David Eilers

My Build: Climbing the Local Foothills

I finally got a chance to get Lost Biscuit onto the dirt today (Saturday).  One of the unique aspects of Boise is that the surrounding foothills have been reserved for recreation.  There are areas for hiking, walking dogs, biking, motor biking and four wheeling.  One of the quickest ways to reach the foothills is to head north on 8th avenue from downtown.  It takes all of 5 minutes or so to reach hiking and biking areas.  It's about 15 minutes to hit the motorized offroad areas.

My son Karson was with me.  It was his first off roading experience.  We were only out about an hour or so, as I'm being careful to push the bounds of the jeep slowly to let everything 'settle' into place.

On the positive side, the suspension is as I could have hoped.  It's firm enough for the corners, yet handles the bumps well.  It's a step up from my first suspension, which was a step up from the early jeeps I drove. We wound up the hill, took some side roads, tested out low range and four wheel drive.

On the negative side, I've still got a little oil that appears to be the result of valve covers that aren't quite sealed correctly, so I'll have to take them off to see what's happening.  Here's some pics before we got muddy.

This is a pic facing west.  Those foothills are all part of the foothill recreation system.

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Here's Karson with the hills and hundreds of miles of hiking, biking, four wheel drive trails, and the Bogus Basin Ski area behind him.

karson_biscuit_mtns

In this southern facing image you can see the City of Boise to the left and the entire Treasure Valley filling the background.  I can't say for sure what the pole is, other than a modern day totem of some kind?

biscuit_boise_background

15 Comments

  1. Dan
    That is awesome. It gives me inspiration to keep working on mine.
  2. Oswald
    Way to go! Looks like a great place to wheel.
  3. John Waddle
    Ain't it great when all your work comes together? A man without a running Willys, has got to feel naked! Glad to see yours in action. Good looking unit. JohnW
  4. lowenuf
    Glad to finally see you "out" with the jeep :) nice area for background photography.....neat pics :)
  5. Randy
    Great job on the jeep! Nice country you get to play in there. J. Waddell hit it right on the head!
  6. jamesholden
    congrats! nothing feels better than completion (or at least driving) a project. who stole all the trees in your pics? definitely some bald hills
  7. deilers
    Well, funny thing is, Boise is called the city of trees (les bois = the trees), specifically because there are so few trees in this sagebrush country that any trees, such as those along the boise river, are considered an oasis. If you want trees, you gotta go to the interior of Idaho or Northern Idaho; Lots and lots of ponderosa pines and other trees up there. "The reason for the name "Boise", goes back to when the 19th century French Canadian fur trappers were struggling to get across the owyhee desert, they eventually found an oasis by the now known Boise river. The trappers used the words "les bois!" aggressively and then the name stuck."
  8. Rick K
    Can U tell me what brand/style rims are on this Jeep? Have been looking for a set. Thanx Kazrick122@aol.com
  9. deilers
    HI Rick, Those are 10" X 15" Western Hurricane Rims ... That's what I call them. They have gotten pretty hard to find. I have a 2nd set. I've only seen about 4 sets for sale in the last two years by themselves and maybe 4 sets on jeeps. - Dave
  10. oldpeople2
    I have been watching your build since you have started this site and you have done one outstanding job, and thank you for this site, I found my 47 here. I have family up in Boise that we are going to go up and see next spring. maybe I can get away for a hour to get a closer look at your rig. Ted
  11. deilers
    HI Ted, Sure, just let me know when you want to drop by and see it. I'll even take ya for a spin in it. - Dave
  12. Rick K
    deilers: What condition are your Western Hurricane rims in, and do you have 4 or 5 ? What are you asking for them, and do you have any pictures? Thanx, Rick Kazrick122@aol.com
  13. deilers
    Hi Rick, I have 8 total. 4 are all aluminum in color; 4 have black painted on parts of them. I'm going to keep them as I have had trouble finding them myself. I found this set, but they are only 14" rims 5 on 4.5 bolt pattern. http://seattle.craigslist.org/skc/pts/1482797855.html Here's a set of slotted rims, though I'm not sure what the bolt pattern is on this. It's a good price. http://seattle.craigslist.org/sno/pts/1479554621.html I use this page http://www.jaxed.com/cgi-bin/sd.cgi?cat=pts&fil=western+wheels&state=XW&submit=go and then use each of the following search terms: western rims turbine rims turbine wheels western wheels hurricane wheels cyclone wheels etc ... Dave

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