TeddyBoy
Knighted by the King of MUD himself
Lithonia Pics--Air Force One goes Belly-UP
I'll start with my pics HERE and a review of the day.
EVERYONE WHO HAD A CAMERA POST THEM UP!!
Today's Inventory:
1 Roll-Over
1 Birfield
1 U-Joint
Almost 1 Clutch
1 Cut tire
Did I miss anything?
The Cruisers had a great showing with 13 trucks and several more people. We all lined up for the obligatory pictures and after short trail meeting headed out about 8:45.
By 9:00 AM we had our first carnage of the day, a stuck 40 resulting in a broken birfield for Patrick, this resulted in a early exit for him.
After getting Patrick out of his little predicament we head down to the "the difficult spot" which is a 3 ledge rock-climb totaling about 20-30 feet. So here we go, 14 trucks bouncing down the trails (we had a late arrival) with El Presidente' and a Jeep leading the way. By the time everyone gets there the Jeep is already starting his climb. 10 Minutes and several attempts later he finally makes it to the top without any issues.
Here is where it get a little more fun. Our fearless leader follows in the Jeep tracks, well almost. He starts out strong and pops right up on the first ledge but just can't get the right angle. After 2 or 3 similar results he backs down and tries a different approach. Well half way up the first ledge Air Force Once (the President's truck) takes a little detour and starts leaning to the driver's side, next thing you know the truck flops over on the side, rolls completely on to the top dumping the entire contents of his tool box under the truck. Suddenly, like Gallagher smashing a watermelon, a geyser of liquid shoots into the air like Old Faithful. Now, had you been there, your first thought of seeing liquid shoot into the air coupled with not being able to see Josh's head (which was on the other side of that truck) wasn't very good. Mine was "Oh SH*T! we just lost our President!!!" The good new is that it turned out to be a Qt of oil got squashed b/w the roll bar and the ground which popped like a water balloon.
As they say, all's well that ends well. After cleaning up the tools and carnage and of course unwinding Josh a little (he will never admit it) we flipped the 40 back on the tires, gave it 10 minutes, and it fired right up.
After all the excitement we head back out only to loose the F150 to a broken universal. Now 3 trucks down and seemingly dropping like Flies we shoot down to the lake for lunch and a brake. At the lunch spot it turns out we can play in the mud as well, sounds great and looks like fun! We role through a few of the holes gaining a little confidence shoot for another hole. We (I) should have stopped there. Short story is that mini-trucks, and for that matter FJ40s, don't make good submarines. That one hole claimed 3 stuck trucks and nearly a clutch.
By now its around 1PM and we shoot back out the way we came in only to loose a 40 to a flat. One quick stop, a hi-lift and a spare tire later we're back on the trail.
We then decide to climb a few hills for another hour or so and thankfully, no more breakage but certainly not from lack of effort. By now it's about 2:30 and the group brakes up except for myself, Sylvain, Downhill-Dave and his wife Olga. We sit around talking for the next 21/2 hours and finally exit the trails after 5. I made it home at 8:30 after a long visit to Fry's electronics with Sylvain.
Had a great Day.
I'll start with my pics HERE and a review of the day.
EVERYONE WHO HAD A CAMERA POST THEM UP!!
Today's Inventory:
1 Roll-Over
1 Birfield
1 U-Joint
Almost 1 Clutch
1 Cut tire
Did I miss anything?
The Cruisers had a great showing with 13 trucks and several more people. We all lined up for the obligatory pictures and after short trail meeting headed out about 8:45.
By 9:00 AM we had our first carnage of the day, a stuck 40 resulting in a broken birfield for Patrick, this resulted in a early exit for him.
After getting Patrick out of his little predicament we head down to the "the difficult spot" which is a 3 ledge rock-climb totaling about 20-30 feet. So here we go, 14 trucks bouncing down the trails (we had a late arrival) with El Presidente' and a Jeep leading the way. By the time everyone gets there the Jeep is already starting his climb. 10 Minutes and several attempts later he finally makes it to the top without any issues.
Here is where it get a little more fun. Our fearless leader follows in the Jeep tracks, well almost. He starts out strong and pops right up on the first ledge but just can't get the right angle. After 2 or 3 similar results he backs down and tries a different approach. Well half way up the first ledge Air Force Once (the President's truck) takes a little detour and starts leaning to the driver's side, next thing you know the truck flops over on the side, rolls completely on to the top dumping the entire contents of his tool box under the truck. Suddenly, like Gallagher smashing a watermelon, a geyser of liquid shoots into the air like Old Faithful. Now, had you been there, your first thought of seeing liquid shoot into the air coupled with not being able to see Josh's head (which was on the other side of that truck) wasn't very good. Mine was "Oh SH*T! we just lost our President!!!" The good new is that it turned out to be a Qt of oil got squashed b/w the roll bar and the ground which popped like a water balloon.
As they say, all's well that ends well. After cleaning up the tools and carnage and of course unwinding Josh a little (he will never admit it) we flipped the 40 back on the tires, gave it 10 minutes, and it fired right up.
After all the excitement we head back out only to loose the F150 to a broken universal. Now 3 trucks down and seemingly dropping like Flies we shoot down to the lake for lunch and a brake. At the lunch spot it turns out we can play in the mud as well, sounds great and looks like fun! We role through a few of the holes gaining a little confidence shoot for another hole. We (I) should have stopped there. Short story is that mini-trucks, and for that matter FJ40s, don't make good submarines. That one hole claimed 3 stuck trucks and nearly a clutch.
By now its around 1PM and we shoot back out the way we came in only to loose a 40 to a flat. One quick stop, a hi-lift and a spare tire later we're back on the trail.
We then decide to climb a few hills for another hour or so and thankfully, no more breakage but certainly not from lack of effort. By now it's about 2:30 and the group brakes up except for myself, Sylvain, Downhill-Dave and his wife Olga. We sit around talking for the next 21/2 hours and finally exit the trails after 5. I made it home at 8:30 after a long visit to Fry's electronics with Sylvain.
Had a great Day.
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Everything is a blur going by in the 40. Maybe I'll bring the hundy next time.
