Truck Breaking Down in the Backcountry

[Dos Perros]

I know for a fact I can shift talk on a cell phone and eat a chicken sandwich at the same time.

 

[KoolBreeze]

Redundancy would be the best plan. Take an ATV with you.

 

[Squamch]

I walked 16km this fall before I got a ride after my starter died on my automatic 22re 4runner. Those guys gave me a ride another 60+km to cell reception. Tried beating it, tried direct wire from the battery to the trigger, nada.
It had internally shorted and smoked the motor.

But, I carry enough tools (and the necessary ones!) To fully tear that truck and rebuild it. Spare fluids, a compressor, and a plug and patch kit. Spare tire, jack, Shovel, lots of straps and shackles and a snatch block, and a hot rodded warn 8274 on the front bumper. I have an electrical repair box, and spare food, clothing, tarps, rope, etc.


Trail repairs- I have fixed a blown heater line with a 10mm deep socket and a couple hose clamps.

I've replaced an oil drain plug with a piece of radiator overflow hose and a random nut and bolt from under the seat.

I repaired a suzuki samurai clutch cable housing with a piece of heater hose, a 10" nail, and some tie wire.

I've also jacked the roof back up, booted the windshield out, and driven home after a roll.


Now, if you need help, contacting a local offeoad group is a great idea. But! If you are a member of an anti motorized recreation group, like BHA, sort yourself out, don't come asking the guys your dollars lobby against to help you out. I'm sure they would still help you, but it would be pretty disgustingly hypocritical of you.

 

[Fitzwho]

Had my diesel throw a code and give me a reduced power countdown while 11 miles as the crow flies from the nearest asphault and still another 20-30 miles from there to Silver City, NM. May have been able to hitch a ride eventually on that road, but there weren't alot of other people back in there to say the least. I turned around and luckily whatever the code was cleared before I had to start walking. I've been lucky with my vehicles on hunting trips otherwise.

Always keep a full size spare, tire repair kit and air compressor with me.

 

[Billinsd]

Has anyone mentioned AAA? Of course they won't drive off road to get you. A few years ago I went chukar hunting northwest of SLC when visiting inlaws for Christmas. I had the heater going, radio, lights, and hit the windshield wipers by accident, and blew a fuse. The radio went off and the lights and some other stuff. I drove out onto the paved road in the middle of nowhere off the I 80 and turned off the truck to check the fuses, because it was getting dark and I didn't want to drive back in the dark without headlights. I looked and looked and could not find a broken fuse. I get in, turn the key and yep, the starter was off the same fuse. At least I had sense to park off a paved road off the I 80. It got dark and cold and I'm looking and looking for the fuse. A nice local, who works on cars helps. After 2 hours nothing!! I got cell and internet reception and find an AAA towtruck who comes out and tows me to a repair shop. Luckily, I had the max towing AAA option. End of story I ended up at a shop in DT SLC during Christmas that was open and the owner found the problem. It was a $5 fuse, the block kind and the break wasn't visible unless he was pressing it. The same thing happened to me in my garage. Then I tried to reproduce the problem but could not. It's happened twice and the last time was 3 years ago. I keep about 5 spares of that fuse, pluse spares of all fuses.

 

[5MilesBack]

24 years ago my wife and I got stuck in the snow coming over Cooper Pass from MT into Wallace, ID over July 4th weekend. There were several trees down across the road on the way up to the pass but I cleared all those. My wife said "don't you think all these trees across the road is a sign that the road isn't open"? My reply was "Naw, they're there just to keep the suckers out". At the top I put chains on and on the way down, instead of clearing another tree, I tried to go around it. The back end of the truck got sucked into a tree well and we were done. If I would have just cut and moved the tree, we would have been fine.

Luckily we had our mountain bikes, so we road them down to Wallace and checked into the Sheriff's office right there on the way into town. He said he'd try to get a hold of someone that could help, but being the holiday weekend, it might be tough. I mentioned a CAT loader I saw on the side of the road on the way down. So we spent the night in town. Everybody we talked to said "Cooper Pass........that don't open until September". My reply was "Well, it's going to be open a little earlier this year".

The next day the Sheriff said the loader owner would meet us up there and dig us out.......$60/hour. That sounded like a deal, so we got a ride with a forest service guy and met him up there. He dug the road out and the truck was sitting on 5-6 feet of snow. I claimed it with USAA and they paid the $120 as a tow. Good times.

 

[Opah]

You may think your truck is out in the middle of no where and decide to walk out, get help and come back in the morning. You will be surprised how much stuff can just up and disappear from your truck in your absence.

 

[swampthing]

I was in a remote spot on a grizz hunt years back. I was seven hours back on backroads. Second morning of the hunt my truck wouldnt turn over. I messed with it for hours to no avail. Figured it was the starter? I knew there was one other hunter in the area and wrote a note on the back of a beer case saying I needed help. I placed this on the main road that went by the trail into my camp. Got lucky when the fellow showed up the next morning. He gave me a pull and I bump started my diesel. Was real lucky I had a standard. I drove 12 hours home being very careful not to stall! Spent the night at home, jumped in my company truck and drove 12hrs back to my still standing camp. Then, my 4x4 system quit! I got some hunting in and had fun but it was stressful at time! I was solo as well. Never got a grizz on that trip.

 

[Silveroddo]

Lots of good lists here, I go cross country in 20 year old stuff on a regular basis. I've got a tote that comes with every time with every fluid that my rig uses, Motor oil, ATF, Gear lube, coolant, autotrac transfer case fluid, brake fluid etc. and a set of funnels, gear lube pump, or whatever it takes to get the fluid where it needs to go. I'm usually watching for any indication of fluids leaking. I take a well rounded set of tools including a half inch drive set of impact sockets, standard and metric, and a good breaker bar. I run new load range E tires on everything. If I'm towing I started bringing a little laser thermometer gun with and I keep an eye on bearings and tire temps when I'm filling up with gas. Before a long trip I jack up the front end and check for any bearing play (Caught a wheel bearing on my current rig that wasn't making any noise but had some play in it) I've got my used fan belt and an idler pulley, and I check my idler and tensioner pulleys once a year, if they free spin forever its time to change them out. Use good replacement parts, not cheapo internet stuff. Keep a set of mini and regular fuses on hand, a test light, ohm meter, and code reader. I also keep 5 gallons of gas with on long trips. I can pretty much fill a flush mount pickup tool box, but its very rare that something goes down that I can't remedy. On our last MT trip this year I had a brake line rust out, fortunately it was a Saturday, I used a vice grip to clamp the line, topped the reservoir off and took it easy getting to Glendive, bought a tubing cutter, piece of brake line, and 2 compression fittings at Napa and after half an hour or screwing around in the parking lot we were on out way again. Being able to fix stuff saves you time in a lot of cases not having to wait till Monday for the Mechanic.

 

[Sturgies]

We’ve come to realize that the rough roads can rattle a lot more loose that you don’t think of, not just flattening a tire.

On my first trip out west, we rattled free two spark plugs wires. We were headed up the mountain and noticed we loosing power and oil pressure and the check engine light started flashing. We found one loose wire and the truck fired up and finished the drive up the mountain. Re checked at the top and found the 2nd plug wire that was loose. Truck ran great for the rest of the trip.

 

[Randle]

One thing I run into at the shop I work at is when I need to lower a spare tire to make a repair, the spare tire hoist is seized. I have had it happen on my truck in the driveway at home luckily. Anyway I would recommend making sure it functions before leaving home. if I have room I also carry two spares.

 

[Where's Bruce?]

I was hunting this Fall in Colorado with my daughters (10 & 13). We were at 10 miles from a paved road. And these were 10 deep rutted, scratch your truck miles. From the paved road, we were another 45 minutes to even a small small town. When we got in my Ford F-250, I pressed the start button and nothing happened. I was mildly panicking while I waited 30 seconds and tried it again. It started up and we were able to drive out. It hasn’t done that since. But it got me thinking. What would I have done if my truck was truly broken down back there. I can fix a flat and bring power banks to jump a dead battery. But that’s about it. Have any of you broken down out in the woods? Are there mechanics that go out in the backcountry? How does that work?

I see the problem.

 

[CorbLand]

Lost the steering on a Jeep once. The Bobby pin from my aunts hair got us the 10 miles back to a little farm house. Then we made due with a nail to get us the 30 miles back to town.

Replaced a couple fuel pumps and alternators in the back country.

I had to daisy chain two sets of jumper cables and a set of welding cables together to jump a guy that got me unstuck. His jeep was facing east and my pickup west when it died.

I am the least prepared person when it comes to stuff like this and have been lucky that I am always fixing other people’s vehicles.

 

[TheGDog]

That's my biggest fear - a dead battery. Not much will work without it, and it's so easy to do especially in really cold temps for days. I have replaced my battery every 2 years, right before my elk hunt, for this reason. Might be overkill, but that's cheap insurance.

Just plug in a lil 5W solar panel trickle charger into your cigarette lighter socket and leave the panel on the dash so it can keep topping off the battery while you're out and about. Chances are likely though if your battery died while up there it was because of the cold and that the battery was on its last legs anyway... OR... that your charging system hasn't been sufficiently pumping enough charge back into it while the engine is running.

Also you could probably bring along like a small 600 Amp/Hr AGM battery that you'd only use if it wouldn't turn over. You could likely jumper cable over to it real quick and maybe get like 2-3 turn over attempts out of it before you'd have to solar charge it again. I used to use one as a 2nd battery mounted near to the car stereo amplifiers to ensure they don't wear out the main battery and that the bass would always hit solid. Be a good idea to also make sure you use an AGM Deep-cycle battery as your main battery under the hood. Maybe something like a Kinetik or an Optima, whichever one had highest Amp/Hr's that fit your vehicles form-factor.

Look into doing the "Big 3 Upgrade" in terms of your battery connections in the car. Look it up on YouTube. it's something car audio enthusiasts all do. You'll notice your headlights run brighter after doing it!

Always have a Nylon tow strap.

Always have a can of fix-a-flat.

Always have a portable compressor. (If you absolutely had to, you could slash your tires and fill the inside with crap like newspapers or small tree branches or dirt in a pinch)

Always have regular hose water on hand in the car. For taking spit baths when ya get back to the truck, or, if radiator needs it in a pinch.

Some of that fiberglass tape that you dip in water then hurry up and put on is good to have.

Also JB Weld putty for patching holes in a radiator. That stuff works awesome in a pinch! Stuff like the JB Weld can also temporarily patch a hole in your cases on a moto if you're out in TimBukThree!

Always make sure you have some spare fuses.. and KNOW wtf made your original fuse pop before you go and just put in the new one and expect it not to pop again when you turn the key!

Instead of replacing your battery every 2 years... just invest in a quality AGM Deep-Cycle battery that provides substantial more Amp/hrs than your stock one. Also Harbor Frieght sells Battery load testers. Just load test it prior to each outing like that. If the load test tells you something no bueno.. THEN consider replacing it. But hell.. a high quality AGM sealed battery and you'll be straight. I pounded on mine for like 5-6 years each time before needing to replace them.. and I'm talking like a legit 1000-1200 Watts RMS car stereo amplifier system on top of all the regular stuff.... everyday with the volume knob turned up to "Destroy The Earth!!!"

 

[Jeremy11]

Lots of good lists here, I go cross country in 20 year old stuff on a regular basis. I've got a tote that comes with every time with every fluid that my rig uses, Motor oil, ATF, Gear lube, coolant, autotrac transfer case fluid, brake fluid etc. and a set of funnels, gear lube pump, or whatever it takes to get the fluid where it needs to go. I'm usually watching for any indication of fluids leaking. I take a well rounded set of tools including a half inch drive set of impact sockets, standard and metric, and a good breaker bar. I run new load range E tires on everything. If I'm towing I started bringing a little laser thermometer gun with and I keep an eye on bearings and tire temps when I'm filling up with gas. Before a long trip I jack up the front end and check for any bearing play (Caught a wheel bearing on my current rig that wasn't making any noise but had some play in it) I've got my used fan belt and an idler pulley, and I check my idler and tensioner pulleys once a year, if they free spin forever its time to change them out. Use good replacement parts, not cheapo internet stuff. Keep a set of mini and regular fuses on hand, a test light, ohm meter, and code reader. I also keep 5 gallons of gas with on long trips. I can pretty much fill a flush mount pickup tool box, but its very rare that something goes down that I can't remedy. On our last MT trip this year I had a brake line rust out, fortunately it was a Saturday, I used a vice grip to clamp the line, topped the reservoir off and took it easy getting to Glendive, bought a tubing cutter, piece of brake line, and 2 compression fittings at Napa and after half an hour or screwing around in the parking lot we were on out way again. Being able to fix stuff saves you time in a lot of cases not having to wait till Monday for the Mechanic.

got any room left for your hunting gear?

 

[Silveroddo]

got any room left for your hunting gear?

Lol, it all fits in a flush mount tool box.

 

[Opah]

I had one time a bud and I took off to just get the Heck away, we ended uo in the out back of a nasty jeep trail out by some old gold mines, well we drank and primal screamed until we couldn't any more.
We woke up the next morning with the battery completely dead, we had left the radio on all night, now not only were we off the beaten path we were tucked up in this canyon far far away. We did have some running water, a case and maybe a half of beer left and a half eaten bag of Doritos taco flavored. We counted up the chips and decides we were going to starve before we died of thirst.
Back then I was driving a 1990 Chevy 1/2 ton with a 4.3 vortex motor, the good thing was it needed no tools to remove the Fan belt, so while Eddie roamed around trying to get a signal I took a rope and wound it around the alternator like a old lawn mower and pulled, rewound, rewound and pulled rewound and pulled, the object was to charge the battery with the alternator with me being the driving force.
Some where around noon and only 4 hours of whinding and pulling, I put the Belt back on and turned the key, Ranf, ranf Varooooom ! Yes it worked, got in , picked up Eddie about 1/2 way to no where and we were on our way.
I still have people tell me that you can't charge a battery by just spinning the alternator but I know the truth You cardinally can.

 

[87TT]

I was stuck on this island once and I made a radio out of a gum wrapper and a coconut.

 

[hereinaz]

Broke off upper ball joint at the end of the road, couple hours into the Nat Forest and macgyvered it with romex wire, drove it out very slowly all night. Changed it out opening morning in the parking lot and got on with hunting.

 

[Opah]

"I was stuck on this island once and I made a radio out of a gum wrapper and a coconut."
The Magic of the Juicy fruit gum wrapper, fix a fuse or relay and if you roll it up long ways and bite down on it and short between your top and bottoms fillings you can pick up radio and shock the shit out of your self.