cruiseroutfit
Well-known member
Great writeup 
St. Louis to La Sal Mtns to Lake Powell to Capitol Reef - October 9 - 18
- Thread starter Dave
- Start date
Dave
Explorer
A couple thoughts on the upgrades made to the truck in preparation for this (and other) trips:
-The OME suspension worked great. The truck was level and sure footed in crawling situations, even with all of our gear loaded in the bed. It also handled great on twisty paved roads and washboard dirt roads. I expected the the leafs to sag some after twelve days of carrying a load and flexing, but after I unloaded the truck on Wednesday they seem to have rebounded right back to where they were before we left. These are the OME Dakar springs with what appears to be two overload leafs.
-The Kumho AT's also performed well. They of course gummed up in thick mud, but they cleaned pretty good for an AT. The only time I felt like I was losing traction was on Hell's Backbone Rd. after it rained all day. It was a soupy slimy mess in 2wd, I'm not sure if mud treads would have helped or not. four wheel high range was the remedy.
-The OBA system. I only aired down to 20psi for Elephant Hill (from 35 rear, 33 front), but having the OBA to air back up to 30 all around in less then 15 minutes was very nice. We would have had to drive all the way to Monticello (40+ miles on curvy paved mountain roads) for air since Needles Outpost was inaccessible. I can't believe I never beefed up the OBA for airing up tires when I had my XJ.
-The shower. We never had to resort to the truck shower that I had rigged up. With cool temps and a real shower available every few days, it just wasn't worth unpacking it.
-Storage system. Our system needs serious help. I'm hoping to design and build a drawer system with a flat platform in the bed that could be used as a sleeping platform if needed. I hope to include a poly or stainless steel water tank, possibly aux. fuel, and maybe a 12v fridge into the design. Dual battery too.
Overall I was pleased with how the truck performed, as expected. This was the first time it's seen any serious trail time and it handled everything with relative ease. I'm finding that I get much more enjoyment out of this time of "wheeling" then I ever did banging through tough trails with my XJ. I like using the truck as a means to get somewhere rather then going out just to see what the machine (and driver) is capable of.
I saw a couple trucks with Four Wheel Campers and even some Flip-Pacs while we were out there. :drool: I knew they were sweet setups from seeing them here and on other websites, but man they just look so nice in person. Some day, I'm going to have to own me one of those!
-The OME suspension worked great. The truck was level and sure footed in crawling situations, even with all of our gear loaded in the bed. It also handled great on twisty paved roads and washboard dirt roads. I expected the the leafs to sag some after twelve days of carrying a load and flexing, but after I unloaded the truck on Wednesday they seem to have rebounded right back to where they were before we left. These are the OME Dakar springs with what appears to be two overload leafs.
-The Kumho AT's also performed well. They of course gummed up in thick mud, but they cleaned pretty good for an AT. The only time I felt like I was losing traction was on Hell's Backbone Rd. after it rained all day. It was a soupy slimy mess in 2wd, I'm not sure if mud treads would have helped or not. four wheel high range was the remedy.
-The OBA system. I only aired down to 20psi for Elephant Hill (from 35 rear, 33 front), but having the OBA to air back up to 30 all around in less then 15 minutes was very nice. We would have had to drive all the way to Monticello (40+ miles on curvy paved mountain roads) for air since Needles Outpost was inaccessible. I can't believe I never beefed up the OBA for airing up tires when I had my XJ.
-The shower. We never had to resort to the truck shower that I had rigged up. With cool temps and a real shower available every few days, it just wasn't worth unpacking it.
-Storage system. Our system needs serious help. I'm hoping to design and build a drawer system with a flat platform in the bed that could be used as a sleeping platform if needed. I hope to include a poly or stainless steel water tank, possibly aux. fuel, and maybe a 12v fridge into the design. Dual battery too.
Overall I was pleased with how the truck performed, as expected. This was the first time it's seen any serious trail time and it handled everything with relative ease. I'm finding that I get much more enjoyment out of this time of "wheeling" then I ever did banging through tough trails with my XJ. I like using the truck as a means to get somewhere rather then going out just to see what the machine (and driver) is capable of.
I saw a couple trucks with Four Wheel Campers and even some Flip-Pacs while we were out there. :drool: I knew they were sweet setups from seeing them here and on other websites, but man they just look so nice in person. Some day, I'm going to have to own me one of those!