Crazy Geologist

K9- I am living near Los Alamos for the time being (I cannot claim to be FROM NM, but I do have a steady chile jones)...and actually I have been training with the Taos SAR team for the past few months...a small world from what I am learning, you probably know many of the team. The dogs at my house are at best easily distracted, so no K9 in my future though... but my SAR interests really lie in the high-angle stuff anyway. Big J- That is kinda what I figured with the snow...easy to forget 'cuz it is still soooo dry here. I bought a season lift ticket, and there isn't a flake on the ground. Bummer. Maybe 4corners is where the run shoud be...limited and passable snow?

It is hard to get testing certificates on rigging equipment from McMaster-Carr, so I would advise you against using them. search around for crane and hoist rigging equipment, you tend to get higher quality stuff from them than some auto/hardware stores Also- the bow shackles are inherently stronger than the D-shackles, and functionally equal.

So I am not too familar with the "good spots" in colorado but I am going to suggest the following criteria for selection of a meeting spot: Centrally located. If I am comming up from NM, and El P is headed down from SD, we should meet half way. Free camping. I don't mind the snow. Neither does my colleague at Ft. Collins who owns a 2001. Good wheeling. My rig is functionally near stock, so nothing too wild, I will still need to drive it south afterwards. A good spot. I'll be counting on you colorado locals to show us outta towners around a bit. There are some long weekends in feb...

Gasoline will ignite at temperatures between 500F and 550F. The UEL (upper explosive limit) and LEL (lower explosive limit) of hydrocarbon fuels (and hydrogen for that matter) are dependent on the saturation of fuel and oxygen. The UEL for gasoline is 7.6 % fuel in air (air is ~20% oxygen at sea level)and the LEL is 1.3 % fuel in air. This means that a fuel tank or line must rupture and allow mixing of air with the fuel before an explosion can occur. a car tire will explode (sounds like a gunshot) within 5 minutes of exposure to open flame, at least that is what happened to my friend's car when the leaves he parked on caught fire. What you should really look out for if you are worried about explosions are those 5 gal propane tanks used for barbeques and heaters. Those things are already under high pressure, so when heated, they can overpressure and rupture (and become missles) much easier than a gasoline tank. If your house is in an area that may be evacuated, take your bbq fuel and leave it with the tank exchange company at your supermarket. Often firefighters will abandon houses which they know have gas cylinders on the patio.

So do you have a fire extinguisher? Or two? I have put out 3 separate car fires, and only once (mainly a battery fire) have I put it out using only one fire extinguisher.

yeah, I guess a custom bumper is the way to go...then I won't bend it every time I try to get un- highcentered. Thanks for the input

I drove thru the 4 corners area in september, and I saw lots of double tracks, but didn't have time to explore any of them. Ever been wheelin out there DK?

because you will just have to fix it anyway. and the oem jack is worthless.

I searched for a thread...I hope this hasn't already gone around. I need to get a trailer hitch. But just about every hitch I have seen on pathys has sat inches below the bumper. Is there a hitch manufactuer who sells one that doesn't rob too much clearance? Maybe arranged such that the receiver is behind the lic. plate?

What about for the 91's that had the fog lamps mounted under the front bumper? Is there an easy swap for the oem BOSCH lamps? I busted one last winter, and the stealer says it is $200 for each side for the fog lamp assebly. Any one know of an alternative?

But don't buy one of the cheap a$$ plug kits like i did. Make sure the T-handle is burly. You will be cranking on it. I broke mine a month ago when my housemate picked up a triangular chunk of metal. So instead I threaded a 1/4" masonry screw into it (the kind whose threads tighten near the head) and it is golden. I hope he gets in plugged soon tho.

Thanks for joinin' up to share this with us bear claw. Doesn't look to hard...maybe I'll make one over the holiday.

Scotch. Rocks. Single malt. 12 years er so, in oak... I'm tippin a glass to ya Harbinger and MM...The Glenlivet is where it is at. But any glen will do, Glenfiddich, Glenmorangie, and if you have that blue label lyin' around, I'll break the single malt rule. But if the sun is still up, a cold Bass Ale is awfully refreshing. I drank a lot of wine in college, but very rarely now...the thing I like about wine is the cork...I kept damn near every cork from each bottle of wine I drank at school. Then I split em in half and made a cork board. A board of many adventures. sly

Yes, it is amazing what the metal cans can withstand. The 100,000 mile old bliz can I have is somewhat rhombahedral in shape now...I was rear-ended by a NEW mustang 3 years ago, and no leaks on that one yet. he paint is flaking off in a zebra-stripe pattern though... All I got was a funky can and some paint on my spare...the mustang lost a head-taillight, hood, bumper and front fender. Due to wierd parking lot angles at impact.

Beer, seafood and limes are too cheap and plentiful in baja for it to be that bad. I'm more refering to that armpit of California, the mojave desert. but don't get me wrong, the Mojave is gorgeous too, if you know where to look from.

Thanks for the tips all Hopefully I will never have to use them. Proper (safe) off road vehicle recovery is a subject in which I have a particular interest...does anyone know of a good book on the subject?

friendly. Oh yes. All the rocks are razors, all the plants are evil. all the animals are venomous. people leave everything they don't want there, then shoot it. Plus you can both cook your brains and freeze your a$$ within an hour. But I am still convinced that you really haven't lived till you have taken a $#!+ in the desert in the pouring rain.

So I got on that list, but I don't show up on the map. I am in Northern NM and it doesn't take much for me to justify a trip north. I will be in Ca over the holiday though so I'll miss that one...but I am down in the future though.

One more note- Four wheel drive does not mean 4 wheel stop. And that is how most SUVs in snowy ditches got there. Before you get tooooo cocky in the snow, read about me being cocky in the snow in this post from last spring. http://npora.ipbhost.com//index.php?showto...t=0entry33366 Ha!

MWS- I understand your concern. I got in a very dicey situation on one of my first field surveys, that could have been eliminated by a device like you describe. If you have built one already, I am curious about how it turned out. I roll with some retired climbing hardware (paint it red if you do this, to keep it from coming out of retirement) of various sizes in my recovery kit for use in rocky areas. Admittedly, my a$$ puckered each time I have used them for this, but they are an effective tool. Kept me from walking more than once. I guess it all depends on how stuck you are.

Unsolicited idea- A 6.5 gal blitz water can (plastic) fits perfectly behind the passenger seat, when the rear seats are down. B- that would be good, but what if you are sporting two spares? I kept the oem spare and it rides center-roof, and it actually helps stabilize the cans that go up there...two spares=peace of mind among sharp rocks and other desert schrapnel. Freddy Mac- Yeah, I had my eyes on this recent US energy bill...tucked away under all the money for hurricanes, soldiers and drilling the arctic, was a little clause making it very easy for private entietes to stake a claim and purchase all sorts of public land at small cost in the west. You don't even have to prove economic recovery possibliites. I don't like the idea of selling of what we all own, but if they were gonna give it away to someone, I wanted it to be me. I had a folio of parcels scoped out. It passed the house, but I heard on NPR today that the senate shot it down. Good. more land for us all to wheel on. I'll definitely rig one of the cables you described. I have an old come-along that I need to re-string, so I'll hit em both at the same time. MWS- I am not familar with the NATOs, but I guess it is a similar closure to the Blitz- a thread down cap with a rubber washer/o-ring? I've had to replace this washer once since I've kept one mounted to the back. Pressure and temperature swings will definitely change the volume of the can (it will bulge in the center). When this happens with the mounting bracket I originally described, you must either manually vent the can or adjust the bracket tension. Easy. Grim G- Oh yeah, ratchet straps are superior to bungees in almost every way. Your rear mount is creative. I'm gonna set my buddy (with a rodeo) up with something similar when we head out next.

And if your squeak is what DSM described, then the best short term fix I have found is to smear some Hi-temperature lube (anti-sieze) on that bumpstop where the "condom" rubbed off. Get something that has zinc or copper (best) in it, it will look glittery. And get the RS 5000s I put it off for a year after my stocks were bad and I regret it. ~$150 and you have to turn 8 nuts. Quick job, you don't even have to jack the rig up, I did it in a hurry after work before a date. And my mechanic at the time wanted $650 to put in monroe's...Santa Barbara style rip off.

With all the trash talkin on the new pathys, I have to ask...how many of you have actually 'wheeled one? A colleague of the Crazy G has a 2001...we railed it all 'roud baja lookin for rocks a while back...I was suprised how well it performed. We only got stuck once; and my '91 would have been mired in that same quagmire (getting back to the driver...) Honestly, just returning from mexico without your field vehicle getting stolen or "taxed" is a a good start. And the 2001 came back in perfect order. Rotate the tires and change the oil, done, after a long, rough road...And it is a hell of a lot quiter than my '91. I'm still looking for another low mile WD though...

P1: that is rad. You have one sold here if you go into production.