HTeK
July 24th, 2006, 20:34
I got the chance to run fordyce last Saturday. This was my first time on fordyce and only my second "real" run with the jeep. Needless to say, my lack of seat time showed - this trail is tough. Nevertheless, I had a blast!
We hit the trail about 8:00 in the morning hoping to beat the traffic - we did until winch hill 1 owned my ass (more on that below). I went up with 2 other rigs, a yota and a beat up sprung under CJ5.
http://img146.imageshack.us/img146/1782/dscf0106be2.jpg
If you haven't been, it's awesome up there!
http://img136.imageshack.us/img136/4203/dscf0111gg9.jpg
Dreamflows hadn't been reporting the water flow for a while... we were all very nervous heading down... We thought our day could have very well ended at the first crossing. Luckily for us, the water was deep but passable. This yota is sittin pretty high on 35's. In the deepest spots, I'd say the water was a little over 40" deep.
http://img162.imageshack.us/img162/1106/dscf0116fs1.jpg
I thought for sure we were going to have trouble with my buddy's CJ... This little rig worked great all day.
http://img136.imageshack.us/img136/9241/dscf0131mq6.jpg
At this point, the only problem I ran into was with my newly fabbed bumpstop on the passenger side. The rubber/foam bump tore in half. My bump stop turned into an uncomfortable "clunk" stop for the rest of the day. A little metal to metal contact never hurt anybody.:o
http://img162.imageshack.us/img162/5108/dscf0134ah1.jpg
My buddy in the yota walked winch hill 1. Didn't stop once - didn't back up - didn't need a spotter. He is by far the most amazing driver I have ever seen, he has incredible finesse.
http://img162.imageshack.us/img162/5843/dscf0136xv3.jpg
I had little doubt that I could tackle WH1. Especially after seeing a comparable rig make it look like so easy. This is where I learned a big lesson - i need more seat time. Even with the help of a spotter, I simply could not position myself in the correct line to make it all the way up. I just couldn't make the back end cooperate. Finally, my jeep yeilded to the mighty Fordyce. Popped my front dshaft. Winched back down the hill and started pondering a welding solution. Luckily, I had some 6013 with me... and just as we were about to give it a go, a couple of rich old bastards with way too nice of rigs came rolling through with a ready welder. While the guy was kind of a dick, I owe him BIGTIME. 2.5 hours later, we were back on the road. I took the bypass and much to my dismay... that little CJ even made it up WH1.
http://img162.imageshack.us/img162/4281/dscf0138ai8.jpg
My pride was hurt and i really had a hard time getting into the groove the rest of the day... I was struggling where I shouldn't have been. To add insult to injury, I exposed one of the weaknesses of going leafs up front. I somehow managed to tweak my driver side front spring to the point where my shackle kept inverting backwards every time i drooped out and came down quickly. This happened several times - I finally got creative and made an "anti-kickback" device that worked flawlessly the rest of the day.
http://img162.imageshack.us/img162/7229/dscf0147nv2.jpg
Somehow, he managed to drive out of this. I dont know that the picture really does it justice - it truly defied the law of gravity.
http://img153.imageshack.us/img153/681/dscf0153oo6.jpg
Towards the very end I did wind up getting my confidence back...
http://img214.imageshack.us/img214/6758/dscf0155jd1.jpg
But ultimatly, Fordyce had the last laugh - and honestly I could do nothing but laugh myself. We finished the trail and as I opened my door, it fell to the ground.
http://img153.imageshack.us/img153/2431/dscf0158ac5.jpg
I can't wait to get back up there again... I have exposed some more weaknesses in the rig. I will be fixing those and hopefully heading back up to do it again - and thus the cycle begins.
-Justin
We hit the trail about 8:00 in the morning hoping to beat the traffic - we did until winch hill 1 owned my ass (more on that below). I went up with 2 other rigs, a yota and a beat up sprung under CJ5.
http://img146.imageshack.us/img146/1782/dscf0106be2.jpg
If you haven't been, it's awesome up there!
http://img136.imageshack.us/img136/4203/dscf0111gg9.jpg
Dreamflows hadn't been reporting the water flow for a while... we were all very nervous heading down... We thought our day could have very well ended at the first crossing. Luckily for us, the water was deep but passable. This yota is sittin pretty high on 35's. In the deepest spots, I'd say the water was a little over 40" deep.
http://img162.imageshack.us/img162/1106/dscf0116fs1.jpg
I thought for sure we were going to have trouble with my buddy's CJ... This little rig worked great all day.
http://img136.imageshack.us/img136/9241/dscf0131mq6.jpg
At this point, the only problem I ran into was with my newly fabbed bumpstop on the passenger side. The rubber/foam bump tore in half. My bump stop turned into an uncomfortable "clunk" stop for the rest of the day. A little metal to metal contact never hurt anybody.:o
http://img162.imageshack.us/img162/5108/dscf0134ah1.jpg
My buddy in the yota walked winch hill 1. Didn't stop once - didn't back up - didn't need a spotter. He is by far the most amazing driver I have ever seen, he has incredible finesse.
http://img162.imageshack.us/img162/5843/dscf0136xv3.jpg
I had little doubt that I could tackle WH1. Especially after seeing a comparable rig make it look like so easy. This is where I learned a big lesson - i need more seat time. Even with the help of a spotter, I simply could not position myself in the correct line to make it all the way up. I just couldn't make the back end cooperate. Finally, my jeep yeilded to the mighty Fordyce. Popped my front dshaft. Winched back down the hill and started pondering a welding solution. Luckily, I had some 6013 with me... and just as we were about to give it a go, a couple of rich old bastards with way too nice of rigs came rolling through with a ready welder. While the guy was kind of a dick, I owe him BIGTIME. 2.5 hours later, we were back on the road. I took the bypass and much to my dismay... that little CJ even made it up WH1.
http://img162.imageshack.us/img162/4281/dscf0138ai8.jpg
My pride was hurt and i really had a hard time getting into the groove the rest of the day... I was struggling where I shouldn't have been. To add insult to injury, I exposed one of the weaknesses of going leafs up front. I somehow managed to tweak my driver side front spring to the point where my shackle kept inverting backwards every time i drooped out and came down quickly. This happened several times - I finally got creative and made an "anti-kickback" device that worked flawlessly the rest of the day.
http://img162.imageshack.us/img162/7229/dscf0147nv2.jpg
Somehow, he managed to drive out of this. I dont know that the picture really does it justice - it truly defied the law of gravity.
http://img153.imageshack.us/img153/681/dscf0153oo6.jpg
Towards the very end I did wind up getting my confidence back...
http://img214.imageshack.us/img214/6758/dscf0155jd1.jpg
But ultimatly, Fordyce had the last laugh - and honestly I could do nothing but laugh myself. We finished the trail and as I opened my door, it fell to the ground.
http://img153.imageshack.us/img153/2431/dscf0158ac5.jpg
I can't wait to get back up there again... I have exposed some more weaknesses in the rig. I will be fixing those and hopefully heading back up to do it again - and thus the cycle begins.
-Justin