Buena Vista Colorado
So much has happened since i last talked to you guys. Well the first test
of the bronco went pretty well. We drove to winterpark Co where we stayed
for several days before we headed to the proving grounds down south.
The trip out was great the truck ran fine it was comfortable to drive,
except for some steering problems which are hopefully fixed now. It turns out
that the frame was bent, and the front axle was not centered under the truck.
I never felt like i was pushing the truck faster than it wanted to go.
Actually it was the other way around, it was most comfortable at 75 to 80 mph.
The wide-range SVO gears were a little to tall for the big tires. I think lower
gears in the diffs, like 4:10's or 4:11's would be great.Still no complaints
here. It cruised through the mountians with out any problems, no changing jets,
metering rods ,etc and no black smoke! The first day out I turned down the
rancho RS9000's for a smooth ride on the trails as long as you didn't get to
carried away with the bumps because it would bottom out. We took an easy
trail for the first day which was tin cup out of st elmo to the town of tin
cup. The trip over was great and without a hitch. On the way back over the
pass I decided to try the hard way. It was actually a short trail that went
straight up the valley as opposed to winding around the sides. I wish I had
gotten more pictures to show you but here is my description of it anyways.
The trail was basically a dry creek bed full of boulders about a foot and
a half in diameter. The truck crawled along with the greatest of ease.
About half way up through the steep section it got real narrow in between
boulders and i was starting to worry about body damage. Just about that time
I came upon a rock that the truck didn't want to go over without spinning
the tires so I was going adust my line of acent and try again but when I put
the truck in reverse I saw a puff of steam and heard a belt sqeak. I knew my
fan was close to the radiator but I didn't think it was that close. The fan
ate the first core out of the radiator... after dislodging the fan we still
had to get down off the mountian.
When we got back down I found a place that
would sell me a radiator for 300 dollars, the cheapest by $130. After new a
new fan and spacers and misc we were a day later and about a total of $400
down. By the time we rounded up all the parts and got it back together we
only had one day of wheelin' left. We took and easy trip back though the
beautiful Buena Vista Countryside and did some light 4wheelin to avoid
damage once again. By the next trip out I would like to have double shocks
for the front, A/C,electric Radiator fan, Plus my wish list of power windows
,locks, and a Radio!! Hopefully next time I won't be able to find anything
that can stop me!! I hope to go back to Tin Cup to Conquer the hard section
of the trail. Hopefully I can get some pictures of the trip on here soon,
plus i'm planning a total make over of the page so keep checking. If anyone
is interested in a 4wheelin trip let me know maybe we could make it together!
Talk to you later, Jake
Email: sotjake@rocketmail.com
