Xmas Tree Run (1 Viewer)

[slimbuddha]

Damage Tally

Here is the damage I sustained on Saturday

1.) Tire - (I haven't looked at it again yet, but appears to be mud/rocks/gunk in the bead.

2.) Dent passenger side rear door, along with some scratches

3.) Dent body "lip" beneath the drivers side door.

4.) Passenger Rear wheel.. scratched the rim, as well as scratched/cracked the center cap.

5.) Lots of new pinstripes

What is the final damage tally for the trip? I think at least half of us had some type of issue.

 

[slimbuddha]

Pics

Here are a few pics I took.

First one is at the visitor center in Jemez Pueblo. Missing in the pic are Ben's Blue 40, and David's 40, and Dan's Tacoma.

Second/third pic: The place we stopped at around 1pm to eat lunch and get the trees.

The rest of the pics are here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/ronlovato/sets/72157603421590538/

I also have two short video clips of Dan/Rory coming over the first big berm (the one I did not go over, and bipassed on the way up). If you want them, i'll post them up on youtube, or email them to you.

 

[Ruadhrigh]

sorry to hear about the carnage Ron. Lets get you some sliders!


As far as my damage:

no body damage. Just emotional...

 

[Beowulf]

I can confirm that this picture of Danny's right rear wheel looks NOTHING like the way the right rear wheel looks today. Maybe we can get Danny to post a picture of what it looks like now. ( perverse group that we are...)

-Mike-

 

[pappy]

I can confirm that this picture of Danny's left rear wheel looks NOTHING like the way his left wheel looks today. Maybe we can get Danny to post a picture of what it looks like now. ( perverse group that we are...)

-Mike-

pssssst, Mike ... that's the RIGHT side of the truck!

 

[Beowulf]

pssssst, Mike ... that's the RIGHT side of the truck!
OK, I see you actually said LEFT side but I'm on a power trip and I will say whatever I want since I am the MODERATOR!

Quit changing my posts.

-Mike-

 

[pappy]

I didn't. I just caught it before you hit the edit button.

 

[cruiserdan]

I made a mistake by not taking Danny off when His truck got hung up. I should have brought him out. We could not get ahold of the people on top and were still operating under the assumption that they were coming down behind us. By the time I got in Contact with the top we were too far down to walk back up to his truck and I felt it very unsafe to try to drive back up with all the kids. George took that bull by the horns and corrected my error by going back with the snow machines. Thank you George.


I am definitely getting HAM radio now. And, I guess I will break down and get a cell phone. I hate them but I am gonna cave.

D-

 

[Beowulf]

I made a mistake by not taking Danny off when His truck got hung up. I should have brought him out.

Dan,
In retrospect, there was NO WAY you were getting Danny out of that hole on Saturday night. It took a lot of time, manpower, and multiple winching IN THE DAYLIGHT to get the truck out of that hole. Danny and his friend had the choice to ride out with you guys and they chose to stay in the truck until help arrived. He told me that he was very comfortable with his decision when we rode up on Sunday and I think he would make the same decision again in the same circumstances.

Back-to-back storms could have changed everything but, thank God, the weather yesterday was great and we were successful in getting both trucks down. If this storm that we are having right now had come in yesterday then the recovery may have taken a lot longer or worse.

-Mike-

 

[cruiserdan]

I should also mention the Onur "took one for the team" when we was at my house at 1:30 in the morning helping me sort through my popped tire, leaking tire and jacked steering.


When he left to go home I failed to secort him past the dogs and Kelly latched onto his leg...

 

[cruiserdan]

Here is the damage I sustained on Saturday

1.) Tire - (I haven't looked at it again yet, but appears to be mud/rocks/gunk in the bead.

That was the problem with my leaking tire. I took it off the truck and let all the air out of it and used a couple big screw drivers to pry the bead back away from the rim just enough to get the junk out and I wiped the rocks out and blew the rest of the juunk out with compressed air. It's holding now.

The popped tire was another issue. I was able to get a valve stem back in it and re-seat the beads by pulling the core and cranking the CO2 all the way up.

I took the tire off the wheel at work to inspect the carcass for damage. Remarkably it looks OK. I got about a cup of water and a nice handfull of little rocks out of it and I remounted it, aired it up and balanced it. It took 2.5 ounces on the back and .5 ounce on the front. I was amazed.

Now all I need to do is dive into the steering and see where it's jacked. I suspect a bent sector shaft but I am going to have to remove the pitman arm to check it properly.

 

[tacosalad]

Can I Put Up The Tree Now?

Wow. What an adventure!

Don't have a home computer (ghastly, isn't it--its amazing Steve even still talks to us!), and haven't had a chance until now (or actually about an hour ago, given you prolific-posting bas-tids) to wade thru the past 2 days of fun here at work. Sorry, Rory. (hope the torture will end someday...).

Gee. We have a really pretty tree, and that littl' ole stock 99' Tacoma is the bomb! Don't understand what all the fuss here's about!

Just kidding of course. Like I said after the Memorial Day, Fall Moab, and Moonshine runs, this group is the best.

Wow. What a great group of humans owning Tie-yotas!

 

[pappy]

Can I Put Up The Tree Now?

Thanks Dave. I forgot the tree was still sitting horizontal in the courtyard.

In the seven years I've done this run with HDC, this was the most epic of them all. Plus, I cut the most epic tree of them all. WOW!

 

[cruiserdan]

Epic....


I'm thinking it's lots safer to pick up a Minora and some Dradles.........

 

[OGBeno]

Now all I need to do is dive into the steering and see where it's jacked. I suspect a bent sector shaft but I am going to have to remove the pitman arm to check it properly.

I don't think your sector shaft is the problem--it takes ALOT of force to bend a piece of metal that thick and big. If you were in a serious enough obstacle and yanked on the steering, if anything, the sector shaft would have snapped (like Alvaro's on the Rubicon). I saw all of the obstacles on that trail yesterday and I did not see anything resembling the Rubicon...

I'll bet a 6 pack of your favorite crappy beer ( ) that it is a bent TRE (the threaded section that goes into the pitman arm).

These are much easier to take off and diagnose rather than dealing with the hassle of the sector shaft and that huge nut on the pitman arm.

And I have two extra TRE's ready for installation if you bugger up yours taking it off.



-o-

PS: all I have to say is that a hot shower never felt as good as it did last night and my bed never felt as comfortable as it did last night. I put my head on the pillow and I was OUT in a second.

The efforts of our team were indeed epic. Kudos to all of us for the showing and kudos to us for the team effort and support. This is what makes HDC great.

 

[alia176]

I am definitely getting HAM radio now. And, I guess I will break down and get a cell phone. I hate them but I am gonna cave.

D-

Holy cow, I think I just saw pigs flying...

Seriously, the HAM radios will be a great help but it's merely a tool and it's only as effective as the users. However, that discussion is for another thread....

 

[pappy]

WOW! Look at the view count ... 1400 and climbing!

 

[pappy]

I think I may convert and become a jew so I won't have to do this again...

I'm thinking it's lots safer to pick up a Minora and some Dradles.........

Dan, you don't have enough hair to bobby-pin the yarmulke too.

 

[danny11]

Dan

Don't worry about leaving...That was the right decision actually for both you and George.. The kids came first and it was extremely unsafe for everyone, let alone the kids. Besides it sounds like you had to deal with your own sorta hell on the way out. I had to spot Evan and he had to spot me down that last little section and it was very dangerous! That was the most epic trail run I have ever been on and look forward to more. Again, special thanks to everyone that risked their own vehicles to come bail my blind ass out of a deep hole!

My only damage was a cracked and scratched right rear bumper, ding on the ARB.

Unfortunately, I do not have a picture of what Mike is referring to. My right rear wheel almost looked powder coated gun metal gray. It actually looked pretty cool. The rains today washed it off.. Damn..

 

[evanz80]

Danny's right - I think that trail was more challenging coming out (down) than going in.

I'm glad everything worked out. Now the last remaining issue - what the heck is wrong with Rory's truck?!? Whatever it is, I'm already thinking about replacing the broken part (or parts) as preventive maintenance on my 80.

That had to be a tough job to drag his truck out of there without putting it in the ditch or over the side.

This X-mas tree run is making the smashed up Land Rover story sound pretty lame...