Bronco Peak

[miguelitojeep97]

broken pitman arm huh? wow...

[Mike]

Bronco Peak ROCKS!

Trail Report – Bronco Peak 5-24-08


What a great trail run! I knew it was going to be a cool damp day to run the trail when Sharon and I woke up to snow on the San Gabriel range that looked like it was down to the 3000 foot level on Saturday:


We headed down to meet the rest of the MJR crew at the Four Corners point in the Corral Canyon OHV Park. The trail was still quite wet even though the heavy rain seemed to have past. We had some light rain showers pass though while we were on the trail as well as enough sunshine to sunburn my bald head. 9 Jeeps showed up and Britain (Vern) was willing to be the trail leader:


The trail was very wet which made the rocks tough to crawl:


There were no tracks on this trail since the latest rains. We were breaking new ground in a way.
Britain made it up the first hill, but several tries finally led to breaking out the winch. I hope that the video captures at least a small portion of the effort that it took:


The remaining eight of us discussed the options for continuing, but in the end, each of us made our own decisions based on what we wanted from the day. 5 continued up the trail, three when a different path to meet us. It was great to meet Dave (dhsundance) who had limited time on Saturday. He watched the 5 of us climb the first hill to Bronco and then had to head back.

I was next in line after Britain and needed some spotting to get through the first part of the trail:


When I finally lost traction on the first hill climb, I broke out the winch early since there were others waiting:


50yj (Sergio) made it up the hill without a winch, but cut a brake hose on the way:


Rat Patrol (Kurt) was next and made it look easy:


While we were making the brake line repairs at the top of the first hill, Like Its Stolen (Jesse) was making his way through the first rock garden:

Jesse had little trouble reaching the top:


Bob (mtbikbob), Ron, and Steve (Ediot) headed over to Sidewinder and then would climb Bronco from the other side to meet us later:


We had lots of challenges before we stopped for lunch at Poser Point:


The pics in the link at the end tell the story of the climb fairly well.
The scariest moment for me was when I almost made Kurt into a hood ornament when I slid sideways off the line. Crazy stuff! I had to winch out.

We followed Vern across some great terrain until we got to what proved to be the toughest obstacle of the trail:


This point of the trail caused the most carnage!:


I took the by-pass so that we would have an anchor point to winch from. Even so, I still needed a strap to get by safely:


About this time, the rest of the crew caught up with us coming from the other direction.

Everyone required a winch to get through:




Except for Jesse:


But a strap was needed to get him off the top of the obstacle:


That’s when things went bad for the Pitman Arm:


With a little luck, he got the Jeep to a point that it could be worked on:


With help from several people’s stash of tools and parts, he was able to make some temporary repairs to get him off the trail.

The carnage included more than the pitman arm. We had two broken brake lines, a transfer case leak, and an alternator shorted out.

Even so, everyone left with a smile! This is a great trail made even more fun by the wet ground. It was great company and a good day on the trail.

A few of us ran Sidewinder in the opposite direction before we headed home. All of my pics can be seen at this link:
http://s139.photobucket.com/albums/q...24-08/?start=0

[Britain]

Great report. That rock garden at the start off, cambered to the right, I know I kept doing front wheel burns to pull back left. I certainly had my doubts if we were going to get very far...

Here the tie breaker "The sane leave here"



Rest of my pics HERE

[tony m]

WOW.. Guys! sure looks like everyone had a blast! Mike, now you got to really try your new lift, Great pics! That's one trail I need to check out. Too bad I had other commitments this long weekend and could'nt make it with you folks.

[miguelitojeep97]

nice trail reports guys. So how did ya fix the broke pitman arm? spare...?

[Mike]

nice trail reports guys. So how did ya fix the broke pitman arm? spare...?

Yeah, Britain had a spare for his high lifted set up. The arm made the angle on the arm extremely steep, so I'm sure that Jesse had a serious bump steer to deal with on the way home. I wish that I had kept my stock one when I got mine lifted. I guess that I will keep an eye out for a spare now.

[Mike]

WOW.. Guys! sure looks like everyone had a blast! Mike, now you got to really try your new lift, Great pics! That's one trail I need to check out. Too bad I had other commitments this long weekend and could'nt make it with you folks.

Hey Tony. Yeah, the lift is awesome! This was a good test, but I am still trying to learn the new limits. You'd really like this trail. I'd like to try it again before it gets too hot. Maybe it will rain again and we can convince Vern to come out and play leader one more time! :wink:

[1 Bad F N Z]

Wow I've seen just about everthing break that could break, but i've never seen a pitman arm break. This cheap Japanese junk you get today. LOL. I guess Scott better throw his old one in his Jeep to carry with him, Kevin.

[RAT]

better late than never I guess

I"m glad I made it to this run. As always, nice seeing everyone again, and too much fun running Bronco uphill in the rain and mud.
I didn't take many pics this time; I spent more time stacking and bumper riding than shooting

Just some random shots, the rest are at photbucket:



Hey Nwoods, does this shot angle look familiar?



From Poser Rock The sky was awsome all day




Verne making the notch


Mike trying to make a hood ornament out of me




The rest are HERE http://s64.photobucket.com/albums/h1...0peak/?start=0

[Britain]

It was a good run. Good to see you again Kurt. That first picture you posted may have a new trail going off to the left of that picture. When we marked off that trail about 3 months ago it was a burned area..look at it now. The first study (archeology) passed now a couple more. Perhaps fall we can start the build.

BTY Kurt how do you keep you rig so clean? I would figure some cave-ins here and there

[RAT]

It was a good run. Good to see you again Kurt. That first picture you posted may have a new trail going off to the left of that picture. When we marked off that trail about 3 months ago it was a burned area..look at it now. The first study (archeology) passed now a couple more. Perhaps fall we can start the build.

BTY Kurt how do you keep you rig so clean? I would figure some cave-ins here and there

Verne,
Sorry I didn't catch up to say goodbye. We went to run Sidewinder. But it was good seeing you again as well.
I remember you talking about new trails out there; that looks like a great place to tie one in. And yeah, hard to believe that was all burned out. Last time I was there is was black and bare. What a difference.
As for keeping the Heep clean, it's just a habit. Wash it after every run and try to keep the rocks off the sheet metal...

[miguelitojeep97]

i think I have a stock pitman arm for the Red Rubi if he wants it. Let me know. Trails are looking very nice and green!!

[like its stolen]

Thanks fella, But I'm ordering two new drops arms. I would rather have my back-up be a direct replacement.

Jesse,

[nwoods]

Hey Nwoods, does this shot angle look familiar?


The rest are HERE http://s64.photobucket.com/albums/h1...0peak/?start=0

Indeed, but yours is from a much more impressive vantage point!

[50yj]

I had a great time on this trail. It started slow but picked up quickly. Would like to try the trail when its dry to see how difficult the added rain made it.





Listen for the snap


Here is the link to my pictures.
http://s241.photobucket.com/albums/f...Bronco%20Peak/

Thanks to Kurt for the spare brake line and vise grips. I was able to drive back to Los Angeles with no issues. Ordered new brake lines and will be ready for the next trail run.