Truck Breaking Down in the Backcountry

[Newtosavage]

My wife and kids and I were on a Sunday drive up in the mountains. Well maintained gravel road about 5 miles in. Weird sound and then flat tire. The bolt fell out of my front brake caliper and the caliper runned on the rim and made a hole in the rim. Walked down the road about 1/2 a mile and find a bolt laying there. Went back and installed, put on spare tire and drove home.

That might be the luckiest story I've heard in a while. Wow!

 

[KsRancher]

When I am way up in the mountains and no one else around and I wont be back to the truck for several days. I unhook the batteries. I always carry HEAVY jumper cables with me. So if there are several other vehicles around I dont bother to unhook the batteries.

 

[DB29]

Hunting with my dad as a kid he was driving through a river and sucked water up through the air intake blowing every piston in the motor. Truck died in the middle of the river. We were an hour deep on rough 4x4 only roads from the nearest ranger station. A stranger stopped and pulled us to the ranger station where we could call my mom, who called family and friends until she found a friend who would come tow us the 3 hours back home. Also with my dad, we dropped the drive shaft on the same truck while 5+ miles back from the highway. Hiked out to the highway and got picked up by a CHP who drove us to a gas station where we could call a tow truck to get the truck towed home. I have learned it’s going to suck, but 90% of the time you can get out. Having cell phones and an inreach now will help a ton if this is a hereditary thing.

 

[Rky Mtn Farmer]

I have broken down a few times in the back country, but the worst was when i was a kid with my dad. We went up camping just south of Leadville CO. There is a lake that sits between two fourteeners that we wanted to climb. The jeep trail crossed a pretty good sized river to get to the lake. We made it there early in the morning and camped for a couple of days, also climbed both mountains. Left in the evening and I guess the river was high from snow melt during the day. We hit that river in my dad's s10 blazer and the whole front end went under the water. It sucked water in and killed it, leaving us stranded in the river. I will never forget sitting there watching water fill up in side the vehicle. Luckily there was someone behind us also coming out, and they pulled us out of the river. We got a ride a cross the river from them (different spot) and had a friend pick us up from there. Spent the night in Leadville and the next day went back across the river and got that blazer running. Pulled the spark plugs and watched water just pore out. Amazingly after changing spark plugs, the wires, air filter, the oil and oil filter the engine came to life (with a little help from starting fluid) and we drove it home. Thank God for my dad's buddy who came to help us.

 

[180ls1]

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.

 

[Packin_packout]

OP...You will laugh at this since you're in Dallas. My truck died in the middle of the intersection off of 544 in plano. A completely iced over intersection today. ( thank you to the le officer who was willing to block my back-end while I got it back up and running so I would not get plowed) I was out trying to get fuel for buddies that did not have power since I had a four wheel drive truck with snow tires . Found on road dead AKA Ford. Dealership has said they fixed the the electrical problem 3 times. Warning light comes on engine shuts off. It did the same thing in Wyoming this fall and I was able to limp it back by disconnecting the battery and reconnecting it about every hour.

I have lost a power steering pump while coming back with an elk in the back of the truck in Colorado. I have had the neutral starter safety switch cut out and then had to ride my dirt bike back into town about 40 miles on a dirt road for the most part in wyoming. That was fun because they looked at me funny when I said Nissan...we don't do Nissan here. I ended up sleeping just outside out of town on some BLM while waiting for the parts to come in.

Always have enough food and water to hike out to the main road and then some distance to get to town.

 

[rclouse79]

I broke down three miles from pavement. It was a good dirt road but AAA wouldn’t pick me up. I had to bum a ride into a small town and pay a private tow truck an arm and a leg to haul me the ten miles to town where I waited for the AAA tow truck to pick me up. Slept in the back of the truck in the mechanics parking lot until morning because I didn’t want to have my wife wake the kids up in the middle of the night.
It could have been a lot worse. If I had broke down where I was setting up my blind I imagine the tow bill would have been more than the vehicle was worth.

 

[Bronc]

Dead battery worries. As much as I like the comforts of newer trucks, I miss the simplicity of my older trucks. I’d always leave it parked on a grade so I could “push” start it.

 

[manitou1]

Jumper/battery packs are inexpensive piece of mind. I took a cross country trip with a couple buddies and the van had a schitty battery. My buddy jumped that van four times with a little pack no bigger than a cell phone! I went and bought one after that. I went on the "bigger" note and purchased one that will jump diesel trucks, etc. It will also run a laptop, charge cell phones, etc.

 

[Rob5589]

A jumper box is cheap insurance. Everyone should have one, especially when out in the cuts.

 

[Coldtrail]

I used to big in a big hurry on the back roads, but as I get older I tend to drive like Miss Daisy is riding shotgun and my repairs & breakdowns have been greatly decreased. Also with those experiences a person learns what breaks what....sometimes it's better insurance to just get out and move the log than drive over it Lol.

 

[carsonkeys]

Reading this thread has exposed some serious inadequacies of mine. Seems like a jumper box is a simple, effective insurance policy that I naively don't currently have. Would someone mind pointing me in the direction of a reputable jumper box?

 

[sandhillhunter]

Reading this thread has exposed some serious inadequacies of mine. Seems like a jumper box is a simple, effective insurance policy that I naively don't currently have. Would someone mind pointing me in the direction of a reputable jumper box?

Here is the one I have. Noco has mostly good reviews, although I had to send the first one I got back due to it not working right.

NOCO - 1500A Lithium Jump Starter - GB50

The GB50 is a portable lithium-ion battery jump starter booster pack that delivers 1,500-amps for jump starting a car, boat, trucks and more.

no.co

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Rokwiia]

Most of the areas where I go in the backcountry there is no cell services for miles. It's one of the reasons I got an Inreach Mini.

I also have a power bank kept in the car that is specifically designed to start a car battery. I have to remember to check it so it hasn't drained too.

 

[MallardSX2]

I Carry a jump box, jumper cables, extra 5 gallon of diesel fuel, chains, come-along, enough tools to fix minor issues (Hammers, wrenches, impact gun, tire plug kit, small compressor duck tape, zip ties, electrical tape, fuses, super glue, water).

If I cannot fix my truck with what I have with me then the problem is too serious for me to continue my journey. At that point I would get my truck to the nearest town and get a rental and continue my hunt. Worry about the truck later. Life is too short to worry about things, I got animals to hunt and my hour glass was flipped a long time ago and about half of the sand is in the lower part of the glass....

 

[FLAK]

Not in the back country, but just a couple weeks ago I had a battery explode while
on a 2 day trip. Luckily, It happened at a hotel we were staying at, which had a WalMarks
right behind it. Stressful start to the day but could have been much worse.
Thats one reason I try to only travel during daylight hrs.

 

[5MilesBack]

Dead battery worries. As much as I like the comforts of newer trucks, I miss the simplicity of my older trucks. I’d always leave it parked on a grade so I could “push” start it.

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

 

[cnelk]

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

 

[Agross]

Reading this thread has exposed some serious inadequacies of mine. Seems like a jumper box is a simple, effective insurance policy that I naively don't currently have. Would someone mind pointing me in the direction of a reputable jumper box?

Tacklife T8

 

[cnelk]

Back in 2005, one evening I hit 2 deer while archery elk hunting. Took out my entire front end.

I was planning spending the entire month of Sept at elk camp, so I got pulled to nearest town by a local rancher 25 miles away to get parts.

The transmission cooler line was busted so I went to parts store and cobbled up a bypass line, bought some new headlight bulbs and wired them back in place, all doing this in the parking lot.

Only lost 1 day of hunting