I can't express how much I love how tough & durable SuperDuties are! Being a cityboy, I haven't had the pleasure & most of the experience getting to drive some serious off-road.....until yesterday. I went to a friend's house, which was only about 33miles away, but instead of going the 'fastest' route, I had set my GPS to a more 'scenic' approach. The GPS had taken my wife & I around some weird route it had prepared, but it was really nice getting to see parts of Rhode Island I don't get to see too often. We were just chatting together like it was a normal ride. Getting closer to the end of the trip though, the roads I noticed were mostly snow & ice & when I took a closer look, these roads I found were also unpaved. Heavy handled everything no problem in 2WD & had no difficulty getting around, even with a bald right rear Toyo Open Country A/T. Finally, the road signs completely stopped & the road turned into an extremely rocky, snowy, icy obsticle course. According to the GPS, this road was open & wanted me to keep going. Still in 2WD, I tried it! I had to go slow due to the big boulders that popped up here & there through the snow. It looked like you could barely fit an ATV through this road. We came to a frozen creek that ran right across the road...er....path & stopped. I got out & surveyed the creek, trying to figure out how deep it was. Me being the cityboy I am, I went against my countrygirl wife's better judgement of checking how deep it was. I figured 4x4 would definitely make this
. I locked the hubs & put it into 4x4. As soon as the front tires were completely on the ice, it broke & Heavy started sinking. I still had a little traction, so I drove forward as far as she'd go & got stuck. We had both the windows open to check for things in front & behind us(because we couldn't get out without taking a swim!) & although we thought we were completely screwed @ the time, Heavy sounded great giving it some throttle to get out. I started backing out of the creek still thinking I wasn't going to make it. I could hear horrible banging noises coming from underneath the truck that made my blood curdle thinking I was seeing dollar signs fly out from the undercarriage. After some trying SHE GOT OUT!!!! I backed the truck up to a spot I could actually turn around because the path was too narrow to do it just anywhere. We had to get past a few small rock ledges in reverse before I found a place to turn around. When I did find a spot, I started pulling forward & backing & we got stuck. My wife(in heels) got out & helped push the truck while I drove. After a some trying there too, SHE GOT OUT!!! The wife jumped back in the seat & we left it in 4x4(because now we were travelling uphill) & Heavy clawed her way back to the beginning of the path. I noticed when I was turning around, I couldn't get the wheel to turn completely to the right, maybe about 1/2 furthering my belief I destroyed something critical. When we got to the top, I gave a good look @ the undercarriage & to my amazement, the only thing I broke was this:
My Rancho steering stabilizer!!! That's it!!! After all of those gut-wrenching sounds & all the tossing & turning, the only thing I broke was the stabilizer! & the oil pan, trans pan, all steering components, EVERYTHING.....was OK
! I love you, Heavy!!! I am so happy I got into PSDs when I did! I wouldn't give my truck up for anything! I got to my friend's house, pulled the stabilizer out, regained my right turn, & Heavy's still running great with no other problems
!
01-18-2009, 08:42 AM
I 'Heart' Heavy
Linear Mode
