To Hell and Back Moab 2017

[Dan Higgins]

Re: Hole in the Rock. I was referring to the road, not the trail. . I've seen a couple of recent Utah Traverse vids (not LCs). And vids of other trails around Escalante and the Grand Staircase. I'll see if I can find them.

And then there is Cathedral Valley. And The Swell. (I've driven on The Swell a couple of times but never through Cathedral Valley. Man, I need to hurry up and retire so I have time to go do this stuff! Next year.

 

[SWUtah]

@JRsLC100
View attachment 1517315

He's got balls as big as a Land Cruiser

 

[kreiten]

@Canyonero

 

[kreiten]

@Atwalz @TonyP @Canyonero

 

[kreiten]

@Canyonero

 

[Atwalz]

@Atwalz @TonyP @Canyonero
View attachment 1517957

Looks like we were lost.

 

[Canyonero]

We were!

 

[TonyP]

@Atwalz @TonyP @Canyonero
View attachment 1517957

Ugh, I need to get this herniated disk fixed. I've become a fatty.

 

[kreiten]

 

[steenh]

Re: Hole in the Rock. I was referring to the road, not the trail. .

Yep, if you are planning to do HITR, and put the "road" into your GPS thinking you are going to the "trail", you will be VERY disappointed with how challenging it is. I haven't been on the road, but hear it's just that, a nice road with great views.

 

[ethernectar]

...

And then there is Cathedral Valley. And The Swell. (I've driven on The Swell a couple of times but never through Cathedral Valley. Man, I need to hurry up and retire so I have time to go do this stuff! Next year.

Cathedral Valley is amazing. Pretty mild roads, lots of wash and a few shelf roads. It doesn't disappoint visually!

(More: Utah and Four-Corners Area - themirrorpool)

 

[Dan Higgins]

Yep, if you are planning to do HITR, and put the "road" into your GPS thinking you are going to the "trail", you will be VERY disappointed with how challenging it is. I haven't been on the road, but hear it's just that, a nice road with great views.

Great point. This is where I am different than a lot of the folks on this forum. "Challenging" is something I attempt to minimize or avoid. For me it is all about scenery, photo-ops, being "out there away from the crowds", etc. Nothing against y'all who love the challenge and after having built up your trucks want to test them and yourselves. That's just not me. I believe there are some "mild" tracks in Grand Staircase with dispersed camping (all of the GS is dispersed camping) and awesome views. That's where I hope to get some day.

@ethernectar, that is an awesome picture. Cathedral Valley is definitely on my list. I think I'll try to do it in the Fall when it is drier and the river crossing is a bit lower and the temps are cooler. Maybe mix it in with some time on the Swell. I don't have time to do anything in the Grand Staircase this year. Maybe a year from this September/October my wife and I can do a couple weeks in So Utah.

 

[kreiten]

Cathedral Valley is amazing. Pretty mild roads, lots of wash and a few shelf roads. It doesn't disappoint visually!

View attachment 1518147
(More: Utah and Four-Corners Area - themirrorpool)

Wow that place looks awesome, on my list now thanks!

 

[Dan Higgins]

Ken, you would need a couple extra memory cards for your camera to capture some of the beauty of these areas in the SW quarter of Utah (Moab to Zion NP; S of I70. There is some stuff to the north of I70 but the south side is freaking amazing. And so very different than where you live where water (and all that comes with it) is in abundance.

 

[Mogwai]

@JRsLC100
View attachment 1516708

Truck is working so hard it's sweating.

 

[mark71]

Truck is working so hard it's sweating.

Or pissing its pants, waiting to hit its left rear bumper when it drops off that rock!

Driver must be fearless.

 

[kreiten]

Or pissing its pants, waiting to hit its left rear bumper when it drops off that rock!

Driver must be fearless.

definitely fearless, and loves that skinny pedal!

 

[linuxgod]

I heard @TexAZ broke an axle in Moab. Any info on what happened for those of us that missed the trip?

 

[TexAZ]

The saga:
Snapped a cv axle on day 2 of Moab, crossing golden crack. Had questionable part bearing all the load of the truck climbing out of the obstacle.
Left the truck where it was, ride with @Canyonero through the rest of the trail. Got back to the hotel at 130 am.
Called all over sourcing new axle. Decided to go with napa, overnight delivery.
Rested, enjoyed Moab Wednesday.
8 am Thurs picked up rental Rubicon.
830 got to Napa to get axle and supplies. They screwed us and didn't get the axle delivered.
We wound up locating an axle in grand junction. Drove crappy rental car 4 hours to get axle. Started on poison spider 5 hours later than planned.
210 pm, tires hit dirt. My wife was driving, I would spot and guide to try to get here ready to drive the jeep out as I would be driving the cruiser. We did poison spider to the start of golden spike in just over an hour. (A jeep is no cruiser, but it is home on the rocks)
Another 2 1/2 hours and we were back at the cruiser. Unmolested, thankfully.
Installed the new axle and were back on the trail at 7.
Came back across the golden crack. What a ride. Decided to rename my ride.
Was Tabi-maru, (circular journey, roughly) now she's gonna be Tippy Maru.
I can't say enough bad things about golden spike trail.
As it got dark it became harder and harder to see the trail and trail markers. I dropped the front off a 3 foot ledge and had to be pulled back up.
Then an hour later, I hit a rock just wrong and blew a tire. Tried to patch it, but there was a tear at the rim.
We made it back to pavement at 330 am. Clean and returned the jeep and started out for Breck. Stopping for naps, we should make it there by Sunday.

 

[TexAZ]

I was on oem Toyota axle. It got heated and bearings failed over 4th of july weekend. I replaced the joint with one of the original cruiser axles I still have on hand. I suspect, the heat changed the metal just enough that having all the torque go to the one wheel while trying to climb out of the ditch was what caused it to shear.

I am on a Napa remanufactured axle now, as it was the only one available. I will be either buying Toyota boot kits for the axle I have, or replacing the whole thing with OEM, if I determine that the reman is not original Toyota.

TezAZ, Im wondering at the extra strain that 35s put on a lifted cruiser with a big V8 donkey under the hood. You're obviously using your cruiser as God intended but have you considered a diff drop and/or lockers?

Billfish, I have a diff drop kit installed. The angles of the drive shafts are not extreme, as I am running tundra arms/axles which is increasing the length of the arm 1 1/2 inches per side.
The axle failure was 100% my fault. The part was potentially weakened a few weeks earlier when the inner joint failed. At the golden crack obstacle, I had all the torque on the one wheel. I was on the gas (too much) and applied the brake to help the Atrac start doing its thing. as soon as the brake pedal got firm from traction control kicking in and all the torque went to the one wheel, the shaft snapped.

It was a combination of adrenaline, fatigue and compromised parts.
we all hit hard obtacles, ledges, drops, and off camber climbs that really tested the trucks. Mine was just a bad culmination of circumstances.