I bought a second aluminum medical transport chest. I read an article on Overland Bound about having a three trunk system. Pack 3 Cases describes a system where you have three cases ready to go at all times. Adjusting your kit to have the optimal amount of gear for getting out and getting on the trail.
If you have the cases pre-packed you can get home, get your kit on you rig, and get on the road more quickly and efficiently. It’s a solid idea, so I went to some effort to find and purchase 2 additional GI Aluminum Medical Transport Cases. They come in basically three sizes I prefer the Medium size.
Medium – 11½. H x 19½ in. W x 31½ in. L
Large – 17 in. H x 19½ in. W x .31½ in. L
X-Large Chest – 22 in. H x 19½ in. W x 31½ in. L
A quick search of eBay may find you some used ones. I found some at Coleman’s for a reasonable price 79.99$(US). I’ve seen the for as much as 130$(US) and weren’t as nice. Coleman’s often runs out of stock so be prepared for that eventuality. I bought on from a gentleman on eBay. It came with a lot of additional stuff which I thought was awesome. In addition to the case, I got a sleeping bag bivy cover, a very large ditty bag, and a large ammo can. So shop around you don’t know what you’ll get.
If you read my Organizing the Boot post you will see my first medical case there in the pictures. In that case I pack all my tools, spare parts, and straps both recovery and packing. I recommend you read that post as well as it outlines how I pack all the gear needed to keep me on the road and prepared for most issues.
I have packed the camp kitchen in one of my other cases. I still have a little room left for more items if necessary. The third case I think will be my sleeping gear like sleeping bag and sleeping pad. My cot will still need to go in the back along with camp chairs. My friend Erik recently purchased a set of the upgraded heavy duty plastic storage cases.
The thing with either of these solutions is that the cases are water tight and very sturdy. I don’t expect that I’ll have to replace them any time soon. After Erik posted this picture on the Oklahoma Land Rover Owner’s Facebook page I thought of doing a similar picture. However that was the first week my shoulder was really acting up and I couldn’t lift anything over my head. The thought of emptying the cases to make them lighter didn’t appeal to me either as I had just got them loaded with gear.
I added a mount for some tablet based navigation. I also added a mount for my phone due to the Oklahoma summers melting the suction cup windshield mounts.
Installing it was a bit of a challenge. Under the plastic dash cover which the Evil German Dude gave me quite a lashing over poking holes in it lies a metal framework. In my defense, that dash is faded, falling apart from years of Oklahoma sun, and generally not worth preserving. So the mounts are mounted through the plastic and through the metal and I assure you are quite sturdy.
I’ve had a few questions about what software I’m running on my Android tablet for offline navigation. Let me first say I’m not sure the software I’m running is the right application for me. We had some issues using it when we were in New Mexico and it turned out that using our phones connected to the interwebs was more convenient. Mostly because I wasn’t familiar enough with the software to tell Mr. Fisher how to use it and my impatience with my A-driver/navigator response time being too long when I need to know the next turn. Thankfully Mr. Fisher was very understanding and forgiving of me.
The software is MapFactor: GPS Navigation (Play Store link) its available free from the Google Play Store. You can also download areas from Google Maps for “offline use”.
After 4 years on my Firestone AT’s they finally quit me. They just don’t make tires like they used too. /sarcasm.
With 2/32ds on the worst one it was time get new shoes for the BWB. I took her by my son-in-law’s Firestone shop on 33rd in Edmond to get a new set of Bridgestone Dueler AT Revo 2’s. I love these tires.
I noticed he had a set of 5 BF Goodrich MTs on sale for 180$(US). If they were the right size and I had an extra set of rims I would have totally bought these for trail driving. But alas I am only able to afford a single set today.
They got me all setup and I’m back on the road. I could go on for hours about tires. But like opinions there are many brands and sizes of tires to choose from. I am a big fan of Bridgestone. I know Bill Burke is a big fan of BF Goodrich tires. All I recommend is that you do your research. Tires need to function on dry and wet roads, snow and ice, gravel and dirt. And for me most of all they have to be quiet on the highway.
This week was the last week I will use Lucas Ignition parts. If you are a regular reader of my blog you will remember that I recently updated all my ignition parts to correct some poor performance and rough running. I’ve had a few run-ins with Lucas the Prince of Darkness…
I’d forgotten how many times my ignition either through a bad coil or ignition module or both had left me stranded. Last week it did it again. The symptoms are all to obvious now.
The engine seems to misfire at speed.
The idle is rough. Frequent misfires.
Engine cranks but does not fire.
As I was lamenting this with JagGuy he said, “Why don’t you swap it for a basic General Motors (GM) EMI ignition. That’s what’s in all the Jaguars. It would be simple.” Simple for him for sure. And in the end not terrible at all.
JagGuy said it would be easy and it was. I called him on Wednesday night when Mr. Fisher and I were swapping ignition bits to try and find the issue. On Thursday afternoon he told me to come by after work and there it was a new module.
The fun part was how he sourced the parts. The ignition module is from a 1978 Chevy Silverado, the coil comes from a 1988 Chevy, and the bracket comes from a 1998 Chevy Caprice.
The actual part numbers from O’Reilly’s
BWD – CBE4P – 26.99$(US)
MPI – 2-5198 – 22.99$(US)
For that price…a lifetime warranty. Where is Lucas’s lifetime warranty? LIFETIME WARRANTY. And even better they are available at any O’Reilly’s or AutoZone in America. Probably in-stock, in the store.
The wiring is pretty simple.
Here it is mounted in the engine bay.
You can find a diagram pretty much anywhere on line. The only tricky part was getting the two wires that go to the distributor correct. Initially we had them switched. If you happen to do this you may notice the idle RPM to be somewhere around 1200.
I need to zip tie the leads down a bit more. I don’t like them wiggling around. We shortened the pink wire that goes to the wire coming off the clear-ish octopus like plug just below the air filter.
When we had it installed initially the idle was terrible and it caused several Code 44’s. I got those cleared by disconnecting the battery for a minute or so. They say you can disconnect the serial cable to the display, but I’ve never had any luck with that.
After I drove her to Edmond for the new tires and up to JagGuy’s shoppe for him to go over her to find the issue with the idling. When I pulled up she was running like a top. Apparently the computer starts learning after you clear the codes and run a fun cycle without any codes. By the time I drove her home she was running like a top.
On the Difficulty Scale this is a two. The assembly is easy, getting the wires hooked up is a bit of fun but not ridiculous.
Thanks goes out to JagGuy. I really appreciate your expertise and your amazing abilities.
‘ve noticed lately that I am getting 404 reports from Google. I looked and noticed a couple of obvious posts were missing. The Capulin Volcano posts were missing. I’ve been putting them back up as I have time. But today I wanted to share an ignition module issue with another RRC owner and it turned out it was missing too. Overall it seems I’ve lost 7 posts.
250,000
A Little Maintenance
Overlanding Kit on the Way
Dash Mounts
Goodbye Lucas Ignition
New Tires
Ignition Module Failure
I am sure this all happened when I had the issues with my WordPress setup. I post to Tumbler as well and most of the time the post is over there. So I’ll be restoring them in the coming days.
Sorry for the inconvenience.
This is part two of the Capulin Volcano Northwest Passage. We went to meet Fall and were not disappointed. She was in full force on the Volcano with a North wind putting a chill on things.
Warning this is a huge post with tons of pictures.
We drove to the Volcano. We stopped and took the obligatory picture with the National Park sign for Capulin Volcano. We headed on to the visitor center and paid the admission fee to the cute Park Ranger. We then drove to the parking lot near the top.
The obligatory picture at the national park sign.
Me and the sign.
An explanation of how far you can see.
Elevation 7477 at the parking lot.
Our vehicles down at the parking lot.
Me on top. My lips were already getting chapped within 30 minutes.
The US Coast & Geodetic survey marker at the top of Capulin.
Little Capulin.
Cougars?
We hiked to the top. You can see a mountain range in Colorado and Black Mesa from the top. There are well marked signs that explain the lay of the land. We were woefully unready for the active Cougar area. It was a relief to find out they were warning us about the big cats and not 60 plus year old women.
THe front of the Folsom Hotel in Folsom, NM.
I would have loved to see this place in its hey day.
Apparently the Hole in the Wall Gang frequented this region back in the day.
We left the volcano and headed to Folsom, New Mexico. We stopped for some pictures at the Folsom Hotel and felt the call of the old west in the sleepy little town. A picture in the hotel window alerted us to the fact the Hole in the Wall Gang once frequented the area.
We headed toward Des Moines, New Mexico to pick up our gravel road to the state intersection. I feel like now is a good point to caution you about the availability of gasoline in these remote towns. We knew there would be few options and keeping a full tank was a priority. We even brought extra Gerry cans and filled them when we thought the chance to fill up might be in doubt. If you are planning this trip keep in mind how many miles you have planned to drive. It wouldn’t be a bad idea to know what kind of range you can get on a tank of fuel when you are driving 20-40 miles per hour. This is where I learned the fuel gauge on the BWB is not very indicative of the amount of fuel in the tank. It is weighted a little heavily toward the lower end. That will need to be investigated again.
We stopped for a pit stop in Des Moines and then out on to the plain to see what we could see. What we learned about electronic maps and how they are incredibly incorrect. There were several times where a road was named wrong or didn’t even exist.
Erik remembered there was a more scenic route and we made our way to find it. Turned out to be a very beautiful canyon to drive through. The roads were labelled like highways but were made of gravel. The driving was not technical. If it had rained the night before it might have been much more challenging.
Red mesa.
Its all in your perspective.
Mule deer munching on a bush.
Line up to see the colors.
Erik catching up.
Wedding cake mesa. I don’t know why they are called this.
Looking down into the canyon above the switchback section.
Abandoned homestead.
We made Oklahoma and turned toward the corner of the state’s monument. We found it up the road from the Black Mesa trail-head. We hung out a while and took pictures. We also planned our next stop. In lieu of Black Mesa State Park we opted for Picture Canyon in Colorado. I’m so glad we did.
Yucca plants.
I’m standing in three states at once.
Oklahoma WIldlife Trail requires more research.
The three state monument.
The intersection of East West 1 and North South2
Erik goes through the mud.
I hit it hard.
Erik’s Disco looking up the road.
Animated GIF. My entry for a Land Rover commercial or the next Camel Trophy video.
Mr. Tarantula.
…and a whole lotta no.
We left out of the Black Mesa area turned North at the “dinosaur bone” and headed toward Picture Canyon. On the way we stopped to see a rather large tarantula. He became very friendly and crawled up the leg of one of Erik’s friends. Whole lotta NO in that for me.
We also turned back to see where another apparent overlander had taken an unmarked trail. By the time we got back to him he was already headed back to the road. He said there was nothing to see up there except a windmill. I didn’t want to seem like we were following him or wanted him to feel uncomfortable so we kept it short and went in different directions.
If there hadn’t been signs telling us there was a canyon we may have never found it. It is literally a canyon in the middle of the Comanche National Grassland. You drive on rolling hills and out of nowhere there’s a canyon.
Sign to Picture Canyon.
A little rock climbing.
A view above the canyon.
A little more climbing.
A natural staircase.
Sign at the head of the trail.
Hiking out to the ruins.
The ruins of the homestead house.
Looking at the homestead ruins.
Little rabbit foo foo.
The cave by the ruins.
A second cave in the canyon near the petroglyphs.
Waiting for the stars to come out.
A panoramic view above the canyon.We then took the hiking trail around the inside of the canyon. The history is awesome with several petroglyphs and an abandoned settlement. Pre-historic man used the canyon probably as a kill site for the millions of herd animals. They also most likely lived there. In the early 1900’s settlers tried to make a go of it by living in the canyon. Their rock house and most likely barn are still visible.
There are also caves. The caves are now caged off. The bats in the area are struggling to survive. The white-nosed fungus is basically Ebola for bats and scientist are trying to figure out what the cause is. Humans are one of the first culprits thus the cages at the entrances to caves throughout America.
We saw all the petroglyphs listed on the displays at the trailhead. It was a nice walk. We returned to camp and started dinner (seasoned chicken tenders, potatoes, rolls with honey butter). We ate and had some beers waiting for the big show. The big show was a completely dark sky with no light pollution. We could see the Milky Way and a bazillion stars. The meteor shower did not disappoint as well. We saw so many satellites we stopped even mentioning them.
We settled in for some much needed sleep after a long day on the trail.
I hope you enjoyed the galleries and I’ll post up the third day soon. Thanks for the retweets and forwarding the post.
I
