If you don't mind 3 potentially restless kids, I'll make sure my wife doesn't have other plans this weekend. You all generally keep to an area south of Duncan?
Totally! The more the merrier. There's not much south of Duncan. The nearest spot is Hill 60, which is along Hwy 18 between Duncan and Lake Cowichan. I was kind of hoping to go further North this weekend, just because I did Hill 60 twice in the past couple weeks. But I'm open! Maybe there's another spot not too far that someone else can suggest.
Back in 2010 I did an event with the Island4x4 folks near Duncan - they called it the Mt. Provost trail, though it doesn't go to the top of Provost. Lead to some unmarked campsite along a river. If my 16 year old GPS still turns on, I may have the tracklog.
Yeah! I think I know that one too. Some of it was gated last time I checked, but maybe it's open now since the fire ban is lifted. It connects nicely with Hill 60 too so I guess I kind of group those areas together in my mind.
Let's do Secret Lake over by Jordan River! It's not too far from Vic, and it's a shorter run, so probably a good test with the kids :) And if we want to do some additional exploring after that, we can! I don't know that area much except for Secret Lake.
Sounds good. I've been to that spot before, but it was in 2006.
Is it possible to make it 11 AM? It is nearly impossible for me to get 3 kids suited up and on site by 10. Let's just say that they are definitely no where near the age of independence. Do you guys bring CB's or walkies? I can bring both if there is a preference.
All sounds good to me! Alex what time where you thinking of getting there, I'd be up for a little extra cruising in the morning and then we can all meet at 11am and head to the lake from there?
JH, do you know that area at all? I was just chatting with felpoa in our PMs and he's hoping for something challenging so the kids stay entertained. The Secret Lake route itself isn't all that difficult. Is there anything around there that meets that criteria?
If not, then maybe we just do Mt Prevost or Hill 60 after all. It's a guaranteed good time with enough obstacles to keep the kids happy.
Been out there a few times but mostly trail runs out there nothing too challenging that I've found. Hill 60/mt prevost is good with me, certainly some more challenging stuff up that way.
What/where is Skutz Falls? I once had to winch my Jeep through a washout on a road up by Strathcona and that was not fun at all. There was already a Jeep fallen down the bank. I don't think we're ready for going along a steep cliff side with narrow switchbacks. Three kids screaming in the back is pretty distracting.
Which power line? I remember the island4x4 guys used to to ride around some power lines near Sooke. No real destination though.
Skutz Falls is basically across the highway from Hill 60. The power lines were pretty intense. Not so bad going up but really bad coming down. There’s another route down, but we missed it hahah
Let’s stick with Hill 60 for now, but we can discuss once we meet up. I’m fine with either.
Spent all afternoon re-routing my power steering cooling lines, because my bumper left the stock routing exposed and it was only a matter of time before a stick caught a line. So tomorrow will be a bit of a test, with frequent fluid and temp checks haha. I’ll be bringing extra fluid and hoses in case anything goes bad.
Next job will be to relocate my washer fluid reservoir.
Most of the area is used quite a bit, so you never know what we’ll run into but I haven’t come across any down trees yet.
If we end up checking Skutz Falls area, Justin and I did run into some down trees last time. We could come prepared and try to get past those. Might as well bring it if it’s sharp and ready to roll :) mine needs to be sharpened, so it’s not much use at the moment. I’ll bring my sawz-all with a demo blade though, just in case!
It's an Oregon 36 V chainsaw with an auto sharpen feature. Even though there are better battery powered chainsaws, e.g. from Stihl, I was sold on this little lever you hold down for 3-5 seconds while running the blade and it sharpens the blade for you. I know how easily chains go dull and got sick of manually sharpening chains. I have about 9 Ah of battery life.
Was a good day, but my high PSI power steering pump started leaking quite a bit. I'll probably be out of commission for some time. Seems unlikely that that local autopart stores will stock this speciality item.
Hope you guys had a fun time! About an hour into the morning run with Justin I blew a tire on a sharp stump. Ripped the sidewall right open. Then once we winched up to flat ground and put my spare on, something in my rear axle was making noise, so I decided to call it a day and get it towed home. The more I think about it, the more I think that the noise was just caused by my spare being slightly smaller than the rest of my tires, so when my t-case was locked in 4wd it was binding the gears a bit. I should have tested it with the t-case unlocked to see what happened. Oh well, better safe than sorry!
That's too bad about your ps pump feipoa, hopefully not too difficult to source parts for it. And no damage to your rear axle would be nice Alex! Those things are build pretty tough to handle the V8 I'm sure...
Was a good day but had some issues with my brakes towards the end and also seemed to have knocked my front alignment out a bit, one tire is visibly toed in compared to the other so a few things to work on.
Later, Rubiconx13 and I went over to the Skutz Falls area. There was a pretty neat trail going up of moderate-ish difficulty. That's where my steering pump started leaking. Luckily I had a can of power steering fluid with me. Jeep's parked with a bucker under the front now. Unfortunately, the Jeep is the daily driver. However, I think it only leaks once the vehicle is shut off, but it looks a decent amount for a full 1 minute before it stops.
Getting a replacement pump is proving a challenge. AGR, who made my previous high flow pump, was later bought out and the AGR brand turned to junk. I was advised not to even bother ordering the new pump from AGR. I'm considering something a bit more elegant, like the Power Lee Steering pumps: https://leepowersteering.com/collections/power-steering-pumps/products/s...
or PSC kit with remote resivoir. Unfortunately, I read that mounting the PSC pump in an XJ with proper clearance can be a challenge. This makes the Lee pump look more attractive, but the website mentions a 10-15 day build-to-order delay. I'm not sure how many gallons of power steering fluid it will take to wait for the order. Unfortuntaely, all this fancy stuff comes from the USA, with all that glorified slow shipping and duties.
If anyone has a better recommendation for an XJ high flow power steering pump, I'm listening.
Wow! Even with the minor bit of carnage it looks like I missed out on a fun day! Hopefully be able to catch a run soon! I have been feeling the pull to get out there! Lol
If you don't mind 3 potentially restless kids, I'll make sure my wife doesn't have other plans this weekend. You all generally keep to an area south of Duncan?
Totally! The more the merrier. There's not much south of Duncan. The nearest spot is Hill 60, which is along Hwy 18 between Duncan and Lake Cowichan. I was kind of hoping to go further North this weekend, just because I did Hill 60 twice in the past couple weeks. But I'm open! Maybe there's another spot not too far that someone else can suggest.
Back in 2010 I did an event with the Island4x4 folks near Duncan - they called it the Mt. Provost trail, though it doesn't go to the top of Provost. Lead to some unmarked campsite along a river. If my 16 year old GPS still turns on, I may have the tracklog.
Yeah! I think I know that one too. Some of it was gated last time I checked, but maybe it's open now since the fire ban is lifted. It connects nicely with Hill 60 too so I guess I kind of group those areas together in my mind.
Let's do Secret Lake over by Jordan River! It's not too far from Vic, and it's a shorter run, so probably a good test with the kids :) And if we want to do some additional exploring after that, we can! I don't know that area much except for Secret Lake.
We can meet here: https://goo.gl/maps/qv1ZRGiPEr8ZEwnC7
How's 10am on Sunday?
Sounds good. I've been to that spot before, but it was in 2006.
Is it possible to make it 11 AM? It is nearly impossible for me to get 3 kids suited up and on site by 10. Let's just say that they are definitely no where near the age of independence. Do you guys bring CB's or walkies? I can bring both if there is a preference.
Sure, 11am is good! I might go up earlier and cruise around a bit. I have FRS radios, I can lend you one if you don't have one.
All sounds good to me! Alex what time where you thinking of getting there, I'd be up for a little extra cruising in the morning and then we can all meet at 11am and head to the lake from there?
JH, do you know that area at all? I was just chatting with felpoa in our PMs and he's hoping for something challenging so the kids stay entertained. The Secret Lake route itself isn't all that difficult. Is there anything around there that meets that criteria?
If not, then maybe we just do Mt Prevost or Hill 60 after all. It's a guaranteed good time with enough obstacles to keep the kids happy.
Up to you guys, I'm good with anything!
Been out there a few times but mostly trail runs out there nothing too challenging that I've found. Hill 60/mt prevost is good with me, certainly some more challenging stuff up that way.
Cool, I'm good with that too. What do you think felpoa? We can meet here at 11: https://goo.gl/maps/d4954W5H2wZPJxCGA
Justin, if you want to meet earlier and do a bit extra, let's do it. I could do as early as 9.
That all sounds good to me I could do 9am!
You guys could do Skutz Falls again, but take the bypass around the descent of the mountain! Haha! :)
Haha if the kids want an adventure, we’ll send them down the power line!
What/where is Skutz Falls? I once had to winch my Jeep through a washout on a road up by Strathcona and that was not fun at all. There was already a Jeep fallen down the bank. I don't think we're ready for going along a steep cliff side with narrow switchbacks. Three kids screaming in the back is pretty distracting.
Which power line? I remember the island4x4 guys used to to ride around some power lines near Sooke. No real destination though.
Hey Alex I'd be down for a run on Sunday. Let me know the details once you get everything sorted.
Skutz Falls is basically across the highway from Hill 60. The power lines were pretty intense. Not so bad going up but really bad coming down. There’s another route down, but we missed it hahah
Let’s stick with Hill 60 for now, but we can discuss once we meet up. I’m fine with either.
Awesome Sheldon! We’ll be meeting here at 9am, and then meeting up with feipoa at 11 at the same spot. https://goo.gl/maps/d4954W5H2wZPJxCGA
Is that location you marked on the google map the spot you all air down at? Or is there another location for that?
That’s a good staging area to air down!
Hey! If you guys don't mind I wouldn't mind joining. What sort of run is this? I have a basically stock XJ on KO2s.
Hey Sam, you should be fine in that. I did this run when my 4runner was stock. I rubbed my underbelly a bit, but not too bad. You're welcome to join!
Spent all afternoon re-routing my power steering cooling lines, because my bumper left the stock routing exposed and it was only a matter of time before a stick caught a line. So tomorrow will be a bit of a test, with frequent fluid and temp checks haha. I’ll be bringing extra fluid and hoses in case anything goes bad.
Next job will be to relocate my washer fluid reservoir.
See y’all tomorrow!
Sorry, I don't know squat about Toyotas.
Any need for an electric chainsaw on this run? Are there any old overgrown forest roads worth exploring with downed trees?
Hah all good! I just felt like sharing my work.
Most of the area is used quite a bit, so you never know what we’ll run into but I haven’t come across any down trees yet.
If we end up checking Skutz Falls area, Justin and I did run into some down trees last time. We could come prepared and try to get past those. Might as well bring it if it’s sharp and ready to roll :) mine needs to be sharpened, so it’s not much use at the moment. I’ll bring my sawz-all with a demo blade though, just in case!
Cheers
It's an Oregon 36 V chainsaw with an auto sharpen feature. Even though there are better battery powered chainsaws, e.g. from Stihl, I was sold on this little lever you hold down for 3-5 seconds while running the blade and it sharpens the blade for you. I know how easily chains go dull and got sick of manually sharpening chains. I have about 9 Ah of battery life.
Was a good day, but my high PSI power steering pump started leaking quite a bit. I'll probably be out of commission for some time. Seems unlikely that that local autopart stores will stock this speciality item.
Hope you guys had a fun time! About an hour into the morning run with Justin I blew a tire on a sharp stump. Ripped the sidewall right open. Then once we winched up to flat ground and put my spare on, something in my rear axle was making noise, so I decided to call it a day and get it towed home. The more I think about it, the more I think that the noise was just caused by my spare being slightly smaller than the rest of my tires, so when my t-case was locked in 4wd it was binding the gears a bit. I should have tested it with the t-case unlocked to see what happened. Oh well, better safe than sorry!
That's too bad about your ps pump feipoa, hopefully not too difficult to source parts for it. And no damage to your rear axle would be nice Alex! Those things are build pretty tough to handle the V8 I'm sure...
Was a good day but had some issues with my brakes towards the end and also seemed to have knocked my front alignment out a bit, one tire is visibly toed in compared to the other so a few things to work on.
If we put all our vehicles together we might have one functioning rig!
Sorry to hear everyone. Still looks like a good day out there.
Later, Rubiconx13 and I went over to the Skutz Falls area. There was a pretty neat trail going up of moderate-ish difficulty. That's where my steering pump started leaking. Luckily I had a can of power steering fluid with me. Jeep's parked with a bucker under the front now. Unfortunately, the Jeep is the daily driver. However, I think it only leaks once the vehicle is shut off, but it looks a decent amount for a full 1 minute before it stops.
Getting a replacement pump is proving a challenge. AGR, who made my previous high flow pump, was later bought out and the AGR brand turned to junk. I was advised not to even bother ordering the new pump from AGR. I'm considering something a bit more elegant, like the Power Lee Steering pumps: https://leepowersteering.com/collections/power-steering-pumps/products/s...
or PSC kit with remote resivoir. Unfortunately, I read that mounting the PSC pump in an XJ with proper clearance can be a challenge. This makes the Lee pump look more attractive, but the website mentions a 10-15 day build-to-order delay. I'm not sure how many gallons of power steering fluid it will take to wait for the order. Unfortuntaely, all this fancy stuff comes from the USA, with all that glorified slow shipping and duties.
If anyone has a better recommendation for an XJ high flow power steering pump, I'm listening.
Wow! Even with the minor bit of carnage it looks like I missed out on a fun day! Hopefully be able to catch a run soon! I have been feeling the pull to get out there! Lol