Gulches Oct 14,15 & 16

WolfGT

WolfGT

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#1
#1
I arrived at Gulches at about 11am on Saturday. On my way in there was a newer JK going through Laurens and I was behind it. I pulled off to get gas and it continued on. When I continued, I was cruising and looked over just in time to see that JK sitting in a church parking lot. I watched in my rear view mirror to see that they were in a hurry to catch up to me. It appears they were heading to Gulches but weren't sure how to get there. They pulled in behind me and we all signed in. Since I was heading all the way back to camp site 9, Skip asked me to run them around the park on my way and I did. Ran into the MCJ crew at the bottom of 3D on the way by and spotted JR going into TNT on the way by there. Sent the JK up the hill on 28 and proceeded to get myself buried in the mud. Had to be pulled out. (oh, and I had not aired down yet, so I had to do that with all the mud you see in my wheels) Then we went and ran Baby Gulch backwards, that's a butt pucker moment but made it through just fine. Then we headed for the free food. Ate lunch and headed off. JR went down in Death Valley. I have never been down that trail so I went around to meet him on the other side. As we came back up the hill we met up with the rest of the crew and headed toward Shipwreck. Marcus, Gillis and JR all go through fine and then the carnage ... my trip through. Pictures below. It turned into a gathering spot for spectators. It seems the word spread pretty quick through the park of the scene so the crowd gathered. Dean showed up and coordinated the recovery. Two winches, two highlift jacks, a ratchet strap and a Gillis towing me back to the parking lot left me with a broken jeep.

Got Stuck ....






Broke my Sh!!! ....




 
97TJGUZZY

97TJGUZZY

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#3
#3
so.... what exactly happend? you only have 3" of lift, that not that much on short arms? did the stock arm just kink and all hell broke loose?
 
WolfGT

WolfGT

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#4
#4
Long story short .... I drove it home later that evening. Still have a bent lower control arm so I didn't want to push my luck.


The long story if you're interested:

The apparent cause:
I still had the stock lower control arms on the back. So instead of breaking an axle shaft or something else on the axle itself, the axle was stronger then it's supporting structure. When the jeep stopped going forward, the axle didn't agree with that decision. So with the unbelievable grip that the KM2's give me ... it decided to continue on it's merry way without the jeep. Kinked the lower control arm on the right side and began to creep forward under the jeep. When it reached it's limiter .. aka the shock, it commenced to rip it from it's bolts to the frame bending the bar that held it in place. Now with nothing keeping it from continuing it's journey, without asking my permission, it did just that. When the people watching started to make noises like some gladiator was being eaten by a lion. I slammed the clutch to the floor and hit the brake. Then I began to get the impression that I had broken something and shut it off to take a look. I didn't even notice the driver side rear tire sitting at a very bad and unnatural angle as I went around to see what was going on. Speechless is my only description of my state.

The damage:
  • Bent the driver side rear shock to the point it would not move.
  • Kinked the passenger side lower control arm to the point that the right rear tire was about 2 inches forward of it's original position (after trail repairs).
  • The incident pushed the entire drivetrain about 5-6 inches forward causing the engines fan to cut a circle into the radiator.
  • Bent one fan blade on the fan.
  • Once again hit the right rear corner on that rock in shipwreck.
  • During recovery, someone that apparently don't know how to drive a stick ran into the front of the jeep putting a dent in the front of the hood and grill.
  • Front passenger side fender is bent, don't know how that happened but pictures show that it happened after the incident so probably during recovery.
  • Movement of the drivetrain popped the fuel pump fuse somehow.
  • Movement of the drivetrain dislocated the t-case linkage.
  • Since the rear pinion was straight up in the air during the incident and I was sitting on an incline, about a quart of gear oil drained out of the vent tube. (I bet that made shipwreck fun for the rest of the weekend)

Went to Autozone in Laurens and picked up a radiator, shocks and a quart of gear oil. Forgot to get antifreeze so I grabbed that at the gas station while picking up some refreshments for my driver JR. Went back and put her back together and drove it home. I would have been back on the trail today but I was unable to find a lower control arm and I took that as a sign not to push my luck.

Great thanks go out to everyone that helped me out of that jam. Dean and the crew for pulling me out of that pit, Gillis and Marcus for towing me the rest of the way and especially JR for his assistance and knowledge throughout the whole deal.

See y'all next time.
 
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W

WeRideNTruX

#7
#7
we had a great time except for miles if you were there saturday that his 4runner sitting at the top of the parking lot. if not im sure ronnie or someone has pics of it.
 
LBarr2002

LBarr2002

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#8
#8
01tj said:
i had a blast this weekend. i hope someone got some pics of me and gillis going up skinny pedal ridge.We ran a bunch of stuff forwards and backwards last night untill jr broke a stub shaft.
Click to expand...
I guess that means one tons are moved up the priority list, since he can't say he's never broken a shaft any more.
 
XJ savage

XJ savage

#11
#11
I had a great time as usual. Good to see a descent turn out at the park. The wheeling did get a little insane with the carnage on Saturday. Glad we were able to combine our recources and make it happen.

And yeah, one 19 spline chrome moly stub shaft bit the dust. LOL!! Glad I have spares.
 
S

skip of gulches

#15
#15
Glad it seems everyone had a good time. And Greg not only did you not freak out and you and your team got you back on the road but you are quite the writer your story was written very well. And I'm so sorry about the 4runner that rolled Friday night --always hate to see someones weekend end so soon. We had 287 folks in the park and about 120 vehicles through the weekend. The park was in good shape (120 rigs did kick up some dust) but man there was a lot of carnage. Shout out to 4Wheel Parts for a great weekend of free wheelin.
 
Steve97tj

Steve97tj

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#16
#16
I'll have to snap a pic but i bashed in my passenger side rocker in two places on TNT i think in the taco. Door makes a funny noise trying to close but all in all she did pretty good. If i decide that i want to wheel it more, i need to put an aussie up front as i felt that would ahve helped me in several situations saturday.
 
Steve97tj

Steve97tj

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#20
#20
Nope i walked up on it so i didn't have the camera ready. From what i understand it didn't look like it was going to happen so no one was ready.
 
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