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The Rubicon Trail, take 2--July 6-9, 2013

TurboMinivan

TurboMinivan

Still plays with cars
Location
Lehi, UT
I finally sat down and added up my gas receipts for the Suburban. I had filled it up the night before leaving home to establish the start of the trip, and I filled it up again when I returned home. The totals: 1,235 miles and 128.98 gallons for 9.6 mpg overall. Considering I was doing 70+ MPH virtually the whole time, and I was in complete comfort with the A/C blasting away non-stop, I can live with that.
 
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Rock Taco

Rock Taco

Well-Known Member
Location
Sandy
TurboMinivan said:
How about this little video from the first seriously challenging obstacle (which was well before the Loon Lake entrance):

[video=youtube;GtcSOexAne8]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GtcSOexAne8[/video]
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Its been a few years since I have been on the Rubicon but that looks like Devils Postpile. The preferred line for jeeps used to be to the right of the rock the guys is standing on on the right side of the trail. Placing the drivers tire over that rock. I heard a couple of years ago it changed but I haven't seen it.
 
TurboMinivan

TurboMinivan

Still plays with cars
Location
Lehi, UT
Rock Taco said:
Its been a few years since I have been on the Rubicon but that looks like Devils Postpile.
Click to expand...

That's what Brett kept calling it, too.

I heard a couple of years ago it changed but I haven't seen it.
Click to expand...

The guy in this video makes it look outrageously easy. It was not. Most of our group stalled and/or had difficulty finding a good line on this obstacle.
 
Rot Box

Rot Box

Diesel and Dust
Supporting Member
Location
Smithfield Utah
Great report. Looks like a good time! :cool:

My brother is trying to talk me into running the Rubicon this fall but I think it would eat my 100 series alive :ugh:
 
sLcREX

sLcREX

Formerly Maldito X
Location
Utah
Great report, all the detail you went through typing that up made it feel like I was there living it with you guys :D So I'm guessing that it's a safe idea to carry spare parts that could potentially break when going through the Rubicon? Or is that depending on whether or not you take the hard lines vs bypasses etc? Or is there even a bypass for most obstacles?
 
sixstringsteve

sixstringsteve

Well-Known Member
Location
UT
You definitely want to carry spares on that trail, as it is very remote, and breakage is quite common.

Most obstacles on that trail do not have a bypass. It's nothing like Rattlesnake. There is no easy dirt road going around every obstacle.
 
mbryson

mbryson

.......a few dollars more
Supporting Member
Location
Bountiful, land of rocks
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Someone told me the trail was similar to running Golden Spike for 20 miles. I'd say that's a decent description. The trail is an endurance test as much as anything. It's not particularly brutal and there are a few bypasses, but you drove all the way there, why take them? I don't usually drive by skinny pedal and the trail didn't require that except for one optional ledge I was on near Buck Island Lake. (I needed some wheelspin to go over some polished granite on some uphill ledges--took me three attempts to give the obstacle the fuel it required)

Things that are suspect would be stock Jeep sheetmetal suspension tabs, XJ steering box mounts on the "frame", and similarly mass produced weak points on a fairly stock rig. Whatever suspension, axle, powertrain or steering weakness your vehicle has will be exposed by the trail (any "hard" trail will do that).

I was flip-flopping all over the place on driving my JKU out vs taking my trail Jeep and I'm glad I took the trail Jeep. I think I could have gotten the JK through, but it would have beat it up more than I'm comfortable with at this time. I definitely would have chosen different lines than I did with the trail Jeep. The "Jeep" just took the trail in stride wherever I pointed it. Honestly, I think the tire size was a HUGE factor. Brett and I ran the biggest tires and had the least issues with the trails. I'm running 38" Kevlars and he's running 39" Iroks. I think EVERYONE else was running 35" tires with manual transmissions. I KNOW I was the only one with a slushbox and that made some parts of the trail pretty stinking easy, to be honest.

I didn't kill any parts on my one ton rig, but it's going to kill some parts if I spent, say 10 days on the trail? Dumb stuff like leaf springs, trans mounts or the like. I doubt I'd kill axles, but smaller things are going to get a workout. More gas pedal will kill more parts. Whatever's weak in your drivetrain will bust.
 
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TurboMinivan

TurboMinivan

Still plays with cars
Location
Lehi, UT
mbryson said:
IMG_1185%20(Small).JPG
Click to expand...

See that big rock that people are standing on? That is what the white Jeep in the video I posted is going around. This is the devil's postpile. First you must go left around the moderately-sized rock that you see in the sun, then you cut to the right and squeeze around/up the bigger rocks in the shade. Fun.
 
G

gcb17

Registered User
Location
Franklin NC
mbryson said:
Someone told me the trail was similar to running Golden Spike for 20 miles. I'd say that's a decent description. The trail is an endurance test as much as anything. It's not particularly brutal and there are a few bypasses, but you drove all the way there, why take them? I don't usually drive by skinny pedal and the trail didn't require that except for one optional ledge I was on near Buck Island Lake. (I needed some wheelspin to go over some polished granite on some uphill ledges--took me three attempts to give the obstacle the fuel it required)

Things that are suspect would be stock Jeep sheetmetal suspension tabs, XJ steering box mounts on the "frame", and similarly mass produced weak points on a fairly stock rig. Whatever suspension, axle, powertrain or steering weakness your vehicle has will be exposed by the trail (any "hard" trail will do that).

I was flip-flopping all over the place on driving my JKU out vs taking my trail Jeep and I'm glad I took the trail Jeep. I think I could have gotten the JK through, but it would have beat it up more than I'm comfortable with at this time. I definitely would have chosen different lines than I did with the trail Jeep. The "Jeep" just took the trail in stride wherever I pointed it. Honestly, I think the tire size was a HUGE factor. Brett and I ran the biggest tires and had the least issues with the trails. I'm running 38" Kevlars and he's running 39" Iroks. I think EVERYONE else was running 35" tires with manual transmissions. I KNOW I was the only one with a slushbox and that made some parts of the trail pretty stinking easy, to be honest.

I didn't kill any parts on my one ton rig, but it's going to kill some parts if I spent, say 10 days on the trail? Dumb stuff like leaf springs, trans mounts or the like. I doubt I'd kill axles, but smaller things are going to get a workout. More gas pedal will kill more parts. Whatever's weak in your drivetrain will bust.
Click to expand...

Were you the only one on leaf springs f/r and did you find yourself pretty miserable with the poor ride? More so than a coil sprung rig? Multiple nonstop days on a rocky trail would probably drive me crazy in my junk on leaves f/r.
 
mbryson

mbryson

.......a few dollars more
Supporting Member
Location
Bountiful, land of rocks
gcb17 said:
Were you the only one on leaf springs f/r and did you find yourself pretty miserable with the poor ride? More so than a coil sprung rig? Multiple nonstop days on a rocky trail would probably drive me crazy in my junk on leaves f/r.
Click to expand...


There were three of us on leaf springs and one XJ. I'd estimate mine rode as well as anyone's rig (including coil sprung stuff?) with its XJ springs. It rides better than my JKU on 4" Tera lift springs (a little firm for my taste)
 
sLcREX

sLcREX

Formerly Maldito X
Location
Utah
mbryson said:
Someone told me the trail was similar to running Golden Spike for 20 miles. I'd say that's a decent description. The trail is an endurance test as much as anything. It's not particularly brutal and there are a few bypasses, but you drove all the way there, why take them? I don't usually drive by skinny pedal and the trail didn't require that except for one optional ledge I was on near Buck Island Lake. (I needed some wheelspin to go over some polished granite on some uphill ledges--took me three attempts to give the obstacle the fuel it required)

Things that are suspect would be stock Jeep sheetmetal suspension tabs, XJ steering box mounts on the "frame", and similarly mass produced weak points on a fairly stock rig. Whatever suspension, axle, powertrain or steering weakness your vehicle has will be exposed by the trail (any "hard" trail will do that).

I was flip-flopping all over the place on driving my JKU out vs taking my trail Jeep and I'm glad I took the trail Jeep. I think I could have gotten the JK through, but it would have beat it up more than I'm comfortable with at this time. I definitely would have chosen different lines than I did with the trail Jeep. The "Jeep" just took the trail in stride wherever I pointed it. Honestly, I think the tire size was a HUGE factor. Brett and I ran the biggest tires and had the least issues with the trails. I'm running 38" Kevlars and he's running 39" Iroks. I think EVERYONE else was running 35" tires with manual transmissions. I KNOW I was the only one with a slushbox and that made some parts of the trail pretty stinking easy, to be honest.

I didn't kill any parts on my one ton rig, but it's going to kill some parts if I spent, say 10 days on the trail? Dumb stuff like leaf springs, trans mounts or the like. I doubt I'd kill axles, but smaller things are going to get a workout. More gas pedal will kill more parts. Whatever's weak in your drivetrain will bust.
Click to expand...

Thanks for going over that detail, I guess that gives me pretty good insight as to what I would expect if running the Rubicon, it's not a trail that I've really given much thought as far as running, but of course I'm looking to expand on where I've been and places I want to go so hopefully this will be in my future.

And Steve, thanks for your input also, I'm guessing spare CV's and axle shafts would be the top things to carry on the trail?
 
mbryson

mbryson

.......a few dollars more
Supporting Member
Location
Bountiful, land of rocks
I did just post up all my photos to my Dropbox account if you went on the trip and didn't get an email asking you to join Dropbox to see all my pics, shoot me a PM. (or if you're incredibly interested in living through my photos, I'd be fine with that as well)
 
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