Return from Truckhaven 2001

[BKennedy]

Well, I'm home again. It was great and I look forward to the next trip. Thanks again Rick for bringing all of us together.

I was talking to Kevin (Mac) about how I never have had a problem with the wheel bearings getting lose with the manual hubs..Well guess what?? On the way home I started feeling that vibration through the steering wheel that only comes from lose wheel bearings. Sure enough, the left side was really lose. I had to tighten it up by flashlight on the side of the road. Thats what I get..

Tom, you really let me down by not rolling your truck for my own personal amusement. Close does not count, even though that was fun to watch. Bill (Ranger-X) led us on the best night run ever. Thanks. Rick and Gopher, it was really fun watching you jump your trucks. Anyway, I thought I would get the first post for the post truckhaven run.

Later;

 

[Jefe]

That was a lot of fun.

I was a little worried showing up and seeing that I was one of the newest explorers there. . .and to think I managed the weekend without even a scratch, although I was sure pressing my luck (and boy was I scared to death) on the more difficult part of the night run.

Thank you all.
-Jeff

 

[Gopher]

That was a blast. IT is so much better being a driver than a passenger, well, yes it is.....even if my truck Only counts for half a truck. The cool part was that i earned 3/4 status after jumping my truck. Thanks Tom. I should of offered rides to you guys when i was jumping. It was so smooth. You couldnt feel the landing. Was a nice transition.
Thanks to everyone Rick for getting the whole thing going. I have to thank Guy, Mac, Ray L, and Ray H for helping me out there.
I cursed myself when i said that i havent gotten stuck yet. For a 2wd i was happy with what i did...Even when i did some things that the 4wd couldnt... cough cough..Packrat.
Brian K. you can lead any trip and i will follow. The trip on Sat. was fun. I liked that long climb.

So everyone knows...I lived up to my name once again.

The Gopher was Diggin' or for the guys that where behind me i think they would like this one for me

 

[Peter John di Iorio]

Eyes, Ears ,Nose and Throat

Even for the short time I was there, it was "nice not having all the dust"..... Thanks Brian K., for the evening ride and the tips and conversation.

And Char, once that campfire discussion group started picking up speed, you seemed to be in pretty good spirits health-wise.(Hope you've shakin' that cold or flu by now)

 

[Gopher]

Rick

That was cool seeing the Flying Pumkin. I still like the idea of the 2 pumkins hanging on the front and you jumping. :smoke: Or from the PreTruckhaven run, you know how we came up with how your truck kinda looks like a bug? Well we could fabricate some wings for the top and then see you jump it and take the pics of your rig mid flight.

LoL..whoever was not at Truckhaven don't know the abuse i had to take and endure with being the only 2wd truck there. I think my only shining moment was my jumping. hehe..i had the 4x4's there. well except for Rick.

Blaine is is this way or with a Y? sorry if i mispelled your name. Thanks for the straps. ****.. i still have the darn things. Email me at home and i'll ship the straps out to you. I can send them for a good price (free). That Jump was pretty cool huh? and you didnt beleave me that i could take it at 35. On a couple i hit it at 47. That was the so awesome. I'm still in awe. My dad thought he was going to get beat up from launching.
EVeryone, was nice meeting everyone and being able to put a face to the name. Hopefully we can have a post-Truckhaven.
Sorry for these long reply's, but that was a blast out there. Plus i have nothing to do here at work.

 

[Peter Weber]

Got back from Truckhaven last night. It was great seeing old friends again and making new ones.

Rick, thanks for putting ot together and convincing me to go.

Ray L, thanks for letting me ride along. This way I could concentrate on taking pictures.

I'll get them up as soon as they are available. I'm sure there will be lot's of others posted before I get mine back from developing and then scanned (especially from the people using digital cameras).

 

[Brian1]

I want to see pics! Any one get some of Explorers jumping?

 

[Gopher]

Brian1

We should have some pics by the end of this week. My dad is going to take his role in and get them developed. I know alot of the guys took pics of Rick and I.

 

[Peter Weber]

Brian

Patience. You're just gonna have to wait.

 

[FROADER]

To everyone at Truck Haven.
Thanks for another good weekend of off-road. Other than the busted tail light and bushwacker flare, I had a blast. Especially the night run led by Bill Saturday night. To all of you who thought I was going to roll everytime I was going 30 around that turn in the wash... total control baby!

Cambell, too bad you couldn't make it on the run on Sunday, it was a pretty good one. Next time.

Rick, if you could let me know if you still have that tail light and the front light bezels, that would be my pleasure to take those off your hands.

 

[rock883]

Originally posted by BKennedy
Rick and Gopher, it was really fun watching you jump your trucks.

Somebody better have a pic of this!!

 

[RockRanger]

I had a blast out there as well I want to thank everyone for welcoming me in when i just show and ask to go with them. I think i went on the run with colin on saturday then had to leave before the hard night run. Thanks agian and I will have my pics up some time next week.

Matt

 

[Ray Hutchinson]

Back!

Got back this evening (Monday), and had a great trip!! For all of you who may have decided not to show because the weather might be bad: Sorry, but it was fantastic! We had a few sprinkles on Friday morning, overcast Friday afternoon, then Blue Skies and mild temps Sat and Sun. Today,(Monday) we had overcast and a few sprinkles about noon, just to settle the dust again. Basicly the weather couldn't have been better for this trip, Sunny, mild, and NO dust!

Pinyon Mountain was great fun on Saturday, and the Sunday runs went great too. For those of you that left Sun afternoon, Mac has a story to tell about the Sunday night run, but I'll leave that to him. I'll only say that he has earned a new title

Anyhow, Great to see everyone, old friends and new,and a BIG THANKS to Rick, Char, Brian Kelley, Ranger-X and all the others who showed up for making this one of better, if not bigger, runs, The full report will be out soon i'm sure.

 

[Peter Weber]

Let's not forget there were a few other people there Sunday morning doing that jump. BlueDogBandit, Jefe and Jose come to mind.


[Edited by Peter Weber on 01-15-2001 at 07:33 PM]

 

[BKennedy]

Hey, I just remembered, Rick still owes me $5.00!! Just think, by the time I get it, I can charge him his truck for interest due..OHHHHHH YEEEEAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!! I'll sell it back to you for a 1/2 what you paid for it Rick.

It was fun watching Colin slide around the curve in the wash on 2 wheels. Total control....right.

Gopher, you made up for your lack of 4X4 with the jumps, 30 feet without touching dirt....cool.

Whats up Kevin?? Sounds like you have a good story that I missed.

In addition to the wheel bearing problem on the way home, one of my 150 wat KC's blew up with a huge flash of blue light.

Lets do it again soon.

[Edited by BKennedy on 01-15-2001 at 08:17 PM]

 

[BlueDogBandit]

what a weekend!!!

I just got home...I left fairly early monday, and it's eight at night now. That loud power steering noise caused a break down half way home. The bearing seized, and caused a lot of smoke. I stopped quickly to save the belt. Luckily that darn "GMC" driver was behind me...and gave me ride back to San Diego to get parts. We drove back out there to replace the power steering pump....and under removal of the old pump, realized that the old pulley had been destroyed by the heat and friction. So we had to go back into town, but further because we had to go to a Ford parts store to get the pulley. Then back out again. By the time we got back to San Ysabel where the Bandit was parked...it was sleeting, and very cold, and very dark. Anyway, we're back (the GMC hit a deer in between Ramona and Poway) safely. I'll post more after Mac shares his news. That is if his wife ever let's him visit our website again. I know he's home, because he stopped and said "hi" while we were working on the truck. He looked scared, and not very excited about going home. Good luck Diff Whack Daddy....and by the way...the duct tape looked great! Gopher...don't worry about the straps, I'll get them next time. Ray H., thanx for the trip on saturday, it's one I'll never forget. Bill, thanx for the night run on sunday after the other activity. I really enjoyed it since I missed it te night before. Thanx again to all...can't wait until next time. It's just too bad we had so much bad luck.

 

[BKennedy]

Diff Whack Daddy???

Mac smacked his diff again?? Front or rear, come-on, tell me all about it...and he calls me a cheater for going around a few cliffs and grand canyons...

 

[Jefe]

Originally posted by Peter Weber
Let's not forget there were a few other people there Sunday morning doing that jump. BlueDogBandit, Jefe and Jose come to mind.

I don't mind being in that list, but just to refresh your memories, I was the one who hit the brakes just before the jump and I'm sure everyone got a pic with all 4 tires still firmly planted on the ground. What, do you think I'm crazy. . .jumping a 2000, with almost no mods, and dead factory shocks?

 

[Ray Hutchinson]

Edits

Let me make some additions and corrections:

1. Sorry Brian, I did it again. K-E-N-N-E-D-Y I'll get it right someday and as for Mac..well..worse than a diff!

2. Peter: wasn't meaning to leave anyone out, but I wanted to name those that organized the trip and led runs for special thanks: not as simple as it might seem.

3. Bandit: wow, seems like we had quite a few breakdowns and failures this time: Add my fried on board air compressor to the list, but that's pretty minor compared to some other's problems. The most impressive part was how we were able to adapt, overcome, kick a**.

 

[Peter Weber]

Ray
My post about the 'Jumpers' was in reference to the quoted message by Rock883. I just thought they all should be mentioned. Especially since BlueDogBandit won 'Most out of Shape'.