Truck Breaking Down in the Backcountry

[archp625]

These threads are great. They make me think about what could happen out there. Now I know a few more items I need to bring with me. Knock on wood only issue was a flat tire in my brothers truck last year.

 

[Corey Paulsen (teamkabob)]

I do need a battery pack. My truck is a 16 diesel and I’ve been on the fence about new batteries! She might get them now, I figured this polar vortex hitting the country would of taken them out this week. Work trucks have been tossing batteries and gelling up!

 

[fmyth]

I do need a battery pack. My truck is a 16 diesel and I’ve been on the fence about new batteries! She might get them now, I figured this polar vortex hitting the country would of taken them out this week. Work trucks have been tossing batteries and gelling up!

Get one rated to start a diesel. I have 3 but only one has enough amps to start a diesel. Its an Anti Gravity XP-10.

 

[Coldtrail]

I carry one of those $100 engine scanners you plug into the brains of the truck, nice to be able to know what you are dealing with if the Check Engine light comes on and if it is something that needs urgent attention. Allows you to reset the system and see if it's a fluke or actually a problem.

 

[mlgc20]

I carry one of those $100 engine scanners you plug into the brains of the truck, nice to be able to know what you are dealing with if the Check Engine light comes on and if it is something that needs urgent attention. Allows you to reset the system and see if it's a fluke or actually a problem.

Never heard of those. I will be looking in to that.

 

[Antarctica]

I pulled a guy down the mountain this season. He was in a VW wagon and hit a chunk in the road at speed, taking out his oil pan. I saw the oil slick and followed it for almost a mile where I found the car when he ran out of momentum. Luckily I had a tow strap to pull him the rest of the way into town.

VW wagon that ran out of oil?

What's the point in towing that out? Better off to pile some brush around it, light it up and tell the cops someone stole it.

 

[Tod osier]

I carry one of those $100 engine scanners you plug into the brains of the truck, nice to be able to know what you are dealing with if the Check Engine light comes on and if it is something that needs urgent attention. Allows you to reset the system and see if it's a fluke or actually a problem.

I've had one on the list for the past year, but I haven't researched what to get for my F250. Thanks for the reminder.

 

[Antarctica]

Buddy and I heading to the Easter Jeep Safari in Moab 20 years ago. Big Winnebago RV, transmission went out on the way from Phoenix to Cortez CO. Limped in 1st gear to closest town - Kayenta AZ. Took about 1/2 hour of asking folks how long to fix to realize that there was no transmission ever coming to Kayenta AZ.

We drove 6 hours to Cortez in 1st gear. Had a ball.

 

[Nickofthewoods]

Here's my bad luck Backcountry Breakdown Story for your entertainment.

About 15 years ago I was on a Camping/Fishing trip with a few friends up a dead end road that terminated near the inlet of a lake here in Colorado. It was about 4 semi-rough miles from the nearest maintained FS Road. It didn't require 4WD to access, just a little clearance. We had gone to this exact a spot a handful of times over the years and it used to be a numbered FS Trail.
We saw nobody else camped in the area on our way in (Colorado was a different place even just 15 short years ago). A day or so into our trip we heard a lot of Chainsaw noise in the distance but didn't think much of it until the day we tried to leave. Going back down the road my heart sunk when I saw a row of massive dead trees laid across the road, all recently cut with Chainsaws. There was one every 100 ft or so, and we literally couldn't believe what we were seeing. Foolishly I tried to four-wheel my SUV around them and on one of the first attempts I heard a loud bang like a gunshot and then the vehicle wouldn't go forward or in reverse. One of the CV Axles had literally exploded and seized. We found one of the ballbearings buried about an inch into the dirt below the axle as a result of the explosion. We started walking down the road and within a few miles we ran into the Forest Service Crew with the Chainsaws and told them what happened. I was pretty upset that they had blocked the Road like that without checking to see if people were back there first, and the Supervisor informed us that the Road had been closed to vehicles recently. This was news to me of course since we'd been going there for years and there were no signs indicating this. They walked back up to the vehicle with us and the Supervisor stopped at one point and said the road had been closed beyond this point and picks up one of those flimsy Carsonite Markers laying in the grass off to the side of the Trail that indicated the road was closed. Someone had clearly run it over with an ATV, the ATV tracks were even still there if I remember correctly. They ended up calling a Tow Truck for us and several hours were spent hooking up chains to these trees they had just laid across the road and dragging them out of the way in order to gain access to my vehicle. Once the tow truck hooked up to my SUV and started pulling it the siezed axle broke free and I was able to just drive out in 2WD. He still charged me $800 to come all the way up and help yank trees out of the way. Also, to add insult to injury, the Forest Service Supervisor guy then ticketed me $75 for driving on a closed road. EVEN THOUGH the closure was new as of that Spring, the only Marker indicating this fact was laying down broken on the side of the road which he clearly saw with his own eyes, and the fact that they failed to do a courtesy check up the last few miles of the Road before they just started Merrily dropping mature sized dead trees across the Trail.

So in addition to your battery booster and Jumper cables, bring a Chainsaw.

 

[carsonkeys]

Dewalt makes a great tool for your truck [air compressor/battery pack
I also carry a plug kit, tool box, come-along

DEWALT 1400 Peak Amp Jump Starter with Digital Compressor and USB Power Bank DXAEJ14 - The Home Depot

With the DEWALT DXAEJ14 Jump Starter with Digital Compressor and Power Bank, you no longer need to dread roadside emergencies when your vehicle won't start. This compact, portable device will test your

www.homedepot.com

This really grabs my attention. The ability to jump a battery and inflate a tire is huge.

A few years ago I was in Montana helping a buddy scout for an elk tag he drew. Started off fine. Blew a tire, put the spare on and drove another hour or so, blew the spare and was officially SOL. Had to climb a mountain to get service to call a buddy from Bozeman who graciously brought us a tire patch kit and air compressor after a few hours.

 

[Clovis]

There is a lot to learn from other folks' bad experiences and value in carrying a few key extra items, but isn't a big part of the moral too that in the same way you build your fitness, hunting skills, and familiarity with the equipment you need on a hunt well in advance of showing up at the trailhead, that those who don't have it (not pointing at anyone in particular on this thread) would benefit from developing a basic understanding of how a truck works, its capacities and limitations off-road, the tools and knowledge to deal with what might go wrong and the judgment to do it safely long before trouble arises? Not sure how exactly to get that on demand (growing up poor on a farm is a pretty good way to pick it up), but it is valuable to have.

 

[Billinsd]

There are regional Facebook groups dedicated to offroaders and recovery. If you can get to a spot with service there will be someone who can get you help even if you are in an impossible area.

Fantastic!!!!!!! I'd always thought about posting on a hunting forum for help and have seen others do this. Contacting offroaders is a better idea. Thanks so much.

 

[Titan_Bow]

I am by no means a mechanic, but I will say, there are some things you can do to greatly improve your odds of being able to get yourself out. Step 1, do ALL your own routine maintenance. If you don't know anything about cars or automotive maintenance, that's fine. Watch Youtube videos, ask some questions in vehicle specific forums. But, learn to change your oil, your fluids, brakes, etc. This is vital in understanding all the moving parts, where things are, what they look like "normal", and you'll be surprised if something breaks, how much more you know, just by doing your own routine maintenance.
Step 2, have a decent tool kit. You don't have to have anything fancy, I just have one of those briefcase style automotive kits from Walmart, I think it was 50 or 75 bucks. It has pretty much any routine tool you'd need. Also, going back to Step 1, by doing your own maintenance, you'll understand what specialty tool(s) you might need to supplement with.
Step 3, bring a battery pack, as others have stated. Think about the MOST LIKELY things to fail. If you got a fairly nice rig, that's probably tires and battery. So, have a way to jump start a dead battery. and.
Step 4, have some things to deal with flat tires. Make sure your spare is in good condition and has air, make sure you have all the tools necessary to change a tire. If you got fancy wheels with a lock on the lug nuts, make sure you got the tool to unlock them and know how to. Know how to use your jack and evaluate how well that jack would work off-road. You might want to swap out an OEM jack for a beefier bottle jack. Bring a plug kit and a can of fix-a-flat, and one of those little air compressors that plug into a cigarette lighter. That alone can save your ass bigtime.
Step 5, have some basic recovery gear and general purpose fix-stuff. I started carrying some traction boards this year, after spending all day last year digging my Xterra out of the mud on the side of a dirt road in Nebraska last turkey season! Blocks, traction boards, maybe even a hi-lift jack or come-along. Have tow straps. Carry a big role of Gorilla Tape or Duct tape. And finally, have JB weld.

Again though, learn your vehicle by doing your own routine maintenance. That is probably the most important thing. You don't want the first time you are really looking at your vehicles engine or underside, being that time it wont start at 8pm at an empty trail head, miles from anywhere or anyone that can help....

 

[Billinsd]

In the 90s I drove a few miles on a jeep trail in Arizona for a December hunt in my 1990 Nissan truck. I realized I'd forgotten broadhead and turned around in a creek too fast and rough and busted a tie rod. I hiked to a main dirt road and hitched a ride to town. I found a mobile mechanic, and called my Aunt in Phoenix to buy me a tie rod and bring it to me. The mechanic drove me to the truck in his two wheel drive truck. I'll never forgot him saying "how much further, the road is too rough". I kept saying "just around the bend". We ended up walking the last few hundred yards to my truck. The guy could have charged me a grand and I would have happily paid. To my shock and delight he charged me a fraction of what a mechanic in town would have charged. I now drive a Toyota and carry more tools and a metal splint for a broken tie rod to limp to civilization.

 

[fmyth]

Here's a link to the AZ Off Road Recovery Group. You should join if you hunt or recreate off road in AZ. It's all volunteers with 4x4's that help people who are stranded. https://www.facebook.com/groups/305452647419215

And here is the link to a similar group that does volunteer off road rescue and recoveries in Colorado: https://www.facebook.com/CO4x4RnR

 

[Billinsd]

In the early 70s when I was a kid, my dad, uncle, and mom where tooling around Southern Utah off road and got stuck in the mud. My dad and uncle siphoned some gas out of the truck and put on the mud and lit it on fire to dry the mud. I was little and it was quite a site. Then my dad and uncle pushed the truck and jumped in and we drove off.

 

[Billy Goat]

I still do that. Are you saying that you can't push start the newer trucks???

What new truck has a standard transmission?

 

[sandhillhunter]

I now drive a Toyota

That will solve most problems right there!

 

[DenverCountryBoy]

Tow straps
Come along
Jumper cables
Basic tools
Quart of oil
Spare serpentine belt
Saw
Tire patch/plugs
Air pump
Always park on a slope so I can bump start if I need to.

 

[Billinsd]

Step 4, have some things to deal with flat tires. Make sure your spare is in good condition and has air

Replace your spare when it gets too old. I replace my spare when I buy new tires. I buy 5 new tires and rotate all 5. It is a hassle, but good insurance. There are some places where it makes sense to travel with 2 spares. This is common in Nevada.