Truck Breaking Down in the Backcountry

[Billinsd]

Here's a link to the AZ Off Road Recovery Group. You should join if you hunt or recreate off road in AZ. It's all volunteers with 4x4's that.....

I remember calling a tow company in Winnemucca 17 years ago about what it would cost to come pull me out, way, way off road and tow me to town, 150 miles away and the owner said about 4 or 5 grand!!!

 

[mattferg84]

A guy I rode up with blew a tire out on a mountain 2 days before archery season ended. He didnt have a tire iron and we waited 2 days for someone to drive by but no one ever did. His wife had to drive almost 5 hours to where we were just to bring a tire iron. Thats something thats pretty simple and everyone should make sure its in the vehicle.


Another time while cleaning my bro in laws deer my nephew locked the truck with the keys in it. Luckily we had another vehicle but he drove several hours to pick up the keys and come back. I always make sure I bring an extra set everytime I'm out now.

 

[452b264]

I have yet to break down in the back country, but before I go I change all the fluids in the truck, if the battery is close to the end of its warranty it gets replaced, check the cables and cut them back and put new connections on them or replace them. My son and I had drawn a late season elk tags and my trucks water pump had never been replaced the truck had 150,000 so I replaced the pump/thermostat/hoses/belt before we left as there are no services within 30 miles of where we were headed. It my not be necessary but its kept me hunting all these years in stead of fixing my truck out in the woods. Now I am going to knock on wood!

 

[AZ8]

Here's my bad luck Backcountry Breakdown Story for your entertainment.

About 15 years ago I was on a Camping/Fishing trip with a few friends up a dead end road that terminated near the inlet of a lake here in Colorado. It was about 4 semi-rough miles from the nearest maintained FS Road. It didn't require 4WD to access, just a little clearance. We had gone to this exact a spot a handful of times over the years and it used to be a numbered FS Trail.
We saw nobody else camped in the area on our way in (Colorado was a different place even just 15 short years ago). A day or so into our trip we heard a lot of Chainsaw noise in the distance but didn't think much of it until the day we tried to leave. Going back down the road my heart sunk when I saw a row of massive dead trees laid across the road, all recently cut with Chainsaws. There was one every 100 ft or so, and we literally couldn't believe what we were seeing. Foolishly I tried to four-wheel my SUV around them and on one of the first attempts I heard a loud bang like a gunshot and then the vehicle wouldn't go forward or in reverse. One of the CV Axles had literally exploded and seized. We found one of the ballbearings buried about an inch into the dirt below the axle as a result of the explosion. We started walking down the road and within a few miles we ran into the Forest Service Crew with the Chainsaws and told them what happened. I was pretty upset that they had blocked the Road like that without checking to see if people were back there first, and the Supervisor informed us that the Road had been closed to vehicles recently. This was news to me of course since we'd been going there for years and there were no signs indicating this. They walked back up to the vehicle with us and the Supervisor stopped at one point and said the road had been closed beyond this point and picks up one of those flimsy Carsonite Markers laying in the grass off to the side of the Trail that indicated the road was closed. Someone had clearly run it over with an ATV, the ATV tracks were even still there if I remember correctly. They ended up calling a Tow Truck for us and several hours were spent hooking up chains to these trees they had just laid across the road and dragging them out of the way in order to gain access to my vehicle. Once the tow truck hooked up to my SUV and started pulling it the siezed axle broke free and I was able to just drive out in 2WD. He still charged me $800 to come all the way up and help yank trees out of the way. Also, to add insult to injury, the Forest Service Supervisor guy then ticketed me $75 for driving on a closed road. EVEN THOUGH the closure was new as of that Spring, the only Marker indicating this fact was laying down broken on the side of the road which he clearly saw with his own eyes, and the fact that they failed to do a courtesy check up the last few miles of the Road before they just started Merrily dropping mature sized dead trees across the Trail.

So in addition to your battery booster and Jumper cables, bring a Chainsaw.

This reminds of an incident we had here in Arizona years ago....1987 I think. Anyways, two girls were heading back home to Phoenix from a ski trip in Colorado during a heavy snowstorm. They ended up going down a highway that always closes for the winter season, but was not yet closed. Well they got stuck in the snow. It was reported they were under the influence of marijuana, but that was swept under the rug.

The heavy snow forced ADOT to close that highway for the season. Allegedly, ADOT never sent anyone down the road to make sure it was empty. They locked the gate. Eventually, after 10 days, the girls were found by a snowmobiler, but lost their legs due to frostbite. They sued the state, but not sure how it turned out.

It was a big story back then.

Happened again with another girl not to long ago, but the gates were actually closed this time. A rancher found her after 2 days when he followed her tire tracks in the deep snow. He knew the road was closed further down and that something was wrong and decided to check....ended up saving that girl‘s life.

 

[Bronc]

I still do that. Are you saying that you can't push start the newer trucks???

Haven’t seen a standard transmission in a full size Ford in a while. Maybe other manufacturers still offer standard transmissions?

 

[BigDog00]

I've never had a break down in the field, but last season I cracked a rim on some rough roads. I was day hunting from home and did find out the issue until the next morning. I lost a couple days of hunting because no one had the right sized spare rim in town and I had to order a replacement.

 

[6mm Remington]

Never hurts to have some basic tools in a tool box in the back of the truck along with tow straps, high-lift jack, shackles, come alongs (2) (if you don't have a truck winch), tire chains, a jump booster, jumper cables, and maybe a couple recovery boards. With just a few items like this you can sure get yourself out of a lot of places. Forgot to add, a good short shovel is really fantastic to have also. Sure can get yourself out of a lot of situations with a little time spent shoveling.

 

[fmyth]

I remember calling a tow company in Winnemucca 17 years ago about what it would cost to come pull me out, way, way off road and tow me to town, 150 miles away and the owner said about 4 or 5 grand!!!

Damn you could walk to town and buy a used 4x4 truck for less.

 

[452b264]

Never hurts to have some basic tools in a tool box in the back of the truck along with tow straps, high-lift jack, shackles, come alongs (2) (if you don't have a truck winch), tire chains, a jump booster, jumper cables, and maybe a couple recovery boards. With just a few items like this you can sure get yourself out of a lot of places.

Dont forget an air compressor, fixaflat and tire plugs (two large packages)

 

[fmyth]

This reminds of an incident we had here in Arizona years ago....1987 I think. Anyways, two girls were heading back home to Phoenix from a ski trip in Colorado during a heavy snowstorm. They ended up going down a highway that always closes for the winter season, but was not yet closed. Well they got stuck in the snow. It was reported they were under the influence of marijuana, but that was swept under the rug.

The heavy snow forced ADOT to close that highway for the season. Allegedly, ADOT never sent anyone down the road to make sure it was empty. They locked the gate. Eventually, after 10 days, the girls were found by a snowmobiler, but lost their legs due to frostbite. They sued the state, but not sure how it turned out.

It was a big story back then.

Happened again with another girl not to long ago, but the gates were actually closed this time. A rancher found her after 2 days when he followed her tire tracks in the deep snow. He knew the road was closed further down and that something was wrong and decided to check....ended up saving that girl‘s life.

I think this happens more often that we hear about. Two years ago I was deer hunting above the Rim in Northern AZ camped next to a FS road about 100 yards from the gate. My truck with a roof top tent and trailer were visible from the road. The FS locked the gate while I was out hunting. There were no tracks in the snow so I am certain they didn't stop by my camp to give me a chance to leave before locking me in. There is no phone service in that area so I had no choice but to cut down a tree and take down their fence to get around the gate. I did put the fence back up but couldn't do anything about the tree. I'll be carrying a cordless angle grinder with a cut off wheel from now on. If they chose to lock me in w no opportunity to get out I will have to remove their padlock.

 

[jjgrow]

Here's a good review of battery pack jump starters:

I have the Audew and while I haven't had to use it to jump start yet, it proved very handy charging cell phones during our extended power outage.

 

[JustJustin]

I do offroading as a hobby so I carry a stack of gear all the time. Oddly, I still have the spare tire but I'm planning on removing that before long. I have 33" E Range KO2's and I air down if necessary. If you do carry a spare I would recommend doing 5 tire rotations. There's no point in letting one tire with full tread dryrot for years!
I carry this:
Snatch rope
2 soft shackles
Heavy 20' or 30' tow strap
Heavy duty ratchet strap
Hi-lift jack
Traction boards
Moving blanket
Air compressor
Tire plug kit
Road flares (the most under-rated fire starter)
Vise grips
Set of box/open end wrenches
A 200 something piece HF tool kit
Compact shovel
Some other random stuff that I probably wouldn't be able to find if I actually needed it like paracord, a metal clothes hanger, zip ties electrical tape, gorilla tape (don't try to use it instead of hair spray or TP)
$20 OBD reader from....
Walmart! And I love it. Simple but tells me what I need to know and can clear codes as well!

Usually have some food and water in there as well. That won't fix my vehicle but it might make down time more bearable. Some of that stuff is also more on the recovery/survival side than repair side, but sometimes one leads to the other.


Everybody should have zip ties and shop towels in their vehicle. They are wonderful sometimes. You can do anything with zip ties if you have enough of them.



Sent from my SM-G960U using Tapatalk

 

[Nickofthewoods]

I think this happens more often that we hear about. Two years ago I was deer hunting above the Rim in Northern AZ camped next to a FS road about 100 yards from the gate. My truck with a roof top tent and trailer were visible from the road. The FS locked the gate while I was out hunting. There were no tracks in the snow so I am certain they didn't stop by my camp to give me a chance to leave before locking me in. There is no phone service in that area so I had no choice but to cut down a tree and take down their fence to get around the gate. I did put the fence back up but couldn't do anything about the tree. I'll be carrying a cordless angle grinder with a cut off wheel from now on. If they chose to lock me in w no opportunity to get out I will have to remove their padlock.

Well at least they weren't there to ticket you for being unknowingly trapped like they were for me.

So to add to the equipment for this thread we now have battery powered angle grinder / heavy duty bolt cutters, and chainsaws.

 

[5MilesBack]

What new truck has a standard transmission?

Doesn't it work with an automatic as well?

This wasn't in the backcountry but it still cracks me up today. October 1999 we were going to visit my sister in Cary, NC in connection with a military trip. Well, it's rush hour, it's raining, and my sister's directions were crap. So I'm already worked up and had to back track to the road we really needed to turn on. There's a stop light at the intersection with probably 25 to 30 vehicles stopped at it. We're in my '89 Toyota 4x4 and I blew past them on the right on the shoulder and expected to run into a turn lane near the intersection. I guess they don't have those down there.

To make matters worse, I guess a utility crew had just excavated the side of the road there to replace a junction box. So it sure looked like a turn lane to me with the rain pounding on the windshield and head lights in my eyes. So my truck hits this freshly dug up "North Carolina CLAY" and starts to sink. What is my first reaction? Drop it into 4wd and floor it. Ya, that got us closer.........to the middle of the dug up section (face palm). Buried that truck in that clay up to the frame and undercarriage. Even the tow truck had trouble pulling it out of that suck hole. I'm pretty sure there's a whole lot of NC stuck to the underneath of my truck still......21 years later.

Then this past July with my oldest and youngest daughters in the same Toyota.......I was driving about 40mph on a dirt road up in the sage brush area south of Blue Mesa. We're coming up this rise and suddenly the road turns 90 degress to the right at the top of this rise. Well my pickup would have nothing to do with that turn and kept going straight.......right off the road and into a rock pile. It was about a 5-6 foot drop off and we caught air going off. There was a barbed wire fence about 30 feet from the road and we didn't even make it that far. Those rocks stopped us cold. I was worried........thought I killed my baby (the truck), but it came out just fine.....after an alignment. My youngest........she may never be the same again. Oops.

 

[5MilesBack]

Haven’t seen a standard transmission in a full size Ford in a while.

My F-350 has the 6 speed manual......but it's a 2001........so pretty modern.

 

[Billy Goat]

Doesn't it work with an automatic as well?

This wasn't in the backcountry but it still cracks me up today. October 1999 we were going to visit my sister in Cary, NC in connection with a military trip. Well, it's rush hour, it's raining, and my sister's directions were crap. So I'm already worked up and had to back track to the road we really needed to turn on. There's a stop light at the intersection with probably 25 to 30 vehicles stopped at it. We're in my '89 Toyota 4x4 and I blew past them on the right on the shoulder and expected to run into a turn lane near the intersection. I guess they don't have those down there.

To make matters worse, I guess a utility crew had just excavated the side of the road there to replace a junction box. So it sure looked like a turn lane to me with the rain pounding on the windshield and head lights in my eyes. So my truck hits this freshly dug up "North Carolina CLAY) and starts to sink. What is my first reaction? Drop it into 4wd and floor it. Ya, that got us closer.........to the middle of the dug up section (face palm). Buried that truck in that clay up to the frame and undercarriage. Even the tow truck had trouble pulling it out of that suck hole. I'm pretty sure there's a whole lot of NC stuck to the underneath of my truck still......21 years later.

Yeah, you don't know mud til your in the pine belt. Hardly anything will grow in that red clay but pines. You also found out the adhesion factor to it.

I'll say those freshly graded mountain access roads are slick as snot in a thunderstorm, but they ain't deep.

And no, you ain't roll starting an automatic.

 

[5MilesBack]

And no, you ain't roll starting an automatic.

Well now you got my curiosity up........gonna have to borrow someone's automatic for some testing.

 

[Billy Goat]

Well now you got my curiosity up........gonna have to borrow someone's automatic for some testing.

I tried it years ago, I was 16.

Torgue converter won't put power back to the engine without lock-up. Didn't know that then, just figured I needed to get going faster.

 

[5MilesBack]

If that's the case, then all of these automatics are about useless. Ah yes.......part of the ploy in turning all of society into a bunch of useless androids. Along with the AI, they've been working overtime on that this past year on everything in society. I think I'll be keeping my manuals for quite some time.

 

[thegrouse]

I drive a Land Cruiser so I have never had to use any of this stuff, but I carry a charged NOKO jump pack, Lug wrench, compressor, tire plug kit, fire extinguisher and enough tools to handle field repairs. I also have a decent knowledge of how a vehicle works. But even so I always have a plan in case I am stranded like in the Chihuahua desert in the summer. I do carry a Garmin inreach so I feel pretty comfortable out there.