TDiddy

Anyone from NorCal interested in a run in January sometime? All I really know of is Hollister, maybe someone else can suggest something else. I'm looking for something relatively easy, as my Runner suspension is stock and I haven't been off road in it yet.

Robinhood150

I'd be interested! Besides hollister there's frank raines off road park and pismo dunes/san luis obispo mountains. Frank Raines is about an hour or hour and a half past Livermore, on the 5 south. It's similar to hollister, although it's not as big, and most of the trails are easier. However, they close up if it's going to rain that day or it rained too hard the previous day. We'd have to call ahead to make sure they're open.

Pismo is about 2.5 hours south of san jose. This is where I went to school so I know the area like the back of my hand. To get the full tour we'd need a weekend but it can also be done in 1 day if you don't mind driving. BUT if we do go for the weekend then imagine camping on the beach, doing the tourist thing at the pismo shops, wine tasting if you like that kind of thing, mild rockcrawling, and off roading to some small waterfalls in the mountains.

For pics and more info of frank raines, see my website.

I think any weekend other than the first weekend is OK for me. I'd have to OK it with the wife though.

Steve

taco04

I would be interested just as long as its not too hardcore..my truck is all stock...well..at least suspensionwise.

TDiddy

Mid to end on January would probably be best for me too. Pismo may be a little too far for me on this trip, although it does sound nice. Definitely a place to spend a weekend camping.

Steve, let me know after you clear it with the wife. Will she come along? My girlfriend will probably want to tag along, she'd probably like it if she wasn't the only girl. However, if this is just a guy thing, I'm sure I could persuade her to go shopping for the day or something... :rolleyes:

Bruce, it would be cool if you could come too...How'd the S/C install go for you?

taco04

Sounds like a plan. My girlfriend works on saturdays so unless we do this on a sunday..ill probably be going solo.

Superchargher install was cool, got an engine light on within the first 60 miles but then it went away by itself the next morning. Life with the supercharger is great but I do have a slight ping on the highway in high gear if i step on it but its definitely controllable by adjusting my driving habits (turning off O/D on the inclines) I ended up getting it installed here in san jose by piercey toyota after all. Very clean job and they are totally cool about following up and addressing all of my concerns

Robinhood150

The wife says OK. I'm not sure if she's coming or not, she'll probably let me know the day before we go. I'd say the girls should come because it's hard enough to get them into wheeling. Gotta get them hooked as soon as possible ya know.

Any weekend in mid to late Jan is fine by me. Don't worry about the difficulty, I'm pretty much stock too, just have some armor and a slight lift.

I've only been to hollister once, so I don't really know my way around. I think Frank Raines is more fun for easy to moderate wheeling, but we run the risk of them closing if it rains. Like I said, we'll have to call the day before. Either place, be prepared to get muddy.

Steve

taco04

Im there!!!

TDiddy

Yeah, I'm in too. Mud is fine with me!! Frank Raines or Hollister is fine, I guess we should try for Frank Raines, we should know more about the weather as it gets closer and can always switch to hollister is need be.

I checked the Hollister site, they don't have a Jan. calendar up yet. There's always a chance of a closure there too for some other activity.

Let's tentatively say Jan 18th or 19th?

taco04

That works for me.

Robinhood150

Fine by me too, shall we try for the 19th so that Bruces girl can go too? Do you guys have a cb or FRS? I've got both.

Steve

TDiddy

The 19th sounds good to me. Don't have a CB or FRS yet, but hopefully can get a CB before then...I think I'm going with the Cobra from this thread

taco04

19th would be perfect! I dont have a CB either but I might try for one before then. Closest I have to a CB is a pair of motorola talkabouts.

TDiddy

Hey guys,

The 19th is still fine with me, but just wanted to let you know - someone on ODW replied that the Gettin Off club (www.gettinoff4x4.com) is doing a run at Frank Raines on the 18th. Either day is fine, just wanted to mention it and see what you thought...

Tom

Robinhood150

Here's the thread over on ODW: http://www.4x4wire.com/ubb/ultimateb...f=110;t=000032

Either way is fine by me. A snow run would be cool too, I've never wheeled in the snow. Don't know how well I'd do without a locker though.

If you guys are new to off roading then it might be good to go with the gettin off club on the 18th. Terry (the pres) takes pretty good care of everybody. I went with them on their adopt a trail a while back and he spotted me through all the tough places.

Steve

taco04

Lets do the 18th. If its better and more "beginner friendly"...it would be best.

TDiddy

Alrighty then, the 18th it is!

TDiddy

Here's a reply from Terry on the ODW thread:


You guys are welcome to join us. Yeah, we will iron out the details at our next club meeting on Jan 14th. Tentatively, we will meet at the In/Out in Livermore at 8:00 a.m.

There will be at least another stock rig there too. A guy with a stock fullsize Bronco stopped by our Dec meeting and will attend this run. I'm hoping to have my axle put back together by then and will at least have 4WD.

Just a heads up: In March the club will be putting on a newbie run at Hollister Hills for all vehicle types. Begin the day with some safety tips and then spend the rest of the day playing. I'll post it sometime in Jan.

--------------------
Terry Johnson
President
Gettin' Off 4X4 Club
'89 Toyota XCab SR5 V6
Ultimate Marlin Crawler
D60 Hybrid SAS In Pieces
Bank Account Broken

Robinhood150

Back to the top for the upcoming trip. Is everybody still planning on going? It looks like we're meeting at the In and Out in Livermore. Terry posted directions on 4x4wire so check out the link in my previous post. He didn't confirm a time, but I posted that question over there.

Here's some more directions: http://inandout.com/cgi-bin/inosearc...re&data_in=149

If you need to pick up gas there is a costco off of airway blvd, although, I don't know what time the gas station part of it opens. http://www.costco.com/Info/CostcoNew...umber=146&log=
Other than that, there are gas stations everywhere near the In and Out. If you gas up in livermore, you should have plenty of gas to get back to livermore, but there are gas stations all along the way.

Terry didn't mention CB channels, but I'd bet it will be channel 4. I'll also bring my FRS too, but the main means of communication will likely be the CB.

Don't forget to bring lunch, drinks and a camera. It costs $2 to get in.

Steve

TDiddy

Hey Steve, thanks for the update. I'd still like to go, hopefully I can get my new CB tuned by then. I'm having trouble, its possible that its the SWR meter I'm using but not sure yet.

Do you think I'll be OK with running boards on or should I make an effort to take them off?

Robinhood150

Does the CB work, or are you just trying to get the swr down as low as it will go? I just tuned mine and nothing I did made the swr go up or down significantly. I'm at 1.5 across the whole range.

I didn't need to remove my running boards for the things I did previously. But my coworker did dent his running board on his 3rd gen when he went over a rock rather than going around. It was completely avoidable though.

There is also a rock garden that I didn't know about until a little while ago, so I don't know what that looks like. With those little caviots, I'd say you don't have to remove them, but it wouldn't hurt. If you're not comfortable with something, then don't feel that you have to do it.

I guess we're meeting at 8am since Terry didn't say anything.

Steve