Big Blue's Transformation

[Gary Lewis]

K02's would be my go-to for Big Blue if I had to buy now. Fortunately I don't.

As for Michelins, no thanks. I bought a new set 40 years ago and the belts all separated. Gave me fits trying to find the vibrations that came and went. When I finally found out what the problem was I swore off Michelins. Haven't had a set since and plan on not having one.

And on that note, or is it bad, bad, bad vibrations, I took one step forward and two steps back today. The intent was to fix the speed control, so I replaced the servo with another that I had laying around.

But while doing that I realized that I didn't have a proper throttle return spring on the carb, only the coil spring around the end of the throttle cable itself. Thinking that might be both the cause of the varying idle speed when letting off the throttle and maybe the cause of the oscillations in the speed control, I added one.

Then I took it for a drive. Man, did that spring change things! When warm the idle speed is now ~450 - 500 RPM, and when cold it does NOT want to idle. On top of that, the speed control doesn't work at all.

So tomorrow I'll swap the old servo back on and adjust the idle speed to more like 600 and take it for another drive.

But, you ask, what about the "step forward" I mentioned in the last post. I wanted to save that for a post all by itself. And that step forward is yet another very, VERY positive experience with the folks at Over The River And Through The Woods.

Last night I started laying out the wiring for the Mission Control switches and realized that the front locker switch I bought isn't going to work due to the way the lower LED is wired. The switch I bought only has the negative wire of the LED available as it expects the switch to supply the positive power to it. But OX actually has the switch controlling ground to the motor and then the motor provides a positive signal back to the switch to light the LED. Obviously having power to the negative side of the LED and ground to the positive side isn't going to work.

So I called Jim at OTRATTW and as soon as I said "OX" he knew what the problem is. So he's shipping me a switch with the lower LED independent as well as the tool to remove the actuator/rocker, and I'll ship him the other switch back. No charge!

If any of you EVER need switches, these are the folks: Over The River And Through The Woods, aka otrattw.net.

[Gary Lewis]

I've had a bunch of sets of BFG tires: the original MTs and ATs, KO ATs and KO2 ATs. I loved all of them except the KO2 ATs. I found them to be too loud (not a howl like a mud tire, but just a persistent higher pitched whine that I found quite fatiguing) and to not track well on the freeway (they'd pull back and forth with grooves in the pavement).

I switched to Michelin Agilis Cross-Climate this past summer. Maybe not as aggressive a tread or as tough a carcass as Gary will want for his off-pavement excursions, but they've been great on the highway, and fine in the little bit of snow I've had to deal with so far. And very noticeably quieter than the KO2s

I do think the BFG AT KO2 is a pretty reasonable compromise tire for Gary's use: a very tough tire with a decent tread for off-road use that's not too bad on the highway. But I thought the earlier versions were good highway tires vs the KO2s being "not too bad". And there are definitely better tires for most off-road use. So I definitely see the KO2s as a compromise, not the best of both worlds.

I don't have any experience with other tires that might be the best of both worlds. Falken Wildpeak get a lot of compliments. And I hear good things about some of the Goodyear tires (but I can't recall specific models). But that's just what I've heard, so I can't vouch for it at all.

Bob - Tire tech if rapidly evolving. I try to read up on tires from time to time and find the various brands leapfrogging each other.

But one of the problems I've had is finding the right compromise in tires. And for Big Blue that's key since there will be many on-road miles to get to where the off-roading starts. So I need a tire that is pretty good in both uses, and that's hard to find.

One of the problems is finding people or places that rate tires for my intended uses. If I read the offroading or overlanding magazines I get input on how well a tire works for off-road use but on on-road. So I appreciate your input.

[kramttocs]

Bob - Tire tech if rapidly evolving. I try to read up on tires from time to time and find the various brands leapfrogging each other.

But one of the problems I've had is finding the right compromise in tires. And for Big Blue that's key since there will be many on-road miles to get to where the off-roading starts. So I need a tire that is pretty good in both uses, and that's hard to find.

One of the problems is finding people or places that rate tires for my intended uses. If I read the offroading or overlanding magazines I get input on how well a tire works for off-road use but on on-road. So I appreciate your input.

Really happy with my Goodyear Wrangler UltraTerrain AT's.

Gary - I'd mentioned to you about me creating those "personal tire experience" threads. Maybe I should do that

[Gary Lewis]

Gary - I'd mentioned to you about me creating those "personal tire experience" threads. Maybe I should do that

I think that's a good idea, Scott. But I think each post should have a description of what the use is of the tire. IOW, just saying "I'm really happy with my tires" isn't nearly as helpful as saying "My tires do a good job in highway use" or "My tires are excellent in the snow", or somesuch.

For instance, so far I can't recommend these Coopers for off-road use, but lets say they do a good job for that. Then I could say "I'd give them a B for off-road and a C for on-road. They don't follow ruts on the highway, but have quite a bit of noise to them."

 

[kramttocs]

Gary - I'd mentioned to you about me creating those "personal tire experience" threads. Maybe I should do that

I think that's a good idea, Scott. But I think each post should have a description of what the use is of the tire. IOW, just saying "I'm really happy with my tires" isn't nearly as helpful as saying "My tires do a good job in highway use" or "My tires are excellent in the snow", or somesuch.

For instance, so far I can't recommend these Coopers for off-road use, but lets say they do a good job for that. Then I could say "I'd give them a B for off-road and a C for on-road. They don't follow ruts on the highway, but have quite a bit of noise to them."

Exactly - I'll have to dig up that email but that's the direction I was going. In essence a Resources thread that gives one post per vehicle with a questionnaire and then some personal experience comments. Then a sister thread in the main forum for any discussion.

[Rusty_S85]

K02's would be my go-to for Big Blue if I had to buy now. Fortunately I don't.

As for Michelins, no thanks. I bought a new set 40 years ago and the belts all separated. Gave me fits trying to find the vibrations that came and went. When I finally found out what the problem was I swore off Michelins. Haven't had a set since and plan on not having one.

And on that note, or is it bad, bad, bad vibrations, I took one step forward and two steps back today. The intent was to fix the speed control, so I replaced the servo with another that I had laying around.

But while doing that I realized that I didn't have a proper throttle return spring on the carb, only the coil spring around the end of the throttle cable itself. Thinking that might be both the cause of the varying idle speed when letting off the throttle and maybe the cause of the oscillations in the speed control, I added one.

Then I took it for a drive. Man, did that spring change things! When warm the idle speed is now ~450 - 500 RPM, and when cold it does NOT want to idle. On top of that, the speed control doesn't work at all.

So tomorrow I'll swap the old servo back on and adjust the idle speed to more like 600 and take it for another drive.

That plastic piece that the spring attaches to you know if that comes off on the 2V carbs? I cant remember and was thinking of reusing my old spring on my Sniper but never thought of it till you mentioned the throttle return spring.

That spring really helps to keep the throttle plates closed. I found that coil spring on the throttle cable isnt enough to keep the throttle closed.

[Gary Lewis]

K02's would be my go-to for Big Blue if I had to buy now. Fortunately I don't.

As for Michelins, no thanks. I bought a new set 40 years ago and the belts all separated. Gave me fits trying to find the vibrations that came and went. When I finally found out what the problem was I swore off Michelins. Haven't had a set since and plan on not having one.

And on that note, or is it bad, bad, bad vibrations, I took one step forward and two steps back today. The intent was to fix the speed control, so I replaced the servo with another that I had laying around.

But while doing that I realized that I didn't have a proper throttle return spring on the carb, only the coil spring around the end of the throttle cable itself. Thinking that might be both the cause of the varying idle speed when letting off the throttle and maybe the cause of the oscillations in the speed control, I added one.

Then I took it for a drive. Man, did that spring change things! When warm the idle speed is now ~450 - 500 RPM, and when cold it does NOT want to idle. On top of that, the speed control doesn't work at all.

So tomorrow I'll swap the old servo back on and adjust the idle speed to more like 600 and take it for another drive.

That plastic piece that the spring attaches to you know if that comes off on the 2V carbs? I cant remember and was thinking of reusing my old spring on my Sniper but never thought of it till you mentioned the throttle return spring.

That spring really helps to keep the throttle plates closed. I found that coil spring on the throttle cable isnt enough to keep the throttle closed.

I'm not sure what plastic piece you mean. My Edelbrock has a tab below the throttle shaft and I put a spring from that back to the throttle bracket. It works as the idle sure dropped. Apparently I wasn't getting a consistent return.

[Rusty_S85]

I'm not sure what plastic piece you mean. My Edelbrock has a tab below the throttle shaft and I put a spring from that back to the throttle bracket. It works as the idle sure dropped. Apparently I wasn't getting a consistent return.

The plastic dowel on the lower part of the throttle shaft that has the groove cut into it for the return spring to snap onto.

I never looked if it was removeable if it might provide a better attachment of the spring from the throttle bracket to the throttle lever itself.

This is on the OE carb is what I mean. On the sniper I have the extension lever to get a smoother throttle pedal pull but I do need to attach the spring still and the extension lever has to be bolted in the bottom holes and if that part bolted on it might be good to use it in this case to hold the extension in place as well as providing a level position for the return spring to attach to.

If not I guess I could measure the OD of this plastic piece get some plastic stock the same size and cut a groove into it and drill a hole and use a button head screw to attach it to the throttle lever and make my own.

[Gary Lewis]

I'm not sure what plastic piece you mean. My Edelbrock has a tab below the throttle shaft and I put a spring from that back to the throttle bracket. It works as the idle sure dropped. Apparently I wasn't getting a consistent return.

The plastic dowel on the lower part of the throttle shaft that has the groove cut into it for the return spring to snap onto.

I never looked if it was removeable if it might provide a better attachment of the spring from the throttle bracket to the throttle lever itself.

This is on the OE carb is what I mean. On the sniper I have the extension lever to get a smoother throttle pedal pull but I do need to attach the spring still and the extension lever has to be bolted in the bottom holes and if that part bolted on it might be good to use it in this case to hold the extension in place as well as providing a level position for the return spring to attach to.

If not I guess I could measure the OD of this plastic piece get some plastic stock the same size and cut a groove into it and drill a hole and use a button head screw to attach it to the throttle lever and make my own.

I don't know, and don't think I have an OE carb any more.

As for what I've been doing, this is pretty close to what the Mission Control wiring is going to be:

[kramttocs]

I don't know, and don't think I have an OE carb any more.

As for what I've been doing, this is pretty close to what the Mission Control wiring is going to be:

Looks good!

This is autocad, right?