Off Road Trips

The Mighty Merc – 1st ORT Flat Nasty 12-31-16

Well it nearly felt like this day would never come, but I finally broke my 1.5 year wheeling drought by getting out to wheel New Year’s Eve with some old friends. I also dragged along Grandpa and the Boy to share in the adventure. After waking up the kid early and picking up grandpa, we headed down to the park:

Sara L.: 1st ORT12-31-16 Flat Nasty NYE &emdash;

Most of the usual suspects showed up, after running around on the bunny trails to test my clearances (still a bit more trimming to do), we started moving on towards the more fun things. Here are a few photos form the day:

Sara L.: 1st ORT12-31-16 Flat Nasty NYE &emdash;

Sara L.: 1st ORT12-31-16 Flat Nasty NYE &emdash;

Sara L.: 1st ORT12-31-16 Flat Nasty NYE &emdash;

Sara L.: 1st ORT12-31-16 Flat Nasty NYE &emdash;

Sara L.: 1st ORT12-31-16 Flat Nasty NYE &emdash;

Sara L.: 1st ORT12-31-16 Flat Nasty NYE &emdash;

Sara L.: 1st ORT12-31-16 Flat Nasty NYE &emdash;

Sara L.: 1st ORT12-31-16 Flat Nasty NYE &emdash;

Sara L.: 1st ORT12-31-16 Flat Nasty NYE &emdash;

Sara L.: 1st ORT12-31-16 Flat Nasty NYE &emdash;

Hmmm… pretty sure that’s where I scuffed up my tire rod a bit…

Sara L.: 1st ORT12-31-16 Flat Nasty NYE &emdash;

Sara L.: 1st ORT12-31-16 Flat Nasty NYE &emdash;

Sara L.: 1st ORT12-31-16 Flat Nasty NYE &emdash;

Sara L.: 1st ORT12-31-16 Flat Nasty NYE &emdash;

Sara L.: 1st ORT12-31-16 Flat Nasty NYE &emdash;

No real carnage to speak of, Xfactor managed to dump his truck over in an easy V notch, but was able to drive out of it. Later in the day, he lost a bead (with his new bead locks). But we were able to get it reseated without too much trouble:
Sara L.: 1st ORT12-31-16 Flat Nasty NYE &emdash;

So how did the Mercury do on its first trip out? Quite well! The Cooper STT Pro, even for being an E rated tire, flexed and folded over amazingly well at 15 psi. Other than a driveline vibe, the Merc ran down to the park and back without issue. I am seriously contemplating not putting a cage on this one, as it added to the challenge wheeling without one. Time will tell on that one.

Right now, I need to find the time to run up to the exhaust shop to see about getting it tucked up more than it is. I also need to address the leaking rear pinion seal, and try to put more effort into finding the cause of my driveline vibe. After those are done, I can finish up the belly skids, and move on to the rear bumper/tow point.

Highlight video:

Video of the boy and Papa:

Leave a Reply