So Cal Suspension

I LOVED my sand stars... absolutely my favorite tire, hands down. I never really drag raced, but my pretty much stock 350 would launch well with them, and I could get the shit as far sideways as I wanted. On the other hand, people LOVE haulers for duning as well. If it was me, I'd buy the full set of sand stars. The fronts grab the sand VERY well, and the rears hooked up the perfect amount for me.

330 shipped vs 323 shipped isn't really enough to start a shit storm about, is it?

Yeah, it's definitely hard to read, but all of mine were still visible... Maybe some people sand blast the shit out of things... In CA, you can either use a number plate, or it can be stamped into the frame. Most of the race cars, and sand cars use a lasered VIN plate riveted to the frame in an obscure location. The race cars are re-powder coated almost every season after they pass X-Ray. There's places in pretty much any city that can do it for you. Might be worth looking into... At the very least, it'll keep you from having to re-do it if you ever need to change your powdercoat color again. Just drill out the rivets, and re-install it after powdercoat.

I've sandblasted numerous frames, never lost the VIN. Are you sure you're not dealing with a stolen bike, trying to re-vin it to a title that you have?

From his "wanted ad" for 28mm carbs.

x2

www.photobucket.com

It's like warm apple pie.

Welp, We were doing our grocery shopping today for glamis, and when I was in Sams Club, I got a call from my doctor's office letting me know I have a CT scan tomorrow. He doesn't want me going until he gets the results. Looks like I'm sitting out presidents day weekend.

150 is a safe number.

I too, have done several sets. I did the first set back in 2004 for my buddy. He's 380lbs, on stock arms. No issues to speak of. All the balljoints are still tight and working great. You have to orient the arm right so the nylon melts, and re-sets itself in the right way. I had to cut open a set of stock arms to find out exactly how to build the rack for the oven. Also, protip. Nylon-6, which is what is used in the balljoints, melts at 420*F. Whether it be Nylon-11 (365F), Nylon-6.6 (490F), or Nylon-6 (420F), I've never used a powder that requires higher temps than 350. I'm sure there are some out there, but I've never used any. With that being said, I'd never powder a set of arms with questionable balljoints, but I've done it several times with success.

Just out of curiosity, since I've wondered for a while. Who's bike are you describing in your signature?

I've ridden/been to quite a few different sets of dunes in different places of the country. Nothing compares to the experience you'll get at Glamis. It's not just about the excellent riding, there. Sounds cliche, but it's the whole experience. Glamis literally turns into it's own complete functioning city during the season. I have been out in the dunes on new years weekend and we went on a 4 hour ride. We counted 6 other people we encountered in the dunes. It's so huge that when there's 100,000 people there, you hit the dunes, and you're practically alone. You may never see another person until you head back towards the camps. There's nothing like it. We have the least amount of rules out of anywhere I've ridden. Absolutely no timeframe you must be off the dunes by. No stupid "quiet time". No lame spark arrestors. No ridiculous fees, just to get onto the sand. Buy a week pass for 35 bucks, camp anywhere your rig can go. There's bathrooms at every wash, and scattered all over Gecko Rd (On busy weekends they can get pretty nasty). Have a flag on your bike/buggy/sxs, wear a helmet if you're riding, and you won't get dicked with if you're not being stupid. Cruise slowly through the camps, and just basically DON'T give them a reason to stop you and they won't. I have NEVER gotten pulled over once out there. The jackasses who get messed with, were doing something to get stopped. Remember, all they care about is drinking and riding/driving. They use every reason to stop people to see if they've been drinking. So, DON'T drink and ride/drive and you'll be just fine. I was pretty bummed when I watched a bunch of videos from Cancun, and I got there, and it was nothing like the videos on youtube... Same thing here.

That's not a bad idea, Nick, I'll look into that. My only concern is that different brands use different bolts, but I'll definitely look into it. I'm leaning towards the 3M adhesive as of now. I've been doing some research, and some of these double sided tapes have a 150lb static load per sq inch... that's fucking nuts.

Pretty accurate advice right there. If there are any signs of leaking, don't run them. You'll do more damage than good. You can pull the springs off, compress the shaft, and make sure it comes out slowly. If the shaft shoots right out, the shocks are blown out, and it'll be a pretty penny to get them back in working condition again. Shock pistons are similar to engine pistons. Run them without lubrication (oil), and you can expect it to be toast real quick.

Trail Tech has two different ones. They have both adhesive, and screw on. I'll see if I can get my hands on some of the strongest double sided adhesive 3m makes, and see just how strong it actually is. If I go with the adhesive, I would just mount yours on top of your helmet, you can always change it down the road if you want another light. As far as lens style, I'd stick with Euro on all of them, in the dunes, you never really need to throw light further than 300 feet, before the next transition. I can get you a coiled cord in any length you want, so you can either mount the battery to a chest protector, or if you ride with a backpack, drop it in there.

I looked for it, and I can't find it... I know it was in a plastic bag with heims... but I can't find that bag anymore. If I find it, I'll send it to you.

Damn phil. My parents took me to Glamis when I was 8 days old, and I've been going ever since, but I have NEVER had the balls to stay at vendors... It's always pretty crazy there, but being walking distance to breakfast burritos is HUGE plus. We always seem to get a nice big spot somewhere in wash 4. Our group usually has about 10-12 coaches and trailers. We're a big enough group that we should have our own post office sometimes. I wish I had the cash flow to be able to stay out there for 3 or 4 weeks like we used to, but the damn real estate market is slowly recovering, which means I make less moolah. As with any recreational sport, really, it's all about who you hang out with. The group I go with is a bunch of rich old farts, and their adult children, with their children. We keep it low key and have a blast. We need to hook up out there Phil. Sounds like our groups are pretty much the same.

Philbert, that's effing ridiculous. One on the helmet, two on the bars I think would be sweet as hell. Question though, where would you mount the light on your helmet? On the side or right on the top? The first mount I make will kinda be a one-off thing, so I'll send it to you and see how you like it. Also, through my research, I've found several different kind of mounts, some screw into the helmet, and some use adhesives... Which would you people prefer? I feel as though the mounts could be smaller in total size with screw in ones, but I don't know how comfortable people would be with drilling holes in their helmet.

No, not at all... During certain holiday weekends, at certain times of night, yeah, you'll get big parties. But also, when there's a camera around, people do stupid shit. We go on pretty much every holiday weekend, and I can honestly say I've seen like two sets of tits in more than 15 years. The key is, if you aren't into that crowd, just don't go to Olds at midnight on a saturday night of a holiday weekend. The troublemakers are almost NEVER out in the dunes. Most of them show up in mommy and daddy's 4wd explorer or expedition, go to the bottom of Olds, get drunk and start shit. We almost never go to the hill at night. If we do, we stay way off to the side, run the hill, then hit the dunes.

Is this the same QSM? http://www.angelfire.com/az3/quicksandracing/index.html The site was last updated in 03...

Just drain the coolant and pull the cover, dont risk it. Replace everything. It's too cheap NOT to do.

Dan Wade is out of business. Perhaps an indication of how he does business? I dunno...

I LOL'd at this part... specifically. Either this was sarcasm, or you have no clue who you're talking to.

Right. I am working on your helmet mount right now. I think it'll work good. As far as the mounts go, I'll have pictures of them once I get them.