Gwagg
SILVER Star
I received a late night phone call from a long time friend. His son recently acquired a 2002 Jeep YJ. Seems their son was in an accident and needed me to ferry them back into the woods to see their Jeep which overturned. All the kids were fine and they were talking with the other parents that were involved. Once all the parents calmed down my friend wanted to get back to the jeep. My son and I went back into the woods with my friend and his son in my FJC. Since we were longtime friends we were being jerks talking about stupid things we had done as kids and ribbing the driver pretty hard until our flashlights hit the turned over Jeep. I will never forgot how quiet we all got. This could have been so much worse.
The high school seniors finished a band recital in their tuxedos then decided to take a route through the woods on their way home. They made it all the way through the woods only to find a locked gate near the end of the trail. While one of the three was checking the lock the other two thought it would be funny to reverse through the woods leaving him standing in the dark. The only problem is they veered 10 feet off the trail and went off a drainage pipe and flipped the jeep into a steam. The seat belt locked up while upside holding the driver underwater. Lucky for the driver his friend who was left at the gate (member of the wrestling team) was able to get the driver door open and pull him from the water. The friend in the back was out of his belt and had plenty of air. Scared and wet the three were all safe but all of their cell phones were full of water. They walked the rest of the way to the house they were heading to and made the dreaded call back home to tell their families. Lucky indeed.
It was late at night and the decision was made to call a wrecker in the morning. The engine was out of the water and there were no signs of any fluids leaking. In the morning my friend soon found out that many wreckers will not go off road. One company wanted $700; a mechanic friend called a friend who would use his 4x4 to recover it for $500. The other problem was a 8 foot bridge you had to go under to get to it. This eliminated the rollbacks. I explained I could get it out but without a boom truck I would have to drag it out. He assumed it was totaled and said lets do it. The following video is 8 minutes of a 90 minute winch out.
The jeep needed all the fluids drained and refilled. Axles were the only fluids clean. The mechanic pulled the plugs and cleaned out the cylinders. It smoked for a few minutes at startup but drives fine now. The interior is being dismantled and cleaned. The radio and windshield wiper module are the two items that seem to be shorted and dead.
And yes I now realize my cable weights were too far back to do any good. I also used my 15 year old 2” straps with small D-rings. Ordering a 3” strap as a replacement. All components fared very well until the tow out when the strap got cut.
The high school seniors finished a band recital in their tuxedos then decided to take a route through the woods on their way home. They made it all the way through the woods only to find a locked gate near the end of the trail. While one of the three was checking the lock the other two thought it would be funny to reverse through the woods leaving him standing in the dark. The only problem is they veered 10 feet off the trail and went off a drainage pipe and flipped the jeep into a steam. The seat belt locked up while upside holding the driver underwater. Lucky for the driver his friend who was left at the gate (member of the wrestling team) was able to get the driver door open and pull him from the water. The friend in the back was out of his belt and had plenty of air. Scared and wet the three were all safe but all of their cell phones were full of water. They walked the rest of the way to the house they were heading to and made the dreaded call back home to tell their families. Lucky indeed.
It was late at night and the decision was made to call a wrecker in the morning. The engine was out of the water and there were no signs of any fluids leaking. In the morning my friend soon found out that many wreckers will not go off road. One company wanted $700; a mechanic friend called a friend who would use his 4x4 to recover it for $500. The other problem was a 8 foot bridge you had to go under to get to it. This eliminated the rollbacks. I explained I could get it out but without a boom truck I would have to drag it out. He assumed it was totaled and said lets do it. The following video is 8 minutes of a 90 minute winch out.
The jeep needed all the fluids drained and refilled. Axles were the only fluids clean. The mechanic pulled the plugs and cleaned out the cylinders. It smoked for a few minutes at startup but drives fine now. The interior is being dismantled and cleaned. The radio and windshield wiper module are the two items that seem to be shorted and dead.
And yes I now realize my cable weights were too far back to do any good. I also used my 15 year old 2” straps with small D-rings. Ordering a 3” strap as a replacement. All components fared very well until the tow out when the strap got cut.
Last edited:
thanks gwagg. Where is that wooded area with the trails? Orlando?
