- Location
- South Carolina....no public land
I know there was a lot of people from RME down there this past weekend. I was lucky enough to meet up with a few. I drove down on Thursday morning, but was too beat to run a trail, so I took a nap, then over to Moab Brewery for the traditional thanksgiving dinner.
Friday morning, I met up with YellowBronco (locked EB loaded with his wife Tara and his two cool kids), Rick B (Fullsize Bronco), Klif01 (4 runner) and his buddy Thomas ('98 Tacoma on 33s). We decided on Metal masher, and Rick led the way. The weather was excellent, and our first stop was Rock chucker. I went first, and made it to the top with only a little jockeying while on the first part to get a better line. Once at the top, I realized I had done at least part of it with my e-brake on. I must have applied it just before my attempt, as I began to get out of the jeep, but the other group that was there told me to go ahead. They were sending someone around the back who had a winch.
YellowBronco was next, and had very little trouble with it.
Next up was Klif. Ahh, but for a rear locker, he would have made it. He gave an excellent attempt, but had to back off after getting up on the first ledge.
We hung out and had lunch, and chatted with the other group that was there. A bunch of good people, a husband and wife each driving their own rig. The wife was really fun to watch, as was her husband while he spotted her as they drove around the back side of rock chucker. Which is kind of fun by itself.
We headed out towards widowmaker, and had great views of the valley at the rim. As Rick predicted, widowmaker had a rather large puddle at the base, and that did make the obstacle significantly harder. Rick tried first, but his departure angle wouldn't allow him to do much more than get his front tires up the wall a little ways.
I tried next, but had to back off after I realized I was a bit low on tranny fluid, and the tranny would slip when I got my front wheels up on the top.
Yellow bronco gave it a go, but ended up getting a little sideways two or three times. We realized how much that puddle was working against us at this obstacle. You had no choice but to drive right through it as you lined up for the wall. Yellowbronco backed off to give someone else a shot.
Klif01 came up, and gave a great effort. I think again, if he would have had a rear locker, he would have made it without any assistance. As it was, he made it far enough that with a little pull from 4 guys, he came right up and over.
Once I got the tranny filled up, I decided to give it another go, but using the strap and those guys for a little protection. Three times (each after repositiong a little more to the left), I got a little too sideways, and thanks to those guys, didn't get anything more than a little air on the p-side front (no damage). Finally, after the third trip towards the side, I decided to take the strap, and Klif brought me right up.
Not to be outdone, Yellowbronco decided to give it another go with the strap as protection. He gave it a great effort, but again, wet tires on slickrock aren't a great combination. Finally, he got a bit sideways, and slightly wedged on the rock at the base, so I pulled him up and over.
The ride out was interesting, and directly into the sun. It became very difficult to see at times, but the day was simply excellent.
We had Pizza at The Poplar Place for dinner. Great pizza.
Saturday, I met up with Bryson (buggified Sami), Ilean (his comp rig), Ogre (newer Ford Ranger on 35s) and Cruiser (passenger/trail *****). We decided to go out and run the proving grounds. I had never seen them, so I was pretty interested in checking them out.
There was no trouble for anyone in the group on lower proving grounds.
Ogre:
Ilean:
BlackSheep:
Didn't get any photos of Bryson on lower, cause he made the obstacles look too easy.
We headed over to middle PG, and this time, Bryson was leading, followed by Ilean, me, and ogre. We came through the first little off camber thing, and stopped for a minute to watch Bryson come up over the first major obstacle. About the time he made it up, we began to wonder what happened to ogre. He was stuck in 2wd in the sand on the other side of the off camber deal.
Turned out, that he blew his front driveshaft (the CV joint - not clear on exactly what happened, maybe Bryson or Ogre can chime in with exact carnage). Anyway, after about 15 minutes of troubleshooting, Bryson finally noticed the front drive line. We winched him up out of his stuck position, and he drove through the off camber obstacle in 2wd (actually 4w low, but without front drive). Ilean and I ran the obstacle, then we all had a great time watching Ogre come out the bypass. He actually made it a lot further than any of us expected, and he made it out on his own power.
Then it was over to the sand hill, where the carnage continued. Ogre jumped his rig and landed so hard, he caused several problems with his rig (and Cruiser got it on video!!) First, his d-side airbag deployed. If that wasn't enough, the entire body shifted forward on the frame enough for the front turnsignals to contact the heavy duty pre-runner bumper. Finally, he was now driving a truck with some serious alignment issues. The wheels were now toed out, and had some serious negative camber. It was still drivable though, so we decided to cruise over and watch Bryson and Ilean run upper PG.
Bryson was next in the carnage line when his engine started making a strange sound. We listed to it, and thought it may be a rod (or rods), so he was out. It was up to Ilean to show us the way on Upper PG.
Ilean lined up on the first obstacle, and pretty much walked it. However, since noone else got to see it, he backed down it and managed to snag his UROC approved kill switch on his driveline......after a few minutes of messing with it, we got it untangled and he gave it a go for the cameras this time.
As he lined up to make that second attempt, we all heard a nice little pop, but didn't think too much of it. As he approached the second major obstacle, we realized that something was truly amiss. Someone mentioned t-case, someone else mentioned R&P, and as soon as he got on the gas at the second obstacle, we heard the pinion ratchet against the ring gear. That was the end of our day.
(this is when we heard the R&P ratchet)
I towed Bryson's rig back to his trailer, then we called it a day. Fun while it lasted, but a rather short day with a lot of carnage.
thanks to everyone who I rode with this weekend. It was a great time.
the rest of the photos I took are here:
http://www.shutterfly.com/view/pictures.jsp?aid=67b0de21b33a9587a411
<edit>I may have to swap these photos over to imagestation, as apparantly you need to login to view them. I'll update later. </edit>
Friday morning, I met up with YellowBronco (locked EB loaded with his wife Tara and his two cool kids), Rick B (Fullsize Bronco), Klif01 (4 runner) and his buddy Thomas ('98 Tacoma on 33s). We decided on Metal masher, and Rick led the way. The weather was excellent, and our first stop was Rock chucker. I went first, and made it to the top with only a little jockeying while on the first part to get a better line. Once at the top, I realized I had done at least part of it with my e-brake on. I must have applied it just before my attempt, as I began to get out of the jeep, but the other group that was there told me to go ahead. They were sending someone around the back who had a winch.
YellowBronco was next, and had very little trouble with it.
Next up was Klif. Ahh, but for a rear locker, he would have made it. He gave an excellent attempt, but had to back off after getting up on the first ledge.
We hung out and had lunch, and chatted with the other group that was there. A bunch of good people, a husband and wife each driving their own rig. The wife was really fun to watch, as was her husband while he spotted her as they drove around the back side of rock chucker. Which is kind of fun by itself.
We headed out towards widowmaker, and had great views of the valley at the rim. As Rick predicted, widowmaker had a rather large puddle at the base, and that did make the obstacle significantly harder. Rick tried first, but his departure angle wouldn't allow him to do much more than get his front tires up the wall a little ways.
I tried next, but had to back off after I realized I was a bit low on tranny fluid, and the tranny would slip when I got my front wheels up on the top.
Yellow bronco gave it a go, but ended up getting a little sideways two or three times. We realized how much that puddle was working against us at this obstacle. You had no choice but to drive right through it as you lined up for the wall. Yellowbronco backed off to give someone else a shot.
Klif01 came up, and gave a great effort. I think again, if he would have had a rear locker, he would have made it without any assistance. As it was, he made it far enough that with a little pull from 4 guys, he came right up and over.
Once I got the tranny filled up, I decided to give it another go, but using the strap and those guys for a little protection. Three times (each after repositiong a little more to the left), I got a little too sideways, and thanks to those guys, didn't get anything more than a little air on the p-side front (no damage). Finally, after the third trip towards the side, I decided to take the strap, and Klif brought me right up.
Not to be outdone, Yellowbronco decided to give it another go with the strap as protection. He gave it a great effort, but again, wet tires on slickrock aren't a great combination. Finally, he got a bit sideways, and slightly wedged on the rock at the base, so I pulled him up and over.
The ride out was interesting, and directly into the sun. It became very difficult to see at times, but the day was simply excellent.
We had Pizza at The Poplar Place for dinner. Great pizza.
Saturday, I met up with Bryson (buggified Sami), Ilean (his comp rig), Ogre (newer Ford Ranger on 35s) and Cruiser (passenger/trail *****). We decided to go out and run the proving grounds. I had never seen them, so I was pretty interested in checking them out.
There was no trouble for anyone in the group on lower proving grounds.
Ogre:
Ilean:
BlackSheep:
Didn't get any photos of Bryson on lower, cause he made the obstacles look too easy.
We headed over to middle PG, and this time, Bryson was leading, followed by Ilean, me, and ogre. We came through the first little off camber thing, and stopped for a minute to watch Bryson come up over the first major obstacle. About the time he made it up, we began to wonder what happened to ogre. He was stuck in 2wd in the sand on the other side of the off camber deal.
Turned out, that he blew his front driveshaft (the CV joint - not clear on exactly what happened, maybe Bryson or Ogre can chime in with exact carnage). Anyway, after about 15 minutes of troubleshooting, Bryson finally noticed the front drive line. We winched him up out of his stuck position, and he drove through the off camber obstacle in 2wd (actually 4w low, but without front drive). Ilean and I ran the obstacle, then we all had a great time watching Ogre come out the bypass. He actually made it a lot further than any of us expected, and he made it out on his own power.
Then it was over to the sand hill, where the carnage continued. Ogre jumped his rig and landed so hard, he caused several problems with his rig (and Cruiser got it on video!!) First, his d-side airbag deployed. If that wasn't enough, the entire body shifted forward on the frame enough for the front turnsignals to contact the heavy duty pre-runner bumper. Finally, he was now driving a truck with some serious alignment issues. The wheels were now toed out, and had some serious negative camber. It was still drivable though, so we decided to cruise over and watch Bryson and Ilean run upper PG.
Bryson was next in the carnage line when his engine started making a strange sound. We listed to it, and thought it may be a rod (or rods), so he was out. It was up to Ilean to show us the way on Upper PG.
Ilean lined up on the first obstacle, and pretty much walked it. However, since noone else got to see it, he backed down it and managed to snag his UROC approved kill switch on his driveline......after a few minutes of messing with it, we got it untangled and he gave it a go for the cameras this time.
As he lined up to make that second attempt, we all heard a nice little pop, but didn't think too much of it. As he approached the second major obstacle, we realized that something was truly amiss. Someone mentioned t-case, someone else mentioned R&P, and as soon as he got on the gas at the second obstacle, we heard the pinion ratchet against the ring gear. That was the end of our day.
(this is when we heard the R&P ratchet)
I towed Bryson's rig back to his trailer, then we called it a day. Fun while it lasted, but a rather short day with a lot of carnage.
thanks to everyone who I rode with this weekend. It was a great time.
the rest of the photos I took are here:
http://www.shutterfly.com/view/pictures.jsp?aid=67b0de21b33a9587a411
<edit>I may have to swap these photos over to imagestation, as apparantly you need to login to view them. I'll update later. </edit>
