Colorado Land Cruisers is a four-wheel drive club based out of Colorado Springs, Colorado, and sanctioned by Toyota Land Cruisers Association. We are organized to bring together Toyota owning families and individuals interested in exploring Colorado four-wheel drive trails.
This will be my last President's report. I have served CLC for two years in this position, which is the maximum according to the bylaws. The new officer elections will be held at the next meeting on January 20th. All positions are up for grabs. Please show up at the meeting and volunteer for one of the positions. I would like to thank the members for giving me the opportunity to serve in this capacity. I also look forward to the upcoming year and handing over the drivers seat to a new President.
Also at the next meeting we will be voting on a proposed bylaw change. The proposed change is to move the meeting day to the first Tuesday of the month from the third Tuesday. The idea is that it will be easier to remember the meeting day if it is the first Tuesday resulting in better meeting attendance.
We have a new trip schedule that will be posted on the web page soon. We need volunteers to lead the trips. Please volunteer for a trip to lead at the next meeting.
The Christmas party was a success. We had a great time and ate plenty of good food. The gift exchange was fun. David Hayes won the door prize of a Cinemark Gift certificate. Have fun at the movies with you wife David!
This last year was good and next year promises to be good as well. I have been doing the long awaited straight axle swap on my truck over the last few weeks. I am looking forward to the trail rides this year and see you all at the next meeting.
Happy Trails,
Kendall Carlton
President CLC
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CLC
2004 Trip Schedule (preliminary) |
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Date |
Trail |
Comments |
|
1/24 |
China
Wall |
m 8am/lv
8:30am Western |
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2/21 |
PMI or
Schubarth |
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3/20 |
Slaughterhouse
Gulch |
|
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4/17 |
Carnage
(Boulder) |
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5/15 |
Jenny
Creek |
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6/5-6/6 |
21 Road |
Overnight,
leave 6/4 evening |
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6/19 |
Brighten
the Sangres |
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7/10-7/11 |
Tin Cup/
Grizzly |
Overnight
|
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7/24 |
Reynolds
Wrap |
Trail
Maintenance |
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8/14 |
Wheeler
Lake |
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8/28 |
Holy
Cross |
Overnight |
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9/18 |
Iron
Mike/Halfmoon |
Possible
overnight |
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10/16 |
Spring
Creek |
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11/20 |
Chinaman's
Gulch |
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12/4 |
Christmas
Tree Cutting |
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12/5 |
Christmas
Tree Cutting |
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12/11 |
Christmas
Tree Cutting |
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12/12 |
Christmas
Tree Cutting |
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You will notice that we don’t have all the meet/leave times added to the initial trip plan. We need your input and also need trip leaders to step up and volunteer to lead the group.
Meeting Jan 22nd – Possible Trail Closures
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From: Lisa Fitzgerald, Colorado Rockhoppers
There is going to be a meeting regarding the Hayman Burn area January 22nd in Colorado Springs. The meeting in Colorado Springs is going to be held at Coronado High School from 5 - 8 p.m
This meeting is going to cover recommended closures by the Forest Service. This is a public meeting. They will be addressing Hacket, Longwater and Metberry along with the entire Hayman Burn area.
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If you can attend this meeting plan to do so. The 3 gulches are in a close area and are a lot of fun to do and to soak up the beauty of the area. I personally would be saddened by closure of this beautiful area.
Or does your chewing gum really lose its flavor on the bedpost over night?
Its now next year, and with the tentative trip schedule out, its now time to make out a list of things to check on your rig. But first a little about lubricants…
There is something fundamental about lubricants. All are immiscible with water, which means they do not mix. If water is present, the resultant conglomerate will have a characteristic milky color. When you see this you know you have water contamination and you know you need to clean it out. (OK WD40 isn’t)
Start by checking things like oil in the gear cases, transfer, transmission and differentials. If it hasn’t been changed in a while, i.e. 3 years or so, change it. If it has a milky appearance, it has water in it – change it now. Front wheel bearings need periodic attention, especially if the front axle has been under water. Again the telltale sign is a milky appearance in the grease, which means water, and the bearings need to be repacked. Check the u-joints too, hopefully they have zerks and can be greased. Check to see if the cups have spun by looking at the end caps – if you see where the cup has moved, it means the cup is grease starved and the u-joint should be replaced. Good news here, replacement u-joints have zerks and can be greased. If you need to buy a joint, you don’t want to be thinking about how strong the $8.95 joint is when you are negotiating French Creek. You really don’t, especially when the US made one costs about $25, and takes the same amount of time to install. While you are checking the level of oil in the differentials, be sure to clean the threads on the plug before you get it out. One of you old tooth brushes works slick as a thread cleaner. Also be tuned in to any interesting sounds when you loosen the plug. A pressure releasing sound of “pssst” as you get the plug out means the axle internal pressure is greater than ambient, and that the axle breather is plugged and needs attention. Might be time to tie all the breathers together to a common vent point high on the firewall, in the air cleaner or on your 4’ snorkel. Give attention to the cooling system. Check to see that you aren’t losing coolant out the water pump vent, or due to a bad hose. Check all hoses for flexibility. If the hoses are old, replace them. This is easy to do in the driveway/garage, but much more difficult on the trail. Check the radiator for leaks. Don’t do as I did with an upper tank seal leak on my FJ40 – don’t let it leak to a point below the leak point and keep going. It’s like an alligator growing teeth – it will bite you – just takes a little time. And yes this repair is on my list of To-Do’s. Funny thing about small leaks: They can quickly mature into large disastrous – dead-in-your-tracks failures - in milliseconds. Don’t forget to check your brakes. Fronts are easy since almost all are disk now. If your Toyota has drum front brakes, the drum slides right off – just like the rear. Check the pad or shoe friction material for adequate thickness. On brake shoes, the practical minimum used to be 1/32” above a rivet head – but if they are that worn, replace them. Check for leaking drum brake cylinders or disk cylinders. Check to see that the pedal is high and firm, and that the rig stops without pulling to either side. Emergency brake? Tech inspection says you must have one and it must work. Check it for proper operation. Oh, it froze last time it was wet and really cold? Make sure it works before you need it out on a run. Attend to your vehicle maintenance with the attitude that if it looks like its bad it usually is, and if its bad it will fail. The failure won’t be in your driveway, but when the mud/snow is 2’ deep, or the rock is 2’ tall, or you are 4 miles and 4 hours away from the trailhead. Let the ones with the failures and in need of assistance be those who are not CLCers, and who drive non-Toyota 4WD rigs. Remember that suggested maintenance schedules are for normal highway driving and haven’t much relationship to the trail use our rigs are subjected to.
Darryl – Keep the rubber side down.
Next CLC Meeting January
20, 2004 7:00PM
Mark your calendar for CLC’s next meeting, Liberty Toyota, North. See you there!
Trail run – China Wall –
January 24, 2004
Mark your calendar; CLC’s 1st club run will be Saturday, Jan 24th. Meet at the Western station, just east of Woodland Park, or 10 miles west of 31st street and highway 24. We will meet at 8am and leave at 8:30am. Bring warm clothes. Bring lunch – brats on the grill smell just fine on a winter’s day in the Pike National Forest. Drinks are good and your Woofer might want some water too. China Wall is rated at 3 by CLC.