lost but not gone

[gothodgie]

Since i have posted a few times now i guess i can introduce myself...
Chris Hodges...
Have been around wheeling for almost 20 years now. Was without a trail rig for about 6 or 7 years... I'm in the process of gathering parts and building a trail rig now so hope to be out on the trails in the spring...

I'm not sure, but i would guess i might have met some of you folks in the past
but don't really recognize any screen names or handles... I went on a few trail rides way back when with 'ohio river valley four wheelers'(i think that was the name then) and was a founding memeber of 'Rice on the Rocks' in the 90's(toyota club out of the east side of cincy)...

Can't wait to get back on the trails, been a long time and miss the good times... I have wheeled a lot of places and have some great stories to tell... Even had my 2 minutes of fame on 'Real TV' in 97 or 98...

Hope to get out to a meeting soon schedule permitting....

[94Dodge Truggy]

Nice to meet ya! Hope to see you at the next meeting. Any pics of the new build or specs?

[Coppertop]

Welcome. Whatcha buildin' for the trail??

Nick

[tjjeepjeep]

Welcome welcome...

[gothodgie]

Well it has been a while since i started this thread. I finally got to a meeting in Sept. and i went to the the benefit at Barn n Bunk. I will be at the Oct. meeting next week.

The trail rig i ended up with has changed since the motor went south in the Rodeo i had. I now have a Toyota FJ60. I have always been a Toyota guy and it just seemed like the right way to go, and was the right price. I have been working on it over the summer when it wasn't smokin hot outside.

I bought 2 60's in Jan. of this year, 1 parts truck and 1 to be the trail rig. Had to do a motor swap, went up to 35's and did a few cosmetic things and bunch of nickel and dime stuff. The trail rig has a 3-4" OME lift. I built a front bumper and a rear is soon to come.

I have a lot planned to do over the winter. Motor swap/auto trans, s/o axle, and some tube work for protection. Just ordered some 4.88's to go in the axles. The list could go on and on...

Thanks to everybody i have met and talked with for letting me ease my way back into trail riding again. I never realized how much i missed it until i went to the benefit and the meeting. :beers:

Will hopefully be driving the 60 to the Cruise In on Sunday. Just need to find some time to get tags for it...

Here's a few pics of what i started with and where i am at now.

1st... the 60 to be the trail rig when i first brought it home
2nd... the parts truck
3rd... What the motor looked like in the trail rig
4th... first time out of the garage on its own power after motor swap
5th... How it looks today

[krawlin85toy]

I have wheeled with a few guys that have 60's so they are a very cool rig to see on the trails. Hope to see it out there. :)

[yellowjacket]

ive met you at mikes..... what were you on real tv? hopefully a wheeling accident/rollover?...

do you know eric lorenze from the rice on rocks early group?

you still putting rocks under your rear?(rockwells... get that mind out of the gutter:) )

[KargoMaster]

A rockwell only on one end?

I can't imagine the gearing matching up to enable 4wd... :confused:


Cool looking rig Hodgie...

[gothodgie]

ive met you at mikes..... what were you on real tv? hopefully a wheeling accident/rollover?...

do you know eric lorenze from the rice on rocks early group?

you still putting rocks under your rear?(rockwells... get that mind out of the gutter:) )

Yea the Real TV clip was of a friend rolling a CJ 5 at Natural Bridge not far from Carb Hill... It's funny cause they show my camo'd fj55 more than anything else...

Yea i know Eric.. wheeled a lot with him years ago when he had his turbo truck...

I still have rear, not sure if it will go under the 60... I really want to build a fj40 with a stretched wheel base. So i'm holding on to the axle for now.

:beers:

[riegel]

welcome

[gothodgie]

A rockwell only on one end?

I can't imagine the gearing matching up to enable 4wd... :confused:


Cool looking rig Hodgie...

the rock is just catching dust right now. i will find a front to go with it eventually... Probably gonna be used on another build if i ever get to it.:cool:

Thanks
:beers:

[gothodgie]

Well it's final... 4.88's, install kits, knuckle rebuild kit, and a lock rite should be here the end of the week... Got a great deal... A guy on IH8MUD got a group buy together from http://www.justdifferentials.com/ and i got all those parts to my door for less than a grand...;) saving me about 400 bones...:D

Nothing better than a big box of parts to keep the motivation up.... :beers:

[gothodgie]

Got all my goodies today... I feel like a kid on Christmas morning....:D
:beers:

Nothing like 58#'s of new parts to keep the motivation up...:eek:

[gothodgie]

For those that have not been to Big Rock the past few times we have been i have gotten some stuff done since the last time i posted in this thread.

Front bumper got finished... installed a lockrite in the rear along with 4.88's front and rear... cut my fenders open some more for tire clearence... i'm running q78 bias ply Buckshots... I'm also will be swapping a diesel and auto into the truck in the near future...

I also have a build thread on IH8mud in the Buckeye Birfield Syndicate section
http://forum.ih8mud.com/oh-buckeye-birfield-syndicate/356952-where-i-am-starting.html

here are a few pics...

[8UP]

Good to see a 60 in these parts, few and far between.
As a founding member of Rice you must have known Paul E. Whatever became of him, I lost track of the Rice gang several years ago.

[gothodgie]

they have all pretty much gone about different pathes...
I have not seen any of them in a long time too.. If you know Luke Bogner, I talk to him pretty often. Luke is the only member i have kept in touch with lately other than the chance sighting of some one when out around town.

Have we met? Just curious, seems there are not to many cruiser lovers around anymore that go wheeling these days...

:beers:
Chris

[8UP]

Yep, it's been a while. I've been a member of Miami Valley for ~ 20 years, met Paul and Bruce when they first got in to 'wheeling. Paul brought his new (to him) 4-Runner to the Farm and within a few trailrides it was beat on every panel.:D
I used to have a '78 FJ-40, '83 Toy PU and an XJ back then.

[itbrokeagain]

Good to see a 60 in these parts, few and far between.
As a founding member of Rice you must have known Paul E. Whatever became of him, I lost track of the Rice gang several years ago.

If dont know if you guys remember Scott Schmidts but I am pretty good friends with him.He was pretty active in Rice. I also know Paul E. if it is the same Paul I am thinking of.

[itbrokeagain]

Good to see a 60 in these parts, few and far between.
As a founding member of Rice you must have known Paul E. Whatever became of him, I lost track of the Rice gang several years ago.

I cant decide what I want to do. My mind changes every day but hopefully in the near future, I will either build a 62 or a Xj.

[8UP]

If dont know if you guys remember Scott Schmidts but I am pretty good friends with him.He was pretty active in Rice. I also know Paul E. if it is the same Paul I am thinking of.

I might know him if I saw him, I'm terrible with names. Paul Elbisser is whom I was referring to, got in to snowboarding I think, was a Union Electriction or something like that. Good guy.
I noticed I wrote Bruce in the previous post, shoulda been Butch. :rolleyes:

[itbrokeagain]

I might know him if I saw him, I'm terrible with names. Paul Elbisser is whom I was referring to, got in to snowboarding I think, was a Union Electriction or something like that. Good guy.
I noticed I wrote Bruce in the previous post, shoulda been Butch. :rolleyes:
Yup same Paul. I havent seen him in about 15 years probably. I grew up with his nephew. Scott has red hair and he did drive a 4 Runner. He now has a mini truck but as far as I know he just sold it. He lives in Anderson if that helps.

[itbrokeagain]

Anyway sorry I kinda stole your thread Hodgie

[Disney]

I think we have met over the years. Where did you go to school?

[gothodgie]

I think we have met over the years. Where did you go to school?

I went to Kings... graduated in 1988... yea i'm old.:sweatin:....

:beers:

[93 Krawler]

I went to Kings... graduated in 1988... yea i'm old.:sweatin:....

:beers:

Hey, I graduated in 1987, who you callin old...:thinking: We're not old, we're wise...:thumbup:

[tjjeepjeep]

Hey, I graduated in 1987, who you callin old...:thinking: We're not old, we're wise...:thumbup:

I graduated in 1986... I was 12 :D

[gothodgie]

Hey, I graduated in 1987, who you callin old...:thinking: We're not old, we're wise...:thumbup:

:beers:

I graduated in 1986... I was 12 :D

I always thought you were special... :D

[gothodgie]

Found a good deal on a winch, so i pulled the trigger and bought one... I have been working on getting the bumper modified so i can tuck the winch in tight to the core support... I hope to get it finished this weekend...
:beers:

[Flxratd]

looks like it will work out good :thumbup:

[gothodgie]

about all that is left is mounting the 2nd battery and wiring... i'm going to be putting the solenoid box under the hood since it has a wireless remote...

My dilema now is do i weld it on or do i fight with drilling some more .5" holes in some tricky spots...

And for those of you that saw the Tyvek tape when we were in Harlan, wait till you see the left side now...lol :eek:

Let me know what you think...

:beers:
Chris

[gothodgie]

Well it has started... Luke Bogner came up and gave me a hand this morning... 1.5 hours and the front just needs the bits and pieces put back together...:thumbup:

[94Dodge Truggy]

This rig going to WV? Bolt the bumper on! :thumbup:

[93 Krawler]

Well it has started... Luke Bogner came up and gave me a hand this morning... 1.5 hours and the front just needs the bits and pieces put back together...:thumbup:

Lookin good.

This rig going to WV? Bolt the bumper on! :thumbup:

I already moved my winch to the front. I beez ready. :thumbup:

[yellowjacket]

Lookin good chris

Sent from my LS670 using Tapatalk

[gothodgie]

This rig going to WV? Bolt the bumper on! :thumbup:

It's got 8 grade 8 bolts holding it on now :D...

i plan on driving it to the meeting monday barring any unforseen mishaps...:sweatin:

[gothodgie]

it moves again... The rear is ready to roll out in the morning :D...

:beers:

[94Dodge Truggy]

Lookin good! Now you can go up in tire size also!

[gothodgie]

I will pull it out of the garage tomorrow and get some better pics... She's big that's for sure...

:beers:

[94Dodge Truggy]

Will it make it to the meeting tonight? It is looking tough and looks like you have a new rear tailgate!

[Hope Springs Hauler]

It's lookin like a mean monster.

[gothodgie]

Will it make it to the meeting tonight? It is looking tough and looks like you have a new rear tailgate!

I have to get some long brake lines... other than that it pretty much ready to go... The new shoes might go on today too...:D

No new tailgate... :p

:beers:

[gothodgie]

It's lookin like a mean monster.

Yea it has turned into a monster :D... but i like it :cool:...

[94Dodge Truggy]

Whats the specs on the new shoes?

[gothodgie]

Whats the specs on the new shoes?

37's... I bought George's old tires... Now i am just chasing down a set of wheels cause i have my old tires and wheels already sold...

[93 Krawler]

You'll be riding high now. :thumbup: Looks good.

[gothodgie]

It's moves again... Tires mounted and ready to go... I took the pics last night, but you get the idea.. The rake looks like it got worse with the SOA... :eek:

:beers:

[93 Krawler]

Now that's more like it. :thumbup:

[gothodgie]

I want my 60 to do this some day... :D
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ayiitld5ONc

and sound like this...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M1FayUosEmQ&feature=relmfu

[nickhuts]

I want my 60 to do this some day... :D
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ayiitld5ONc

and sound like this...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M1FayUosEmQ&feature=relmfu

more smoke!! lol :thumbup:

[gothodgie]

Well here is what the rear end looks like after i got it apart... Carrier just got some scrapes... I guess i drug it on the ground a few times on the way back to camp because it had about 3# of dirt packed packed in thru the pinion opening...

[itbrokeagain]

Nice job. Working on it at your house or Jim's?

[gothodgie]

I was supposed to go to Jim's today but had an unscheduled doctors appointment for my dad this morning... I will be going to his place Monday if nothing comes up...

:beers:

[67fastback]

:thumbup:well looks like you have a little ring and pinion work ahead Chris....

[93 Krawler]

Dayum, that's all fudd up...

[67fastback]

i did about the same to my first rear end in the sami... Looked abotu the same...