andrewh
/dev/4wd
Got back last week from my trip to Moab from NC. It was full of breakages, fixes and a long 34 hour drive one way. Getting the go pro footage and pictures together for the trip report. I must apologize for only having one go pro, so most of the videos are from one perspective. Ill be working on getting another in the next few months.
Originally the plan was to go to the Overland Expo in flagstaff May 16th -18th and head to Moab for the GONE event May 18th - 24th (gonemoab.com). Unfortunately things didnt exactly pan out that well.
DAY 1:May 13th
Spirits were high, kissed the wife goodbye that morning. Tried to convince her that she could fly into Tuscon and I would pick her up. She has family there and tried to spin it in my favor. She would have none of it, an all ladies week at Myrtle Beach won her favor, no matter how enticing I could make it, sun, drinks and friends won. I didnt blame her
Packed up ready to go. Spare fluids, spare hoses, spare hubs, spare steering ends, jerry cans full (which saved me in texas, more on that later). Last thing to load was the fridge and off I went.
First couple of hundred miles down, was making great time!
All was going well until I hit oak ridge TN. I was clipping along at about 65 70 when I hit a large pothole right before a bridge. What happened next could only be described as a terrifying moment, and one that I would never want to repeat again.
I found out later that my steering box had separated from the frame, held on by two remaining bolts. The video is of my dash cam, I did not have a transfer cable with me, so this video is from my cell phone filming my screen playing back the video. There is some cursing in the beginning.
Yes, it terrified me, and I was only maybe 6 hours into my 32 hour journey. After ratchet strapping the crap out of the steering box around the frame, i limped off the highway at 35 mph beelining to the nearest exit. After a bit of soul searching, thinking more than a few times that I should call it quits and tuck my tail between my legs and get home by uhaul and car carrier, i decided to push on.
It was just before 6 pm and the nearest nissan dealership was a few miles away. I hobbled over there and talked to the service manager. We put the truck on the lift and surveyed the damage. Indeed 2 of the 4 bolts sheared and the steering play was enough that it caused that oscillation on the highway. It had bent the steering box in the process, so we made the decision to order another and all the seals needed to fix her up. They would overnight it to be there wednesday morning.
They did not do welding, but there was a plethora of body shops in the area. A quick search on google to read reviews, and find a decent one revealed one about 2 miles away and was open until 7. I shot down there to Peoples Choice Auto Collision and spoke to the manager there. The took a quick looks and we hatched a plan to repair the damage. It turns out the that internal nuts to the frame holding the steering box were damaged as well. We decided the best course of action would be to box the frame in that area and weld bolt sleeves and use longer bolts through the frame.
They were slammed, but he promised to fit me in and we shot for Wednesday. Down the street a bit were a bunch a hotels, picked one, grabbed some dinner and settled down to gather my thoughts.
End of Day 1.
Originally the plan was to go to the Overland Expo in flagstaff May 16th -18th and head to Moab for the GONE event May 18th - 24th (gonemoab.com). Unfortunately things didnt exactly pan out that well.
DAY 1:May 13th
Spirits were high, kissed the wife goodbye that morning. Tried to convince her that she could fly into Tuscon and I would pick her up. She has family there and tried to spin it in my favor. She would have none of it, an all ladies week at Myrtle Beach won her favor, no matter how enticing I could make it, sun, drinks and friends won. I didnt blame her
Packed up ready to go. Spare fluids, spare hoses, spare hubs, spare steering ends, jerry cans full (which saved me in texas, more on that later). Last thing to load was the fridge and off I went.
First couple of hundred miles down, was making great time!
All was going well until I hit oak ridge TN. I was clipping along at about 65 70 when I hit a large pothole right before a bridge. What happened next could only be described as a terrifying moment, and one that I would never want to repeat again.
I found out later that my steering box had separated from the frame, held on by two remaining bolts. The video is of my dash cam, I did not have a transfer cable with me, so this video is from my cell phone filming my screen playing back the video. There is some cursing in the beginning.
Yes, it terrified me, and I was only maybe 6 hours into my 32 hour journey. After ratchet strapping the crap out of the steering box around the frame, i limped off the highway at 35 mph beelining to the nearest exit. After a bit of soul searching, thinking more than a few times that I should call it quits and tuck my tail between my legs and get home by uhaul and car carrier, i decided to push on.
It was just before 6 pm and the nearest nissan dealership was a few miles away. I hobbled over there and talked to the service manager. We put the truck on the lift and surveyed the damage. Indeed 2 of the 4 bolts sheared and the steering play was enough that it caused that oscillation on the highway. It had bent the steering box in the process, so we made the decision to order another and all the seals needed to fix her up. They would overnight it to be there wednesday morning.
They did not do welding, but there was a plethora of body shops in the area. A quick search on google to read reviews, and find a decent one revealed one about 2 miles away and was open until 7. I shot down there to Peoples Choice Auto Collision and spoke to the manager there. The took a quick looks and we hatched a plan to repair the damage. It turns out the that internal nuts to the frame holding the steering box were damaged as well. We decided the best course of action would be to box the frame in that area and weld bolt sleeves and use longer bolts through the frame.
They were slammed, but he promised to fit me in and we shot for Wednesday. Down the street a bit were a bunch a hotels, picked one, grabbed some dinner and settled down to gather my thoughts.
End of Day 1.
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