Truckhaven Tortured

I went to Truckhaven this weekend with some guys from EarlyCJ5.com. Our camp consisted of five Jeeps: My ‘42 Willys MB, Jim’s 1947 CJ2A, Joes’s 1968 CJ5, Curt’s 1970 CJ5, and Bob’s 2006 Rubicon. The weather was perfect, just a light breeze that kept it from being too hot. The layout of the area is a nice mix of moderate and difficult trails and obstacles.

Our morning run took us through a series of tight, twisting hills. There was a lot of mogul type terrain that provided a good test of articulation. There were some challenging hill climbs as well, requiring momentum to make it through the soft patches. The stock Rubicon had a couple of minor high centering issues due to the longer wheelbase and its shovel-like skid plate. A very long and steep downhill exposed a couple of leaks in my brake system. One was easily tightened at the fitting. The other leak was from the stoplight switch. Luckily, Jim had a threaded plug to replace it with and we were soon underway again.

The goal of our afternoon run was to head out to the fire hydrant that Tierra Del Sol 4WD Club set at the top of a mesa about three miles from camp. I lead this run since I already had the coordinates in my gps. About a half a mile away from our target, I was paying more attention to my gps than to where I was going and went over a four or five foot ledge. Luckily, I wasn’t going very fast or I might’ve gone end over. We hooked up two winch lines and pulled the Jeep back to level ground. It actually came up a lot easier than we all expected. The other incredible thing was that the only damage was a broken shock mount. So I removed the shock, cleared out a little bit of hydro-lock and we continued on. After one last long, steep hill climb to the top of the plateau, we arrived at the fire plug. We all signed the ledger in the geo-cache ammo box that’s chained to the fire hydrant. No one wanted to “trade” for any of the items that were in the box, but we left some odds and ends for people that come after us to choose from. The only other vehicle damage occurred when Curt’s (1970 CJ5) was climbing a tall chute to another plateau. It sounds like he probably lost some teeth from the spider gears on his front axle.

We ended with a fun night run through the mud hills and a few drag races through an open wash. It was the first time I’ve had a chance to try out my rock lights. I was very pleased with the side lighting they gave me. It was a great trip with good people.

Flatty Mike

Kevin & Mark discover Heart Attack Hill

So New guys Kevin and Mark in Kevin's unscratched shiny new black Rubicon TJ enjoyed their day including this trip down "Heart Attack Hill".



Fun times.

NOTE: This is a pretty big video that hiccups if you don't let it all download before playing it - press play then pause and wait for the status bar to fill across - at least 1/2 way.

Pinyon Mountain Run @ ODF IV

by Chuck Seeger


We had a great trip this year at ODF IV, I lead a run of about 20 rigs (all but 1 were Jeeps) through on the Pinyon Mountain Trail out in Anza Borrego.

This is a beautiful trail that leads from the high desert, through the fameous " Jeep Squeeze" a passage that is wide enough only for narrow vehicles like Jeeps and Toyotas - an H2 won't fit.

The path through the "Squeeze" requires you to follow the spotters directions to avoid body damage - which thankfully everyone did. There is no bypass for this section of the trail.

For this trip my friend Kevin who just bought his new Rubicon-TJ and had it lifted w/ 33's came along with his brother Mark. Kevin was a bit concerned as his new Jeep didn't yet have even a scratch - the night before I promised him that if he came along on my run he would make it through without a scratch!

After getting everyone through "the Squeeze" we proceeded through a fun little ledge and rock garden and then on to "Heart Attack Hill" so named because it is very steep down. There used to be the rusting hulk of a rolled truck at the bottom which really increased first timer's anxiety! However that has since been removed and the area is clean and beautiful.

Here Dirt goes down Heart Attack hill and even though he had coached several others "don't hit the brakes" he did - you'll see the fun for yourself. Yikes!




Pretty Cool eh?

What makes it tough are the two big holes spaced just so that your wheels fall into them and the second one drops such that the natural inclination is to touch your brakes.





Lots of fun.

It was a beautiful day out.

After that we headed back to camp to race RC cars and finally we headed up to Blow Sand with Steve & Nora and Mikey.

Yellow Jeeps make for great pictures and this one is no exception - sweet rides long and short!

I like the sand flying in this shot.

Here Mikey and Dirt are going up the steep side of blowsand while a sand rail passes.

After Blow Sand hill we headed around the back side and played in some rocks where I took this awesome picture... I love how the sun that shows through on the ground and the details in the foreground - pretty good picture for a point and shoot camera (of course the camera doesn't understand composition... that's my job).

Later when we got back to camp we had the ODF Raffle - I won the Mystery prize - which was pretty cool a $50 ORW gift card, TDS registration some cash and some other stuff including a nice piece of artwork from one of the Vets -thanks.

Ang turned out to be the big winner of the night - winning the Warn Winch - here she is still holding the certificate at about midnight not wanting to let go of it.

Well at least we won't have to hear her complain about needing to win a winch anymore - Can't wait to take the first picture of her actually having to use it!!! HA

The next day I lead Kevin & Mark out to "Pumpkin Patch" that is a cool place where sandstone concretions have been formed by erosion - Sunday was the nicest day with hardly a breeze and not a cloud in the sky... isn't it always that way!!! Till next time

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