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Pretty rad dad pad posted:Tires on the one above are Cooper STT Pros which I can't see making much sense in the desert, by my understanding you basically want the least aggressive tire you can get away with for that sort of environment as throwing a bunch of dirt around is counterproductive. Great as backwoods tow truck dodger tires however (just, no ice please). I'm not following that, the STT Pros are extremely popular here in AZ and there is no shortage of dust and dirt to kick up on the trails. I'm running the Evolution M/T mostly because it's much cheaper than the STT Pro, but it's aggressive/loud enough that I wouldn't run it on something that's actually doing commute duty as well.
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May 10, 2022 18:26
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FogHelmut posted:I'm going to be driving from SoCal to Vail, CO next month for a wedding. Rationale is that flying is a full day when you go all-in with the getting to the airport, going through security, getting on the plane, getting off the plane, getting a rental car, driving to Vail from Denver, and bring two small children along with it. Might as well just drive for only a few extra hours when everyone can be comfortable in the car and you can stop whenever and you dont have to drag baby seats between vehicles and planes. Make sure you get the national parks app so you can book a visiting slot for Arches, it's like Disney now so every few days or evenings they open up entry slots for the park for $2. Then you get a one-hour window to get into the park, it's to mitigate the insane amount of crowds trying to get in. I was in Moab the week or two after Easter Jeep Weekend and Arches was slammed and Canyonlands had up to a 45-60 minute wait at the main gate [which really didn't stop me, I took the back way in via potash/Schafer road  ] a good alternative in the area would be the Utah Dead Horse Point State park which has a lot of nice views over the area.Alternatively, if you aren't bombing down I-70 back to Socal via I15, and you haven't been there yet, I'd recommend cutting across Arizona from Moab via Monument valley. Just go south from Moab via US 191 and then when you hit Bluff UT use the westward route along 163 to Mexican Hat -> Kayenta. Lots of great views, plus there's vehicle access via the Navajo Park for about $20 per vehicle so you can drive a 45-60 minute scenic trail loop in monument valley. Once in Kayenta just head Southwest towards Flagstaff and hook up at I-40. Big K of Justice fucked around with this message at 01:07 on May 11, 2022 |
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May 11, 2022 01:04
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Monument Valley is on the list, might wait until we have more time. We did Flagstaff and Sedona in the fall over Thanksgiving week, and even that felt like a jam packed schedule. Good call with the app though. It took us 45 minutes to get into the Grand Canyon on that trip. And another 45 minutes to get into Joshua Tree over the winter. FogHelmut fucked around with this message at 01:20 on May 11, 2022 |
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May 11, 2022 01:17
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IOwnCalculus posted:I'm not following that, the STT Pros are extremely popular here in AZ and there is no shortage of dust and dirt to kick up on the trails. I'm running the Evolution M/T mostly because it's much cheaper than the STT Pro, but it's aggressive/loud enough that I wouldn't run it on something that's actually doing commute duty as well. Hey, I don't know, the nearest desert to where I am is like 12 hours drive away ( and in the Yukon  )I was under the impression though that while MTs were popular for rock crawling they were more liable to very efficiently excavate a hole straight down in soft sand vs your AT or etc type tire. I find the STTs not too bad, to be honest. Really loud between about 50-70kph but then it seems to drop off quite sharply to the point of being easy to ignore. Whether that'll still be the case a few months down the line is the real question I suppose. Would be infuriating if I was doing much driving in town but hey, finally an upside to being in the back o'beyond...
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May 11, 2022 02:12
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The lightest LT E load tire seems to be the Firestone Destination XT at 45 lbs for 265/70/17, but it doesn't test well in performance ratings. User reviews put it much higher though. But also I don't like Firestone's font and it wont look nice with the white letters. Looking at the Cooper Discoverer AT3 LT in C load, it actually has a lower weight rating - 2470 lbs - vs their P tire at 2670 lbs, which I thought should be higher since LT tires have thicker walls. Still wondering if LT is overkill, but I do understand the need for a safety margin.
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May 11, 2022 23:33
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FogHelmut posted:The lightest LT E load tire seems to be the Firestone Destination XT at 45 lbs for 265/70/17, but it doesn't test well in performance ratings. User reviews put it much higher though. But also I don't like Firestone's font and it wont look nice with the white letters. Your safety margin isn't in payload (which is mostly irrelevant on a midsize pickup - you're not putting 10,000lbs on those four wheels!) but tire durability/off-road performance - more rubber, more tread depth, stronger sidewalls, less siping (so less rock chipping) etc. That's not an E vs D vs C vs P or whatever load thing, generally, just an LT vs not, thing. (iirc LT payload ratings are also understated by about 10%, by design since some 'extra' abuse expectation is built in) The load range isn't really about payload per se. Or, it is, sort of, but as much as anything it's a shorthand for max inflation pressure. Your E load tires will be built up so they can hold 80psi or so. C is I think 50? I don't know offhand if it varies a bit per manufacturer or whether it's a very standardised thing. Your payload rating is at max pressure for a given tire - so an E tire rated for 3000lbs is rated for that at 80psi, because it's not really about strength there but rather heat buildup/dissipation. Usually the payload rating at an equivalent pressure will be lower on an LT tire I think, yeah, because there's more Stuff there and they'll heat up a bit more. You are not, obviously, going to want to run 80psi on a Colorado, at least if you want your teeth to stay in your head. Or even 50 - probably about 32-35. Basically whatever pressure matches the equivalent payload point of the OEM tires is usually a good place to start (the technically ideal way to figure it being to grab a piece of chalk, mark the tires and just...look at the pattern they leave on the ground). This is a part of why LT tires are by reputation so much harsher - people just look at the max inflation pressure and go 'oh, ok, I have to put that much air in then'. They definitely will be harsher, for sure, but for a similar tire (like the AT3 LT vs AT3 4S) at proper pressure shouldn't be all that much worse. Running E load will be a bit harsher than C load, though, for no real benefit (as you'll never use the higher pressure and they're not generally meaningfully more robust afaik).
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May 12, 2022 03:22
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So the C load is thicker/tougher than the P even though it holds less weight for reasons of materials science, which is counterintuitive.
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May 12, 2022 04:33
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Define "tougher" but yes that might well be the case. The last tire I bought where I was checking against both LT and metric sizes was the AT3Ws I had on my WJ in 245/70R17. The metric tires have a 30.6" overall diameter, 13/32" tread depth, weigh 39.9lb, and have a max capacity of 2601lb at 50psi. The LT tires (which I ended up going with) have a 30.8" overall diameter, 17/32" tread depth, weigh 48.3lb, but had a payload capacity of 3000lb at 80psi. But at any pressure that both tires can run, the LT will have a lower weight capacity. That extra 10 pounds of rubber isn't just in the extra 1/8" tread depth. Thicker carcass, thicker sidewalls, things that will make the tire that can't carry as much weight (at the same pressure) better able to withstand damage on trails.
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May 12, 2022 04:51
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 A lot of this stuff is a bit counterintuitive, some of it varies by tire model/producer in ways that may never be known by anyone but the engineers, and there's legions of idiotic windbags on the internet who will happily say a bunch of absolute nonsense to anyone who'll liste...oh dear. I mean, there's things you look at that are superficially odd. The LT tire has more tread depth, so there's more rubber there, so it'll last longer! Except, if you look at an LT and non, both with a warranty, the non will be warrantied to last longer. IE...there's more material...and also it'll wear quicker. Sounds nuts, but then you think, the composition of the material won't be the same - maybe you have harder or softer rubber, more or less silica, more or less other junk in there, maybe the design is subtly different, maybe it's just about the use the designers expected each to get, maybe reinforcement in other places is putting extra pressure on the tread, maybe...you get the point, it's just a rabbit hole.
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May 12, 2022 06:04
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I'm a big dummy when it comes to car stuff, specifically this tire talk. Is there a reputable website that you all recommend I can bookmark for tire research? I'm thinking my stock Goodyear's only have about 10k of tread life left, so I'm looking into it now. E:. Or I guess I can post in here when the time comes.
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May 12, 2022 06:23
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FWIW: I run 235/85R16 E-Load BFG A/T KO2s on my Transit 350 van which has a camper build out and have done hundreds of miles on razor rock roads thru the Death Valley backcountry (both crawling and at 55mph) and didn’t have one issue with durability. Until I picked up a random chunk of metal on the paved road out of the park which gave me a slow enough leak I could get to the tire shop in the nearest town 30 miles away. Trade off is they’re noisy as gently caress, so if that bothers you, not a good choice. Also 
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May 12, 2022 15:41
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Evil SpongeBob posted:I'm a big dummy when it comes to car stuff, specifically this tire talk. Is there a reputable website that you all recommend I can bookmark for tire research? I'm thinking my stock Goodyear's only have about 10k of tread life left, so I'm looking into it now. Basically same, except I want to replace whatever my third hand tundra came with, and I want to know more now that we're hauling a camping shell
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May 12, 2022 15:51
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Tire Rack is still probably the best site around for research, but if you're looking in this thread in particular for advice then the broad stroke recommendations are pretty easy because your only real choice is going to be either "I want an off-road capable tire that doesn't sacrifice much on-road" or "I want an off-road tire and don't give any fucks about road manners". For the former, take your pick from the crop of brand-name aggressive all-terrain tires - BFG KO2, Falken AT3W, etc. If it's from a brand you've actually heard of and it's available in flotation sizes, it's probably good enough for the vast majority of trails but also won't make you hate life on the road. If you don't care about tire noise or the types of vibration that can't be resolved by balancing, then the answer is a mud-terrain tire from the same group of companies - BFG KM3, Cooper STT Pro or Evo MT, Falken M/T, Goodyear MT/R, etc. Outside of outright defective tires, for as much arguing as goes on about off-road tires, I don't see many people complaining that the set of tires they got isn't getting them through the trails they're doing.
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May 12, 2022 16:35
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IOwnCalculus posted:"I want an off-road tire and don't give any fucks about road manners". For the former, take your pick from the crop of brand-name aggressive all-terrain tires - BFG KO2, Falken AT3W, etc. If it's from a brand you've actually heard of and it's available in flotation sizes, it's probably good enough for the vast majority of trails but also won't make you hate life on the road. Do Yokohama Geolanders fall in this category?
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May 12, 2022 18:31
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Thanks! I'm definitely the on road category as it's also the family hauler on road trips, so I bookmarked those in tire rack.
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May 12, 2022 18:34
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Safety Dance posted:Do Yokohama Geolanders fall in this category? If you mean the "no fucks given about road manners", the Geolandar M/T absolutely qualifies. If you mean the A/T tires that will still handle most trails, the Geolandar A/T... maybe? It looks like the same kind of tread design that landed me spinning all four wheels on a soft hill climb, but to be fair to those tires they had been fine on every other trail I'd run them on.
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May 13, 2022 04:00
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I got really busy with life and haven't been on the forums in a while, but I also never got around to figuring out my lift situation. I kind of thought my wheels would never actually arrive, but they just got here the other day and are taking up valuable space in my garage so it's time to buy a lift: (they look much more bronze in person) This is for a 2017 GX460, I had been planning on going with Dobinsons MRR but the off-road shop where I purchased my wheels thinks Icon is significantly better if I'm not going to spring for something like Kings or Fox (I'm not). I'm pretty comfortable with Dobinsons just from the reviews I've seen on the GXOR FB group, but if anyone has opinions please let me know. I also need to find some UCAs, I asked about those a long time ago in here but forgot the responses. There are no shortage of UCA options and I can find haters / fans for all of them. I'd prefer ones that don't require too much maintenance but it's not a problem if I need to grease them every 10k miles. Some use ball joints you could find at the local auto parts store, others are proprietary, and there's a huge price range across the various options. I'm not suspension knowledgeable other than the basics and knowing how to setup a bike's suspension, so feel free to mansplain away. Some options: Dobinsons Icon (tubular) Total Chaos uniball Total Chaos heim joint IronMan Apache Offroad also JBA and SPC UCAs but I thought I had heard bad things about those, maybe I'm wrong on that though.
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May 14, 2022 01:00
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FWIW, I have 255/75r17 C-rated BFG KO2s on my 3rd gen tacoma. I like them and they've been really good tires, but I wish I had gone straight to 34x10.5r17s KO2s. At least on tacomas, wheel clearance is more determined by width than height (within reason). The 255s didnt really hurt gas mileage at all, and I haven't ran into any real clearance issues when I've been off roading, but they're noticeably smaller than the 285/70r17 that everyone in SoCal seems to run which obviously makes my penis smaller as well
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May 14, 2022 06:39
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Yeah the Chevy uses a similar IFS setup so a lot of the same rules apply, I read Tacoma forums a lot for general information and reviews because there's so much more of an aftermarket than for the Chevy. But they didn't really design it to be modified for off-road. The next gen is moving the rear shocks out towards wheels which is nice, but I'm not sure what's going on with the front end. But then I'm not in the market for a new truck for a long while, and who knows if California will even let me buy one then. In any case, you can't get a 33" under the Colorado without at least a 3" lift and/or trimming the wheel well. ZR2 may fare better as it has a different bumper. I wouldn't be totally against moving the fender liner, but cutting metal is where I draw the line. I'm on the top clips of my Bilsteins but it settled out at only 2" of lift versus stock. I don't really want to add spacers on top of that. And I don't want to get involved with diff drops (if they're even necessary) or changing my gearing. And then getting into wondering where the line is between the loss of articulation from the suspension lift versus the benefits of the larger tire that can now fit is a can of worms all on its own. Anyway, 99% I'm getting the Cooper Discoverer AT3 LT in C-load. They seem to be quieter and smoother on the road and not too heavy. I've seen mixed responses about the BFGs in the rain (not that that happens much here), but that was a concern along with the more aggressive tread being noisier and worse for MPG. Alternatively, the Cooper probably takes a hit in the mud and deep snow because of its tread design, so there are tradeoffs either way. FogHelmut fucked around with this message at 07:28 on May 14, 2022 |
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May 14, 2022 07:19
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MomJeans420 posted:I got really busy with life and haven't been on the forums in a while, but I also never got around to figuring out my lift situation. I kind of thought my wheels would never actually arrive, but they just got here the other day and are taking up valuable space in my garage so it's time to buy a lift: Advantage of SPCs are you can get your alignment dialed into spec rather than just a ballpark correction that may or may not be on point depending on how much you lift. Downside is at some shops that may come with an additional charge as it's one more thing to adjust, and some shops also might not know how to handle them (though I'm not sure that's a shop you'd want to be going to in the first place). I do feel like maybe recently I've been seeing more reports of issues with SPC, but part of that may just be due to their popularity, hard to know. They do require greasing every oil change or so, but you don't need to loosen any bolts to do it so it's not really much of a hassle. I went with SPC and so far they've held up fine, but I'm also not wheeling as hard as some people. SPC use their own ball joint. They seem pretty easy to find in the US (e.g. Amazon has them with 1 day delivery), but probably wouldn't count on it being stocked at a local auto parts store for a trail repair. Apache and (I think) Dobinsons use OE style ball joints. Freedom has their own joint. I've heard people say Ironman UCAs are kinda overpriced for what you get (I think in general they inflate their MSRPs so their frequent sales and bundles look good), and you may as well go Apache or Freedom if you're considering Ironman. I never looked too hard into the Total Chaos stuff, but the vibe I get is they're more heavy duty, but at the expense of potentially more NVH. Also IIRC their greasing requires breaking loose a bolt and re-torquing. So depends on your intended uses. I forget exactly why, but Apache was the other final option I was considering other than SPC (believe the sale price was good value, plus the OE ball joints). I've had Dobinsons MRAs for a year and a half or so and they've been great. I believe I have around 20k miles or so on them at this point. First half of that I was living in New Mexico and off roading every week or two and they performed great whether it was higher speed bumpy/washboard/rocky trails or slower more technical maneuvering (much better than stock). I wasn't doing serious business rock crawling though. Now that I'm back in Coastal CA I'm an hour+ from any decent trails, so I'm not getting out nearly as much anymore. I haven't used any of the other major options like Icons, Eibach, Ironman, Kings etc, which of course is the problem with most of the user reviews you read on forums and such: most people like what they've got but also haven't actually had experience with more than 1 or 2 options. What I have heard about Icons is they do perform great, but a lot of people report needing to rebuilt more frequently than many other options (like in some cases every 20k or even less). A vendor I talked to also echoed this. I'm sure how hard you wheel has a lot to do with it. In general I think that is something to look out for on the more desert racing oriented brands. Like Kings are awesome, but I've also heard 30-40k for rebuilds with them. Dobinsons are supposedly closer to OEM life in terms of rebuilds, but we'll see. MRAs were definitely overkill for me: I'm not really doing things where the extra cooling capacity of the remote reservoirs is needed. Other than not having the remote reservoir, their IMS line I believe is almost identical to the MRAs in terms of performance (both monotubes of similar size/design), you just use the adjustability. So you can save a significant amount of money going the IMS route if you can live without the adjustability. When I ordered mine Nov 2020 during a black Friday sale, IIRC it was ~$1150 vs ~$2250 for IMS vs MRA (before adding things like UCAs, coil conversion kit, etc). I went with MRAs as a "buy once cry once" option primarily just for the adjustability. I can be pretty picky about handling, so I didn't want to be stuck with something that wasn't valved to my liking. The adjustability also allows to easily adapting to the truck as my build progresses w/ more weight and potentially upping spring rates without having to have the shocks revalved. Splinter fucked around with this message at 08:39 on May 14, 2022 |
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May 14, 2022 08:35
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I have Icon UCAs that I bought on an impulse because I got them new in box for $350. I was semi sorta looking for UCAs, but not for $700-900. Uniball UCAs are not worth the maintenance and short life, in my opinion, unless you have very specific needs. They're even worse if you live somewhere with road salt etc and you put a lot of miles on your truck. It's a dry joint sitting in a Teflon cup and it's fully exposed to the elements. And replacing the uniball is not always simple. Learning this after I already had the Icons, I went on eBay and found someone selling a set of new in box Delta joints for $120. I was able to rig up a standard ball joint press kit to take out the uniballs and put in the Delta joints and they're now on my truck. The Delta joints are a greasable ball joint with a wider range of motion than a traditional ball joint. The top is sealed, but the bottom is exposed. Greasing them regularly should keep them clean and issue free. HOWEVER, the Icons like many other aftermarket control arms use urethane bushings. These are said to be harsher and noisier than standard rubber bushings, but I haven't noticed a difference. I also haven't noticed a better feel or input or whatever. The point is that these also need to be greased. Typically with a silicon based grease, because standard greases don't like to stick to urethane bushings. The problem is that the Delta joints are recommended to take a moly grease. Now you're running two grease guns, though red n tacky is probably good enough for both as long as you keep up with it. The other problem is that to grease the bushings, you have to loosen the bolts a bit so the grease can flow in between them, and then you retighten. This is done every oil change/tire rotation. I put few enough miles on that this is only twice a year for me, but again it's a pain if you drive a lot. The other problem is that if you have a wider than stock shock body and accompanying spring - 2.5" like I have vs 2" for example, you may not have clearance in the strut tower to easily get a socket in there to loosen the bolts. I had to buy a pass-through socket set (which is cool as hell and I've always wanted one) and make a series of contortions to get to the bolt. Otherwise, I would have to remove the whole strut every time I change the oil just to grease these things. Anyway, please avoid all of this bullshit and pay for the SPCs. They don't look cool, but they are fully adjustable, and I believe only the ball joint needs greasing. And they do all the same stuff as the fancy looking ones.
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May 14, 2022 14:22
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Ok this probably isn't everyone's experience with SPCs, but I'm pretty sure the ball joint in mine ate poo poo <5k miles.  I wiped a bunch of grease off it, but I'm 99% sure the joint is blown. There is a pretty solid clunk noise going over bumps, and a very subtle shimmy between the front wheels.  I've drove pretty hard around town, and once or twice out in the desert, but I'm surprised that its dead this fast. I dont need the castor of the SPCs with my existing or planned tire size, so I'm leaning towards replacing them with JBA or maybe Camburg instead of repairs. FogHelmut posted:Wise words about UCAs & bushing maintenance  I am looking at these specifically because they have bushings with grease ports that don't require loosening any bolts
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May 14, 2022 16:22
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If I can get aftermarket bushings that don't require loosening, I'll take my whole suspension apart again right now to replace them.
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May 14, 2022 16:33
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Splinter posted:MRAs were definitely overkill for me: I'm not really doing things where the extra cooling capacity of the remote reservoirs is needed. Other than not having the remote reservoir, their IMS line I believe is almost identical to the MRAs in terms of performance (both monotubes of similar size/design), you just use the adjustability. So you can save a significant amount of money going the IMS route if you can live without the adjustability. When I ordered mine Nov 2020 during a black Friday sale, IIRC it was ~$1150 vs ~$2250 for IMS vs MRA (before adding things like UCAs, coil conversion kit, etc). I went with MRAs as a "buy once cry once" option primarily just for the adjustability. I can be pretty picky about handling, so I didn't want to be stuck with something that wasn't valved to my liking. The adjustability also allows to easily adapting to the truck as my build progresses w/ more weight and potentially upping spring rates without having to have the shocks revalved. Your MRA thoughts are the exact same thing I was thinking, so Dobinsons it is. I'd rather have a longer lifespan between maintenance than a more hardcore offroad setup as it's getting hard to even do local day trips, let alone the longer trips I've been planning. FogHelmut posted:The other problem is that to grease the bushings, you have to loosen the bolts a bit so the grease can flow in between them, and then you retighten. This is done every oil change/tire rotation. I put few enough miles on that this is only twice a year for me, but again it's a pain if you drive a lot. Vampire Panties posted:
I absolutely do not want to deal with loosening bolts all the time so those JBAs are looking pretty good, and they're a tiny bit cheaper than my other options. My GX was originally intended to be more of a second vehicle but now it's all I drive since my bike got totaled, and for some reason my toddler hates riding in the car seat in my wife's LS460 but is completely fine in the GX. Luckily I work from home now as I'd be dying from the gas mileage if I was doing serious driving all the time.
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May 14, 2022 20:26
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There was an older kitted out Land Rover parked next to me today and now I'm thinking about those BFGs.
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May 15, 2022 07:24
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Heh I've ran BFGs for 20+ years now and shilled for BFGs itt several times, but (and a huge and literal knock on wood here) they've never let me down. IMO there are two caveats - they will break loose on a surprisingly small amount of wet pavement, and they don't self clean in heavy mud. IMO those are trivial complaints against rock solid ATs that're fuel efficient and routinely last for 50k+ miles. Also I pulled the trigger on the JBA HD UCAs just now. The ball joint in my truck is FUBAR and I dont feel good driving around with it that way. I'll document the journey for the thread because replacing an UCA is the most mechanically advanced thing I've ever done.
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May 15, 2022 20:42
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One last UCA question - is it worth considering the Dobinsons UCA as it doesn't require any greasing?
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May 15, 2022 20:52
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MomJeans420 posted:One last UCA question - is it worth considering the Dobinsons UCA as it doesn't require any greasing? They're rubber bushings, like the OEM UCAs. So they're quieter and softer (until they aren't ) but they supposedly won't last nearly as long as urethane bushings. IMO you're trading the minor+ effort of greasing urethane bushings every oil change with the major effort of replacing rubber bushings every 2-3 years (in theory).
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May 15, 2022 22:22
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I would make sure you can easily crack the existing UCA bolts before committing to a new one that needs the bushings to be greased.
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May 15, 2022 22:34
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I just grabbed a $100 set of Ridge Grapplers in a 275/70/18 and am gonna mount them to the 18” limited 4Runner wheels I have living at the shop.
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May 16, 2022 01:22
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FogHelmut posted:I would make sure you can easily crack the existing UCA bolts before committing to a new one that needs the bushings to be greased. The more I think about it, the more I'm inclined to take it to the shop. The current SPC ball joint is dead-dead, and while I'm relatively confident that I could do it myself, finding an appropriate place to work and getting all of the tools is a big hassle. Although after watching some videos, repairing the ball joint on the SPCs is stupid easy and doesnt require removing the UCA. The thing is, I'm not sure why the ball joint blew in the first place. I really dont drive it that hard. The passenger side is weeping grease as well. Question for the group (maybe better for Tacomaworld haha) - last summer I had lift + UCAs installed. I took it back to the shop for the 500 mile shakedown service and someone at the shop hosed up and didn't tighten up the sway bar. It ended up disconnecting from the passenger side of the truck and the bolt cut the CV boot. I drove around like this, unknowingly, for a few weeks until I heard the noise and got it fixed. The shop ended up replacing the CV shaft and everything seemed fine... Would it be possible that I prematurely wore out the ball joints? Either way I'm inclined to replace the SPCs with JBAs because this seems sort of ridiculous.
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May 16, 2022 04:01
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Weeping grease doesn't sound like a blown ball joint necessarily. Just might be overfilled. Are you getting clunking noises or noticeable play?
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May 16, 2022 06:34
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FogHelmut posted:Weeping grease doesn't sound like a blown ball joint necessarily. Just might be overfilled. Are you getting clunking noises or noticeable play? No play but audible clunking noises going over bumps. The noise actually sounds similar to when the sway bar was disconnected, but I can see that its attached and tight on everything. I may pull the skid plate today and check the sway bar bushing bolts to the frame. Theres also a lot of bumpsteer, which is extremely odd on an IFS. Everything else looks good, nothing is loose or visibly damaged and there's no play in anything to the touch. I do get a slight vibration/shimmy in the steering wheel around 35mph, which could be the needle bearing but there's no noise. This may be nothing, but I've always felt the truck rode like poo poo. When I had the lift installed, i bought new sway bar links that are adjustable. These guys. They're tightened up to the max, which I'm kinda thinking they shouldn't be. Or the bushings in those are failing, because apparently they require PFDE maintenance... the more I think about it, the more it seems likely something is going on there. Vampire Panties fucked around with this message at 15:33 on May 16, 2022 |
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May 16, 2022 14:52
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Not going to name any names, but whoever recommended Explore Overland ITT, I hate you. It was FogHelmut e: This thread is in line with my experience: https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/buyer-beware-explore-overland.765045/, many on GXOR reporting the same thing as well. For me, ordered sliders 12/1, 8-12 week quoted lead time (12 weeks was 2/23). Emailed 13 weeks, no response. Called close to 14 weeks: "Finishing up welding, we ship Thursdays so will ship this week or next week" (I ordered raw, no powder coat so a powder coat related delay isn't possible). Never shipped. Everyone reports the "1-2 more weeks" run-around when contacting. We're now at 24 weeks and I'm still within the 180 day PayPal dispute window (just barely) so maybe I'll get my money back. Many people are outside of that 180 day window though and will likely be hosed. One guy (at least) in that thread is even reporting they ordered an Ironman lift through EO and EO never even placed the order with Ironman (despite them scheduling installs and then claiming Ironman delays). Despite being so behind on orders they were still accepting new orders and running sales with 12 week (for sliders) lead times quoted that they had no intention of meeting (when I contacted them in March they were still quoting 12 weeks). Wild stuff. Splinter fucked around with this message at 21:31 on May 17, 2022 |
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May 17, 2022 19:59
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Someone on GXOR said Google lists their shop as permanently closed now
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May 17, 2022 22:18
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Oh yeah it looks like they're definitely done. Had my finger on the dispute trigger for a few weeks now but that GXOR post this morning is what made me do it today. Had not been following the tacomaworld drama or I would've done it weeks ago. Wanted to give them one last chance before the dispute window was up as there were still some reports of people finally receiving orders from around when I ordered recently.
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May 17, 2022 22:35
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I emailed them months ago about getting just a set of mounting plates as I wanted to build my own sliders. They got back to me after a day or two, said they'd probably do it, asked me what my ride was and after I replied, I never heard back. Guess I dodged a bullet?
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May 17, 2022 22:49
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drat, I've been friends with two of the owners since highschool, and they've always been pretty trustworthy. I apologize for the recommendation, I had no idea anything like this would happen. Edit - okay so their ownership stake is as investors, and they produce web content to some extent. They're not directly involved in the day to day parts building and delivery aspects. The only info that I have right now is that it's "a disaster." I should be getting more info soon. FogHelmut fucked around with this message at 00:43 on May 18, 2022 |
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May 17, 2022 23:14
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I'm a local and have seen Derrick Snell shilling their poo poo everywhere, but he's been very quiet when tagged on GXOR. I don't like getting involved in anything but if any goons have anything I can do let me know.
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May 18, 2022 03:52
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This is wild, my friends lost all of their money they invested, as well as costs they incurred doing work for the main owners. So apparently, these guys received an unexpected amount of orders when they launched. They had no business experience and proceeded to make every possible wrong decision from that point forward. And even worse they communicated nothing with their customers because they seem to have thought they could dig themselves out of the hole if they could keep taking more orders that they couldn't fulfill. This post from the Tacomaworld thread is pretty close- https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/buyer-beware-explore-overland.765045/page-8#post-27335812 posted:Allegedly, orders were being taken that very likely could not be fulfilled (either because the design hadn't been created yet or delivering within the quoted lead time was literally impossible). In other cases, customers paid E.O. for parts from a third-party vender...but the order with the vendor was NEVER actually made by E.O. (but $$ pocketed)! Lastly and importantly, it sounds like Derrick's employees weren't taken care of. Except the money is all gone. It wasn't pocketed, it was spent stupidly on costs they didn't account for that anyone with any sense should have. For example, they had no idea of the general costs of running a business, or that shipping to the west coast would cost more than shipping locally in NY. Their items were woefully underpriced for what they needed to spend to fulfill orders, and their expenses were well above what they should have been because of their inexperience. Apparently these guys got day jobs and are paying their employees back pay, if that means anything. At this point they're sitting on a big pile of overpriced steel and a bunch of angry customers. The main owner Derrick is supposed to be releasing a statement sometime soon. He apparently has some intent to keep trying to fulfill orders and make good, but it's not looking good for anyone. FogHelmut fucked around with this message at 04:35 on May 18, 2022 |
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May 18, 2022 04:32
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