Lumpskie's Prospector (Diesel Power Wagon) Build

[Lumpskie]

I ordered some SS3 Pros with the H11 adapters. I have a bracket that should work.. I just need to find it around here. Will order the bighorn style bumper piece next.

 

[Lumpskie]

Ordered the 68449343AA bezel. Hopefully, everything comes together well and I don't regret just getting the CJC version!

 

[Darkone]

Yup that’s the right part number for the bezel. There’s also a different fog light bracket for the halogen lights vs the LED.

 

[P8trit]

Definitely a fun build to catch up on. Did you get your fogs in and how have the Mickey Thompson tires held up.

 

[Lumpskie]

Definitely a fun build to catch up on. Did you get your fogs in and how have the Mickey Thompson tires held up.

Thanks! I am a total loser and haven't installed my fog lights yet. I have put a lot of miles on my Mickey Thompsons... in fact I'm on my 2nd set now. My previous set worked out great. I had them in rocks, mud, compacted snow and deep snow. They did well in all conditions. What ultimately did them in was a mystery... I was exiting the freeway onto a back country road and noticed a low tire pressure light. I could see the pressure dropping as I watched it. I snuck into a parking lot and found a huge gash in my tire's sidewall. The gash was about 4 inches long. Luckily, this was in a small country town with an old fashioned tire store. They patched my tire and I ran it that way for a few thousand miles before getting another set. Looking back, I wonder if there was some metal or debris in the road... it looked like a clean cut. I liked the performance of the tires enough to tell myself it wasn't some sort of massive sidewall failure and went back for another set. I can dig up pictures, if you want to see what it looked like.

 

[Lumpskie]

I've been pushing my rig pretty hard, going to remote places in deep snow. I was responding to a fire call the other day up an unpaved mountain pass... the surface was sheer ice. I ended up sliding off the side of a shelf road. Luckily, there was about 5 feet of snow there which kept the truck from sliding down the mountainside. It was about midnight and there was no cell service. I attempted to back the truck back onto the road. Using a little wheel speed, I was able to start making progress in the reverse direction. Just as I began to get hopeful, something grabbed... and my front wheels stopped spinning. I ended up winching my front end sideways back onto the road. I put the truck in 2wd and moved forward slowly... everything seemed to work. I put it in 4wd and got lots of popping sounds from the driver side in front of me. Long story short, I managed to break both my driveshaft and the ring gear in my front diff. The truck got me home with judicious use of 4wd... only when I absolutely needed it. My rig is in a local shop getting fixed now. I just don't have the time to wrench these days.

 

[jsalbre]

Nice save, but ouch. I've seen a lot of front diffs pop when wheel spin suddenly turns into traction, but it's usually been on smaller vehicles. The Cummins can put a lot of force on that diff though, and they're of course never as strong in reverse. Hope the financial damage isn't too bad!

 

[Rockcrawlindude]

Nice save, but ouch. I've seen a lot of front diffs pop when wheel spin suddenly turns into traction, but it's usually been on smaller vehicles. The Cummins can put a lot of force on that diff though, and they're of course never as strong in reverse. Hope the financial damage isn't too bad!

High pinion front / low pinion rear is stronger in forward direction that is true. But Dang I didn’t think you’d be breaking parts with that type of traction. That doesn’t even seem that abusive.

 

[H3LZSN1P3R]

High pinion front / low pinion rear is stronger in forward direction that is true. But Dang I didn’t think you’d be breaking parts with that type of traction. That doesn’t even seem that abusive.

Would figure a u-Joint would go first! No need for RCV’s!

 

[Rockcrawlindude]

Would figure a u-Joint would go first! No need for RCV’s!

Not when the ring gear is the fuse

 

[Lumpskie]

I'm as surprised as you all are... I never expected to blow a ring and pinion while trying to back out of some deep snow back onto a trail. Have any of you heard of something similar to this in the past? New driveshaft is in... waiting on parts for the R&P...

 

[Lumpskie]

Here are a couple of pics of the situation... it's hard to tell but I was bellied out when I slid off. Even with that, I didn't expect to get this level of damage.

 

[UglyViking]

Judging by the sheen on that road it looks pretty slick. I'm guessing that it was one of those situations where it was basically 0 traction to full traction and the 9.25 just couldn't handle it. Bummer that you're dealing with it.

That said, great time to throw in a front locker since you'll be in there already

 

[Darkone]

this has to be a very rare scenario. I would’ve thought a ujoint or the axle disconnect would have went first. When you say both driveshafts what was the damage there?

I agree with ugly might as well as some
Traction aid if you have to be in there. Then maybe next time the ujoint can fail
like it’s supposed to.

 

[Rockcrawlindude]

The only times i have grenaded a driveshaft with a gear set failure was 1) when a pinion bearing seized up breaking the pinion teeth and driveshaft and once again 2) when ring gear bolts backed out (had possibly been reused) and caught on internal housing ribs in the chunk breaking the carrier, driveshaft, r&p everything but the locker. Both of these basically chocked the tires instantly while under power and caused a lot of carnage.

Plenty of times breaking driveshafts after coming down on the tube and breaking r&p due to running 40s on small axles lol but rare to break both simultaneously. I don’t know whether to be frightened or impressed

 

[Lumpskie]

I don't know whether to be frightened or impressed either, haha. The road was basically sheer ice. So, when I was trying to reverse, the rear wheels couldn't help at all. I wonder if I went from basically throwing snow in reverse to catching a rock hard... shocking the system... I wish I had the extra cash for the locker right now too... but I have lots of project going on right now.

It was a crazy couple of days there... got about 30 inches of snow. My wife got stuck in the driveway:


And I had a lot of fun exploring with a buddy of mine. Here he is stuck:



Pushing some deep snow here:



Despite the current difficulties, I am still loving this truck:

 

[UglyViking]

How are you liking those mickeys in the snow? Buddy of mine is looking at them and I'd love to give him your thoughts.

P.S. I know your driveway is pretty steep, do you guys have to sand in the winter or is it not as bad as I am thinking?

 

[Lumpskie]

How are you liking those mickeys in the snow? Buddy of mine is looking at them and I'd love to give him your thoughts.

P.S. I know your driveway is pretty steep, do you guys have to sand in the winter or is it not as bad as I am thinking?

The one down to the house isn't as bad but the one down to the shop is legitimately steep. (you need to come visit again) I don't sand, but I do plow with my tractor. Even with me trying to keep on it, the driveway just ends up being 4-6 inches of ice by the end of the year. (Awesome for donuts and sledding) My experience with the Mickey Thompsons has been pretty good! Now, it's true that I slid off that shelf road... but that was again about 4 inches of sheer ice. I can't blame them for slipping on that. In general they do well on packed snow and even a little ice. In deep snow, they dig really well and paddle through it. I feel pretty confident with them in winter. The I hate most about driving the truck in winter is the throttle response... I don't usually think about my tires.