A friend, with a 2010 FJ cruiser, and I decided to take Miller Jeep Trail through Frazier Park, CA last weekend. Four guys total, two in each truck. Our second time on this trail. The trail is rated as difficult and is not recommended for stock vehicles. I’ve been told it’s the toughest trail in southern California, I can’t confirm that, I don’t know for a fact…The first time we drove this trial, it went flawlessly, with the exception of blown (old) duratrak tire on the FJ.
First driving into our campsite, I let my buddy drive in the last ¼ mile, of the ten miles we covered, to get to our campsite. This part of the trail was sloped but not at all technical. There was one boulder in the middle of the trail. He tried to go around a boulder on the trail, slid into the side of the boulder and popped one of my newer 275/70/18 KO2 (<10k miles on them). I’ve had Ko’s for over 10 years on my rigs. Never popped one, not in Moab UT, not in Death Valley or Mojave, never… We got the hydraulic jack out, secured the LC tires with rocks on the 20 degree or so decline we were out and made relatively quick work of the tire swap.
We arrived into our campsite no more than 20 minutes later only to smell a burning plastic smell from my rig. Took a look around, couldn’t figure out what it was, and let her cool down. Came back to her the next morning, only to run her, have the battery light come on, and realize it’s either the battery, alternator or a short. We through my Bosch battery (Bosch batteries are crap, my third one in four years), into his FJ and covered the 10 miles of off road trail alone to get out to the city. We got to a NAPA, had the battery tested, only to realize that although the batter was leaking (corroding), it was not the main problem, it was probably the alternator.
Pick up a new optima battery, got back to the campsite. We packed up to leave the next morning. We tried starting her only to get smoke from the alternator. The alternator was replaced with a remanufactured unit exactly one year ago (a shop near a lake home we have did the work, and he did not have access to OEM parts). We tried pulling the LC with the FJ, and got about ¼ of a mile before the FJ dug in on a slight incline and simply could not handle the weight of the LC. (You don’t have to go off roading with other LC owners, just know that if you get stuck there are very few truck with the off road capability and pulling ability to get our LC’s off of a trail. No Jeep, FJ, 4 runner or the like have the pulling power to get a downed LC out of a difficult trail). We quickly popped the hood. Disconnected the alternator, confirming it was the alternator and not a short, and ran the LC on the battery only. I’ve been told you can run a car on battery power only for approximately 1.5 hours. I drove her for 1.5 hours and started her 6 times before the battery ran out of power. I will be setting up a dual battery system. Any recommendations would be necessary, can I just setup the batteries in parallel or do I need a slee dual battery relay?
Little did we know, our biggest adventure awaited us just 30 feet from the end of the trail. My buddy, tired from the weekend, in a bit of a rush to get off the trail and to get my rig off the trail, took a bad line deciding to go up and around a boulder. He hit a boulder on the side of the hill which catapulted him up and over, landing him on his hood. He got out, as did our other friend, as did his dog. One scratch on an elbow, but (THANK GOD!) no other injuries. Later, I told him this was the luckiest day of his life, to walk away from that wreck instead of being airlifted out and spending three months in a hospital or worst!
A couple of jeepers came by with built rubicons. We hooked up their winch (given mine was not working properly due to the alternator), got him back on all fours. I pulled the FJ out to a couple of waiting flat beds waiting for us. All things considered, the recovery went relatively smoothly, and we were out in less than three hours.
My buddy and I spoke several times last week. He told me on Friday insurance is covering the entire incident. What a relief!
To summarize:
Don’t assume your buddy with little experience on a trail, can do with your rig, what you can. He can and will hurt the rig and possibly himself in the process.
Get a hi lift jack. It’s only a matter of time before you use it.
These LC’s are great, incredibly reliable and capable. If anything goes wrong, they weigh 3.5 tons without gear! My rig, with all the armor, weighs closer to 7800lbs without food and camping gear. Nothing can be done about that but every precaution has to be taken to mitigate the risk of breakdowns when you are out and about. I will be getting a dual battery setup and looking at other “weak points” of the LC. Also, these LC’s are full of electronics, like any modern car, so a shop manual on the trail is a must.
Get a decent insurance company. I read through my AAA, and off roading accidents are not exclusions. My buddy had Geico coverage and they covered the whole thing.
For remote locations, three car groups is a must and 2 car is a minimum and should be avoided if possible.
Just because the BFG KO’s have never let you down, even in the toughest conditions, doesn’t mean they won’t one day so spend the extra 10% on the road hazard warranty, which I didn’t L.
I got home and told my wife I’m going to consider whether or not to go on these adventures because of the cost (possibly severe cost) involved. Only to realize 24 hours later that this was an accident, things could have been done to avoid the problems we had on the trail and there is no reason to not go on these trip. Both my buddy and I spoke and are excited about our next outing!
First driving into our campsite, I let my buddy drive in the last ¼ mile, of the ten miles we covered, to get to our campsite. This part of the trail was sloped but not at all technical. There was one boulder in the middle of the trail. He tried to go around a boulder on the trail, slid into the side of the boulder and popped one of my newer 275/70/18 KO2 (<10k miles on them). I’ve had Ko’s for over 10 years on my rigs. Never popped one, not in Moab UT, not in Death Valley or Mojave, never… We got the hydraulic jack out, secured the LC tires with rocks on the 20 degree or so decline we were out and made relatively quick work of the tire swap.
We arrived into our campsite no more than 20 minutes later only to smell a burning plastic smell from my rig. Took a look around, couldn’t figure out what it was, and let her cool down. Came back to her the next morning, only to run her, have the battery light come on, and realize it’s either the battery, alternator or a short. We through my Bosch battery (Bosch batteries are crap, my third one in four years), into his FJ and covered the 10 miles of off road trail alone to get out to the city. We got to a NAPA, had the battery tested, only to realize that although the batter was leaking (corroding), it was not the main problem, it was probably the alternator.
Pick up a new optima battery, got back to the campsite. We packed up to leave the next morning. We tried starting her only to get smoke from the alternator. The alternator was replaced with a remanufactured unit exactly one year ago (a shop near a lake home we have did the work, and he did not have access to OEM parts). We tried pulling the LC with the FJ, and got about ¼ of a mile before the FJ dug in on a slight incline and simply could not handle the weight of the LC. (You don’t have to go off roading with other LC owners, just know that if you get stuck there are very few truck with the off road capability and pulling ability to get our LC’s off of a trail. No Jeep, FJ, 4 runner or the like have the pulling power to get a downed LC out of a difficult trail). We quickly popped the hood. Disconnected the alternator, confirming it was the alternator and not a short, and ran the LC on the battery only. I’ve been told you can run a car on battery power only for approximately 1.5 hours. I drove her for 1.5 hours and started her 6 times before the battery ran out of power. I will be setting up a dual battery system. Any recommendations would be necessary, can I just setup the batteries in parallel or do I need a slee dual battery relay?
Little did we know, our biggest adventure awaited us just 30 feet from the end of the trail. My buddy, tired from the weekend, in a bit of a rush to get off the trail and to get my rig off the trail, took a bad line deciding to go up and around a boulder. He hit a boulder on the side of the hill which catapulted him up and over, landing him on his hood. He got out, as did our other friend, as did his dog. One scratch on an elbow, but (THANK GOD!) no other injuries. Later, I told him this was the luckiest day of his life, to walk away from that wreck instead of being airlifted out and spending three months in a hospital or worst!
A couple of jeepers came by with built rubicons. We hooked up their winch (given mine was not working properly due to the alternator), got him back on all fours. I pulled the FJ out to a couple of waiting flat beds waiting for us. All things considered, the recovery went relatively smoothly, and we were out in less than three hours.
My buddy and I spoke several times last week. He told me on Friday insurance is covering the entire incident. What a relief!
To summarize:
Don’t assume your buddy with little experience on a trail, can do with your rig, what you can. He can and will hurt the rig and possibly himself in the process.
Get a hi lift jack. It’s only a matter of time before you use it.
These LC’s are great, incredibly reliable and capable. If anything goes wrong, they weigh 3.5 tons without gear! My rig, with all the armor, weighs closer to 7800lbs without food and camping gear. Nothing can be done about that but every precaution has to be taken to mitigate the risk of breakdowns when you are out and about. I will be getting a dual battery setup and looking at other “weak points” of the LC. Also, these LC’s are full of electronics, like any modern car, so a shop manual on the trail is a must.
Get a decent insurance company. I read through my AAA, and off roading accidents are not exclusions. My buddy had Geico coverage and they covered the whole thing.
For remote locations, three car groups is a must and 2 car is a minimum and should be avoided if possible.
Just because the BFG KO’s have never let you down, even in the toughest conditions, doesn’t mean they won’t one day so spend the extra 10% on the road hazard warranty, which I didn’t L.
I got home and told my wife I’m going to consider whether or not to go on these adventures because of the cost (possibly severe cost) involved. Only to realize 24 hours later that this was an accident, things could have been done to avoid the problems we had on the trail and there is no reason to not go on these trip. Both my buddy and I spoke and are excited about our next outing!
