For MacGyver fans-interesting problem?

[boncrshr]

What a strange weekend...I somehow jinxed myself and I am still trying to process everything that happened. Here is the short as possible version.

We get loaded up and drive two hours to the beach we hunt. We are 4 miles down the beach and my Jeep radiator splits at the passenger side upper corner. We use the 8 gallons of drinking/wash water I have to get off of the beach. A nice old guy named Bud offers us some JB Weld and a water re-fill, follow him to his house and take him up on the offer. I offer to buy him dinner and attempt to hand him a 20...his reply was (picture Sam Elliot in We Were Soldiers when Mel Gibson asks him how Custer felt)...."Son, there ain't no poor people in this neighborhood"

We find a radiator 20 miles away....stopping every 3-5 miles to cool and fill the radiator. Change the radiator in the parking lot, drive back to the beach. Immediately get stuck, drop the Hustler from the trailer to pull the Jeep out, and notice the quick disconnect fitting from the trans is leaking trans fluid. It is 11pm, so we just decided to pitch tents and figure it out in the morning. Once we had pulled the Jeep out, we hooked the trailer on the Hustler and found a sheltered place, set up camp....I turned Coast to Coast on the radio and sat down to have a beer or 6...then it started lightning and pouring down rain. Next morning, get the trans leak buttoned down some....head back to Auto Zone to get old fitting off of radiator. Get that fixed, go to Whataburger, as we are sitting in line at Whataburger my water pump starts POURING water out of the seals. Head back to Auto Zone, change water pump and radiator hoses in the parking lot. Head home and actually make it.

On the good side...we did not have to call a wrecker. Down side was no hunting, fishing or decompress time. And the spare Hustler belt did fine....

[Mike]

Sounds like you needed some MacGyver type fixes for cooling systems instead of belts. That sucks. You go out for a relaxing weekend of camping/hunting and come back with a new cooling system on your Jeep. Go figure.


At least you had the Hustler with you and knew that you weren't stranded anywhere.

[boncrshr]

Yeah Mike....that is actually way cool....it takes two people though...basically we just hook the Hustler to the Jeep and trailer and the Jeep driver gives light throttle and it will come right out every time. I have tried it by myself with the Jeep in neutral and it will ALMOST pull the Jeep out, but not quite.

However, we have done it dozens of times with two people, big peace of mind. The sand where we go is so SOFT...

We did have two upgrades this weekend that worked out...I put some Hella free-form driving lights on my Hustler front rack....BIG difference and very helpful when navigating at night. And we took a BBQ pit that looks like one of those park BBQ's, real heavy duty....we put loops on it so you can slide it on the side of the trailer and strap it down. Then we can cook on the trailer and not have to find a place for a BBQ pit in the Jeep or in the interior of the trailer for travel. I cooked the steaks on it when we got home...worked good.

[Rock Doctor]

What a trip, lol

Maybe it's time to get a FORD

,Just kidding, haha


RD

[6X6]

....I turned Coast to Coast on the radio and sat down to have a beer or 6.....

Actually, that day seems like at least a one-caser
Oh well, on the plus side, at least you got all the bugs worked out of both Hustler and Jeep for at least a while

[alaskacody]

A macGiver fix when i was in the service in a transpertation unit once in a while we would get shot at and insted of shooting at the drivers head they would shoot the raditor what we would do is take a raw egg and mix a bunch of pepper with it dump that in and dump some water in it and drive it and after a short time the hole would plug up and get our ass out of a kill zone back to the camp to get it fixed at times it smelled like a scrambeld egg with too much pepper but it did work

[boncrshr]

Now that's a MacGyver fix Cody! Thank God no one was shooting at us this weekend!!

[boncrshr]

Got my new belt today....can't wait to see how it fits. Also got a new cooling system on the Jeep

The saga continued this week....I was flushing the cooling system once I got the quick disconnect fitting on the trans cooler to quit leaking, so I was taking the overflow bottle off to clean it like I have many times before, and BOOM!....the stud on the A/C drier that one of the hoses attaches to just broke, my whole system discharged onto my camping gear and trailer. I swear I did not put undue stress on it........Oh well.

[6X6]

That happened to me when I was sitting at a red light in traffic. Big white cloud and a hundred drivers staring at me, I was getting rid of that car in the fall anyway, but that summer wasn't fun.

[mad_max_500cc]

the only thing that could make that more fun is when the evaporator core in the dash pops a hole in it when there is floresent dye in the system!!!!!! lets just say bright green cloud from the vents gets all over everything!!!!!!

[boncrshr]

Green dye huh?? It might be cool in a Scooby Doo style van???

OK...shredded another belt (new) this weekend. When we are hunting/camping I am pulling trailer + gear at all times, approximately 1200lbs. Often through marshy conditions....but I am still going to investigate the list Jersey posted up. Any more helpful hints Jersey??

I ordered a new belt. Previously I was ordering Dayco HP series belts that were 1.25" wide. The new belt is HPX series and is 1.37" wide. The HPX series is supposed to be tougher and run cooler so we will see.

The Jeep broke down again...camshaft position sensor+oil pump drive.

Also, have to tell off on myself.....me and my two buddies who both have polaris 500 HO 4x4's got STUCK LIKE CHUCK in some nasty gumbo mud. Let me set the stage...we were going to build a new blind on the bay, so we load all blind materials in the trailer on the Hustler. I take my waders off because 3 days after the snow, it is 70 degrees and the skeeters are bad...I am sweating and need gold bond powder as I am burning flesh when I walk...anyhoo.

We head from the beach into the marsh...very flat with short vegetation coverage. Buddy #1 gets stuck, I am behind him doing fine, so I pull up next to him to keep him company while Buddy# 2 circles back. Due to just sitting there or losing momentum, I could not get started again with the trailer and buried the Hustler to the tub. Also, the Vamps completely caked with gray, sticky, stinky mud...which has NEVER happened before. So we unhook the trailer, Hustler comes out on it's own, but then I get stuck due to the tires being gummed up. From that point forward it was each of us getting stuck while pulling the other out until I got back to the beach. I ungummed the tires and headed back to the trailer. We managed to turn the trailer 90 degrees (manually) without inhaling a lethal amount of mosquitoes or having a heart attack and I pull it out of the marsh no problem.

My clothes were now wet and filthy with saltwater marsh mud...washed them out in the surf, wore my waders over boxers, and dried myself and clothes out near the fire after the evening hunt.

For all the duck hunters here....you know how it is, there is always "duck drama", either before or after the hunt....I have never had a duck hunt go perfectly smooth without some measure of drama.

[jerseybigfoot]

Green dye huh?? It might be cool in a Scooby Doo style van???

OK...shredded another belt (new) this weekend. When we are hunting/camping I am pulling trailer + gear at all times, approximately 1200lbs. Often through marshy conditions....but I am still going to investigate the list Jersey posted up. Any more helpful hints Jersey??

I ordered a new belt. Previously I was ordering Dayco HP series belts that were 1.25" wide. The new belt is HPX series and is 1.37" wide. The HPX series is supposed to be tougher and run cooler so we will see.

is the belt overheating (rubber smell)? What size converters are you running and how much freeplay is in the belt ?
Belts fail from overheating due to slip and tension between the converters. If you are using a 9 1/4" driven you nay want to go to a 9 3/4" or larger.

[boncrshr]

Hey Jersey,

I definitely smelled burned rubber...the new belt had maybe a little more than 1.25" play. I could ALMOST get it on without bumping the motor.

I will measure my clutches tonight...I have no idea what size they are. Thanks for the help!

[boncrshr]

Well....this weekend was another spent on the beach, no Jeep or Hustler issues to speak of...but I did store up some good Karma and advertise for the amphib community.

We were about 8 miles down the beach and this guy flagged us down and asked me if I could pull his truck out. He had taken his truck back into the marsh off of the beach (big mistake). I immediately told him yes, and started dropping the Hustler off of the trailer...it was funny because he did not think the Hustler would pull his Toyota T-100 out...just watch and see I told him, plus there is no way I would take my Jeep out there!!

We get to his truck, hook the Hustler up and pull him right out....when we get back to the beach he was thoroughly impressed. He tried to give me money and said he felt bad when I would not take any...but I explained he did not owe me anything, because my act of kindness was paying all of the people back that had helped me when I was in trouble on the beach. Hopefully he will not take his truck off the beach anymore.

Hey Jersey...I will get some measurements in the next day or two...

[lewis]

Kindness?

In a hectic world we live in today people find it hard to believe that someone does something JUST OUT OF KINDNESS! The world needs more of these actions. Bully for you BoneCrshr My hat is off to you.

Have a Merry Christmas and New Year
Lewis