sirhk100

Uh oh!!!! Looky what I'm picking up tomorrow night! I'm actually getting all 4 of them. We're going to try out the smaller pair on our race truck and I'm going to try the larger set on my truck that's in this thread...

LOL, yeah, it was definitely hard to miss me and probably hear me. The truck isn't quiet by anymeans and the only other thing I saw out there was that smaller framed a-armed buggy with the V6 in the rear. It was all quads/bikes/utv's otherwise. We got out there mid Sat morning. Ran around a bit Sat from probably noonish till 4-5pm playing with tire pressures and settings. Sunday mid morning we went on a run and Sunday late afternoon went on another run but wasn't really long due to Transmission temps. Monday morning did another run and then loaded and headed home. We were camped in the pay spots, spot #17. Big green van, car trailer and the truck above.

Well... I popped it's sand cherry this past weekend! It did excellent actually! I have some new truck gremlins to still work out but for the most part it did everything I asked of it! Climbed everything out there. Had one run where I was screwing around a bit too much and got the trans hot but that was the only "dune" related issue I had. The other gremlins are just known gremlins on the to do list that I still need to work out. Gonna fix a few things and then maybe head for Dumont or Glamis next!

Cool, I was more concerned with Cali right now. For Nevada I'll be going a different route to get the street plate for it... That's this summer's project.

Eventually I plan to have a full body on this and actually have a Nevada street plate for it as I live in Vegas. It will see no street use but I want the license plate for simply avoiding any issues playing around Nevada. Currently though, there's no vin numbers, no nothing on it. I've been thinking about possibly just picking up a out of state california permit/sticker for it. I'm not 100% but thinking about maybe heading to Dumont with it next weekend. Any thoughts on if the non-resident Cali offroad sticker would be enough to keep me out of trouble registration wise on it? Thanks, Khris

Not 100% but there's a chance I may head to Dumont with it next weekend! We'll see how this weekend at the Mint goes with the other truck I'm responsible for and if I can knock out a few items I'd like to take care of on it between now and next weekend. Still building up my confidence in it...

It's getting there! Reality has set in that I doubt I'll be able to hit the sand this weekend. WIth race commitments on the other truck I'm involved with I'm slammed between now and the Mint and then after the Mint depends on what condition the race truck is in. Even if all good, by the time I finally have this truck finished up and 100% dialed in, we'll probably be into summer. So hopefully next season I can pop it's cherry in the sand!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=drGSmq2Chzk&list=UUAr5O4XSxMHhdUvRMoKKkmw

On the rear bumpstops... Front... Low rider... Monster truck... And this was last weekend for the first time ever. Zero tuning, it'll get smoother once I get it dialed in. https://www.youtube.com/watch?edit=vd&v=5dpBP0pnCgc

Well, still fighting motor issues on this hoopty!!! Finally bit the bullet and yanked it out. Has a hard spot every single rotation that I believe is my knock. Need to tear into it further though to find it. Did a leak down test also though and found one bad cylinder which I don't think has anything to do with my noise but while it's apart and out of the vehicle, I guess I obviously need to address that as well. Out of boredom though the other night while it was out of the garage and the engine hoist was sitting there mocking me I decided to see really what the rear end was capable of and well... Figured someone may get a kick out of this. It's 100% ready to go complete in this picture with exception of the driveshaft... And normal...

Hoping to hear it start up on Sunday and basically be ready to go at least as much as I can be by mid week at the latest. Still waiting on coilover parts which is completely outta my hands but either way, hoping to be basically done with as much as I can physically do right now by mid week...

n/m

Sincerely/respectfully 100% disagree as someone with 29 years riding/racing/duning experience on 2 wheels. But totally beside the part. Sorry for the loss of a fellow offroader! Never a good thing to hear! Especially at a younger age!

Definitely do not hold them for me, if you have an interested buyer, let them go. I've still got a couple other items to spend money on that have priority in getting this thing in the dirt before I buy paddles when it really comes down to it. I'll hit you up when I'm ready and if you still have them, maybe we can make a deal, if not, no biggie, there'll be more on the market sooner or later. Got the engine/trans bolted in place. This week will finish safety wiring all my mounts, fluids, plumb it, hook it all up, etc... This weekend I'm hoping to button up 100% of the fab work on the rear end that I've been procrastinating and then take it for exhaust next week probably. If some shock parts I've been waiting on show up this week or next I could potentially have it in the dirt in 2 weekends. That's out of my hands though and I'm at the mercy of the shock machinest to get me the parts I need. WIll have the shocks tuned ASAP and basically just start gaining confidence in it. Potentially could be in the sand Nov time frame...

How many scoops on them out of curiosity? 1" tall, sounds almost more like the desert tracks type of tire? Which I've also considered honestly, not as power robbing, more sand traction then a MT tire, crossover'ish, etc... It's what we used to run on our buggies as a good go between tire but wouldn't want it really in the rocks of a lot of our deserts. Are you actively pushing them to sell or just one of those things where they're collecting dust in the back and you'd let them go if someone asked about them? Just judging if I have time to try the truck on MT's a time or two first and if you'd likely still have them or not?

Crap, sometimes I completely miss the obvious!!! Didn't even think about the fact I could just shave some off it I feel it's too much. I have a friend with a nice groover that would likely make quick work of them if I needed to pull some off. Like you said, not having a starting point, I'm just kinda diving in. Either way I'll take it out with just the MT's on it and have fun. But if a set of paddles would allow me to actually "dune" the truck persay, that would be pretty darn cool/fun!!!! Those ones pictured above are available right now and I feel like $550 with the right wheels that I need is a fair price but then again... There'll be more. Patience... Get the thing in the dirt first, then get it in the sand, then worry about it... LOL I live in Vegas, I miss Glamis, Dumont just seems like a great way to scratch that itch onces this thing is done. Perfect world, I'd find someone that's got a set of paddles mounted on a 5x5.5 that I could borrow for a weekend or heck, even just borrow for a single quick run from camp. I mean it's not like it's hard to swap them in camp... That may be my best bet. Start asking around for who's got a truck setup and smooze them into letting me take a test run with them so I at least have a starting point!

That's the plans for sure! It's hard to say time lines cause well, I thought I was hitting the dirt the weekend after labor day with it but then BOOM... I really don't have much left on it though. Granted, won't have a front clip for a bit but cosmetics is the least of my concerns. (although I do need to peel the stickers off those used rear fenders ASAP!!! LOL) I just want one or two good runs with it to test for gremlins, then pay to have the shocks tuned and then one or two more good solid testing sessions on the hard pack and at that point I think I'll be ready to try the sand. I want some confidence in it before I play in the dunes with this thing!

Yes, it's sitting on 35's currently. And the paddles I'd eyeballed were 33" for power reasons exactly. I'm running 6.0:1 gears in the rear though so I do have that advantage. Most the "prerunner" trucks aren't going into that low of a gear range but this truck won't see street use or if it does, it's from street light to street light, no highway. 6.0 gears is more of a race truck type deal... Thanks for the feedback in general though! I've asked around a decent amount and it always goes unanswered. I figured I'd try it just aired down and see how it does but would love to know real world how much better some paddles would be? I've got a lead on these for $550 with the wheels and it's the right wheel/lug pattern I'd need. But like mentioned above, I don't really want to spend the money if not needed or if the truck won't really push them. I contacted the guy and tape measure no mounted on a truck they're a 33" tall setup. If things go right, I should have it in the dirt for the first time ever in 2-3 weekends and then probably a month or so's worth of testing/tuning and then I'll haul it out to the sand and see what it does there. Decent step up from my last truck... Last one was half the power, 17" front, 24" rear travel, coilovers, no bypass and the chassis wasn't built near as stout as this one is for abuse! LOL I should've had this truck out about a month ago but on my 3rd start up after one full heat cycle for a new motor... Well this kinda happened... In fact this happened when I fired it to pull it off the trailer in that top picture above! I should be slapping in it's replacement hopefully tomorrow night/Sat and then goes for exhaust and a few minor check over items and should be good to go. I've got a couple evening's worth of fab to finish up on it also but I'm really close! Thanks, Khris

Just pasting the CL ad here, seems easiest... http://lasvegas.craigslist.org/mcy/4692114812.html

I've been offroading for 29 years now. My experience has been dirt bikes, buggies and 4wd crawlers. I've had some 2wd prerunners also but never in the dunes and not at the level of what I'm finishing up. I've been to Glamis a bajillion times but was usually on bike and the times I was there in trucks I always had 4wd and didn't really "dune" you could say... Obviously I know about airing down. Question though... I'm finishing up my latest toy. It's a 2wd early 90's F150. 21" travel front, 29" rear. bypass and coilovers all 4 corners. Has a factory stock 100K+ mile 6.0L Chevy LQ9 backed by a culhane built 4 speed auto. The truck should be an absolute blast basically! I'm building it primarily for hard pack desert racing type stuff but do want to take it to the dunes. I know I can air down and get around fairly well. But realistically, how much better will running a set of paddles be? I know on bikes it's night and day between knobbies and paddles. Would it be that substantial on the truck too? Do you think I can reasonable expect to actually somewhat "dune" the truck with a group of buggies if I wanted if I was running paddles? How many scoops do you think I should try and run? It's obviously not finished in this picture but hopefully you get the idea.... Thanks, Khris