Jeeps Gone Wild - Badlands 8-15-09

[TheEddie]

Just got home...

This JGW run was on the smaller side with only three rigs coming from IL. Anthony, Drew, and I (along with our passengers) arrived in Attica and hit the trails ASAP. Once we arrived Chris found us and we all ran Orange to start off the day. I will say that is the easiest Orange trail that I have ever run. The real difficult sections have been cleaned up and while it was technical it was nowhere near as hard as it used to be. The whole park was also on the dry side which helped.

Next we ran Green. Lots of ups and downs, and the sliders got a work out.







After running Green we headed to the quarry. Phil radio'd us and we all met up in the quarry. We then ran the Creek trail.







We played around a bit and ended up back in the quarry.

After running creek trail we headed back for lunch... kind of. On our way back we were stopped as there was a rescue operation going on. Apparently two ATVers crashed and the result was a barrage of broken bones. We decided to find another way back to the lower parking lot.

We took some roundabout way through the backwoods and ended up back in the lower lot just in time for lunch. While we were parked I spotted Jeremy and Jes (who looked like they were looking for us). Once we were acquainted and had their JK aired down it was time to go again.

I led the group all over the park, we ran Blue, parts of White, Kevins trail and explored the small sections of trail along the Creek trail.







We decided to explore the backside of the woods since it was relatively dry.



I did say relatively...



The remainder of the group ran Orange for a second time because Phil had not yet.

It was a blast and I thank everybody who came out.



Heres a little video from the end of the Orange trail. This hill is VERY steep, with HUGE holes on both sides...

TinyPic (Videos)

TinyPic (Videos)

Please add your pics if you were there!

[ichthus]

Nice video... maybe a good thing I passed on the last run.

Gotta say thanks to everyone for making Jes and I feel welcome, and for tolerating our ignorance and incompetence. It was a great time and I'd say we learned a good deal about the capabilities of the Jeep. Kris spoke highly of the club, and I'd say you lived up to his praises. Great pointers, lots of help, plenty of advise, and Chris saved my drive home by getting the Jeep driveable...now I can just hope that the warranty takes care of everything.

Can't deny that I wouldn't appreciate a little more height and some more aggressive tires, but been looking for simple Rubicon upgrades to take care of that.

Not sure if we'll be making any runs this fall as you'd be competing with football season and baseball playoffs, but even Jes said she'd be happy to go back.

Jes had something just short of 200 pictures taken today, so she'll need to figure out which are most post-worthy before they hit the board. Maybe next time we'll bring the macbook so she can take care of that on the way home. As she mentioned, a few shots were put up on her photo-blog tonight.

[Jeffro95]

Looked like a good day. Sometimes the smaller groups make for more trail time. I wish I could have been there....but sleeping in a bit felt really good. But I thought about what I was missing all day.

[5cents]

glad you guys had fun. my wife was sick so I played mr mom yesterday. I am heading to interlake this morning though for some make-up wheeling.

[awillard69]

Originally Posted by ichthus

... lots of help, plenty of advise, and Chris saved my drive home by getting the Jeep driveable...now I can just hope that the warranty takes care of everything.

For those of us who had to leave early, please fill us in on what happened...

Originally Posted by ichthus

.
Can't deny that I wouldn't appreciate a little more height and some more aggressive tires,

Tires will be a big help for traction. But don't worry too much about the height - that's what skid plates are for - this will teach you to pick better lines and become a better offroad driver.

I'm glad you guys made it out.

[Acidcold]

I personally love it when the group is smaller, maybe if Mike and Steve went i would of been up for it.
My kid brother did get to do some wheeling this morning on a camaro thought, no damage to the XJ.
Camaro- 0 Xj- 1! LOL

[awillard69]

This was my first time having passengers, my brother in law and his son. They seemed to cry out with every dip, jarring bump and scrape. They enjoyed keeping an eye on Chris in his quest to find some way to get stuck.

This was my first time out with my Skid Row engine and tranny skid in place. Overall, it performed well, and it eliminated that snagging front edge on the stock tcase skid, aka shovel. Although, I did get high centered on the mounds of debris at the exit of the Orange trail - caused by a lack of momentum when cresting. A quick see-saw from the guys, and hit it again, this time it was up and over.

I took only about 2 hours to clean up the TJ today, without much mud in the park, it wasn't all that dirty. However, running with the windows out and abundance of free flying dust, there was significant interior clean up to do.

I noticed only a few new "beauty marks" and the new skid shows the work it was doing. I found no damage, so I think it was a good day.

The small group size made for a very fun day. Also, the dry conditions made many of the trails a bit easier than my last visit, the Night Run where it rained around midday.

Here's a few of the pictures I took. My passengers may have some worthy pics to add, but I won't know until they get them to me - hopefully...

Chris, finding some mud...



Mindy at the top of a climb...




Chris, again, in a puddle...



And Chris again, after he nosed into a puddle that was deeper than it seemed. The park was really dry, and the puddles that were there, were really deep and slick. You can see my nephew looking for frogs.



After being winched out by Phil, he finds another mud hole mere minutes later... You can see my nephew looking for frogs.



So, I position my Jeep for a quick tug, while Chris starts connecting the tow strap to his receiver...



Aw, wait "Hey, I can reach it from here!"...



Phil, meanwhile, was just keeping himself busy when his very capable JK became immobilized ...



This last picture was of a very small kid, I mean like a 5 year old, on a full size quad. We saw him several times through out the day, but this time I got a pic. It's amazing what some parents will let their kids do...



Well, that's the commentary on the pics I took. You can view the entire photo set here.

I look forward to seeing others' pictures, too.

When we arrived back home, the first thing my nephew said when asked about his day was "I caught a frog!". While that was an exciting moment for him, he quickly went in to a rapid fire recollection of his day, which I'm convinced he really enjoyed. Wanna have a really fun day? Take a youngster out off roading. Then you can relive their joy as the tell everyone else about their adventure!

A very enjoyable day.

Eddie: Did you lose that alternator with Mindy's submarine adventure?

[Jeffro95]

Very nice Anthony....still wishing I had gone.

[awillard69]

Yeah, I know, you really wanted to join in. But you took advantage of a rare opportunity, and that is pretty cool, too.

Mark your calendar for next time and we'll see you then.

I'm waiting for my nephew to let me know about the pictures he took. He kept shooting out the back of the Jeep, so maybe he got something good.

[ichthus]

hey Anthony, apparently the 4wd shift linkage broke coming out of the dunes, just after you left.

I had shifted into 4 Low going up a steeper hill, made it to the top just fine and then tried to go back to 4Hi for the drive back to the next trail. The drive selector wasn't connected to anything and I found the Jeep wanting 4th gear at 20mph on the pavement just to keep up with everyone. At first I assumed it was a computer issue and would just need a restart, Microsoft Style... Figuring to call it a day, I went to give Eddie his radio back and asked about it when I caught them. Fortunately Chris got me hooked up in 2wd for the drive home without burning his hands too much. Truly a life-saver.

The Linkage that he was playing with was fairly protected, and didn't look like anything bigger than a wrist-sized stick or rock could have reached to damage. The shift into and out of 4Lo was easy really easy up to that point, so I can't think of why it would drop on me.

Aside from some new concave curves in my rear-bumper and a solid coating of dirt everywhere, I came out of the day in decent shape.

Oh, and today Jes said she'd like some better tires for next time. Thanks to everyone for having such a positive influence on her!

[5cents]

Originally Posted by ichthus

hey Anthony, apparently the 4wd shift linkage broke coming out of the dunes, just after you left.

I had shifted into 4 Low going up a steeper hill, made it to the top just fine and then tried to go back to 4Hi for the drive back to the next trail. The drive selector wasn't connected to anything and I found the Jeep wanting 4th gear at 20mph on the pavement just to keep up with everyone. At first I assumed it was a computer issue and would just need a restart, Microsoft Style... Figuring to call it a day, I went to give Eddie his radio back and asked about it when I caught them. Fortunately Chris got me hooked up in 2wd for the drive home without burning his hands too much. Truly a life-saver.

The Linkage that he was playing with was fairly protected, and didn't look like anything bigger than a wrist-sized stick or rock could have reached to damage. The shift into and out of 4Lo was easy really easy up to that point, so I can't think of why it would drop on me.

Aside from some new concave curves in my rear-bumper and a solid coating of dirt everywhere, I came out of the day in decent shape.

Oh, and today Jes said she'd like some better tires for next time. Thanks to everyone for having such a positive influence on her!

I'm betting this was your issue...????? Transfer case linkage

[Rossi16]

Looked like a great time and no real carnage!! Hope 2 see ya all next month!!

[ichthus]

Originally Posted by 5cents

I'm betting this was your issue...????? Transfer case linkage

Yeah, that sounds about right. Thanks for the link, it's "good" to know I'm not the only one and I can see why it's a problem. Something to watch for in the future and looks like some good fixes offered in the thread. I'll be dropping the Jeep at the dealer tomorrow morning after a quick flight to Chicago.

[Northsidejeepin]

Anthony covered the report, here are some of my pics for the two days. All in all we had a great time.

[Acidcold]

Phil, you look so tiny in the 3rd last picture!