Cruisin' In The Woods

[Vanny]

Not to get lost in the Whipsaw discussion. I have signed up for Cruisin' In The Woods. Rob speaks highly of it. Still space if anyone else wants to join. Unfortunately I am limited to the medium-easy run as I am lockerless. Pretty sure I could do the medium-hard. Will see when I get there.

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/cruisin-the-woods-2014-presented-by-nitro-gear-axle-tickets-12181654657

 

[Vanny]

So I guess the only ones joining me to Oregon will be my wife and kids. I was reading about the vehicle requirements for TLCA sanctioned events. I don't have any leaks but I do need to pick up a fire extinguisher. What about the park brake? How do they test that with an auto? Stall test wouldn't work, at least not on mine.

 

[AJAEbj42]

When I was there in '08 ,the inspection went like this. "Wow, that's a cool truck, if you ever want to sell it, let me know! Do your lights work? Have fun!" and that was that.

Just down highway 6 towards Tillamook is a forestry interpretive centre your kids will enjoy. Tillamook is only about 40 minutes away as well.

Are you camping at Brown's camp?

Have fun!
Cheers,
Rob

 

[Vanny]

Thanks Rob. We aren't staying at the camp. We are packing light. Decided to use the many points we have through the various company cards. Hoping to head out Thursday hit a hotel on the I5. We may head to the coast at Olympia and then Friday night in Tillamook. Saturday night in Portland. Long drive up the I5 Sunday. So far the 3 hotel costs total $0.00. Hopefully we won't be too rushed and we can enjoy the event on Saturday.

 

[WrenchMonkey]

I don't have any leaks either but because I don't meet the parking brake thing I'm out this year. too bad woulda like to make a go of it. you let us know how it goes tell me how built you have to be for the " hard" stuff

 

[Vanny]

Had a good day at Cruisin' The Woods. Drove in from Tillamook Saturday morning and made it to Brown's Camp. After some organizing of the various groups we (wife and two kids) headed out with the easy-medium run. After a decent distance into the trip I realized I was in the wrong group. Due to not having any lockers I was supposed to be on the easy run. Oh well. We continued on. The first somewhat difficult run had some of the vehicles requiring a brief locker engagement. I didn't need it. I believe we had about 14 trucks in our group. All of us made it successfully.

The second challenging spot had the leader struggling with 37" Irocs and a rear locker on his orange 80. He did eventually make it along with the tail gunner in his very built FJ40. One other 80 did attempt this hill but was turned back with some temporary exhaust work needed. 2 successful.

The third challenge had a late 70's Ford pickup attempt it but he ended up blowing a rear leaf spring. Again, the tail gunner was the only one else who tried and was successful. 1 successful.

The fourth challenging hill is where I finally remembered to get some video. There were a few sections on the climb that gave some trouble. I think everyone made it through the first section. The video attached here is the first section.



After watching the first few guys go up the second section about 1/2 the trucks turned back. I did not turn around. The first fully locked 40 struggled but eventually made it (will eventually post the vid). A FJ Cruiser bent a tie rod and was toe too much to drive up. He had to be winched and in the process was dragged against a rock and sheared off a valve stem. Needless to say it wasn't an easy pull for the guys doing the winching. I did get to use my winch on this section as well as starting the de-flaring process of my 80.

The evening event was done well. Good food and a good raffle. We headed out around 8pm for our hotel in Portland. I have a feeling they may re-consider what they classify as easy-medium as many of the trucks in our group felt the difficulty level was more medium-hard. I have to agree. Still it was a fun event and I would definitely recommend it.

 

[Vanny]

Here is the hill that helped me with the de-flaring. Where the winching starts is where the FJ sustained disabling damage. Half of the trucks decided not to attempt the climb after the FJ incident. I was after the FJ.

 

[AJAEbj42]

Looks like the weather was grand! Great videos!

 

[Vanny]

Same hill. Fully locked V8 FJ40.

 

[Vanny]

And a few photos

 

[Enigma]

Nice. Looks like a lot of fun. As usual the photos never do it justice, looked pretty easy from my chair

 

[Deny]

was old v8j40 aired down at all, he looked like he was sure bouncing off those rocks. Would think lower gears, aired down tires and letting it do more crawling would been better or was it just too slick and you had to hammer down? I'd be pretty worried about breaking things driving a V8 on the rocks like that guy did.

 

[Vanny]

I am not sure if he was aired down much. The day before some areas around there had record rainfall in a couple of hours so things were generally pretty slick. I too was worried he was going to brake something the way he was bouncing.

 

[Vanny]

Driving on Long Beach was fun. Brought back memories of Fraser Island, Australia, except not as warm or as beautiful or...

Took a day driving down the coast for a family mini vacation

 

[Vanny]

Last photo. The de-flaring.

 

[sailor]

Hey Dutchie! Nice vids!- Must be hard to see the line on the trail whilst peering through the steering wheel though. Makes your accomplishment even more impressive. Cute gloves too...

 

[UCruiser]

Yeah lockers... Even just a rear one would have made a huge difference... Was that FJ40 in low gear?

Looks like fun though...

 

[Vanny]

The gloves make my hands appear larger and you know what they say about a man with large hands...good for moving rocks.

A very positive remark from the co-pilot/accountant. "So how much would a rear locker cost us?" It's a start.

 

[UCruiser]

About the same as a pair of OEM birfs... Give or take...

Not having to replace your birfs prematurely... Priceless...

 

[sailor]

lucky man...