The 8 Year Project

[philofab]

Where did you order those sliders from? My first gen Dodge needs a set of those retrofitted bad!

[SteveG]

I got them at Central Coast Springs in Santa Maria... $.50 each. I can mail you some if you can't find them locally.

[BDKW1]

Very nice, those sliders are going to change your "pre-load" a little though.

When I did the Teflon tape between the leaves on the Barge it made a huge difference.

[ChaseTruck754]

I had Deaver add those sliders to the front of the crew when I had them check the arch for the stock front springs. My hope is between the extra added weight of the cummins & then the sliders, the front won't will ride like a brick so much anymore!

Oh and philo I've seen the sliders online somewhere before too, so I know you can order them. Maybe a quick google search would pull them up?

[SteveG]

I took the Explorer for a quick post-leaf installation... cautiously optimistic that I cured my nagging ride quality issues.

[Rmc]

Feel any better with the new sliders?

[SteveG]

Feel any better with the new sliders?

It feels better so far but I only drove it about a mile. I'll drive it to work tomorrow. I'll know by the time I get there. If the sliders solved my problem, I'll re-valve front and rear then go play dirt for the first time and see how it feels. If this works out the way I'm planning, this thing should be a Caddy on pavement and dirt.

[BajaF250]

I need to start shaking this thing down, so I decided to take the family to Big Falls above Lake Lopez. It's about 20 miles from the house but takes about an hour of drive time plus a short hike to get there. The drive is not very rough or fast but involves a bunch of water crossings with lots of rocks and a few turn outs that include deep ruts and lots of flexing of suspension... all worked well. The shocks still need tuning but so far I'm really happy with the way the truck feels. It is easy to drive and very forgiving on big bumps and ruts.

No fun photos, but I got lots of the road and a few of the hike. The road is long, slow, curvy but a pretty nice drive. I'm hoping to get back out there soon but first thing in the morning right at sunrise when it's still cool and misty.

I didn't really get any good photos of the water fall and pond but you can look them up online. It's a super easy hike and cool place to visit. It would definitely be cool to hang out in on a hot summer day.

Steve is right.. this is such a cool place... we used to go up there all the time back in the... well, errr, I'll just leave it at that... back when I lived up there... looks like it's still pretty nice after all these years! Thanks for the pics Steve...

[300]

I need to start shaking this thing down, so I decided to take the family to Big Falls above Lake Lopez. It's about 20 miles from the house but takes about an hour of drive time plus a short hike to get there. The drive is not very rough or fast but involves a bunch of water crossings with lots of rocks and a few turn outs that include deep ruts and lots of flexing of suspension... all worked well. The shocks still need tuning but so far I'm really happy with the way the truck feels. It is easy to drive and very forgiving on big bumps and ruts.

No fun photos, but I got lots of the road and a few of the hike. The road is long, slow, curvy but a pretty nice drive. I'm hoping to get back out there soon but first thing in the morning right at sunrise when it's still cool and misty.

I didn't really get any good photos of the water fall and pond but you can look them up online. It's a super easy hike and cool place to visit. It would definitely be cool to hang out in on a hot summer day.

Steve is right.. this is such a cool place... we used to go up there all the time back in the... well, errr, I'll just leave it at that... back when I lived up there... looks like it's still pretty nice after all these years! Thanks for the pics Steve...

Aw yes, there were still saber-tooth tigers roaming the area when you were there...............! My big adventure when I was there was taking my 4 x 2 F100 through the short cut across the creek before Los Osos Valley road went east from the 101.

[SteveG]

Aw yes, there were still saber-tooth tigers roaming the area when you were there...............! My big adventure when I was there was taking my 4 x 2 F100 through the short cut across the creek before Los Osos Valley road went east from the 101.

That explains why I recognized the tall guy in the rock paintings.

[yikes]

Hey Steve - Where can I find those pucks? I've searched and searched, but can't seem to find them anywhere. Is there a specific technical term I'm missing?

[SteveG]

I just called the spring shop and asked for those slider puck things that go at the end of the leaves.

[philofab]

Special Leaf Isolating Drag Engineered Removal System.

They are most commonly referred to as sliders.

[SteveG]

Special Leaf Isolating Drag Engineered Removal System.

They are most commonly referred to as sliders.

Ha! You sound like some kinda rocket surgeon or something.

[BajaF250]

Hey Steve - Where can I find those pucks? I've searched and searched, but can't seem to find them anywhere. Is there a specific technical term I'm missing?

Hey B,
National Spring will sell them... they have boxes of them.

[BajaF250]

Aw yes, there were still saber-tooth tigers roaming the area when you were there...............! My big adventure when I was there was taking my 4 x 2 F100 through the short cut across the creek before Los Osos Valley road went east from the 101.

That explains why I recognized the tall guy in the rock paintings.

Hey now... I resemble that statement!

Ah yes, I remember that... that was always good fun! We used to bring Jule's Datsun 1200 back there (I was a poor student and didn't own a car)!

[SteveG]

We used to bring Jule's Datsun 1200 back there (I was a poor student and didn't own a car)!

Oh man. Some of my best times off-road were in a Datsun Wagon... I swear that thing had wings.

[SteveG]

There are few roads around me where air can really open up and make this thing work, so we headed out on another trail drive. This time on High Mountain Rd... very few bumps but fun nonetheless. There were a couple fun spots and the grocery getter worked great. Tuning for jumps will be challenging, though.

We also got a kick out of making the car teeter on two wheels (photos by Bella).

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[Rmc]

Dang! Not too shabby for an exploder.

[blueoval8493]

What's that hanging down under the drivers side spring pack looks like behind shock?