As some of you may know, on our last outing () we developed an issue with our beloved #Fiona4Runner. She had developed a "clunk" when we were off road. I had her inspected and it was determined that the skid plates, which were added as underbody protection, were simply flexing. Without too much concern, we ventured on a trip to one of the more challenging trails in #BC. Unfortunatley, shortly after starting, we found that the issue was considerably more dire that simply "moving" skid plated - the actual motor mount on the drivers side had literally disintegrated. We limped through the trail and made it to camp for the night. The following morning, some fellow club members and I attempted a "trail fix" on Fiona. Using a 2x4 and some wire, we managed to lift the engine and secure it. Thinking we managed to actually accomplish a repair with materials and tools we all had - we called it done and continued.
Well the fix didn't last long. On the first obsticle, we were back where we were the day prior. Instead of a "challenging" off road trail - we had an EXTREMELY challenging trail. All obsticles from here on would be conducted with the winch. We hoped that we wouldn't be causing any more damage.
Now in order to understand what we were facing - this trail, the #Whipsaw, can be completed in 1 day. Its not long, only about 100km in actual length, but there are some major obsticles. Typically, people will drive 1/2 of the trial, camp overnight and complete the following day. Each leg of the journey takes on average 6 hours - so it is a slow go.
Once we cleared the last 2 obsitlces, we breathed a sigh of relief and began the journey back to Vancouver. The following day I contacted my off road service company and arranged to get her in. Below are some pictures of the repairs. Both motor mounts needed to be replaced, both the engine side and frame side - which entailed removing the entire engine of our beloved and trusty steed. Looking at these picture is painful for me, but considering she is verging on 500,000 km and all the parts are still original, I'm sure she's breathing a sigh of relief.
Its been a week now that she's been in the shop, and I'll be getting her back early next week. Its a huge hit to the pocket book, but with all the repairs and new parts in her, she should be good to go for another 500,000km.
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