[reptillikus]

We made it back alive! It started raining sometime Thursday night, and didnt stop until very early this morning. It turned yesterday's trip into the wettest muddiest trip ive ever been on there!

@OX1

@BroncoJoe96

Despite the abysmal weather and it raining non-stop the whole day, we ran a pretty decent amount of miles, close to 10 if im not mistaken. Honestly did not get a ton of pics as it was pouring all day long, and we really didnt stop very much at all.
We took the typical pathway into the East side, taking B to C to O. We detoured and ran CV trail while we were there

I absolutely walloped the driver rock rail! It took quite a hit, but it did its job well, the rocker & door remain unscathed

From there we went down and ran Topless for Tatas, and then made our way via B/E over to the west side, where we went down J, across 11 and then into Rock Creek!

Here we stopped for a soggy lunch break

...and then further into the creek we went

Finally at the other end we decided to keep going and run Death Trap, which was completely under water

Out the other end we picked up 19 and took it up to 11. At this point Joe's transmission was overheating so we escorted him back out 11 to H and up to Tower Road, were the front pump seal gave out and he started puking (extremely burnt) ATF. so his copilot stayed behind with the truck, and we brought him back to the parking lot to get his truck & trailer since it was clear the bronco wasnt going to make it back on its own at this point.
After all that me & Ox went back out into the park and went down into the South side to run Cemetery, Boot Hill & Tombstone

From there we went further in yet and ran down S1-4 over to Snake Bite and Camel Back, which is probably the tightest trail you could run a full bodied rig down! That one was a snug fit for my wide rig, but we made it thru w/o and body damage thankfully. However, we did manage to get a log up underneath the body, where it smashed my gas filler neck!

crumpled the steel neck, tore the rubber hose and popped it off the gas tank entirely, so im pretty sure my tank is full of water & mud now. From here we headed back to the parking lot and called it a day!

So despite some issues, it was still a pretty good day of trail riding

 

[reptillikus]

Wheeled this thing like a pro as usual. The trails we ran and the spots he fits this thing through with
ZERO body damage are annoying to the rest of us mere mortals, who can't drive for shit.

Dude, Camelback was tight. Thats gotta be the tightest trail in the park. It was rough getting thru there w/o smacking the hell out of the rear fender. Especially with how slippery/muddy it was.
That said...

Weirdest thing I've seen in a while.

...this definitely happened on Camelback. There was a dead tree across it, no chance of clearing it w/o a saw so we ran it over, and 100% when it snapped it went up under the body of the truck. I found tree bark wedged into the u-bolts for the leaf springs

Looks like everybody had a great time, wish I could have made it. Seeing these pics & vids makes me think I need to swap in a set of 40's and a np435 doubler combo

I mean, lets be honest.......it would be super cool

 

[reptillikus]

Looks like you guys had a good time despite the rain.

I’m with Darrel, might have to go to 40’s to hang with you guys, lol. I kinda like my set up though.

Jim, your bronco is too sweet to mess with

Would be a decent compromise to get you around on the harder trails, but still have less overall issues than with 44's (and be a bit more streetable).

Sounds like its settled
39-40" is probably where id stop; even that is borderline too big to stuff without having to trim the fenders a little bit.

Kevin, what tires are you running? Your bronco looks great

Maxxis Trepadors
So far im happy with them, but it would have been nice to see how they hook on rocks that were dry

Do you have dual emerg brake cables now? It looked like only one rear wheel was locked up on that front dig you did.

I didnt set the pbrake, that was all brake pedal, which is a little spongy so i think i need to bleed it again.
The ebrake actually works ok but im having issues with the return spring not being strong enough to lift the pedal back up (and i havent had the time to get a heavier spring in it) so i didnt use it all day.

 

[reptillikus]

Well in that case, 42s it is

 

[reptillikus]

@BroncoJoe96 How's the transmission?

 

[reptillikus]

I would for sure. OEM only.
Sonnax makes upgraded retaining rings to replace the problematic snap rings and they're cheap. If you're already rebuilding it id use those for sure.

 

[reptillikus]

If you haven't already, the steel 6 pinion planetary from the 4R100 is a direct swap, and will hold the torque a lot better, esp with the power you're making. The OEM is aluminum, and while it might be ok, i wrecked the one in my F250 and youre making more power than me. There's also an aluminum anti-drainback valve for the pump to replace the OEM plastic one, but that might already be in your rebuild kit.

 

[reptillikus]

I've read conflicting information. I'm pretty sure because you have a 96 diesel trans it'll be a direct swap. I think some of the older ones need a different hub. You can buy it as a kit tho:

E4OD 1989-1996 6 pinion steel forward planet gear kit. This kit contains everything needed to convert to the 6 pinion - PATC - TransmissionCenter.net

E4OD 1989-1996 6 pinion steel forward planet gear kit. This kit contains everything needed to convert to the 6 pinion steel planet gear.

transmissioncenter.net

In the case of my trans, I wrecked the planetary/hub in mine when I blew it up so I needed the parts regardless.