The "Az Crew" Thread
- Thread starter Toasty
- Start date
IncorpoRatedX
Explorer
I'm home from the west coast. What an adventure. I hope the East Bay crew assembles, between Dan, Noah and Richie, there's three hardcore mitsu guys in a few square miles and I'm sure there's a lot of others lurking around. Huge thanks to Dan for the ride on the boat and all the hospitality. I'll be heading back up there with something I can explore with. I suggest an AZ Crew field trip 
ManfromSnowyRiver
Explorer
Yep, that was 13K on top of the 20 I paid during the year. Taxes take me 3 months and 1200.00 at H&R Block.....Tax returns will go to 10K in preparation fees in 3 years for me due to franchising. Got to live that.
JohnnyBfromPeoria
I'm Getting Around To It
PA_JERO
Adventurer
I'm home from the west coast. What an adventure. I hope the East Bay crew assembles, between Dan, Noah and Richie, there's three hardcore mitsu guys in a few square miles and I'm sure there's a lot of others lurking around. Huge thanks to Dan for the ride on the boat and all the hospitality. I'll be heading back up there with something I can explore with. I suggest an AZ Crew field trip
Dude, we go that way every couple years, where ya been? Sierra carnage man.
lordtrunks
camp loser
pajero and i had a boot stomping time running payette draw and also trail 433 which runs along the rim over to star valley just some awsome wheeling and camping.
heres the pic from it http://s1359.photobucket.com/user/lordtrunks/slideshow/Payette Draw 492016
heres the pic from it http://s1359.photobucket.com/user/lordtrunks/slideshow/Payette Draw 492016
JohnnyBfromPeoria
I'm Getting Around To It
It's been a whiz-bang of a weekend, I'll say that. After work on Friday, HoseB and I brought ourselves over to IncorpoRatedX's facility to hustle the 90 SWB back into a semblance of roadworthiness, since it had been sleeping in Show Low for too long and at the IncX stronghold for an extended stay. That afternoon it received a new windshield and seal by Stroker Explosion, so we had to drop some coin on him on our way. Doing some routine checking of the 90, it was quickly discovered that the rear lights had issues, but they were fixed by the two mentioned above while I simply walked around and kicked dirt. A makeshift exhaust was fabricated from some leftover parts. I put two gallons of gas in the tank so it would make it to the station down the street and the testing began. At first it ran great and then it didn't. Well the distributor wasn't tightened down, that must have been it, so change the oil...done. Then it didn't run so good again, but sometimes it did. Found a loose ground at the ECU, that must be it, but it sort of wasn't. Pulled the fuel pump; it's not stock, but maybe there wasn't enough gas in the tank, still, to reach the pick-up. Ten more gallons in and things started to improve. Tired, we drove the thing back to the turf of the 14th St Association at around midnight. It was running well. Except for some hesitation off idle and the idle was also wonky.
Saturday came far too quickly. I Seafoamed the 90, pulled and cleaned the IAC (part of it looked "melted") and sprayed the throttle body and the IAC passages with a bit, not a lot, of appropriate cleaner. The smoke screen was glorious. We finally left the secure facility to head to camping at about noon, my 95, the 90 SWB and Jorge's 89 SWB. Because I sometimes slack on writing things down, all my directions existed solely in my head and we were lucky to even get to the Klondike Road turn off. This is a fun road. At least it is until the group stops and we come to realize that a bolt holding Jorge's passenger side front caliper onto the knuckle has flown off and the other one is quite loose. HoseB went to see if he could find the bolt along the dirt road while Jorge and I made sure the 89 did not bother anyone, eventually realizing that any 17mm head bolt would probably fit, as Mitsubishi is weird like that, so we removed one of his lower ball joint bolts and used it (who really needs all four of those...right?). This got us to camp.
The band Crotchduster is glorious, and I was given a thumb drive with their album "Big Fat Box of ********," among other musical gems to enjoy as I see fit. And I am.
The next day, Sunday, dawned as a sunny one, full of hope and promise. Except my traveling companions felt like they could minimize the length of the trail ahead of us by simply sleeping in and taking way too long to get anything done. We left camp for the trail at noon, about four hours too late, if you ask me. An hour later the rain started, but we were in a fantastic forest on a really cool trail. We looked for, but never found the ruins, Shovel. Anyway, this is a must-camp area for another time. I can fight bugs with chemicals, should that be any reason to miss out on staying in there.
We emerged from the forest in between showers and began the climb up a shelf road, with the mighty 95 SR in the lead. It absolutely refused to cleanly climb the steps of rock in front of it. We stacked rocks, which I have not had to do in a long time. Finally, I was able to convince it to get up ordinarily doable terrain to the point where I could hand the strap of shame to HoseB's 90 on P235 all terrains to assist him up the same area, then we watched the all-locked 89 simply make a fool of us. In retrospect, we would have sent him up first. Oh well. The trail continued, and it is fantastic. And it is long. Darkness fell. So did lots of rain. Having only a cell phone picture of an incomplete map page and a twelve year old GPS unit, I made several missteps in the dark, leading us into dangerous, sliding, steep and muddy side trails. I managed to rip off the driver's side end of my front bumper while backing up (rocks win!). I finally called it quits at about 9 p.m., short of our goal of reaching Copper Creek for proper camping. Everyone slept in their trucks. I sent some texts, but my brain did not make the connection that a cell able to do that would also be able to render maps and pinpoint our location.
Monday dawned, again gleefully clear and sunny, yet the rest of the traveling circus continued their slumber as I was able to piece together where we were (one mile from the end of Rug Road and the intersection with Copper Creek Road). When we again began to move, we made the command decision to head into Mammoth for refueling, since the SWB's were running low and we last refueled in Globe, AZ, many, many miles previous. Good choice, as one took on over 13 gallons and the other 14.5 (remember the earlier statement about the 90 not running on a "low" fuel level). Then we went to fulfill our destiny, a visit to Copper Creek. Except apparently the road is damaged to the point that bollards have been placed at a point that makes passage impossible. Foiled! We backtracked to a trail leading up, thinking it would take us to a mine we spotted, but it instead led us to a point way over the surrounding terrain where we could survey a lot of trails for miles around. A way was found to bypass the road closure and we proceeded to the goal, where nothing bad happened! After lunch we ventured back to Mammoth to begin the airing up process in preparation for the voyage home.
But...HoseB pulled up and announced that "one of his pulleys was loose and his dash lit up like a Christmas tree about a mile back." You guessed it, that pulley was the crank pulley. And that bolt snapped off, deep inside that thing, yeah, all up in there. A casual text to IncorporatedX and he responded like a trailer-pulling Batman or something, driving all the way there, loading us that rusty 90 and hauling it all the way back to my house, err, I mean the walled stronghold in the middle of our territory. Got home about 9 pm.
So, of course this has been fun. Really it has. I'm thinking we should pull HoseB's engine, based on how cr@ppy the job was to get my broken crank bolt out, plus he's gonna need other stuff done now as well, you know, since it'll be apart. Hope it doesn't take a year. Like mine.
I'll get some GoPro vids up and maybe a picture or two. Right now I'm doing laundry, drinking a beer...and listening to Crotchduster.
John B.
Saturday came far too quickly. I Seafoamed the 90, pulled and cleaned the IAC (part of it looked "melted") and sprayed the throttle body and the IAC passages with a bit, not a lot, of appropriate cleaner. The smoke screen was glorious. We finally left the secure facility to head to camping at about noon, my 95, the 90 SWB and Jorge's 89 SWB. Because I sometimes slack on writing things down, all my directions existed solely in my head and we were lucky to even get to the Klondike Road turn off. This is a fun road. At least it is until the group stops and we come to realize that a bolt holding Jorge's passenger side front caliper onto the knuckle has flown off and the other one is quite loose. HoseB went to see if he could find the bolt along the dirt road while Jorge and I made sure the 89 did not bother anyone, eventually realizing that any 17mm head bolt would probably fit, as Mitsubishi is weird like that, so we removed one of his lower ball joint bolts and used it (who really needs all four of those...right?). This got us to camp.
The band Crotchduster is glorious, and I was given a thumb drive with their album "Big Fat Box of ********," among other musical gems to enjoy as I see fit. And I am.
The next day, Sunday, dawned as a sunny one, full of hope and promise. Except my traveling companions felt like they could minimize the length of the trail ahead of us by simply sleeping in and taking way too long to get anything done. We left camp for the trail at noon, about four hours too late, if you ask me. An hour later the rain started, but we were in a fantastic forest on a really cool trail. We looked for, but never found the ruins, Shovel. Anyway, this is a must-camp area for another time. I can fight bugs with chemicals, should that be any reason to miss out on staying in there.
We emerged from the forest in between showers and began the climb up a shelf road, with the mighty 95 SR in the lead. It absolutely refused to cleanly climb the steps of rock in front of it. We stacked rocks, which I have not had to do in a long time. Finally, I was able to convince it to get up ordinarily doable terrain to the point where I could hand the strap of shame to HoseB's 90 on P235 all terrains to assist him up the same area, then we watched the all-locked 89 simply make a fool of us. In retrospect, we would have sent him up first. Oh well. The trail continued, and it is fantastic. And it is long. Darkness fell. So did lots of rain. Having only a cell phone picture of an incomplete map page and a twelve year old GPS unit, I made several missteps in the dark, leading us into dangerous, sliding, steep and muddy side trails. I managed to rip off the driver's side end of my front bumper while backing up (rocks win!). I finally called it quits at about 9 p.m., short of our goal of reaching Copper Creek for proper camping. Everyone slept in their trucks. I sent some texts, but my brain did not make the connection that a cell able to do that would also be able to render maps and pinpoint our location.
Monday dawned, again gleefully clear and sunny, yet the rest of the traveling circus continued their slumber as I was able to piece together where we were (one mile from the end of Rug Road and the intersection with Copper Creek Road). When we again began to move, we made the command decision to head into Mammoth for refueling, since the SWB's were running low and we last refueled in Globe, AZ, many, many miles previous. Good choice, as one took on over 13 gallons and the other 14.5 (remember the earlier statement about the 90 not running on a "low" fuel level). Then we went to fulfill our destiny, a visit to Copper Creek. Except apparently the road is damaged to the point that bollards have been placed at a point that makes passage impossible. Foiled! We backtracked to a trail leading up, thinking it would take us to a mine we spotted, but it instead led us to a point way over the surrounding terrain where we could survey a lot of trails for miles around. A way was found to bypass the road closure and we proceeded to the goal, where nothing bad happened! After lunch we ventured back to Mammoth to begin the airing up process in preparation for the voyage home.
But...HoseB pulled up and announced that "one of his pulleys was loose and his dash lit up like a Christmas tree about a mile back." You guessed it, that pulley was the crank pulley. And that bolt snapped off, deep inside that thing, yeah, all up in there. A casual text to IncorporatedX and he responded like a trailer-pulling Batman or something, driving all the way there, loading us that rusty 90 and hauling it all the way back to my house, err, I mean the walled stronghold in the middle of our territory. Got home about 9 pm.
So, of course this has been fun. Really it has. I'm thinking we should pull HoseB's engine, based on how cr@ppy the job was to get my broken crank bolt out, plus he's gonna need other stuff done now as well, you know, since it'll be apart. Hope it doesn't take a year. Like mine.
I'll get some GoPro vids up and maybe a picture or two. Right now I'm doing laundry, drinking a beer...and listening to Crotchduster.
John B.
IncorpoRatedX
Explorer
excellent summary. It was good to see smiles on all the faces when I showed up, trailer in tow, expecting heartbreak and misery. You guys had some good fun and I bet the kids will remember it for a long time.
If I may make a request; for future rig testing maybe we should select a spot like bulldog canyon, it's a lot shorter but it's a 5 min drive for me. Not that I mind spending 4.5 hours hanging out with my friends... but you know, economically speaking, we should devote a 'proving grounds' to fresh or unknown rigs, preferably one that's easy to get my trailer to haha.
I know this trip was already in the works though, so i understand the motivation that a group event can give someone to get a rig on the road. I swapped the turbo engine into my 73 wagon to get to a mitsu meet in ohio 4 hours away once, there's a lot of fun in being dumb
Seriously though, I'm glad that 90 did such a good job on it's first voyage. That 10 year old kid that built it would be proud!
If I may make a request; for future rig testing maybe we should select a spot like bulldog canyon, it's a lot shorter but it's a 5 min drive for me. Not that I mind spending 4.5 hours hanging out with my friends... but you know, economically speaking, we should devote a 'proving grounds' to fresh or unknown rigs, preferably one that's easy to get my trailer to haha.
I know this trip was already in the works though, so i understand the motivation that a group event can give someone to get a rig on the road. I swapped the turbo engine into my 73 wagon to get to a mitsu meet in ohio 4 hours away once, there's a lot of fun in being dumb
Seriously though, I'm glad that 90 did such a good job on it's first voyage. That 10 year old kid that built it would be proud!
Bottomfeeder
Observer
Hey all! I'm trying to come out there in late May again this year. I don't know how many family members I will have with me. I am thinking about heading to the Grand Canyon this year. I would like to take the back way in to the canyon, through the reservation land. JohnnyB, I will probably have to book a room at your B&B. If that is ok with you?
ManfromSnowyRiver
Explorer
We are doing a Utah trip Memorial day weekend.
JohnnyBfromPeoria
I'm Getting Around To It
BottomFeeler, your reservation has been confirmed.
John B.
John B.
Bottomfeeder
Observer
I will probably go to Albuquerque first. Gotta stop in and say hi to mom. From there I'm thinking Flagstaff and then the Grand Canyon.