Gary Lewis

Wow! That was fast. You guys have some nice trucks up there.

Blowing it all back into the tank doesn't sound like a good approach. However, it was done frequently. I'm thinking it was just kicking the can down the road, though. Surely at some point all of that yuk is going to plug a filter or mess up the carb - if not the pump itself. So dropping the tank and cleaning things would be the best approach. But if you don't have the time, and if you don't know that's the problem, then maybe blow air back through the line just to see if that changes the symptoms?

Here's the best I can do w/o taking it down. But I think it shows it well. And, here's where it is within the context of the others - top dog! Thanks again, David.

So, the Load Range E's on Big Blue might be adequate? Seriously though, does the stiffness of the sidewall change the amount of air you need in the tire? In other words, can you air down more or less with a LR C than a LR E? As for serious 'wheeling, I really doubt that's going to happen. So the step bars will do for sliders. And if they get bent then I can replace them as they bolt on - with big bolts. For your new tires & wheels, since you might have two sets then it does make sense to go about as big as you can handle. You won't change your overall gearing by enough to notice when in low gears, and you won't be running on the highway much with the big tires, so the loss of torque won't be noticed.

Makes sense, David. And, by the way, I LOVE IT!

You should put a vacuum gauge on a port on the manifold to see how much you have, but the PCV valve should suck pretty hard. And you shouldn't be seeing oil and smoke coming out of the dip stick tube as it is a closed system and air should be going in there - unless you have a whole lot of blow by. So, a compression test might be a near-term step. However, I don't put much stock in them. Instead, I prefer a leak-down test. That will tell you more. But a compression test is easier so give it a try.

Boy, this is the best kind of info I could possibly get. THANK YOU! But, I have some questions. First, probably 25 years ago we rented a Jeep in Silverton and took several trails. I know we made it to Lake City as I remember driving around the town and then going back out the way we came, with a great big/tall brick smoke stack down in the valley below the road. (My mother collected brick, and I hiked down and got her one.) I think we went into Ouray, so it looks like we took Engineer Mountain Road. Right? Also, we saw Telluride from above, and actually not too far above, but turned and didn't go down into the town. We continued on and came out on the highway, and went back down to Silverton. But the only trails I see that do that on your map are Black Bear and Imogene Pass. Surely we didn't take Black Bear, but it does sound familiar. We had our kids with us and they were probably about 15ish, and our son loved it. But our daughter and Janey got out and walked once on a gravely steep part of the trail where the Jeep wanted to walk sideways - toward the dropoff. Thoughts? And, on Engineer Mountain Road you say it "might best be saved for a later day". Is that a later day in the trip or a later trip?

I don't have any and don't need them because I have the trim panels for my trucks. But, I love the idea of having someone on here that can provide them in any color the vinyl comes in, which should cover most of the colors the trucks came in since the letters won't be directly against the other truck color.

What kind of pressure is the compressor holding in the cylinder? And, how often does it have to run? If you are able to keep something like 100 psi in the cylinder then the size of the compressor, or I should say the volume of the compressor, doesn't matter. The pressure is what holds the valve in place, and if yours will do it then a bigger compressor wouldn't make any difference. Where a bigger compressor would help is if your compressor is having to run continuously to keep the cylinder filled. A bigger compressor would have enough volume to be able to handle the leakage you have without running as long or often as yours. But if yours isn't having to run a lot then a bigger one won't help.

WOW! That's about what I sold Rusty for, and he was rusty, had paint worn through in many places, etc. But that one is clean, looks relatively rust-free, and is a 250/diesel combo.

Yep. And we have a good mix of capabilities and interests here on the Bullnose Forum to do just that.

Good write-up and good progress. Have you found the right o-ring? Your welds look like they should hold nicely. My only suggestion is to round the corners of the piece of plate that stick down below the frame. I shouldn't judge others by myself, but I'd take a chunk out of my skin every once in a while when working under my truck on those corners. And that can trick is new to me as well. Apparently they had a problem with the belts nicking the hose, so slipped the can on to protect it. My guess is that they didn't buy matched belts so one is longer than the other and you can't get one of them tight enough to quit galloping w/o making the other one too tight.

Wow, what a trip! And, what a trip report! I really appreciate the report, and thoroughly enjoy (present tense as I have, am, and will) reading it. I'm going to compare what you did each day with the map and try to get my head around where you went. And, I'm going to get a map or two for my Gaia app on my phone and see what I can find there in the way of a map to use. What advantage(s) do you see in the larger and different tires? I'm not thinking of changing tires on Big Blue, but since he has essentially the same size tires you have now I'm wondering what issues I might have there. As for the rock sliders, that's one reason I mounted the step bars where and how they are mounted. They are seriously solid and don't flex. But, I wonder if they are strong enough to be considered "sliders". (One was apparently used that way before I got them, but I don't know how effective they were.) If you want we can have any discussion of the above on my thread to keep your focused on your most excellent adventure. Well done!

Gary I’m not quite sure what you are saying here... I did blow into the fuel line and heard bubbles come out in the tank. Are you suggesting this forced the screen off and may be causing a problem? It behaved the same before and after blowing into the line... Sorry, had missed that you'd done that. Assuming you have a filter in the line, like David suggested, all should be well on the fuel line. As for the dizzy, David's would be a good match, wouldn't it?

Happy wife, happy life! Like I said in my trip report, in spite of driving these trails 18 years ago (with our 4 and 6 year old sons with us), my wife wasn't ready to do Black Bear or Poughkeepsie on our first day. She wanted to see how well the bigger Bronco handled the switchbacks, and just get her feet back under her. And (spoiler alert) on day 5 she wanted to go back to Poughkeepsie but not do the Wall. She had fun (filming me) the first time, but wanted to leave it at that. So I agreed and didn't try the Wall on day 5. This is supposed to be fun, and that means for everyone. Which reminds me of an earlier post regarding the couple in the YouTube video of Black Bear: That guy does have a number of fourwheeling videos, most of which have his wife (over)reacting in a similar way. My interpretation is that overall she does enjoy it, at least enough to keep doing it. So I won't condemn a guy I don't know. But I certainly agree that forcing a passenger to deal with something they really don't want to deal with is not a good way to promote the sport of fourwheeling, let alone maintain a relationship. Your "advice" post is excellent. Thank you very much. And, in it you've raised an interesting point about airing down and back up. I hadn't thought about the need to air back up easily just to go a ways on a highway and then maybe air back down. That seems to make a high-volume compressor more important than I'd thought. (Or, am I just trying to justify a York/Tecumseh compressor?) And, your comment that "This is supposed to be fun, and that means for everyone" is spot-on. And I have to keep remembering that if Janey isn't having fun she won't want to go with me, regardless of how much fun I'm having. And, having her by my side makes everything more fun, so I need to make it fun for her. As for the videos, I think the wife may be hamming it up for the camera.

Now, this sounds like our kind of 'wheeling. You didn't mention any terribly tough places, but then it was Day 4 so maybe your tolerance for tough going has changed? But the importance of good maps is obvious. Glad you've stressed that. And, the wild flowers are beautiful! You got a special treat.

The DS-II system is pretty good, so I don't see a big advantage to changing. I would change out the pickup just for grins since it is about the last bit you've not done. On the fuel line, you can blow the sock off the pickup be putting air into the line looking back at the tank.

Good job! That carb looks great, and with it running that well you must have nailed it. As for the vacuum port, not all installations used all of the ports. I can't quite tell from its placement if that port is port vacuum, meaning that it doesn't have vacuum at idle, or is manifold vacuum, meaning it does have vacuum at idle. And the only reason to ask that question is if you have vacuum connections you aren't sure of. Otherwise, don't worry about it. Having said that, you shouldn't have oil fumes from the dip stick tube or the breather. All of that should be pulled through the PCV valve unless you have a whole lot of blowby. So check to see that the PCV valve is working properly, which you can do by pulling the PCV valve from the valve cover and see that it has a really strong vacuum on the bottom of it.

I suspect it is just a flaw in the spring, but I’ve not had one break so I don’t know. Anyway, I don’t think you need to replace them all. As for tools, it takes a valve spring compressor. You may be able to rent/borrow one at your local parts store, but if not you may want to take the truck to a shop to have it done. That way you don’t have to buy the spring compressor.

If you can get the valve to seat by pulling up while you have air pressure on it then it should seat and stay. Then you can pull the keeper, get the spring off, put the new spring on, and replace the keeper.

Yes, but should be able to use the rotor on the dizzy to tell. Trace the plug wire to the cap, note the position, pull the cap and turn the engine until the rotor is pointing at that position.

YES!!!! Should have said that. And, it should be TDC on the compression stroke.

You have an intake valve stuck open, which is why you have no compression. Some times you can rap a rocker arm with a mallet and get the valve to spring shut. But you'll have to figure out why it is stuck open.

To further what Bill said, he's suggesting a quick and dirty leak-down test. You'll have air coming through something, and most likely a valve that is stuck open. So put air into the cylinder and listen in the tail pipe and in the intake and you should hear a lot of escaping air sounds in one or the other. But, if not listen in the sump by placing a hose to your ear and placing the other end to the dip stick tube or into the valve cover oil fill hole.

You are probably getting a little too ANALytical here (I hope I know you well enough to make that joke Seriously though, I haven't seen any ratings that break it down that far. But the things to remember are: 1) Every trail in the Ouray are has shelf sections, steep hills, and switchbacks. If someone has no tolerance for those things they should stay out of the mountains. 2) They rent brand-new Jeep Wranglers to people with zero fourwheeling experience to drive on these trails (except Black Bear and Poughkeepsie, the rental places will tell you you can't take their vehicles on those two trails). And I will try to give you some better ideas about the different trails, both in my trip report, and here, once I finish the trip report. Fourwheeling trips and trips of any kind to Colorado are like Lays potato chips: no one can take just one! Yes, you certainly know me well enough to make that joke. And, while it is funny, it is TRUE! I also agree with the Lay's reference. In addition, I know that people rent brand new Jeeps to people they don't know - me included. Twice I've rented from the Conoco station on the east edge of Silverton. The first time I explained that I worked for Conoco in Ponca City, which was at that time the headquarters, and they treated me like royalty. The second time they seemed to remember me from the first time and actually asked me to go up one of the harder trails, although I don't remember which one, to find out where the snow drift was. As for the shelving and steep sections, Janey is OK to get out and walk a time or three to get past the shelving or steep part. But if the trail has lots of that, or something like the Wall, she isn't going to be appreciative. However, our son would love it. On the other hand, until the grandkids get old enough to make up their own minds, their mothers may say "no way". So, I need to ease into this. Treat Janey nicely and get her used to it on some easy trails, get my experience level up, and then start adding a bit more "technicality" to the trail.