Curiosity or friends got you here so just what are we about. The Wagon Way site is two guys sharing and giving back to the wheeling community. We have been there, done that and are willing to tell you about it. We both owned FJ40’s at one time but these days we just happen to enjoy wheeling in wagons, wagons that are also daily drivers. Our wagon of choice is the 60 series Land Cruiser. Reliable, durable, easy to modify and built like a tank.
The site is about rock solid advice on what you can do with and in a wagon. It's a source for information, answers or a link to what you need. Technical know how that can be trusted without question. Inspiration for your own adventures, as you won’t believe the places you can put a wagon.
This is not a forum. While forums are full of good advice, they are also a risk for bad advice. The anonymity allows someone to spew out garbage all day and no one knows who they are and just what they really know. Here it is only real people with real names and years of practical experience. Everything on the site has been done to one or both of our rigs. And even though we both drive 60's you will find they are very different.
No one pays their way to get on here. We make mention of companies and individuals that we have dealt with and received good to great service from. And if we have been shafted by someone we will tell you that too. But probably with kind words so they don’t sue us. We will even give them a shot at redeeming themselves.
What’s in a wagon? Family, friends and my dog (who happens to be both). Wagons have plenty of room for others, they are inclusive, rather than exclusive. And to be honest you don’t even have to drive a wagon to find something of interest here on the site. Be sure to check back often for updates, edits and additional articles.
The Wagon Way is a mindset, a way to wheel and act, a philosophy if you will. But not one that is in your face.
There is a right way, a wrong way and The Wagon Way.
Eric Burch and Tony Konovaloff
Our rigs can bite us in numerous ways and I found another on our recent trip to Cruise the Woods down in Oregon.
I love the fact that my rig has manual steering, no hoses to rupture or pump to fail or belt to break. But there is one downside.
Generally all it takes is one trip through the woods and you learn to forever keep your thumbs out of the wheel. All it takes is an errant rock, stump or moments in attention and you will know why.
If you have a late model Tcase you may well have the leak problem I ran into.
I rebuilt my t-case awhile back so I was a bit surprised to find a fairly consistent drip and puddle under the rig. And once I found the offending source of the drip I was a bit surprised.
While looking around for the leak in my t-case I found something interesting.
I had made my skidplate with very little clearance for my t-case and while this was great for clearance under the rig, it did create a minor problem.
I found that my t-case was actually rubbing on my skidplate. No noise or anthing obvious, at least until I pulled the skidplate and noticed a shiny spot on the inside. Then I took a look at the bottom of the tcase and saw what’s in that pic. Not a lot of damage but too much of this and there could eventually be a problem.
Whenever you are under your rig take a look around as you never know what you will find. I was doing a brake and knuckle job on my wifes wagon and look what I found. Fortunately it is not one of the two main leaves and I do have another pair of springs handy to replace these with.
But this is all the proof you need as to why you should look around at everything under your rig both before you leave on a run and after you have been…
Another nice day in the woods, step on the brakes to slow down for one reason and another and Nothing! Yes this happened recently to one of my friends while wheeling down in Oregon. Fortunately, no one got hurt and the rig was in a good spot.
A closer look at the rig showed us that the left rear wheel cylinder let go so there was no fluid in that part of the system.
