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this seems appropriate for this thread: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=68RequcPqV0
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May 22, 2023 18:00
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Mustache Ride posted:this seems appropriate for this thread:  quote:then I went off roading three more times before doing anything about it
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May 22, 2023 18:33
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Vampire Panties posted:
I wouldn't leave it on a driveway with an incline without suspension bits. Especially in a seismically active area. Going from 600 to 650 and 13" to 14" would seem about right. You can recover some of that by selling the old springs. Coilover springs are a commodity in the dez. If you throw some stocker strut on it for now the vehicle is at least usable and you have future parts for when it comes service time for the coilovers. (which is ~annually)
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May 22, 2023 18:37
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I called Accutune this morning (the OG vendor on the shocks + valving) and spoke with them. They ran their calculator and said yeah, I need to go from the Fox 13" 600lb springs to the 14" 650lb springs. Springs are 110 a piece (
) but I guess I have a one-time free revalving as well 
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I can double check, but FWIW I'm pretty sure my front DuroBumps have similar looking clearance on my GX. They're meant to engage earlier than stock but compress down for a smoother feeling than just slamming into rock hard rubber.
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May 22, 2023 18:40
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Vampire Panties posted:
You can try asking Accutune if they'll do an advanced parts replacement in exchange for a refundable deposit. I have no idea if they'll go for that, but it never hurts to ask.
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May 22, 2023 20:19
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Vampire Panties posted:
Top work mate, getting the right springs (and maybe a free revalve) should help you a fair way in enjoying her more. Getting some second hand factory stuff to swap in is a good idea, I always keep the ones coming off when upgrading for this reason. That said any half decent place should be able to swap coils over for you if the wait is too much of a problem, it's not a terribly hard job.
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May 22, 2023 22:37
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Ehud posted:Friends, I appreciate all the Ranger info! So funny story, this didn't work out, but I found one exactly like it with 48k miles, private party for about 5k cheaper. I just picked it up yesterday and I am very happy except for one issue. It doesn't fit in my garage  The guy who owned it before me kept it absolutely mint. It has zero wear from the sun, so I feel obliged to keep it nice. I work from home so I'm contemplating just grabbing a car cover. Anyways, time to plan some adventures 
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May 23, 2023 12:05
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When I get a new car, I'm going to put a sticky note on the dash reminding me not to modify it. Anyway, I have a bunch of skid plates and suspension and associated items for a 2015-2022 Colorado/Canyon for sale. Also a Adarac M Series bed rack that I never used. PM me if you're interested and in the SoCal area. FogHelmut fucked around with this message at 14:31 on May 23, 2023 |
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May 23, 2023 14:25
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Vampire Panties posted:
My (stock, 2WD) Canyon has the same thing going on. There is a hilariously small distance between the arm and the bump stop, but it's inboard a decent bit. It's apparently progressive enough that despite an obvious clean spot on the arm where it hits, I've never felt like I've bottomed it out - unlike my TJ and my C10.
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May 23, 2023 15:05
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Ehud posted:So funny story, this didn't work out, but I found one exactly like it with 48k miles, private party for about 5k cheaper. Nice! I always wanted an Xterra, I looked at them very seriously twice but just couldnt get the  to pull the trigger. I've had 3 Nissan trucks (7820, Hardbody, and a Frontier) and they were all fantastic. I really wish I'd never sold the Frontier. IOwnCalculus posted:My (stock, 2WD) Canyon has the same thing going on. There is a hilariously small distance between the arm and the bump stop, but it's inboard a decent bit. It's apparently progressive enough that despite an obvious clean spot on the arm where it hits, I've never felt like I've bottomed it out - unlike my TJ and my C10.  Its not really a problem to bottom out, factory cars do it on the freeway in SoCal all the time and most people don't notice. I'm probably being unreasonable in my expectations of ride quality, but I had a relatively built JKU before this truck ( and all the work was done by a tire shop!  ) and even with Bilsteins that thing still completely outperformed this truck in every way but speed, even before the giant-rear end camper on the back. I still have hope though, its just going to take a lot more effort. FogHelmut posted:When I get a new car, I'm going to put a sticky note on the dash reminding me not to modify it. I said the same thing when I bought this Toyota . I found someone selling the stock suspension from their Taco for cheap, now I just have to drive a hundred miles one way to pick it up  Tbh in retrospect, I don't really blame the truck. I 100% blame the loving mechanic I went to, The Truck Shop in San Diego CA. I was digging through my old pics of the truck when I first had it lifted/suspension upgrades done, and I forgot that the morons had hosed up and a bolt came loose on one end of the front sway bar and slashed the boot on the CV shaft. I didnt know what was wrong and took into the dealership who charged me 150 bux to say 'hey see all this grease everywhere? and see this bolt, with thread on it, thats missing a nut?' I took the truck back to the Truck Shop in a fury and made them replace the CV shaft, but I'm a loving idiot and was like 'well, they made it right... right?' I'm sure those dudes have cleaned me out for 5x the cost of that loving CV shaft. In a perverse way I'm not angry. This whole experience has taught me enough that I don't really need a lovely mechanic anymore. I dont really like the idea of doing all the work to put the lift on myself, but here I am, numerous thousands of dollars later, putting the loving lift on myself, although tbf i'm not messing with the UCAs right now (although I'd feel comfortable doing them in the future).
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May 23, 2023 15:36
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Are you getting the old bump stops too, or have some from sonewhere? If your progressive ones engage really early now it's possible the taco will be sitting on them at factory ride height. It's good to be able to do the work yourself I don't really like trusting critical things to others if I can avoid it. Suspension is a piece of piss if you have some basic tools and buy pre-assembled struts, it's a bit more work if you need to put the coils on yourself but still not too hard.
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May 23, 2023 22:30
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Vampire Panties posted:
Yeah, that's my point - I've clearly bounced the Canyon off the bumpstops but I've never gone "ow" from it or even remember any time where it was obvious that I had done so. The TJ (lifted, but with extended bumpstops) and the C10 (lowered), you know when you hit the stops.
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May 23, 2023 22:37
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ili posted:Are you getting the old bump stops too, or have some from sonewhere? If your progressive ones engage really early now it's possible the taco will be sitting on them at factory ride height. I have Durobumps although in this ongoing comedy of errors, the ones I originally had in the rear were for a larger lift, so I hit the bumpstops constantly in the rear. Got that changed, but adding on the skid plates + rock sliders made me plow into the bumpstops on the front. also re: coils. Thats what put me off originally, although in retrospect it would've been silly easy to get a local shop to mount the coils to the shocks. IOwnCalculus posted:Yeah, that's my point - I've clearly bounced the Canyon off the bumpstops but I've never gone "ow" from it or even remember any time where it was obvious that I had done so. I had a lifted JKU for 4ish years and when it got into the bumpstops you knew, but that was relatively infrequently. This truck used to bottom out a lot with the stock suspension on the freeway but it was mostly audible, so I just sorta got used to it, but after the lift I noticed that I'd get bumpsteer sometime ( with a lift and 31" tires and a hellwig front sway bar). As I posted in my own thread ( ) I removed the rock sliders today, and taking off 120lbs of bullshit made an immediate difference in ride quality. Gave me a lot of confidence that getting the springs upgraded is the way to go, and the truck is not perpetually hosed** my amazon turn signal thingie shorted out today as well 
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May 24, 2023 01:07
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Out of curiosity I looked at the front bumpstops on my stock GX470: Not a lot of clearance there either — thought it might be a point of reference at least on the bump stop end of things. Last year the air suspension went out during a job and I had to drive the thing around a bit with the axle riding on the bump stops. Very exciting! Did a coil conversion and thought it was riding worse due to that, but just changed out the rear shocks it's riding much nicer.
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May 25, 2023 19:46
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powderific posted:Out of curiosity I looked at the front bumpstops on my stock GX470: I started my own thread (  ) and I ended up sticking a GoPro under the truck and recording the suspension while I was driving. Answer: there is so much preload that I dont actually ever hit the bumpstops; I just bounce and skip with 3/4" of travel down the road  Truck is literally in the shop right now getting the front coilover springs replaced, I don't want to get too far ahead of myself but I think this may have fixed some of the ride quality issues powderific posted:Last year the air suspension went out during a job and I had to drive the thing around a bit with the axle riding on the bump stops. Very exciting! Did a coil conversion and thought it was riding worse due to that, but just changed out the rear shocks it's riding much nicer. That must've loving suuucked. A million years ago I blew out the cv shaft on a Nissan hardbody on the axle side. The cv shaft thrashed around in there and smashed up the shock for good measure. I had to drive 3 hours (1 hour of mountain, 2 hours of freeway) to get home. It was nuts 
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May 26, 2023 19:29
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Hit up some beaches near Hatteras this week. There’s a big storm rolling in and it was pretty cool just driving around checking out the crazy ocean stuff. 
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May 27, 2023 02:25
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rally posted:Hit up some beaches near Hatteras this week. Super fun. My regular stomping ground used to be the beach access on Bodie Island. Always enjoyed helping newbie people who got "stuck" learn how important it is to air their tires down....lots got out without me even having to give them a tug after that.
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May 27, 2023 02:32
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Motronic posted:Super fun. My regular stomping ground used to be the beach access on Bodie Island. Yeah, the one time I got lazy and figured I’d fine without airing down I ended up dug in pretty badly within about 10 feet of the on ramp. I air them down to 15 and leave it there permanently now. I did learn today that wet sand isn’t necessarily easier to drive on. Had a little bit of a nerve wracking moment flinging sand near the shoreline but ended up fine. I love it out here, favorite place in the world.
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May 27, 2023 03:09
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Welp, I called a dealer about a 2024 Outback Wilderness that was "in-transit" and it turns out it had just arrived on the lot, and things escalated pretty quickly. They gave me what I wanted for my Colorado, and it turns out I have a Subaru again.  I'm under no pretense that this is as capable as the truck, but it's plenty for fire roads and many trails. And it's just so nice to drive daily. So I immediately drove it up to Trabuco Creek Road to Holy Jim Trailhead just to see how it handles off pavement. If you're unfamiliar, Trabuco Creek Road is an extremely well groomed and compacted single lane dirt road that families drive their Ford Fusions to the trailhead. But being that this is a very accessible dirt road, it's also full of yahoos in lifted trucks covered in Dollar General light bars who drive as fast as they can around blind corners with no regard for anyone going in either direction. It's a pretty nice drive if you are able to avoid them though.  Anyway, as expected there were no slips or issues through the trail, and no problem with the very shallow water crossings - even the first one that's somewhat washed out. The rougher bits that would have shook and rocked me in the truck felt smooth and comfortable even at highway tire pressure. Just need to watch the approach angles and realize that 9.5" of ground clearance means 9.5", not 12"+ everywhere except for the low-hanging rear differential. Planning on some skid plates (apparently there's a war going on where they were manufactured, so Subaru isn't selling them anymore), getting a 2" hitch from the dealer, and a roof rack because, well, Subaru.
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May 29, 2023 01:35
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That's the best color. Fantastic decision.
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May 29, 2023 03:44
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Safety Dance posted:That's the best color. Fantastic decision. 
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May 29, 2023 04:23
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 that looks great with the black accents and wheels.
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May 29, 2023 18:54
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Cvt I assume? How did that do?
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May 29, 2023 19:26
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Evil SpongeBob posted:Cvt I assume? How did that do? Just kinda goes. Subaru seems to be the only ones who have figured it out. It pretty much acts like it's not even there. But it has fake gear ratios because people apparently didn't like how CVTs sound when being efficient, and it has paddle shifters to cycle through the fake ratios in manual mode. Probably useful for engine braking anyway.
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May 30, 2023 00:42
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FogHelmut posted:it has paddle shifters to cycle through the fake ratios in manual mode. Probably useful for engine braking anyway. I towed a 5x8 U-Haul from NYC to Seattle last year in my CVT Outback, and not dragging brakes coming down off the Rockies is exactly what the paddle shifters are for. The car is a champ.
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May 30, 2023 02:38
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My work car is an ascent. I've been driving it for 2 years and still not used to the rubber banding. I should drive it up Silverado canyon "for science".
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May 30, 2023 03:07
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Evil SpongeBob posted:My work car is an ascent. I've been driving it for 2 years and still not used to the rubber banding. I test drove an Ascent when they first came out and from a stop it was either barely crawling or trying to spin tires, no smooth in-between. It completely turned me off it.
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May 30, 2023 15:36
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Hello thread, last year I moved to northern New Mexico and now I bought a Jeep to explore around in the mountains. Some traffic:  Green Trailhawk:  I came across a sign that said "Green Cutting Allowed" and followed the arrow to see what that meant. I got to another sign that said firewood cutting allowed with permit. And the trail became all rocks with a big ledge so I decided to turn around.  I found a trail that was a shortcut across a hill and it had a nice view at the top.  Then today I learned that it's probably better to spray the mud off at the nearby self-serve wash instead of my driveway. Way more dirt and pebbles than I was expecting.
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Jun 6, 2023 18:33
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phosdex posted:Hello thread, last year I moved to northern New Mexico and now I bought a Jeep to explore around in the mountains. Beautiful area and awesome Jeep! I like the green. I'm planning some half day trips for local trails to get my feet wet and figure out what I'm doing in my Xterra. What apps do you all use to scout out and navigate trails, camp sites, etc.? It seems like Gaia is the big one most people use, and then I see some recs for OnX Offroad. I downloaded both but most of the good features are behind paywall. I don't mind subbing to one of them, but I'm not sure which to pick. I really just need something to help me find trails around me, get me to the entrance, make sure the trail is open, and give me some info on what to expect when I get out there.
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Jun 7, 2023 13:00
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The guy that owns the car wash that has to clean the mud and rocks out of his filtration system probably disagrees about the best place to clean up after off roading.
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Jun 7, 2023 14:00
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Ehud posted:I'm planning some half day trips for local trails to get my feet wet and figure out what I'm doing in my Xterra. What apps do you all use to scout out and navigate trails, camp sites, etc.? (Disclaimer: this advice largely applies to my experience in the western deserts, not heavily forested areas although I do travel to those as well) I've used Gaia for years and have a 5yr premium subscription - I think I got mine on a Father's Day sale or something for ~$125. It's worth every penny to me, and I make a hobby of marking notes on good campsites or open roads wherever I am/whenever I'm out in the dirt. It's real value is downloading offline maps you can use out of cell service as long as your device has GPS (I use an old-rear end iPad 3 or w/e). I haven't tried OnX Offroad but I have tried my buddy's OnX Hunt subscription, purely to check private land ownership plots as it's oriented to hunters. It too has offline maps and seems quite usable. Tbh, you can go a long way scouting roads with Google Maps these days, especially satellite mode (they have the best image resolution). Gaia used to have a GSat overlay, but Google changed the API or some nerdy crap and it's not in there anymore, so I regularly tab between Google Maps Satellite (scouting dirt road quality, are there gates, etc) and Gaia (topo maps, creating routes/elevations, marking prospective campsites). None of them will tell you what trails are open/available to my knowledge, or what the area conditions will be - your best bets there will be USFS/BLM/XYZ Park OHV or dispersed camping pages, careful google satellite scouting, and local oldschool greybeard message boards/websites where people effortpost trip reports. As painful as they are, local 4x4 facebook groups can be a good resource too - every time someone posts a picture of their rig on a trail, the first five replies are WHERE IS THAT?? WAT TRAIL?? and you can go from there. Nothing beats an experienced local though - I have a longtime friend I met at work years ago who introduced me to places I never would have thought to look at. Try to meet those guys. A few photos of a trip my friends and I took on the Camino Del Diablo last year. It was so beautiful down there:    
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Jun 7, 2023 17:02
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bird with big dick posted:The guy that owns the car wash that has to clean the mud and rocks out of his filtration system probably disagrees about the best place to clean up after off roading. Yes I too would love it if I owned a money-printing machine and my job was both easy and done for me.
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Jun 7, 2023 17:58
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The Royal Nonesuch posted:(Disclaimer: this advice largely applies to my experience in the western deserts, not heavily forested areas although I do travel to those as well) Thanks for all the tips. I might just head out with nothing but google maps and some pre-trip research and see how that goes, then see if I feel the need to get Gaia. I joined a couple local FB groups as well.
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Jun 7, 2023 18:32
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Ehud posted:Thanks for all the tips. I might just head out with nothing but google maps and some pre-trip research and see how that goes, then see if I feel the need to get Gaia. If you have cell service where you are going this can be a fun way to get started. Just don't get in over your head, and let a friend know the area you're going and your estimated return time. Paper maps and a compass are great too, and can sometimes be had for free at your AAA office. Have fun; just don't get in over your head and find yourself lost. It's a bad feeling, don't ask me how I know 
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Jun 7, 2023 18:59
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Ehud posted:Thanks for all the tips. I might just head out with nothing but google maps and some pre-trip research and see how that goes, then see if I feel the need to get Gaia. I'm sure this is stating the obvious, but just in case some people aren't aware: you can download huge swaths of Google Maps for offline use. I have two whole states in mine because the space used is relatively small and then I never have to think about it before heading out. I do the same for Gaia, but that takes quite a bit more space on my phone. Worth it to me personally, but probably not really necessary. Note that at least around me (Oregon/Washington), Google Maps is decent but definitely lacks a lot of the smaller forest service and BLM roads. It reliably has the major ones and a seemingly random selection of small ones, but take what you see there with a grain of salt. You can also use Gaia for free (at least I think that's still true). You can't download for offline use and you can only use the main layer, but it's still a lot more detailed than Google Maps. If nothing else you could use it to scout out areas ahead of time and compare to what you'll be seeing on Google. Gaia has a website as well as the app (but maybe that's not visible in the free tier? No idea).
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Jun 7, 2023 19:33
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The Royal Nonesuch posted:(Disclaimer: this advice largely applies to my experience in the western deserts, not heavily forested areas although I do travel to those as well) This is all really excellent and I have bolded the parts I that have had the best success with. I have found some people can leave enough bread crumbs on instagram here and there and if you make friendly with some people like a DM relationship; commenting on stories and posts and whatnot you can get to a point where you can ask like "Hey, is this near ____" because the more you get out and explore you will start to recognize environments and general areas. They will sometimes confirm or will even share the pin. Since you are not the idiot just geotagging your posts and specifically posting the public comment of "THIS IS ___" they will recognize that you are probably someone that likely has good practices like tread lightly/leave no trace and will respect the area. But yeah I have also totally found spots because of the dummies that just openly blab the spot. Relevant to getting outside in my FOUR BI FOUR (fresh from this weekend!)   And this automatically stitched photo from my Mini 3 Pro is pretty neat. Just push a button and it does this? 
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Jun 7, 2023 21:35
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Ehud posted:Thanks for all the tips. I might just head out with nothing but google maps and some pre-trip research and see how that goes, then see if I feel the need to get Gaia. this is extremely specific for Google Maps, offline navigation, and Apple Carplay, but be extremely careful with Google maps trying to Live route you somewhere coverage is spotty. I had a nightmare scenario happen last September when I was trying to drive back to SoCal and there was a fire on the Grapevine. Coverage sucks rear end throughout that whole area, and traffic became absolutely vulgar as it was shuttled down to 1 lane out to Lancaster. I have the whole thing downloaded to Google Maps, so I plotted out a course that would go over random rear end backroads and eventually drop down into Palmdale or whatever. Live Coverage said that the grapevine and all the frontage roads were closed, ofc offline Google Maps doesn't give a poo poo about that, so I was out driving some extreme back road trying to beat traffic, and offline Google maps kept shuttling me to feeder roads for the Grapevine, and online Maps kept trying to send me back to the  approved bypass route. Absolute nightmare, I couldn't get Google to lock onto either course and I ended up wasting something like two hours basically driving in a circle. By the time I got back to the approved detour route, the fire on the Grapevine was cleared and the detour was empty. sorta kismet - instead of waiting in traffic for two hours I basically toured the Angeles national forest
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Jun 7, 2023 23:56
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Safety Dance posted:Yes I too would love it if I owned a money-printing machine and my job was both easy and done for me. I work sixty hours a week running my car wash in order to gross about 75k a year in income and if someone comes through and hoses off a bunch of mud and rocks it means I have to spend two extra hours shoveling out the traps and don’t get to see my kids that night.
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Jun 8, 2023 02:13
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bird with big dick posted:I work sixty hours a week running my car wash in order to gross about 75k a year in income and if someone comes through and hoses off a bunch of mud and rocks it means I have to spend two extra hours shoveling out the traps and don’t get to see my kids that night. That sucks, and I'm sorry. Some people think car washes are passive income, but you demonstrate they aren't. Do you ever think about flipping it and rolling the money into a different venture?
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Jun 8, 2023 03:52
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Well I might have made all that up but it could be true for someone who knows?
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Jun 8, 2023 04:22
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