Cruiserdrew
On the way there
Here is a write up I did for the Norcal list but after reading Brendon Lally's excellent report, I thought I would share here as well. We had a bit of carnage, and a great time. This got a bit long so hang in there...
First, here is the "Butcher's Bill":
AJP: Broken short side rear axle, took out the "lock" in the airlocker too
Doug J: Fender Flare and Dent, flat tire
Don Evans: Frame dent, otherwise clean
Rod D: Dents, flare, but not bad, ripped BFG-AT sidewall
Jeff K: Broken rear suspension-(crappy MAF u-bolts failed), numerous dents
John P: No damage, tested the tiltometer several times
Derek Lee: Center diff lock failed at Gatekeeper-wisely retired for repairs
at home
The trip started for me at 6am Thursday morning. I had flown in the night
before from Virginia and stayed up late to pack the cruiser('76 FJ40). It was still
loaded with spare parts from Dusy Ershim two weeks before. That turned out
to be a good thing. My new fridge was cooling the sodas, camping gear was
piled in, and Jeff and I were up at 5 to shower and do final packing. Doug
Johnson('97 LX450) came over at 6am to help me carry my stuff(thanks Doug), and to pick
up Devin "Keystone" Johnson who arrived from Turlock with a cubical cooler
full of his trademark beverage. We waited a few for Derek('94 FZJ80), but he called
and met us up the road. I made the slow cruise to Ice House and then to
Loon Lake where we picked up John Powers('96 FZJ80), Jeff Kauffamn('86 FJ60) and Don Evans('76 FJ40). Likeeverytime, finding the Gatekeeper is a bitch but Don got us pointed in the right direction and I was over the Gatekeeper on the first pass.
Meanwhile, Derek had tried to engage low range but the center diff lock
would not lock up. At least the light would not stop flashing. We worked
the rest of the Cruisers over the Gate and Derek decided to call it quits
and head for home. I hope he'll post the problem, but his decision was
sound. Without a locked center diff, the Rubicon might not be possible.
Directly behind our group was a group of "high officials". Del Albright was
there with numerous Eldorado County Officials, CHP, Sherriffs and the brand
new Rubicon Capable Jeep Cherokee built for patrolling the Rubicon. Very
nice. In the midst of all the officials, some doofus in a "Bling-Bling"
Jeep came blasting over an off limits part of the trail and into the arms of
the Law. He was ticketed and fined on the spot. Trail justice at it's best.
Later the same guy rolled his Jeep in Little Sluice, but didn't do enough
damage to immobilize it. The officials were headed into Little
Sluice/Spider Lake to check on the clean-up progress and I guess eventually
to decide on the length of the Spider Lake closure currently slated for 120
days.
After the Gatekeeper we rolled through the Alligator pit and out onto the rock
of the granite bowl. I spent a few moments trying to find the high line
over the upper slabs, but gave up and took a middle route and up the
traditional climb on the left side. John Powers got super tippy at the base
of the climb but wisely backed out and took another route. Jeff K. got hung
on that first sharp uphill and John tugged him up onto theside of the bowl.
We all got to the top, over the pinch rock and into the rock garden that
goes on for what seems like several miles. I was having big fun-with the
run going well, and Walker Hill just ahead.
Walker was very loose-lots of rock dust made just walking up the hill
difficult. Fortunately once I was rolling on the hill, traction was good-I
wasn't even locked I cleared the top of the hill, drove up the loose slope
that follows and parked to go back and spot. Everyone cleared it no problem
and without much spotting. The loose slope needed some careful driving but
the far right line seemed to work the best. The dust on that part of the trail was about
6 inches deep, so traction was poor. At the cell phone site at the very top
of Walker Hill we met a group of corporate GM guys who were field testing
the Hummer H3. One of the support trucks had broken an axle on Walker and they were stopped for repairs. The GM guys had 2 H3's an H2, a Jeep Rubicon
(the competition), and two support trucks full of spares. Very cool. I'm
not a Hummer fan, but I do give GM credit for actually field testing them on
the real thing. Now if some one out there in cyber space wants to give me
an H1-I'm your guy. The mechanics from GM were really good guys and offered
tools and supplies later, when it was important. My last GM vehicle was
bought new in 1984, and I swore "never again" but if this was any
indication, they may deserve another chance. Just build me a Duramax
Suburban with a 5 speed manual.
From the top of Walker to Little Sluice is like 10 minutes and we all
arrived in Little Sluice in time to see "Bling-Bling" tip his Jeep on it's
side. It was a nicely built Jeep, but the guy driving it was........a Jeep
owner. Just kidding, sort of. We drove through the upper bypass of Little
Sluice-it's a nice bypass and a bit exciting at the top. Then down into the
sluice-I turned into the upper sluice and Don, Doug and Rod followed. John
and JeffK took the slab route and at the top of million dollar drop we all
stopped for lunch. I was anxious to keep going so the stop was short.
After lunch, we descended the drop and headed for lilly pad lake which was
dry! Jim Brantley (that's Pismojim) and I had been caught in a huge thunder storm here at
Rubithon 2003, and eaten by mosquitos here at Rubithon 2004, but this time
it was uneventful. We rolled on through the tippy pinch rock, up the narrow
rock section (if you've been there, you know) and through the now dry mud
lake at the top of Old Sluice. There was a fork in the road, and I took the
one less traveled........
The smart guys in the group went down the slabs, capably lead by Doug
Johnson. Buck Island was close, and we were making excellent progress. Don
Evans and I turned into the Old Sluice. I have wanted to try this for 2
years but there has always been a reason to prevent the attempt. This time,
Don had done it several times before, I was running well and we decided to
go for it. That is the best part of the trail. There are challenges, many
big rocks, and lots of narrow pinches against the hard granite of the walls
of the sluice. We took it all in stride. My FJ40 was making me very happy.
At the bottom of the sluice is a giant boulder "Volkswagon rock" that blocks
the trail. Don (wisely) said we should take the bypass up and to the left
and get back on the slabs. I wanted to try the "main line" and so Don went
over, slowly working the SOA FJ40 around the Volkswagon. He had hung on the
left side of his frame and with his wheels in the hole, I thought he would
tip but he made it through clean and out onto the bottom of the sluice which
is an easy trail. Excellent rig and expert driving. I drove my left wheels
up the rock, nearly made the turn, then I fell off the rock and into the
hole. Not good. It took several minutes of back and forth to realize I was
stuck really well, since I was pinched between Volkswagon and the rock
behind it. After one energetic attempt, I heard a "snap" but the truck was
working well, climbed out of the hole and on down the trail. It was all
good until I hit the brakes at the bottom and had no pedal. Inspection
revealed the wheel had migrated outboard about 4 inches and the brake pads
had nothing to push against. I knew right then the axle was broken.
The next 5 hours were spent on repairs. I had a spare axle and Don, and
Gary (Rod D's friend) stayed to help with repairs. In the end we pulled the
differential carrier to pound out the axle stub which had locked in the
splines due to the twisting force of the break. Then we had to reassemble
the differential and set the ring gear backlash, and carrier bearing preload
by feel. After re-installing the diff, the axles went back in, the c-clips
went in place, the cover went in place and we filled it with gear oil. The
airlocker would not hold pressure, but the differential worked and we could
drive to camp, led in the dark by my son Jeff. I was about as dirty as I
have ever been. Once in camp we learned Jeff K had broken his left rear
suspension and that that repair would have to wait until morning.
With the repairs on my rig complete, we relaxed, cooked dinner and had a few
drinks. Jeff K got into the Tequila, the gin, the beer and the wine. He
had a really good evening, but we cut him off when he started telling
everyone how much he loved them. He brought Ramen to eat for 3 meals per
day, so I shared some extra bar-be-que chicken my wife had packed for us. We had a
good dinner of chicken, salad, fruit, and French bread. Not too bad after a
day of 4 wheeling and wrenching. Devin brought out the Keystones, Doug the
Cazedores and we had a fine evening. The following day I got up at 6am to
help Jeff with repairs. I did have a spare pair of u-bolts, and so with
those we were able to get his spring re-attached to the axle and repairs
were complete before we even had any coffee. The break had also ruptured
Jeff's brake lines, but a vice grip or two sealed the line and 3 brakes are
plenty. Rod figured out the reason his power steering was moaning was that
he didn't have any fluid so we topped it off and the moaning stopped. John
made a great pot of coffee and the world was good. After a breakfast of
bacon and eggs, we had a swim/bath in Buck Island Lake and then packed camp
and left for Rubicon Springs. I was a bit worried about the lack of a rear
airlocker, but I switched the solenoids around so I could lock the front if
needed, and off we went.
Everyone did really well coming down Big Sluice. Some of the really big
holes had been filled in by the Jeeper's Jamboree crews and we got to the
turn/drop without incident. I took the same line I used at Rubithon and it
went well so we brought the group down that way. Everyone got through
totally clean. I didn't need lockers at all, even over that nasty tippy
rock at the bottom of the sluice. Soon the bridge was in view and Devin
shot the video of everyone crossing the Rubicon River. The water at the
bottom was completely dry, so we all took the easy way and straight into
Rubicon Springs. My son Jeff had walked on ahead and I had to go looking
for him with the help of Devin and Doug. Next time, I'm chaining him to the
cruiser. We camped at the sandy sites past the slabs, and across the
Rubicon River again. This was a great site with lots of flat areas for the
tents and easy access to the good swimming hole. There was plenty of
firewood too. We spent the afternoon swimming and swinging on the rope
swing. Don Evans needed to leave for home and so did the Cadillac climb
alone but made it out in good shape. After dinner we built a big fire and
sat arround shooting the breeze. A very loud POR dude pulled in a rear
steer bronco and camped near us but in the end canned the loud music. Later
that night, his friend pulled in with the music blaring too but only Jeff K
was still awake to be bothered by it.
Saturday morning we got up with the idea of getting the crippled trucks out
of the Rubicon. I asked Doug to lead me on the way out, so that his locked
rig could pull me if needed. John P was next so he could pull Jeff if
needed and Rod and friend Gary were the caboose. Doug went up the rocks at
the bottom of Cadillac with just a bit of spotting. I had a clean run, and
suprised myself despite the lack of a rear locker. John Powers got very
tippy and had 500 lbs of spotters on his driver side slider. Having that
big 80 ahead of Jeff K was a good move, because Jeff got stuck in the turn
and needed a strap to ascend the hill. Rod needed several tries, but
eventually go his rear wheel on the big rock and went on over. Doug and I
went over the "v" rock and headed for observation point. I was starting to
worry when the rest of the guys didn't show, but Jeff had needed a bit of
help and Rod tore a side wall so that delayed the group. We changed Rod's
tire at the top of the hill after attemptiong a plug repair that failed in
spectacular fashion, shooting the plug about 30 feet in the air. The drive out of the Rubicon was a long one, but
eventually we reached the staging area, aired up and headed for lunch at The
Blue Agave in Tahoe City.
Everyone in this group did very well. Jeff did the entire trail in a SUA
FJ60 with no lockers and only rarely needed a strap. John put on a good
show with his uber 80 and came out clean. Doug showed his trail experience
and got through with minimal damage. Rod put a few small dents in his new
(to him) FZJ80, and learned that the steering works better when full of
fluid. I learned a big lesson about trailside differential repair and the
importance of spare parts. Don's SOA FJ40 is an impressive rig with a very
experienced driver. Devin shot 2 hours of video so we'll all wait for that
to hit Blockbuster. All together it was a great trip. Try to join us next
year. One last thing-the PETT is awesome, everyone who travels in the
backcountry should get one.
As always, I hope the other participants add their stories as well.
AJP
First, here is the "Butcher's Bill":
AJP: Broken short side rear axle, took out the "lock" in the airlocker too
Doug J: Fender Flare and Dent, flat tire
Don Evans: Frame dent, otherwise clean
Rod D: Dents, flare, but not bad, ripped BFG-AT sidewall
Jeff K: Broken rear suspension-(crappy MAF u-bolts failed), numerous dents
John P: No damage, tested the tiltometer several times
Derek Lee: Center diff lock failed at Gatekeeper-wisely retired for repairs
at home
The trip started for me at 6am Thursday morning. I had flown in the night
before from Virginia and stayed up late to pack the cruiser('76 FJ40). It was still
loaded with spare parts from Dusy Ershim two weeks before. That turned out
to be a good thing. My new fridge was cooling the sodas, camping gear was
piled in, and Jeff and I were up at 5 to shower and do final packing. Doug
Johnson('97 LX450) came over at 6am to help me carry my stuff(thanks Doug), and to pick
up Devin "Keystone" Johnson who arrived from Turlock with a cubical cooler
full of his trademark beverage. We waited a few for Derek('94 FZJ80), but he called
and met us up the road. I made the slow cruise to Ice House and then to
Loon Lake where we picked up John Powers('96 FZJ80), Jeff Kauffamn('86 FJ60) and Don Evans('76 FJ40). Likeeverytime, finding the Gatekeeper is a bitch but Don got us pointed in the right direction and I was over the Gatekeeper on the first pass.
Meanwhile, Derek had tried to engage low range but the center diff lock
would not lock up. At least the light would not stop flashing. We worked
the rest of the Cruisers over the Gate and Derek decided to call it quits
and head for home. I hope he'll post the problem, but his decision was
sound. Without a locked center diff, the Rubicon might not be possible.
Directly behind our group was a group of "high officials". Del Albright was
there with numerous Eldorado County Officials, CHP, Sherriffs and the brand
new Rubicon Capable Jeep Cherokee built for patrolling the Rubicon. Very
nice. In the midst of all the officials, some doofus in a "Bling-Bling"
Jeep came blasting over an off limits part of the trail and into the arms of
the Law. He was ticketed and fined on the spot. Trail justice at it's best.
Later the same guy rolled his Jeep in Little Sluice, but didn't do enough
damage to immobilize it. The officials were headed into Little
Sluice/Spider Lake to check on the clean-up progress and I guess eventually
to decide on the length of the Spider Lake closure currently slated for 120
days.
After the Gatekeeper we rolled through the Alligator pit and out onto the rock
of the granite bowl. I spent a few moments trying to find the high line
over the upper slabs, but gave up and took a middle route and up the
traditional climb on the left side. John Powers got super tippy at the base
of the climb but wisely backed out and took another route. Jeff K. got hung
on that first sharp uphill and John tugged him up onto theside of the bowl.
We all got to the top, over the pinch rock and into the rock garden that
goes on for what seems like several miles. I was having big fun-with the
run going well, and Walker Hill just ahead.
Walker was very loose-lots of rock dust made just walking up the hill
difficult. Fortunately once I was rolling on the hill, traction was good-I
wasn't even locked I cleared the top of the hill, drove up the loose slope
that follows and parked to go back and spot. Everyone cleared it no problem
and without much spotting. The loose slope needed some careful driving but
the far right line seemed to work the best. The dust on that part of the trail was about
6 inches deep, so traction was poor. At the cell phone site at the very top
of Walker Hill we met a group of corporate GM guys who were field testing
the Hummer H3. One of the support trucks had broken an axle on Walker and they were stopped for repairs. The GM guys had 2 H3's an H2, a Jeep Rubicon
(the competition), and two support trucks full of spares. Very cool. I'm
not a Hummer fan, but I do give GM credit for actually field testing them on
the real thing. Now if some one out there in cyber space wants to give me
an H1-I'm your guy. The mechanics from GM were really good guys and offered
tools and supplies later, when it was important. My last GM vehicle was
bought new in 1984, and I swore "never again" but if this was any
indication, they may deserve another chance. Just build me a Duramax
Suburban with a 5 speed manual.
From the top of Walker to Little Sluice is like 10 minutes and we all
arrived in Little Sluice in time to see "Bling-Bling" tip his Jeep on it's
side. It was a nicely built Jeep, but the guy driving it was........a Jeep
owner. Just kidding, sort of. We drove through the upper bypass of Little
Sluice-it's a nice bypass and a bit exciting at the top. Then down into the
sluice-I turned into the upper sluice and Don, Doug and Rod followed. John
and JeffK took the slab route and at the top of million dollar drop we all
stopped for lunch. I was anxious to keep going so the stop was short.
After lunch, we descended the drop and headed for lilly pad lake which was
dry! Jim Brantley (that's Pismojim) and I had been caught in a huge thunder storm here at
Rubithon 2003, and eaten by mosquitos here at Rubithon 2004, but this time
it was uneventful. We rolled on through the tippy pinch rock, up the narrow
rock section (if you've been there, you know) and through the now dry mud
lake at the top of Old Sluice. There was a fork in the road, and I took the
one less traveled........
The smart guys in the group went down the slabs, capably lead by Doug
Johnson. Buck Island was close, and we were making excellent progress. Don
Evans and I turned into the Old Sluice. I have wanted to try this for 2
years but there has always been a reason to prevent the attempt. This time,
Don had done it several times before, I was running well and we decided to
go for it. That is the best part of the trail. There are challenges, many
big rocks, and lots of narrow pinches against the hard granite of the walls
of the sluice. We took it all in stride. My FJ40 was making me very happy.
At the bottom of the sluice is a giant boulder "Volkswagon rock" that blocks
the trail. Don (wisely) said we should take the bypass up and to the left
and get back on the slabs. I wanted to try the "main line" and so Don went
over, slowly working the SOA FJ40 around the Volkswagon. He had hung on the
left side of his frame and with his wheels in the hole, I thought he would
tip but he made it through clean and out onto the bottom of the sluice which
is an easy trail. Excellent rig and expert driving. I drove my left wheels
up the rock, nearly made the turn, then I fell off the rock and into the
hole. Not good. It took several minutes of back and forth to realize I was
stuck really well, since I was pinched between Volkswagon and the rock
behind it. After one energetic attempt, I heard a "snap" but the truck was
working well, climbed out of the hole and on down the trail. It was all
good until I hit the brakes at the bottom and had no pedal. Inspection
revealed the wheel had migrated outboard about 4 inches and the brake pads
had nothing to push against. I knew right then the axle was broken.
The next 5 hours were spent on repairs. I had a spare axle and Don, and
Gary (Rod D's friend) stayed to help with repairs. In the end we pulled the
differential carrier to pound out the axle stub which had locked in the
splines due to the twisting force of the break. Then we had to reassemble
the differential and set the ring gear backlash, and carrier bearing preload
by feel. After re-installing the diff, the axles went back in, the c-clips
went in place, the cover went in place and we filled it with gear oil. The
airlocker would not hold pressure, but the differential worked and we could
drive to camp, led in the dark by my son Jeff. I was about as dirty as I
have ever been. Once in camp we learned Jeff K had broken his left rear
suspension and that that repair would have to wait until morning.
With the repairs on my rig complete, we relaxed, cooked dinner and had a few
drinks. Jeff K got into the Tequila, the gin, the beer and the wine. He
had a really good evening, but we cut him off when he started telling
everyone how much he loved them. He brought Ramen to eat for 3 meals per
day, so I shared some extra bar-be-que chicken my wife had packed for us. We had a
good dinner of chicken, salad, fruit, and French bread. Not too bad after a
day of 4 wheeling and wrenching. Devin brought out the Keystones, Doug the
Cazedores and we had a fine evening. The following day I got up at 6am to
help Jeff with repairs. I did have a spare pair of u-bolts, and so with
those we were able to get his spring re-attached to the axle and repairs
were complete before we even had any coffee. The break had also ruptured
Jeff's brake lines, but a vice grip or two sealed the line and 3 brakes are
plenty. Rod figured out the reason his power steering was moaning was that
he didn't have any fluid so we topped it off and the moaning stopped. John
made a great pot of coffee and the world was good. After a breakfast of
bacon and eggs, we had a swim/bath in Buck Island Lake and then packed camp
and left for Rubicon Springs. I was a bit worried about the lack of a rear
airlocker, but I switched the solenoids around so I could lock the front if
needed, and off we went.
Everyone did really well coming down Big Sluice. Some of the really big
holes had been filled in by the Jeeper's Jamboree crews and we got to the
turn/drop without incident. I took the same line I used at Rubithon and it
went well so we brought the group down that way. Everyone got through
totally clean. I didn't need lockers at all, even over that nasty tippy
rock at the bottom of the sluice. Soon the bridge was in view and Devin
shot the video of everyone crossing the Rubicon River. The water at the
bottom was completely dry, so we all took the easy way and straight into
Rubicon Springs. My son Jeff had walked on ahead and I had to go looking
for him with the help of Devin and Doug. Next time, I'm chaining him to the
cruiser. We camped at the sandy sites past the slabs, and across the
Rubicon River again. This was a great site with lots of flat areas for the
tents and easy access to the good swimming hole. There was plenty of
firewood too. We spent the afternoon swimming and swinging on the rope
swing. Don Evans needed to leave for home and so did the Cadillac climb
alone but made it out in good shape. After dinner we built a big fire and
sat arround shooting the breeze. A very loud POR dude pulled in a rear
steer bronco and camped near us but in the end canned the loud music. Later
that night, his friend pulled in with the music blaring too but only Jeff K
was still awake to be bothered by it.
Saturday morning we got up with the idea of getting the crippled trucks out
of the Rubicon. I asked Doug to lead me on the way out, so that his locked
rig could pull me if needed. John P was next so he could pull Jeff if
needed and Rod and friend Gary were the caboose. Doug went up the rocks at
the bottom of Cadillac with just a bit of spotting. I had a clean run, and
suprised myself despite the lack of a rear locker. John Powers got very
tippy and had 500 lbs of spotters on his driver side slider. Having that
big 80 ahead of Jeff K was a good move, because Jeff got stuck in the turn
and needed a strap to ascend the hill. Rod needed several tries, but
eventually go his rear wheel on the big rock and went on over. Doug and I
went over the "v" rock and headed for observation point. I was starting to
worry when the rest of the guys didn't show, but Jeff had needed a bit of
help and Rod tore a side wall so that delayed the group. We changed Rod's
tire at the top of the hill after attemptiong a plug repair that failed in
spectacular fashion, shooting the plug about 30 feet in the air. The drive out of the Rubicon was a long one, but
eventually we reached the staging area, aired up and headed for lunch at The
Blue Agave in Tahoe City.
Everyone in this group did very well. Jeff did the entire trail in a SUA
FJ60 with no lockers and only rarely needed a strap. John put on a good
show with his uber 80 and came out clean. Doug showed his trail experience
and got through with minimal damage. Rod put a few small dents in his new
(to him) FZJ80, and learned that the steering works better when full of
fluid. I learned a big lesson about trailside differential repair and the
importance of spare parts. Don's SOA FJ40 is an impressive rig with a very
experienced driver. Devin shot 2 hours of video so we'll all wait for that
to hit Blockbuster. All together it was a great trip. Try to join us next
year. One last thing-the PETT is awesome, everyone who travels in the
backcountry should get one.
As always, I hope the other participants add their stories as well.
AJP
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