Nope, I'm Ross .
I talked to Alvin last night. My only thing is from the FJ area I have to leave early and need to be able to hit asphalt by 1-2pm or my wife would kill me. He also mentioned that he might want to run C-Gap so he doesn't lead anyone astray.
I have a unlocked 80 on 33's, no sliders or other protection.
Unlocked and no sliders on Upper Ajax is a bad idea. Even doing only bypasses, I forsee lots of problems and far longer than a 4-5 hour trip.
I don't know what Lower Ajax is like now....used to be doable by a rig set up like yours. ToolsRUs said it's worse now.....not sure how bad it is since I haven't been out there in so long.
To be completely honest, I'm not even sure you could make the bypass to Lower Woodpecker's hardest 100 yard long section. It's a pretty steep climb and while I've seen lots of open diffs make it, I've also seen one break an axle trying. The good news is you can easily go around this on the road....but you have to back track up the wash a 1/4 mile or less to get to Cottonwood Canyon road again.
I dunno....not sure what other options are out in FJ besides Box, Jackhandle, and Marintez Cabins that would be doable for an open diff'd 80, especially with the time constraint.
Ross, where are you from?? I forgot to check before I started typing here. Any chance we'd want to tag along on the Hackberry Creek run (if that's what the other group picks)? You may have to bail early (unless we all move along at a pretty good clip) and I don't know if Superior is too far away from ya. Just a thought.
***EDIT*** You're from Tucson.....not sure if that's a LOT farther than going to FJ or not....I'm guessing it is, but I guess it all depends on which highway you take.
***EDIT2***Just re-read your post and it looks like you guys are thinking C-Gap tomorrow anyway. That's fine, just let me know as soon as you can. If I don't go with you guys, I think I have a line on a Highway to Hell run.
Sean