Chasing a dream

Windrock was a trip for the history books. One guy broke the input on his transfer case wayyyyy out far away on the north side of the park. It took hours to get him out, and several other things went wrong during all of that. I started to run out of gas, it was insanely cold and I had my boy with me. Luckily we kept him warm, the seat heaters were worth every dollar for sure. We also had extra food. The sun went down on us and we still had hours to go. We got back to the trucks about 9:30ish Saturday night. That is the super condensed version of what happened. I’m gonna work on a short video telling the story in depth with what little video I did get.

Windrock hates me. It’s got one more shot from me before I write that place off forever and never return :laughing:

Some fun was still had, and new friendships forged out in the hardest of times on icy mountains. It was worth it all for the time I had with my boy, he was a champ about it all.


I did learn that the tune in the buggy sucks. It revs to 6500 and then just falls on its face. Alex said that’s fuel cut. Not only is that lame, cause I like to party, it kills my wheel speed just as I’m about to get up something. I can feather it and avoid that but I want to be able to mat the gas when needed and not deal with that. So I’m contacting some tuners along my route.
 
The guy I tagged on FB, Tyler, owns Tom's 4x4 in Chattanooga. He's a good guy and knows his shit. I'm betting the person he recommended knows his shit too.
 
77GreenMachine said:
I did learn that the tune in the buggy sucks. It revs to 6500 and then just falls on its face. Alex said that’s fuel cut. Not only is that lame, cause I like to party, it kills my wheel speed just as I’m about to get up something. I can feather it and avoid that but I want to be able to mat the gas when needed and not deal with that. So I’m contacting some tuners along my route.
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Not knowing a damn thing about your engine, other than it’s an LS…I will say, when you start playing above 6k, test it incrementally, otherwise parts start to go boom. Even if it is built properly, I’d probably be asking for tunes with limiters every 250rpm from 6500-7500, and crank things up as you get familiar with how the engine/rig responds at each interval. I’ve had my fair share of customers get ticked off because on Dyno day we cut things off at 5-6k, even though the engine could rev further, but not all parts were compatible to take it that far (based on budget). On the cheap side, maybe you get lucky with some broken springs, on the expensive side a new rotating assembly and block. I’m more of a ‘make your weakest link, the cheapest thing to replace’ kind of guy. But this response may just be hot air, if your engine was built to handle more.
 
77GreenMachine said:
Windrock was a trip for the history books. One guy broke the input on his transfer case wayyyyy out far away on the north side of the park. It took hours to get him out, and several other things went wrong during all of that. I started to run out of gas, it was insanely cold and I had my boy with me. Luckily we kept him warm, the seat heaters were worth every dollar for sure. We also had extra food. The sun went down on us and we still had hours to go. We got back to the trucks about 9:30ish Saturday night. That is the super condensed version of what happened. I’m gonna work on a short video telling the story in depth with what little video I did get.

Windrock hates me. It’s got one more shot from me before I write that place off forever and never return :laughing:

Some fun was still had, and new friendships forged out in the hardest of times on icy mountains. It was worth it all for the time I had with my boy, he was a champ about it all.


I did learn that the tune in the buggy sucks. It revs to 6500 and then just falls on its face. Alex said that’s fuel cut. Not only is that lame, cause I like to party, it kills my wheel speed just as I’m about to get up something. I can feather it and avoid that but I want to be able to mat the gas when needed and not deal with that. So I’m contacting some tuners along my route.
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Windrock and stupid cold days I can relate to. We did a nye ride there years ago and my buggy had issues so I hopped on my dirt bike instead. It was like 15 for a high that day I think and the sun is starting to go down and we are far as hell away from the entrance. Rode back in the dark to the cabins, cold as hell, and with a buggy behind me for light since I didn’t have one.
 
77GreenMachine said:
Windrock was a trip for the history books. One guy broke the input on his transfer case wayyyyy out far away on the north side of the park. It took hours to get him out, and several other things went wrong during all of that. I started to run out of gas, it was insanely cold and I had my boy with me. Luckily we kept him warm, the seat heaters were worth every dollar for sure. We also had extra food. The sun went down on us and we still had hours to go. We got back to the trucks about 9:30ish Saturday night. That is the super condensed version of what happened. I’m gonna work on a short video telling the story in depth with what little video I did get.

Windrock hates me. It’s got one more shot from me before I write that place off forever and never return :laughing:

Some fun was still had, and new friendships forged out in the hardest of times on icy mountains. It was worth it all for the time I had with my boy, he was a champ about it all.


I did learn that the tune in the buggy sucks. It revs to 6500 and then just falls on its face. Alex said that’s fuel cut. Not only is that lame, cause I like to party, it kills my wheel speed just as I’m about to get up something. I can feather it and avoid that but I want to be able to mat the gas when needed and not deal with that. So I’m contacting some tuners along my route.
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Sounds like a hell of trip.

Regarding the tune, you either have the wrong redline, or the wrong cam. Internals on those engines aren't really built for more, so a cam that makes power at higher RPM's is probably causing you to lose out on bottom end and maybe midrange.
 
77GreenMachine said:
Those Crocs are starting to get worn. I swear Crocs don’t last as long as they used to. I think I may take a break from wearing them altogether lol. Every time I’ve rolled my ankle I’ve been wearing Crocs.
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Am I the only one wondering why there's footage from a Ring camera that Phillip has inside the laundry mat...??
 
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It’s just a bone stock crate engine LS2. My understanding is that is the factory tuning, rev to the max and starts cutting fuel and goes back down. I have no desire to rev it that high. It’s going to Lane Culver in Alabama once I get down there. I’ll let him take a look and probably throw it on the dyno, and I’m going to ask him to set it around 5800ish or what he recommends is very safe.

rcalexander105 said:
Am I the only one wondering why there's footage from a Ring camera that Phillip has inside the laundry mat...??
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The campground folks are very cool. I told them what I did and what time, they pulled it up and we all laughed and they asked if I wanted the video and I said of course
 
ghost said:
The guy I tagged on FB, Tyler, owns Tom's 4x4 in Chattanooga. He's a good guy and knows his shit. I'm betting the person he recommended knows his shit too.
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Tyler is a great dude.
100% vouch for him too.

77GreenMachine said:
It’s just a bone stock crate engine LS2. My understanding is that is the factory tuning, rev to the max and starts cutting fuel and goes back down. I have no desire to rev it that high. It’s going to Lane Culver in Alabama once I get down there. I’ll let him take a look and probably throw it on the dyno, and I’m going to ask him to set it around 5800ish or what he recommends is very safe.
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Culver is also very good.
63/500 cutoff is a safe spot.

braxton357 said:
Probably has factory gm heads and springs. If so you're well into valve float territory and probably past power making range anyway. Sucks they couldn't tell you more about the engine might make it a pain to tune
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Factory LS2 is 6500. It's fine.
 
Scottal said:
Epic trip saturday! I live for that stuff minus the cold lol.

BTW 5800 rev is rookie numbers... my old 22r would turn 6500. If these mOdErN LS mOtOrS wont do at least that, id have done thrown mine in the trash.
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With the rpms he likes to turn, he needs a rotary motor! lol
 
I don’t doubt it can handle 6500. But I also don’t really need it. I need this thing to last for the long haul so I’ll keep it conservative and keep trying to wheel smart.
 
71chevytruckguy said:
When the motor starts cutting, grab another gear. Outta gears in the transmission, shift the t case up and repeat.
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That's some Science of Drivetrains kinda stuff right there 👍
 
NickMaul said:
You got it all wrong. The objective is to make an assload of noise and smoke and not get over the obstacle. Makes for way cooler videos later :flipoff2:
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Only the ones that involve a loud POP at the end
 
I realized today something may have been lost in translation. When I say it falls on its face at 6500, I didn’t mean like it didn’t have power. I mean it acts like I let off the throttle. It just dies and goes back to idle slowly. Doesn’t matter if I let off and get back in it or anything. It’s like the computer just said “nope, don’t like that”

You I’m climbing a slick hill and need wheel speed, lay into the gas and it’s getting it and then just goes back down as if I got scared and let off.
 
77GreenMachine said:
I realized today something may have been lost in translation. When I say it falls on its face at 6500, I didn’t mean like it didn’t have power. I mean it acts like I let off the throttle. It just dies and goes back to idle slowly. Doesn’t matter if I let off and get back in it or anything. It’s like the computer just said “nope, don’t like that”

You I’m climbing a slick hill and need wheel speed, lay into the gas and it’s getting it and then just goes back down as if I got scared and let off.
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Assuming it's factory gm pcm tuned with hp tuners, and Assuming they used fuel cut-- there is a fuel cut rpm and a "resume" rpm that is set lower. They might have it set too low. Might also try spark cut instead if that doesn't work
 
Our time is coming to an end here in Wears Valley and its about time to head to Windrock. The next few months are going to be fun but tough I believe. I'll be at Windock for a week, then move to Choccolocco for several days, then bouncing around state parks in AL & GA for a week or 2 at a time. I say tough cause it will be a lot of setup and take down, all with the buggy, and it will be continuous until April when I get to Utah. This will be the real test, and when things get very real. A lot of wheeling going on as well.

Also, for the YouTube channel, I have decided to start a special series called "In the Shop" where I will be getting with builders in the areas that I'm in and doing a short interview, getting to know the builder and asking questions. Things like how the conversation looks when someone wants a turn key rig, time lines, budgets, hurdles, future plans etc. I just think that will be cool content that most gear heads like us would want to see.

For now I have already filmed and edited an interview with Scott Goforth. He is not a builder but his name in our world with tires seemed relevant and I was close. I already have several more lined up.

I don't think this is going anywhere but I sure am having a lot of fun doing it. I bought a GoPro and accessories and overall really just enjoy making videos and such. It's something I can constantly improve on and each time I get a little better and a little better. It's going to be something awesome for us to look back on years from now.
 
How has your learning curve been with shooting and editing videos?
I decided to give it a try just to learn something new and it definitely takes an unexpected skill set.
 
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