Where are all the 70's on the Rubicon trail? I've been thrice, and only ever seen two on the trail. In 2000, Bruce Loewen's 'Dent' was there, no 70's at all in '05, and in '06, Snowflake was there, very lonely.
Alas, Snowflake, and her buddy Shaker, the BJ42, made a grand showing on behalf of the lonely Canadian contingent this year. For a stock BJ74, I was very impressed with how easy it made the trail.
I did manage to twist a rear long spline, short side, axle shaft, and this bound up the locking mechanism, leaving me without a rear locker for 75% of the trail., but it didn't break. Frankly, it wasn't until I finished the trail and got back to Calgary that I figured out what the problem was. Alas, Snowflake really didn't need it. 210:1 crawler gears are absolutely amazing for finding traction.... wheels spin helplessly against a rock... let off on the throttle, apply some brake to slow the wheels down even more. Steer a little bit up hill, then a little bit down hill searching for traction. In only one instance did it take more than a 1/4 turn of the wheels to find the needed traction. On one wet, muddy and off-cambre section on Cadillac Hill, with an open rear diff and the front locker engaged, it was a bit of a challenge to hook up the tires. Finally, after a minute or two of searching, the edge of a lug on the right front tire snagged a boulder, pulled the truck forward a few cm's, and the rest of the tires hooked up. That really brought a smile to my face.
70's kick ass. More of you should take them on the Rubicon.
Peter Straub
Alas, Snowflake, and her buddy Shaker, the BJ42, made a grand showing on behalf of the lonely Canadian contingent this year. For a stock BJ74, I was very impressed with how easy it made the trail.
I did manage to twist a rear long spline, short side, axle shaft, and this bound up the locking mechanism, leaving me without a rear locker for 75% of the trail., but it didn't break. Frankly, it wasn't until I finished the trail and got back to Calgary that I figured out what the problem was. Alas, Snowflake really didn't need it. 210:1 crawler gears are absolutely amazing for finding traction.... wheels spin helplessly against a rock... let off on the throttle, apply some brake to slow the wheels down even more. Steer a little bit up hill, then a little bit down hill searching for traction. In only one instance did it take more than a 1/4 turn of the wheels to find the needed traction. On one wet, muddy and off-cambre section on Cadillac Hill, with an open rear diff and the front locker engaged, it was a bit of a challenge to hook up the tires. Finally, after a minute or two of searching, the edge of a lug on the right front tire snagged a boulder, pulled the truck forward a few cm's, and the rest of the tires hooked up. That really brought a smile to my face.
70's kick ass. More of you should take them on the Rubicon.
Peter Straub
