Well, since the pics are posted, I guess its about time to get the trip report started.
As scheduled, we all met at the McDonalds on Oracle & Magee at 5:30 PM. Among the attendees at McDonalds were
Archangel & K5 (M38)
Russ (Beautiful CJ - Show Quality)
Robert, Heather & Fireball (Blazer)
Papa (White YJ)
Vinny & Wife (Red Rubicon)
Logan's Brother (Red YJ)
We rolled out around 6:10 after stocking up and headed for the Gap. We pulled into the trailhead right around 6:30'ish. At the trail head there was
Rocktoy (Rubicon)
Scooterd58 & ZJ95 (TJ)
Jamie (Bombadier Quad)
After the airing down and the drivers meeting, we all headed off into the night. What a night it would be. Our first stop was the dump bump, and Vinny in the Rubicon gave us our first bit of excitment. We had all come up the dump bump on the far right, where its a bit easier, but he wanted to try it at the steepest section in the middle with a stock wheelbase Rubicon
... At the very least, we hooked his winch to the red YJ, and he drove the obstacle with only a minor amount of winch assistance. I honestly beleive had he given a bit more throttle, he would have made it under his own power. The real excitment is after we disconnected the winch cable. I had not noticed that he had not gotten very far up beyond the top of the obstacle. After unhooking the winch, he tried to drive forward. Unfortunatley, a stick shift and steep obstacles can be difficult to get going on. Needless to say, Vinny rolled backwards, almost a 1/3 of the way down the obstacle. Fortuntatley, he was able to bring it to a stop, and the cable was IMMEDIATELY reconnected.
After our incident at the dump bump, we moved on and headed for kiss rock. By this time, the sun had begun to set and the temp's were perfect for a night of wheeling.... We all arrived at kiss right on schedule. I stopped at the bypass and allowed everyone to take a look at Kiss prior to commiting to it. Everyone tried it and made it with little trouble. Even Jamie on the quad, lifting tires and all, made short work of kiss. Logan's brother had been waiting on Logan and some other friends to catch up, and they were in route. After we cleared kiss rock, we started for the switchbacks. Everyone went through this with little trouble, and when we arrived at the top, we had two more quads and a SAS'd durango (Logan) behind us.
We stopped just prior to dropping down into the wash and took a few minutes to take a breather. I thought we were past the hard part, and everyone came out unscathed. Or, so I thought. We dropped down into the wash and headed for Coronado camp. Our timing was perfect and we hit the camp right around midnight. Just a ways further, we turned off and stopped at the step.
I should have kept driving....
Well, being the trail leader, I was first in line for the step. Again, I got out and let everyone survey it prior to trying it. Turns out, that after all of my carnage, there were not to many takers...
Anyway, going back to my attempt at the step... Rocktoy decided to jump into the Jeep, and we lined up for the step. I've done the step many many times, and I know the line quite well. (I can thank my friend Lonnie Paugh for that). I had the line, so I climbed up. The front end went up, and next thing I knew, it was bouncing over to the right (I was going slowly) and once it settled back down, I was at a 30* angle to the step to the right.
I backed down, lined up again, and tried again...and thats when it happened...
Boom. Some of the spectators said they saw the shockwave from the carnage actually transfer through the Jeep.
Now, being that I was driving, I cannot being to speculate what started this whole mess, but I think it was a combination of a weak frame and too much axle wrap.
Upon the explosion, it was initially thought that it was only my rear driveshaft. While this sucked, I was halfway ok with it. I picked up the PIECES of my rear driveshaft, and disengaged the rear axle (thank god for a twinstick t-case). I backed off of the step in front wheel drive and pulled it over to a flat spot to survey the damage. After surveying what I thought was all of the damage, Robert says "You've got bigger problems buddy". I crawled out from under the Jeep, and came to find that my frame was completley cracked in half on the drivers side, and it was cracking again on the passengers side.
I felt like I had been punched in the gut. I walked away for a moment and collected my thoughts. I knew that getting angry or upset would do no one anygood, but dammit, I was pissed. Anyway, I went back to the Jeep and after some conversation, we decided to use my winch to pull my frame back together and a large ratchet strap to hold the cracking side back together.
Knowing that there were still some substancial hills to tackle on the way out of the gap, I would need help. Logan's brother in the red YJ hooked up a strap to my rollcage, and we proceeded to drive out. At a blazing pace of 2 MPH, we headed for Oracle. The trip out was very interesting. At one point, the YJ got a liitte more speed than I had, and with the strap hooked high on my roll cage, it literally tried to endo my rig. My rig was standing on the front tires, and a average adult could have walked under the rear of my Jeep.
With only front wheel drive, and a busted frame, I had little traction in the front or stability in the front. For anyone who has ever run the gap, the switchbacks were by far the worst to get through.
The rest of the trip out was uneventful. I was within 5 feet of a red YJ the entire trip.
Upon hitting asphalt in Oracle, we disconnected the strap, and I drove it slowly to the first Circle K. We arrived there around 4 AM, which is exactly what I had predicted to begin with.
After everyone aired up, and packed up, most headed home. It was decided that Robert and Heather would go and get their trailer and bring me home. Again, I cannot thank you guys enough. I owe you one.
So, I waited while they went and got the trailer. Russ in the Green CJ was one of the last to leave, and he came back very quickly with a complaint of a strange noise from his drivetrain. I took a look at everything, and it all looked fine. Then I noticed that his front output was still in low range. I switched it to Neutral, and that stopped the problem, but he asked me to take a short ride with him to ensure the problem was fixed..I gladly accepted the offer.
We took off out of circle K and I can say thats one of the nicest jeeps I've ever been privledged of riding in. We went around the corner, and sure enough, the noise was gone. On the return trip, Russ decided to punch it to see what she'd do. Well, let me give a little background on this Jeep..
383 Stroker, 5.13 gears....lots of power, plenty of tourqe.
As we were rounding the corner on the way back, the throttle stuck wide open. Being smart, the first thing done was to pull the keys, but for the moment that the jeep was out of control, it was VERY frightening. That jeep has an awesome power plant in it, and I can personally vouch for it.
Shortly after arriving at Circle K, I found the source of the sticking throttle (interference from another cable) and fixed it in true jeeper fashion...zip tied it... He left and shortly after Vinny and Papa left me as well. I waited another 15 minutes or so at Circle K, and Robert & Heather showed up with the trailer. I also got to meet the cutest puppy in the world...Chevelle.
We pulled out of the Circle K around 5:30 AM. 12 hours on the nose of an adventure I'll not forget for a while. Unfortunatley, due to the extensive damage, I'll be out of the wheeling game for a while. I had some ideas last night of what I'm going to do, but I decided that when its done, I still want it to be a full bodied Jeep, so the YJ frame is the best option.
Thanks again to everyone that came out. I never dreamed there would be 12 rigs on a night run that lasted 12 hours and longer for some folks. Thank you also for being patient with me on the slow ride out to Oracle. You guys were all awesome.