I had a bad day...

tuckinauster · 02-07-2010, 09:35 PM

So yesterday started out to be a good day. I woke up with intentions of heading over to the GF's place to hang out and do some shooting. By the time I got all ready to go, I was running a little late and decided I could take a short cut by going across the lake road on Lake Winnebago. It would have cut the average trip time down from an hour and a half to 45 mins tops. Well anyway I started to head out on to the ice, which I checked to be between 10"-12" of good solid ice, that was the case until I apparently got a little too close to the mouth of the fox river. Being at least a 1/2 mile away from the mouth I assumed the ice would be plenty strong and I would have no problems crossing the bay.

I was wrong...

I felt the driver front drop through, and I immediately bailed. I don't think I've ever gotten out of a vehicle that fast in my life. After I made sure I was on solid ice I called 911 to get some help. After the fire department showed up, and made sure I wasn't dead, they got me in contact with a recovery company that specializes in ice recoveries.

They were unable to recover the jeep last night because they were busy pulling another vehicle out that was completely submerged. They did finally get to it this afternoon though, and the jeep had settled farther down into the water. From what they told me, the jeep came out fairly well, and only received some cosmetic damage. The engine was not waterlogged, and did start and run.

I did go to the shop tonight where its at, and noticed that the passenger rear fender flare was loose, and the driver rear taillight was broken, other than that it just looked a little soggy. I will be draining and flushing all the fluids, and taking care of anything else to get the rig back on the road ASAP. In the mean time I'll be driving my brothers 95 XJ, with the promise that I stay off the lake.

RickyZJ · 02-07-2010, 09:39 PM

Yikes...thats crazy

Could of been much worse

**Jeffro06** · 02-07-2010, 09:39 PM

I would call coming out of that alive, a GOOD DAY!

tuckinauster · 02-07-2010, 09:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RickyZJ

Yikes...thats crazy

Could of been much worse

Yep I'm pretty happy I'm still able to sit here and post this.

The recovery guy was even nice enough to grab all of my stuff out of the jeep before they did anything to it, so my guns didn't even get wet.

4pointOH1998 · 02-07-2010, 10:25 PM

Yikes man. That's a close one.

Glad you're alright.

sega2010 · 02-07-2010, 10:54 PM

holy crap. that probably scared the **** out of you. haha glad to see your fine and the jeep will recover.
but hey not meaning to hi-jack this but what brand is that spare tire carrier and where'd you get it?

**ReconMill** · 02-07-2010, 11:11 PM

Go find the Membership giveaway for the best stuck pic, maybe you will win and itll get your hopes up a little.

Glad you are okay.

tuckinauster · 02-08-2010, 12:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sega2010

holy crap. that probably scared the **** out of you. haha glad to see your fine and the jeep will recover.
but hey not meaning to hi-jack this but what brand is that spare tire carrier and where'd you get it?

Yeah it got my heart to pump a little faster than normal

I'm not sure what brand the tire carrier is, it was on the rig when I bought it.

Quote:

Originally Posted by millhousenator

Go find the Membership giveaway for the best stuck pic, maybe you will win and itll get your hopes up a little.

Glad you are okay.

Done

**aircruiser** · 02-08-2010, 01:15 AM

nice reminds me of that one xj that got pulled all the way through a lake haha..but in all seriousness, glad nothing bad happened! looks like it could have been alot worse! i havent had the jeep out on the ice since it was stock, cant imagine how much heavier the jeep is now!

**Jeepy84** · 02-08-2010, 08:18 AM

Glad you're okay! Crazy northerners and their ice roads...

InfernoGirl · 02-08-2010, 08:21 AM

Wow! Glad you're ok, woulda scared the poo outta me!

Thor92 · 02-08-2010, 09:06 AM

You and your Jeep are extremely lucky.

yingpin · 02-08-2010, 09:35 AM

"I was running a little late and decided I could take a short cut by going across the lake road on Lake Winnebago"

Does this sound a little crazy to anyone else? You guys in the north are crazy and pretty bold, who decides to take shortcuts across a lake

.....

Glad you were ok and didnt loose the rig. Did you make it one time to your GF house??

tuckinauster · 02-08-2010, 12:57 PM

I stopped by the shop today, and the jeep is in surprisingly good shape. Like I said before, the tail light is busted out, and the passenger rear flare is loose. The driver front flare is also MIA. The interior got wet up to the bottom of the seats, and the gauges are intermittent. I think once it all dries out that problem will go away though, as it happens every time I take it through an automatic car wash.

RMC_xj · 02-08-2010, 01:13 PM

Hope everything goes well with getting things back to normal with your 'rokee.

On a side note, whatever you've got your spare hooked on looks REALLY good and clean. I want.