UCLC Spring Run
- Thread starter Mud Shark Rosey
- Start date
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Wow What A Weekend!!!!!!!
Just got back from Hockey tryouts, Jakob actually had some energy left!
Weekend was unbelievable!!!!
Had a Great time, good see everyone made it home Safe! Guess I should check young bloods work.
Anyone got a locker for sale for a 62!
Will post some pics tomorrow.
JB
Just got back from Hockey tryouts, Jakob actually had some energy left!
Weekend was unbelievable!!!!
Had a Great time, good see everyone made it home Safe! Guess I should check young bloods work.
Anyone got a locker for sale for a 62!
Will post some pics tomorrow.
JB
- Joined
- Oct 24, 2007
- Threads
- 60
- Messages
- 1,318
nice pics 
I had a fabulous weekend!
Great people!
Great weather!
so many memories
Looking forward to some more wheeling trips!
I love this pic!
Great people!
Great weather!
so many memories
Looking forward to some more wheeling trips!
I love this pic!
this is a note to everyone:
after wheeling you REALLY should check your lug nuts and double check they are still tight.
this is the second, no... third, now that i think about it the forth time i have experienced this situation during or very shortly after a wheeling trip. the vibration from all the bouncing, twisting, banging can loosen lug nuts that have been on for months. just a rutine safety step to remember.
i usually check mine just before hitting the road but this time i got busy with a birf extraction and forgot.
dumb mistake on my part.
there were a couple things learned on this run that we can discuss for future events. the May meeting should be a good one.
after wheeling you REALLY should check your lug nuts and double check they are still tight.
this is the second, no... third, now that i think about it the forth time i have experienced this situation during or very shortly after a wheeling trip. the vibration from all the bouncing, twisting, banging can loosen lug nuts that have been on for months. just a rutine safety step to remember.
i usually check mine just before hitting the road but this time i got busy with a birf extraction and forgot.
dumb mistake on my part.
there were a couple things learned on this run that we can discuss for future events. the May meeting should be a good one.
so the vids are takin serveral minutes to upload, i'll post them here goin backwards in sequence (so it's forwards in sequence once it's done and i'll cut n paste the album again)
(( by the way, if for some reason you don't want a certain shot/vid posted, just lemme know via pm ))
Wayne on his way to give Matt a tug, but he's gotta recover himself first
PZ winchin the hj60
FJC n trailer comin through!
landblazer trailer, comin through!
PZ doin the tow
PZ workin the granite
60's and 70 goin down hill crack
land blazer throwin up some mud
landblazer, bj60, hj60 goin up hill...
i will edit this post as i add more vids...
(( by the way, if for some reason you don't want a certain shot/vid posted, just lemme know via pm ))
Wayne on his way to give Matt a tug, but he's gotta recover himself first
PZ winchin the hj60
FJC n trailer comin through!
landblazer trailer, comin through!
PZ doin the tow
PZ workin the granite
60's and 70 goin down hill crack
land blazer throwin up some mud
landblazer, bj60, hj60 goin up hill...
i will edit this post as i add more vids...
Last edited:
I was so excited. Another run with the local boys, the last one showed they were a tight nit group that welcomed the stranger.
This time I wasn’t going to miss it. I didn’t have the time I wanted to go through the old bush pig but that wasn’t going to stop me, no way. I had sold my tow vehicle, no place to sleep, and it had to drive out and back… humm. Oh well. I had a roof rack in the attic that might fit. I needed to fit 5 tractor tires in/on/behind/under… somehow. Plus sleeping gear, extra fuel, a toolbox and my old faithful mutt Cruiser inside.
The day before I took off work to get as ready as I could. I was outside at 7am getting the roof rack down. I should have it on in about 2 hours. I get my wife to help lift it on before she leaves for work. I start installing the 6 supports, damn. They are 1” short and the mounting bolts have only 2 per support… what to do? Well make 6 new plates, drill 6 holes per support, paint and mount. What should have been done by 9 now was finished by noon, 3 hours behind. Next I had to find a place for the hi-lift… make a set of supports off the roof rack supports, easy enough and an hour later the roof rack was saddled with a hi-lift… nice and solid.
Now I had to fix that damn front end, the one hub wouldn’t release so I pulled it apart and remembered why it didn’t work. I had removed the tiny motor since I busted the brushes off back in Calgary. Duh. I go to my parts bin and find 2 new hubs, stick them on and one side works the other will only unlock… damn, again, that won’t work. Okay I will have to make them manual for the weekend. I take a spare with me to play with on the trail.
Loaded and fueled by 9am Friday morning and I am off to meet up with Jerome, Matt and Jeremy. I pull over the 400 right behind them pulling in. PEFECT TIMING. We grab a quick meal and off to meet up with Dave in the Land Blazer in Parry Sound. I thought this was a thriving city but it turns out to be a quaint town in the middle of nowhere. Grab some munchies, fuel up (20 L for 167 km not bad with a roof rack and 500 lbs of tires, 50 lbs of tools and my butt). Once again we are off to the base camp but it wasn’t the easy drive in that I suspected. It was the start of the s*** show weekend.
Snow, deep white, sled ridden/packed down snow with hidden traps along the way.
The first obstacle was a snow bridge over a nice drop. Matt in his HJ60 with dual lockers gave it a try, almost made it and … stuck. It was now that Dave in his Fjcruiser showed up pulling his new to him camping trailer. As everyone was figuring out how to free Matt I was looking at the ditch that caused the problem and it looked do-able, almost. I thought what the hell, worst case I would be stuck too. I received permission to give it a try, dropped my nose off the bank and tried to get positioned to try and climb back out the other side… stuck. Well almost, I tried a bit more and stuck worse. Okay time for the old trusty “saving your ass again” Warn 8274. Out to a tree, start wheeling it in and… crabbing along the bank and someone yells, “front tries are not turning” Huh? What do you mean not turning and I look down and they are locked solid. WTF? I get out, take the hubs apart see the one hub was not engaged so I create my “manual over ride for elec hubs that fail”. I winch some more and out I pop but the front tires just didn’t feel right. I turn around and winch Matt out, once he is out I head to the nearest tree at the top of the knoll and … which the front off the ground to finish what I started down on the snow / ditch. As I am doing this I change to my tractor tires and hear some weird crunching sounds from inside the knuckle. Yah, yah, I should have clued in then but I was tired. I change out the back to tractor tires shortly after all the trucks make it to the top. Lower the old girl down, winch in and ready to play.
The next obstacle was a deep deep snow with a very short up hill climb and a snow run to the top of the next bump in the road. Once again Matt gave it a valiant try but… stuck. I look at the ditch next to the stuck truck and thing… again … I think I can make it around him and give him a tug. Matt's winch was in for repairs. I drop into the ditch, putter along, turn out into the deep snow and line up for a tug. A good tug and Matt is out. A couple more trucks up and through and what do we see? He comes Mr. Mo Mo and Moose Cruiser from the east. Stockerish BJ60s on a bit bigger tires running the MicDees smelling veggie oil putzing through what we just spent a couple hours tackling.
The whole gang was now together to finish the run to camp. A bit of bouncing and here we were just before dark. I started at 9am and arrive in camp at 7ish pm. Another long day.
Once at camp everyone set up their tents made their beds in the back of their trucks or, like me to be different, made my bed on the roof rack, tarp down, 2 sleeping bags, a knitted blanket and a sweet pillow and then the tarp pulled over the top, it was like a warm cacoon… sweet. I fell asleep listening to the joyful chatter down below. I woke up a couple times to the pitter-patter of gentle rain on my upturned face. I am sure I snored loud enough to keep the wolves and bears at bay.
The next morning I woke up to clear skies and a BEAUTIFUL view from my pent house suite of the campers, rigs and lake in the background. Soon the over cast skies made their way back in and shortly after everyone got up and moving a gentle rain started and would last most of the day. So much for 20C and sunny!! No problem, when you are having fun the weather does little to dampen the spirit. As we headed down the granite ridge we came to a sun little spot to try out our climbing skills. The old Land Blazer gave it a good try but sad to say he couldn’t make it so he went around. Next up was Matt and after a couple decent tries he made it. The stockers gave it a go and Mike was not going to quit but common sense grabbed hold and he went around as well.
Then it was my turn, I tried one angle and BANG the shackle hit the rock, tried another angle and I crept the front up and over but the back just would not come out. I tried again, no go. The third time and I called it quits, Matt kicked ass on the Tractor.
For the next 3 hours we putted down the granite hills with a bit of mud and snow but, although very pretty, I was getting a bit bored. On a sunny day, and if I had my camera, I would have been in and out taking pics. At about 12:30 we called it lunch and shared our food, stories and trying to find out where we were. After lunch it was suggested we turn back…NO!!! I screamed in my head. This was not what I wanted to remember this run to be. I said, it would be nice to carry on a bit but I will go where the masses wish. And on we went down a nice rock ledge/step. I guided Matt over a nice drop then the 2 stockers and finally the old Tractor putted down. This is as far as our fearless leader has ever gone down the trail so off into the wild unknown we all trucked… and it was the best move of the day. From this point the terrain was a challenge, it was mud, snow, rock, steep hills, off camber, deep water, tugging, winching, bouncing, skinny pedal working the engines and the tires churning. THIS was now a serious s*** show in the unknown!!
Up the first hill and snow ice and mud to challenge the trucks. The lockers did their job, the tractor tires did theirs and the stockers just did what a land cruiser does well… get the owners up and over. The Land Blazer was amazing to watch and it putted over and around almost anything in its path.
There was one hole that Jerome challenged that stood out in my mind. We dropped in and the right side started to slip over sideways couple with the water coming over the hood and it was “PIN IT” and the tractor took the challenge. Water and mud flying everywhere from the tires and the turbo comes on strong pushing the truck deeper and over farther to the right side but suddenly the hood clears the water and “STOP” and Jerome nails the (poor) brakes and sits idling away with the back side window about 2” from going under the water. It sounds like a tugboat brap brap brap as the exhaust comes popping out of the water. I crawl out onto the fender, onto the hood above the water and I think it was either Matt or Jeremy that grab the winch cable as I positioned myself on the hood standing on the bumper. We are hooked to a tree and Jerome gives the engine just enough throttle to keep the tires clawing for freedom. The winch does it “here I go saving your ass AGAIN” job and out comes the old tractor. NICE driving Jerome!
Just as the sun is setting (and I can never understand why it is around this time that the s*** hits the fan) we are climbing a steeper hill and the Tractor starts to crab its way up and just misses a tree with its quarter panel by a couple inches. I get on the radio and tell Matt, "Take the right!" I guess he thought I meant don’t take the right and into the drop he slides. DAMN, oh well. We try and get him to drive out and all we succeed in doing is getting him high centered… badly.
We try a tug and nothing.
We strap to one tree and tried winching and nothing.
We change positions and strap to a different tree and out he pops, almost. As Jerome is turning around for another angle I tap on the window and mention “never torque in reverse, that is how you bust a birf… too late. The already broken birf says, “I have had enough” and gives up the ghost. Oh oh, this is not good. We are in the middle of no where, we have no idea how much further the trail goes, the daylight is fading fast and the two tow trucks are dead. Bruce doesn’t really want to use his 8274 since his home built bumper has not been tested and Brad’s winch is acting up… okay. Such is life; lets see what we can do. That broken birf lasted 12 hours of good hard tugs on stuck trucks, chewing, twisting and downright abuse. Wow!
I leave the rest to sort out the stuck HJ60 and I pull the tractor onto level ground to remove the home brewed emergency lockers from the hubs. That done I now have to make sure the front drive shaft doesn’t turn. With the vacuum shift 4 wheel drive as soon as you put it in low the front is engaged. How to stop this? I pop the hood and reverse the vacuum lines to the VSV and now the front is completely isolated. Here is the problem, if you drive with a broken birf the stub gets busted up further with each rotation of the inner shaft. Once the pieces are small enough they get jammed between wheel hub housing and the axle housing thus preventing the ability to turn left or right. In a nutshell you are screwed big time.
Poor Mike comes over to offer a hand and I snap at him, get that friggin truck out of the ditch! And as soon as the words leave my mouth I feel like crap. The HJ60 is now retrieved and he pulls up the hill and I turn the Tractor around and with everyone out of the way I let the engine, turbo, intercooler and propane injection do its stuff and in 2-wheel drive I chew to the top. In front of us we have a steep snow covered hill so we hook up using my 50 ft tugg’m rope and off we go. There were 2 spots on that hill where I gratefully felt the tug of the HJ60 in front. At the top of the hill we disconnected and that was the last time for the next 3 hours that I needed a tug. I followed the HJ60 through mud, granite boulders, water holes and more mud and snow. The Tractor just would not let me done, it was determined to get me back to base camp… and it did. More than once I patted the dash in respect for the old girls unwavering loyalty and strength. At first I thought it might be time to retire the abused neglected truck but no way, she earned the right to live another day.
Poor old Cruiser had been bouncing in the back of the 70 for 14 hours now and he was tired. He could barely keep his eyes open. I could have left him at home but he has been my wheeling buddy for 9 years and even though he was dead tired he had that “happy dog” look in his eyes.
We stopped near the road and waited for the others to catch up, the stars were out by now. The sky cleared and once again all was well in the wheeling world. The others caught up and we took a wrong turn. The HJ60 drove down a nasty little rutted muddy trail and I followed just to realize we went the wrong way so I had to back up the length of the mud pit and 2 minutes later we were on the blacktop.
I could feel the stress leaving my body and as we drove the bunny trail I let the girl stretch her legs, she can MOVE for a little 5 cyl.
Just as we turned off the blacktop to head back to camp I couldn’t turn right. A piece of the busted birf had finally found its way into the gap. The Tractor had taken me home and finally gave up the ghost. I left her on the side of the trail to sleep for the night and road home with Bruce and Dave.
Once at camp the length of the day caught up with me and after about 15 min Cruiser and I crawled off to sleep in Dave’s new camper and never knew anything till the sun blinded me in the morning.
The adventure was not over for me yet; I still had to remove the chuck out from the housing so I could steer on the way home. I drove across the trail to a good solid tree and winched up the front end again. Grabbed the toolbox and started on the dismantling job. A couple tools were needed but Jerome and I were able to get the wheel hub/ knuckle housing off in one piece and the busted birf out and in a shopping bag. It was important to get every piece out of there so that there would not be any surprises on the drive home. At the same time I switched back to the street tires, lowered it down and tested the turning. Life was good again. After loading everything back into the cruiser it was time to head home. A brief stop at Tim’s for a coffee and a sandwich and we carried on down the road.
Just outside of Collingswood I called my wife to tell her I will be another hour and a half and BANG BANG GRIND… “Honey, I will call you back, I just blew the rear end.”
I get out and take a look and can’t see anything wrong till I take a closer look. The rear left tire had come off and wedged upright in the wheel well. I couldn’t believe my luck, the tire could have fallen on the road, it could have hit another car, I could have rolled the truck but what did the old girl do? She stood there going “well what do you expect? Give me some care and attention you idiot!”
I jack her up and stick the tire back on, the alloy rim took the brunt of the abuse and the wheel studs were not damaged at all. I cleaned the alloy out of the treads and went to the other 4 tires borrowing a stud from each and bolted it back on. I drove a couple blocks and to test for wobbling and retest the lug nuts and drove on home.
Cruiser had fallen asleep and I didn’t want to wake him so I backed into the yard… right into my float. What a fitting end to a wickedly fun weekend.
Thanks to everyone that attended, it was great to wheel with each one of you. I am honored to be part of this club.
Cruiser Gods be willing Cruiser and I will see you at the next event.
Cheers
Wayne and Cruiser.
This time I wasn’t going to miss it. I didn’t have the time I wanted to go through the old bush pig but that wasn’t going to stop me, no way. I had sold my tow vehicle, no place to sleep, and it had to drive out and back… humm. Oh well. I had a roof rack in the attic that might fit. I needed to fit 5 tractor tires in/on/behind/under… somehow. Plus sleeping gear, extra fuel, a toolbox and my old faithful mutt Cruiser inside.
The day before I took off work to get as ready as I could. I was outside at 7am getting the roof rack down. I should have it on in about 2 hours. I get my wife to help lift it on before she leaves for work. I start installing the 6 supports, damn. They are 1” short and the mounting bolts have only 2 per support… what to do? Well make 6 new plates, drill 6 holes per support, paint and mount. What should have been done by 9 now was finished by noon, 3 hours behind. Next I had to find a place for the hi-lift… make a set of supports off the roof rack supports, easy enough and an hour later the roof rack was saddled with a hi-lift… nice and solid.
Now I had to fix that damn front end, the one hub wouldn’t release so I pulled it apart and remembered why it didn’t work. I had removed the tiny motor since I busted the brushes off back in Calgary. Duh. I go to my parts bin and find 2 new hubs, stick them on and one side works the other will only unlock… damn, again, that won’t work. Okay I will have to make them manual for the weekend. I take a spare with me to play with on the trail.
Loaded and fueled by 9am Friday morning and I am off to meet up with Jerome, Matt and Jeremy. I pull over the 400 right behind them pulling in. PEFECT TIMING. We grab a quick meal and off to meet up with Dave in the Land Blazer in Parry Sound. I thought this was a thriving city but it turns out to be a quaint town in the middle of nowhere. Grab some munchies, fuel up (20 L for 167 km not bad with a roof rack and 500 lbs of tires, 50 lbs of tools and my butt). Once again we are off to the base camp but it wasn’t the easy drive in that I suspected. It was the start of the s*** show weekend.
Snow, deep white, sled ridden/packed down snow with hidden traps along the way.
The first obstacle was a snow bridge over a nice drop. Matt in his HJ60 with dual lockers gave it a try, almost made it and … stuck. It was now that Dave in his Fjcruiser showed up pulling his new to him camping trailer. As everyone was figuring out how to free Matt I was looking at the ditch that caused the problem and it looked do-able, almost. I thought what the hell, worst case I would be stuck too. I received permission to give it a try, dropped my nose off the bank and tried to get positioned to try and climb back out the other side… stuck. Well almost, I tried a bit more and stuck worse. Okay time for the old trusty “saving your ass again” Warn 8274. Out to a tree, start wheeling it in and… crabbing along the bank and someone yells, “front tries are not turning” Huh? What do you mean not turning and I look down and they are locked solid. WTF? I get out, take the hubs apart see the one hub was not engaged so I create my “manual over ride for elec hubs that fail”. I winch some more and out I pop but the front tires just didn’t feel right. I turn around and winch Matt out, once he is out I head to the nearest tree at the top of the knoll and … which the front off the ground to finish what I started down on the snow / ditch. As I am doing this I change to my tractor tires and hear some weird crunching sounds from inside the knuckle. Yah, yah, I should have clued in then but I was tired. I change out the back to tractor tires shortly after all the trucks make it to the top. Lower the old girl down, winch in and ready to play.
The next obstacle was a deep deep snow with a very short up hill climb and a snow run to the top of the next bump in the road. Once again Matt gave it a valiant try but… stuck. I look at the ditch next to the stuck truck and thing… again … I think I can make it around him and give him a tug. Matt's winch was in for repairs. I drop into the ditch, putter along, turn out into the deep snow and line up for a tug. A good tug and Matt is out. A couple more trucks up and through and what do we see? He comes Mr. Mo Mo and Moose Cruiser from the east. Stockerish BJ60s on a bit bigger tires running the MicDees smelling veggie oil putzing through what we just spent a couple hours tackling.
The whole gang was now together to finish the run to camp. A bit of bouncing and here we were just before dark. I started at 9am and arrive in camp at 7ish pm. Another long day.
Once at camp everyone set up their tents made their beds in the back of their trucks or, like me to be different, made my bed on the roof rack, tarp down, 2 sleeping bags, a knitted blanket and a sweet pillow and then the tarp pulled over the top, it was like a warm cacoon… sweet. I fell asleep listening to the joyful chatter down below. I woke up a couple times to the pitter-patter of gentle rain on my upturned face. I am sure I snored loud enough to keep the wolves and bears at bay.
The next morning I woke up to clear skies and a BEAUTIFUL view from my pent house suite of the campers, rigs and lake in the background. Soon the over cast skies made their way back in and shortly after everyone got up and moving a gentle rain started and would last most of the day. So much for 20C and sunny!! No problem, when you are having fun the weather does little to dampen the spirit. As we headed down the granite ridge we came to a sun little spot to try out our climbing skills. The old Land Blazer gave it a good try but sad to say he couldn’t make it so he went around. Next up was Matt and after a couple decent tries he made it. The stockers gave it a go and Mike was not going to quit but common sense grabbed hold and he went around as well.
Then it was my turn, I tried one angle and BANG the shackle hit the rock, tried another angle and I crept the front up and over but the back just would not come out. I tried again, no go. The third time and I called it quits, Matt kicked ass on the Tractor.
For the next 3 hours we putted down the granite hills with a bit of mud and snow but, although very pretty, I was getting a bit bored. On a sunny day, and if I had my camera, I would have been in and out taking pics. At about 12:30 we called it lunch and shared our food, stories and trying to find out where we were. After lunch it was suggested we turn back…NO!!! I screamed in my head. This was not what I wanted to remember this run to be. I said, it would be nice to carry on a bit but I will go where the masses wish. And on we went down a nice rock ledge/step. I guided Matt over a nice drop then the 2 stockers and finally the old Tractor putted down. This is as far as our fearless leader has ever gone down the trail so off into the wild unknown we all trucked… and it was the best move of the day. From this point the terrain was a challenge, it was mud, snow, rock, steep hills, off camber, deep water, tugging, winching, bouncing, skinny pedal working the engines and the tires churning. THIS was now a serious s*** show in the unknown!!
Up the first hill and snow ice and mud to challenge the trucks. The lockers did their job, the tractor tires did theirs and the stockers just did what a land cruiser does well… get the owners up and over. The Land Blazer was amazing to watch and it putted over and around almost anything in its path.
There was one hole that Jerome challenged that stood out in my mind. We dropped in and the right side started to slip over sideways couple with the water coming over the hood and it was “PIN IT” and the tractor took the challenge. Water and mud flying everywhere from the tires and the turbo comes on strong pushing the truck deeper and over farther to the right side but suddenly the hood clears the water and “STOP” and Jerome nails the (poor) brakes and sits idling away with the back side window about 2” from going under the water. It sounds like a tugboat brap brap brap as the exhaust comes popping out of the water. I crawl out onto the fender, onto the hood above the water and I think it was either Matt or Jeremy that grab the winch cable as I positioned myself on the hood standing on the bumper. We are hooked to a tree and Jerome gives the engine just enough throttle to keep the tires clawing for freedom. The winch does it “here I go saving your ass AGAIN” job and out comes the old tractor. NICE driving Jerome!
Just as the sun is setting (and I can never understand why it is around this time that the s*** hits the fan) we are climbing a steeper hill and the Tractor starts to crab its way up and just misses a tree with its quarter panel by a couple inches. I get on the radio and tell Matt, "Take the right!" I guess he thought I meant don’t take the right and into the drop he slides. DAMN, oh well. We try and get him to drive out and all we succeed in doing is getting him high centered… badly.
We try a tug and nothing.
We strap to one tree and tried winching and nothing.
We change positions and strap to a different tree and out he pops, almost. As Jerome is turning around for another angle I tap on the window and mention “never torque in reverse, that is how you bust a birf… too late. The already broken birf says, “I have had enough” and gives up the ghost. Oh oh, this is not good. We are in the middle of no where, we have no idea how much further the trail goes, the daylight is fading fast and the two tow trucks are dead. Bruce doesn’t really want to use his 8274 since his home built bumper has not been tested and Brad’s winch is acting up… okay. Such is life; lets see what we can do. That broken birf lasted 12 hours of good hard tugs on stuck trucks, chewing, twisting and downright abuse. Wow!
I leave the rest to sort out the stuck HJ60 and I pull the tractor onto level ground to remove the home brewed emergency lockers from the hubs. That done I now have to make sure the front drive shaft doesn’t turn. With the vacuum shift 4 wheel drive as soon as you put it in low the front is engaged. How to stop this? I pop the hood and reverse the vacuum lines to the VSV and now the front is completely isolated. Here is the problem, if you drive with a broken birf the stub gets busted up further with each rotation of the inner shaft. Once the pieces are small enough they get jammed between wheel hub housing and the axle housing thus preventing the ability to turn left or right. In a nutshell you are screwed big time.
Poor Mike comes over to offer a hand and I snap at him, get that friggin truck out of the ditch! And as soon as the words leave my mouth I feel like crap. The HJ60 is now retrieved and he pulls up the hill and I turn the Tractor around and with everyone out of the way I let the engine, turbo, intercooler and propane injection do its stuff and in 2-wheel drive I chew to the top. In front of us we have a steep snow covered hill so we hook up using my 50 ft tugg’m rope and off we go. There were 2 spots on that hill where I gratefully felt the tug of the HJ60 in front. At the top of the hill we disconnected and that was the last time for the next 3 hours that I needed a tug. I followed the HJ60 through mud, granite boulders, water holes and more mud and snow. The Tractor just would not let me done, it was determined to get me back to base camp… and it did. More than once I patted the dash in respect for the old girls unwavering loyalty and strength. At first I thought it might be time to retire the abused neglected truck but no way, she earned the right to live another day.
Poor old Cruiser had been bouncing in the back of the 70 for 14 hours now and he was tired. He could barely keep his eyes open. I could have left him at home but he has been my wheeling buddy for 9 years and even though he was dead tired he had that “happy dog” look in his eyes.
We stopped near the road and waited for the others to catch up, the stars were out by now. The sky cleared and once again all was well in the wheeling world. The others caught up and we took a wrong turn. The HJ60 drove down a nasty little rutted muddy trail and I followed just to realize we went the wrong way so I had to back up the length of the mud pit and 2 minutes later we were on the blacktop.
I could feel the stress leaving my body and as we drove the bunny trail I let the girl stretch her legs, she can MOVE for a little 5 cyl.
Just as we turned off the blacktop to head back to camp I couldn’t turn right. A piece of the busted birf had finally found its way into the gap. The Tractor had taken me home and finally gave up the ghost. I left her on the side of the trail to sleep for the night and road home with Bruce and Dave.
Once at camp the length of the day caught up with me and after about 15 min Cruiser and I crawled off to sleep in Dave’s new camper and never knew anything till the sun blinded me in the morning.
The adventure was not over for me yet; I still had to remove the chuck out from the housing so I could steer on the way home. I drove across the trail to a good solid tree and winched up the front end again. Grabbed the toolbox and started on the dismantling job. A couple tools were needed but Jerome and I were able to get the wheel hub/ knuckle housing off in one piece and the busted birf out and in a shopping bag. It was important to get every piece out of there so that there would not be any surprises on the drive home. At the same time I switched back to the street tires, lowered it down and tested the turning. Life was good again. After loading everything back into the cruiser it was time to head home. A brief stop at Tim’s for a coffee and a sandwich and we carried on down the road.
Just outside of Collingswood I called my wife to tell her I will be another hour and a half and BANG BANG GRIND… “Honey, I will call you back, I just blew the rear end.”
I get out and take a look and can’t see anything wrong till I take a closer look. The rear left tire had come off and wedged upright in the wheel well. I couldn’t believe my luck, the tire could have fallen on the road, it could have hit another car, I could have rolled the truck but what did the old girl do? She stood there going “well what do you expect? Give me some care and attention you idiot!”
I jack her up and stick the tire back on, the alloy rim took the brunt of the abuse and the wheel studs were not damaged at all. I cleaned the alloy out of the treads and went to the other 4 tires borrowing a stud from each and bolted it back on. I drove a couple blocks and to test for wobbling and retest the lug nuts and drove on home.
Cruiser had fallen asleep and I didn’t want to wake him so I backed into the yard… right into my float. What a fitting end to a wickedly fun weekend.
Thanks to everyone that attended, it was great to wheel with each one of you. I am honored to be part of this club.
Cruiser Gods be willing Cruiser and I will see you at the next event.
Cheers
Wayne and Cruiser.
and of course i forgot the funniest part of the whole trip.
we came up to a clay pit that was 100-120 ft long and no real way around so it was boggie down the center. the tractor putted through and Matt in his locked 60 got stuck and a good hard tug he was out.
next came Mike who had never wheeled before in his 2 month old (to him) stock BJ60 with open diffs, stock 3B and previously enjoy body.
he starts at the beginning under power and i do not think he could squeeze another 300 rpm out of that poor 3B, redline and moving. he chewed his way through the first section gaining speed as he came and bounced off some terra firma with the front tire 6 ft in the air, back down into the clay pit and chewed some more still gaining speed and bang again he is in the air and bingo bongo he finished the pit in record time. he jumps out of his truck like Rocky Balboa, hands in the air cheering like no tomorrow.
he came
he challenged
he conquored with the best
and he was happy.
this feat brought cheers from all of us.
wickedly done M8
congrates.
we came up to a clay pit that was 100-120 ft long and no real way around so it was boggie down the center. the tractor putted through and Matt in his locked 60 got stuck and a good hard tug he was out.
next came Mike who had never wheeled before in his 2 month old (to him) stock BJ60 with open diffs, stock 3B and previously enjoy body.
he starts at the beginning under power and i do not think he could squeeze another 300 rpm out of that poor 3B, redline and moving. he chewed his way through the first section gaining speed as he came and bounced off some terra firma with the front tire 6 ft in the air, back down into the clay pit and chewed some more still gaining speed and bang again he is in the air and bingo bongo he finished the pit in record time. he jumps out of his truck like Rocky Balboa, hands in the air cheering like no tomorrow.
he came
he challenged
he conquored with the best
and he was happy.
this feat brought cheers from all of us.
wickedly done M8
congrates.
OK Folks, here we come with the pictures!! (Brace yourselves!!)
Here is the link to get your star, just be aware if woody is busy it might not happen instantly!!
https://forum.ih8mud.com/payments.php
So... on with the pics, my stories later.. I'll be making quite a few posts, as I'm still editing pics!
I'll start with a few of the group...
Here is the link to get your star, just be aware if woody is busy it might not happen instantly!!
https://forum.ih8mud.com/payments.php
So... on with the pics, my stories later.. I'll be making quite a few posts, as I'm still editing pics!
I'll start with a few of the group...
And then came the hill that was divided..... those who went up the right made it, those who went up the left.... well... needed some tuggum!! (I couldn't even BACK down the hill with my slicks on!) Mike tried his hardest to pull the truck, but even with all his strength... still needed a tractor tug!
