Headed to Tahoe, looking at trails.

[american_zero]

Hi guys,

I am going camping with my family for the 4th of Jully in south lake Tahoe. Fallen Leaf Lake to be exact. I am familiar with Lake Tahoe, but not with the offroad trails. I have the Backcountry Adventures in Northern California book, but wanted to ask here about some suggestions. I have only been offroading twice, both times in this Jeep at Hollister and rolling bone stock. So, I am still just getting into it (its way fun!) and want to work up to tougher trails.

For some background, my Jeep is a '94 4-door, 4.0, 5-spd, 231, 30x9.50x15" BFG long trails (wish they were A/T's, but got them for a killer deal on some Ravine wheels). I was working on doing the Rocklizard BB, but inchitis is setting in a bit:twak:. So, I have the RockLizard suggested Monroe shocks, CC784 springs, BPE's in front and back, and I was going to buy the ProComp 3" leafs for the rear instead of building a bastard pack (Many people seem to like them, and I will be removing the overload to keep it softer). Then probably adding a small spacer up front to level it out. Will also be installing a stock gas tank skid and x-fer case skid before the trip. Anything else that I really need to take care of at 3"?

So far, I have decided on Genoa Peak Road and the Angora lakes trail (pretty much just a dirt road from what it sounds like). The book makes it sound like the McKinney trail (the very beginning of the Rubicon) would be doable in a mostly stock, high clearance 4x4. Is this the case? I don't want to be replacing any parts on this trip. :nono: Looks like it would pass a few small lakes and make for a nice ride.

And I am looking for more suggestions for fun trail rides that lead to scenic places. Please let me know what you think.


Thanks!
Chad


BTW -- the rear shock bolts suck! Only attempted the right side so far and broke both of them. So, I tried to drill them out and extract them, but no go. So, out came the angle grinder, and out came a hole in the floor. I am considering just welding in new weld nuts so I won't have to worry about the bolts loosening up later on. This Jeep came from the midwest, and had holes in it to begin with, so its not a real big deal. But still, who likes cutting holes in their car to change the shocks? :flamemad:

 

[Smittty9785]

hit up the CON

 

[Letterman]

You can go a long way on the McKinney trail, the cut off to the rubicon is about 5 miles from the staging area. I would not go on the Rubicon trail, if you want to stay on the simple trails. The Tahoe side it is not too hard for the first 3 or 4 miles, but in a stock rig by yourself, one can get stuck or in trouble fast.

The sign at the end of the Rubicon trail on the side of the McKinney trail:

The Mckinney trails are not very hard and some really nice sites can be found, you could drive out to Barker pass or drive all the way out to highway 89. The "trails" are more like fire roads and could be done with a stock rig a few years back, I don't beleave it is any harder today. There are lots of cut offs and side roads so a map or GPS would be nice to have.

 

[american_zero]

hit up the CON

Gonna have to give me a ride for that. :wave:


Letterman - Thanks for the info. Sounds like I will take the McKinney trail and hit the loop back out to 89 then. I definitely am not planning on going on the Rubicon with a near stock rig. Pretty much looking for some nice scenic trails that aren't too rough on the Jeep. I don't want to worry about breaking parts on this trip (doing enough of that putting shocks on it :doh.

When I went to Hollister earlier this year, it was totally stock with 215/75/15 highway tires on it, and I was actually surprised at how easily it climbed one of the hills there given the really tame tires it had. I wish I knew the name of the hill for reference, but I don't know it off the top of my head (not truck hill for sure though).

The rear shocks, ProComp leaves and front coils should be on this weekend. Hopefully it comes out to around 3" and I won't need much else for a while.

-Chad

 

[Letterman]

Sounds like I will take the McKinney trail and hit the loop back out to 89 then.

I think that "Backcountry Adventures in Northern California" book has info on the road, I could be wrong but I think it also has a map of the area and shows the few hard spots near the pass that can be avoided.

Have fun, pack it in - pack it out, and try to take another rig or at least some friends with you so if you do get in a jam you have help.

 

[originalxj]

hit up the CON

I would advise given the circumstances to not follow Smitty's advice. Sounds to me like you've got a pretty good handle on things, stick to the milder trails, or roads in this case, as you should always do when alone. Don't go in any further than you'd want to walk out. But most of all have a good time and make it fun for the passengers, this way they'll want to come back with you. (I'm assuming like most you have a better half, or in my case 2/3's)

 

[Starboard M]

hit up the CON

On the weekend of the 4th.... :wow:

 

[AIbandit]

I'm going to be at the con on the 4th headed in on loon lake side though. anyone is welcome we have a small group of jeeps, yotas and bronco's going.

 

[Harlee&Tahoe]

Hit me up prior.
I know a few around here.
Some very close to fallen leaf lake.
Some not so close.

And a tip for the shock bolts.
Get up in there with PB
Give em a little heat
Place an extension on bolt head and strike ext. to shock the rust
Tighten bolt ever so slightly, movement not needed just a little working force
Loosen a little, tighten a little, and loosen more

Seemed to work wonders on my 87' from Colorado

 

[american_zero]

Thanks for the info and tips on the shock bolts. I definitely hit it with PB blaster 5-6 times in the past few months, but I did not do the heat or impact to loosen them up. I only have the left rear shock to do, but will certainly try those tricks in hopes of avoiding the seemingly unavoidable.

I know there must be like a zillion trails in the Tahoe area, but my book only shows 4 or 5. Time to find another book I guess.

 

[rightseatsis]

If you do the Genoa Peak trail make sure to do the side trip to the plane crash site/memorial. I did this in my stock XJ, you should have no problems

Mary

 

[Harlee&Tahoe]

Thanks for the info and tips on the shock bolts. I definitely hit it with PB blaster 5-6 times in the past few months, but I did not do the heat or impact to loosen them up. I only have the left rear shock to do, but will certainly try those tricks in hopes of avoiding the seemingly unavoidable.

I know there must be like a zillion trails in the Tahoe area, but my book only shows 4 or 5. Time to find another book I guess.

Are you getting PB up into the little pocket, hitting the bolt threads, not just the heads?
I generally use heat as a last resort.
Let us know how the sequence works out.

Let me re state this:
And a tip for the shock bolts.
Get up in there with PB
Place an extension on bolt head and strike ext. to shock the rust
Tighten bolt ever so slightly, movement not needed just a little working force
Loosen a little, tighten a little, and loosen more
If that doesn't help then I give em a little heat around the bolt and repeat

 

[american_zero]

Well, I tried those tips yesterday on the shock bolts, but still broke them both. Didn't get as far as using heat, and maybe it was just me being impatient. I worked them back and forth for a bit, but couldn't get them to break loose enough to come out. I took care of those though, then moved on to bigger problems.

Front leaf spring eye bolt broke in the frame! I worked on this one for a while to try and get it out. PB, hammer to break up the rust, heat, more PB, back and forth a lot, and it still ended up breaking off. So, I cut the bolt off to get the leaf spring out and now I have to figure out how to get the last bit of bolt out of the weld nut in the frame. Looks like I will probably cut an access hole in the bottom to get to the weld nut and then see if I can either grab the tip of the bolt with vice-grips (not likely to work, but I had a dream about it last night so I am gonna give it a shot first), or I may just end up cutting it out and welding in a new plate with nut.

BTW - Went to Betts truck parts here in San Jose, and they made me custom U-bolts ($55 with nuts and washers). They also have things like the teflon pads that go in between the leafs (ask for "Tip Inserts" - part number D-99 looked like it would work well for XJ leafs.)

Gonna go see what kind of damage I can go do today.

 

[Harlee&Tahoe]

Too bad about shock bolts. How hard did you hit them?
I use 2# and safty glasses for all the falling dirt.
Some times it takes a while for the finesse to work, did they turn at all

So, what broke off? The bolt or hidden nut?
If the bolt there may be enough to grip onto with vise grips
Cut open a small access hole in the bottom of the pocket.
I went to the dealer for the bolt and NAPA for the nut.
I didn't bother with welding ro filling hole for pocket hole just big enough to fit wrench.

$55 for U-bolts??? Did those come w/reach around happy ending?
What makes them so special?

I'd like to look into poly liners w/E-Z slide graphite paint.
Sounds slicker than snail snot on an icy day.

 

[american_zero]

Hit the shock bolts with 2# sledge. They moved a little bit, but then seized up. I probably could have got them out with more patience, but couldn't help myself...

The leaf spring bolt snapped inside the bushing, so I cut the bolt off at the frame to get the leaf out. Today, I drilled out the bolt (couldn't grab it since it was flush with the frame), and then used an extractor to get it out. It was seized in there really good, but tons of PB blaster and a torch, finally got it out (took about 2.5 hours with me and my dad working on it.) Really did not want to start cutting and welding.

Ordered new bolts from the dealer and will be getting them Tuesday and installing the new leaves then.

The u-bolts were expensive, but 4-Wheel Parts couldnt get me any until later in the week and those were ~$35. If I knew I was going to break the bolt off and be stuck until Tuesday anyway, I would have waited and saved $20. But there's nothing I can do about it now. Just thought it would be good info for others looking to custom bolts locally.

 

[buzzbombxj]

$55 for U-bolts??? Did those come w/reach around happy ending?
What makes them so special?

I just went there last week to get some, its so expencive cause they bend them up there. So i said screw that and just got some of the plastic slider pads. I looked at our naxja sponsors and tomken has then for 25 bucks!

 

[american_zero]

Next time I will order them from somewhere else. I thought that the Pro-Comp u-bolts I ordered from 4-Wheel Parts would work (they have a store that is local to me), but they are not the right size for the Cryco 8.25". They are 3.25" instead of 3". So, I thought I had the right parts, then when I went to work on the Jeep and found out they wouldn't work, I had to find some replacements quick. Or so I thought, I then proceeded to break my front leaf spring bolt and that stopped me in my tracks because I had to order a new bolt from the dealer who wont have it until Tuesday.

Once I have the lift finished up, hopefully next weekend, I will try and post up pics. I am using Moog CC784 springs up front (supposedly good for 2.25-2.5" of lift), and Pro-Comp 3.5" leafs in the back (they will give 3.5-4" normally, but I heard that if you remove the overload leaf, it should come down to 2.5-3" of lift). After its all on, I will just level it with spacers/shackles if I need to.

Chad

 

[american_zero]

Finshed the lift up today. If it wasnt for breaking all 4 rear shock bolts, and a front leaf spring bolt, it would have been pretty easy. Overall, I like the lift. It rides way nicer than I expected. It is stiffer than stock, but in a good, tight, controlled kind of way.

The CC784 Moog springs got me right about 3". I would expect this to settle a little, but not too much.

The ProComp 53111 leaf springs gave me freakin 4" with the overload removed. I wanted to go no more than 3", and I am gonna weigh the back end down with some bags of concrete/sand and hope that it comes down a bit.

PROBLEMS:
I used the Monroe shocks recommended by RockLizardFab, and I know they are not long enough for 4" in the back, and appear to be close to being short for the front. If the back end comes down, I won't worry about it too much.

The front brake lines look like they are going to be long enough without relocating them or replacing the. The rear line is probably too short and I will probably replace it with a TJ line to be safe.

I also have some vibes right now. I haven't driven it on the freeway yet, but I get some vibes from ~32-36mph that I would like to get rid of. If the back end comes down an inch, I would think that would help quite a bit. Otherwise I will have to put spacers under the crossmember.

Anything else I should worry about? Check?

Thanks!

Chad

 

[sleeperjeeper]

There are a few good trails close to fallen leaf lake and south tahoe area, that don't require a rubicon ready jeep. if you PM me I will give you directions. The first one that comes to mind is twin peaks. which is off of Lake tahoe blvd and saw mill road. the others are powerline trail, genoa/spooner trail, and willow creek road.

 

[american_zero]

Sleeperjeeper - pm'd.

Update on the lift. It rides great and I would suggest it as a great budget lift for anyone who does not want to build their own packs and guess on which coils they find in the junkyard.

Front and rear have both settled to 2.5" of lift. Put ~250 pounds of sand and concrete in the back, and then flexed it a bit to get it down. I measured from the flare to the center of the wheels and before I was at 17.5" in front and 17" in the back. This looked to be stock height for most people without seriously sagging springs. Now its 20" front and 19.5" in the rear.

The rear leaf is making a banging noise when dropping quickly over a curb or other sizable dip. I searched around the board and someone had a similar sound and it was being caused by the rear leaf spring eye bolt. I cut mine off to make it easy to get out, but it turns out that its a 14mm bolt and I replaced it with a 1/2" grade 8 bolt which is .050 smaller than 14mm. Since I cannot find a 14mm grade 12.9 bolt around here, I will try a 9/16 grade 8 bolt and see if it will fit (slightly larger than the 14mm stock bolt). Either way, I don't think its a serious problem, more of just an irritating noise that I would rather not have there (imagine hitting the leafs with a hammer, its pretty similar in sound).

I got a factory transfer case skid on with some self tappers since my jeep does not have the factory weld nuts in place. Seems to be real strong and the aftermarket ones use the same type of mounting.

The gas tank skid I have was supposedly off a late 80's XJ, but the holes do not line up with the nut strips I have. I may try again and drill the holes out to make it work. Depends on how much time I have this weekend to get it all ready. Still need to put the carpet and interior trim back in too.

Chad