JF Rubicon Run, July 18-20

[sarah]

nope! no leeches either! john found some strange little buggers in the water tho ... and we did see crawfish or whatever they are in the rubicon springs! there we met up with a dude named jeff and his crew ... he's supposed to log on and see how cool we are ... LOL.

[seapahn]

Whatsup everyone! Just joined here I should have my pics up sometime tonight or tomorrow the latest ... so many good ones ... so many I wish I had taken but couldn't.

This was a strange trail ... I was often too worried about the lines I was taking than worrying about taking pics of the action! I am so glad I squeezed this trip in before I moved out of the west

[sarah]

dude your jeep rocked! it did awesome, both yours and brian's. i was really impressed, and of course there are the drivers to give credit to also! and i'm glad you made it! welcome to the site!

[JeepGal]

WOW.

That trip was sooooo incredible it was surreal. The scenary was like a back drop in a movie. The Rubicon Trail was everything Id hoped it would be and MORE.

Beautiful sunny days, warm nights...swimming in a clear mountain lake or river everynight to wash off the trail dirt. GREAT friends, good food and AWESOME wheeling. The only thing that could have made it better is if Dan didnt have the problems that he did.

My sincere condolences to Dan. Im soooo sorry Ive called a few times and left a message. Im concerned about his whereabouts and how he's fairing. As soon as I hear from him, Ill post. Id also like to take this opportunity to thank Chris, Erik and Brandon for going ABOVE and BEYOND the call of duty...How in the world you guys managed to not only right Dans Jeep and how Chris was able to get it running, and the three of you to get it back to base camp Ill never know. Dan asked me to Thankyou for your efforts. I want to thank you as well. I could only hope that the one day you need something from me, Ill be there and able to help.

Here are the pics I snapped...a whole lot of them!. And this is after I deleted a bunch.

http://www.imagestation.com/album/?id=4289609659

After we picked up our doors at Chris' friends house, we visited for a little bit, then went down to the river and went swimming. Finally, we left and drove till dark, staying in Angels Camp. We wiggled our way down 49, driving thru all the old gold mining towns. The old buildings and towns are incredible. We drove through Yosemite on Monday Afternoon...and finally made it back home Monday night around 10pm. Im glad we didnt rush home.

Id like to do this trip again, soon. Id really like to take it a bit slower...stay a few days at Spider Lake...explore some of the area. Maybe we could get a few folks that would like to do it again...Im sure we could coerce Jim into going.

Im thrilled at how well Emily did! Not bad for a little girlie Jeep! Thankyou to Chris and John for some awesome spotting! I couldnt have done it without you! No damage, except the license plate...and a few nice dings on the undercarriage, the tcase skid is kinda flattened on one side too...and a new dent in my oil pan. The Kilby Steering box skid was nicely broken in, and the heavy duty tie rod and diff gaurd were well used and abused. (Thankyou CHRIS!) And my sweet ass gas tank skid (customized and strengthened by Erik and Chris) performed admirably!

Once again Thankyou everyone for making this an awesome trip. Im looking forward to the next one already!

[seapahn]

Originally posted by sarah
dude your jeep rocked! it did awesome, both yours and brian's. i was really impressed, and of course there are the drivers to give credit to also! and i'm glad you made it! welcome to the site!

Thanks and thanks! Now I have my work cut out for me ... first fix all the dings and bruises and then start working on the lift

Here are a few of my pics ... instead of viewing them online, you can download the whole gallery as a zip file. Let me know if you want the full size version of any of them.

[Cetrov]

Whoever has pictures and or video- if you send me a copy- i will add it to a DVD- The DVD's cost me about $12.00 to make each copy- including the Disc, case, printing, burning- and hours and hours of editing- I will let everyone have a copy at just what it is costing me to make- I can make a slide show with all the still pictures and a movie with the Video- Anolog or Digital.

Let me know if you have something to add!!!

[seapahn]

So ... what was everyone's "damage" like?

I just swapped my two bent lower control arms ... nothing too bad but both driver sides were a bit outa shape. Thanks to goodtimes for the pair of spares!

Other than those, both rear bumper end caps are in the trash. Good thing I had them on since they saved my rear quarters. The passenger side rear quarter is a bit bent .. I seem to have landed hard on something (so many I can't remember exactly when) since the plastic in the wheel well is a bit busted. I got some VERY good ideas from Eric and what he has done with his jeep on how to "fix" this (sometime in the future).

I have a good idea on how to "fix" the infamous dent in the front ... I'll try to post pics once that's done.

My front driver side tire won't hold pressure ... it has a slow leak at the bead. I tried to pop the bead and redo it but it still leaks. I'll have to take it to a tire store and have them remount and balance it I guess.

That's about it ... the rest, as far as I can tell is just the normal bumps and bruises on the skids and whatnot underneath. The wheels are also nicely scratched up after I washed the mud off

[blkTJ]

My wheels suffered the same damage... all are holding air but there's a lot less of the outer rim. oh well, just that much closer to beadlocks. I haven't washed the mud off the bottom yet so I'm not sure what I'll find then. We'll see.:yay:

[igofshn]

one blown drivers side front shock and lots of loose bolts.

[seapahn]

I took my leaking wheel to be remounted and balanced (weights were all gone) and this is what the lady working there tells me when I went back to pick it up ...

"Sir, your wheel had about 6" of mud about 1" thick inside the bead. Our technician thinks you may have been offroading and the pressure got too low. But it's fixed now."

I said: "hmmm ... really? That's odd but thanks!"

The look on her face was kinda funny when she was trying to explain to me what the problem may be.

[sarah]

ROFL!! that is classic!! do you have a photo of your screwed up tire? that would be a funny story for the new section!

See OFFTOPIC > Oops, stuck Pixs here