Death Valley 2008

[xonetruthcrewx]

First off, it was an awesome trip. Good hanging with the people i already knew and good meeting the ones i didnt. Weather was awesome, trails were tons of fun, and the campground was nice. No pics tonight because well...... I just dont want to do it. I will get them up tomorrow. For now i leave you with that and the carnage report.

I had a bad situation. A couple hours into the first set of trails we came across it. We were running Goler Wash and we had stopped at the Manson hideout. My friend Dave notice a fluid dripping from my truck. Upon further inspection we found that it was coolant. Not good. Not good at all. Finally figured out what had happened. During the first trail and mile after mile of my driving like a dick (pre runner style) one of the ac condenser mounts broke. The condenser then wore a pin sized hole in the radiator spewing coolant. It could have been real bad but somehow it stopped leaking. Maybe a slightly dirty radiator is the reason it stopped. Who knows. At minimum, 12 hours of driving and i only added 2 liters of water. Not bad. The condenser was secured with zip ties on the trail and is holding up just fine. Maybe some radiator stop leak and i wil call it good. We'll see.

The only other carnage was Gabe in his FJ. He managed to bend both of his lower links. Yeah, i dont know. It pretty much comes down to the fact that he needs to take a little more caution when wheeling. Ha!

[Seanz0rz]

glad you all had a great time and the damage wasnt too bad.

to gabe: you wheel it like it owes you money, and thats all you broke/bent? awesome! now go order some new, beefier ones from sonoran steel.

cant wait for pics and a full report.

[reggie 00]

Don't mess with the radiator stop leak stuff.
It will do more bad than good.

I did that in my 90 and it didn't help at all and just made a big mess.

If its a small pin hole a local radiator shop should be able to braze it for cheap.

I have my uncle (use to own a radiator shop) coming by soon to flush out patch and generally go thru the cooling system on the 90.

[slosurfer]

bummer about the radiator, sounds like a good trip otherwise. I can't wait to see the pics.

[Good Times]

jb weld!

:pics:

Someone had to right :tongueout:

[BruceTS]

can't braze plastic, but the end cap can be replaced, but if it's the core, it's made out of aluminum. Toyota red has a built-in stop leak, that will plug most small holes.....

[xonetruthcrewx]

can't braze plastic, but the end cap can be replaced, but if it's the core, it's made out of aluminum. Toyota red has a built-in stop leak, that will plug most small holes.....


Yeah, its the aluminum core. So the Toyota red has built in stop leak huh? That would explain my very little loss of fluid. Thats cool. It seems to be good for now, i will just keep an eye on it. I will be on the look out for a new oem radiator and ac condenser. Gonna check the junk yards and ebay. I like the jb weld idea though Lance. I will actually do that today.

Alright, pics coming soon.

[xonetruthcrewx]

Fish Canyon Escape Trail

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Goler Wash/Mengal Pass

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Charles Manson was caught here.

http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f392/xonetruthcrewx/4Runner%20and%20Offroading/IMG_0075copy.jpg

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Radiator Leakage

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Back on the trail.

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Gabe bent his lower links here. It was pretty damn funny watching him high center twice

http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f392/xonetruthcrewx/4Runner%20and%20Offroading/IMG_0108copy.jpg

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Mengal Pass

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Butte Valley

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Self Explainatory

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Bad Water

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The Campground

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Inyo Mine/Echo Pass

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The most difficult part of the trail. If we hadnt posed for pics, we would have been up and over it too fast to take any. Thats why there are none of Jenn and Justins rig.

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Gabe stacking rocks. Haha.

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Echo Pass. Looking out over Nevada.

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Getting fresh with the snorkle

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The reason i brought 15 gallons of gas

http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f392/xonetruthcrewx/4Runner%20and%20Offroading/IMG_0303copy.jpg

[cooldry]

Okay, here are my pics from the trip. It was really cool to see everyone. I think Colin pretty much summed everything up. The weather was great. Had a little bit of everything. Wind, rain, sun. Really looking forward to going back. I left early on Sunday so I didn't get to do any more trails other than what we did Saturday. I'm sure Jenn and Colin will have more from Sunday.

Jenn and Justin
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Colin leading
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Colin and I waiting for Gabe and Jenn
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Kicking back and enjoying the sites
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Me eating Gabe's dust
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Going through the canyon
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Manson's hideout
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Inside Manson's hideout
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Colin trying to figure out where the leak is coming from
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Checking out the view
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Jenn and Gabe's
http://i203.photobucket.com/albums/aa186/cooldry/IMG_0929.jpg

Kicking back
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View from above
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View from below
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Colin making sure gas is secure
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Jenn and Gabe speeding on the flat road.
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Jenn and Gabe breaking the LAW
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End of the trail
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Just before airing up
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[neliconcept]

das schiess, 4.16 a gal?

[cooldry]

I found a gas station 75 miles down the road and filled up there and saved some money. It was only $4.05 where I filled up. Saved myself 2 bucks. Just enough money to buy some tissue to wipe away my tears. :(

[elripster]

Awesome pics. Jenn your 4runner is the same color as my 89, brings back many good memories of that truck.

Frank

[Bob98SR5]

colin, you sick monkey! looks like you all had a great time

[xonetruthcrewx]

Well, i tried to get to the radiator and JB WWeld it. As soon as i started at it, it started leaking. I ended up having to drain the radiator, pull it off and then apply the JB Weld. Oh well. While it was off i pressure washed it. I was supprised at how much crap came out of it. I safetly wired the condenser in place also. It should all be good to go. Right On.

[YotaGirl]

Justin and I got home today. We stayed the extra night even though everyone else bailed out early.

Such a great trip. It was great seeing everyone again! We can't wait to go back and hit up the trails we missed this time. I think everyone else gave a pretty detailed trip report so I'll spare you the repetition. Pictures will be up later as the camera is still in the truck.

On Sunday evening Justin and I went back to camp for a nap. Then had dinner at the restaurant at Furnace Creek Ranch. After, we went back to camp and enjoyed a campfire for a bit then went to bed. The weather was perfect...not a cloud over head. :D In the morning we packed up and headed out. We were going to check out Scotty's Castle but decided not to as we didn't want to have to buy $4.00/gal gas. We went to Mosaic Canyon instead.

Colin, thanks for planning another great trip!

[RobG]

Looks like another great trip I couldn't make, stuck at work all weekend. Hopefully one of the next trips. Great Pictures!!

Mengal Pass looks pretty mellow. Do you think it is suitable for the wife and one daughter that are a little skittish of high ledges and off angle stuff?

Colin, I think your truck was seeking a revenge for being put up on the auction block. Glad you made it back safely.

Whats next?

[Good Times]

RobG, Mengal Pass is definitely capable by a stock vehicle. I took a few stockers a few years back with small children and nobody complained :) Come to think of it, most all of DV is pretty chill except for the switchbacks heading up to the racetrack (if you take lippincott road). That's prob the only thing that'll scare the copilots due to the ledge stuff.

[slosurfer]

Mengal Pass looks pretty mellow. Do you think it is suitable for the wife and one daughter that are a little skittish of high ledges and off angle stuff?



It's really mellow, last year surf4runner took his stock 2wd with running boards through there.

Doh! Lance beat me to it. :D

[Good Times]

o snap I totally forgot about the 2wd we had in the group! haha :)

[xonetruthcrewx]

Mengal Pass is definitely on the mellow side. Out of all the trails we did, The one very short section of Echo Pass was the only section that you needed to be equipped for. Even then, it was rather mellow. To be honest, if i still had the offroad wheels for my Touareg (31's), i could have done it all in it. I would have needed some good spotting over the Echo Pass section, but would have most likely been able to make it.

I think youre right Rob, the truck must have been paying me back. Haha. Next? Not sure. I really want to get out to numerous places though. Tahoe, Moab, Arizona, Colorado, all of those are a ways out though. I will figure it out soon enough and post up though. I can never seem to sit still for too long. A lot of the places are seasonal. I need to do some thinking.

[xonetruthcrewx]

Yeah, i spent the majority of the trip in 2wd.

[RobG]

Thanks Guys. The Wells book seemed to play it up a little but he does that on a lot of trails. I was there a year or 2 ago with the family but we kept it to the more mellow sight seeing stuff. I want to do the Racetrack loop and some of the NorthWest stuff without the Skittish CoPilots.

Did anyone see on the news last week where some guy (ex cop?) took his body sniffing dog up to the Manson hideout and it repeatedly sat on 3 or so "sites"? A little creepy.

Do you think I could tow a normal (not offroad) tent trailer through the pass? Stupid question but I thought I'd ask anyway.

So is there a post on the SouthPark Avatars? They should be mandatory.

[slosurfer]

I don't think you would want to take a pop up tent trailer through there, but maybe you could, it would definately make it more interesting.

That's creepy about the manson site, I was definately one of the most creepy places I have ever been. I don't think it is as creepy if you haven't read the book.

Southpark thread (http://www.ultimateyota.com/index.php?option=com_smf&Itemid=26&topic=3820.0)

[xonetruthcrewx]

No pics from you Jenn?

[YotaGirl]

Haha Sorry, I totally forgot I hadn't posted any pictures yet.

http://s191.photobucket.com/albums/z288/jnjhargrove/UY%20Death%20Valley%20Feb%202008/

[YotaGirl]

To make up for posting my pictures so late, I put together a slideshow to music.

http://i191.photobucket.com/albums/z288/jnjhargrove/UY%20Death%20Valley%20Feb%202008/th_DeathValley2008_0003.jpg (http://s191.photobucket.com/albums/z288/jnjhargrove/UY%20Death%20Valley%20Feb%202008/?action=view&current=DeathValley2008_0003.flv)

[sschaefer3]

Arizona

You won't be disappointed. Casey was just here. You'll have to go out with a bunch of SA trucks and tube buggies, but don't worry, we'll pull you out and weld you back together.

Here is where all the Arizona action is:

http://www.yotatech.com/f66/

Yeah I know YT, so what.

[cooldry]

Cool slideshow Jenn. It looks like you guys had alot of fun on Sunday.