King of the Hammers! Who wants to go?!

[The Hard Struggler]

OK. Here is where we stand. We have room for 5 in the tow pig and in the trailrigs.

We have 4 confirmed for this trip, we need 5. Splitting the fuel cost 5 ways brings it to around $350-$400 each.

You KNOW you want in on this adventure!! YOU can be lucky number 5! Post up NOW!

We will be riding out there in a NICE 2010 Dodge Ram. Here is a brief rundown on your travel companions....



Latney-- AKA 'Maxcfm'. Owner of the luxurious Dodge tow pig. A man gracious and smart. Camps in style. Wears a funny hat most of the time.


Mark Morton-- AKA 'High2by'. Family man with a passion for wheeling. Treasurer of the S.E.C. Funny man, with a great sence of humor.


Tyler-- AKA 'Team Willys'. Owner of RockSolid Offroad Fabrication. Builder and owner of 'Betty' an awesome tube buggy. The man you want with you when it's 3am, 25degrees out and yo' $hit is busted on the trail!


Tim--AKA 'TheHardStruggler'. Builder of things. I also can cook.


Here are the trail rigs going.



BETTY

STRUGGLE WAGON

 

[MELKORsXJ]

Tim, i tried calling the other day and got no answer... I won't be able to make it for this trip; i don't have the extra $500 layin' around...

You guys have no idea how much I am looking forward to this!

Tyler man, i'm not sure how this trip is possible for ya...

Yep... spentWAY TOO much money today, but in a couple of weeks Betty will have a Twin Sticked Dana 20 (yes that means front digs!!!) with a Teralow and 32 spline heavy duty output from AA, as well as 1/4" wall DOM Drive shafts front and rear. I ordered all of the parts today... Im still sore from the bill.

So I paid for all of it (all together it was ~$1600 for everything needed including yokes for the driveshafts).

I have about $1150 worth of bills to pay in January, and right now, other than the $295 I got today, I am completely broke. And when I say broke, I mean I don't have a single dollar to my name.

...man, i wish i could afford this trip too; i don't know how you do it, what's the secret? :dunno: prostitution?

And finally, I NEED to pay off my Credit Card ASAP!

...probably a good idea, among others means you owe money to.

 

[Team Willys]

...man, i wish i could afford this trip too; i don't know how you do it, what's the secret? :dunno: prostitution?

I wish! At least then I'd be getting some! haha :laugh3:

Work is steady enough to pay bills, but not pay for the trip, so I dug through the spare parts and did some house cleaning. I was luckily able to sell enough parts off to get enough money to go. Its a win win situation, shop has less junk in it, and I have a little fun money in my pocket.

 

[The Hard Struggler]

OK. Here is where we stand. We have room for 5 in the tow pig and in the trailrigs.

We have 4 confirmed for this trip, we need 5. Splitting the fuel cost 5 ways brings it to around $350-$400 each.

You KNOW you want in on this adventure!! YOU can be lucky number 5! Post up NOW!

We will be riding out there in a NICE 2010 Dodge Ram. Here is a brief rundown on your travel companions....



Latney-- AKA 'Maxcfm'. Owner of the luxurious Dodge tow pig. A man gracious and smart. Camps in style. Wears a funny hat most of the time.


Mark Morton-- AKA 'High2by'. Family man with a passion for wheeling. Treasurer of the S.E.C. Funny man, with a great sence of humor.


Tyler-- AKA 'Team Willys'. Owner of RockSolid Offroad Fabrication. Builder and owner of 'Betty' an awesome tube buggy. The man you want with you when it's 3am, 25degrees out and yo' $hit is busted on the trail!


Tim--AKA 'TheHardStruggler'. Builder of things. I also can cook.


Here are the trail rigs going.



BETTY

STRUGGLE WAGON

I'll Say It Again!!!!!!



Looking for #5!!!!!!!

 

[IMPRZV1]

I will be there, so if you see a dark red XJ on 35s say hi!

Drive safe

 

[Team Willys]

Somebody man up! Lets do this!

 

[Team Willys]

Bump! Come on guys! Someone commit!

 

[FlexdXJ]

Bump! Come on guys! Someone commit!

Tyler, you don't know how bad I want to! But I am gonna have to Drive to what, Chattanooga to meet you guys? Damn it i want to but don't think I can!

Edit: Just looked and that would leave me with 3-4 vacation days for the rest of the year. I WANNA GO SO BAD THOUGH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Team Willys]

You could meet us in Knoxville or Nashville, whichever is closer for you. Man, seriously, we NEED you to go, no joke. It would help all of us out a lot for someone to commit. I am going to go get the trailer this weekend, which is goind to cost me about $60 in fuel to do so. I am going on as planned, and hoping someone will step up to the plate. Honestly, its going to be extremly tight and possibly not doable if we don't get a fifth person, especially since the cost of diesel seems to keep creeping up. Its needs to start going back down soon.

 

[Team Willys]

Ok, now that we have a guaranteed 5 people, we can all breath a side of relief.

So here's a short run down of ideas and a list of what everybody needs to bring.

Obviously, you need to bring cloths, toiletries (toothbrush, toothpaste, deodorant, etc) as well as sleeping stuff. Tim has one queen size air mattress and there is room for another one too. Either Tim or Latney: something to cook on, I know Tim has charcoal, but what about rain??? You two work that out lol. Basically just bring what you would if you were going camping, but no tent.

Food; there is no real reason to haul food all the way out there... California has Wal-marts too! We need to take a couple of coolers with us for the food once we get out there. I have 2, but they aren't that big so if somebody has a BIG one that will probably be better. I have a large red storage bin that we can keep dry foods in.

Jeeps; Tim and I will take care of ourselves, we will have everything ready to go and we will work out the tools too. I am hoping to have on board air on Betty by then (been waiting on parts for 2 months), so that could come in really handy.

I am going to go pick up the trailer on Saturday morning, and I will insepct everything to make sure it is road worthy.

PLease make any additions and/or edits to this as you feel needed. We all need to stay working together for everything to go smoothly.

 

[High2by]

Is there room for all 5 in Tim's tent? If so I'll bring another air matress and a sleeping bag. I'll bring my 10' x 10' EZ up if we need it. Just let me know on that guys.

I'm looking forward to this!

 

[Cottontail]

If y'all are coming through Nashville on the way, I've got two tents and a large (54 qt) Igloo cooler you are welcome to borrow.

Let me know. Mark knows where to find me...

 

[The Hard Struggler]

Sorry i've been so scarce lately. Internets have been down.


Yes my tent will hold all of us.

Mark, if you have another air mattress that will be enough for 2, with my queensize, if someone has a single it should be enough room in the tent. The EZ up would be a great idea for over the cook table.

I have big coolers for food and beverages.

As far as cooking goes, I can bring my small table top grill and charcoal, or we can use Latney's gas stove, i'll call Latney and talk it over.

I also have a big steel Greenlee box that we can lock in the bed of the truck for some secure storage while away from camp. Locking stuff in Latney's Ram may risk a broken window if the gremlins can see our goods from outside.

I have enough cookery for everyones food prep and serving.

 

[Cottontail]

Out of nothing more than pure curiosity, did y'all decide on what route you are taking out there?

 

[Team Willys]

We aren't 100% sure yet, kinda depends on weather I guess???

 

[NDMstang65]

Across 40 isn't bad, has some good sites..no huge mountains or anything to really cross. Oklahoma pretty much sucks to drive across though. It is better than going across 70 though which I would avoid this time of year especially towing. I drove across 40 in 3 days last time staying in Memphis, and Amarillo.

 

[FlameRedTJ]

Yea I agree 40 shouldn't be to bad. Dan and I went across 70 mid Dec. of 09 and it was a baaaaaad idea with 32' GN. Did ok and we got beyond lucky with the weather as the blizzard hit the week we got back out in Nebraska and the likes (we came back 80).

We went to Battle Mtn which is about the same longitude and it took about 36hrs, maybe little more, only stopping for fuel and food. Chasing the sun is not fun as dan will tell you. And i'm sure OK/N.TX/NW/AZ is the same as KS/CO, fill up at 3/8 of a tank. Its not like the south with an exit ever 3-5mi. Its about every 50 or so out there. I said start looking at 1/4 like I usually do and we damn near ran out. We got 9.5-10.5 mpg out of my 06 5.9 grossing eh...maybe 18.5k lbs. And we were stopping about every 250-275mi which adds the most to time. So with that 6.7, one extra rig, and 3 extra bodies gonna be a good bit more.

It will be a nice ride in that 4th gen though. The back is quite roomy. If I could get 4th gen with a 5.9 I'd trade mine in no doubt.

It'll def. be fun though, I know getting into the 30hrs with little sleep and lots of riding I was getting out of sorts but looking back it was a great adventure. Stoping for the night makes it much more manageable and easier on the mind but does add cost. Good luck and take lots of pictures! Here's a few from ours.

What you don't want to have to deal with. Thats getting close to the top of I-70 around 10,000 ft.

Something to look forward to. We just don't have these here. Pretty awesome.

 

[nosigma]

Have a great time. You wont forget this trip.

I was there in November a couple of years ago. Snow is not unheard of. It can get silly cold, in the 20's but normally its in the 40's at night. Its about a 30 minute trip to the nearest town and the sidewalks get rolled up pretty early. During the event you will have porta-johns but after that your on your own. Digging a hole is not going to happen and there is no cover anywhere, plan ahead. The bomb craters sneak up on you at night so watch out. The whoops coming in are pretty wild so watch the speed. Snag some pallets on the way in for fire wood, you will have no shortage of friends after the sun goes down and the temperature drops. Drink water constantly, it may be cool but is still super dry out. You will enjoy the beer more and feel better. Be sure your axle-tire combo's are up to it. The rocks are grippier than what I have wheeled at Crozet & Rausch, so your not having to carry in any wheel speed like you do back here to clear mud and dirt when starting up an obstacle and due to the grip you get the wheel speed will break axles faster than what you might be use to. The volcanic stuff can be really really sharp, great grip but its heck on sidewalls.

You will be happy taking 40 highway. I have driven it many times and other than the mountains going through Flagstaff you shouldnt have any weather issues. Most of my trips were to/from Wichita but using 40 from the east coast I have always found crossing Arkansas to be the slowest and most annoying part. Have a great time.

John

 

[Team Willys]

Thanks to all who have replied! This kind of information goes a long way into helping us have a fun, successful, and safe trip. We all appreciate the insight.

I picked up the trailer today, and WOW! Its big, but its not that heavy and it pulls very nice. Its pretty new and everything looks good on it. The only thing it needs is a couple of lights and a new plug for the wiring. Also, the breakaway box isn't functioning, but that's not something I want to fool with today. I will figure that out tomorrow or during the week.

 

[Team Willys]

Ok, so the lights and brakes are all working on the trailer now thanks to a new plug. I still need to check out the breakaway box stuff, but I'll do that tomorrow along with removing the 4 locking lug nuts and installing regulars.

Some other things I thought of... does somebody have a video camera? I know Latney has a good picture camera, but it would be nice for the RSOR you tube channel to get a few new videos. Another thing... maybe some binoculars? I don't know how far away we will be but it might not hurt to have a pair with us.