Return from Truckhaven Jan. 08

[Exploderpilot]

It was about me going off and doing my own thing, and just basic trash talking. I don't think my brother has a reason to lie to me, and you and I don't really know each other, so it's no huge loss either way right?

 

[jobunn]

I don't have an explorer right now, I don't like going slow, and I don't like people talking about me when I'm not around, so i'm just done with it. There's a perfectly good forum for blazer owners, and let's be realistic, there's not much info on them here!

But your blazer will grenade shortly and you will buy another Explorer and be back for the next run.

Here are a few rough videos of my brothers and I, RJ and mounty71 flying through the washes. Language is kinda raw in spots but funny (mods delete as needed), it was just the reaction to the fact that my Explorer was obviously not meant to go 50mph in the washes so it felt like a video game.

http://www.explorerforum.com/files/5664/pictures 044.avi

http://www.explorerforum.com/files/5664/pictures 055.avi

http://www.explorerforum.com/files/5664/pictures 058.avi

 

[Tbars4]

...exploder, leave the blazer as it is and get the ranger ready...the blazer could even tow the ranger and be the support vehicle...

 

[Exploderpilot]

We will see how it goes. I just got a call to the jobsite off the 215, so maybe now that i'm working I won't be the poor kid anymore. But let's just put it out there. Exploderpilot is the loud guy who drinks too much, talks too much, hates going slow, and yes Bkennedy, I do have stuff that's not jury-rigged, it's just all broken! But I am gonna be the same guy every time I show up for a run. If you don't like it, tell me! I'll probably tell you to kick rocks, but hey, at least let's be men about it! And yes, I will probably always end up following the trail for a while, and then go do my own thing. Deal with it. Tdavis, you have the power, if you don't like my habits, then ban me from the runs, or the whole site, or whatever, I give less than a damn either way. If my brother overheard what you were saying, and got his own feelings hurt because he was looking out for me, or misinterpreted your words, then I apologize whole heartedly. But let's be honest. those of you who have been on a few runs with me know what to expect. At 4 in the morning, that's me by the fire with my bottle of vodka or beer number 38. If you need more rest, camp farther from the fire.

 

[Dannyboy]

As an outsider looking in, I gotta say we're a pretty big/diverse group. Hell, I chose to show up with a group of 30 people who I never met a while ago and they've become my preferred group of wheelers.

I'm not the quietest guy out there, I've got really bad A.D.D, and I really try to get myself into a pickle sometimes on the trail. I've also showed up with a truck that I thought was ready to wheel and left me behind as well as showed up with broken **** that limped through the whole trip. I've learned now that I have a responsibility with this group. I don't want to have to spend my time working on somebody's rig, saving someone's life, or looking for somebody who is lost on a trail.

I've been bailed out of situations on trips, and been the first to lend a hand/tools/parts etc. I've felt uncomfortable on trips in the past, hell I remember in the AZ run 4 years ago Tom acted half pissed, as he should have cause i hucked my driveshaft out of the yoke and didn't have the proper tools to fix it, but he spent his time on the trail to bail me out. I gladly bailed him out a year later with a spare tire for his trailer and had a really good feeling about returning the favor.

We choose to roll out together, and return together. That's what EVERY trip I've been on with this crew is about.

Understand with that can come with some frustrations. We're not all friends on an everyday basis, we come from all different backgrounds but a good weekend wheelin is what brings us all together. I don't think anyone should be afraid to join our group. You know when you put 25-30 people together they aren't all going to mesh well, but we are all out there to have fun, and we're all there to be safe. I've grown up a little bit but still love to act like a kid out there.

I show up and try to be respectful of everyone's time on the trail, try my best not to hold up the show, bring enough tools/parts to help out when I can, and make sure I can get myself out of what I'm willing to get into (hence I trailer my rig out there, have towed my truck out of the trail at the bottom of the bluffs, and am putting in a cage that will keep my style of driving safe).

We've been doing this for several years, especially at Truckhaven, and I can only think of 1 guy who was asked not to come back, and I guess he was a tool. (It might have been that fenderguy or somebody).

I really enjoy the group and think everyone should know to feel welcome. We're not a bunch of bible thumpers nor are we a boozing wild glamis party crew. We fit someplace in the middle and safety is definitely the main objective.

I drink a little bit when it's time (sometimes a lot, like when my tent got knocked off the trailer), and I also lend a helping hand, I respect everyone at camp, and understand that there are families on site. Have I impressed everyone? probably not, but I think we can all agree that you are welcome to an Explorer run regardless of what you drive, who you are, what you do for a living, what your race, gender and sexual orientation or even which coast you came from.



Come out, wheel, have a good time.

 

[Tbars4]

...wow dannyboy, well said......from what i know and have seen you put it all into one post, an ef motto of sorts...dang near worthy of a stickie...

...exploder, don't sweat the small stuff...just do what you feel is right and be curteous...

 

[zukman]

WOW!!! coming from a self-proclaimed party animal that was the most inteligent thing I have ever heard said! Right on Dannyboy!! and soooooooooo true.

 

[tdavis]

Well, all I got to say is come out and wheel.. If you want to get drunk by the fire, go ahead, just realize I'm going to ask that you DO NOT DRINK AND DRIVE. I will however come by and kick you out of your tent in time for the run.. Just so you can say 'uhm, no thanks'. If you want to go bombing down the wash instead of running the trail, that's fine too, just let the group you want to do that (heck, some of the group might want to race you.)

**** gets thrown around the fire, that can be easily believed to be aimed at you personally, and it's not. Several members of the group have known each other for years, and we can seem to get out of hand. Joking/Kidding between us can sometime be easily miss-interpreted.

If you wish to get your panties in wad about a 'he said, she said, someone heard, I was told', then I'm happy for you. It's nice to know I can get someone else's panties wadded up other than one of the Center's vendors..

No, I am not going to ban you for posting how you feel. I don't moderate here, I just run the server. However, if you like, I can arrange it.

 

[Burns]

AWESOME

Is all I have to say about it.


Pic, Video, and Thanks to come. I just woke up!

 

[Tbars4]

...burns my boy, i could see in your smile all weekend that you had a good time...
...and again, happy birthday and from what i heard, the only birthday to happen at truckhaven...

 

[Burns]

Thanks Ted it was a really really great time


Going to grab a bit to eat then coming home to upload my pic and get the video on to my computer.

Stic i have around 50 mins of hig rez video for you to play with. Including the fire that felt like it was going to burn the tent down.

 

[Stic-o]

Thanks Ted it was a really really great time


Going to grab a bit to eat then coming home to upload my pic and get the video on to my computer.

Stic i have around 50 mins of hig rez video for you to play with. Including the fire that felt like it was going to burn the tent down.

Cool! Can you put it all on a disc and mail it too me? Or what is easiest for you? MPEG4 would be the prefured format if on a disc.

I still have to hook up the "Movie computer". It hasn't been touched sence we moved in Sept. Besides I got to start making movies of my daughter

 

[cybergasm]

Well finally made it back home at 4pm Monday just in time to take a shower unpack the coolers and then head to work

But by far this was the most awesome run yet for me Had a great time all weekend.

No major carnage except for losing the coil spring again and losing the j-hook and then the pita of trying to get the nut loosened up with the washer all bent up. Thanks Tom for the help and everybody else that helped, supplied tools etc. the hose clamps are still working great

it was nice running around there on 35's even tho my fenders are beat to crap from stuffing them all weekend.

Thanks Bill for leading the "stockers" run and finding some good stuff out there.

Potluck was awesome! I was so stuffed after eating but I slept good that night.

Well Mondays run was uneventful but fun getting to see some spots I hadn't seen before like the waterfall. hmmm I should change that since I provided a few moments trying to get to CJ hill and finally Brain saying your not tossing your truck off the hill today. so I backed down and tried to go around to catch up with em but i think i took a wrong turn and ended back at the Waterfall while BKennedy 90Ranajo and DWD went to try CJ hill and i stayed at the Waterfall and messed around there. but it was all good

More to post later, Hungry now I have some photos and video post after I get home.

 

[FAKRWEE]

Looks like another great run. Glad everyone was safe. Sure would have loved to be there. Missed you bunch of caracters.

I got home on Saturday after I lost my connection to San Diego on Friday night. Went to bed feeling pretty sick thinking I'd sleep what ever it was off and go to TH on Sunday. Sunday morning I woke up and couldn't get out of bed. My wife had to take me to emergency. After some X-rays and test I was told I had pneumonia. So I have to be off work for 2 weeks minimum until my lungs clear up.

I also heard the dreaded,” At your age” talk from the Dr.

Hopefully by the middle of Feb. I can get out there with a few volunteers to take care of this old guy.

 

[Burns]

There is good and bad news with this trip for me. Ill post the bad news later.

I started this trip early Friday morning. I got on the plane and never had a problem all the way to San Diego. Got to the air port and was met by Jason waiting on me. I Grabbed my bags loaded up and off we went. Got to spend part of Friday roaming around the city checking everything out. Some ships, a sub, and the navy base was pretty cool. Jason thanks for everything you did. You were more than kind for everything. You will have to make sure you get down for Tellico later on in the year and i can show you TN in the time we spent in San Diego lol

After hitting the city we went back to his house to grab there stuff and his son (Along with his psp) haha..... Off we went. Got to see a few things on the way to THaven. Upon arrival we met a few that were there at the time sitting around the fire. Everyone was so good. Great group of guys.

Colin it was nice to meet you finally and you explorer is really great. The van is sweet to. I got a Four Wheeler in the air port and they had a van with the camper top on it. A van is in a new light now.

Dave man thanks for letting me ride with you on Sat. Your ranger was such a Awesome rig. Everything you pointed it at it just ate it up and kept wanting more.

Tom thanks for being suck a cool guy. It was nice to meet and chat with the guy who keeps the place going. The Zuk was more than awesome. It looks so much bigger in person and just does anything.

Ted your explorer is almost as big as mine on the stock stuff. Im not sure how it keeps going. You may have broken a ujoint but thats nothing to what i thought would break on the 35 with 35s. Nice to meet you and you BIG DOG.

Cyber. Man your rig reminds me of mine when i was on 33s so much.

The bunn bros... Im not sure which one of yll it was but i dont think i have ever heard anyone talk about the civil war and pres lincon for so long. Just one more log man. Nice to meet yll and your fast beer hiding abilites.

Mounty71 and RJ it was nice to meet you both. Very nice looking Explorer and Mounty. I still want fiberfenders but i would destroy them

90ranjo and dwd. You guys were a blast. Very funny and always got something interesting to say. It was nice to meet you two.

RockRanger it just hit me that when you were saying something about Gerald that you were talking about me lol my bad. It was nice to meet you.

BKennedy man you were a pretty cool guy. Kinda remind me of my dad. Great stories about pulling people over. Very clean looking explorer.

Everyone else was great to. Just a really good group of people.

I got home this morning at 345 after getting to the san diego airpost at 12. To many delays on the way home


My first pic at THaven was my Fav:

 

[FAKRWEE]

Oh Dannyboy, after talking it over with my wife, we decided to adopt you.

 

[Exploderpilot]

I guess what it comes down to, is that whether I am breaking EF etiquette, or just annoying someone with my habits, I would rather not hear it second hand from my brother. We are all grown men, whether we act like it around the campfire or not, and I would expect grown men to handle themselves accordingly. I will not speak badly about someone unless I feel that way about them, and when I do, it will be to that person! Tdavis, you obviously are not worried what I think, and I'm not really concerned with your opinion, and I don't think that in the grand scheme of this, it matters either way! I'll not attend any runs that you do, and you're welcome to do the same. And I understand that you have the right of way, because you're one of the good ole boys here.

 

[Trckmagik]

I sure wish this thread was cleaned up. As an outsider, I would like to here the wheeling stories and see the pictures of this run.

We do have Private Messages for a reason.

 

[DB_1]

Exploderpilot, sorry to hear it has come to this. I never got the vibe that you weren't wanted around the group. If anything, it was pretty humorous having you guys out there. I don't know what was said and frankly it's none of my business. I just hope whatever was said was taken out of context and we can move on, wheel and have a good time like Dannyboy said.
As far as i'm concerned, you and anyone else for that matter are welcome to hang with the group. I've been wheelin' with most of the guys in this group since around 01/02 and I don't think I could find a better bunch of guys to hang and wheel with anywhere.

Moving on...I wanted to give a couple product reviews since I was so impressed this weekend. First would be tires...all I can say is wow to the BFG KM2's. On road, super smooth and very quiet. Off road, gripped just about everything I encountered with minor to no spinning. If you're in the market for off road tires on a daily driver, i'd seriously consider the KM2's...awesome tire
Next would be the Puma 12v air compressor, I really didn't expect much but once I finally aired up all 4 of my 37" tires in reasonable time, I was very impressed. I didn't time it exactly but it's still nowhere near as fast as a PowerTank. I plan to seperate the tank from the compressor and hard mount it in the near future.

Got another video up of Pcola on CJ hill and once again the begining is kinda screwy but it clears up halfway through:

 

[Tbars4]

...rick and char, you were both greatly missed especially char when it came time to call for the driver's meeting...it's just not the same...

...tom rios, sorry to hear that...get well soon...

...burns, i don't know how you can remember all the names, lol......i can only remember their handles...i should have taken you with us up sideshow bob's hill...