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ZUKIWORLD Discussion Forum => Suzuki 4x4 Forum => Topic started by: bentparts on August 17, 2009, 12:51:35 PM
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Hey everyone, I've been working to prepare for my trip out west. For those of you that don't know, I'm driving my Tracker out to New Mexico to vist my daughter for about 10 days, then driving up to Utah where I'll be doing a 3 day trip on the White Rim Trail, back country camping along the way. Then off to Maob to play for a day or 2 while I prepare to drive back to New Jersey. I've added some travel specific modifications to the Tracker that I'd like to get some opinions on. They can all be viewed in detail at my flickr site, www.flickr.com/photos/bentparts. in the set labeled "adventure prep" Let me know what you think, Mike. PS, thanks to Skitime for the shelf idea. Here's a couple of teaser shots.
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picklefork/tyrod ends is all i see missing
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Good Idea! I have both, guess they'll go in. Bag is getting heavier all the time, I'll need a co driver to help lift it!
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I checked out your pics. Nice work. The one thing I thought that could use adjustment was the 10 gallons of water you mentioned you would carry. We did White Rim Trail with two people this summer taking 3 days and carried about 6 gallons of water. 4 gallons in RotoPax containers/1 gallon jug of spring water/6 spring water bottles. Even wiith sponge bathing/washing hair daily, we got off the trail with 3-4 gallons of water. Since that was two people and you are going alone I doubt that 10 gallons would be needed and you could reduce a lot of weight.
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Thanks Dave, Yeah, 10 Gal is probably overkill. Never know though, I may meet some hot, sweaty hiker, and she may need a shower. Anything I can do to help! My wife may be joining me, if so she'll fly out and I'll pick her up. If that's the case, 5 gal ought to do it.
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I dont know if trackicks are known for breaking u joints but on rigs in the past i always tryed to cary an extra one
David
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They're small enough, and I got an extra, so in the box it goes! thanks.
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that is freakin' rad. What type of connector do you use to charge that secondary battery? I wouldn't mind hooking up something like that in my samurai...
Have a fun trip! and take lots of pics!
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Man and I thought I was the only one who enjoyed the philosophy of "everything in its place"
nice organized easy to get to when you need it, looks good. actually looks like its gonna be a ton of fun.
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Jaunty, those are called Anderson connectors, and they are common wheelchair parts. That's where I got them anyway, but I'm sure you could find them at an electrical speciality supplier.
essjay, thanks, appreciate that . Yes, I'm one of those, a place for everything, and everything in it's place. Nothing more frustrating for me than having to spend time searching for a tool when your broke down. I just hope I've done a good enough job prepping the Tracker, and I'm patient enough to take it easy, and get there, over 2000 miles, without any drama. The Tracker is running great, engine is in great condition, same with the trans. I've done everything I could to test everything, and protect everything. Only use the best synthetic oils, Lucas stabilizer in the engine and trans. K+N air and oil filters. Got the trans cooler right up there in the wind where it'll do the most good. All the wheel bearings and brakes are fresh. Drivetrain lubed and tight. Suspension is fresh and tested. Turbo system has been tested over and over, under just about every condition I could think of or produce. Everything seems to be stable and reliable, and I have enough tools and spares so I should be able to deal with just about any incident. If not I have a credit card, cell phone, and cb! I'd feel a lot more confident if I was hauling it out there on a trailer though! I should be fine.
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NAA you will be fine, the thing that would go wrong, if anything did, is probably the turbo system, and you thought of that, by bringin everything to convert it back to NA
IMO life goes by much better if you try HARD to not worry too much about something, especially after you have done your best to prevent it, after all, there is nothing you can do but your best, and sometimes, life is a bitch like no bitch you ever met before.
looks good, I would like to do something like that, I would love to go up to the mountains somewhere and just set off and drive for a couple days to a camp site and stay for a week and fish, then drive a couple days back down, thats my idea of a vacation....lol
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Thanks Essjay, I just need to relax and enjoy it. Hell, If I wasn't presently ah, between jobs, as it were, I'd never have the time to do smething like this. It's knida funny, I was at my previous place of employment for almost 14 years. In that time I managed to get to the point where I had a total of 27 pto days each year. That works out to almost 6 weeks off, paid. No matter how far in advance I asked, once I asked and gave notice 2 YEARS in advance, I could never take more than two weeks off in a row, and that was a bitch to get. In fact, I once told them , fine, I'm going to take one week off every month all summer. Sorry, no way. Well what's the friggin point of having all that vaca if you can't use it?
I guess what I'm trying to say is, I know I'm fortunate to be able to do this.
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WOW did you work for a police department by chance? my dad is the same way, he gets all this "time off" than he ends up having to wave goodbye to, cuz they dont let him use it
I am between jobs as well, I had a good job with Select Comfort, then they railroaded a bunch of people out, telling us we violated SOP, when none of us even had an SOP manual, and our bosses were telling us it was fine to do what we were doing. Conveniently, they got rid of all the higher paid delivery guys, the new guys that were there were making 8 an hour, I was making 13, and they hired new people off the street, probably at 7 an hour knowing how bad people are looking for a job right now.
I got a part time seasonal job as a merchandiser for the Scotts Company, worked it till end of may, my boss' budget was cut. My GF of 10 years and I broke up, I had to find a new place to live with no money, thankfully we are still best friends and really only broke up cuz we were at a stalemate, neither wanted to get married, so she has helped me out, considering she is a psychologist and has a job thats pretty much guaranteed. I was on my way to look at an apartment and and my poor car became a focus sandwich, when a guy in a gunboat lincoln drive me into the car infront when he hit me at 50mph, the car was a right off, the unibody is twisted from the LR to the RF. Then I found out he didnt have insurance, so I had to find a cheap vehicle, and a 28 year old man had to ask his dad for money, I never ave had to do that, even when I was 8 I was working and making money either for my dads business he had on the side, or for the farmer next door. BUT now I have a sammy, and I ALWAYS wanted one, for years, its not in as good of shape as I would have hoped, but its not bad either.
I am pretty good at trying not to worry about things, they always seem to work out, I found a great apartment for cheap, now I just need to get a job, so far, its not been fruitful, but somehow it will work out, I might not like it, but I always try to think, no matter how bad I got it, millions of people have it worse.
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;) Hey brother, attitude is everything, and yours is a good one! It all works out eventually, all we got to do is hang in. If nothing else, the time on the road will be good for my head, and seeing my daughter after 2 years will be worth it in itself. The trip in Canyonlands, well that's just because. And besides, I'm so close it would be a sin not to! Oh, I worked for a Rehab company, building and servicing custom power wheelchairs and specialized seating systems for the handicapped. Or differently abled if you want to be politically correct. Really just another nuts and bolts job, specialized mechanics with a lot of electronics and a lot of emotional hand holding thrown in. I won't and don't miss it.
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Wow I read the Flickr post, looks like you prepare for the worst. Not bad though. Boy scouts: "always be prepared." And I thought I took a lot of stuff with me wherever I go...you can put your rig back to a whole NA system!!! Good job, looks great. You gonna throw a spare engine in the back as well??? Lol
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Good job, looks great. You gonna throw a spare engine in the back as well??? Lol
thats gonna take up all your rear shelf man.....
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;) No spare engine, but I got enough tools to strip one out of a parked Trackick if I need to! I think I'm good, there is such a thing as going overboard. Of course, I can always hook up my little trailer, 4x6' and carry everything, including my welder!
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dont forget some tp
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Good call losidriver, already thought of that. But, apparently I now have to go out and get some kind of " camp" tiolet, as your not allowed to bury your crap in a national park! This is getting kind of silly, I mean, animals crap in the wild, did you ever see bear scat! I't's a major pile! I've read about some kind of portable turd incenerator thing, so it's off to wallyworld and their extensive camping center to look for a turd burner.
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Actually you can almost go without the TP. There are very nice clean and actually unsmelly toilets with lots of TP all along your route. Every campsite has one as well even one we stayed at the was 5 miles off the White Rim Trail. That was one of the nice surprises we found when we did the trail this summer. If you do have to go before you come upon a toilet, they instruct you you to go on the road and not somewhere out of site. lol There are more toilets along the trail then if you were driving the interstate and using interstate rest stops.
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;D Now that's a relief, in more ways than one! Thanks Dave for the heads up, really appreciate it! That's going to make the trip much much better. Hows your buddy John doing? Tell him I said hello!
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Updates?
Are you trippin' yet?
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Ah, not quite yet Whit, leaving out of Jersey next Friday the 11th. Got all my mechanicals finished, all fluids changed, air filter cleaned and re-oiled, every nut, bolt and wire connection checked and rechecked, cleaned and repacked front wheel bearings, even replaced the timing belt and water pump. Rigs running like a champ. All I have to now is lay out my roof rack in the shop, and pre pack it to see how everything fits. I'll be bringing my camera, obviously, and a laptop, so I can upload photos and trip tales along the way. Google and Garmin both say the same thing: 2300 miles and aprox 33 hours driving. I plan to take a lot longer, and be easy on the equipment. Getting anxious to get on the road.
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OK guys and gals, getting close to d day ( drive day!) Leaving Saturday am, and just finishing final prep for the trip. One of the last things I did is get my roof rack mounted and figure out how I was going to pack everything. I remembered the last time I used the roof rack for a long trip, everything up there got covered in bugs and road grime, especially when it rained. I piucked up a couple of inexpensive duffle bags from REI during their Labor Day sale, and waterproofed them. Everything fits in them except my 5 gal water jug. Then I decided to build an air deflector, like the kind you'd see on the tractor of a semi. I used the same angle as the windsheild, and I think it should help. Judgeing by the way the windsheild works on my Harley, it doesn't have to be higher than the load, just the right angle to deflect the air. Going out to test everything today.
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Looking good - and happy trippin - you're actually getting started on something I've been dreaming about doing.
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no tp = by by tshirt. i hate when that happens!
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;) Ah, I'll just do like the Arabs and use my hand! Don't ever shake hands with an Arab!
Fordem, I've been trying to make this trip happen for years, and always somethiing stopped me. Now that I'm between jobs, I figure what better time? The wife aint exactly thrilled about it, but hey, I can always get a new wife, I may never be unemployed again!
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I envy you gettin' to make this trip and as always, am impressed with your preparedness and attention to detail! I know you've got to be so anxious cause I can hardly wait myself to hear about it and you haven't even left yet! I hope you have a chance to drop us a post during your trip. When should we expect you back?
I like the air dam idea but I'm thinking you should use a smooth material, not diamond plate.
Cut your wife some slack, she's married to a mad man!
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Hey LilRed! Yeah we all got our crosses to bear, my wifes is ME! and vice a versa! I should be able to update from the road, providing I can find wifi spots. Leaving saturday am, should be back in NJ ( IF I COME BACK!) sometime around the 5th/6th of October. I thought about using some nice smooth plastic material for the air dam, but all I had in the garage wide enough was left over diamond plate. I didn't want to spend any $ on it, but I guess I could have sprung for something smooth. I tried plexiglass, but all I had was 1/8th" and when I tried to put two pieces together to make it wide enough it cracked, it was too fragile. This will however give the bugs something to bounce off of! If it proves to be a failure it's only 3 bolts and some doublesided trim tape away from the dumpster. Besides, how aero does it need to be with average speed around 60!
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The diamond plate will work just fine - what we need here is something to gently (as compared to the abruptness of a vertical surface) force the air upwards - sure a smooth surface would have a wee bit less wind resistance.
With regard the wife - well - in my dream she comes along for the ride, and yes she knows about the dream, but I have no idea if our dreams coincide :laugh:
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I thought about using some nice smooth plastic material for the air dam, but all I had in the garage wide enough was left over diamond plate. I didn't want to spend any $ on it, but I guess I could have sprung for something smooth. I tried plexiglass, but all I had was 1/8th" and when I tried to put two pieces together to make it wide enough it cracked, it was too fragile. This will however give the bugs something to bounce off of! If it proves to be a failure it's only 3 bolts and some doublesided trim tape away from the dumpster. Besides, how aero does it need to be with average speed around 60!
What was I thinking? As usual, you have all ready thought it through, weighed the options and determined the best solution under all the circumstances.
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My my LilRed, you make it sound like I put some thought into these things! At this point I'm pretty sure I've overthought everything! I've been so keyed up I haven't slept well in days, I need to get to the driving just so I can finally relax!
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Good luck, drive safe. I'm watching this post for updates.
And...pictures! pictures! pictures!
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Hey All! So far the ride out has been uneventful. Tracker is running great, lots of rain. 3 days on the raod and I'm In Texsas. Camping in the rain sucks! I'm going to do a seperate writeup in the adventure forum but I've got a couple of photos in the meantime.
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(http://www.zukiworld.com/forum/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=25956.0;attach=12936;image)
Ha Ha Ha Ha! Thanks for that!!
Good to hear from you!
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Hey all! Made it out to Silver City NM with only one minor issue. One of the cooloant hoses to my turbo sprung a small leak near the clamp on the turbo. It figures, I had it on and off at least a dozen times and I must have nicked it pushing it on with a screwdriver. I pulled into the shade of a car wash in Truth or Concenquences NM, and in about 45 min I had the leaking end trimmed off and reinstalled. End of problem.
The drive through Texas and New Mexico was the most difficult. The climb up the Colorado Plateau lasted almost 700 miles, uphill all the way, from sea level to an elevation of 6000 ft here in the southwest part of NM. Of course the mountain passes being much higher. The turbo boost guage was reading boost almost the whole time, in order to keep it at or near 65mph. Usually no more than 0 to 2lbs, only going higher when I really gassed it to climb a paticularly steep grade. I did find the "sweet spot" for running at highway speeds is about 4000 rmp. At that speed I'm running about 68mph, and right in the meat of the powerband torque wise. It will pull uphill on the cruise control without slowing down too much, 2/3 mph. Gas mileage is less than I expected, closer to 18mpg average for the trip, but considering it was on boost most of the time, that's not too bad, and I could run near 70 getting that. Going back to NJ should be much better, seeing that it will be downhill all the way. The Tracker used no measurable amount of oil during the 2000 mile drive, and ran like clockwork. Aside from the small coolant hose leak, all the turbo related stuff performed flawlessly so far. The manifold and all the other parts I built seem to be holding up just fine. I can't seem to find anything higher than 90/91 octane premimum out here, but it doesn't seem to be an issue, no pinging or any other sign of detonation.
I turned 100000 miles on my odometer and of course the check engine light came on, but it's a non issue. I'll find the switch later and pop it off.
I'll be here in the southern NM area for about 9 days visiting my daughter and then it's down to El Paso Texsas to pick up my wife at the airport there. Then it's up to Utah for some serious wheeling adventures.
I'll keep posting pictures and updates along the way. I ran a bit low on fuel at one point but was curious to see just how far I could go on a tank. The needle actually got below the "E" on the guage but I still had a gallon left when I filled it up. Yes, I do keep gas in the jerry can just in case!
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Sounds like your adventure is going great. Can't wait to see your Utah pics. Wish I would be wheeling with you there.
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I ran My sami on E for two days before it ran out of gas, It's a good thing I keep 2.5 gal on my AAA card ;) JK I had some gas with me
It look like a great trip so far
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Are you planning on coming up to the Salt Lake area on your trip? Would love to see your rig.
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I find it amusing that your GPS sits where a rear view mirror normally does. Who need to see where you have been when you can see where your going. :D
Yes, I realize it's probably the picture, but that's no fun.
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Hey all! After spending over a week in Southern New Mexico visiting with my daughter and seeing all the sights, we are now in Moab preparing for our back country trip into the Canyonlands National park. The Tracker has been running great, with no issues to report. Other than having to keep the pedal to the floor to climb some of the longer steeper grades in the mountains, it's been very dependable. I put another 1000 miles on it in New Mexico, and once we got to Moab I changed the oil and filter in a motel parking lot. The only issue I can see is my Calmini front coils are starting to sag once again. Not much, but I'm guessing after wheeling here in Moab there going to be shot.
Of course, after being on the road for over two weeks, I've discovered I severely overpacked. The poor Tracker has been carrying on admirably, even though it's busting at the seams with too much extra junk packed into it and on it. Before we head out into the trails we are going to stop at the local UPS store and unload as much as possible to ship back home. the goal is to try and get everything off the roof to reduce the wind resistance and lower the center of gravity.
There is just so much here in Moab and the surrounding areas to wheel it's really hard to pick what to do. We have 3 days on the White Rim Trail, and a couple days after before my wife needs to board a plane back to NJ. We're going to try and do some trails here in Moab on the slick rock, and maybe spend a day in Arches as well. The pictures are scattered over 4 cameras, my daughter having the majority of them. I will organize and post them once I'm home.
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Hey all! Back home in NJ and will be putting together a detailed write up of the trip in the Adventure section soon.
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Looking forward to it man.
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Looking forward to it man.
Me too!
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Good to know the first trip went without engine problems. Congrats and welcome back. :D