- Location
- Grand Junction, CO
Had a chance to get out on the trail in Moab today with an OG RME friend, Braden aka @RockMonkey
He was driving his rad XJ with a trick suspension, Ford 1/2 ton axles, internal/external roll cage, coilovers and more. I was planning to take my TJ but after seeing the forecasted temps for the high 90's, I decided a full top and A/C would be nice to have. Decided to take the Gladiator and Cliffhanger would be a proper challenge for a long JT with a lot of overhang!
We met up and hit the trail, wasting no time... we dropped down into the wash, then up and back out. Everything was going well as we worked our way thru the various challenges. There were few people out on the trail amazingly, which was nice.
Just before Noon we hit one of the bigger obstacles on the trail, before the namesake for the trail. I carefully picked my line, and was worried about the big crack on the left side.... and made my way up. Braden was letting his son learn to drive the XJ offroad and I think he felt a bit in over his head, so Braden jumped behind the wheel. About half way up his front-end slid to the drivers side and the 35" tire dropped into the widening crack, the tire bound up and just as I was about to tell him to back off, we heard a big "BANG!!". Something in the front axle let go. The tire was wedged in the crack hard, with lots of pressure on the sidewall. Braden grabbed his Highlift jack and we lifted the wheel and tire out of the bind, then he backed out in 2WD. We talked about what we thought had broken, thinking either a shaft or hub.
We took lunch, enjoyed the scenery and lack of trail traffic and then started the drive back down... there were a few places where a quick pull with the winch was needed, as 3 wheel drive wasn't quite enough. Finally we hit the exit and worked our way up and out of the trail.
We headed back to the parking lot to air up & lick our wounds... I hit the road, Braden dug into the axle and found a cleanly broken outer axle.
He was driving his rad XJ with a trick suspension, Ford 1/2 ton axles, internal/external roll cage, coilovers and more. I was planning to take my TJ but after seeing the forecasted temps for the high 90's, I decided a full top and A/C would be nice to have. Decided to take the Gladiator and Cliffhanger would be a proper challenge for a long JT with a lot of overhang!
We met up and hit the trail, wasting no time... we dropped down into the wash, then up and back out. Everything was going well as we worked our way thru the various challenges. There were few people out on the trail amazingly, which was nice.
Just before Noon we hit one of the bigger obstacles on the trail, before the namesake for the trail. I carefully picked my line, and was worried about the big crack on the left side.... and made my way up. Braden was letting his son learn to drive the XJ offroad and I think he felt a bit in over his head, so Braden jumped behind the wheel. About half way up his front-end slid to the drivers side and the 35" tire dropped into the widening crack, the tire bound up and just as I was about to tell him to back off, we heard a big "BANG!!". Something in the front axle let go. The tire was wedged in the crack hard, with lots of pressure on the sidewall. Braden grabbed his Highlift jack and we lifted the wheel and tire out of the bind, then he backed out in 2WD. We talked about what we thought had broken, thinking either a shaft or hub.
We took lunch, enjoyed the scenery and lack of trail traffic and then started the drive back down... there were a few places where a quick pull with the winch was needed, as 3 wheel drive wasn't quite enough. Finally we hit the exit and worked our way up and out of the trail.
We headed back to the parking lot to air up & lick our wounds... I hit the road, Braden dug into the axle and found a cleanly broken outer axle.
