Mr.BlueSky

I am very sad that I am going to miss this... it is literally the one place the Snowflake feels at home

I am very sad that I am going to miss this... it is literally the one place the Snowflake feels at home

Thanks all! Had a great time at the gathering this last weekend. Was a lot of fun to meet group members and get out in the hills/mountains.

Welcome to the club! That is one sweet looking Disco!
 
I've always been a fan of black on black on black on.. : )

General information:
 
 
Location: Camp Edison
 
Trip Leader: Dhappel
 
 
Current Weather Conditions at Shaver Lake
http://wxug.us/1pb3v
 
 
Shaver Lake webcams
http://shaverlakewebcams.info/
 
 
Camp Edison
P.O.Box 600
42696 Tollhouse Rd. 
Shaver Lake, CA. 93664
Phone: 559-841-3134
Fax: 559-841-3193
 
 
Map & GPS of Area:
Camp Edison 37° 7'19.64"N 119°18'53.75"W 
Shaver Lake Snow Run Trail Head 37° 4'6.56"N 119°10'52.67"W
Bald Mountain Trail Head 37° 6'5.17"N 119°10'11.50"W
 
 
Expected Trail conditions:
Expect deep snow fingers crossed, stay on the trial at all times or you will get very stuck very quickly.
There is always the possibility of body damage. Ruts, whoops, drifts, ice, are all common ways to crunch a panel.
If you stop forward movement, do not spin your wheels. The friction melts the snow and then freezes into ice, reducing the quality of the trail surface.
 
Vehicle Requirements: 
Chains- Chains may be required on the way to Camp Edison for vehicles on standard street tires.  AT or MT tires and 4WD (aka most of us) w/o chains are typically allowed by the CHP even when chain restrictions are in place. If you have street tires and plan to hit the trail, you will need two sets of chains. If you have not installed chains before, please test fit them before the trip. Check for clearance issues around brake or ABS lines as well as wheel wells during articulation. Stock vehicles (without chains) should remain at Camp Edison and find someone to ride shot-gun with on Bald Mountain.
 
Tires
All vehicles should be fitted with All Terrain or Mud Terrain tires and have a full sized spare. A tire repair kit is recommended. Tires aired down before hitting trail
 
Recovery Points
Strong recovery points front and rear are a must. Expect to pull someone (or yourself) from either end of your truck multiple times.
 
Required Safety & Recovery Equipment
Fire extinguisher, Hi-Lift and/or X-Jack (at least one vehicle carry one), winch (every other vehicle is optimal), recovery strap (each vehicle should have their own)
Metal shovel (shovel snow), first aid kit, repair tools and spares to suit your vehicle, tire gauge and tire pump
Emergency overnight pack of food, water, blanket
 
Trail Communications:
HAM radio 146.460 (simplex)
 
Shaver Lake Repeaters
146.820- 141.3 KE6JZ
 
Clothing Suggestions:
Snow/winter clothing- layer with base clothing that wicks sweat, polar fleece, wind/water repellent shell jacket or winter jacket; winter gloves, hat or beanie, and snow boots. Be prepared for rain/sleet as well. Sunscreen and sunglasses are recommended.  Again, we don't know what the conditions will be this far out and weather in the mountains can change rapidly.  Be prepared for anything from t-shirt weather to arctic tundra.
 
Food / Meals: 
Meal plans: BYO, or plan with others
 
After the trail we stop at the local pizza joint in Shaver Lake for tasty goodness before returning to camp.
 
Misc Items to Bring:
Camera and extra batteries, winter tent, sleeping bag and blankets, extra garbage bags, GPS unit, map of the area and compass, drinking water, fire wood 

Hitting the trail .

Not sufficient grounds for missing an event.
 
Saturday is also the 2nd Supercross race of the season but I'll record it and watch later.  I'm willing to make that sacrifice.

I plan to attend, it'll be my first club activity. Really looking forward to it! May even bring a friend but I won't reveal what kind of yoyo car he'll bring...

Robert, I fixed your post

Howdy,
 
Joined up today and looking forward to meeting you all out on the trails. I’ve owned rovers for a little over two decades—first a 96 D1, then an 04 D2 S, next an 03 G4 HSE (one of the event vehicles), a 2011 Range Rover Sport (wife), and then another 04 D2 S7 (because lots of kids).
 
Only have kept the 04 D2 S7. I’ve owned it since 08. Here are some pics. Last one is a touchscreen setup that I installed recently (a new fold-out Pioneer that I took apart and carefully refinished in matte black to match interior and get rid of labels and glossy finish).
 
I put in the genuine winch tray back when I got the vehicle, and a Superwinch X9. I removed the roof bars and put on a Safety Devices low roof rack with SD flooring. Genuine HD springs front and rear, so only slightly higher than stock. Pirelli Scorpion AllTerrain’s in 265/75R16. Really have liked these tires BTW.
 
 

Stu shall rise again!

Robert, I fixed your post

Robert, I fixed your post

Totally possible to winch backwards using a front winch, but remember one thing.  If you're moving a 5000lb vehicle out of mud you may need more than 5000lbs effective force.  The reason a pulley system works in this scenario is because you have 2 x 5000lb at the back against 1 x 5000lbs at the front, so it is the difference causing the motion.  It also means that the benefit of using a snatch block is only to reverse the motion, not to multiply the force (the normal reason for using a snatch block).  So you'll need a good winch to really make this useful (although demonstrating it works on the flat is easy, and should work for any winch).  Add two more snatch blocks and it works even better!
 
Regards,
 
Graeme

Stu shall rise again!

Stu shall rise again!

Tyler and I are interested. We may not have either of our Rovers working, but can make it in his Suburban..

Thanks Cris. I did see this vehicle on Facebook Marketplace and appreciate the pointer. I think I have found a good candidate on Craigslist and will go take a look on the weekend. Hopefully, I will have another D2 by Christmas.

Who are we going to send into the mud pit? 

Disclaimer: Viewer should use caution as this topic does not directly relate to Land Rovers, however is related in a tertiary, round about sort of way. The squeamish should look away! 
 
After pawing around for a bit, counting up projects I needed a welder for on the 110, and recently feeling the urge to step up plans to get Snowflake a cage, I pulled the trigger and got a welder.
 
Thanks Eric for putting me down the path of the ESAB, the welder arrived mid last week and I've been playing with it since. thing is a beasty
 
All was fine and dandy until I started looking for a welder cart. 
 
I grew up using a cart similar to this a the body shop, though the bottom was open for gloves, helmet etc, and the drawers full of extra spools, tips, and the extra set of emergency spanners Dad hid from his employees. (Naturally, they always lost the general set of spanners).
 

 
Naturally, this is what I was looking for. Alas... you can't hardly find anything like it. And if you did find a welder cart, the sellers wanted coo-coo for cocoa puffs $$$$$...
Craigslist was basically the Sahara, Offer-Up was a joke, Facebook made my eyes bleed, Cris couldn't find anything in the neighborhood apps :0 Johan couldn't find any manufacturing startups going under... So I resigned myself to harbor freight and get this one... booo
 

 
 
 
 

Fast forward to later in the day when I arrived at harbor freight. 
 
I walked in and realized I forgot the "super coupon" (minor inconvenience) along with my jotted measurements of the welder (the HUMANITY)...
 
Theresa wouldn't answer her phone to get me measurements of the welder, knowing she was working outside... I set the car alarm off. 
 
After Theresa managed to shut the alarm off with her phone she saw my 3 missed calls. I was then tersely given welder dimensions over the phone. #noregrets
 
Of course the ESAB welder didn't fit the cart (Not to mention, I was not super impressed with the cart in the beginning).
 
... the only cart it fit was this one. 
 

 
I was not super keen on an open space frame cart. I prefer to keep the equipment in drawers, clean, and not covered in weld/grind dust.
 
So I started tromping up and down the aisles trying to find something I could make work.
 
I (REALLY) needed the welder to be mobile so I could get some work done on the 110 and plugging the rust rain collecting holes on Cris' rack. Besides, I had a hot metal glue gun to get creative with.
 
I came across this... but while the price was right, it seemed to lack might. Easily tipped when weighted on one side.
 

 
The aisle tromping continued...
 
 
 
 

That's when I found it... the tiniest toolbox, hiding in the row behind it's bigger brethren... 
 

 
Ok great... I've got a cart - maybe the welder will go on top. Maybe it will go on the bottom, but how to affix the bottle?
 
More aisle tromping.
 
A few step-ladders shuddered as I passed, and there was a point where I pondered cutting up a steel ammo box. 
 
I found the perfect device... but alas, someone had dibs.
 

 
By principle, I don't steal things out of people's carts, that is the absolute lowest crime.
 
Back to the cart for measurements... oh... well hello there... 
 

 
THe next door toolbox had a add-on tray... I had overlooked them thinking they came with the bigger boxes. Game changer.
 
 

Getting the newly found treasures back to the house, I was pleasantly surprised the tool cart managed to use all the same fasteners everywhere.... 
 
Well done HF. 
 

 

 
Next up was to hack up the tool tray.
 

 
First I drilled out all the rivets off the support brace hinge and tossed that aside. 
 

 
By folding the tray backwards, I could easily weld the two folding pieces together eliminating the hinge functionality.
 
Up next was to shorten and fold up a 1 inch section of the tray to form the bottle holder. 
 
Using the scraps from shortening the tray, 2 45 degree supports were made. 
 

 

 
All welded together:
 

 
Painted and installed:
 

 
I ended up setting with the welder in the bottom rack. It allows the power cable to lay inside the tray when not in use, and I can keep the top tray for grinding equipment.
 
I've got add a few more items, namely a proper chain on the tank and a cord hanger. Once complete, a happy camper I will be.
 
The best part, is that the final product was a fraction of the cost of a proper welding cart that would take 5 days to ship.
 
 
 
 
 

I have a hard time believing no one has touched their rover since September...
 
I myself just haven't had time to post.
 
A few things done:
 
110 Oil cooler cleaned and BSP bungs cut off and welded new NPT fittings on - work done by San Jose Radiator - dudes are old school pros.  Patched rust and re-furbed the 110 battery box. As I watched the paint dry on the battery box, I decided I am cutting it all out for a new idea. Built up the front end of the 110. Time for some fiberglass fan shroud building.  Looked at the classic and wondered if it misses me yet.