Amazing u got so much done. Does koh mandate Hans devices in rigs? I was looking at some koh crashes on YouTube, some are pretty brutal. I'd be surprised if nobody has died in the race yet.
Builds Steel City Racing: King of the Hammers 2019 Toyota 4Runner IFS 4600 Build Thread (3 Viewers)
- Thread starter Charles4x4
- Start date
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I did not think you would get to this point, thank you for proving me wrong. Good luck in the testing and racing. I hope all goes well. Be safe!
Why are the driveshafts not in? It's like 12 bolts total.
- Thread starter
- #304
They didn’t mate to Atlas II Flanges so we had to get new ends. Just an oversight in the sea of things...
So Marlin released some pics of the new suspension and some video. It moves and drives!
Marlin Crawler's New Rock Crawling Long Travel IFS Suspension System (#RCLT)
Marlin Crawler's New Rock Crawling Long Travel IFS Suspension System (#RCLT)
I am super excited to see that they made it to the line this morning... It's too bad they are dead in the water on the first lap. I can't wait to hear the story.
Marlin needs to re-design that, way too thin to have that much stress on it. Almost looks like an after thought after seeing the rest of the design????
Last edited:
Agree. When I first saw it I had a bad feeling that would be the weak link.
- Joined
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- Threads
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- 16,552
- Location
- Winter Park, Florida
- Website
- www.cruisermatts.com
Yeah, don't know that the hell they were thinking with that. My Cruiser's engine mounts are stronger then that and they barely see any load. They should just weld a shock mount on it and box the other side if it's intact for the 4400 race they said they were going to run on Friday. I want to see this thing on some rocks!!
Are they going to be able to repair the damage in time to run the 4400 race?
Unless the rules have changed, you cannot run in the 4400 race without either first pre-qualifying or passing through the LCQ which was held on Tuesday.
Last edited:
I've been thinking about this:
Glad to see you're home safe!
Despite the end result of this year's effort, I hope you go back and your family/business can support you in the effort again!
I've learned so much by following you here/IG/FB. Watched the live stream and am hooked on KOH, Score, ect...
Thank you for taking time to keep this and other thread going.
Your sponsors should be proud of the effort you made, the car looks phenomenal! You have put many of these manufactures on my radar.
Please thank your family for me for supporting you through the process! Some of us do not have that energy behind us.
I really hope to see 4602 back in 2020!
or in other events.
Thank you Charles
Glad to see you're home safe!
Despite the end result of this year's effort, I hope you go back and your family/business can support you in the effort again!
I've learned so much by following you here/IG/FB. Watched the live stream and am hooked on KOH, Score, ect...
Thank you for taking time to keep this and other thread going.
Your sponsors should be proud of the effort you made, the car looks phenomenal! You have put many of these manufactures on my radar.
Please thank your family for me for supporting you through the process! Some of us do not have that energy behind us.
I really hope to see 4602 back in 2020!
or in other events.
Thank you Charles
- Thread starter
- #315
Hey everyone. We are home safe and sound! Thanks for following us over the past few weeks here and on social media! Matt (my co-driver) and I made it home last night at 2:30am after a 32-hr push (27-hrs drive-time) through the last two days/nights. To say I feel a little tired right now would be an understatement.
Once I get everything unloaded and caught up on work stuff, I'll post a proper update from the week before the race through last night.
Overall, it was a wonderful experience. We wouldn't have changed a thing and we learned a ton. Best of all, we are now extremely well prepared with true experience, an amazing and innovative car that is 95% ready to go, a sound game plan of upgrades and logistics for 2020, and an amazing wife and family who still support our dream of finishing KOH!
More to come over the next couple of days.
Once I get everything unloaded and caught up on work stuff, I'll post a proper update from the week before the race through last night.
Overall, it was a wonderful experience. We wouldn't have changed a thing and we learned a ton. Best of all, we are now extremely well prepared with true experience, an amazing and innovative car that is 95% ready to go, a sound game plan of upgrades and logistics for 2020, and an amazing wife and family who still support our dream of finishing KOH!
More to come over the next couple of days.
- Thread starter
- #316
This made my day! Thank you!I've been thinking about this:
Glad to see you're home safe!
Despite the end result of this year's effort, I hope you go back and your family/business can support you in the effort again!
I've learned so much by following you here/IG/FB. Watched the live stream and am hooked on KOH, Score, ect...
Thank you for taking time to keep this and other thread going.
Your sponsors should be proud of the effort you made, the car looks phenomenal! You have put many of these manufactures on my radar.
Please thank your family for me for supporting you through the process! Some of us do not have that energy behind us.
I really hope to see 4602 back in 2020!
or in other events.
Thank you Charles
Going back to sleep now
.
- Thread starter
- #317
Final Build Recap from ~2-weeks ago:
I believe my last post left off on Thursday before the race leaving the Exhaust shop. On Friday, while I went to pick up my Co-Driver from LAX and the RV from Cruse America, the team was hard at work on Front Suspension, Rear Suspension, and the toolbox:
Marlin Crawler New RCLT (Rock Crawler Long Travel) and Otwell Fabrication:
RockSolidToys and Otwell Fabrication:
Toolbox:
The team worked till around midnight on Friday so we could start testing on Saturday in Cougar Butes:
https://www.facebook.com/SteelCityRacing4x4/videos/1398237503652654/
https://www.facebook.com/SteelCityRacing4x4/videos/1398237503652654/
https://www.facebook.com/SteelCityRacing4x4/videos/1398237503652654/
https://www.facebook.com/SteelCityRacing4x4/videos/1398237503652654/
First Shakedown Testing showed a few flaws, but everything performed extremely well - better than expected:
After a thorough check, we noticed that we needed to replace a couple Wheel Studs, so we replaced all 12 on the front just in case. We also had a C-Clip on the Front Passenger side lower A-Arm to Spindle that needed modification, so Otwell knocked that out for us:
We then loaded up the truck for a Suspension Tuning session with Dylan at Icon. Our Rear shocks got tweaked, but our fronts were setup for Dual Shocks (which we cannot run in 4600) so they got a major overhaul:
We also had to drop our Rear Shock Mounts at the axle by 1" on each side to gain a bit more travel before our rear Air Bumps maxed out:
After this, we headed to the Lakebed for good:
Race Week Recap coming next.
I believe my last post left off on Thursday before the race leaving the Exhaust shop. On Friday, while I went to pick up my Co-Driver from LAX and the RV from Cruse America, the team was hard at work on Front Suspension, Rear Suspension, and the toolbox:
Marlin Crawler New RCLT (Rock Crawler Long Travel) and Otwell Fabrication:
RockSolidToys and Otwell Fabrication:
Toolbox:
The team worked till around midnight on Friday so we could start testing on Saturday in Cougar Butes:
https://www.facebook.com/SteelCityRacing4x4/videos/1398237503652654/
https://www.facebook.com/SteelCityRacing4x4/videos/1398237503652654/
https://www.facebook.com/SteelCityRacing4x4/videos/1398237503652654/
https://www.facebook.com/SteelCityRacing4x4/videos/1398237503652654/
First Shakedown Testing showed a few flaws, but everything performed extremely well - better than expected:
After a thorough check, we noticed that we needed to replace a couple Wheel Studs, so we replaced all 12 on the front just in case. We also had a C-Clip on the Front Passenger side lower A-Arm to Spindle that needed modification, so Otwell knocked that out for us:
We then loaded up the truck for a Suspension Tuning session with Dylan at Icon. Our Rear shocks got tweaked, but our fronts were setup for Dual Shocks (which we cannot run in 4600) so they got a major overhaul:
We also had to drop our Rear Shock Mounts at the axle by 1" on each side to gain a bit more travel before our rear Air Bumps maxed out:
After this, we headed to the Lakebed for good:
Race Week Recap coming next.
- Thread starter
- #318
Pre-Race Activities Recap:
Once we made it to the lakebed for good, @RustyNailJustin and our shared camp/pit crew team had us all setup:
I cannot thank Justin, Brittain, and the rest of the team enough for taking us under their wings and showing us the ropes. We all hung out around the camp fire each night and had an amazing time. And the meals the camp crew made for us all were AMAZING!
While we were with Dylan at Icon, Tom Wayes came in from pre-running and spent a solid 30-mins with us talking about our 4Runner build and giving us Tips and Advice. Tom is First Class - what an amazing experience.
On Monday morning at 8am, we were first in line for Tech. They spent about 45-mins reviewing the build and giving us pointers. She weighed in over 5,000 pounds - that 2" DOM Cage wasn't light! We were thankful to pass tech with zero issues or remedies needed.
After Tech, we stopped by Ruged Radios for them to program our Radio and make sure our Intercom and Helmet connections were solid. Afterward, we stopped by Factor55 and they swapped our Thimble and Hook to ProLinks with Aluminum Covers. Thanks again to Rugged Radios and Factor55 - what amazing companies and individuals!
Now, our attention turns 100% to Pre-Running. We got the GPS file from Brittain (Ultra4, please post the GPS files to the website going forward!) and downloaded all required Satellite imagry via the LeadNav ProPack before we left Otwell's shop.
Now we have a 100% blank LeadNav that we need to fill up!
Fortunately the folks at Polaris RZR hooked us up with an amazing 4-seat RZR that we used to drive all of EMC Lap 1 in about 2.5hrs. With LeadNav's Pre-Running software, we were able to add all Caution, Accelerate, Turns, and POIs with ease without even stopping. We never pre-ran Lap 2, but felt confident we could figure it out given it was mostly rock trails.
After pre-running, we took the 4602 car out for more Seat Time on 2-3 occassions. We tested it in the desert and on certain Lap 2 Rock Trails. We also had 3 separate Photo Shoots for various magazines.
It was around this time that one of the Media guys told us our build was voted as a "Top 5 Build at KOH 2019" by a few different magazines. More to come on this in a few months. What an honor!
At this point, we're feeling really good about the car. We've tested it 4-5 times and gained some much needed Seat Time.
Next up, Race Day!
Once we made it to the lakebed for good, @RustyNailJustin and our shared camp/pit crew team had us all setup:
I cannot thank Justin, Brittain, and the rest of the team enough for taking us under their wings and showing us the ropes. We all hung out around the camp fire each night and had an amazing time. And the meals the camp crew made for us all were AMAZING!
While we were with Dylan at Icon, Tom Wayes came in from pre-running and spent a solid 30-mins with us talking about our 4Runner build and giving us Tips and Advice. Tom is First Class - what an amazing experience.
On Monday morning at 8am, we were first in line for Tech. They spent about 45-mins reviewing the build and giving us pointers. She weighed in over 5,000 pounds - that 2" DOM Cage wasn't light! We were thankful to pass tech with zero issues or remedies needed.
After Tech, we stopped by Ruged Radios for them to program our Radio and make sure our Intercom and Helmet connections were solid. Afterward, we stopped by Factor55 and they swapped our Thimble and Hook to ProLinks with Aluminum Covers. Thanks again to Rugged Radios and Factor55 - what amazing companies and individuals!
Now, our attention turns 100% to Pre-Running. We got the GPS file from Brittain (Ultra4, please post the GPS files to the website going forward!) and downloaded all required Satellite imagry via the LeadNav ProPack before we left Otwell's shop.
Now we have a 100% blank LeadNav that we need to fill up!
Fortunately the folks at Polaris RZR hooked us up with an amazing 4-seat RZR that we used to drive all of EMC Lap 1 in about 2.5hrs. With LeadNav's Pre-Running software, we were able to add all Caution, Accelerate, Turns, and POIs with ease without even stopping. We never pre-ran Lap 2, but felt confident we could figure it out given it was mostly rock trails.
After pre-running, we took the 4602 car out for more Seat Time on 2-3 occassions. We tested it in the desert and on certain Lap 2 Rock Trails. We also had 3 separate Photo Shoots for various magazines.
It was around this time that one of the Media guys told us our build was voted as a "Top 5 Build at KOH 2019" by a few different magazines. More to come on this in a few months. What an honor!
At this point, we're feeling really good about the car. We've tested it 4-5 times and gained some much needed Seat Time.
Next up, Race Day!
- Thread starter
- #319
Race Day Recap Part 1:
The Drivers meeting on Tuesday night went smooth except they accidentally re-drew for 4600 Non-Qualifiers and Dave said they had to revert back. Because of this, it was a big chaotic on race day as we never knew exactly when or where we were supposed to go.
The weather was VERY Cold, Windy, and Miserable all the way around.
On race day, we showed up around 7:30 and most cars were already in lines. It was windy and our 4Runner showed 29 degrees at the starting area. Someone told us to go to the front of a line right in front of Justin, which made sense since we were starting 3rd and he was 5th of Non-Qualifiers. About 15-mins later someone else told us to go to the back of another line. We started to move (it's hard to maneuver when you are all strapped in), but then someone else yelled at that person for moving us and forced us back into position. It was chaotic, but eventually settled down.
Our comms weren't working, then they were, then they weren't, then they were again. Our GoPro wouldn't turn on. I think it was simply too cold... The car was running fine, our comms were working, we had the heater running full blast, and our navigation was ready to go.
I have to pause here and thank everyone that came up to us - especially in the staging area. It felt like 20-30 people said "I follow your build on XYZ - Good luck today". We had amazing fan support and it really made us feel good and took our mind off the race.
Around 8:30 we finally pulled up to the line next to a Red Cherokee. We really hadn't scouted the short course at all, so we were simply going to try to take our fellow competitor off the line and see what happened. To be honest, we were ready to get out of the congestion and into the desert.
We put it in D and our V8 quickly took the lead. We hit the jump at speed and my co-driver said "The red cherokee is way behind. Nice work". Here's the Ultra4 Coverage (notice the commentators still manage to talk about Jeeps almost the entire time...! Toyota, please gain some pull here via sponsorship in the coming years!):
Evidentially most 4600 cars "pulled up" at the jump. We didn't get the memo... Our Marlin / RockSolidToys / Icon suspension performed flawlessly. RCV captured this now iconic shot of us at the jump:
We kept the lead until just before the sand hill when a Black Grand Cherokee that had taken a bad line pulled in front of us and the Red Cherokee we were ahead of took a risky line to pass 2-3 of us. They would eventually finish 2nd or 3rd I think.
Robert Otwell captured this video of us after the short course. It's amazing how much smoother our suspension was on this section than the Jeeps...
And RockSolidToys got this video of the same section:
https://www.facebook.com/SteelCityRacing4x4/videos/1653577314788701/
At this point, our experience started catching up with us. Simply put, we had told ourselves we were going to run OUR race. But when those cars that you know you're faster than start passing you while you are sitting in traffic behind slower cars, your competitive side starts to take over.
After the Red Cherokee passed us, we were still behind the slower Black Grand Cherokee at the sand hill. We had pre-ran the left line 10x in the car and knew we could fly up it. When the slower Black Grand Cherokee took the left line, we pushed it and tried the right line only to bog down in deep sand 10' front the top. Ego now in the ditch, we backed down, threw the Atlas II in Low, and easily climbed up the left side just after Justin Reece passed us in the 4619.
We crested the hill and our LeadNav said "Accelerate, Accelerate, Accelerate" so we did. About this time, we had a drone hovering right in front of us. We both turned and said "That was sweet!".
We hit 85mph on the lakebed when we started seeing parts all over the track. Hi-lift Jack Handles, the jack itself, cases of oil, etc. We backed it down so we could avoid all the parts thrown all over the track.
After the lakebed, the car began to settle into the desert rythm. We were passing 4500, 4800, and 4600 cars left and right. We were amazed at how many cars were on the side of the road in the first 30-mins of the race. We were feeling good.
Justin was right in front of us and we decided to follow him for a bit. After 2-3 mins, we realized our car was just faster in the desert so we waived and honked as we passed him on a Left Side track. We held that position for ~15 mins through various desert terrain. The car was running so well. We had huge smiles on our face. This was fun. This was what we were hoping for.
Not needing anything, we flew through Remote Pit 1 and started climbing a few mountain passes. Justin's 4619 shines in this terrain and he was all over us. At the top of the highest pass where there is a blind left turn, Justin nerfed us gently to say "let me pass". We did and he subsequently passed 3 other cars way off trail. We couldn't believe the 4619 held together - there was no trail, huge rocks everywhere, and his car was bouncing all over the place. It looked risky to us. To Justin, that was racing and that was where his car shines.
At this point we found ourselves behind a group of 4-5 4600 cars and Justin was no-where to be seen. We knew we were faster than all of them. After 15-20 mins of what we called "being lulled to sleep" by slower competitor traffic, we found a multi-track desert section and starting picking off cars 1 and 2 at a time.
At this point, we should have exercised patience and let the course unveil our opportunities to pass. But one big, old Blue Ford just kept sitting in front of us. He wasn't slow, but we couldn't see anything and knew we were faster than him. It started to get to us.
After 15-30 mins of driving behind him through various terrain and optional lines we had picked in pre-running, my Co-Driver said "Get on his bumper and let him know we are here". We started to drop down into a canyon and entered a wash/goat trail. It was tight, but we wanted to keep the pressure on the Ford and didn't want to slow down.
While in one of the tightest sections going around 20-25mph, we both felt our Front Passenger tire hit something. We had seen a rock and thought we had avoided, but honestly couldn't see very well with a huge Blue Ford bounding everywhere right in front of us.
I looked at my Co-Driver and said "Did you see what we just hit?" He said he didn't and I said I didn't either. We drove another 100 yards or so and I started to feel our steering get really weird. We were still in the middle of a pack of 4-5 4600 cars, but I had to pull over and check it out.
My Co-Driver jumped out first and went silent. I asked how bad it was, but he wouldn't tell me. I finally made it over to the Front Passenger side and saw that we had bent the heck out of our Tie Rod to Spindle connection. We had a few comments on Facebook about this being a "weak link" a few days before and my heart sank.
Determined to keep going, we pulled the truck next to a rock and attempted to steering the tire into the rock and "bend it back". This sheared it off completely (it was only hanging on by a thread at this point).
[/IMG]
Still determined to keep going, we pulled out 2 ratchet straps and attempted to ratchet the Passenger Front into a Straight Only path. One turn and both ratchet straps broke instantly (our MarRack is very strong!). In one final attempt, we pulled the huge HD 3-Way Strap off the spare and tried everything we could to get it to hold with no luck.
A 4500 car had broken down just behind us and needed fuses. We had plenty and gave them all the 20amp fuses we had. They took off and we were all alone. Now our attention turned to recovery.
I noted our position (just shy of Mile 26) on LeadNav and Matt climbed the highest peak to relay in our dilemma to our Crew Chief on the hand-held radio, to our wife via my phone (Verizon worked surprisingly), and to Ultra4 on Weatherman Repeater channel.
I have always loved the stories where teams do whatever it takes to keep going or to self-recover and I was determined not to sit and wait for help. We determined that going backwards on the track was the fastest way out of the canyon (we were ~40% in) and tried driving forward in 2wd. Our Passenger tire immediately turned out and we went nowhere.
We eventually figured out that our RCVs actually held up in 4wd despite our steering issues and that the car would move in reverse. The "course cleaner" car had passed, so we felt it was okay to go backwards for recovery. So we threw it in Reverse 4wd and made our way 15 feet at a time. The car would go a few feet, then go left or right and we'd have to go forward, winch the tire back into position with our Warn Front Zeon 10-S Platinum and Bubba Rope Gator Jaw, and repeat. We actually made it a long ways before JT with Ultra4 showed up in a side-by-side.
JT's first words were "Holy S&*#" you guys are in a really bad spot. He didn't know how far we had already came. JT said to keep going, but that he was sending Darick in his white 4Runner to help.
We kept going, this time using our Warn 9.0RC and all the Bubba Rope gear we had to get us up and over rocks, hills, washes, etc - all in reverse with only 1 tire able to steer and 1 that kept throwing us off. We did this for ~2hrs solo.
Darick showed up and over the next hour towed us in reverse back to the closest lakebed. To our surprise, the day just kept getting better from here. The 4895 car had broken down after a shot tranny and two front Falkens that they had run on for 30-miles flat.
Continued Below...
The Drivers meeting on Tuesday night went smooth except they accidentally re-drew for 4600 Non-Qualifiers and Dave said they had to revert back. Because of this, it was a big chaotic on race day as we never knew exactly when or where we were supposed to go.
The weather was VERY Cold, Windy, and Miserable all the way around.
On race day, we showed up around 7:30 and most cars were already in lines. It was windy and our 4Runner showed 29 degrees at the starting area. Someone told us to go to the front of a line right in front of Justin, which made sense since we were starting 3rd and he was 5th of Non-Qualifiers. About 15-mins later someone else told us to go to the back of another line. We started to move (it's hard to maneuver when you are all strapped in), but then someone else yelled at that person for moving us and forced us back into position. It was chaotic, but eventually settled down.
Our comms weren't working, then they were, then they weren't, then they were again. Our GoPro wouldn't turn on. I think it was simply too cold... The car was running fine, our comms were working, we had the heater running full blast, and our navigation was ready to go.
I have to pause here and thank everyone that came up to us - especially in the staging area. It felt like 20-30 people said "I follow your build on XYZ - Good luck today". We had amazing fan support and it really made us feel good and took our mind off the race.
Around 8:30 we finally pulled up to the line next to a Red Cherokee. We really hadn't scouted the short course at all, so we were simply going to try to take our fellow competitor off the line and see what happened. To be honest, we were ready to get out of the congestion and into the desert.
We put it in D and our V8 quickly took the lead. We hit the jump at speed and my co-driver said "The red cherokee is way behind. Nice work". Here's the Ultra4 Coverage (notice the commentators still manage to talk about Jeeps almost the entire time...! Toyota, please gain some pull here via sponsorship in the coming years!):
Evidentially most 4600 cars "pulled up" at the jump. We didn't get the memo... Our Marlin / RockSolidToys / Icon suspension performed flawlessly. RCV captured this now iconic shot of us at the jump:
We kept the lead until just before the sand hill when a Black Grand Cherokee that had taken a bad line pulled in front of us and the Red Cherokee we were ahead of took a risky line to pass 2-3 of us. They would eventually finish 2nd or 3rd I think.
Robert Otwell captured this video of us after the short course. It's amazing how much smoother our suspension was on this section than the Jeeps...
And RockSolidToys got this video of the same section:
https://www.facebook.com/SteelCityRacing4x4/videos/1653577314788701/
At this point, our experience started catching up with us. Simply put, we had told ourselves we were going to run OUR race. But when those cars that you know you're faster than start passing you while you are sitting in traffic behind slower cars, your competitive side starts to take over.
After the Red Cherokee passed us, we were still behind the slower Black Grand Cherokee at the sand hill. We had pre-ran the left line 10x in the car and knew we could fly up it. When the slower Black Grand Cherokee took the left line, we pushed it and tried the right line only to bog down in deep sand 10' front the top. Ego now in the ditch, we backed down, threw the Atlas II in Low, and easily climbed up the left side just after Justin Reece passed us in the 4619.
We crested the hill and our LeadNav said "Accelerate, Accelerate, Accelerate" so we did. About this time, we had a drone hovering right in front of us. We both turned and said "That was sweet!".
We hit 85mph on the lakebed when we started seeing parts all over the track. Hi-lift Jack Handles, the jack itself, cases of oil, etc. We backed it down so we could avoid all the parts thrown all over the track.
After the lakebed, the car began to settle into the desert rythm. We were passing 4500, 4800, and 4600 cars left and right. We were amazed at how many cars were on the side of the road in the first 30-mins of the race. We were feeling good.
Justin was right in front of us and we decided to follow him for a bit. After 2-3 mins, we realized our car was just faster in the desert so we waived and honked as we passed him on a Left Side track. We held that position for ~15 mins through various desert terrain. The car was running so well. We had huge smiles on our face. This was fun. This was what we were hoping for.
Not needing anything, we flew through Remote Pit 1 and started climbing a few mountain passes. Justin's 4619 shines in this terrain and he was all over us. At the top of the highest pass where there is a blind left turn, Justin nerfed us gently to say "let me pass". We did and he subsequently passed 3 other cars way off trail. We couldn't believe the 4619 held together - there was no trail, huge rocks everywhere, and his car was bouncing all over the place. It looked risky to us. To Justin, that was racing and that was where his car shines.
At this point we found ourselves behind a group of 4-5 4600 cars and Justin was no-where to be seen. We knew we were faster than all of them. After 15-20 mins of what we called "being lulled to sleep" by slower competitor traffic, we found a multi-track desert section and starting picking off cars 1 and 2 at a time.
At this point, we should have exercised patience and let the course unveil our opportunities to pass. But one big, old Blue Ford just kept sitting in front of us. He wasn't slow, but we couldn't see anything and knew we were faster than him. It started to get to us.
After 15-30 mins of driving behind him through various terrain and optional lines we had picked in pre-running, my Co-Driver said "Get on his bumper and let him know we are here". We started to drop down into a canyon and entered a wash/goat trail. It was tight, but we wanted to keep the pressure on the Ford and didn't want to slow down.
While in one of the tightest sections going around 20-25mph, we both felt our Front Passenger tire hit something. We had seen a rock and thought we had avoided, but honestly couldn't see very well with a huge Blue Ford bounding everywhere right in front of us.
I looked at my Co-Driver and said "Did you see what we just hit?" He said he didn't and I said I didn't either. We drove another 100 yards or so and I started to feel our steering get really weird. We were still in the middle of a pack of 4-5 4600 cars, but I had to pull over and check it out.
My Co-Driver jumped out first and went silent. I asked how bad it was, but he wouldn't tell me. I finally made it over to the Front Passenger side and saw that we had bent the heck out of our Tie Rod to Spindle connection. We had a few comments on Facebook about this being a "weak link" a few days before and my heart sank.
Determined to keep going, we pulled the truck next to a rock and attempted to steering the tire into the rock and "bend it back". This sheared it off completely (it was only hanging on by a thread at this point).
Still determined to keep going, we pulled out 2 ratchet straps and attempted to ratchet the Passenger Front into a Straight Only path. One turn and both ratchet straps broke instantly (our MarRack is very strong!). In one final attempt, we pulled the huge HD 3-Way Strap off the spare and tried everything we could to get it to hold with no luck.
A 4500 car had broken down just behind us and needed fuses. We had plenty and gave them all the 20amp fuses we had. They took off and we were all alone. Now our attention turned to recovery.
I noted our position (just shy of Mile 26) on LeadNav and Matt climbed the highest peak to relay in our dilemma to our Crew Chief on the hand-held radio, to our wife via my phone (Verizon worked surprisingly), and to Ultra4 on Weatherman Repeater channel.
I have always loved the stories where teams do whatever it takes to keep going or to self-recover and I was determined not to sit and wait for help. We determined that going backwards on the track was the fastest way out of the canyon (we were ~40% in) and tried driving forward in 2wd. Our Passenger tire immediately turned out and we went nowhere.
We eventually figured out that our RCVs actually held up in 4wd despite our steering issues and that the car would move in reverse. The "course cleaner" car had passed, so we felt it was okay to go backwards for recovery. So we threw it in Reverse 4wd and made our way 15 feet at a time. The car would go a few feet, then go left or right and we'd have to go forward, winch the tire back into position with our Warn Front Zeon 10-S Platinum and Bubba Rope Gator Jaw, and repeat. We actually made it a long ways before JT with Ultra4 showed up in a side-by-side.
JT's first words were "Holy S&*#" you guys are in a really bad spot. He didn't know how far we had already came. JT said to keep going, but that he was sending Darick in his white 4Runner to help.
We kept going, this time using our Warn 9.0RC and all the Bubba Rope gear we had to get us up and over rocks, hills, washes, etc - all in reverse with only 1 tire able to steer and 1 that kept throwing us off. We did this for ~2hrs solo.
Darick showed up and over the next hour towed us in reverse back to the closest lakebed. To our surprise, the day just kept getting better from here. The 4895 car had broken down after a shot tranny and two front Falkens that they had run on for 30-miles flat.
Continued Below...
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- #320
Race Day Recap Part 2:
Other racers had thrown cold drinks out for broken down cars, so we were well hydrated. We had a fire. Darick had his dog. JT and some lady showed up on the side-by-side and hung out for an hour or so. It was literally a KOH Party in the middle of nowhere.
And to top it all off, RockSolidToys, Otwell, Brian, and other friends all found our position and showed up. Brian pulled out a Meat, Cheese, and Cracker tray. We were living the high life! We couldn't believe it - a party complete with a fire, dogs, food, cold drinks, great stories, friends - all in the middle of nowhere in the desert. How cool is this!
Unfortunately the 4602 wasn't going anywhere:
Not only had sheared the steering off, but we also bent the Lower A-Arm to Spindle joint. Our Crew Chief Brittain and our two wives showed up about 2-hrs later and we were rescued:
At this point, Brittain and our wives heard that our teammate Justin Reece "was through Main Pit and headed into Lap 2 in solid position". We jumped in the car and took off to help Justin wherever we could.
Other racers had thrown cold drinks out for broken down cars, so we were well hydrated. We had a fire. Darick had his dog. JT and some lady showed up on the side-by-side and hung out for an hour or so. It was literally a KOH Party in the middle of nowhere.
And to top it all off, RockSolidToys, Otwell, Brian, and other friends all found our position and showed up. Brian pulled out a Meat, Cheese, and Cracker tray. We were living the high life! We couldn't believe it - a party complete with a fire, dogs, food, cold drinks, great stories, friends - all in the middle of nowhere in the desert. How cool is this!
Unfortunately the 4602 wasn't going anywhere:
Not only had sheared the steering off, but we also bent the Lower A-Arm to Spindle joint. Our Crew Chief Brittain and our two wives showed up about 2-hrs later and we were rescued:
At this point, Brittain and our wives heard that our teammate Justin Reece "was through Main Pit and headed into Lap 2 in solid position". We jumped in the car and took off to help Justin wherever we could.
