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Josh posted up on
Marlin's Forum to see
who would be interested in running out to the Hammers for the weekend. Initially
I wasn't sure if I could make it. When it got closer to the time to go, I knew
I'd be there.
The wildfires had been raging for most of the week in Southern California.
It was very stressful waiting for the word to evacuate. Fortunately the Santa
Ana winds died down and the threat to our area was lifted. Many others were less
fortunate as over 1200 homes were destroyed and 400,000 acres scorched.
Since I had Tuffy loaded on the trailer in case of evacuation orders, it made
it that much easier to get out of town.
I left late Friday afternoon and got to the lakebed around 9:30. I was
practically the only one there. By Saturday morning all these people were there.
Anthony brought his gnarly, well prepped Runner!
Jason drove his rig out from Colorado to hit the Hammers for the first time.
Eric from YotaMasters
was there. I've seen his rig take on a progressive transformation.
It used to resemble a stock bodied Toyota truck. Now it's sporting a custom
flatbed, exo-cage, half doors and a sweet duck bill hood modification. He
trimmed the under hood sheet metal, lowered the radiator and dropped the hood
down. This gives the profile a different look and affords increased approach
angle visibility. Nicely done.
Under the hood, a modified clutch fan keeps the engine running cool. Pink?
Hmmm. Either Eric had Troy working on his rig (who has been known to paint parts
pink) or he got this fan from Rob! ( Who incidentally is known to have pink
parts on his truck.)
Here's a shot of the Pink Prankster himself. Also an avid wheeler, Troy
operates California Mini
Truck Dismantlers.
Jay King actually graced us with his presence! Jay and Eric have their hands
full at YotaMasters and don't get many chances to enjoy their passion for rock
crawling. It's always good to see them on the trails. Jays' truggy is under
repair so his wife let him borrow her rig. Sweet.
This well prepared rig belongs to surfer dude Tim. Out for some rock surfing.
Tim's rig has all the goodies. U-bolts are eliminated by using bolts that
clamp the spring pack to the spring perch. The rear housing has beefy gusseting
welded from the center to the perches. A stout rear diff shield protects the
thin stock housing. Bilstein reservoir shocks control the movement. Steel
braided lines juice up the rear disc brake calipers.
A simple, effective top shock mount was engineered to allow full movement of
the shocks. The muffler and exhaust is tucked up and out of the way.
The rear axle has been clocked to improve ground clearance and a trick steel
skid-plate added for u-joint and housing protection.
Under the transfer case, more clearance is gained by swapping out the stock
cross member for this square tube design. A skid plate was incorporated for
added protection.
I like how his bright yellow rig uses tubing to rub the rocks and a sheet
metal panel is fitted in between the exo-cage to fill the voids and give the
appearance of fenders. Tube doors and custom upholstery round out the look.
Troys' rig is in the background.
You never know what kind of wildlife you will encounter in the desert.
And Mischief is one wild Rock Dog! I don't usually care for these little rat
dogs, but I gotta' say, I was impressed by her energy and character. She wasn't
trembling with fear and seemed to love this stuff just as much as the rest of
us. Cool Dog!
All right, I know you want trail action, but I couldn't resist featuring some
of the participants.
Here you go.
We all gathered at the trailhead of Clawhammer for a photo shoot. Such hams!
I fell in line behind Eric.
Jay ready to climb a little ledge.
Chase's rig at the end of Claw.
That's Jasons' rig coming into the end of Clawhammer.
Claw was relatively uneventful. We finished around 2:00 in the afternoon.
With time to do another trail, somebody suggested Outer Limits. I know from
experience O.L. is at least and 8 hour trail. So we should be back by 10 or 11.
Yeah right.
Into Outer Limits.
Anthony can't come any closer and leave without body damage.
It looks like a hub unlocked.
Chase driving a borrowed rig while his F-Toy build languishes.
Colorado Jason, Eric and John split the dueling crawlers of Joey and
Chase.
Anthony wheel standing at the last big waterfall.
My new 37x12.50x17 BFG MTR KM2's seem to enjoy the punishment. How's
that for conforming to the terrain. This is at 6 psi. No rips, tears or gashes.
Anthony climbs a nice little ledge toward the end of the trial.
Up and over.
Chase spots Eric up.
No worries.
The night stretched into the wee morning hours after all was said and done.
Josh never appeared till the next morning. I was spent and had to get back
for the next week of work, so I split once I got back to the lakebed. Josh and
some others stayed and ran Backdoor for a full weekend of fun. Maybe next time
I'll actually wheel with Josh when he invites us out.
Trail runs
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