Great Time to Catch Up on Projects
A
ll this lounging around the house lately is getting to me. Too much slacking off, and I am developing bad habits. Getting up late, drinking coffee, doing nothing until 10:30 when someone makes breakfast. And then hanging around until lunchtime at 12:30 or 1:00. Sound familiar? (C’mon, admit it: You’re taking advantage of the “stay-athome” rule!) Eating is a common pastime when there’s not much else to do. That’s not good. Factor in the sedentary lifestyle, and you have a recipe for a lazy lifestyle. And a waste of valuable time. Snap out of it. This pandemic should be leveling off soon. Officials will start lifting travel restrictions. Public places will once again be open for exploring. And you’ll be itching to go. The question is: Will you, your vehicle and your gear be ready to hit the trails?
Along the way, I saw a screw missing from the visor. Replaced that. Then I realized dust was getting in through a hole I use for my ham radio coax. Plugged that with Coax-Seal. In fact, I discovered (remembered actually) a number of little items needing Did your world fall off a cliff? repair. The project inch 7 mm bolt. I have lots of 7 mm bolts but got crazy from there. It mushroomed. none that long. But this is not the time to go I’ve heard from several avid fourshopping. As with the first-aid kit, make a list, wheelers who went down the same rabbit so you can restock those items when the time hole. All told me they enjoyed it. These is right or see if you can order it online. projects kept them busy, and they avoided all If you don’t have a list, I can the depressing news on the TV. The results recommend a few items. In fact, all you need were something they could be proud of. to do is sit in your vehicle for five minutes and Check out this message I received. “I you will come out with a day’s list of projects. moved everything out and gave the interior a You’ll notice all those deferred maintenance Use this time to clean, repair, replace good vacuum. I inspected my recovery gear projects. And the items that still work but It all started with a plan to “detail” including pulling out my Pull Pal, rarely used, could be a lot nicer. the inside of my 4-wheel drive. I keep it to make sure things weren’t rusted and gave Before you put everything back in the reasonably clean. After each trip, I vacuum the it a little WD-40 here and there. I pulled out vehicle, test all the on-board equipment to Never can have enough tentstakes Cheetos crumbs on the seats and wipe down 30 feet of winch line to inspect it, and made make sure it is in tip-top shape. – they don’t need to be pretty. the dash. But with the extra time on my hands, sure the winch was working (winch needed Start with the winch, as we use them You may need to chase the wiring to find a I recently decided to pull out all the gear and a wipe to remove surface rust and little WDrarely. Run a bit of cable out – at least you’ll broken connection or a short. This is why you do a thorough cleaning. I carry a lot of backup 40). I cleaned and lubed the moving parts of know the motor and controller work. shouldn’t put all the gear back. gear, so it covered the garage floor. my tailgate. I went through my ‘food box,’ Ensure that all your radios work. Continued on next page actually a drawer, and tossed out stuff that was really out of date. I also went through my first aid kits checking for outdated items and made a list of things that need to be replaced.” Seems like I am not the only one thinking along these lines. I want to pick up on a point made above: “… made a list of things that need to be replaced.” It seems almost every project requires a visit to Nothing better to do than check for perfect the car parts store, the hardware coffee water temp store or lumber yard to finish it. With all the gear out of the way, I Quite often it is a 25 cent snap ring or a small vacuumed, scrubbed, and pried dirt and dust hose. On-board welder: Test with a simple project. Make a few metal tent out of the vehicle. As an example, right now I need a 3½ stakes.
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S&S OFF ROAD MAGAZINE - MAY 2020 - www.ssorm.com
