My 2000 5.4l Eddie Bauer 4x4

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John Christopher

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The Great American Eclipse Trip was a success. We did a couple hundred miles of dirt driving using the COBDR from Gysum to WY. Great trip. Expedition did great.

Our first camp site just north of Gypsum. We rolled in just after 11pm. It was super dark and quiet. Could see the Milky Way stretch over the sky.
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The Expedition was our home for these 5 days and were rarely more than a few feet from it. Here we pulled off to the side of the road to eat lunch in the shade:
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Second camp site north of Steamboat:
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3rd camp site within striking distance of the twilight zone in Wyoming:
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We met up with a group and drove out to view Totality. The BLM roads are everywhere in this area.
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The group me behind me in the mirror:
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Set up on a hill to watch:
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11:21am during Totality:
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Then we hit the roads and saw lots of this:
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The 4th campsite in Medicine Bow National Forest, Wyoming:
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I took 20 extra gallons just in case fuel was going to be an issue, but it never was. But because I had it, I needed to use it (borrowed the gas cans) so I dumped 2 tanks before leaving camp:
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The ol' rig did great. Sitting at about 219,400 miles and 10,700 feet.


This looked like a great trip. Your lucky that your family also likes to camp, it makes things easier. The pictures are great with the wide open spaces. Keep posting your adventures. Thanks
 

hammerg26

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Those are awesome pictures.
I plan on doing the same thing with my family. Glad to know it can handle it.


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I'm going to be headed to Wyoming for the Great American Eclipse on 8/21. We are going to be off the beaten path camping along the way. I've heard some horror stories about the Big O Big Foots in terms of their offroad sidewall strength. Although admittedly I've never actually had a problem with mine. But mine were getting worn out and loud. It was time to replace them. I put a little over 42k miles on them and they were on the truck when I bought it.

Looking at the space around my tires, I thought I could fit 35s. But even if I could fit them, my 3.55 gears up at this altitude would be lacking. So my $1200 35" tires would cost me an additional $1800 ($850 to regear, $350 for new bearings, and $600 for a Trutrac). Instead I went for 275/70/18 which measure out as 33.2"- a true 33" tire and not a 32 rounded up.

As far as tires, the BFG KO2 was the leader of my list. But it was a close fight with the Cooper ATPs. My tire guy told me he thought the KO2s were wearing faster than he thought they should. So I opted for the cheaper ATPs.

I'm happy with the results.
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I think 35s would have been too stuffed for my liking.

Brb need to clean my keyboard of drool. So nicely & tastefully done. Mine's gonna be used as a band wagon for the time being (musician life), but if the band ever tanks, I'm gonna try for something similar to this look.
 
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ExplorerTom

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Replaced my left upper control arm today because the upper ball joint was bad. I know I could have just replaced the ball joint itself, but with a new arm I got new bushings.

This was one of the easiest jobs I've done. I marked the camber bolts prior to pulling it apart, but after that it was super simple.
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I got the camber bolts lined up with the marks. And then I greased all the zerks I could get to on the front end.
 

hammerg26

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Replaced my left upper control arm today because the upper ball joint was bad. I know I could have just replaced the ball joint itself, but with a new arm I got new bushings.

This was one of the easiest jobs I've done. I marked the camber bolts prior to pulling it apart, but after that it was super simple.
1527F154-EA9C-4ECE-B8A3-7DAE35FF3BD4.jpg
1BF379AE-98FD-4B1F-B985-08265EF96EB5.jpg
5B15EAB0-A8FC-44F0-9A62-C66BAF90F771.jpg

I got the camber bolts lined up with the marks. And then I greased all the zerks I could get to on the front end.
What brand did you go with?


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gtnator

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Loved the eclipse pictures and story!


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gtnator

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Tom how large were those gas cans? I know you didn't end up needing them but were you happy with them overall? Did the pump come with the can? I've seen some cans that have a nice pump that clamps right onto the can.


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ExplorerTom

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The cans were 5 gallons each. I liked them a lot. They are NATO Jerry cans which means they have a nice locking feature for their lids. I may end up getting 2 for myself.

The "pump" is actually a shaker siphon. It's a super simple device- just a tube with a captured ball that allows you to pump the fluid by shaking the ball end up and down. Once the fluid is fully in the tube and the exit is lower than the supply, a siphon is generated.
 

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