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| Here's the Lion's Back. As you can see, this is a very steep and narrow hill. The story with this picture is the jeep at the very front. All of the jeeps uphill from it are winched together in order to get the first jeep down off of the hill. It tipped over half-way up (you can see the oil and gas in the middle of the hill between the 2nd and 3rd jeeps) and the numb-nuts tipped it back onto it's wheels and put ONE 4" block behind a tire and started working on it. Needless to say, it rolled over the block and started heading down the hill. Luckily for the owner it didn't go off the edge. Too many people take chances on this hill - I don't...won't. I like my vehicle and my body the way they are - running and alive. | |
The following pictures are all taken on Potatoe Salad Hill. Some of them kind of do justice to the hill, but not really. You've got to see it to believe it. It's mean and it doesn't care how much you paid for your truck or how recently you got it painted. I've yet to see anyone get up this hill without lockers. (click on any of the images to see a larger version)
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#1 & #2 are pics of the old Captain Crunch. The captain could climb anything. It was equipped with lockers and it had already been rolled so no worries about the body or the paint. Great diggin' machine. She had another rollover not too long ago in which the frame was bent. We'll miss ya Cap'n.
#3 is the old Blaze owned and driven by "Iron Will" - My Dad. It was an exceptionally clean machine. 454ci engine, lockers, etc. She met up with a telephone pole during a winter storm and her frame was also bent. Dad's got a new digger now - no pics as of yet.
#4 is Kirk Westlund's Bronco. Doesn't look real big but Kirk has a skill at driving that not many have. He can get this thing to go places that no one else could.
The following series of Pic's are of the 'Crack' on Golden Spike Trail. This thing is monstrous. It's negotiable with the right rig and 'crew'. Some people cheat and throw a spare in the crack to bridge it. We take the fun way though...(again, click on the image to see a bigger version)
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#2 drop your left front tire into the crack - usually this get's the right rear tire in the air - slowly move forward until (#3) your right front tire comes off the ground - usually at this point your left rear tire is also off the ground for a moment until (#4 - this pic was featured in 4x4 offroad magazine) your left rear tire drops into the crack. Once again, move forward slowly until (#5) your right rear tire drops in - usually here you're draggin' your bumper or hitch and you feel like you did when you entered the crack - like you're going to tip over. It's amazing what these trucks will do.
Along the way we stop for lunch and sometimes some other activities...
Here's the Moab Gang. At least a 1/3 of these people are campin' and travelin' with us. The more friends the better.
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Dust and his Braugh's showin' off. They do these flips from just about anywhere...into water, snowskiing, off cliffs... Totally natural athletic ability - I hate them all...jk. |
These pics are taken on 'Rollover Hill'. Although I've yet to see anyone roll off of this one I'm sure it's named 'Rollover' for a reason.
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Here's Ted making his way over the spot where most people just about lose it. It's really pretty scary up there. You have to turn into the hill in order to stay up. Experience is the key. |
These two are of the Capt'n - R.I.P. - The pic at left gives you an idea of just how steep and bumpy the hill is.
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My old TOY:
This thing was a lot of fun. I only actually got
to take it Moab once. It did pretty good. Just not enough horses...It
was equipped with 4:88 gears, approx. 8" of suspension and
body lift, 33x12.50 BFGoodrich Mud Terrain Tires and a LockRight
locker in the rear end. The drive train was also beefed by a
custom built tranny including Centerforce® clutch. Inside
were two 12" subs(box placed in bed of truck w/7" port
through to cab), two 6" mids and two tweeters all powered
by a 600watt Urban 4channel/built in crossover amp. Tunes provided
by a JVC digital deck w/12disc changer. It was tough to let this
bad boy go. It's only drawback was its teensy weensy 4 cyl engine.
Hopefully soon I'll have a Blazer w/a genuine V8. More to come
on my quest for a 4X4...
M Y 4X4 - Still in the works. As mentioned above, the Cap'n and Dad's old rig, the Blaze, both suffered career ending injuries. A new frame was purchased. The best axles of the four were rebuilt, seals, lockers and all, painted and placed under the frame which is suspended on a new 4 inch suspension lift. The 327ci - rebuilt only about 30k miles ago was hooked up to a brand new tranny and transfer case and dropped in. Painstaking detail including painting of every part - brake lines, steering linkage, axles, drivelines, brake drums, etc. - was done before the body - donated from the firewall back by Dad's Blaze and new/used '85 front end parts from the firewall forward - was placed on a 3 inch body lift. She runs like a top and is going to be unstoppable. Just a few minor details to finish up. Unfortunately I live in Cali and the truck's in Utah so I'll need a little summer vacation to finish it all up before I can drive it back. As soon as it's ready I'll post some pics.
Props go to Joey - my little bro - who basically did all of the work up to this point. I don't know why but he lost interest somewhere along the way and I'm picking up where he left off.
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