Trail Report: Wheeling and camping trip to Calico on March 9-11

[WeRubiBlue06]

What a great weekend this was, we had a great time—AGAIN!

We had the pleasure of meeting a great couple, George (Geocash) and his wonderful wife Jaime. I feel I can say this and speak in behalf of my regular wheeling friends (Lorie and Skylar), we appreciated you two coming out and sharing a great time with us and my family (Nick, Maribel and of course Chase); thank you for sharing this weekend with us. We all look forward to wheeling and sharing some more great conversations with you guys again at the IDTT reunion.

Lorie and Skylar—what can I say but it was a pleasure spending another great weekend out in Calico with my two best wheeling buddies. Although I must say Skylar, you were a little rough with me Sunday afternoon; I feel so much closer to you now. LMAO I think Vanessa and Lorie enjoyed it just a little too much; the smiles on their faces were priceless. God I can’t wait to go wheel with you guys again! I guess I need to start shopping around for an upper control arm being that it snapped in two this weekend—good time.

Lorie, I look forward to your offer of going wheeling up near you. The terrain you described is something I really look forward to wheeling someday, thanks for making our weekend so much fun and memorable--you are a blast to wheel and camp with.
There's rarely a quiet moment with you at camp but that's only one of the reasons we appreciate your company.

IDTT—17 days and counting…

BTW if any of you guys took pictures, please post them here. On this trip I was just too busy directing Lorie how to get back to camp, every time we went wheeling. :bonk:

[SkylarM]

I had a great time as well! Unfortunately I didn't take any pictures, but I'm sure you won't forget getting strapped in the back. Looking forward to the trip in a few weeks! I forgot to take my antenna off and smacked it on the parking garage at work this morning...

[I H8RDS]

What a great weekend this was, we had a great time—AGAIN!

We had the pleasure of meeting a great couple, George (Geocash) and his wonderful wife Jaime. I feel I can say this and speak in behalf of my regular wheeling friends (Lorie and Skylar), we appreciated you two coming out and sharing a great time with us and my family (Nick, Maribel and of course Chase); thank you for sharing this weekend with us. We all look forward to wheeling and sharing some more great conversations with you guys again at the IDTT reunion.

Lorie and Skylar—what can I say but it was a pleasure spending another great weekend out in Calico with my two best wheeling buddies. Although I must say Skylar, you were a little rough with me Sunday afternoon; I feel so much closer to you now. LMAO I think Vanessa and Lorie enjoyed it just a little too much; the smiles on their faces were priceless. God I can’t wait to go wheel with you guys again! I guess I need to start shopping around for an upper control arm being that it snapped in two this weekend—good time.

Lorie, I look forward to your offer of going wheeling up near you. The terrain you described is something I really look forward to wheeling someday, thanks for making our weekend so much fun and memorable--you are a blast to wheel and camp with.
There's rarely a quiet moment with you at camp but that's only one of the reasons we appreciate your company.

IDTT—17 days and counting…

BTW if any of you guys took pictures, please post them here. On this trip I was just too busy directing Lorie how to get back to camp, every time we went wheeling. :bonk:

OOHH..I know you just didn't go there! If I recall, I got us all up Odessa and onto Wall Street Canyon, back and around and then down Odessa.....I'm thinking your memory is a little off because you're still flustered about having to get strapped from behind.. hehehehehe You have 17 days until IDTT..you sure you don't want to go practice somewhere so you don't have to worry about that next time?? :bonk: Or maybe it's time for Vanessa to take over...just so you don't have to worry about breaking anymore of your junk. hehe

On a serious note..it was pleasure meeting you George and Jaime, and Nick and Maribel and Chase (adorable). You guys were a lot of fun and I can't wait to see you all again. Bernie and Vanessa and Skylar..you guys are the bestest! I love ya! Until next time!!

[geocash]

Wow peeps, thanks for the kind words. I know that both Jamie and me had a great time. Obviously since she is ready for IDTT. I took a few photos I can post later today when I get home. Sounds like I missed out on some carnage on that last "Easy Trail" you ran on Sunday.

[geocash]

Finally got time to upload the photos.




Wall Street


Jeeps by old mines


Stone House

[SkylarM]

Good pic's George!

[I H8RDS]

Nice George! The pics just don't seem to do the beauty of Calico justice huh? Had so much fun showing you some of what's out there...there's so much more!

[geocash]

Next time I will drive with one hand so I can get some good canyon shots.

[WeRubiBlue06]

So I knew as of Sunday (3-11-12) that my driver side upper control arm sheared in two, but I read a post somewhere that it was a good idea to check the welds to your various mounting brackets before or after each trip. So, I decided it would be a smart thing to do being that I already know my driver side upper control arm sheared into two pieces. Well this is what I found—my passenger side upper control arm is about to shear off as well and I almost punctured my engine oil pan.

So I guess I will need to invest on a few skid plates and upper control arms. But, what may be even better is to find a new trail leader/teacher. The one I have now may be a bit too aggressive for my level of experience—one that won’t make you feel like a wuss if you decide to not follow her line. But darn she is fun to wheel and camp with! What should I do…what should I do? :confused2

Well I guess having the house painted will need to wait—again! I can’t have my son driving around in an unsafe Jeep, right? Or is a safe Jeep just another example of an oxymoron?

My driver side Upper Control Arm. :oops: Does anyone know what I could have done to cause these upper control arms to shear the way they did? Or is it that they are just too weak for this type of wheeling?



My passenger Upper Control Arm


My engine oil pan


Nick and Chase


Here is a short video of me going down (I think Doran Trail) but I will need a new videographer...

http://youtu.be/4ql8-O3GGX0

[SkylarM]

Ehhh... your oil pan is fine!

[I H8RDS]

And don't be talking smack!! If you'd ACTUALLY follow my line once in a while, And keep your eyes on the spotter and not the trail, you wouldn't have any problems; I don't

Adorable pic of Nick and Chase! He's such a cutiePie!

[aw12345]

The stock control arms twist when you flex the Jeep a lot and eventually tear like yours. Time for some control arms with JJ's, will resolve that problem, so you do not ever have to worry about it again

[WeRubiBlue06]

Glad to know...

The stock control arms twist when you flex the Jeep a lot and eventually tear like yours. Time for some control arms with JJ's, will resolve that problem, so you do not ever have to worry about it again

Thanks Art, I was wondering what it was that caused them to tear like that. I may not be the most experienced wheeler in our group but I didn't think I was doing anything so wrong to have caused these to tear as they did. I'm looking at replacing them with either of these (see links below), would you have a recommendation of one over the other?

Currie Enterprises Front Upper Control Arms and add the JJ's for the front housing Currie Enterprises Front End Housing Johnny Joint® Kit. Would you say these are good or should I stay with RE control arms? What I thought made the Currie’s better is they use the JJ at both ends for both upper and lower arms. What do you think, does that make them better? Both brands are similar in Price so I don't think price would be a factor.

[curtis]

Currie #1 choice. And if you have RE, replace with Currie.

[Jeeperator]

Curries are definatly the best but RE's new urethane bushing made by daystar seemed to solve the rubber bushing failing issues. Other than the fact my daystars (I bought when RE was being restructured) tolerences were not same as RE's they seem to wear fairly well in the hammers and other misc trails with no tearing or breaking down like the old rubber ones. Having a detriot in the rear driving on the street probably even puts more stress on them also but so far so good.