Jack

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Or how the LJ78 got its name:

On our days off we usually sleep in for a while but today was different, we were going wheeling. After a quick pack of a bit of food we fired up the pair of LJ78s that were going for the run today. Berni, my wife, jumped in the 2 tone 1990 gray and I took the 90 brown one. They both have electric rear diff lock; push button locking hubs and VSV controlled 4WD. The brown one has a factory elect winch. They both are totally stock except for the tires on the gray one and the extra gauges and exhaust enlargement on the brown one.
After Berni picked up our neighbor and her dog Riley we headed off for breaky with the group at the Ricky’s here in town. When we got there Roy and his wife, Peter Straub, Carlo and his friend and kids, Alex were already there. Then more and more showed up till we had 13 trucks and about 18 passengers. A truly great turnout for our club.
After breaky we headed off to the drop point for the trailer queens and at this time we decided to split into 2 groups which would start at opposite ends of the trails. The big boys from the south and the stockers from the north and we would meet somewhere in the middle, or so I thought. This trail involves some good hill climbs and a nasty first hill when coming in from the north. Peter joked he would meet us at the top of the first hill.
I took my group to the north end of the trail or should I say I almost took them there, we made a couple detours along the way. I figured, in my great wisdom, that we should test out the ice conditions so I headed up the creek with Carlo, friend and kids in his FJ40 on my tail. I picked my trail over a mound in the ice and heard a large crack. By the time I could get turned around Carlo was sunk through the ice in what I have to say was the worst “ice stuck” I have seen.

 

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His high side was sitting solid on a thick bubble formed in the ice and the other was up against a sharp “tire eating” section. We all bailed out of trucks to see how to get him back on all fours, an axe, chainsaw and many hands and we were ready for the first of many tugs. We were planning on the diff sliding as a ramp on the ice then with the tires turned he should pop right out. Nope no go, we succeeded in getting him about a trucks length further up the ice crevasse.

 

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Then BJ46 Andrea gave him a tug towards the other bank but that was cut short when, after the first attempt, we noticed his front tire was caught bang center on the ice, the rubber was almost squashed right to the rim which would have equaled a sliced tire and a flat, you do not want to change a tire in the freezing cold water. Out came the chain saw again and we trimmed the ice behind the unit to give him a tug backwards so we could get a bit of clearence to tug him up and out the front high side. Then someone mentioned getting onto the gravel to give us traction since each time I tugged we would get very close to popping him out but not quite.

 

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Out came my 100 foot extraction rope, I love this thing. It stretches 1/3 it’s length for an extremely gentle pull. I gave him a gentle steady pull and up he came but I ran out of traction so I used momentum and I could feel the kinetic energy transfer from my rig to the rope and out he came so nice and clean. If anyone has used these kinetic ropes will know what I am talking about. The snatch’m straps that claim they stretch are nothing like these ropes. You get to the end of a strap and the stop is sudden, no where near as bad as a chain but still harsh, with these ropes it is like a slingshot rubber band, at no time is the pull harsh.

 

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Once Carlo was out we get back onto the trail but only got about 200 meters when the Sammy had problems with the locking hub so we had to drop his truck off in the bush to be picked back up on the way back home. On the trail again I took yet another cut line that came out right close to the start of the trail we were to be on. The holes were frozen but the small hills had ice just under the thin dirt covering so if you spun even once you were down to the ice. A couple times different ones got twisted up on the hills with the ruts, resulting in our first damage, one of the LJ78s lost a tail light lens. Not a big deal but damage all the same.

 

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Finally we got to the beginning of the trail we were to be on and the first hill.
Picking my trail I headed up straddling the ruts and I got lucky making it first try. BJ42 Andrea had installed his chains by now so he came up behind me with no problem. Then the fun began as truck after truck slipped off the high side of the rut and dropped in for some spectacular 3-wheeled tips, not over but enough to wake you up should you not be paying attention

 

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I felt for Pascal in the BJ60, his low range wouldn’t stay engaged so he was trying this hill with no crawl capability. He gave it a good run but in the end he needed towing by BJ42 Andrea almost to the top.

 

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the LJ78 just crawled its way along...
the FJ40 had a couple exciting moments but with a bit of encouragement Carlo did a fine job of getting back on top of the ruts and to the top with out a tug...

 

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the BJ46 had a bit of trouble but once we got him back down on all 4 he crawled his way up...

 

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till his back end slipped in again but with a tug from the gasser he was on his way...

 

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even with a good run Pascal needed a tug from Dad to get around the icy berm...
the rest of the trucks made the rest of the climb with no concerns...

 

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I decided to leave my LJ78 at the top and walk back down and watch the action but just before I did I took a peak up the trail and there was Peter’s “ziplock” SOA BJ74 down at the bottom of the south faced first hill. His prophecy came true; they arrived at the top of my first hill before we had all the stockers up the north face.

 

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Once we got everyone up a fire was lit and lunch was eaten. The hills are fun, the ice runs are fun but it is the associations that make the runs, lots of chatting goes on.
a really great turn out for a mid week run...

 

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A decision to head back the way we came and then onto the Ghost cross-country north was the destination. When heading south you are driving up the ice hills but when heading north you are heading down them with gravity helping to suck you into any ruts that might be there. I would stick my tires onto the dirt along side the icy sections to keep control but I guess the hills going down were extremely slippery, a toboggan run in our land cruisers. If you have a good landing pad then an out of control slide isn’t bad but if you have a hair pin turn at the bottom, deep ass ruts to contend with or if your back end decides to pass you then it stops being fun real fast. Of course as each truck slides down they grease up the ice for the next one and by the time the 13th truck has come sliding down he is in for a very interesting run.
At the bottom of the one hill BJ42 Andréa comes up to me with his eyes big and informs me that my wife gave him heart pulpulations. “Huh?” I guess her truck decided it wanted to turn around and head up again part way down. The truck slipped into the rut along the side and the momentum took the truck so the one tire was a meter (just over 3 feet) in the air. Berni did the right thing and turned the tires to head down hill and the LJ78 responded and brought her and Kelly safely to the bottom, I guess “@&@&@&@&,@&@&@&@&,@&@&@&@&” was heard coming from the interior as this was all happening. A couple more hills and we came to a particularly tricky section of trail, steep downhill with off camber into a set of very deep ruts with banks high enough to damage the sides of the trucks should they drop in
We had basically broken into 2 groups again as those of us near the back wanted to get out and watch as different trucks attempted the hills.
BJ46 Andrea was the first to go down the hill in our group. Here he is at the top of this hill when his front tire dropped into the rut, he backs up and tries to get back on top and as he does so the one tire goes way up into the air, should he slip back into the rut at this point he will be doing and endo down the hill but the truck comes down safely and he is on his way straddling the rut

 

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About half way down there is another obstacle to conquer, an icy washout with a rut running away from the trail. Should you slide down this section with no control you end up high centered on your front diff, which is exactly what happened. The boys tried hard to get the truck free but it was a no go. I walked down, inspected the situation and decided another vehicle will be needed to get him off. You could not pull ahead as you would be dragging him deeper into the rut and eventually into the trees. I looked at the trail trying to figure out the best way to get up onto the grass along side the rutted section. I had one chance to come down the rutted section, around the berm of dirt, hop out of the icy rut and then an immediate turn up onto the grass. From there I should be able to get into position to tug him back. I got lucky and all went well. We hooked up and I gave him a tug, nothing. A bit stronger tug and I broke through the grass and onto the ice below, no go.

 

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We disconnected and repositioned the LJ78 to try more on an angle; a good tug and nothing so out came the high lift. To use a high lift on icy ground with a downhill slant to the hill and off camber to boot is not the first choice but when all else fails you have to do what you have to do…
While this was being completed I went up to guide Berni down in her LJ78, standing in the rut I was eye level with the hood on the truck so I had to straddle the ruts as well so she could see which way to turn. The secret is to move slowly and to make minor adjustments instead of out of control or large adjustments which if not performed properly could end up in a rolled unit. She did great, perfect tire placement and nice and slow. She was able to get out of the icy rut and make the turn the same as I did. Each truck followed the same pattern. Now neat the bottom of the hill there was an icy 90-degree turn ahead for about 100 meters and then a sharp icy drop over some rocks and flat land. Now from the 90 there is a landing pad so should you start sliding you could just give it some throttle and get out of the icy ruts and then reposition yourself for the next section. Berni tried to go up onto the landing pad but she changed her mind at the last section and touched the brakes that brought her back end around. She came to a stop just a foot or so away from me. You could tell she was not happy with the situation, getting turned around she headed off to catch up with the others. After a few more trucks came sliding around the corne
as you can see the light is fading rapidly...

 

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I was watching as Pascal was coming down the hill unguided. Right at the top his lower front tire dropped into the rut and just for an instant I thought he was going to come over but the back dropped back to the ground and he gently turned till he was back on top; sweet maneuver from a green horn.
The next section was ruts after ruts and yet more ruts and this is where the Brown LJ78 got it’s name. Kevin was riding with me and he was commenting how nimble this rig is… Jack be nimble he said, so like all my rigs, they get named by someone else. Jack is its name. This is to become Berni’s wheeling rig, “Jack” seems to fit nicely.

 

[crushers]

From here to the end of the trail were a couple more hills, nice steep climbs and icy drops. Rob was heard to say over the CB, “Wayne, I have had enough ice for one day”. The sun was down and everyone was tired so we headed home. Most of the group likes to unlock at the trail end, me I like to run in 4H till we hit pavement. Well for those that unlocked, they locked back up immediately since the “road” was just as icy, if not icier than the trail we just left. A couple of the trucks did a U-turn halfway up the first hill which is fun to watch but can be a bit un-nerving if you are in the truck and not expecting it.
Back at the city we got together for the traditional “pizza” supper at the local pub, chatting about the day and planning for the next run.
Thanks everyone that came out, it was a lot of fun for us stockers.
And thanks for following along.
Cheers

 

[Eric Winkworth]

Absolutly amazing, thanks for sharing! Looks like a nerving, but fun day of ice wheeling. How cold was it outside that day?

 

[macneill]

Great pix! That's awesome.

Thanks.