BJ70 rag off road test

[crushers]

so while in San Diego i hooked up with Micheal and Pete for a bit of off-roading in the local terrain. sweet country to wheel in.
i was a bit concerned about the 70 since it was bone stock except for the turbo and lift and 35" Trxus. first off when aired down the trxus really has a nice sidewall flex. great for traction around here. these are by far the best off/on road mud tire i have ever experienced. WAY nicer than the MTRs, very quiet on the highway and unbelievable on the dirt and rocks. the only down side is the sidewall protection is lacking.
the turbo pulls nice at very low rpms, you can feel it coming on when you need it crawling up the long water erroded hills here. what a nice SMOOTH application of power.
first off Mike puts me to the test with a sharp hairpin leading to a steep up hill between 2 rock out croppings. what made it a challenge was on the corner of the hairpin was a 16" high rock that you had to go over before you could make the accent. after a couple tries we made it up easily. Pete in his 4runner had a bit of a oops when we could smell clutch burning as he tried to get over the rock.
once over the other side was a nice down hill off camber drop of a foot or so but because of the angle it could make a person a bit nervous.
we took some nice shots with the 70 rag on top of a rock.
after this we putted around following our fearless leader as he got more and more tuned around. one hill looks like another and there is no pattern to the trails here and you can not just drive "over the hill" to get back to where you want to be.
the scenery is fantaastic from the top, you can see great distances over multi million dollar estates laid out in the valleys below.
then the test really began when Micheal decided to take is fully locked front and rear truck up the "worst" hill here. it is about 300 ft of washed out, off camber, extremely steep, chunck of trail.
i watched from the bottom as he clawed his way to the top. you could deffinately see where the lockers really helped out. i decided to give it a try in the open diffed front and rear rag top 70. at the bottom there was a nasty bit of trail with a wash on each side of a berm so i doubted i would make it the first truck length but the small 70 crawled right over as if she wanted to show how capable a unit she could be. once over that there was no turning back because of a wash out that ran alongside the trail. most of the bottom section was off camber so the driverside was high and the washout was low making it a bit more difficult to judge tire placement. the Beltons flexed beautifully and kept the tires on the ground and at 15 psi the tires just grabbed fingure holds where ever they could find them. as we neared the top of this steep trail a final trap was waiting. as i drove slowly up and up suddenly the rear dropped about a foot which felt like a mile, my heart imediately jumped into my throat. i went to hit the brake but my foot slipped off and the truck kept climbing up nearly verticle. i was able to get the clutch in and the brake applied quick enough to stop the impending "ooops". with a couple of seconds to calm down Mike spotted me back down a couple feet for another angle and the truck just putted it's way to the top. you could tell the 70 was proud of herself as she was the first open diffed unit to make it to the top...
the setup is a sweet work of art, it performs flawlessly and there is never a feeling of a need for more gearing or more power.
thanks Micheal and Pete for taking us out on the trail
cheers

[wesintl]

Good thing you didn't post any pics or I'd have to get a new keyboad from the drool

I can't wait to see the rag top!

[wesintl]

Originally Posted by crushers

the only down side is the sidewall protection is lacking.

Wayne, What do you mean by sidewall protection lacking? The Truxus in 35's has 6 ply. pretty strong considering. It's not quite 8 or 10 ply in the rest of the line but 6 is pretty strong compared to the competition excluding michelin military.

[crushers]

here you go

[wesintl]

WOW, That last shot is AWESOME!

[crushers]

some more

[crushers]

Originally Posted by wesintl

Wayne, What do you mean by sidewall protection lacking? The Truxus in 35's has 6 ply. pretty strong considering. It's not quite 8 or 10 ply in the rest of the line but 6 is pretty strong compared to the competition excluding michelin military.

welllll...
we ate one sidewall on a bit of a hill climb so that is the basis of my claim...

[lowenbrau]

Originally Posted by crushers

. i went to hit the brake but my foot slipped off and the truck kept climbing up nearly verticle. i was able to get the clutch in and the brake applied quick enough to stop the impending "ooops". with a couple of seconds to calm down Mike spotted me back down a couple feet for another angle and the truck just putted it's way to the top. you could tell the 70 was proud of herself as she was the first open diffed unit to make it to the top...

cheers

Nice trail report. I got an adrenelene rush just reading it.

Going to get a coffee to mellow out

[HZJ60 Guy]

Ive got to say that Ive been a wheeler most of my adult life. Pictures and video are often misleading with respect to how tough an obsticle is. But usually that is on the "making it look easier than it really is" side. WayneO those two verticle shots youve got there are GNARLY for sure. In the second one, where did you come from? In the first one, did you come over the top of that rock?

Good going.



TB

[crushers]

the first time was just goofing around and the second shot we were turning around on the trail...
it was steep and on the first i chickened out before climbing any higher.
cheers

[silvercrusher]

Do you have a roller under that front bumper to make that transition or did you just plow like mad.

[crushers]

the front bumper never touched the dirt...

[Eric Winkworth]

lol, thats great

[Mor4wd]

Riiiiiiiiight

[crushers]

nice but i will let Micheal comment on how steep it was...
cheers

[Radd Cruisers]

Interesting shots, nice camera work..........

[tlcruiserman]

Originally Posted by Radd Cruisers

Interesting shots, nice camera work..........

Thanks for the compliment

[tlcruiserman]

Originally Posted by Mor4wd

Riiiiiiiiigh

Ah no I don't think so you have over corrected quite a bit I will post a few more to clarify

Cheers,

Michael

[tlcruiserman]

Originally Posted by crushers

the first time was just goofing around and the second shot we were turning around on the trail...
it was steep and on the first i chickened out before climbing any higher.
cheers

After looking at the pictures again Wayne, the first one was turning around and the second one was just after you got your heart out of your throat after backing up a bit and then getting going again on the really nasty hill. Since you are the only one to go up and down it with open diffs I have to name after you - "Wayne Hill" I think that name is better than "stupid canadian drives up hill with open diffs"

I had to show you a great time with some challenges in return for the Run up in Calgary (West Coast Cruiser Classic)

Cheers,

Michael

[crushers]

if it wasn't so long i would think the second one describes the event much better.
cheers

[DomSmith]

Looks good, sorry I missed you on this trip Wayne. I was looking forward to meeting you. Hopefully next time.
-Dom

[crushers]

sounds good, my wife just loved the area and is already making plans for another trip down...
cheers

[tlcruiserman]

As Promised more pics of the Run at Merriam Mountains. If you are wondering how steep the Ragtop 70 and 74 were on the hill, I was in the 74 and when I let up on teh stering wheel I came right out of the seat and was suspended by my seat belt, now that is steep.

Cheers,

Michael


http://westcoastcruisers.org/RunMM040305.html

http://westcoastcruisers.org/