TeamCF

I had to go poke around up ther a bit tonight (aviation nut, so the airstrip called to me, hehe) and drove the length of the airstrip (according to the GPS). It would seem you found it. The big puddles are on the south end of it. The long straight road is the strip. I could see once driving down it that the old growth was cut back wide enough for a plane to land. Seems they have not used it in many years. The other end was just a big turn around (A heli could proly land there) and some campers when I went. Puddles at the south end. To the left out of frame are the deep ruts around a bush.

Very nice.

Wish I could make this one. Went a few years ago and it was a blast.

Love it. That would be a great setup for extended backroad camping trips.

Do the dual stick mod as mentioned and just use lo/1st as your first gear. Shift to hi for "second" then use you gear shift as normal. Sounds wierd but I've noticed that the lo range is really just like having one more first gear under the hi range first. (at least in some experimental driving on gravel roads it certainly feels that way.) (note it actually changes all the ratios as the lo range does it's reduction before the power enters the rest of the tranny, poke around, you'll find more info on it) So you don't have to drive around all the time in lo, just use it to get going. If that makes sense...

I've bent one. Was told to weld a piece of angle iron (1/2"-3/4") the length of it. I think it was Turbone who told me about that. (?)

Nice. A bit of water there.

Very nice. Great way to get familiar with a new ride.

They do tons of trips. One coming up is a Steens trip. http://www.pnwadventures.com/forum/ I'm in need of tires and funds are low right now or I'd be hitting up more of thier runs. They want me to go on the Sttens one but I just don't think I can pull it off right now. Just got a $145 speeding ticket yesterday. Close to the same spot Gregg and I got pulled over in our Soobs out near the coast. This time I was in the Focus and the Trooper decided he'd had enough of me. (That's what I get for blowing off that punk in the M3.)

Thanks for the offer. I still may have to pass though. $$ is tight this summer and there are alot of other things demanding what little there is. Plus time has become an issue. I may have to skip this and WCSS. Life has taken some turns and Soob stuff just hit the far far far back burner. Guess I'll know as things get closer.

Not sure about making this one now. My worn out tires will most likely not be replaced by then. (no $$$) And I've gone back to the open diff camp so that's 2 strikes against me for this run.

Cool. Practically my backyard. (sorta)

27"s aired down. I've ran welded and un-welded diffs and really didn't notice a difference for dunes. Though I'm sure a situation could come up where the welded will make the difference. My tires now are about 26". For sand aired down to 10-15psi and I run out of power with the EA81 long before lack of flotation becomes an issue. 15-to 20 psi seems good for general playing around go further down if ya need to. I stuck myself the first time I took my Soob to the dunes being stupid and stopping before the top. Went to go again and found I could not even back back down it. I was at 15psi. I went down to 10psi and was able to drive right out. Gotten about the same results this winter in deep snow with street pressure vs. aired down. This reminds me it's been a couple weeks since I've hit the sand. Should take the Soob out and get it gritty.

Yup 2 nuts on each front strut, one adjuster under the rear seat like was said. Been driving my GL cranked up for 2 years now with no ill effects on the tires. They wear quite evenly and slowly up front. But I go through front axles like mad. Inner joints tend to not like the angle all the time. At this point theres no turning back for me as mine siezed and the threads got all chewed, they are stuck in the "upright" position. So if you plan on needing to change it back I'd suggest some antiseize on the threads and check, clean, lube, them often to make sure they'll move when you want them to.

Ouch. If that was the "Bates Road Trail" I know how nasty that one can be. I was a bit intimidated by it when my buddy showed it to me. (he drives a fully modded out Rubicon) I went for it and felt a rollover or at least a good stuckage was eminent. Got lucky though and was able to pick my way up it. He later told me, after we got to the top, that he knows guys with full on rock buggies that are scared of that one. Fact he watched a pretty stock Soob (I did have a welded rear at the time) go up it meant he was gonna go laugh at them. Going back down was a bit more hairy than up it. I did it when it was bone dry though, so traction was a bit more on my side. Looks like you may have had some wet to deal with, hope not too much damage was done. Been avoiding that one till mid summer so it can be dry myself. We all need to get together for some wheelin'. Been awhile since I've gotten to hit the trails with Michael.

Sounds like a plan that needs to be made at some point.

Soobs on the dunes are a blast. Air down and keep moving and they tend to go most places you point them. While we were out there the burgandy Jeep went romping up a big dune that had a step in it. I decided to follow but turn left at the step as the top half was steep and not quite a vehicle width wide (we were going up the corner of a multi sided dune). So I had to hit it precise and there was no backing down if I didn't make it. Well I still had some speed after the first half so I kept going. Almost made the top and buried it. Had to get winched up as it was sliding back down and off the side. Would have been a barrel roll off the top of a 200 foot dune. Not good. They were still impressed by how far I made it though.

I'm part of the PNWBA. They do long backroad excursions and such with various levels of wheeling thrown in. This past weekend was a trip out to the Christmas Valley area. I myself covered about 250 or so miles of dirty goodness. Took off Friday morning. I got down close to the area and was greeted with a sign stating I was now entering the "Oregon Outback". Well seeing that right there got the school girl giggle out of me. My Subaru was home. So I pressed on to the meeting spot at the dunes. Got there and set up camp, then went out an played a bit on the sand. Came back to camp had some Dinty Moore beef stew heated up right in the can. Ran into town (all of an airport, gas station, church, and auto parts store), filled up the tank, waited for dark and did some more dune fun. got up Saturday for the big run. 100+ miles of desert trail goodness. We left camp at about 9:30am via a route through the Lost Forest. The trees there are genetically different than any other trees in the world. They can survive on half the water that they normally require. So it's protected but there is one trail you are allowed to go through on. and we got back to camp about 11:30pm or so. Awesome. Then Sunday some of us that didn't have to leave right away went for a small tour around the area. After getting to the northern most point on the tour, and I was the last one except for the organizer that lives in the area, I split off and headed north on back roads and trails. I figured I had close to a full tank, spare gas in the back, still had food, still had 2.5 gallons of water plus all the other beverages I took.... I was gonna just backcountry it halfway home. Who needs stupid pavement?!?!?! hehe (my only glitch was my air compressor gave up when I did reach pavement around Bend, so I had to venture on my aired down tires to find air, Squishy! Time for a new compressor) Marked some caves to go check out with more daylight on the GPS. They don't put them on maps anymore and they took most of the signs leading you to them down. But you can still check out a couple of them, and a couple are permit only type deals. but with a bit of inside info, an old map, and some luck I found them. And the rest is boring highway travel. hehe. Got home about 1 am last night. Group shot before leaving for the long outing saturday. Dirty Soobs on a dry lake bed. The inside and I were just as filthy. Crack in the ground. Two miles long and has snow almost all year long in the bottom. Lunch with a view on my way home. There is a mile wide crater behind me. There were planty of wild horses I didn't get any good pics of. And on the last day one of the veterans with one of the Jeeps said he comented to the other guys when I pulled up on friday to camp "I hope he dosent think he's gonna get that on the dunes!" After awhile and seeing me blast up a few of the bigger hills he said he had his mouth wide open with his foot in it. And he's buying his wife one. Another was convinced I had about 20 years of wheeling under my belt. I told him only a few years of going out 2-3 times a week to become one with the Soob. It was good times. Can't wait for the next event. But all the obsidian thrashed my tires time for new ones.

That one with it on it's side looks like the Bates Road trail. I love that trail. The left line is good times.

I would but I'll be dong an "expedition style" run down in in the SE Oregon desert. 3 days of exploring. Got my Jerry can filled.

http://www.gowesty.com/main.php Not really to do with conversions. But they have all kinds of 4WD kits, lift kits and such. Rebuilt lockers. Lots of goodies for the VW vans of all years. They were just featured in 4Wheel & Off-Road.

Last time I used a combo of GPS/odo readings to calculate it with a few fill ups I was getting close to 35 doing the trip from Sandy to TSF several times. This is mostly highway with a crossing through Portland thrown in. 1983 GL, 4 speed dual range. Hitachi carb with lots of crap stripped off of it and all new vacume lines.

Looks like a good time. Alot of the guys that run out at TSF have square front drivelines on thier rigs. Watched guys have thier truck "walk" across a rock on the front shaft without it bending. Pretty burly stuff.

^ Yup. For instance. With the type of trips I'm doing now in mine. I actually ditched the welded diff and went back to open. I'm doing alot of long backroad trips so comfort, and long term reliability wins out over the advantage of the welded diff. I no longer need all that traction so why wear things out faster? Carrying extra fuel, camping gear, and powerful radios wins out over extra traction and a need for spare parts. That's been my kind of "backwards" progression. Found I like the long scenic overland trips a bit better than the hardcore trails. We all build 'em to our needs/wants. and we all don't have the same needs/wants. Yeah Zap. That's a bit more space between the ball and the exhaust than mine.