turning wrenches again

[moredunes720]

whew...took my blazer out on the dunes, motivated me to get my butt in gear and fix my 720. It's way more fun to just go for it like I do in the nissan, and not worry about every little noise as I take the easy route to the spit. I don't really care if I break something on the 720, since most of parts are cheap and I can do it myself. And it's not my daily driver...

[seang]

I thought about taking my truck out on the Silver Lake Dunes, but I heard that the sand can get into parts and I don't like the sound of that. My truck also would have a top speed of like 35mph in that s*** lol. Now a 350hp turbo ka24e might get a little more speed, eh?

Alas, my truck is my DD, maybe when I retire it someday I can have the added relief of knowing it doesn't matter if I break it.

How is it with sand, does it really accelerate wear on parts? I know that ANY off-roading tears s*** up, but I was just wondering. I have little experience on the dunes.

[moredunes720]

Well, it depends. As long as you can keep all your cv boots and such from cracking, you should be alright. I just try and pressure wash the underside once in awhile, and try like hell to make sure no sand can get down in the carb. As for speed, 35 can be scary nuff when you hit someone else's tracks, The fastest i've gone is 50 or 60, on a wide open expanse. If you deflate your tires to 10 or 15 psi, you can get around super easy, even with the wimpy motors these nissans have. Just remember you don't have the power to go straight uphill, just rev the crap out of it and go up at an angle. Unless it's really steep, then you may as well go back home.

[flinterman2000]

How is it with sand, does it really accelerate wear on parts? I know that ANY off-roading tears s*** up, but I was just wondering. I have little experience on the dunes.

I have no experience on the dunes, but I can say these trucks are pretty well protected from abnormal wear once they are maintained properly.

try like hell to make sure no sand can get down in the carb.

Why not try to add a snorkel that comes up to the door post. Its really for water but will help with the sand also.

[seang]

I have no experience on the dunes, but I can say these trucks are pretty well protected from abnormal wear once they are maintained properly.

Everything except road-salt and rust. Now on my truck, or really any vehicle in my area; that is the biggest battle to date. Even the rainy pacific northwest has trucks that are twice as old as mine and with less rust.

[Aven]

Everything except road-salt and rust. Now on my truck, or really any vehicle in my area; that is the biggest battle to date. Even the rainy pacific northwest has trucks that are twice as old as mine and with less rust.

That's cuz we rarely use salt on the roads on this side of the mountains. A whole lot of sand yeah, but very little salt. And surprisingly, its really not that humid up here, well, not as much as I thought it would be.

[flinterman2000]

Everything except road-salt and rust. Now on my truck, or really any vehicle in my area; that is the biggest battle to date. Even the rainy pacific northwest has trucks that are twice as old as mine and with less rust.

Road salt = rust. Under wash more regular, that will help.

[moredunes720]

I bet the road salt can't be worse than a story about mine from it's previous owner. (Told to me after I had bought it) He actually got it stuck on the beach in the wet sand by the water's edge. Tide incoming. Barely got it out of there as waves were crashing against it's side. Yet, all it has to show wear is a nice rusty topcoat on the entire undercarriage and some funky wiring issues due to corrosion.

[flinterman2000]

Actually road salt is worse than sea salt. Sea salt is concentrated but in small exposures, whereas road salt is less concentrated but in continuous exposure along the time line necessary for it. And it combines readily with road grime, a pretty damaging combination.

[seang]

Michigan's fanaticism with road salt is like California's with their emissions standards. Notice I said almost, there are few things on Earth as fanatic as the extremist goldbricking liberals who run CARB.

Northern Michigan and the Upper Penninsula uses sand instead of salt, and that is better for your cars. Urban areas and more wealthy counties in southern lower penninula use alot of salt, one of the worst states for it.

It does suck, though, when the weather is such that it will snow, traffic will pack that snow down into ice, and then it is a skating rink. We can't have that in Grand Rapids during rush hour, it just won't work. I guess they have to use some salt.

Salty road slush can be more concentrated than sea water sometimes. The worst time to be out is shortly after they salt. Unavoidable sometimes.