Dominic
Well-Known Member
- Location
- Salt Lake City
Mini trip report.... Friday night ran the pickle with Chris and Tara, Chad and Mrs. Chad, and The brothers Chan from RME. This was my first trip with my Grand Cherokee so I was anxious to see how it was going to perform.
I was at first really impressed with how well my rig did but am getting used to the wheel base and the width of the vehicle, also with all the new toys this rig has it's taking some time to learn new noises and systems.
At the end of pickle we built a little fire and hung around for a bit, everyone else took off back to trailers and my crew and I pitched our tents and spent the night out in the sand dunes.
We woke up early and broke camp and headed into town. I had found the trouble spots with my new set up (moved my axles.. Rear track bar is digging into my gas tank at full flex and front tire is bending my trail ready bumper like a tin can). We stopped in town for some quick breakfast and headed to BFE to meet up with Kell Smith and his friends, Tara and Chris rug rats and yorkies, and Chad and Mrs. Chad.
Because I am not nuts I left my rig at the base of Coyote Canyon and we ventured along side the buggies on foot taking pictures and running winch lines.... Things were off to a great start right away with Tara navigating Lemon Joys voluptuous rear end through Coyote canyon's rugged terrain she worked hard at the first obstacle but ended up getting some assistance from the winch. Soon after we were all fortunate to catch an episode of the birfield breaking fun of Kell smith and his 3rd gear pinned antics. Although he usually can maneuver his rig out of the twisted situations he gets himself into he finally gave up and took a couple winch lines to bring his now oil soaked beast back on it's feet, after pulling the plugs he was back up and running. Shane and Amy had caught up with us just as the extraction had begun so now with them in line we exited Coyote canyon with no other issues.
After retrieving my Jeep we headed up to the BFE entrance to regroup @ Kell's camp before heading into Lock Jaw. Almost as soon as it I started in on Lock Jaw my responsible side spoke up and I decided to head back as my gas tank was being gouged at almost every turn. Before I could get turned around however Tara had gotten air born on the first obstacle all that kept her from tipping over was a small tree, we promptly put a strap on her and pulled Lemon Joy back on to her tires from there she was able to finish the obstacle and move on. Sean Darton was next up in line and quite quickly was on his side. I had taken the easy way and was in position to lend a winch line to bring him right side up this is where it gets fun, Let us always remember to use proper winching techniques... I had pulled my rig into position as best I could it seems as no matter what you do on that first obstacle you are always a little of camber, once I started winching the rig came up with ease an once on its feet it started to roll backwards (parking brakes and or a vehicle in gear is preferred) thank god I was holding the switch to unwind as the vehicle started to roll hill, it hit a tree and stopped quickly but not before pulling me even more off camber (lesson learned). I then needed a winch to pull out of my predicament as my new Jeep was in an uncomfortable situation. Once I was on steady ground I tucked tail and headed for the brewery.
Sunday we stuck to 2wd roads in light of my track bar issues and ran up to chicken corners and poked around town. Trip home was great until I hit point of the mountain where I noticed a cloud of grey smoke behind my Jeep. I pulled over and found that my transfer case drain plug had backed out and the oil had decorated my rear axle and rear hatch with a fine glistening slime that will surely be fun to clean. Luckily the drain plug was resting on my transfer case skid so a quick call to a very generous Brett Mathews for 2 quarts of ATF delivery and I was on my way. Not my favorite trip but I think we would all agree that a trip to Moab is like sex even if it's bad it's still pretty good...
I was at first really impressed with how well my rig did but am getting used to the wheel base and the width of the vehicle, also with all the new toys this rig has it's taking some time to learn new noises and systems.
At the end of pickle we built a little fire and hung around for a bit, everyone else took off back to trailers and my crew and I pitched our tents and spent the night out in the sand dunes.
We woke up early and broke camp and headed into town. I had found the trouble spots with my new set up (moved my axles.. Rear track bar is digging into my gas tank at full flex and front tire is bending my trail ready bumper like a tin can). We stopped in town for some quick breakfast and headed to BFE to meet up with Kell Smith and his friends, Tara and Chris rug rats and yorkies, and Chad and Mrs. Chad.
Because I am not nuts I left my rig at the base of Coyote Canyon and we ventured along side the buggies on foot taking pictures and running winch lines.... Things were off to a great start right away with Tara navigating Lemon Joys voluptuous rear end through Coyote canyon's rugged terrain she worked hard at the first obstacle but ended up getting some assistance from the winch. Soon after we were all fortunate to catch an episode of the birfield breaking fun of Kell smith and his 3rd gear pinned antics. Although he usually can maneuver his rig out of the twisted situations he gets himself into he finally gave up and took a couple winch lines to bring his now oil soaked beast back on it's feet, after pulling the plugs he was back up and running. Shane and Amy had caught up with us just as the extraction had begun so now with them in line we exited Coyote canyon with no other issues.
After retrieving my Jeep we headed up to the BFE entrance to regroup @ Kell's camp before heading into Lock Jaw. Almost as soon as it I started in on Lock Jaw my responsible side spoke up and I decided to head back as my gas tank was being gouged at almost every turn. Before I could get turned around however Tara had gotten air born on the first obstacle all that kept her from tipping over was a small tree, we promptly put a strap on her and pulled Lemon Joy back on to her tires from there she was able to finish the obstacle and move on. Sean Darton was next up in line and quite quickly was on his side. I had taken the easy way and was in position to lend a winch line to bring him right side up this is where it gets fun, Let us always remember to use proper winching techniques... I had pulled my rig into position as best I could it seems as no matter what you do on that first obstacle you are always a little of camber, once I started winching the rig came up with ease an once on its feet it started to roll backwards (parking brakes and or a vehicle in gear is preferred) thank god I was holding the switch to unwind as the vehicle started to roll hill, it hit a tree and stopped quickly but not before pulling me even more off camber (lesson learned). I then needed a winch to pull out of my predicament as my new Jeep was in an uncomfortable situation. Once I was on steady ground I tucked tail and headed for the brewery.
Sunday we stuck to 2wd roads in light of my track bar issues and ran up to chicken corners and poked around town. Trip home was great until I hit point of the mountain where I noticed a cloud of grey smoke behind my Jeep. I pulled over and found that my transfer case drain plug had backed out and the oil had decorated my rear axle and rear hatch with a fine glistening slime that will surely be fun to clean. Luckily the drain plug was resting on my transfer case skid so a quick call to a very generous Brett Mathews for 2 quarts of ATF delivery and I was on my way. Not my favorite trip but I think we would all agree that a trip to Moab is like sex even if it's bad it's still pretty good...
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