Gary Lewis Posted September 9, 2020 Share Posted September 9, 2020 Yes Gary, still checking in every night. You might check out Backroadadventures.net They have a couple of drives (not sure they are rugged roads by any means) River Run One starts at MO/ARK/OK corner and runs up to Roaring River State park. (Trout Hatchery) And also a Gladtop trail between Chadwick, MO and Ava, MO which is supposed to be one of the best for fall foilage. Your truck is coming along nicely, Congrats. Thanks, Bruce. I have tabs open for those now and will check them out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nothing Special Posted September 9, 2020 Author Share Posted September 9, 2020 Bob, the new boots look great on the little Bronco! I love the stance it has now, and hope you have a great time at the off-road ranch! Thanks! I really like the stance with these tires too. I can't say I love the look of the black wheels. It's a look that seems to have some attitude behind it, not really what I'm going for. I'd have preferred brushed or polished aluminum. Or even white or chrome given the vintage of the truck. But white steel wheels turn into brown steel wheels pretty fast, you don't see chrome around much (not that that's necessarily a bad thing!) and aluminum get more expensive. So we'll see what I do when I eventually need new boots. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nothing Special Posted September 17, 2020 Author Share Posted September 17, 2020 I'm heading to SMORR to meet with a group of virtual friends. Should be a fun trip, but unfortunately Lesley isn't joining me. If she was I'd take the motorhome, but since it's just me I thought I'd make it a bit of an adventure (and cheaper!). Not really project-related, but not enough for a separate trip report, so I'll stick it here... As I mentioned, last weekend I drove the Bronco 650 miles (~12 hours) from Minnesota down to southern Missouri to meet up with some virtual (now actual) friends to go 'wheeling in Southern Missouri Off-Road Ranch (SMORR). The drive down was... OK. It rained over half the time and the Bronco's top is not weather tight. So I got a little wet and some of my gear got quite wet. The tire noise wasn't bad with ear plugs, but even so I could still hear them. There was quite a bit of vibration between 58 and 68 mph. So I could cruise around 70 when the speed limit allowed, but on the smaller highways I was limited to about 55 mph. Jumping ahead, the vibration was different on the way home, probably from dried mud on the wheels. It was fine up to 60 mph and then got BAD until about 70, but never smoothed out. So I was limited to 60 on the way home. But other than the vibration the tires were very tolerable on the road. I left around 5:00 AM on Friday so I got to the park on Friday evening, set up camp, had dinner and then found the people I was meeting. There were a total of 12 vehicles. The newest was a ~10 year old Jeep Wrangler. Second newest was a ~30 year old Wrangler. Third newest was my ~50 year old Bronco! Fourth was ~70 years old and everything else was Jeeps from the 1940s. The trails at SMORR are more hills and wet dirt (muddy, but not sink-into-it mud) than the rocks I usually 'wheel on. It was a lot of fun doing something different and with new people. A few of those Jeeps are really incredible to watch in action! My dog (Kenzie) came along on the trip (it was just the two of us). She'd never been 'wheeling before, and doesn't love car rides. But she does love being with me. It went pretty well with her, but definitely her favorite part of 'wheeling is getting out to scout the trail before driving it! Here's the 12 vehicle lineup. Some of them did some 'wheeling on Friday before others of us got there, we were all together on Saturday morning, split into two groups for the afternoon, and then all but 4 of us left Saturday evening / Sunday morning. The rest of us 'wheeled Sunday morning, then headed for home (with me getting home ~1:00 AM on Monday). Black dogs aren't very photogenic, but Kenzie is tied to the winch on the front of my Bronco. Here's an optional V-notch that I opted out of, but to give an idea of the terrain. A view through my windshield down the hill at a Jeep starting up the other side. Sort of shows how steep some hills were! And a "waterfall" that we had to get up. I was able to get my front tires up, and maybe could've "bumped it" hard enough to get the rears up too. But with needing to be able to drive it home I let the Jeep in front of me give me a little tug to finish the climb. Edit to add in January 2022: Here is some video of my Bronco on that trip: And here's a ride that Kenzie and I got in one of the Jeeps: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1986F150Six Posted September 17, 2020 Share Posted September 17, 2020 Not really project-related, but not enough for a separate trip report, so I'll stick it here... As I mentioned, last weekend I drove the Bronco 650 miles (~12 hours) from Minnesota down to southern Missouri to meet up with some virtual (now actual) friends to go 'wheeling in Southern Missouri Off-Road Ranch (SMORR). The drive down was... OK. It rained over half the time and the Bronco's top is not weather tight. So I got a little wet and some of my gear got quite wet. The tire noise wasn't bad with ear plugs, but even so I could still hear them. There was quite a bit of vibration between 58 and 68 mph. So I could cruise around 70 when the speed limit allowed, but on the smaller highways I was limited to about 55 mph. Jumping ahead, the vibration was different on the way home, probably from dried mud on the wheels. It was fine up to 60 mph and then got BAD until about 70, but never smoothed out. So I was limited to 60 on the way home. But other than the vibration the tires were very tolerable on the road. I left around 5:00 AM on Friday so I got to the park on Friday evening, set up camp, had dinner and then found the people I was meeting. There were a total of 12 vehicles. The newest was a ~10 year old Jeep Wrangler. Second newest was a ~30 year old Wrangler. Third newest was my ~50 year old Bronco! Fourth was ~70 years old and everything else was Jeeps from the 1940s. The trails at SMORR are more hills and wet dirt (muddy, but not sink-into-it mud) than the rocks I usually 'wheel on. It was a lot of fun doing something different and with new people. A few of those Jeeps are really incredible to watch in action! My dog (Kenzie) came along on the trip (it was just the two of us). She'd never been 'wheeling before, and doesn't love car rides. But she does love being with me. It went pretty well with her, but definitely her favorite part of 'wheeling is getting out to scout the trail before driving it! Here's the 12 vehicle lineup. Some of them did some 'wheeling on Friday before others of us got there, we were all together on Saturday morning, split into two groups for the afternoon, and then all but 4 of us left Saturday evening / Sunday morning. The rest of us 'wheeled Sunday morning, then headed for home (with me getting home ~1:00 AM on Monday). Black dogs aren't very photogenic, but Kenzie is tied to the winch on the front of my Bronco. Here's an optional V-notch that I opted out of, but to give an idea of the terrain. A view through my windshield down the hill at a Jeep starting up the other side. Sort of shows how steep some hills were! And a "waterfall" that we had to get up. I was able to get my front tires up, and maybe could've "bumped it" hard enough to get the rears up too. But with needing to be able to drive it home I let the Jeep in front of me give me a little tug to finish the climb. Edit to add in January 2022: Here is some video of my Bronco on that trip: And here's a ride that Kenzie and I got in one of the Jeeps: Wow! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grumpin Posted September 17, 2020 Share Posted September 17, 2020 Wow! Very cool! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Lewis Posted September 17, 2020 Share Posted September 17, 2020 Not really project-related, but not enough for a separate trip report, so I'll stick it here... As I mentioned, last weekend I drove the Bronco 650 miles (~12 hours) from Minnesota down to southern Missouri to meet up with some virtual (now actual) friends to go 'wheeling in Southern Missouri Off-Road Ranch (SMORR). The drive down was... OK. It rained over half the time and the Bronco's top is not weather tight. So I got a little wet and some of my gear got quite wet. The tire noise wasn't bad with ear plugs, but even so I could still hear them. There was quite a bit of vibration between 58 and 68 mph. So I could cruise around 70 when the speed limit allowed, but on the smaller highways I was limited to about 55 mph. Jumping ahead, the vibration was different on the way home, probably from dried mud on the wheels. It was fine up to 60 mph and then got BAD until about 70, but never smoothed out. So I was limited to 60 on the way home. But other than the vibration the tires were very tolerable on the road. I left around 5:00 AM on Friday so I got to the park on Friday evening, set up camp, had dinner and then found the people I was meeting. There were a total of 12 vehicles. The newest was a ~10 year old Jeep Wrangler. Second newest was a ~30 year old Wrangler. Third newest was my ~50 year old Bronco! Fourth was ~70 years old and everything else was Jeeps from the 1940s. The trails at SMORR are more hills and wet dirt (muddy, but not sink-into-it mud) than the rocks I usually 'wheel on. It was a lot of fun doing something different and with new people. A few of those Jeeps are really incredible to watch in action! My dog (Kenzie) came along on the trip (it was just the two of us). She'd never been 'wheeling before, and doesn't love car rides. But she does love being with me. It went pretty well with her, but definitely her favorite part of 'wheeling is getting out to scout the trail before driving it! Here's the 12 vehicle lineup. Some of them did some 'wheeling on Friday before others of us got there, we were all together on Saturday morning, split into two groups for the afternoon, and then all but 4 of us left Saturday evening / Sunday morning. The rest of us 'wheeled Sunday morning, then headed for home (with me getting home ~1:00 AM on Monday). Black dogs aren't very photogenic, but Kenzie is tied to the winch on the front of my Bronco. Here's an optional V-notch that I opted out of, but to give an idea of the terrain. A view through my windshield down the hill at a Jeep starting up the other side. Sort of shows how steep some hills were! And a "waterfall" that we had to get up. I was able to get my front tires up, and maybe could've "bumped it" hard enough to get the rears up too. But with needing to be able to drive it home I let the Jeep in front of me give me a little tug to finish the climb. Edit to add in January 2022: Here is some video of my Bronco on that trip: And here's a ride that Kenzie and I got in one of the Jeeps: Man, that looks like fun! But did the guy get through the v-notch? That looks hard! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nothing Special Posted September 17, 2020 Author Share Posted September 17, 2020 Man, that looks like fun! But did the guy get through the v-notch? That looks hard! It was fun! I don't think he made it on that pass, I think he backed out and tried again. But he did make it. Then again, he made it everywhere he tried. That is one amazing vehicle, and he knows how to use it! There was one hill (sorry, no pictures) where only three of the Jeeps tried it. They all made it, but it took one Jeep about 15 minutes, with lots of backing up and trying new lines. It took another about 8 minutes, also with quite a few retries. This Jeep went up in under 3 minutes, and I think only twice did he need to take a second try at an obstacle. Edit to add in January 2022: here's video of these three Jeeps going up this hill: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Lewis Posted September 17, 2020 Share Posted September 17, 2020 It was fun! I don't think he made it on that pass, I think he backed out and tried again. But he did make it. Then again, he made it everywhere he tried. That is one amazing vehicle, and he knows how to use it! There was one hill (sorry, no pictures) where only three of the Jeeps tried it. They all made it, but it took one Jeep about 15 minutes, with lots of backing up and trying new lines. It took another about 8 minutes, also with quite a few retries. This Jeep went up in under 3 minutes, and I think only twice did he need to take a second try at an obstacle. Edit to add in January 2022: here's video of these three Jeeps going up this hill: Wow, he obviously knows how to handle his Jeep. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nothing Special Posted September 23, 2020 Author Share Posted September 23, 2020 Wow, he obviously knows how to handle his Jeep. The guy with that blue Jeep posted a video of the weekend. My Bronco makes appearances at 4:18, 9:47, 14:05 and 20:20. Also Kenzie and I make cameos a few different times scouting the trail or taking video while others are doing something worth taking video of (Kenzie is the only dog on the video, and I'm the only guy with a dog). Plus at 8:03 Kenzie and I got a ride in another guys Jeep. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Lewis Posted September 23, 2020 Share Posted September 23, 2020 The guy with that blue Jeep posted a video of the weekend. My Bronco makes appearances at 4:18, 9:47, 14:05 and 20:20. Also Kenzie and I make cameos a few different times scouting the trail or taking video while others are doing something worth taking video of (Kenzie is the only dog on the video, and I'm the only guy with a dog). Plus at 8:03 Kenzie and I got a ride in another guys Jeep. Wow! That's serious stuff! I didn't see anything I thought Big Blue could handle, and some of that was just downright awesome to see a vehicle come through, like the V-Notch. That blue Jeep, and the green one as well, are serious machines. And the drivers know how to handle them. But the older Jeeps seem to be quite nimble. And some sound like they are running the original 4-bangers. Are some of the serious ones autos? Your Bronco did well. But you had a rather hard stop at 4:25. Did you bang up that new slider? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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