woooody

Fine... But it took them how long to get to Walker Hill? it took us 90 minutes. and that was with us waiting on 13 rigs. Was it 2 days or 3? Sub Junkie -- If you've only put 10K in your house - well --- never mind.

Oh good lord. I was going to walk away, but this is ridiculous. Paying someone to weld on your frame is elitist? It makes me an as*hole? How is it any different than paying for any other aftermarket piece of equipment? I don't have the tools or resources to build a bumper the way I want, or get it to turn out looking the way I want. I don't have the skill set to properly cut and turn an axle housing and weld the spring pads on in correct alignment, so that the vehicle is safe going down the highway (as my vehicle IS a daily driver), that is wrong, or weak, or whatever, fine. If you think his work is clean, or good, or something you'd get in and drive your family in, then great, more power to you. But I wouldn't want it 100 ft near me on the street or on the trail. Fortunately, when they did have problems people were able to get by them. They went through during the week, and it was August. Just imagine if it was a Saturday. Just imagine if they had broke on Cadillac Hill on 4th of July. It could have gotten ugly. These Subarus aren't yet ready for the Rubicon. I have no doubt that Qman, Mudrat and others can get them there, but going, from their words of trails that they rate as a "3" to a trail they would rate as a "9" is too much of a jump. You need to find a middle trail, work on that and then come back down. I think that's one of the key points that everyone is missing here. I guess no matter how hard I try, I'm not conveying it, so I'll stop trying.

Just feeeling the need to respond... And trying to keep it in a civil manner Mudrat - To answer your questions 1 - Since I have an FJ40, there hasn't been a lot of Fab work needed, since the Landcruiser truly is a capable vehicle, stock. And I did get mine for $1500. Some rust in the Quarters. Hard top 72, 3spd. Most of the fab that has needed welding has been performed by two people Gary Kardum (http://www.mudrak.com) and Butch Lewis (http://www.butchbuilt.com) as Gary is the Spring Over king and Butch is the Bumper guy. I have torn apart and rebuilt my rear axle twice, installed my noslip locker 3 times, installed ARB front, converted to Chevy rear discs, converted to later brake master, swapped intake / exhaust, carb, drivelines, complete changeout from drum to disc up front. Installed Duall Batts, GM HEI, Radiator, Swapped in 2f for old F, misc body parts, soft top, etc... electrical, I just refuse to do the welding, as I feel that's my own personal limitation. Including all broken parts, wasted springs, retubed driveshafts, I'm into mine for right at $10,000. Maybe $12,000. Most of it is hanging below the frame. A lot of it is labor. Maybe I'm fortunate in that I can pay some one to do that work. But there are other jobs that I will do myself (like this weekend where we're pulling the motor). My biggest shock is that it seemed that your ride was slapped together. You knew it was inadequate, yet you took it out on the country's toughest trail. It's an arrogance that you think you're better than the trail. Guys on the Pirate board were offering you advice and help and knowledge and guidance. I can understand not wanting a crowd around you when you went through, but I think rather than spending the time on creating 12" of lift, you could have maybe gotten the vehicle better prepared? dunno. When you guys come back, and I'm sure you will, prepare yourself to run the whole trail, have the kinks worked out long before you come, and have some fun. The final thought on this is that Rubicon has become a rock garden. And nowadays, people need to crawl over them, unless you are light enough to use momentum to launch over the rocks, which breaks stuff. If you can get a Jeep, Bronco, or Land Cruiser, or Mini to carry spares for you, you guys will stay light enough to skate over the rocks, but you guys probably were carrying several hundred pounds of spares that you weren't counting on. And when you carry those spares, you get heavy. And when you get heavy, you have to slow down. So find a way to crawl. woody

The Cryo treatment Is what is being used by Bobby Long on the Birfield joint which is very similiar to your stub axle joint. (basicaly a CV). They call 'em Longfields. You may want to contact him, he might be able to come up with something that would work for you, and it's way, way better than going new. Here's his contact info Contact: Bobby Long, Owner Long's Enterprises Phone: (253) 847-8254 Fax: (253) 875-1588 Address: Long's Enterprises 20719 111th Ave East. Graham Wa, 98338

I'm just curious, is this fabrication work that you're proud to advertise?

Camp fires are permitted with burn permits, available at ranger stations. Many people will shoot off guns, or mortars to ward of bears. You are in bear country. As for $30 K? I don't think there were too many, if any that would qualify as $30K rigs. Maybe $10K. A bone Stock FJ40 went through. You could pick that up for $1500. Bone stock Minis go through all the time. I know the guys with the broken Transfer case. One of the Sub guys was capping on the fact the a toyota guy broke going up Walker hill. Big friggin deal. I guarantee you he did NOT like the 12" lifted Subaru. We had a 97 Land Cruiser, with 2" of lift and 33's make it ALL the way through suffer ONE ding. and NO breaks. And he made it from Ice house to Spider in 4 hours? and Spider to the springs in 7? and up Cadillac in 4 more. This thing was a virgin, untouched rig. One mod - Sliders. Helped a bunch though.

Hey Guys I think you need to get some stuff straight, before you going running off thinking that you've conquered the Rubicon. A - The Trail is 23 Miles long. Not 6. B - You Came in AFTER Jeepers Jamboree, which is considered "paved", which is the easiest of the season. C - Those guys crawling out of their "30,000" Landcruisers were doing so because they couldn't beleive such booger welded garbage was running down the trail, still in one piece. 12" of lift? on a Uni Body? And you drive it on the Highway? They weren't impressed, they were shocked. D - They guy with the broken transfer case at the base of Walker Hill runs the trail a 2 - 3 times a year and has every year for 10 years. With the same transfer case. It finally broke. E - The "VAST MAJORITY" DON'T bypass gate keeper. It's called Gate Keeper for a reason. If you can't make it through that, you shouldn't run the trail. F - We had heard that you didn' actually make it all the way to the top of Walker, and turned around and went home at that point. I respect that you got out there and attempted the trail. But don't start capping on what we've built, how much we've spent, or what board we're on. As for people who are out stripping parts on the trail, they are punks. Plain and simple. POR sponsors Trail clean ups every year. Yes, members do enjoy to party at the sluice. Guns? not sure where you got that one. If you're going to start throwing around accusations like that, better have some facts to back them up. Ross Woody 72 FJ-40