Alright guys, late response but here we go.
What a dusy.
It wasn't the trip we had planned on having but we made the best of it. Day one our three rigs met at the gate keeper, introduced each other, and pushed off. we had two well built 4runners, and a very well built 80.
@barneymc joined us, making the total 3. all vehicles were locked and appropriately geared. the scenery is absolutely gorgeous. Mind blowing how much beauty was out there.
This trail is extremely narrow. Its not like the rubicon where you can chose multiple lines and bypasses. the trees completely seal you into the trail, and for full-size rigs such as the 80, body damage will occur. Big time.
we made it 9 miles in on day one, almost to the top of Thompson Hill-arguably the steepest, most technical hill I've ever wheeled, when carnage struck. the 80 shredded two tires, and one of the 4runners, destroyed a tire as well as blew an inner axle shaft (RIP OG Longfield shaft) which brought us to a screeching halt.
As time went by discussing options, we decided to go with a plan that honestly, I'd never recommend to anyone else- the one rig (my rig) still in good condition turned around to wheel off the trail, drive to town, and search for parts. There is no phone signal on the mountain, and my SpotX device wasn't working to send messages.
My father and I spent the next 4.5 hours at night wheeling back off the trail solo, fully aware that if we got stuck or broken we were screwed. But it was a risk we needed to take, and it paid out well. We finally got off the trail around 11:30 PM and made it to a hotel in Clovis around 2:45 AM. I wrote a quick synopsis post on the main TLCA page asking for help in procuring more wheels and tires as well as axle components, and finally fell asleep.
I woke up to multiple phone calls and messages from local 4x4 clubs and people offering help. Before I knew it, a local shop had allowed people to stage the parts needed at their facility, and a plan had been formulated by a local crew to head up the following day.
That night, I got a message from them saying they weren't able to go anymore due to work. So I knew I wasn't going to let the two guys stay a 3rd night on the mountain broken down, so I stripped my rig of everything, and loaded up with 3 spare wheels and axle parts to head back solo.
Luckily, another wheeler offered his help and met me halfway to the trail. These were amazing people who took off from work to help complete strangers. We headed up the mountain, got to our guys broken down, made some quick repairs, and headed out.
We made it 10 yards before the 80's drag link completely folded upon itself. Bummed and depressed, we took it off and beat it back into shape, installed it, and made it 10 more yards until it did it again.
Realizing we had no way to fix this on the trail, we took Barney in one of the rigs and decided we would head into town to get a new one. At this point we were in a time crunch, so staying with the truck was not an option.
We ran back into the guy who helped us, and he took Barney BACK to his 80 and with some welding and trail magic, Barney was able to limp the 80 to the entrance of the trail, where he camped another night.
Some takeaways-
Make sure your spare is in good condition. a dry rot spare is no good.
When choosing a satellite communicator, spend the extra money for the Garmin inreach explorer over the SpotX
believe in trail Karma
I'll post some photos shortly.
