Nice place for a tire change, it started to hail as he changed it!




This is the spot two trucks with stock steering bent a noodle. It is a tight left turn then up the hill....

Hmm... Looks like I better get a roof for mine!

Hey are we going to get a writeup on this trip? I've been looking forward to the whole story.

Sure...the trip starts out 43 miles from the CK exit on I-17 if coming in from Phoenix. the trail takes off to the right off Senator highway and is easy going for a little over a mile. You come to a gorgeous camping area. Then the trail starts down the creek bottom and for the most part, it stays there for about 3 miles. There's easier lines and tougher ones...and there's a few diff grabbers in there. The trail gets its 4 rating from this - barely. There's a few obstacles you can't really bypass, and guys on 31's gotta maneuver carefully to get pumpkins around the rocks.

Then you start going over ridge after ridge. The climbs are long and steep, as are the descents. The scenery is fantastic, but you have your hands full on the hillclimbs. There's a couple spots you look at and think to yourself - no way, but you can get up them with traction devices fairly easily.

We got to the mine turnoff (a dead end up some pretty gnarly looking switcbacks) at dark, so we didn't go that way. We stayed on the trail past there and encountered about a quarter mile of 20+ degree leans to the downhill side with nothing to stop you if you go off. That part was a little unnerving...especially in the dark and in the rain!

At about 10 miles the trail gets easy and you come back out about 2 miles west of Cleator.

It's a great trail with a little bit of everything....rock crawling, off camber moguls, gnarly hill climbs and downhills, and some pucker factor. I'm hoping we get an earlier start on it next time so we're not coming off it in the dark.

As for the carnage report....lots of us dragged diffs on rocks. Flip got hung up early on and had a big rock headed for his oil pan...a strategically stacked rock helped there.

I got hung up on a tougher line there but was able to rock out of it with both ends locked up.

Mike in the green X was behind me when I heard the familiar SSSSSSSS. He tore a sidewall on a protruding rock and killed one of his BFG's. Of course it started to sleet when we were changing it, and I ripped the ass out of my pants undoing his lugnuts. Don't ask.

Flip got hung up again on his diff further down the creek. both rear wheels were spinning in the air! I got around him somehow using lots of slider and tugged him off.

We told Marshall to go around the line I took there. What he didn't see was that he had to go around a couple huge boulders instead of driving over them. He came off them and sat the truck on its frame with the right front about a foot off the ground. Back tires just dug. After some jacking and shoving, we backed up the green X and tugged him off.

One thing we learned about this trail....if you lose the trail, chances are it runs right down the creek.

We got out of the creek bottom and started the roller coasters. One spot you come down steep and then have to make a 90 degree turn and go up something steeper and nastier. This is where the green X pretzelled a tierod and the hardbody mangled his idler arm. Both had to be towed up the hill. Flip and Thanatoz took the towing duties since they were lined up that way. Flips Pathy didn't like the pull, but made it nonetheless. We got them up to a relatively flat spot and fixed the X. The HB was pretty well shot in the steering department and had to be strapped up the rest of the hills, else the steering would fry itself each time. Fortunately he had a locker, as did the Pathfinder towing him.

Great run. Next time we need vehicles with fixed steering only though.

Except that I was the one who had to back all the way down that hill to pull Spike up. It had a 90 degree turn in it too.

Which is really fun going backwards.

LOL, yeah, Marshall was a bit nervous backing down...but stock steering is a big .

quote:

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DESERT RAT-I ripped the ass out of my pants undoing his lugnuts.

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By 'steering solution' they aren't talking about an idler arm reinforcement bracket. Both of our trucks had those. The X bent a tie rod into a 90* 'L', no exaggeration (I hope he posts a pic of that, it was cool). My HB bent the idler arm instead of the pivot, forcing the steering linkage into my frame, and also bent a tie rod.

Calmini has taken my order for a new steering setup, hopefully I'll be installing that this weekend.

-Spike

Damn you Dan!

Thanks for the report DR--just wanted to know what I missed. Sounds like some pretty serious stuff. Right now the pressure switch is out on my ARBs, so I'm waiting on a replacement. Planning on rerouting the air so the air chuck is out from under the hood.