Trail Run: Curtis now knows Jack

[aw12345]

Curtis had so much fun at the Hammer on Monday, that he wanted a redo and a redo it was. In a day or two his sphincter will loosen up enough for a good bathroom break
Anyway the day started with Jack, Hundy and Fred wanted to show off, which didn't work out so good for Hundy 1 broken driveshaft ended that happiness, right at the gatekeeper. The rest of us motored on had a kick a rock or two under Curtis and Oleg's Jeeps other than that it was fairly smooth sailing. Going up the steep climb at the end of Jack Hammer Oleg had a heck of a time climbing the hill, so us old folks had to clamber down the hill to spot him past that spot.
From there we ran down Jack North, where according to Oleg, Curtis did a pretty spectacular nose stand. After completing that trail, Fred, Curtis and me ran Boulder Dash which is a fun and very doable trail. After that we decided to knock out Sledge Hammer which turned out to be a lot of Work for all of us to get Curtis through. At the start of the trail he got high centered and things didn't get a whole lot better after that. Still he hung tough and completed the trail wich no more breakage than a door surround and a mirror. His tippy near floop at the first real ledge was about as far as you can lean a TJ before it flops, we ended putting a strap on it to pull the Jeep back down to earth. From there things moved fairly well as long as we lend a hand spotting and rolling a couple of rocks under his tires. To sum it up Sledge Hammer has gotten considerably tougher in the last 6 months or so, seems to me it's a tougher trail than Jack Hammer at this time. Fred and me had a blast and when all was said and done I am pretty sure Curtis had a good day too, he definitely tested the limits of his Jeep today.

Pics here, not many trail pics though, mostly poser stuff


http://public.fotki.com/aw12345/end-of-the-year-ham/

[Jeeperator]

You and fred need to put on the 37s for those trails. Anything over that is well just cheating lol. Curtis is a fricken hero imo running 35's doin those trails lol. Its like he brought a knife to a gun fight and still won. Really just jealouse I couldnt be up there with you guys.

[aw12345]

Lets put it this way aired down the center of my wheel is about 17" of the ground and I have big pumkins and made it through there just fine.
I wholeheartedly agree though, that Curtis did an excellent Job of crawling through the big rocky mess that is called Sledge Hammer.
Took a bit of work on our part but we got him through there relatively unscathed and I hope that in the end he enjoyed it as much as we did

[flatout]

Another great day in the desert. These trails will let you only have so much fun then they jump up and make you pay. but for the fun you get its worth it. By the look on Curtis half way through Sledge he would of traded his knife for a gun in a heartbeat.

[curtis]

Had a great time with Art and Fred yesterday. Doing Sledge as the last trail of the day was a little hard on the tired old man. Need auto trans and hydro assist. To do those trails you need the bigger tires, wider axles and hydro assist. But don't let Art bs you. Him and Fred both have to work at getting up those trails. Fred has the easiest time but he has the biggest tires, more power and auto. The easier trails out there are fun for 33" and 35" tires but leave the big trails to the big boys. Anybody got a driverside door surround for sale LOL.

[curtis]

Well just checked out the jeep. Nothing broke nothing bent and no old leaks underneath. Yea fred I was hoping scotty would beam me back to my truck.

[Mitch]

Curtis,

It's going to cost you a lot of money if you play with the knuckleheads

[Jeeperator]

You can find those door surrounds on ebay all the time Curtis, fairly cheap too. I think I am having second thoughts about following those knuckleheads up there lol. I think I have to start on the easier hammers trails first and then work my way up to the harder trails. Maybe we could set up a hammers beginner run for the non stretched 37" and smaller tired guys. We all hate being the anchor for the more capable bigger tire guys but if everyone is fairly equal capability wise its not so bad.

[aw12345]

Beau, that we as friends we would never take you on a run that would deliberately damage your Jeep or be so much more than that your Jeep is capable off. Other folks have done this and that just isn't right in my book. Sledge was tough on Curtis, but the got through it just fine a few tugs, some spotting and a some rocks in strategic places and all was well. The funny thing is in the middle of the trail he acted like a grumpy old man, but at the end of it he looked under his Jeep and he proclaimed with pride Hu my welds held up pretty good.
We are not like some folks that take peeps out to Outelimits or a trail like that for their first trail ride and have the poor slob get a nervour breakdown somewhere in the middle of the trail and then somebody else has to drive the said Jeep of the trail. Stuff like that isn't right.
A lot of it is about patience, not getting frustrated, keeping a cool head, picking a good line and above all trying to have fun while doing it. By the way Hundy's buddy Oleg had 37" tires on his JK and had every bit as much trouble as Curtis on Jack Hammer if not more so.
So 37" tires is not the only answer, it helps a bit, but a lot of it comes down to picking a good line.

[curtis]

Like I said Beau, if we had done sledge the first run it would of been a lot easier. We had been attacking those rocks for over 5 hrs by the time we got to sledge. Three trails was to much for the old man, and I might of had a little to much fun the night before.HeHe Beau on the really hard trails the guys running 40" tires and bigger have dug some big holes that make it almost impossible to get around if you have smaller tires. Don't worry Art and Fred will get you through.

[aw12345]

Here is a study in clearance versus capability, look at both Jeeps of mine for diff clearance and axle tube clearance.
Yet the big one is a lot more capable and forgiving

[curtis]

Beau get your jeep back together and we can go run Claw Hammer, After Shock, Turkey Claw, Boulderdash, crowbar And Jack Hammer. I'm sure there are some other trails that are not just for the big boys

[Jeeperator]

Sounds like a plan curtis. I know you guys wouldnt leave me art just dont want to hold you and fred back. Jeeps together now just need to fix a trans leak and put my new savvy skid on which involves installing another body lift and the putting stock motor mounts back on with the savvy 1" spacer. Cant find the time or energy to do it because it not just bolt a skid on and go install. Working right now and need rest on the weekends to recoupe from a hard work week not to mention other things keep popping up like fixxing the stupid clothes dryer next weekend. Looking forward to rainy days to get this done.

[aw12345]

Beau if we want to run trails in a hurry peeps wouldn't know about it till afterwards.
If it's posted here or we ask you to come we will take the time to get you through.
I know it's a pain sometimes to work on the Heep, do the chores around the house and carry your work load, been doing that for the last 37 years, know all about it. So quit the excuses lol and git er done, there is fun to be had on them thar fire roads

[Jeeperator]

Ha! Try running a d10 pushcat back and forth fast pushing atleast 1 scraper a minute for 8 hours 5 days a week. Its hard on this big body and I need a atleast a day of rest to recoupe. Here a video I found of what I am doing. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H9BMR...der&playnext=1. Whats funny is that the company Im working for and the push cat I was running at the beginning of the job im on now lol. I got plenty of time the hammers are not going nowhere for the time being. It will get it done in due time. One thing about me is I may be slow but when I do somthing I try to do right it once and not fast 2 times.