Moab, April 23-26th

[Greg]

This trip was incredible! I think this has been one of the best Moab trips I've been on, for a few reasons. First off, I got to wheel with an old friend of mine. 2nd, I finally got my 1.5 yr project 4Runner to Moab and successfully completed some obstacles I've been wanting to run in a long time, but haven't had the rig to do it.

The trip started out on Saturday evening when Catherine & I loaded up our '87 Toyota 4Runner with our camping gear & took the 90 minute drive to Moab. We met up with Will & Nicole driving their YJ on 33's with a Lock-Rite in the rear Dana 35. We then headed to the campground where another friend of Wills was waiting. Paul & Amy were in a rental Rubicon, ready & willing to hit the trail. Paul's somewhat new to wheelin, so we broke him in easy & then progressively ran harder trails.

On Sunday we decided to start out easy & go for a senic, yet fun trail. We ended up on Kane Creek where we ran into 'YellowBronco' (Chris) & 'BroncoMama' (Tara), along with 'jlowry' (Josh) and some of his friends. (Sorry we left you guys behind, I didn't think we where going too fast!) I didn't get any pics of Kane Creek... mainly because ut's pretty boaring. I've never done Kane Creek before, so this was a first for me... and I think it'll be a last. It's pretty, but a bit long for me.

On Monday morning, we were itching for something with more slickrock so we went up to Hells Revenge. I started off with Dump Bump and got lucky. I crawled right up on the first attempt! The 2nd try I wasn't as lucky and had to reposition the rig to get up.

Next up was Hells Gate. There were a handful of lifted Rubicons parked at the trailhead, the owners were out looking at the challenge ahead of them. We pulled in behind them, then they all moved out of the way. I headed in, while Will commented that if I did it, he was going to follow in the YJ. After I headed in, one of the Rubis decided to follow.

Dropping in-

Back up the otherside-

Wills turn... it's a 1990, but he swapped in a Fuel Injected, stroked 4.0. He's opened diffed in the front, locked in the back and sporting a TeraLow in the 231.-

He managed to lift a tire & carry it up the hill a little way, but made it with no issues.


More on the way....

 

[Greg]

Eventually we made it over to the Escalator, which I've never driven before, but have been looking forward to. Checking it out & finding where the trouble spots are.-

Headed in, getting up the first step and going into the 2nd. I went in a bit too far to the right and ended up leaning into the hill on the otherside. Atone point, the cab was less than 12 inches from touching ths slickrock on the drivers side!-

After a quick backup, Will guides me onto the right line. Everything after that 2nd hole isn't bad.-

 

[Greg]

Will decided to take his YJ up... I'm a bit worried at this point, thinking that being opened in the front is going to really get him into trouble here. :-\ Up the first step-

Passener rear tire slides into the hole & the tire comes off the ground!-

We get him squared on the right line and try again. This time the opposite tire comes off the ground, both rear tires are wedged in the hole & he drives right up.-

Then the holes at the top mess him up. That poor YJ was lifting tires left & right! -

After he get's all 4 tires back on the ground at the same time, he drove out of the Escalator with a big grin on his face. We were both impressed that he made it up, considering. I was getting worried about the Dana 35 shafts... he carries a couple spares, but changing a shaft there, mid-obstacle would be a huge PITA.

 

[Greg]

Later that day, we ran over to the Moab Rim trail. Will got stopped at the Z-Turn... that thing is getting nasty! We played around for a bit, then decided to head back down. Here's a view from the trail-

With the sun sinking, we decided to run up Pritchett Canyon a little bit, just to check it out. Here's a few random shots-

We decided to call it a day while we were still both together.

 

[Greg]

On Tuesday we got up early to get a start on the Golden Spike. This was a new trail to Will, so I lead the way & we started the long trail. View shot from the trail, looking towards Potash.-

La Sals in the background.-

At about 2 pm we made it to the Golden Crack. I crossed first and ended up smacking my quarter panel, thanks to the lack of a bumper.-

Wills turn-

Next up was Double Whammy. My old rig was too short to make it up, so I came prepared to battle this time. I pulled up, shifted both t-cases into low range and put the front tires up on the 2nd ledge. In 1st gear, I rolled into the bottom ledge with a bit of throttle and popped up like it was nothing! Surprised the hell of of me & everyone watching!

 

[Greg]

That was about it, nothing too crazy but definatley a good time. I was impressed with how well the 4Runner worked, I was a bit worried about driving it from Friuta to Moab & back, not really knowing it's dirveability history, but it was fine. I had to play with the tire pressure a bit to get the SSR's to hook-up, but 9 in the rear & 10 in the front seemed to be the magic numbers. The days leading up to the trip were a non-stop fab & wrench-fest. I got a lot done, like fabbing up sliders, wiring up the rear e-locker, building shock mounts, doing a tune-up, & a ton of smaller things. I really like the 4Runner, so much we even slept in the back of it! I now have some minor repairs to take care of, in addition to finishing up the bumpers.

In the end, this was a great trip & I'm looking forward to the next one!

 

[James K]

looks like it was a nice easy going trip

 

[40_Below]

Awesome man! Yotas rule! Your runner is sweet!!

 

[cruiseroutfit]

Jealous!!! The runner looks like a great expedition/wheeling ready rig... mabey for some San Rafael exploration

How long did it take you to get through Golden Spike? Moving pretty fast or leisurely? I have never done it in its entirety and want to next week.

 

[Greg]

looks like it was a nice easy going trip

Yep, exactally what I needed for the first outting.

 

[Greg]

Awesome man! Yotas rule! Your runner is sweet!!

Thanks! It really grew on me over this trip.

 

[Greg]

Jealous!!! The runner looks like a great expedition/wheeling ready rig... mabey for some San Rafael exploration

How long did it take you to get through Golden Spike? Moving pretty fast or leisurely? I have never done it in its entirety and want to next week.

I think it's a well-balanced, multi-purpose vehicle. I like the tires, but to make it even more freeway friendly I've been thinking about a set of MT/R's. I'm game for the Swell when you are.

We took 7 hrs, left the pavement at 10 am from the parking area at PSM, then got to the trailhead of Gold Bar Rim at about 5 pm. At first we were moving at a quicker pace, just because IMO you need to take the speed when you can get it. We didn't stop for pics at all on PSM, the only time we slowed was to help Will over some of the steeper dropoffs. We took about an hour for lunch, and moved at a slower pace after lunch because the trail becomes more technical.

 

[cruiseroutfit]

I think it's a well-balanced, multi-purpose vehicle. I like the tires, but to make it even more freeway friendly I've been thinking about a set of MT/R's. I'm game for the Swell when you are. ...

Hmmm... sounds like we better plan a trip down there.

 

[Shawn]

 

[yellowbronco]

We were behind you speed demons for a while , but we decided to stop and let the kids play in the river one last time. Cool to see you out on the trail