Out of three trips to RC, I think this one was the most fun. Carnage and all. Nothin' like 30 deg weather for a little April wheeling!
Carnage report.
We started off with electrical issues with Steve's rig on trail #1. He and Mike spent probably about 30 minutes playing with things until they got it fixed. The rest of us messed around on the hill climbs until it was fixed. Props to Mike for helping to troubleshoot while the rest of us goofed off.
Trail #2 (Jotter's Way) would see Steve flop the Sami. *sniff* It was a pretty body while it lasted!!! (an hour on the trail??). Unfortunately, no video, 'cause Ryan had the camera at the top while I was finishing.
On this same trail I busted the band clamp holding my exhaust together. Not a big deal, but from here on out the Jeep was a lot louder than normal.
Around mid day Mike saved me from some headache when he noticed my steering was decidedly sloppy. The nut was hanging on by a few threads, 'twas a close one!
Somewhere in the mix of this Mike's rear winch bailed on him ...
When we finally got to the "v notch", Winsor decided since his body swap was already off to a bad start, he might as well finish it off.
Steve going in:
Steve on his side:
Steve enjoying every minute of it:
Passenger side:
Driver Side:
Around 4pm everyone headed back to camp except for George and I. We continued on to the South property to do all the black trails so we could focus on the West property on Saturday. Part way through the second last black, I punched a hole in the oil pan.
Solution? Steal a piece of mangled sheetmetal from a Sami.
Steve, you rock!
Bonus points to Mike for bringing a generator and welder :beer:
Saturday morning, we picked up 6 quarts of oil and were ready to wheel for the day (very minor leak after welding). I was checking on said leak and was inspecting Adrian's upper control arm repair ... which is when I noticed this:
That's not the upper control arm Adrian welded. That's the
other upper control arm, ripped completely off the frame :banghead::banghead:
With probably over an hour repair job ahead of us, I decided to spare everyone and I rode shot gun with George, while Mike jumped in with Roy.
On the first red of the day, Crawl Daddy, Steve discovered he was down to three wheel drive. He limped back to camp and spent the majority of the day installing his chromo axle shafts. He was done just as we all came back into camp (4pm) ... at which time we headed back out to do Otter's Trail. Big props to George for letting me drive the buggy, rear steer ROCKS!
Awesome trip. Thanks to everyone that came. Fun times.
All pics:
http://ovo.ca/gallery2/v/TrailRides/rausch_creek_spring_2009/
