- Location
- Grand Junction, CO
I signed up for 21 Road during Rock Junction with Wally leading the trail. The TJ had a lot of recent work and this was my trail test.... and it's one HELL of a test. If you've never ran 21 Road, it's gnarly.... massive rocks, diff hangers, the smaller ones roll under your tires and then you usually have water in the wash, making it almost impossible to stay on your line! It's a rough trail and is capable of really damaging an under-built rig. There are also several optional obstacles that have a high risk or rolling, flopping & breaking. 21 Road is no joke and not a place for the unprepared.
Our group had 6 rigs,
Wally in his a 6.0 LS TJ Buggy, 6.0 LS, tons, full hydro, 40" sticky Treps, etc.
Carney in a well built LJ with a 4.0, tons, full hydro, 40" Creepy Crawlers, etc
Peter in a super clean LJ with a LS, tons, 42" Nittos, full hydro, etc
McKey(SP?) in a CJ buggy with a LS, tons, 39" Krawlers, full hydro, etc
Riley from OffRoad Design, in the GMC pickup on leafs, tons, 40" Nittos, etc
And us... in the Speed Goat, for it's first trail test after a bunch of mods.
We rolled out and dropped into the wash early on.... it was obvious that nature has really changed the trail for the worse. It's rougher than I've ever seen it. We all had to work our way thru the obstacles, some needing spotting and assistance. Tires kept sliding off lines due to the water... there were plenty of super tight squeezes, big boulders to climb over and diff's getting hung up.
After some challenges, we jumped out of the bottom of the wash and hit the road to get to the real fun stuff.... there's an old pipeline maint. road about half way up the canyon. 21 Road is a pretty long trail and the upper half is where it really gets challenging. We dropped back in about a mile from the Alcove, which is a really neat overhang about 1/2 way into the canyon and a great place to take lunch. There are some killer optional lines around the Alcove, you can play around on some CRAZY stuff up there.
Around the Alcove, I realized my passenger rear tire was very lightly rubbing on my ORI Strut. When I checked clearance, I checked the drivers side and it barely cleared. It looks like the axle is offset a little, putting the passenger strut too close. I decided to call this point in the trail good enough, since it only gets more nasty. Riley from ORD was having rear locker issues and he decided it was best to turn back too, so we left the other 3 and tucked tail heading back.
I have to say, the mods to the TJ worked amazingly well... the 2.75" PSC DE cylinder doesn't care if the front diff is locked, if your tires are bound up, etc.... it's steer without question in every situation. The ORI Struts are killer on the rocks, we did some pretty off-camber stuff and it was super stable. The valving is ON POINT, it works and rides so well. The 80" width of the more narrow axles is amazing, you have way more line choices than full width rigs. I'm super impressed with the Nitto Trail Grapplers, for a DOT tire they stuck to my line very well, and should get better as they break in. I have a few bugs to work out, but they're minor.
I have some video to add once I get them edited and uploaded.... need some time.
Our group had 6 rigs,
Wally in his a 6.0 LS TJ Buggy, 6.0 LS, tons, full hydro, 40" sticky Treps, etc.
Carney in a well built LJ with a 4.0, tons, full hydro, 40" Creepy Crawlers, etc
Peter in a super clean LJ with a LS, tons, 42" Nittos, full hydro, etc
McKey(SP?) in a CJ buggy with a LS, tons, 39" Krawlers, full hydro, etc
Riley from OffRoad Design, in the GMC pickup on leafs, tons, 40" Nittos, etc
And us... in the Speed Goat, for it's first trail test after a bunch of mods.
We rolled out and dropped into the wash early on.... it was obvious that nature has really changed the trail for the worse. It's rougher than I've ever seen it. We all had to work our way thru the obstacles, some needing spotting and assistance. Tires kept sliding off lines due to the water... there were plenty of super tight squeezes, big boulders to climb over and diff's getting hung up.
After some challenges, we jumped out of the bottom of the wash and hit the road to get to the real fun stuff.... there's an old pipeline maint. road about half way up the canyon. 21 Road is a pretty long trail and the upper half is where it really gets challenging. We dropped back in about a mile from the Alcove, which is a really neat overhang about 1/2 way into the canyon and a great place to take lunch. There are some killer optional lines around the Alcove, you can play around on some CRAZY stuff up there.
Around the Alcove, I realized my passenger rear tire was very lightly rubbing on my ORI Strut. When I checked clearance, I checked the drivers side and it barely cleared. It looks like the axle is offset a little, putting the passenger strut too close. I decided to call this point in the trail good enough, since it only gets more nasty. Riley from ORD was having rear locker issues and he decided it was best to turn back too, so we left the other 3 and tucked tail heading back.
I have to say, the mods to the TJ worked amazingly well... the 2.75" PSC DE cylinder doesn't care if the front diff is locked, if your tires are bound up, etc.... it's steer without question in every situation. The ORI Struts are killer on the rocks, we did some pretty off-camber stuff and it was super stable. The valving is ON POINT, it works and rides so well. The 80" width of the more narrow axles is amazing, you have way more line choices than full width rigs. I'm super impressed with the Nitto Trail Grapplers, for a DOT tire they stuck to my line very well, and should get better as they break in. I have a few bugs to work out, but they're minor.
I have some video to add once I get them edited and uploaded.... need some time.
