unprepared vehicles on Pritchett Canyon

[rondo]

This was my pet peeve when down in Moab. Why should our day be ruined and slowed to a crawl because of people bringing their woefully unprepared vehicles to Pritchett? My rant, but my thing is either be an awesome driver or have a vehicle which is ready for a '5' trail. Several roll overs, rigs without lockers, and a guy in a full size blazer (a very sweet classic 69?) but he was obviously skeered shatless and had to be pulled and prodded.

Is it the worthless 4x4 rags or tv shows that make people want to go to the extreme before their ready?

What da ya all think?

 

[notajeep]

when you figure this out, please let me know.... But living in Moab now, it seems to be a fact of life. I waited at the bottom of cliffhanger for 45 minutes for a line of stock jeeps to get past that first ledge after the creek crossing.
I think that people who have never really engaged low range, are blown away at what a difference 4wd can make and then assume that they can now go anywhere.
I blame stacy from trucks. He always was a tool. :greg:

 

[Shawn]

It dosen't just happen in Moab and Prichett........ it happens everywhere, just look at some of the previous post on Constrictor.

 

[1993yj]

I have had many of these same problems, and on occassion with organized trail rides by popular groups. I think that people should have some etiquette, and much like golf, let a smaller, faster, and more capable group "play through". Obviously events like Easter Safari have different rules, but individual groups should follow this "rule".

 

[kirk86CJ]

What color was the blazer?

Just curious

 

[dunatic67]

What day did you run Pritchett?

 

[Bart]

I think a lof of the problem is the group friends or leaders that talk these people into hard trails and then don't know how to handle the situation.

I remember going to Die Trying and one guy brought a friend that had a very clean CJ7, lockers, but 3.55 gears and a standard. You just don't go there without gears. I asked them several times if they were sure they wanted to do it that way. It took us forever to get the guy through, with body damage, and we ended up dragging him the last part of the trail.

It was ugly.

 

[mbryson]

I think a lof of the problem is the group friends or leaders that talk these people into hard trails and then don't know how to handle the situation. ...........

I totally agree with that. That's what I don't get about these kind of situations. I've been properly equipped for Pritchett for quite some time and have taken an easier trail to run with guys I'd like to run a trail with. Honestly, I had just as much fun or more running the 'boring' trails. I didn't 'push' me or my vehicle that day, but had a lot of fun and that's what we're all out there for, isn't it?

It SUCKS to have to drag a vehicle, prepared or not, through a trail. If you take an underprepared rig through a trail, that decreases the fun quotient of everybody in your group and any one behind you. People usually understand if something breaks and you have to drag something, but if you're trying to get show rig through a nasty trail without damage by taking 20 minutes on a non-obstacle, I'll be the first one to *****. At least have the decency to let people 'play through'........

 

[ZUKEYPR]

It wouldn't be so bad if folks just put the billy bad attitude aside and take a strap every now and then. The last time I was on RS some guy must of tried 2 dozen times to make the right side of the waterfall when if he just moved over a few feet he could of walked right up, this is while about 7 rigs were patiently waiting behind him. What ever happened to the three attempts then take the strap concept? Then again we probably provoke the 2 dozen attempts by standing there in a crowd watching the yahoo. Maybe the answer is nobody be a spectator and just stay in your rig and just maybe, with a little luck they will get the message.
I agree with the previous staement. I see other wheelers egging on the less capable wheeler either by driving ability or rig itself to go on trails above their capability. If you're going in a group you ought to be wheeling to the weakest link.

 

[sibeta]

i remember like 7 years ago watching the rick russell video where he does pritchett and thought it didnt look so bad. Well that video was done years prior and there had been some major changes to some obstacles as you can imagine. We didnt take that into account and we took our jeep out on it and were totally caught off guard on places like rocker knocker. It was hilarious. Luckily it was the off season down in moab and we didnt see anybody else the entire day.

 

[Herzog]

I think a lof of the problem is the group friends or leaders that talk these people into hard trails and then don't know how to handle the situation.

x2. I'm guilty of talking people into going on trails they are minimally equipt for but leaned my lesson fast.

 

[grntaco]

It wouldn't be so bad if folks just put the billy bad attitude aside and take a strap every now and then.

There definately was a whole lot of that. Some guy was on Rocker Knocker for 45min trying to get up and when I told him the line he needed to do he said he knows the line but it was too slick. So I thought you are going to just keep trying the impossible when dry line straight up it when its all wet? I rode my bike instead of driving because of all the people on the trail and half of them were really cool people that belonged on the trail and the other half were asses that kept trying to run me off the trail because they didn't want to wait their turn with a bike or rigs that belonged on Fins and Things. Did anyone see the guys on the trails motorcycles? Those guys were crazy.

 

[1993yj]

Pritchett gets real bad at Rocker Knocker. For some reason I always make the mistake of doing Pritchett over EJS. I always do it when RR4W are not on it, and with the way the trails are run now, somedays it is one of the few available to run if you dont go with the RR4W. Anyhow, I fully expect to wait for 2+ hours while at Rocker Knocker, but it still pisses me off when yahoos try the damn obstacle over three times. I completely agree with the 3 strikes and you strap rule. If you are by yourself, with no one else in sight behind you, take all day for all I care, but if there is an obvious line behind you, dont try for 15+ minutes like many people did last EJS. Complete asshats. I am also not as against people pushing the limits of their rigs. My first few times through Pritchett I was on 5" of SUA lift and 32" tires. We all have to try hard things to realize what we need to improve, where we are going to put the next paycheck into our vehicles, etc. But if you are underprepared, take the damn strap and get out of the way. And yes, I took a strap up Rocker Knocker after 3 strikes back then.

Too bad we are probably preaching to the choir here...

 

[Rot Box]

This has got to be one of the better threads I've seen lately. Everyone has their stories about trail manners (remember Kane Creek during EJS Notajeep?).

Personally, I know I don't have the baddest or most capable rig (mabey the sweetest looking........ ), but I HATE holding people up no matter what the trail rating is, and if their is someone behind me that wants to go faster (from my group or not) than so be it, it's not hard for me to pull over.

As for stock rigs on level 4-5's: One of the most important things (my opinion) when wheeling is knowing your limits (as a driver) as well as your vehicles limits, and if someone wants to forget about safety for some cheap thrills then.........as wrong as it seems people tend do it all the time (I know I'm guilty.....lessons learned). The thing that bothers me the most (I've seen it way too often :sick: ) is when the wife or girlfriend, and the kids are put into those situations too just because the driver didn't think too let them out for a minute or too. It's one thing to risk your own safety, but to involve others is just not cool!

 

[rondo]

I ran Pritchett last Saturday.

I'm not even saying a guy can't run it without the perfect setup. Try it but don't hold everyone up. First time I ran it was with lockers and 35s and I still got stuck in one spot. It was 2yrs ago and we winched 2 TJs through the hard spots. Those guys still brag about doing Pritchett but they've never gone again heh heh (Moabjeeper.com)

Anyway on Sat there was a YJ with beefed up axles and a perfect paint job. Tires were Pro-comp streets though. It was near the end of Pritchett with the climb straight up and a quick turn right off camber (dont' know if the obstacle has a name) I thought this guy won't make it. But he did at the 3rd try and i realized he was an awesome driver. Someone remarked that he'd been doing Pritchett since the 1950s or something

But yeah i'm all about trying 3 times and moving on to take a winch. The poor fellah in a CJ flopped his after trying several times. It was obvious he wouldn't make it! Being military i take leadership for granted. There was very little in the groups we observed. Where was the dude preparing the winch line for the rest? It seemed to me the guys who were the expert drivers with the built rigs who made it up were nowhere to be found when the unprepared vehicles hit the line. This just makes it worse! Do these guys have a responsibility to their group to help out?

 

[notajeep]

This has got to be one of the better threads I've seen lately. Everyone has their stories about trail manners (remember Kane Creek during EJS Notajeep?).

Do you mean the group of old men with the broken air locker, who wanted to take a picture of EVERY ROCK? Or the heep on the ledge that was broke down for an hour?

 

[durango man]

trying something that your rig or you cant do premotes becoming better and making your rig better dont get me wrong I hate being held up also the problem is that some people never learn

 

[notajeep]

You are exactly right. No one will fault you for breaking. But when you hold up the entire trail for (insert time amount here) when you could take ten minutes and limp\winch\drag your vehicle out of the way so others could pass.

 

[durango man]

that is all to true when I broke on metal masher last year I didnt screw around trying to fix it I winched my way off the obsticle & out of the way so I wasnt holding up the rest of the group just wish more people would do the same.

 

[leorn]

that is all to true when I broke on metal masher last year I didnt screw around trying to fix it I winched my way off the obsticle & out of the way so I wasnt holding up the rest of the group just wish more people would do the same.

That's the way to do it. EJS this year I waited 2 hours for a buggy w/a ball joint broke on rocker knocker, and a stock rubicon w/ a tacoed tierod on the "bypass". year before that someone was broke there as well. I think its fun to see carnage, but there is a definite lack of ettiquette for letting people by.

been thinkin about starting an ettiquette of rockcrawling thread. I need to search first to make sure it doesn't exist already. It should be a sticky though!