Haku
April 27th, 2009, 06:00 PM
Hey all,
So the trip didn't exactly go as planned. Seems like it was a cursed weekend for FR trips, as the Slaughterhouse didn't happen and Chinaman had a few snafus.
Drove up there as planned on Sunday morning to meet KB, who stayed at a friends in Fairplay. Found out that I hate driving the Samurai in high wind, as you probably could have figured out. Combination of low horsepower, a small boxy vehicle, and wind that seemed to always blow against the direction of travel i.e. it sucked going up and coming back. I think my engine hates me, and it made its protest by using the most fuel I have ever used in MPG terms.
So drive done, I meet KB at the Gunsmoke Truck Stop in Johnson Village. We gas up and head to the trailhead a mile away. Of course, I leave my gas cap sitting on top of the gas turnstile and have to go back through the gated entrance to OCG again. Anyways, we both air down a little bit (nothing to extreme, just a bit to make the ride softer mostly). That done we head up the trail, which starts out very easy for the first 100 yards and then picks right up.
Unfortunately, this pick up is the beggining of the end for us on this trip. On the very first small ledge we hit, a loud BANG! comes from under KB's Samurai. He said he wasn't sure what it was at first, but it was noticeable and loud. I think this is the ledge it happened on (if not its the next one):
http://tvjykw.bay.livefilestore.com/y1pg1-i0GT0dlyzjs3X0aNaXSUWgMONvlPkY9iDFLEL4cuY7pMMQ7COY 5RJKNgi5utSU04VfAXHPCvFYX2mhYOTIg8Z8jrNao3K/1.jpg
Note that this is the "easy" run in stuff to the harder part. This is less then a half mile up the trail.
Anyways, we get up over a few more medium sized ledge like obstacles, and I see KB stopped up ahead on a flatish spot. Turns out this were the rear driveshaft finally fully gave out and I could see it hanging under the car. Turns out the u-joints ends had completely sheared off inside the yoke. The t-case flange part was fine, but the yoke of the driveshaft was much worse off. Luckily the Samurai driveshafts are bolted to both the t-case and differential, so they are easy to remove and work on out from under the car. 8 bolts undone and we had the think pulled out. Here are a few pics of KB with his hands ass deep in his Samurai:
http://tvjykw.bay.livefilestore.com/y1pstanm--xQsYGBZa4oH7JxV6Oswq7Zsn1QBBt3F3NRJ43hefI4MAxxcyMZ xa0lD4L4yep6-5C-Q3xX8TodhuFTaYvvWv5dl8L/2.jpg
http://tvjykw.bay.livefilestore.com/y1p9e14qbymTgcOKSUJHpTJ5LaIyX_qtanH45zV37T66V9Fl1T UB8hTrgpa-LaUhlp6Uv18eWHg7hdHrhfhXoCMI99MFYQAyT_6/3.jpg
So the trip didn't exactly go as planned. Seems like it was a cursed weekend for FR trips, as the Slaughterhouse didn't happen and Chinaman had a few snafus.
Drove up there as planned on Sunday morning to meet KB, who stayed at a friends in Fairplay. Found out that I hate driving the Samurai in high wind, as you probably could have figured out. Combination of low horsepower, a small boxy vehicle, and wind that seemed to always blow against the direction of travel i.e. it sucked going up and coming back. I think my engine hates me, and it made its protest by using the most fuel I have ever used in MPG terms.
So drive done, I meet KB at the Gunsmoke Truck Stop in Johnson Village. We gas up and head to the trailhead a mile away. Of course, I leave my gas cap sitting on top of the gas turnstile and have to go back through the gated entrance to OCG again. Anyways, we both air down a little bit (nothing to extreme, just a bit to make the ride softer mostly). That done we head up the trail, which starts out very easy for the first 100 yards and then picks right up.
Unfortunately, this pick up is the beggining of the end for us on this trip. On the very first small ledge we hit, a loud BANG! comes from under KB's Samurai. He said he wasn't sure what it was at first, but it was noticeable and loud. I think this is the ledge it happened on (if not its the next one):
http://tvjykw.bay.livefilestore.com/y1pg1-i0GT0dlyzjs3X0aNaXSUWgMONvlPkY9iDFLEL4cuY7pMMQ7COY 5RJKNgi5utSU04VfAXHPCvFYX2mhYOTIg8Z8jrNao3K/1.jpg
Note that this is the "easy" run in stuff to the harder part. This is less then a half mile up the trail.
Anyways, we get up over a few more medium sized ledge like obstacles, and I see KB stopped up ahead on a flatish spot. Turns out this were the rear driveshaft finally fully gave out and I could see it hanging under the car. Turns out the u-joints ends had completely sheared off inside the yoke. The t-case flange part was fine, but the yoke of the driveshaft was much worse off. Luckily the Samurai driveshafts are bolted to both the t-case and differential, so they are easy to remove and work on out from under the car. 8 bolts undone and we had the think pulled out. Here are a few pics of KB with his hands ass deep in his Samurai:
http://tvjykw.bay.livefilestore.com/y1pstanm--xQsYGBZa4oH7JxV6Oswq7Zsn1QBBt3F3NRJ43hefI4MAxxcyMZ xa0lD4L4yep6-5C-Q3xX8TodhuFTaYvvWv5dl8L/2.jpg
http://tvjykw.bay.livefilestore.com/y1p9e14qbymTgcOKSUJHpTJ5LaIyX_qtanH45zV37T66V9Fl1T UB8hTrgpa-LaUhlp6Uv18eWHg7hdHrhfhXoCMI99MFYQAyT_6/3.jpg