but I'm home! I'm safe! And I hope those who are still traveling arrive safe.

I think we are going to have some really awesome pics and videos in this thread. Hook us up guys!

Those who attended:
Erikss
PLAYTOY
Moots1288+v7guy + dvanbramer88
Regulator
Shoda (Saturday Only)
Barton (Sunday Only)

[dvanbramer88]

I just got in. Pictures coming soon. Had a great and eventful weekend. Indiana is a LONG ass ride from PA. Especially with 2 assholes from New York.

It was great to see everyone again and meet Erik's family. Great people to camp/wheel with. Badlands is a pretty cool park and we decided on the way home that we would be coming back sooner or later.

[dvanbramer88]

Saturday morning after the tranny swap. Ready for the road











Silly Ford.



Less than 5 minutes in. Matt rescuing a Ford.



For those of you that never been here. This hill is pea gravel the consistency of oil dry.











Moots got stuck on a log.




























Ohio



The Mecca of car guys.

[HARDTRAILZ]

Well done

[dvanbramer88]

Matt Jason and Myself can now say we participated in one of those "infamous" Indiana wrenching parties at Matt's house. We swapped his tranny with the rebuilt one in about 3 hours. 1am to 4am. Slept a little, and than a couple hours in the morning to fill and warm up the new tranny and button up a couple odds and ends.

[Conner299]

The Mecca of car guys.

That's one of the things I miss about living in Ohio. I used to live 15 min away from there, and have actually parked in that same spot.

[dvanbramer88]

small world man. That's cool. I would love to live close to a Summit.

[Opeth]

Now that does look like a mighty good time! I musta passed you guys on your way home but didn't even see you matt or jason. Im sitting in Indiana myself right now... lol

[Regulator1175]

That is one sexy ass right there! Just to point out, my rear springs are red. There was a lot of mud this weekend.

Great time guys, I am glad you were able to make it out and get a taste of what our off roading is like out here! I am really impressed with how well your rigs ran the park and Erik can now boast being added to the very short list of those that have completed the rock garden climb!

Big thanks goes out to Erik for his help last weekend and to Matt, Jason and David for rerouting your trip to come and help me with a poorly timed transmission swap. Thank you guys for all your hard work in helping make sure this was a great weekend for me as well.

I am loving all the new updates to the truck. It felt so much tighter and I was able to walk across obstacles without excessive use of the go pedal like previous trips. It was a great feeling. There are still a few bugs to work out. My front seal at the torque converter seems to be leaking, I am having some heat issues with the Trans and it will not lock up at all. I also suffered from a flaky alternator this afternoon, stopping my day early. Glad to report that 45 minutes down the road it started charging again, but it is still something I need to keep an eye on.

I will get pictures up tomorrow. It is bed time now after a very long few days with very little sleep. I also have a few plans for the future that I will discuss later! Good night all

[jrSS]

Looks fun.....maybe someday I can go with u guys and ride along. Someday id like to get a lifted rig (and no im not lifting my tbss)

[Wahugg]

Nice showing that ford truck up; however you might want to re-think the way you pulled him out.

If I recall right, pulling someone out using reverse is really hard on the differentials. Thats how Bill blew up his rear diff (coupled with the axle being bent), and I remember James saying that the way the pinion and rear gear mesh together is less than optimal in reverse, which is only further aggravated due to our larger tires .

But still, good job!

-Wahugg

[HARDTRAILZ]

Yep. Pulling in reverse is less desired but in that sandy stuff there an ATV could pull a stuck truck out. Seen it done. Minimal risk and Matt easily has more experience than most around here and really does not need his choices questioned.

[Moots1288]

Yep. Pulling in reverse is less desired but in that sandy stuff there an ATV could pull a stuck truck out. Seen it done. Minimal risk and Matt easily has more experience than most around here and really does not need his choices questioned.

Not where my fat ass was stuck.. due to retarded stabilitrac

[HARDTRAILZ]

4 lo turns stabilitrac off. I never leave 4 lo at the Badlands. Why weren't you in 4lo?

[Wahugg]

Yep. Pulling in reverse is less desired but in that sandy stuff there an ATV could pull a stuck truck out. Seen it done. Minimal risk and Matt easily has more experience than most around here and really does not need his choices questioned.

I wasn't questioning him or his knowledge, just pointing out how its not reccomended for any less experienced new guys.

Also, congrats on the son!

-Wahugg

[Moots1288]

4 lo turns stabilitrac off. I never leave 4 lo at the Badlands. Why weren't you in 4lo?

I know didn't realize the grade the dune was on, we were right at the exit didn't expect it, Erik showed me how to turn it off all the time now

[HARDTRAILZ]

Sweet. Ya learned the hold the button trick trying to back a trailer of atv's up a wet grass hill when I first got my truck. Sometimes ya need a lil wheelspin

[dvanbramer88]

3 extraordinarily crappy cell phone pics I snagged Friday night.

Matt working on the T-case bolts. I was manning the jack.


The quitter.


Think that's Matt's legs.

[Regulator1175]

Nice showing that ford truck up; however you might want to re-think the way you pulled him out.

If I recall right, pulling someone out using reverse is really hard on the differentials. Thats how Bill blew up his rear diff (coupled with the axle being bent), and I remember James saying that the way the pinion and rear gear mesh together is less than optimal in reverse, which is only further aggravated due to our larger tires .

But still, good job!

-Wahugg

Copy/paste of my answer to Dave on another forum. It applies to your question as well.

Dave, I even tried explaining this Saturday night when they were scared to hook tio their rear bumper.

If you recall I did hook to the rear bumper when trying to pull Erik because that was the only real hard extraction of the trip because he dug himself in so much.

I hooked front then, just like I did a couple times on Saturday night, so I could watch the tow strap and know what was going on myself. This was my first time wheeling with all of you so I felt more comfortable trusting my own eyes.

Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk

[dvanbramer88]

I thought Matt would appreciate this one. His front flexing with 35s



I'll post all 3 of these together for the sake of science. That's close to the full range of flex for 35s on an Envoy with "stock" rims. They're stock fullsize rims, off an Avalanche IIRC. I like the results. This should answer the question "How'd you make out wheeling with those 35s?"