IE4W April '00 Beginner's Run - TruckHaven

Note: This report was written by IE4W Club Member Randy Stockberger, and also appears in the June 2000 issue of In Gear, a publication of the California Association of 4 Wheel Drive Clubs, Inc.

Members Present

Perk, Amy, & Jake Perkio CJ-5
Randy & Roxann Stockberger with Niece Christina and her friend Brianne CJ-7

Guest Present

Jake (Perk's Brother-in-law) CJ-7
Al Verrett & Dan Taylor 98 TJ (Bone stock & bad to the bone)
Dan Phelps 91 XJ Cherokee (Built & Trail Ready with ARB's)
Tommy Souza 95 YJ (Open but did everything he tried, but 1 details to follow)
Jason Stockberger & cousin Kyle 73 CJ-5 (Open, but you couldn't tell it)
Dennis &  Rachel 94 YJ ("Pro-Comp Sucks and so do round headlights!")
Jack McCafferty 84 CJ-7 (Locked and Loaded, and he has a nice jeep too)
Pete Griffith with Kids Alicia and Jonathan 82 Cherokee (Hammer time, both the way he drives and what he needs to beat on sheet metal with.)
George & Amy Gerrard with kids Geordie & Austin 80 CJ (The rougher the better and that's the way they camp too)
David Maynard with Kids Robin, Kyle, & Jackie 85 CJ-7 (Great pictures, great jeeper, and GREAT ENCHILADAS)
Lupe Lopez and brother Ricardo 79 Cherokee (It must be a stuck throttle because a sane person doesn't always drive at 5000 RPM!)
Bob & Karen Peterson 81 CJ-7 (Way to pretty for Truckhaven, but escaped unscathed and so did the jeep)
Tim Swanson 81 CJ-8 (Stock Scrambler with attitude)

WOW!! What a weekend!!! Camp was already set up by the time we arrived late Friday Night and campers were still piling in after us.  In fact, Tim showed up at 1:00 in the morning looking for shelter.  By 9:00 Saturday morning all jeepers were in attendance and ready to go. As trail leader I decided to forge into unfamiliar terrain and lead our group over the hi-way looking for new canyons to run.  Last year Perk got me excited about running virgin notches and I thought I would return the favor and introduce notches to our new friends.

Under a clear blue sky we drove down sandstone canyons marveling at the wonderful art  Mother Nature created looking for challenges along the way when we spied a narrow finger off the canyon heading up to a mesa.  It seemed gentle enough, and there was another way to the top in case it turned too ugly for some of the stock jeeps.  It was only 500' or so to the top with large boulders strewn about the soft sand and silt.  It was easy for the locked jeeps like Dan in the Cherokee, and Jack, but really fun to watch the open ones.  The kids, Dennis, and Jason with youthful optimism bullied their way up it while the more experienced jeepers like Dave, George and Tom finessed up it hardly spinning a tire.  I was a little concerned about Al in the brand new bone stock TJ.  He really wants to try everything, but with P225 tires and no rocker protection I was a little apprehensive about body damage, but my worries were put to rest because that awesome coil spring suspension allowed Al to clear the obstacles like a pro!  The most amazing display, however were the two older Cherokees.  Pete was the second one up and when Pete hits the hammer don't be behind him, because with his locked rear end he can now shoot boulders downhill with both barrels. He chose an off camber line and needed the speed to keep his equilibrium upright.  Then Lupe stepped up to the plate and his front bumper acted like a bulldozer, and as he was making a new paved road for everyone else to follow he bounced high into the air and landed hard on his right front tire..PSSSSST! What a nagging sound!! Lupe had lost a bead, but as we were backing him down to find flatter ground he lodged his front axle on a boulder and the wheel with the popped tire was perfectly suspended which made for an easy repair. Thanks to Jack, with a Co2 bottle Lupe was up and running in minutes. We also had a Colorado Born Scrambler with us that had a brand new paint job and like Al no rocker protection.  Near the top of the canyon was one particularly nasty boulder that was giving the stock jeeps some trouble and as Tim was maneuvering his Scrambler around it we heard every jeepers worst sound, CLUNK, PING! I saw his front drive shaft drop to the ground and motioned for Tim to stop.  Yep! It was a broken drive shaft!! (Bummer)  I could see dollar signs in Tim's eye and since he's a Starving Student in College knew it could be an expensive repair.  From where I stood it looked like a clean break and thought we could weld it back together and once we winched him to the top we were able to confirm that it could be welded.  Tom volunteer to do the job as I was getting my Premier Welder set up, and since it was just past Noon we decided to break for lunch.  Everyone huddled near the only shade around, their jeeps. The Sun shone brightly through the clear blue sky as the temperature rose to 85 degrees. Tom did an excellent job of welding back the drive shaft, it hardly had a wobble once he was done and Tim hammered his Scrambler all weekend without any trouble of any kind. Tom did such a good job I don't think Tim will have to buy a new one.

With the Scrambler back in business we played around the area awhile longer, and found a couple of notches to play on.  Pete took the lead for awhile and while we were waiting for our turn at an obstacle I guess Lupe got bored because he started to play around in the soft dirt. I guess he thought the red S on his chest meant he could fly because he tried to climb down a 5' straight drop off and wedged his front bumper into the canyon floor and his rear bumper into the canyon wall. Try as he may he couldn't move so Bob came to the rescue and strapped Lupe out of his predicament.  Damage: His rear bumper broke in two!  He said he was going to tell his wife that I ran into him again, so it wasn't his fault. Hmmmm.

We got back to camp around 4:00 and made preparations for dinner. After we watched some fresh video that Pete and Dennis took Dan, Al, and Lupe said their good-bye's and headed back to civilization. I just can't describe what a great evening it was.  The air cooled down a bit with a slight breeze, we had a raging camp fire, our tummies were full, and it seamed we were the only ones in the universe. The only sounds heard was our laughter reminiscing about the days adventures.  Laughing at Amy for backing her jeep into Dave's, or teasing Bob about his new "pin striping", and the ever increasing controversy of round headlight over square.

Then Pete announced it was time for the transmitter hunt.  Pete and his kids took off to find a good place to hide, then keyed the mic on his CB and it was up to us to find him.  Watching the monitor on our CB we could tell if we were getting closer or not by the signal strength. Robin, Dave's son tried to cheat by climbing to the top of his motor home and watch Pete as he drove away, but Pete (being the sneaky guy that he is) drove in the opposite direction then turned off his lights to doubled back guided only by the light of the half moon. George & family, Jake and nephew Jake, Dave & Family, Jack, Jason & Kyle, Tim, Tom, and Me with Christina & Brianne all took off for the search.  With Brianne closely watching the monitor and Christina's keen eye we were the first to find Pete.  He had wisely chosen a notch that he could back into which gave him some really good cover.  It was fun watching everyone else driving in circles trying to find us.  At one point Jack and George were only 50' away from us then changed directions and disappeared.  Then Jason and Tim came so close I thought they would run over us and they too changed directions and disappeared.  All in all it took about 1-1/2 hours for everyone to finally find us, then we made it back to camp for our reward. (If a night run wasn't reward enough) With the campfire still blazing we talked and joked until mid-night.

SUNDAY

Expecting a couple more people to join us on Sunday morning we waited until 9:30 before we took off again.  Perk & Jake decided to head back to reality early and said their good-bye's and since no one else showed up we were off.  The beginner's run was OVER BABY!!! I cautioned everyone that it was going to get a little rougher today!! I had plenty of opportunity to gauge their abilities and their jeeps performance and knew this group was ready for what ever Truckhaven had to offer. First we played a bit in some small canyons and notches testing our suspensions.  I wandered into one that quickly narrowed and then made a sharp turn and very off camber lean to the right.  Scraping my rear corner panel and creating gouges in the soft silt with my jamboree rack I was able to maneuver and finish the notch.  Pete was close behind and got a little high on the wall and leaned it over.  Yep! Pete now knows what his roll-over point is and the proof is a patch of oxidized red pain about a foot long forever displayed on the canyon wall.  Because the notch was so narrow Pete was able to drive it back upright no worse for the wear.  Tom was following Pete and after seeing the carnage decided to take an early exit and tried to climb the canyon wall.  After a couple test attempts he committed to the attempt and flew out of the canyon like a flock of pheasant fleeing a bush. (I think he got his driver's license as a ride operator for the Splash Mountain ride at Disneyland! LOL) Jason tried next and even though he was able to keep all four tires on the ground, he too left a fresh patch of yellow paint on the canyon wall.  Dennis did the same, and the canyon will forever have a montage from brightly colored jeeps. Jack, however scoffed at the notch and drove through it only lightly touching his cb antenna. (Way to go Jack)  Bob wanted to try, but thought that fresh blue paint with gray flames would clash with the others and took the by-pass.

"OK" I said, "Play time is over, let's get down to business" and took off to find the "Broken Axle" loop. I've run this loop around a small mountain several times with the club and knew it would impress our group and test our abilities.  After climbing up and over a couple tall mesa's we found the trail head.  Everyone gathered at the top of the first obstacle so they could watch my line, then assess for themselves if they wanted to attempt it.  It was no surprise that everyone was chompin' at the bit to go.  Dennis went first and after a test attempt found the right line and scooted to the top.  Pete went next and with his longer wheel base and a look of determination on his face bounced and spun his way to the top, then said, "Now I know why they call this the broken axle!"  Jason, always the showman used all the horses in his V-8 and blasted over the top. George went next, then Dave, then Tim and all used just the right amount of momentum and power and made it look easy. Then Jack picked a line and looked at me and with a wink said, "which line is the hardest?"   I could tell Jack was getting a big head so I thought he needed to be humbled a little and directed him to the line at the far left.  It was the most vertical and the only person I've seen make that line was our Prez Larry McRae.  There is no way Jack could make it and I was looking forward to his humiliation.  But Jack just smiled confidently and without hardly spinning a tire climbed right up. (Boy did I ever have egg on my face)  I guess it's true what they say, "If you're good, it's not bragging"! Good Job Jack!! The last to attempt was Tom driving a clean looking Wrangler.  He chose a good line, but half way up it took an unexpected bounce and then that ever nagging sound again, CLUNK!! Pete yelled, "STOP!!" From his vantage point he could see Tom's rear drive shaft drop to the dirt.  Tom rolled back and we could see broken pieces of U-Bolt.  The rear U-Bolt at the dif exploded under the intense torque and pressure.  "Oh well", said Tom nonchalantly, "I've done this before!" He quickly got out his tools and spare U-Bolt and went to work.  In about 20 minutes or so he was done with the repair, but noticed there was a crack in the output shaft.  George had some silicone and thought it would stop the small amount of leaking that followed.  Tom decided to call it a day, not wanting to do further damage to the transfer case and Jack volunteered to lead his back to camp.  Pete & Bob followed also so they could get an early start back home.

Now were down to 6 jeeps that aren't done yet and off we went.  By now all that followed me had the confidence to take all the following obstacles with a certain amount of ease and we were quickly coming to the end of the loop when Jason came over the CB, "Hey dad! Let's climb to the top of that ledge.  The last time I tried it it broke my shock mount and I'm looking for retribution!"  I quickly assessed the ledge and it looked ominous but certainly doable, so I scurried to the top and felt the pucker factor on a scale of 1 to 10 to be an 7.  Everyone that followed spun some tires but kept straight and had enough traction to make it to the top. Jason and his open CJ-5 had impressed me all day and I wasn't concerned at all about his "retribution", and perhaps Jason was a little over confident as well because his tires started to spin and instead of letting off the gas hit it a little harder and started to go sideways.  When he finally stopped he was near a roll-over, then put it in reverse and tried to back out of it only to have the front end slide even further closer to a hole and a certain roll. George and I bolted down the hill to try and hold him in place, once stable enough I went back up and drove my jeep into position to use the winch.  Once safely on top Jason revealed he was scared and knew his pride and joy was a instance away from destruction.  Well that's enough excitement for my aging heart so we headed back to the safety of camp. Wow!!! What a weekend!!!!

I want to thank Jack for being my tail gunner both days and  Pete for getting some excitement about the run going and organizing the trip. I look forward to their drive towards membership. I especially want to thank my wife Roxann for cleaning up all my cooking messes and putting up with all my Crap!! She is truly one in a million.

Looking forward to our next adventure together,

Randy Stockberger