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CO Trek Trail reports

Grant

NAXJA Lifetime Member
NAXJA Member
I hope everyone had a safe drive home. After Goatman and Bones left Sun am. Crunch, Carol and I had breakfast and then headed home arriving at noon.

I had a blast this trip, meeting old and new friends. Thanks to Led for leading OCG on Sat, good job. I will get the photos sorted soon and posted. Cheezer please email Troy if you did not already get my email.

Brad please email me, I want to find out who you bought your Atlas from. I thought you mentioned a really good deal.

No major damage, I bent the rear spring perches, but that was enough to convinve me to finally ditch the D35. So before Moab, D60 rear, Atlas 2, possibly D44 front. Test at Moab for the Johnson Valley run.

Grant
 
Great time in Colorado!

Had a blast in Colorado! Many thanks to all the great folks who provided leadership, straps & spotting. Really enjoyed the experience & meeting old & new trail companions. Just to make ya'll feel good, I'm posting this from Slickrock CG in good ole Moab. Got in this afternoon, 8-5. Looking forward to wheeling with you all again soon.
DonH
 
Hey Everybody,
Just wanted to let everyone know I made it home. She ran well enough to get me home and now wants me to reward her by finding out what I did to her. I mounted my new bumper tonight (my head is okay also :lol: ) and have my winch ready to go on tomorrow. I had an awesome time.
Thanks to all for a great non-event,
 
Pix & writeup thanks!!! we have a newsletter waiting on

Glad you had a great Non-Event!!!

Don H...you earned it, buddy...Rub it it why Don't ya! :cry:

Crunch...mo better than Fla I suppose?

Hope to see you folks at Moab 2003!

Woody
 
Crunch,

Did your Jeep still run like crap the next day? I DO have a o2 sensor around the same spot you do. Mine is in the cat though not in the pipe. Mine also got pushed into the floor like yours but not as bad.


My trip home was total shit! The t-case kept poping out of high range and into neutral. Started in Nabraska and we got to Lincoln before fwd progress was no longer possible. Figured out it was the t-case when I was going nowhere and grabed the t-case shift lever and the Jeep made a big clunk and started moving. Got about 10 feet and it was grinding and clunking.

A State trooper helped us off freeway and gave us directions to a hotel. We wound up getting lost and stopped at a gas station for directions. Driving around was a lot like scrapping your nails on a chalk board as the case was grinding and clunking like mad. Anyway, we're at the station and some guy comes up and tells me what a sweet Jeep I have. I look over and he's got a XJ with a 6" lift. I tell him our problem and he offers to lead us to the hotels (at this point I know it was in the t-case but didn't know what was going on).

On our way to the hotel I'm thinking how easy it is to get the case apart. I say it to the guy (his name is Matt BTW) and he say he would love to stick around and wrench with me. We drop off his pregnant girlfriend and grab a tool box of tools. We get back to the HOJO and tear into it. After another trip to his place we had the case apart and found the problem. The plastic pads on the range fork were all fubared and in the bottom of the case. I pulled the range fork and found that without the pads the metal to metal contact wore the fork to the point that it would not hold the hub in the high range position.

At 1:30am we called it a night and I decided I'll call around for the part in the morning. When I got in the room and laid down for the night Christine asked how I planned to get parts on a Sunday, DOH!!! I totally forgot it was Sunday! So in the morning I was desperate to get something going. We check out a U-haul to get the Jeep home and go back for the camper later. That was over $700. A one way car rental was $400.

I thought and thought, then came up with an idea. The mode fork also has the plastic wear pads and they were all in tact. There are three pads, one in the center and two on the ends. I took the two end pads and moved them to the range fork and left the center pad on the mode fork. The only problem was that the metal of the mode fork itself was worn and the pads are designed to have a metal backing. I though I would give it a try as I was desperate to get home on Sunday so we could get back to work on Monday.

I gave Matt a call and asked him to pick me up some ATF and silicone. He said he would be happy to help out. We put it all back together and took the Jeep for a ride. Everything was working fine and we loaded up to head home.

I have to say Matt was a blessing and I beleive god put him in our path. He told me of his troubled past and how he is trying to straighten out his life. I am not sure how this all fits in but I hope this connection in some way helps him out, because he sure helped us out. I plan to keep in touch with him and hope I can offer him some help and guidence in the future. Without him there is no way I would have gotten the t-case apart and I don't know if I would have torn into it without some reassurance and help. After all that I had to argue with him to put gas in his tank!

Anyway, as soon as we got on the expressway there was a clunk again. The problem returned. It was nowhere near as bad as we were at least moving. I decided to run it as far as we could. Every mile I drove knocked 2 off a return trip if It was needed. We pushed on for over 500 miles. The clunking and skipping got worse and worse. Getting started from a stop was worst and up and incline at all would cause a problem if I tried to maintain speed. The Tolls in IL pissed me off more than normal, and that is a lot to begin with, F***ing crooks.

We wound up making it home a 2AM, we were supposed to arive at 2:00pm. I found a case at a yard out of town with 46K on it for $310 shipped. I bought it and should get it in a few days. I tore mine down tonight and the lack of metal support behind the plastic pads was still alowing it to pop out of high range. But, with the extra thickness of the plastic it held it in enough to get us home.

The guy that helped us owns Big Red Towing in Lincoln Nebraska. He is just starting up and trying to make a go of it. If you know anyone in Lincoln or need a tow in the area please look him up.

We actaully had a great time but this by far was the worst trip of my life. I am glad we went as I love wheeling with great people though.

B-loose
 
UNBELIEVABLE!!!!!!!!!!

Hey Bloose,
I'm glad you guys made it home okay. You have been meeting people in strange ways on your way home from events (or non) and I'm glad this time was better than the ones you met after Tellico. She ran okay on Saturday only screwing up a few times. We ran Old Chinamans Gulch and I said I would take the bypasses but we know better than that. I ripped my front bumper off on an obstacle and got out a BFH to straighten it and remount it. Well, I not only straightened the bumper, but right after Troy said "don't hit your head", of course I started to make a funny and whacked myself right in the forehead :oops: leaving a nice little knot and a little blood loss. Yesterday I mounted my new bumper and today my Warn XD9000i. I have tomorrow off and will be swinging by the dealer to get the O2 sensor. I can't figure what else it could be as the problem started right after I smashed the O2. Thank God for the Saturn, I don't care what anyone says, after this trip I'm realizing its good to have other transportation. I had a great time with you and yours and am really bummed you won't be at Moab but you're missing for good reason.
Talk to you later
 
B-Loose:

So, does this mean you're going to wuss out of Moab this year - pleading poverty? (Hagen will miss you :cry: ).

* * * * *

Seriously, I'm glad you guys are all right and found such great help on the way. I80 can be a lonely place out thataways. Sorry I wasn't able to get out to CO for this run and see you folks again.

Mike in NJ
 
Dad and I got home yesterday afternoon. We took the scenic way home through Ouray and Silverton, and we're glad we did, the San Juans are beautiful. I would definitely like to go back to CO and run some of the trails in that area. On Sun, we went with Bones and Brad, ran over Cottonwood Pass and met at Taylor Park. We went north over Taylor Pass, then ran Pearl Pass into Crested Butte. Bones and I went to Gunninson and got a motel room, and Brad and Rhoda headed home to Telluride. It was a long day, but very scenic, and Pearl Pass is spectacular.....it tops out on a narrow ridge at 12,700'. Sunday morning I had a nice visit with my friend in Gunnison who I haven't seen for over 20 yrs.

You'll have to ask Bones what happens to the food in the cooler when it's in the back of the trailer bouncing over trails at 12000'. :shock:

Bob, sorry to hear about your trouble on the way home. Too bad it didn't show up a little at camp, I carry a full set of those plastic pads as spares. We had a good time with you folks again, and it was enjoyable watching your son "hunting" up at Holy Cross City. :)

Thanks again to Grant for taking the lead on this trip. My first trip to CO was a good one.

Richard G
 
OK, no trail report as such, but I do have the photos posted

Try http://groups.yahoo.com/group/thebarclays/

then click the "photos" link and open the CO Trek folder

Nothing spectacular but some good shots.

Troy, i could probably post the video of Richard's near roll there if you need.
 
Great trip! Thanks for everything Grant. Hey who was the guy that lead the trip up Chinaman Gulch? You know the guy with the bobbed 1/4 panels? I'm trying to find his site, he said it was www.jeepbaricks.com or something but I can't find it. Does anyone out there know?
 
OCG, how was it??

We were going to run the trail while we were up there but ran out of time. How was the trail. Quite a few locals we talked to did not know much about it. TIA
 
Shari and I also had a great time on this trip! Thanks again to Grant for putting this thing together and being the ever capable trail leader! We sure enjoyed Grant's patience with the diversity of this group's 'wheeling experience and abilites. He sure knows how to make a trail enjoyable for a group. Carole, it was great to meet you -- looking forward to seeing you again in Moab if I don't get to attend any other Colorado trips before then.
I think Bob Loose gets the award for worst break. What a crappy experience he had! Glad he and his family still enjoyed their trip out here.
I managed to bash both of my lower rear quarter panels -- yes Erik, I heard your comment about "all that pretty yellow paint was pissing me off" :D . Now I've got a good excuse to trim the quarters up like Led and Joey did -- neat idea guys!
I know word of Richard's near roll on Iron Chest must be spreading like wildfire. We just got our computer's operating system updated and some new software installed, so when we get the bugs worked out, we'll install our new camera's software and get that video and still image posted somewhere. I still don't know how he didn't roll that thing -- and I've watched the video about 20 times -- amazes me every time. Unfortunately Shari wasn't rolling tape when Crunch whacked his melon -- that would be some good video too :lol: ! (Sorry to laugh Mike -- I must be a closet masochist!)
I managed to come away from this trip with only minimal damage. Other than the body damage, the right side rear spring pack center bolt broke and I lost the angle shim between the spring perch and the spring pack. My Rusty's springs collapsed somethin' fierce so I suppose I'll be getting some better springs.
See ya all on the trails!
 
Pearl Pass huh, man do I miss that area. I lived in Crested Butte directly acrossed the street from the ski hill base for almost 5 years. The whole time I lived there the pass was only doable once and that was after all-4-fun had a crew of 20 up there digging a channel for about 300 yds. They must really be lacking on snow these days. Wish I could've gone with you guys, but I'm saving my pennies for Moab.

Sean
 
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