A day of carnage (caution dial up, large pics)

[75K30]

As most know, I wheel every weekend. Today was a day full of carnage.
I will preface this with a short description, and then we can get to the good stuff.
Late this week, we were notified that our local area (water reservoir) experienced a valve failure and the reservior we close to empty.
This left acres upon acres of fresh, deep mud. About as far as the eyes could see, this was fresh untouched mud.
Well, the mud took its toll on many vehicles, including a couple of mine.
Enjoy a few pics of todays excitement;

Here I buried my little truck to the doors attempting to extract the stuck Blazer:


She got a little dirty today. This is after she was washed a little.



Carnage! This is a 1.5" 35 spline rear axle from Dana 70. This 1 ton axle gave up the fight. 44" tires are tough on axles:



More carnage!
I spy a broken steering box. This sector shaft busted clean off. Common problem, and can be prevented with a hydraulic assist:



Massive Carnage!
Busted D60 front axle. Big trucks, and big tires are still no match for giant rocks hiding under the mud. This impact almost brought this entire truck to an immediate stop:



Almost made me cry! My new truck takes a big hit. This is what heppens when a recovery rope lets go of the stuck vehicle. Also another reason to not use hooks as recovery points. This forged hook that was on the stuck vehicle straightened right out, and let the rope go. The forces unloaded right into my cheery tailgate! This was only a result of the rope hitting the sheetmetal. Made a heak of a noise:




Not quite carnage, but I wanted to show off my new "Bling" shocks and chro-mo rod ends. These puppies are gigantic! Kind of look sweet huh?




Closer view:


Thx for looking.....

[93blazer]

whats up with the truck in front of the k5 in the top pic ?

[FaselZ71]

**** that looks fun as ****. Man I wish I could find mud like that!!!! Those are some nice front end parts you got there they do look pretty but I bet the mud gave them a nice touch. I never seen an axle do that before either! WOW those pictures got my all hot and bothered LOL

[junior3382]

Sorry about the D60... but I am sure there is a story behind it... care to share? BETTER yet, please tell me ya caught it on tape?!?!? awww, 75, you should know by know we all love your weekend edventures, so where is the videos man?!?!? LOL... So the "bling" is yours? id that the organe monster you are working on?

[bradrhale]

very nice. how long did it take for that rear axle to give up??

[mrjohnwayne]

Good lord, Lots of carnage this weekend... gonna have time to get em fixed up for next weekend?

[75K30]

Originally Posted by 93blazer

whats up with the truck in front of the k5 in the top pic ?

The driver of that K5 made a terrible mistake, and found some deep quicksand. Running water (small stream) made the problem worse. It was sinking at an alarming rate. Took two 20K lb winches and some heavy recovery equipment to extract.
That pic looks worse than it was, but it was still pretty bad.

[75K30]

Originally Posted by FaselZ71

**** that looks fun as ****. Man I wish I could find mud like that!!!! Those are some nice front end parts you got there they do look pretty but I bet the mud gave them a nice touch. I never seen an axle do that before either! WOW those pictures got my all hot and bothered LOL

These pics of the front end were after we played all day. I use a Honda pump and a 1 1/2" inch fire hose to wash the trucks berfore we take them home. Too much mud makes them heavy and really messes up the shop if we dont clean them first.

[75K30]

Originally Posted by junior3382

Sorry about the D60... but I am sure there is a story behind it... care to share? BETTER yet, please tell me ya caught it on tape?!?!? awww, 75, you should know by know we all love your weekend edventures, so where is the videos man?!?!? LOL... So the "bling" is yours? id that the organe monster you are working on?

The owner of that 2 piece dana 60 front was screamng through some untouched mud, and found a boulder that was huge. To say the least, it brought the truck to a rapid stop, and once extracted, this was the result.

I have very few video of these events. I was so busy playing, I found it difficult to take any pics at all.
These fields of mud were long, I mean real long. About as far as the eye could see. Some so deep, I could not get through, even with the big truck.

Yes, that is my orange monster (the great pumpkin), and she is comingout nicely. I have the small engine it it now (521 BBF) and I am workingout all of the bugs in the drivetrain before I put the big bullet under the hood.

[75K30]

Originally Posted by bradrhale

very nice. how long did it take for that rear axle to give up??

You know, not very long, and it did not take much to break it. Wierd part about axles is that you never know when they are gonna decide to give up.
These shafts are stout, and it usually takes a whole bunch to break, but it happens. The fact that it did not take too much to break. leads me to believe that it was already damaged from a previous trip.