Voodoo Blue 82 Complete Refresh
- Thread starter gpassida
- Start date
- City
- Redding
- State
- Ca
That makes sense.
- City
- Biloxi
- State
- MS
Yep, that's why I load all my heavy stuff near the bulkhead, only light stuff near tailgate, and no longer use a hitch rack. It is easy to "Carolina Squat" the Scrambler and the steering will get very loose feeling at high speeds.
- City
- Redding
- State
- Ca
Got the Scrambler out on a few trips. I added brakes to the second axle on the trailer I picked up and we towed it to Bend, Oregon. About a 5 hour drive from our house in Redding.
The 25-year-old PowerStroke did great and should be all set to hit the Colorado Scrambler event later this month!
I hit the Overland Expo PNW event for a day. Lots of over-the-top overland builds there for sure. The parking lot was the better show if you ask me. I saw only one other CJ - a CJ-7 plus two nice Scout II's. Scrambler got a lot of attention there with many asking "what is it?"
Also hit a few mild trails in the Deschutes National Forest while the wife was out Mountain Biking. Hit Tumalo Falls and Double Falls early on Sunday morning before the crowds got there.
Near Lake Shasta on the way to Bend:
This guy parked next to me with this nice H1. It dwarfed my Scrambler!
Tumalo Falls:
Double Falls:
Barry Bonds at the Overland Expo. He overlands in a built Bronco Raptor. Really nice down to earth guy.
When I get a full length hard top, I want to put in flip up windows like this to get to my cargo boxes from the sides.
The 25-year-old PowerStroke did great and should be all set to hit the Colorado Scrambler event later this month!
I hit the Overland Expo PNW event for a day. Lots of over-the-top overland builds there for sure. The parking lot was the better show if you ask me. I saw only one other CJ - a CJ-7 plus two nice Scout II's. Scrambler got a lot of attention there with many asking "what is it?"
Also hit a few mild trails in the Deschutes National Forest while the wife was out Mountain Biking. Hit Tumalo Falls and Double Falls early on Sunday morning before the crowds got there.
Near Lake Shasta on the way to Bend:
This guy parked next to me with this nice H1. It dwarfed my Scrambler!
Tumalo Falls:
Double Falls:
Barry Bonds at the Overland Expo. He overlands in a built Bronco Raptor. Really nice down to earth guy.
When I get a full length hard top, I want to put in flip up windows like this to get to my cargo boxes from the sides.
- City
- Redding
- State
- Ca
Also got a trip in to the nearby Lassen National Forest with a friend from work. This area is an hour from my house, and I didn't see anybody on the dirt roads.
The Scrambler is running great all around and I got to test my "Overlanding" gear.
Got a great spot right along "Hat Creek" which is flowing nicely. Talk about a nap spot. That river noise puts you to sleep quickly.
First time I've ever hit a bat driving at night. His radar malfunctioned big time!
Using my home made "tailgate table":
The solar panels kept my auxiliary battery charged easily. Really just needed one to top the battery off after the refrigerator ran for a day and a half. Came up to full capacity quickly.
The fold flat Scotti Grill did amazing, and the pieces go int he dishwasher when you get home.
The cheap imitation "Trash-a-roo" did great and holds a large trash bag, my collapsable toilet, a good number of wag bags, a saw and the little shovel you see.
Fun exploring:
The Scrambler is running great all around and I got to test my "Overlanding" gear.
Got a great spot right along "Hat Creek" which is flowing nicely. Talk about a nap spot. That river noise puts you to sleep quickly.
First time I've ever hit a bat driving at night. His radar malfunctioned big time!
Using my home made "tailgate table":
The solar panels kept my auxiliary battery charged easily. Really just needed one to top the battery off after the refrigerator ran for a day and a half. Came up to full capacity quickly.
The fold flat Scotti Grill did amazing, and the pieces go int he dishwasher when you get home.
The cheap imitation "Trash-a-roo" did great and holds a large trash bag, my collapsable toilet, a good number of wag bags, a saw and the little shovel you see.
Fun exploring:
Last edited:
- City
- Redding
- State
- Ca
Yes, the Overland Expo PNW (Pacific Northwest) is in Redmond, Oregon. About 20 minutes North of Bend. There are others closer to you of course.
- City
- Monroe
- State
- NY
Beautiful rig and pictures! I love your camping setup too and you're right about the river sounds putting you right to sleep. Renee and I have camped many times all over Thousand Islands/Alexandria Bay and the St. Lawrence river is perfect night music. Long before portable refrigerators we would build a little rock wall and chill the beers right in the river since the water was so cold.
- City
- Redding
- State
- Ca
I've been really busy lately but wanted to get some posts of recent Scrambler activity up here. The good news is using the Scrambler was part of the busyness!
This is the story of our journey. It was one that we will always remember...
Here is Day 1:
I had been doing a lot of prep to get ready to go to Silverton, Colorado for the "22nd Annual Colorado Scramble". If you scroll up, you can see the car hauler trailer I bought. I put brakes on the second axle so now all four wheels have electric brakes. I also added some Bluetooth valve stem pressure and temperature sensors so I could hopefully avoid blowouts like I see on so many trailers. You can see above the full dry run I did using my 1999 F-350 to tow to Bend, Oregon. About a 5-hour drive each way. Everything did great.
Now it came time to hit the road on our big trip of the summer. My wife, Meri, and I were going to tow the Scrambler from Redding, CA to Silverton and wheel with the Scrambler group and then drive to Ketchum/Sun Valley Idaho. There she would meet up with her Redding Mountain Biking group and hit some single-track trails. I would explore that area in the Scrambler. Then we would drive back to Redding. A grand loop for sure!
17.5 hours and 1,112 miles from Redding, CA to Silverton, CO
11.5 hours and 694 miles from Silverton, CO to Ketchum, ID
11.5 hours and 673 miles from Ketchum, ID to Redding, CA
That's a total of 39 hours and 2,477 miles (not counting any trail or exploring miles)
We loaded up the Scrambler on the trailer and set out for the drive in the morning. It was 110 degrees in Redding that day, but we were good with the air conditioning in the 1999 F350 PowerStroke I’ve had since it was new. But about 40 miles from home it totally and instantly died pulling hard on a steep grade. Luckily, I was able to get mostly off the road. The F350 has 260K miles on it and about 100K ago, the Crank Position Sensor went out with the same effect. I carry a spare. So, I laid down on the hot lava rock and swapped it in. No go. Crank but no start. Fuel is pumping but no start. Long story short - unloaded the Scrambler and got the truck and trailer towed home. (Post trip - I found out that the low-pressure oil pump failed and the PCM immediately shut down the injectors when it detected low oil pressure. It's fixed now and working great)
I told Meri that I am still going to Silverton, even if I have to drive the Scrambler. I had the time off and was going to do anything to make it work. I also told her I would absolutely love it if she came but it will be a miserable drive, and I totally understand if she wanted to skip it and just get a ride with her MTB group to Idaho. We will have to go through long, hot stretches of Nevada and Colorado before getting to Silverton which will be much cooler. And the Scrambler does not have Air Conditioning or Cruise Control. Plus, I did the full rebuild and this would be the ultimate test of everything. I told her we'll have to run with the windows down at 75-80 MPH and it will be LOUD and WINDY. She thought about it and said she was still in! I told her "The good thing is we won't die, and we can fix anything..." We reconfigured our gear to fit in the Scrambler and set out in the 110 degree heat. About three miles from our house, we were about to get on the highway, and I pulled over to confirm with her one last time. We were both hot and sweating. I said, It's going to be like this or worse for a long time spanning several days. "Are you sure you want to go? I can park at the Home Depot across the way and call you an Uber to get home." She thought about it but ultimately said "let's go!". Off we went!
She did make sure I packed in such a way to allow her seat to fully recline:
Fully loaded, I am probably 5,300 lbs. The Dometic refrigerator was KEY on this trip! I positioned it up front where Meri could grab things while driving.
It's all smiles right now...
We hit the highway and climbed up into the Lassen National Forest passing the area where the F350 died. It "cooled down" to about 95 degrees and 90-minutes into the drive, Meri was holding her hands over her ears. The wind noise was terrible and the pressure on our ears was painful. It was going to be a LONG drive without even being able to talk to each other. I had the stereo cranking but that actually seemed to make it worse. As we were approaching the town of Susanville, CA - near the Nevada border, I saw a Walmart. I pulled in and Meri asked "what are we doing here?". I pulled out my phone and did a quick search. "Go in to Isle A-14 and buy these JBL Noise Canceling Headphones." She did just that and we plugged them in to charge. Before hitting the road, we subscribed to Audible.com and bought a couple of books for her to listen to. I can tell you that was a GAME CHANGER for her and she basically had those things on whenever we hit the highway for the entire trip. Now we were just hot and sweaty. At least HER ears didn't hurt any longer.
All four cup holders had insulated mugs with ice water. Constantly refilled from the Dometic Refrigerator.
It was a hot and loud drive and left much later than we originally planned, but we made 4 1/2 hours to Lovelock NV for the night. We found a cheap motel where we could back the Scrambler right up to the door. We started what would become our nightly routine, empty out the Scrambler into the motel room so nothing would be stolen. And plugged the Dometic Refrigerator into an AC outlet. All my tools and some other gear was safely locked in the three Tuffy boxes. So, fortunately, that didn't have to get unloaded. The Scrambler group in Silverton was getting updates on the Facebook page as to our travels. One of them asked "Are you still married?". We got a kick out of that! That was Day 1. Let’s hope the Scrambler continues to do well. 912 more miles to go to get to Silverton!
This is the story of our journey. It was one that we will always remember...
Here is Day 1:
I had been doing a lot of prep to get ready to go to Silverton, Colorado for the "22nd Annual Colorado Scramble". If you scroll up, you can see the car hauler trailer I bought. I put brakes on the second axle so now all four wheels have electric brakes. I also added some Bluetooth valve stem pressure and temperature sensors so I could hopefully avoid blowouts like I see on so many trailers. You can see above the full dry run I did using my 1999 F-350 to tow to Bend, Oregon. About a 5-hour drive each way. Everything did great.
Now it came time to hit the road on our big trip of the summer. My wife, Meri, and I were going to tow the Scrambler from Redding, CA to Silverton and wheel with the Scrambler group and then drive to Ketchum/Sun Valley Idaho. There she would meet up with her Redding Mountain Biking group and hit some single-track trails. I would explore that area in the Scrambler. Then we would drive back to Redding. A grand loop for sure!
17.5 hours and 1,112 miles from Redding, CA to Silverton, CO
11.5 hours and 694 miles from Silverton, CO to Ketchum, ID
11.5 hours and 673 miles from Ketchum, ID to Redding, CA
That's a total of 39 hours and 2,477 miles (not counting any trail or exploring miles)
We loaded up the Scrambler on the trailer and set out for the drive in the morning. It was 110 degrees in Redding that day, but we were good with the air conditioning in the 1999 F350 PowerStroke I’ve had since it was new. But about 40 miles from home it totally and instantly died pulling hard on a steep grade. Luckily, I was able to get mostly off the road. The F350 has 260K miles on it and about 100K ago, the Crank Position Sensor went out with the same effect. I carry a spare. So, I laid down on the hot lava rock and swapped it in. No go. Crank but no start. Fuel is pumping but no start. Long story short - unloaded the Scrambler and got the truck and trailer towed home. (Post trip - I found out that the low-pressure oil pump failed and the PCM immediately shut down the injectors when it detected low oil pressure. It's fixed now and working great)
I told Meri that I am still going to Silverton, even if I have to drive the Scrambler. I had the time off and was going to do anything to make it work. I also told her I would absolutely love it if she came but it will be a miserable drive, and I totally understand if she wanted to skip it and just get a ride with her MTB group to Idaho. We will have to go through long, hot stretches of Nevada and Colorado before getting to Silverton which will be much cooler. And the Scrambler does not have Air Conditioning or Cruise Control. Plus, I did the full rebuild and this would be the ultimate test of everything. I told her we'll have to run with the windows down at 75-80 MPH and it will be LOUD and WINDY. She thought about it and said she was still in! I told her "The good thing is we won't die, and we can fix anything..." We reconfigured our gear to fit in the Scrambler and set out in the 110 degree heat. About three miles from our house, we were about to get on the highway, and I pulled over to confirm with her one last time. We were both hot and sweating. I said, It's going to be like this or worse for a long time spanning several days. "Are you sure you want to go? I can park at the Home Depot across the way and call you an Uber to get home." She thought about it but ultimately said "let's go!". Off we went!
She did make sure I packed in such a way to allow her seat to fully recline:
Fully loaded, I am probably 5,300 lbs. The Dometic refrigerator was KEY on this trip! I positioned it up front where Meri could grab things while driving.
It's all smiles right now...
We hit the highway and climbed up into the Lassen National Forest passing the area where the F350 died. It "cooled down" to about 95 degrees and 90-minutes into the drive, Meri was holding her hands over her ears. The wind noise was terrible and the pressure on our ears was painful. It was going to be a LONG drive without even being able to talk to each other. I had the stereo cranking but that actually seemed to make it worse. As we were approaching the town of Susanville, CA - near the Nevada border, I saw a Walmart. I pulled in and Meri asked "what are we doing here?". I pulled out my phone and did a quick search. "Go in to Isle A-14 and buy these JBL Noise Canceling Headphones." She did just that and we plugged them in to charge. Before hitting the road, we subscribed to Audible.com and bought a couple of books for her to listen to. I can tell you that was a GAME CHANGER for her and she basically had those things on whenever we hit the highway for the entire trip. Now we were just hot and sweaty. At least HER ears didn't hurt any longer.
All four cup holders had insulated mugs with ice water. Constantly refilled from the Dometic Refrigerator.
It was a hot and loud drive and left much later than we originally planned, but we made 4 1/2 hours to Lovelock NV for the night. We found a cheap motel where we could back the Scrambler right up to the door. We started what would become our nightly routine, empty out the Scrambler into the motel room so nothing would be stolen. And plugged the Dometic Refrigerator into an AC outlet. All my tools and some other gear was safely locked in the three Tuffy boxes. So, fortunately, that didn't have to get unloaded. The Scrambler group in Silverton was getting updates on the Facebook page as to our travels. One of them asked "Are you still married?". We got a kick out of that! That was Day 1. Let’s hope the Scrambler continues to do well. 912 more miles to go to get to Silverton!
Last edited:
- City
- Allen Park
- State
- MI
Fantastic story so far. And what a trooper you're wife is. 
Good thinking on the headphones! I think most of us with wives have been in a similar situation.
Good thinking on the headphones! I think most of us with wives have been in a similar situation.
- City
- Redding
- State
- Ca
Day 2 on our trip to Silverton, Colorado started out by loading all our gear back into the Scrambler and filling the Dometic Refrigerator with more water and Gatorade. It was hot at 8:00am and only getting hotter by the minute.
We set out and hit stretches of Highway 80 through Nevada that had a posted 80 MPH speed limit. The Scrambler could do it no problem...if we could handle it. I told Meri that I was REALLY happy to have the NV-4500 transmission with the overdrive 5th gear. I settled in at 75 mph as my top speed. Any faster and I was worried the soft top would be pulled off the Scrambler from the wind pressure. During the day, we hit one area that had 50 mph side winds. That was fun. I thought for sure we would lose the top.
It was about 105-110 degrees for most of the day. I was watching the coolant temp closely as we had to climb a few steep grades as well. Luckily it ran right at 210 degrees where the 350 TBI likes it. The Advance Adapters aluminum radiator, mechanical fan and the fan shroud kept it from overheating. I have a 23-gallon fuel tank and had good range. I was getting between 14 and 16 mpg when I manually checked it at the gas stations. I was really happy with that considering the speed we were going and how loaded the Scrambler was. Plus, gas in Nevada was $1.70/gallon LESS than in California. Very nice!
We made it about 9 hours that day and cooled off at a Starbucks for a bit in Salt Lake City on the way. We found a motel in Green River, UT for the night. Did the full unload thing again and cranked up the AC in the room.
Got up in the morning and loaded everything back in the Scrambler and set out for:
Day 3:
We were looking forward to our "short" four-hour drive to Silverton where it would be a cool 65 degrees when we arrived.
The conditions were still HOT and windy. Maybe 30 minutes out of Green River, there was a slight grade climbing up through an area Meri called "Mars". There was nothing as far as you can see in all directions. Things were going great, and the Scrambler was running well. But suddenly things took a turn for the worse. As I was powering up the grade in 5th gear, I suddenly lost all power! The engine was still running so I downshifted to 4th gear. It got its power back. Shifted up to 5th and NOTHING. Wouldn't go into 5th at all. Pulled over. Tested 1st to 4th and reverse. Worked fine. It seems like my bragging about having 5th gear jinxed us!
I knew there was a known issue with the NV-4500 5th gear nut backing off under heavy towed loads. Since it was a used transmission when I got it in 1998, I don't know the history of it in the donor truck. It's likely it saw hard use in the donor truck and the 5th gear nut was backing off over time. I doubt my Jeep worked it that hard. I had a weak cell signal and called a few shops that rebuild them, and they said I should be fine if no metal shavings or parts get through the other gears. Fortunately, 5th gear is on its' own in a separate housing on the back of the transmission. They said to drain it and take off the PTO covers and look for any metal shavings or parts. And to run a magnet around to make sure it didn't pick anything up. Well, I only carry one spare quart of the special fluid the NV-4500 requires. I made some calls to auto parts stores between where we were and Silverton. The only place I could find that had a compatible fluid was an Amsoil distributor in Montrose, Colorado. He had cases of their compatible "MTG - Manual Transmission Gear Lube". It was still VERY hot at this point and Meri was now a little worried.
I set his address in the iPad and drove cautiously there as a 4-speed transmission. I started out very careful topping out at 40 mph. After 20-30 minutes, I bumped it up to 55 mph. Then ran 65 mph max the rest of the way. It was working fine other than much higher RPM. We made it to Montrose where the Amsoil distributor works out of his house. I pulled in and he had a nicely built JK Wrangler. He checked out the Scrambler for a bit and after explaining what happened, he offered me use of his shop. That was very nice since it was out of the sun and he had a drain pan and even let me use his tools. My wife was able to chill in the AC of his house with his wife while I wrenched on the Scrambler. Drained the fluid, pulled both PTO covers, used a magnet, strained the fluid and found no traces of anything. Put it all back together and filled it up with the Amsoil MTG and bought enough for two more complete flushes in case I needed it during the trip. I tipped him an extra $100.00 since he was so gracious in letting me use his shop and tools. Great guy. He wheels in Silverton and all over Colorado and Utah. Also runs ATV tours.
Now we only had 90-minutes of driving to get to Silverton and the scenery was getting better as we progressed. And it was cooling down!
The transmission and the entire Scrambler got a good workout climbing up through Ouray and into Silverton. Rolled in to Silverton and got our hotel room and saw a few other Scramblers in town. We unpacked, got a nice dinner and crashed early for the night. The sense of relief was huge that we made that HOT, LOUD and EVENTFUL trek in the Scrambler and it actually made it! It would have been MUCH more relaxing if we were in the F350 during that journey. But at least now, nobody can call my Scrambler a "Trailer Queen"!
There are already some pics from the Colorado Scramble on the site, but I'll post a few more below. We met the group the next morning at the Visitors Center where we staged for each days run. Everyone there was so nice and accommodating. What a great group to wheel with!
We set out and hit stretches of Highway 80 through Nevada that had a posted 80 MPH speed limit. The Scrambler could do it no problem...if we could handle it. I told Meri that I was REALLY happy to have the NV-4500 transmission with the overdrive 5th gear. I settled in at 75 mph as my top speed. Any faster and I was worried the soft top would be pulled off the Scrambler from the wind pressure. During the day, we hit one area that had 50 mph side winds. That was fun. I thought for sure we would lose the top.
It was about 105-110 degrees for most of the day. I was watching the coolant temp closely as we had to climb a few steep grades as well. Luckily it ran right at 210 degrees where the 350 TBI likes it. The Advance Adapters aluminum radiator, mechanical fan and the fan shroud kept it from overheating. I have a 23-gallon fuel tank and had good range. I was getting between 14 and 16 mpg when I manually checked it at the gas stations. I was really happy with that considering the speed we were going and how loaded the Scrambler was. Plus, gas in Nevada was $1.70/gallon LESS than in California. Very nice!
We made it about 9 hours that day and cooled off at a Starbucks for a bit in Salt Lake City on the way. We found a motel in Green River, UT for the night. Did the full unload thing again and cranked up the AC in the room.
Got up in the morning and loaded everything back in the Scrambler and set out for:
Day 3:
We were looking forward to our "short" four-hour drive to Silverton where it would be a cool 65 degrees when we arrived.
The conditions were still HOT and windy. Maybe 30 minutes out of Green River, there was a slight grade climbing up through an area Meri called "Mars". There was nothing as far as you can see in all directions. Things were going great, and the Scrambler was running well. But suddenly things took a turn for the worse. As I was powering up the grade in 5th gear, I suddenly lost all power! The engine was still running so I downshifted to 4th gear. It got its power back. Shifted up to 5th and NOTHING. Wouldn't go into 5th at all. Pulled over. Tested 1st to 4th and reverse. Worked fine. It seems like my bragging about having 5th gear jinxed us!
I knew there was a known issue with the NV-4500 5th gear nut backing off under heavy towed loads. Since it was a used transmission when I got it in 1998, I don't know the history of it in the donor truck. It's likely it saw hard use in the donor truck and the 5th gear nut was backing off over time. I doubt my Jeep worked it that hard. I had a weak cell signal and called a few shops that rebuild them, and they said I should be fine if no metal shavings or parts get through the other gears. Fortunately, 5th gear is on its' own in a separate housing on the back of the transmission. They said to drain it and take off the PTO covers and look for any metal shavings or parts. And to run a magnet around to make sure it didn't pick anything up. Well, I only carry one spare quart of the special fluid the NV-4500 requires. I made some calls to auto parts stores between where we were and Silverton. The only place I could find that had a compatible fluid was an Amsoil distributor in Montrose, Colorado. He had cases of their compatible "MTG - Manual Transmission Gear Lube". It was still VERY hot at this point and Meri was now a little worried.
I set his address in the iPad and drove cautiously there as a 4-speed transmission. I started out very careful topping out at 40 mph. After 20-30 minutes, I bumped it up to 55 mph. Then ran 65 mph max the rest of the way. It was working fine other than much higher RPM. We made it to Montrose where the Amsoil distributor works out of his house. I pulled in and he had a nicely built JK Wrangler. He checked out the Scrambler for a bit and after explaining what happened, he offered me use of his shop. That was very nice since it was out of the sun and he had a drain pan and even let me use his tools. My wife was able to chill in the AC of his house with his wife while I wrenched on the Scrambler. Drained the fluid, pulled both PTO covers, used a magnet, strained the fluid and found no traces of anything. Put it all back together and filled it up with the Amsoil MTG and bought enough for two more complete flushes in case I needed it during the trip. I tipped him an extra $100.00 since he was so gracious in letting me use his shop and tools. Great guy. He wheels in Silverton and all over Colorado and Utah. Also runs ATV tours.
Now we only had 90-minutes of driving to get to Silverton and the scenery was getting better as we progressed. And it was cooling down!
The transmission and the entire Scrambler got a good workout climbing up through Ouray and into Silverton. Rolled in to Silverton and got our hotel room and saw a few other Scramblers in town. We unpacked, got a nice dinner and crashed early for the night. The sense of relief was huge that we made that HOT, LOUD and EVENTFUL trek in the Scrambler and it actually made it! It would have been MUCH more relaxing if we were in the F350 during that journey. But at least now, nobody can call my Scrambler a "Trailer Queen"!
There are already some pics from the Colorado Scramble on the site, but I'll post a few more below. We met the group the next morning at the Visitors Center where we staged for each days run. Everyone there was so nice and accommodating. What a great group to wheel with!
- City
- Redding
- State
- Ca
The first day's tailride was fantastic. We left Silverton and hit Animas Fork, Picane Gulch, California Pass, Hurricane Pass and Corkscrew Gulch. The scenery was amazing. We could go back and explore those areas for 3-4 days and never see everything.
- City
- Redding
- State
- Ca
The second day tailride promised a little more technical challenge. We went past Animas Fork and climbed up the Engineer Pass Road and broke off to Poughkeepsie Gulch. Then we came back via California Pass. There was a little more rock crawling in some areas and, of course, we awaited our try on "The Wall".
Here we are at "The Wall" obstacle. We have to get all of these Jeeps up it! Of course, it is a LOT steeper than the picture shows.
Lake Como:
What a fun day! Great wheeling, scenery and company! I was extremely happy that my transmission was holding up and just didn't have 5th gear available.
We decided to leave Silverton a day early and break up our drive to our next destination - Ketchum, Idaho! I'll post that in the next day or so.
Here we are at "The Wall" obstacle. We have to get all of these Jeeps up it! Of course, it is a LOT steeper than the picture shows.
Lake Como:
What a fun day! Great wheeling, scenery and company! I was extremely happy that my transmission was holding up and just didn't have 5th gear available.
We decided to leave Silverton a day early and break up our drive to our next destination - Ketchum, Idaho! I'll post that in the next day or so.
FLCJ8
Legacy Registered User
- City
- Palm Bay
- State
- FL
It's quite noticeable how well your suspension worked on that obstacle.
- City
- Redding
- State
- Ca
We set out on the next leg of our journey. We began the 700-mile drive in the Scrambler to Ketchum, Idaho. Meri's Redding mountain biking friends were on their way and had her bike and riding gear. After leaving the cool weather in Silverton, things started heating up as we made our way through Colorado and into Utah. It reached up to 103 degrees so again we were hot, and wind-blown. But we had the routine down. Lots of ice in our mugs and constant refresh from the refrigerator.
One thing I haven't mentioned yet is the navigation setup on my dashboard. Earlier in my build thread, you can see the three dash mounts I have created using the 1/4" 20 dash hold-down bolts. I replace the bolts with Ram ball mounts and have my Garmin InReach GPSMAP 67i satellite messenger, my iPhone 15 Pro and an iPad Mini with LTE. Their power cords all run behind the dash to a charging port I mounted next to the steering column. That leaves the dash USB outlets for other devices. Before we left, Meri saw what I had and asked for a fourth mount for her iPhone in front of her in the passenger seat. So, I did that pretty easily. The drive through the hot areas showed how much more rugged and reliable the Garmin device is compared to the Apple devices. If it was over 100 degrees for an extended period of time, the Apple devices would first stop charging. Then a short while later, they dim their screens and ultimately shut down from overheating. At that point, I still had the Garmin to track our route with. It never overheated. Since I have 60GB of music downloaded to the iPad Mini, the music and podcasts stopped. What we ended up doing was putting the iPad in the refrigerator at the first sign of it overheating. About 10 minutes in there gave me a good 90 minutes of full brightness use. The iPad is much better to navigate with on the highway as I can split the screen and see Google Maps and Spotify and even a digital speedometer at the same time. But if it came down to it, the Garmin did its job at all times. I also got Meri a Garmin InReach Messenger so we could both track and message each other even when we were both off grid and out of cell range. That was very handy in Idaho so I could get back to the rental house when they were getting back from their rides.
Other than the heat, the drive was uneventful, and we hit a motel room about 200 miles from our destination in Ketchum. I did try and keep the speeds to 65-70 mph since I was in 4th gear. We made it in the next morning and her MTB group was just arriving. Everyone got settled and we had a nice relaxing evening and a great dinner with the group. The weather was in the mid 80's which is much more comfortable in the Scrambler.
The next three days were their riding days, and they hit some great trails out there. I got GAIAGPS out on the iPad and found some nearby trails. I hit them by myself except for one day, one of the husbands decided to go with me instead of riding his bike. Since I was solo, I kept the trails to the easy/moderate range for the most part. Beautiful scenery and lots of rivers and places to hang my hammock and chill. The highlight was the Boulder Basin area. "Boulder City" was once an active mining area with a population of 700 at the peak. The trail had a couple of decent rock crawl sections, but it was no problem for the Scrambler. There is one obstacle you can see below that was pretty challenging. But I crawled right up. Some side-by-sides and a Tacoma pulled up when I was walking the obstacle. After I got up, they made several attempts but failed with a lot of skid plate action. I offered to turn around and winch them up but they declined. That obstacle is a great gate keeper and the result was nobody else was able to get to the mining town or the lake at the end of the trail. I wish we could have camped out there. It is on the list for the fuiture for sure. Here are some pics and video:
Coming back down the rock ledge obstacle:
Nap spot:
One thing I haven't mentioned yet is the navigation setup on my dashboard. Earlier in my build thread, you can see the three dash mounts I have created using the 1/4" 20 dash hold-down bolts. I replace the bolts with Ram ball mounts and have my Garmin InReach GPSMAP 67i satellite messenger, my iPhone 15 Pro and an iPad Mini with LTE. Their power cords all run behind the dash to a charging port I mounted next to the steering column. That leaves the dash USB outlets for other devices. Before we left, Meri saw what I had and asked for a fourth mount for her iPhone in front of her in the passenger seat. So, I did that pretty easily. The drive through the hot areas showed how much more rugged and reliable the Garmin device is compared to the Apple devices. If it was over 100 degrees for an extended period of time, the Apple devices would first stop charging. Then a short while later, they dim their screens and ultimately shut down from overheating. At that point, I still had the Garmin to track our route with. It never overheated. Since I have 60GB of music downloaded to the iPad Mini, the music and podcasts stopped. What we ended up doing was putting the iPad in the refrigerator at the first sign of it overheating. About 10 minutes in there gave me a good 90 minutes of full brightness use. The iPad is much better to navigate with on the highway as I can split the screen and see Google Maps and Spotify and even a digital speedometer at the same time. But if it came down to it, the Garmin did its job at all times. I also got Meri a Garmin InReach Messenger so we could both track and message each other even when we were both off grid and out of cell range. That was very handy in Idaho so I could get back to the rental house when they were getting back from their rides.
Other than the heat, the drive was uneventful, and we hit a motel room about 200 miles from our destination in Ketchum. I did try and keep the speeds to 65-70 mph since I was in 4th gear. We made it in the next morning and her MTB group was just arriving. Everyone got settled and we had a nice relaxing evening and a great dinner with the group. The weather was in the mid 80's which is much more comfortable in the Scrambler.
The next three days were their riding days, and they hit some great trails out there. I got GAIAGPS out on the iPad and found some nearby trails. I hit them by myself except for one day, one of the husbands decided to go with me instead of riding his bike. Since I was solo, I kept the trails to the easy/moderate range for the most part. Beautiful scenery and lots of rivers and places to hang my hammock and chill. The highlight was the Boulder Basin area. "Boulder City" was once an active mining area with a population of 700 at the peak. The trail had a couple of decent rock crawl sections, but it was no problem for the Scrambler. There is one obstacle you can see below that was pretty challenging. But I crawled right up. Some side-by-sides and a Tacoma pulled up when I was walking the obstacle. After I got up, they made several attempts but failed with a lot of skid plate action. I offered to turn around and winch them up but they declined. That obstacle is a great gate keeper and the result was nobody else was able to get to the mining town or the lake at the end of the trail. I wish we could have camped out there. It is on the list for the fuiture for sure. Here are some pics and video:
Coming back down the rock ledge obstacle:
Nap spot:
- City
- Redding
- State
- Ca
We arrived at the lake at the end of the trail. Had the place to ourselves. We had a nice lunch and explored a mine shaft. We're in the Sawtooth mountains. Very beautiful.
Then we went back down the trail for about a half mile and made the turn to take us to Boulder City. It was an amazing area and we spend about 90 minutes exploring. I found out later that parts of Clint Eastwood's "Pale Rider" movie were filmed here.
One of the mine shafts is way up on that mountain. It must have been a hard life out here. The winter would be brutal.
We saw a few of these cool birds.
Here is a video I made for Instagram.
After that, we loaded up Meri's bike and riding gear back with her friends and everyone set out for home. We had about 12 hours of driving and 675 miles to get home in the Scrambler. So, our journey was not over yet. We hit Boise for lunch with one of the Eagle Scouts that was in the troop I was a Scoutmaster for. Our drive home was complicated by heavy smoke from the "Park" fire in near our home as well as a few in Oregon. I was not too excited to drive through some of the zones with hazardous particulate levels with our windows down. We did get some masks but didn't end up needing them. I used the Google air quality map to find a route home through Klamath Falls, Oregon that threaded around the worst areas. It was 45 additional minutes but well worth it. We stopped overnight in Klamath Falls before heading the final leg home.
Happy to say, other than losing 5th gear, the Scrambler did great! It was a hell of a journey for us AND the Scrambler. But it was a trip we will never forget. I built the Scrambler as an adventure vehicle, and it came through for sure.
Overall, we put 2,940 miles on the Scrambler during the trip. I just turned over 6,000 miles since I got it back on the road.
I had the NV-4500 torn down and rebuilt with all new bearings, seals and synchro's. They used the replacement shaft that has a locking nut feature for 5th gear. So hopefully I won't have any issues with the transmission.
That's all for now!
Then we went back down the trail for about a half mile and made the turn to take us to Boulder City. It was an amazing area and we spend about 90 minutes exploring. I found out later that parts of Clint Eastwood's "Pale Rider" movie were filmed here.
One of the mine shafts is way up on that mountain. It must have been a hard life out here. The winter would be brutal.
We saw a few of these cool birds.
Here is a video I made for Instagram.
After that, we loaded up Meri's bike and riding gear back with her friends and everyone set out for home. We had about 12 hours of driving and 675 miles to get home in the Scrambler. So, our journey was not over yet. We hit Boise for lunch with one of the Eagle Scouts that was in the troop I was a Scoutmaster for. Our drive home was complicated by heavy smoke from the "Park" fire in near our home as well as a few in Oregon. I was not too excited to drive through some of the zones with hazardous particulate levels with our windows down. We did get some masks but didn't end up needing them. I used the Google air quality map to find a route home through Klamath Falls, Oregon that threaded around the worst areas. It was 45 additional minutes but well worth it. We stopped overnight in Klamath Falls before heading the final leg home.
Happy to say, other than losing 5th gear, the Scrambler did great! It was a hell of a journey for us AND the Scrambler. But it was a trip we will never forget. I built the Scrambler as an adventure vehicle, and it came through for sure.
Overall, we put 2,940 miles on the Scrambler during the trip. I just turned over 6,000 miles since I got it back on the road.
I had the NV-4500 torn down and rebuilt with all new bearings, seals and synchro's. They used the replacement shaft that has a locking nut feature for 5th gear. So hopefully I won't have any issues with the transmission.
That's all for now!
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