Trip Report EJS 2021 Report

[Greg]

Another EJS is in the books and it was a great one! I was able to spend quite a bit of time with old friends and new ones, as well as meeting long time internets friends in person.

Wednesday started with getting checked in for my two official EJS runs, once that was taken care of I headed over to the Jeep Display in downtown to see the concepts. For 2021, the EJS Jeep concept vehicles include everything from electric to diesel: a two-door battery-electric with a manual transmission called Magneto, an orange Wrangler with all the latest OEM upgrades, a throwback Jeepster beach machine built on a Wrangler chassis with a modern interior and a diesel Gladiator pickup rock crawler. Along with those concept vehicles, there will also be three concepts Jeep built for the 2020 EJS that never happened. These include the overland-style Jeep Gladiator Farout, the V8-powered Jeep Wrangler Rubicon 392 and the Jeep Gladiator Top Dog. The electric and plug-in Hybrid Jeeps were truly front & center at the display, they will be a large part of what Jeep will be offering in the near future!

I headed over to Portal RV to check in with the new builds from Teraflex. They had their new Mojave Gladiator build on full display with some killer new products, with a focus on the rear suspension and huge travel improvements. There is a LOT going on out back, new relocated anti-sway bar, long travel Falcon shocks, improved control arm geometry, SpeedBumps, massive Delta brakes, etc. Also got to check out the two new JLU builds, one being the SnazzBerry with the 3.0 EcoDiesel under the hood.

 

[Greg]

I headed over to Potato Salad Hill in the afternoon to check on the condition of the hill, it was pretty quiet and not trashed, which is always good to see! Next stop was the outdoor Vendor Show that Dixie Offroad was hosting, it was pretty busy with all the vendors interacting with customers, people checking out new products, etc. Ford had a pretty heavy presence with the new Ford Bronco on display and test rides being offered. There were a lot of neat rigs to check out!

That evening I was back at Portal RV for the Teraflex Meet & Greet. Saw several friends and meet up with @BlackSheep and we caught up, talked Jeeps, life & more.




Thursday was an official EJS trail run, Metal Masher! I've never ran Metal Masher before and wasn't sure how the long & low Gladiator was going to handle it. I had a friend riding along, Mercedes Lilienthal. She is a journalist and has written articles that have been published in the New York Times, AutoBlog and much more. We pulled into place and were greeted by @UPNO4 and @Bart who were helping with leading the trail run. We caught up for a bit and these guys helped put me at ease about my trail concerns. Not long after that, @N8RB8R & Massey pulled in with their well build Gladiators on 39's and 40's, respectively. @glockman was soon to follow in his LJ sporting a 5.3 LM7 V8. We had a RME run on our hands! Soon a Jeep Wrangler JLUR 4XE pulled in with a couple of Jeep employees driving it! The 4XE was going to be running the trail with us!

On the way up the trail, a couple vehicles had issues early on... then during the lunch break at RockChucker a 4 door CJ broke a TRE. After making a plan to retrieve new parts, the rest of the group continued on. My favorite part of the trail was Mirror Gulch, it was a tight fit but the Gladiator walked right up it. Shortly after Mirror Gulch were a couple of steep climbs, I had to bypass Misty's Thumb after @UPNO4 LJ climbed it, with his daughter behind the wheel!

It has a steep breakover with a couple ledges that make it quite difficult. Nate gave it a good shot and was almost to the point of making it, but got denied. Massey wanted to try next with his 40's and it was looking good, but the ledges on the trail create a Double Whammy situation with the Gladiators wheelbase. After a few good bumps to got over them, the rear axle brackets buckled, the axle housing rotated up and the rear driveshaft u-joint got spit out! Further inspection revealed that the yoke had broken, probably due to the u-joint getting bound up. Nate & Massey pulled the DS and the White JT was in front wheel drive the rest of the trail. (I heard that Dixie Offroad was able to repair the damage and they were able to continue wheelin the rest of the week!)

We took a break at the overlook, then continued on our way. We had plenty of time to talk to friends and get to know each other better, which is always valuable time! At one point Mercedes had injured her leg and was in quite a bit of pain, so we headed back to town ASAP so she could get the care she needed.

 

[Greg]

Friday I had signed up for Cliffhanger and it was sponsored by Teraflex, so they had their 2 new JLU builds along for the ride. Both were built up with 40" Nitto tires on Nomad wheels, Teraflex suspensions, Falcon shocks, plenty of armor, etc. They were both beautiful Jeeps! Dennis Wood was driving the SnazzBerry colored Wrangler that has the 3.0 EcoDiesel under the hood. It was AWESOME!! I'm jealous of the EcoDiesel. @UPNO4 was taking up the rear of this pretty big group, with Nick and Dee helping keep the group moving across the trail.


It was a pretty large group and looked like I was again at a disadvantage with the lowrider Gladiator. Some of the other participants needed a good bit of spotting along the way, I had to get creative with my lines to minimize dragging the underbelly of the truck. I really had no issues getting to the overlook, but on the way back I had to get strapped up a couple times. Cliffhanger has really changed in the last 2 yrs since I ran it and it was rough for my JT. I really could use 3-4" lift and 39-40" tires to help with clearance.

 

[Greg]

Dennis in the EcoDiesel JLU flawlessly climbing back up Cliffhanger.

 

[mbryson]

I should merge my thread with yours? Looks like I a great time! Bummed we didn't have a chance to meet up. Did Jesse (@UPNO4's daughter) offer to drive your Jeep?

 

[Greg]

I should merge my thread with yours? Looks like I a great time! Bummed we didn't have a chance to meet up. Did Jesse (@UPNO4's daughter) offer to drive your Jeep?

No need to merge threads. 😀

It was a great few days, lots going on! Jesse didn't offer to drive mine, but from what I saw she could probably do it better than me! Once she was used to the length.

 

[jeeper]

We tried to run cliff hanger on dirt bikes a few years ago, and it was so bad then that we had to turn around because some in our group couldn't ride it. It was almost buggy territory then.. I can only imagine it now.

 

[Greg]

We tried to run cliff hanger on dirt bikes a few years ago, and it was so bad then that we had to turn around because some in our group couldn't ride it. It was almost buggy territory then.. I can only imagine it now.

Eh, a Gladiator with 1.5" lift will do it.... not sure why you guys couldn't.

I've got a great pic of @Gravy inspecting his front tire while we were riding Cliffhanger several years ago!

 

[jeeper]

Eh, a Gladiator with 1.5" lift will do it.... not sure why you guys couldn't.

I've got a great pic of @Gravy inspecting his front tire while we were riding Cliffhanger several years ago!

He's come a long way since then... You should have seen his hole-shot last Saturday, Dude was on FIRE!- straight up embarrassed the rest of us.

 

[Tonkaman]

Eh, a Gladiator with 1.5" lift will do it.... not sure why you guys couldn't.

I've got a great pic of @Gravy inspecting his front tire while we were riding Cliffhanger several years ago!

Ha ha, I was on that trip! That was a blast!

 

[Greg]

 

[Kevin B.]

I headed over to Potato Salad Hill in the afternoon to check on the condition of the hill, it was pretty quiet and not trashed, which is always good to see! Next stop was the outdoor Vendor Show that Dixie Offroad was hosting, it was pretty busy with all the vendors interacting with customers, people checking out new products, etc. Ford had a pretty heavy presence with the new Ford Bronco on display and test rides being offered. There were a lot of neat rigs to check out!

This big boy is making me feel things. I googled it and apparently it's on an episode of Dirt Every Day.

 

[glockman]

I should merge my thread with yours? Looks like I a great time! Bummed we didn't have a chance to meet up. Did Jesse (@UPNO4's daughter) offer to drive your Jeep?

Jesse drove Matt's, Barts and another jeep up the last ledge on the pickle. She's pretty cool.

 

[mbryson]

Jesse drove Matt's, Barts and another jeep up the last ledge on the pickle. She's pretty cool.

I'm shocked she didn't offer to drive yours

 

[Bart]

Jess is cool. I drove the first obstacle on the Pickle, and she drove the rest of that trail, and all of Mashed Potatoes except the Gravy Boat. She is turning into quite the driver.

 

[Bart]

If you don't mind, I'll just add my 2021 EJS experience on here.
Arrived Friday night and was out to the Arena at 6:45 Saturday morning to pick up leader packet and groover for Hells Revenge. I am lucky to have managed to keep a great crew with me to help with that run, and I'm always blown away with the return attendees. Thanks to @UPNO4 (Matt), @mbryson, Dave Laws , and Jake Hornback for helping for many years. There was a LOT of traffic on the trail, but we managed to make decent time. We had a couple of breakdowns, including my steering falling apart, but we managed to get everything back together and finished strong. Most of the group did Hell's Gate, some twice, my son in law, Jared did Mickey's in fine fashion, and despite my broken ribs, I went up Escalator and spotted a handful through that. Everyone made it but one YJ kissed the driver side of his hard top.



Sunday I was with Dave Laws on Gold Bar Rim, along with Matt and Jake again. We had a fairly small group and made great time through the trail. We were at the overlook before noon, and everyone made it back up the Waterfall without incident. Jared and I decided to depart from the group and head up Gemini Bridges road to see GB, and the up and out Long Canyon and back into town.

Monday Jared and I joined @GIJohn and another friend Jon on Where Eagles Dare. This has turned into one of my favorite trails and I try not to do it every year to keep it that way. John was a great leader and we made good times on the trail. There was a good deal of wind on top, but the sun was shining. Despite a couple of small detours, the whole group made it in and out unscathed.


I helped/gunned with Jim Broadbent on Tuesday on the 8:00 Golden Spike trail. It was a large group and we moved fairly slow. We had just turned off on Golden Spike and made it through the Launch Pad, when a Evan (not sure of his user name here) had problems with his Grand Cherokee. Jared and I took on the task of make sure he got out. Luckily he had 2 wheel high and managed to drive a good portion of the trail out, and I only hooked a strap on a handful of times. We got him to the PS parking lot and I gave him a ride to his tow rig. I'm still interested to hear if it was the front differential or the transfer case.


Wednesday we joined KL on the Pickle and Mashed Potatoes, and Greg drove in from Fuita to join us. Matt, Jess, and Dave were also on the run. It was blast and everyone did well. It was fun watching Greg do the obstacles in his Gladiator, and like has been mentioned, Jess drove my Jeep on all but the first obstacle on the Pickle and the Gravy Boat on Mashed Potato.


Thursday we had a large group on Metal Masher, with @UPNO4 Matt leading. Greg and @N8RB8R with his friend Massey in their built JT on 40s were also on that one. We lost 2 rigs to electrical gremlins before actually starting the trail. I discovered early on the trail that my left front hub was not working, but made it to the lunch spot by Rock Chucker and bandaided a fix. The guy that was on here that built the beautiful green 4 door CJ broke a tie rod end on Rock Chucker and that halted the action there. Our tail gunner ran him into town to get a replacement part, and we moved along. Nate was denied on Misty's Thumb (after Mirror Gulch) because of his long rear overhang, and his buddy Massey bent a rear control arm bracket, which blew up his rear drive line u-joint. He still had FWD and Nate managed to assist him out of the trail . Jeep was a sponsor on that run and sent a 4Xe along. They did well but slashed a sidewall just after the overlook. The spare went on and we made it the rest of the way out.

That was my last official trail and I called it a week and packed up and headed home Thursday night. What a great week and great times. It was fun to see old friends and make new ones.

 

[TRD270]

This big boy is making me feel things. I googled it and apparently it's on an episode of Dirt Every Day.

Yeah it was a wrecked construction truck, cab was caved in. Made it a convertible and went wheeling in the snow

 

[RustEoldtrux]

Four IROK burn while strapping a 4 door JKU up a vertical wall obstacle before Rock Chucker on the Metal Masher Trail on Big Saturday. Finally caught traction and yanked it out.