MJR Rubicon 2005 Trail Report

[Dukes69]

Well we made it! Tom (B&T TJ) had a hard time and blew up his locker on granite slabs. We towed him out and he made back to Icehouse . . . I'm sure he'll chime in when he makes it home. Other then that, I bent the hell out of my draglink, but luckly we had some spares.

On the way out my fuel pump kept dying and every 3-5 miles my jeep would die and Erik's kid would jump out and hit the tank skid, where the pump is, 5 times or so. It fired right up and we drove another 5 miles. It was narrowed down to the pump pickup screen. We dropped the tank in the Mcdonalds parking lot, yanked that screen out and shoved it back in there. No more problems.

Cant wait for next year. Erik has some AWESOME pics that I'm sure he'll share.

[seapahn]

EXCELLENT! Glad to hear you guys are all ok. Hurry up with the pics!

[nagal]

Can't wait to see the pics! Glad to hear there was minimal damage.

Sorry about your locker Tom

[tjTerry]

I got out early and beat the traffic up the hill. Tom was waiting at Ice House for me with his broken Jeep. We loaded his jeep on the trailer and gave him a ride to Sacramento. He had a plan to get it home from there. He and his daughter seemed like they had a good weekend at the Ice house and made some new freinds there.
Great run for me nothing broken, but I need some corner guards. Just some scratchs but at the same corner as I scraped last year. I seems to me the trail had change for the better (harder) in a few places, maybe due to this past winters record rain and snow fall. Great to see everyone again and meet a few new faces.
T

[igofshn]

Well we made it! Tom (B&T TJ) had a hard time and blew up his locker on granite slabs. We towed him out and he made back to Icehouse . . . I'm sure he'll chime in when he makes it home. Other then that, I bent the hell out of my draglink, but luckly we had some spares.

On the way out my fuel pump kept dying and every 3-5 miles my jeep would die and Erik's kid would jump out and hit the tank skid, where the pump is, 5 times or so. It fired right up and we drove another 5 miles. It was narrowed down to the pump pickup screen. We dropped the tank in the Mcdonalds parking lot, yanked that screen out and shoved it back in there. No more problems.

Cant wait for next year. Erik has some AWESOME pics that I'm sure he'll share.

You mean he broke at the beginning of the trail??? Bummer

[RUBICONN]

Yea, waiting for some pics. Sorry to hear about the locker Tom. Glad you could get it out.

Michael

[longtallsally]

Ben and I made it home. It was really nice meeting all of you. I'm still amazed we actually caught up to you. Also, sorry to take off so quick on you on Sunday morning, but we wanted to get home and decompress a bit for the week ahead.

Due to a wrong turn out of the Springs, we added at least an hour or 2 going out and then getting caught in a traffic jam up Cadillac Hill.

Only damage for me was that the exhaust continued to fall off even on the road (4 cyl YJs sound cool with an open header), bent front spring that makes it lean to the left a little, and I think my new springs settled in a bit more in the rear since I got a vibration at anything over 60 and in 3rd gear. I need my tools here so I can check the angle in the rear end, but I don't think it too bad.

Also the fuel leak subsided since we determined it was the exhaust causing it and just got a piece on flexipipe on the way up which sorted it out.

The trail was much harder than I remembered, but a bunch of fun.

Bottom line, The Little Jeep that Could continues to amaze.

It says I can't post pics, anyone wanna sort that out? I have a few pretty cool ones that you guys might like.

Thanks for letting us imbibe a bit with you on Saturday night!

[NAILER341]

well, i made it!
wheeeew! what a long ass drive home. i finally got here at 4:00 am. had to stop for a nap in some mosquito ridden poop covered pasture, but couldnt keep my eyes open for another minute.

the pics will be up soon.. i have to go through them, and resize for the net.
great fun was had. no broken stuff for me. a bit of an alignment problem, but it was fixed on the trail, and drove home just fine.

chris, glad to hear the screen removal fixed the problem. that was looking to be a real pain in the ass!
the one where you stopped in front of the church with all of those people standing there, right in the middle of town was fantastic!
danny jumped out of my jeep like a shot, slid under your jeep and began slamming it with the hammer... then ran from the jeep as if he had done something wrong. the looks on those peoples faces was priceless!

toms DETROIT trac-lock, or whatever that thing is... split right through the case. it happened about 20 yards from where tequila dan broke on the slabs.
he was towed out the gatekeeper, and drove in front wheel drive to the ice house.
sorry about your broken parts, tom.
i hope to see you out there with us again real soon. dont get discouraged.

great times!

[Sully]

We are glad you all had a fun safe trip. Sorry we didnt tell anyone that we couldnt make it but it was a last minute decision to not go on thursday night. Rerally wish we could have made it was a real bummer thursday night when we couldnt go.

[blkTJ]

Glad to hear all had a good time.

Sorry about the locker Tom, do we think it's an install thing? :confused:

Can't wait to see the pics. :yay:

[Bachman]

Brian where were you? It was a fun trip...the trail was awsome this year. I thought I had no trail damage until about a 5 miles from my house when my rear drive shaft CV destroyed itself at 70 miles an hour! After cleaning out my shorts, I pulled it off on the side of the highway and limped home it front wheel drive. Can't wait until next year!!!

[paulhead]

Can't wait for pics. Another year I missed the fun and carnage. New house, new babies, too much going on for a big trip, oh well. Next year for sure! Mark My Post! By then I should have my new front axles and new rear end. May be even 35's!

[longtallsally]

So I resized some of my pics so they can be used. So how do I do it? Do I need to beg for privelages?

[Unknown Jeeper]

After learning that my Jeep preceded me to this website, and following the request during Saturday night's fire, I have decided to join your fine group. My friends and I were the other group camped near yours (green YJ, black XJ), and I wanted to extend my sincerest thanks for adding to the fun of this year's run. I hope to get to know everyone here, and if nothing else, will see you all on the Rubicon next year!

[cjdirtbiker]

What I learned on the Rubicon....

We really enjoyed our run with the group. There were 6 rigs to start, one joined up at the end of the third day (longtallsally), and three others formed their own group (bachman). We lost Tom (blk&tanTJ) right away and we all felt so bad for him, so we were down to 5. Terry (tjterry) took off really early Sunday so there were just 4 jeeps coming off the trail together. I was way surprised we went from too many jeeps going to just us four coming out; Chris and Tam, Erik and I. Brice (longtallsally) was at the trailhead too, but he had pretty much run the whole thing solo.

Everything worked well for me, no body damage. My fan clutch went out on the way up and we blew a lot of overflow coolant out. Erik picked me up a new one on his way thru Sacramento and it was replaced the night before we hit the trail - thanks! My tailpipe got pulled down and smashed on granite slab so we had to cut it off. The power converter and electric cutoff wheel was pretty handy - thanks! I had no real trouble making my way through, but I did not try to make it tougher than it already was. Erik and Chris on the otherhand are maniacs. And Tam is one helluva driver.

At the end of each day we were sweaty and tired, but a dip in the lake was so refreshing. Dinner and a roaring fire with good stories ended each day.

Here's what I learned on my trip.....

Go with experienced jeepers like Chris and Erik or you'll get lost or stuck. We got lost once trying to find the trail from Spyder to Buck. We all got stuck at one time or another. These guys are well prepared for just about anything.
Your junk must be well built and well tested. The 'con is not the place to test your jeep.
The trail will show up all of your rigs weaknesses.
At least one locker will make the trip more do-able and therefore more enjoyable.
Bigger tires are a big advantage - they just roll over the obstacles with less effort.
Yes, you need a good spotter, on the trail and on your right.
You will get stuck at some point.
Highway 395 is the same distance to the trailhead and has beautiful scenery, but it's a helluva drive thru the mountains at the end. And if you break on the way there are virtually zero services.
If you can't make it thru 'gate keeper', turn around and go find an easier trail. It just gets harder from there.
Yes, the 'con is as tough as they say, as long too. Words can't describe how many obstacles there are to overcome, it just goes on and on and on.
It's a long way out from the middle no matter which way you go, so you better not breakdown, and if you do you better be able to fix it.
Everybody relies on everyone else so going with a group is a big advantage.
The beauty is breathtaking, the lakes are crystal clear.
Jeepers are some of the nicest people, smart too.
There are LOTS of mosquitos.
The rope swing into the creek at Rubicon Springs is really fun.
There a lot of crawdads in the springs.
The water in Buck Island Lake is cold, but there are a lot of trout. Bring your fishing rod.
You will never be bored on the trail, however you WILL be challenged.
Go practice with your gear before you do the real thing, that way you'll know what you need and what you don't.
Driver skill is the most important component on your jeep.


Thanks guys for making my trip on the Rubicon a huge success. I can't say enough how much fun we had and how much we enjoyed everyone's company. It was truely an epic adventure.

When can I sign up for next year?????