It's a Jeep Thing (Saved by an X)

Figured you guys would get a kick out of this one. James, one of the Trunkmonkey Racing navigators, suggested we all go out wheeling and mudding at Chester Turnpike after Hurricane Charley. I hadn't run the X through her paces yet so I jumped at the chance to have a Jeep with me to pull me out of anything nasty. Well, turns out that James's Jeep needed my help!

Now, I'll be the first to admit that I did not attempt this crossing and James knew full well that he was going to get stuck...he just wanted to get all dirty! We checked the depth in a few spots but he fell right into a rut that our rather large stick didn't find.

Here I am pulling his Jeep out with my X. Whoops!

BTW, in no way am I dissing Jeeps. James shared the wealth and let everyone in the group drive his Jeep. Not only that, but he pulled me through a river crossing that I knew was too mucky for the X to handle on its own. No photos of me in the deep, but I made it through the first half of the river crossing on my own (the far pond behind the rockbar). The second half, closest to the camera, was about two feet deep. We dropped the X into the water with the rear wheels on the rockbar, hooked up the tow strap, and he powered me through.

 

[jimbo74]

Nice

 

[rino351]

That last pic looks like worlds of fun!!!

 

[Trunkmonkey]

That last pic looks like worlds of fun!!!

Yup! James's Cherokee got stuck trying to go around the closer water crossing. After fighting for about an hour, a guy in a Wranger came tromping through and pulled us out. We stuck around with our tow straps while he attempted the water crossing. He powered through it so easily on his huge swampers he showed off by making two passes!

 

[Scormunch]

Hmm chester turnpike... is that in MA or NH? It looks like loads of fun!

 

[Con Seann3ry]

ohhhh nice

 

[Trunkmonkey]

Hmm chester turnpike... is that in MA or NH? It looks like loads of fun!

Chester Turnpike, Hooksett, NH.

Mapquest (use this map to get to the entrance)

Trail Map (not that detailed, but shows more than Mapquest)

 

[Premier]

That looks sick! I wonder if my x could have made that first crossing..

 

[DeRocha]

Nice thread.. The pictures are great. So how well would you say your X peformed on its "Maiden" voyage? - John D.

 

[Trunkmonkey]

Nice thread.. The pictures are great. So how well would you say your X peformed on its "Maiden" voyage?

Absolutely amazing, even in 100% stock form with street tires. It took about a mile of rock crawling for me to get used to how much ground clearance I had. Everyone else in the group was extremely experienced, and I always had spotters while going over the technical terrain. I've got to say, the truck totally impressed me.

Once we got through the first mile, I got used to the sounds of the truck scraping leaf springs. I also came to the conclusion that side skirts are nothing more than condoms to protect the bottom of the body from rocks. I only scraped diff twice and side skirts once. All three times were due to me still getting used to left foot braking an automatic transmission and coming down too quickly off a tall rock.

Since I'm a rally driver and ice racer, I know how to read terrain, but I'm usually floating across it at 80+ MPH bouncing from one rut to another on coilovers. This is the first time I've had the luxury of being able to stop, get out, read terrain, and calculate how to get over obstacles. Everyone else in the group commended me on my abilities; my spotters made me choose a line first and then told me if I made the right decision. I was dead on most of the time.

So yeah, absolutely amazing trucks!

Edit: My only fear is rolling over and/or sliding sideways off an obstacle. I had the truck at some pretty insane angles and felt sick to my stomach and literally scared every single time. I know just how hard I can push the rally car and have had it up on two wheels multiple times...I just need to get more practice in the X and start trusting it when two wheels are up at full articulation.

 

[Stic-o]

Is it me or is he using a rachet strap as a tow strap in one of the first pictures!

 

[Premier]

Whats the stats of that Jeep?

Yea, thats a ratchet strap! Reminds me of that picture that I saw where a strap broke, and sent the hook into the windshield at 100mph. Scary stuff.

 

[Trunkmonkey]

Whats the stats of that Jeep?

Yea, thats a ratchet strap!

It's a Jeep Cherokee Laredo. I've got no idea what the stats on it actually are though.

And yes, it's a ratchet strap hooked up to a normal tow strap. Normal fare for a rally team because the ratchet can be used to hold parts of the car together. Not the best tow strap, but it's all we had in that length.

 

[Premier]

Can you find out the gear ratio, lift and tire size?

 

[Trunkmonkey]

Can you find out the gear ratio, lift and tire size?

I just fired James e-mail about it.

 

[dtl 2k2 sport]

nice pics, looks like you all had a great afternoon! You kept your x, at the stock height? Have you been able to make it around and over obsticals w/ out much damage frame or ect.?

 

[Trunkmonkey]

Can you find out the gear ratio, lift and tire size?

Here's what James sent me: Not sure of the rear end. Its stock so it not that exciting. It's an 88' cherokee loredo, 3" skyjacker suspension lift, and 31-1050R15 BFG Mud Terrain tires. Glad to know there are people that care.

nice pics, looks like you all had a great afternoon! You kept your x, at the stock height? Have you been able to make it around and over obsticals w/ out much damage frame or ect.?

Yup! She's bone stock and I had no problems at all getting over all sorts of obstacles. I came down on the leafs a few times but never actually hit frame. Thanks to my spotters, the worst damage I did was a little scrape on the side skirt.

 

[izackary]

wheeee!!! what did you hitch to, Sean? Your shackle??

 

[Trunkmonkey]

We hooked up to the frame just between the rear bumper and the spare tire. There was an opening on each side that the guys said was perfectly save to use as an impromptu tow hook. Needless to say, tow hooks will be in my future.

 

[Premier]

Cool, thanks. I keep looking at the pics, and wish it looked like that around here. Tell your friend to get some lockers