- Joined
- February 8, 1999
- Messages
- 36,315
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- City, State
- Wayoutin, Aridzona
- Year, Model & Trim Level
- '93 XL '20 ST
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- AB7FH
I just got back from the Truck Haven Pre-Run. The run consisted of many types of vehicles. Our Explorers were merely there to scout the area.
In attendance from this site were Paul Bredehoft http://www.4x4central.com/ocl.htm Dan ? with his stock '99 Explorer and Bill ? with his Ranger. Also in attendance was a Land Rover Defender(well equipped), Toyota 4runner (w/locker) Jeep Wrangler and a Jeep CJ.
The Truck Haven area is just that, a haven for trucks and other ORVs. Miles of trails consisting of hundreds of hills of every caliber, washes, gullys and much more. The terrain is mostly very loose soil with some sand thrown in.
Unfortunately I was only able to participate for a couple hours on Saturday as I had a mishap early in the day. I followed Paul's Explorer and the Defender up a steep and narrow canyon with a dry water fall. The first ledge was a tight squeeze. I thought I was going to take out my passenger side doors with a rock wall, but my nerf bars took the hit and spared me from any body damage. I wasn't so lucky on the next set of ledges.
With my wheels cranked to the left I approched the first ledge in the series. Both lockers were on and I started to climb. Things were looking good, I was making forward progress and got on the throttle a bit heavier as I could feel all four tires begin to break loose. Just as the front tires made it to the top, the rear left tire hit the ledge. This is where my spring over axle conversion bit me! SOA conversions are more prone to axle wind up than SUA set ups. My axle wound up COLLAPSING the spring perches on both sides. This allowed the axle to continue to rotate which in turn produced more of an angle than the U-joint could handle. The weakest link broke which was the drive shaft flange where it attached to the pinion flange in the rear axle.
I was now stuck on the side of the waterfall. While I sat in the Explorer with my foot firmly planted on the brake a few of the guys got under my truck and un-bolted the driveshaft from the transfer case. Once it was disconnected the Defender turned around and ran a winch line to my Explorer. It took all his winch could muster to pull my 5500lb Explorer up the waterfall. I actually saw smoke coming from his winch.
That was all for me. I was now stuck with a front wheel drive Explorer and a 260 mile ride back home. Front wheel drive really sucked! I got stuck very easily in the loose dirt even with the ARB engaged.
You can view photos of the busted parts at: http://www.4x4central.com/whoops.htm
I wasn't the only one to get bit at Truck Haven. Bill came back to camp with a ripped sidewall in one of his BFG M/T's. Bill was lucky, he was able to plug the gash and continue on.
Later in the day Paul added to his collection of "rock art". He bashed the passenger side door and the rear quarter panel of his Explorer. To most of us this would have been a big deal, but Paul doesn't use his Explorer as a daily driver and he has plenty of other "battle scars" to prove it.
Truck Haven can be a lot of fun for everyone modified or stock. There are bypasses for all the hard stuff. You can choose just how tough of a hill you want to climb or how rocky of a trail you want to traverse. Don't let our experiences scare you off from our January run as we were trying some of the more "extreme" stuff.
Dan in his stock '99 did incredibly well. He was astonished at just what his Explorer could handle. The stock tires were a detriment though as they limited his ground clearence. Dan dragged his bumpers while ascending and decending many hills he also scrapped the under carriage, but he never got stuck and impressed all of us with both his and his Explorers abilities.
For more information on the January 2000 Truck Haven Run check out: Dead Link Removed
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Rick Horwitz
Editor
explorer@4x4central.com
Editor
www.4x4central.com