Hey Guys,

Just got back from my second (and last) annual Labor Day Poteau Adventure.

This year was extremely similar to last year, 15% wheeling and 85% wrenching.

I spent ALL DAY Saturday diagnosing a blown brake booster/air in the lines/air in the master/springs missing in the rear drums/drums not adjusted properly/all together F'ed up brakes and missed the trip out.

Sunday I was geared up and ready and we did "8 Seconds" a NASTY trail on Poteau Mountain.

"The Quiet" Dan Gable ;) led our group of 6 Cruisers, one Taco, and 2 CJ's for the day.

Scott Havis dropped out early with a broken rear "Lincoln Locker" and a bad alternator so we pressed on without him.

Dan showed us his Poteau saviness as he spanked the entire group on one NASTY hill near the top of the mountain. After he made it, I tried his same line and when I got 1' from toppling off the mountain, I chose to winch on up. Once I got the winch tight, the tires grabbed and I came on up.

I then turned around and winched the entire group of the same section. it was NASTY, but all in the group only needed one small tug to get over the bad part....well those except the one who broke the REAR Cruiser axle and the TWO broken Birfields:( :eek: !

That's right......12:15 was the first break and I did not turn my truck around to head back up to the top until 4:15.:rolleyes:

Yep, just like last year, one trail in 3 days. Nice.

Enjoy the few pictures I took, most are at the spot where everyone broke and a wicked down-hill section of "Washout" coming home.

Next year I am going somewhere else :D

Enjoy!Poteau-Labor Day 2002 Pictures (http://www.webphotos.com/list_photos.asp?mi=3&smi=1&a=87949)

The only shot of my Hoopty....nice paint huh?

FJ40Charles on his last trip before his D60's are installed HAD to blow one more Newfield before he took the axles out!

NICE ..............GREEN........HOOP:eek:

Kyle LePage as he broke his rear axle....

Hey Nolen, they didn't give me this "Wise One" nickname for nothing.....Poteau kicked my ass the last 2 years on Labor Day!!!!!!:flipoff2: :flipoff2:
Butch

TacoTim and his Tacoma Marlin showed us all that Crawler Gear DO have a place at Poteau

Finally, Dan, I know you are out there.....thanks for taking the lead and being so patient while the Cruisers wrenched.......

Your rig is awesome and the pilot is superb. I will return, but it will be on a 1 Ton run like you talked about :D

:flipoff2:

This is where Dan schooled us, beautiful wife and all....

Baker, is that the same hill we did when I was there with you and Kristi? That ledge looks the same.... I thought we did Cavanaugh hill??

Gerg

Hell who knows??
We ran with the Ark. guys the trip you were along on, my second trip we ran with a different bunch of Ark guys, and the last trip was with Ok & Tx guys ,Very few of the trails are known by the same names, Axle Breaker, Panel Wagon, North Trail and 8 seconds are the ones that all 3 groups referred to.
Looking at the picture Taco is going up looks a lot like where the Green Jeep rolled, which started the "Night from Hell"
And I know that was Panel Wagon.
BTW I notice your nickname, was Homo, and F'nF'r taken??
:flipoff2: :flipoff2:
F'N NEWBIE!!!!!!!!
:D :D

Originally posted by SHREG
Baker, is that the same hill we did when I was there with you and Kristi? That ledge looks the same.... I thought we did Cavanaugh hill??

Gerg

You are probably thinking of The North Trail. It finishes with a series of REALLY NASTY ledges then spits you out on top of Cavanaugh Hill.

Too bad I missed this one :( :(

I bet the rear axle was fun with the ARB, did it survive???

Cheers,

tp

Originally posted by fj40tom


I bet the rear axle was fun with the ARB, did it survive???

Cheers,

tp

Hell, the rear ARB was not bad once we figured out how to get the cross pin out.......

Shane had a magnet from hell and it lifted the piece right out.

hell that sounds like my weekend. we took off saturday morning and went to lower power line. it had grass growing in the trail. so that kind of scared me off. so we met up with some other guys in town and went to freelings place. all i can say is that is one hell of a nice guy. i mean i havn't know him for 5 minutes and he was offering up to run to town to help a friend of mine who's jeep was overheating. we went out and played on a few hills and watched some others run. then the other guys ran back to camp to pick up butter bean and his jeep. when they were gone we ran the lower part of tsob. i couldn't belive how well the cruiser worked with that rockwell in the rear and a cruiser axle up front. it was a 15% differance from front to rear. well anyhow drove up tsob with no problems to the first cross road above the big ledge. but my buddie jai bird riped his t case mounts on that ledge. so we headed back up top and ran into the other guys that were running with us. so i tell them they have to run tsob, it a blast. so we throw a bolt in jai birds t case mount and take off. well to make a long story short i drive up to the big ledge right below the cross road and nail it. jump up on top and blow a birfield in the front. then try to back up and really smack it so i rip the othe rear shock in half. so the springs wrap so badly that it rubbing everywhere. have to get pulled up. so i say to hell with t park the cruiser and watch everyone else. the zuks did pretty well on the next set of ledges. but jai bird blew a birf on front of his. so we call it a day and headed back to camp. i said the hell with mine and we fixed the front birf on jais in a 1/2 hour so we were ready again. head out the next morning and tore the rear end completly out of the cruiser. the only thing hooked up was the rubber brake line. so an hour later we have it winched in place. we ran into anoter group on the upper part of tsob so we stayed and watched and the zuks decided to do it again. went back to camp and got some thing to eat. went to lower power line in the zooks and the jeep. drove back to snake pit. it was just at dark when we got to snake pit and said the hell with it. took the bypass back to the top. got back to camp and drank way to much beer. so i have my cruiser on the trailer held together with a winch cable and needing a front rockwell real bad. so don't feel alone i had a lot more than i liked. mike and i didn't bring up the flats on the way home. mike[o yea i would do it again in a heart beat]

tom and butch and gerg:

the trail pictured here with the ledges is called 8 seconds...that is the same one butch and kris were overheating on 2 years ago and we had to turn back

the trail with me over that big hole is called washout...some little trail we ran down once we got to the top of 8 seconds

the trail we ran 2 years ago with gerg is the north trail...the one with the nasty ledges at the top a lot like 8 seconds..i actually here there is no longer an entrance to the north trail so you have to start at the top, go down the trail, then turn around and come back up...scott said his crew did this on saturday and he set his cruiser on its nose

the trail everyone broke on last year was panel wagon...no one ran it this year...well scott and shane went on a night run on it sunday night...from what i hear it was pretty uneventful

tim

Hey Mike,

I saw your truck in Atoka. We were at the Dairy Queen eating lunch. They have the best chicken sandwiches there.

You were on the side of the road. Must have stopped off for lunch. Did your FJ60 have dual wheels in the back?

Charles

yea i had the rockwell in the rear with the duals. i didn't have enough time to get the front axle in. and i said the hell with it, i am going wheeling. mike

now i remember, i chucked the tread off on of the trailer tires. had to throw on a spare. mike