Shouldn't have been on this trail - but thanks!

[lndwarrior]

My friend and I tried to run the trail from Meadow Lake on July 5. Made it up to winch hill 3 and turned around. He broke a hub and I busted a D35 axle (yeah, i know).

anyway, a lot of great people helped us out and we apprecaited. and yes, the d35 is going away. flame away.....

[jethrodeg]

Pics?

[84rocktoy]

I was the guy with the 1st generation orange yota. Man those winch hills are tough

Fernando

[Tinman]

Build it and return.

It's only money

[RCKRATZ]

performance pays for itself

[OlRusty]

Originally Posted by Tinman

Build it and return.

It's only money

Aint that the truth.

My first trip through as a passenger inspired me to throw massive quantities of cash at my rig when I got home.

Last year I was finally ready and they closed the trail before I got a chance to run it. Next weekend we will see if I did a good job building my rig.


The good news is I finally got the credit cards paid off.

[XJ CRAWL]

next weekend 19-20 or this weekend 12-13? we will have a few rigs up 10-13

[Sillyneck]

Ah yes I remember you folks. That really sucks what happened. it's the name of the game though.... unless of course you have $15k handy and want to drop the rig off for some sillyfab action.

If your buddy wants a spare set of axles (dana 30 and 20) on the cheap let me know. I have a pair that just came out of a rig.

[CA_Snowtoy]

You guys did fine, granted you didn't have spare parts, but you still made it out w/o being towed. A lot of better/bigger built rigs haven't fared as well as you did on the trail. A little more time learning to read the trail, and a lot more spare parts and you guys shouldn't have any reason not to try the trail again.

Steve.

[YJ_OVER_SJ]

First time I hit the trail was with, 33s, D35/D30, a locker in the rear and open in the front. After spending 3 hrs on winch hill #1 I knew it was going to be rough. When we missed the bypass @ 9pm, we really knew things were rough. Needless to say I made it through but it took 24hrs. 2 days later we finally got the parts and hiked in to extract my buddy from Winch Hill #4.

Good times!

[ddestruel]

Fordyce has been called the carnage run for years.

we came out at comittee a few years ago 2001 with 5 rigs in our group: 4 rigs in 2wd and one functioning winch and one still with 4wd. all on 33's and 35's and IIRC the creek was at 150-200cfm.

It happens dont feel bad

FYI we all were pretty well prepared, we all carry alot of spare parts and service our rigs with a fine tooth comb.... been doing it for 15 years and still managed to break an un-usual amount of stuff and we werent throttling our rigs either just total dumb luck for all of us. 1 cracked dana 20 housing (cj), 7 broken axles (xj dana 30 front, CJ dana 30, dana 44, super dana 35), 4 popped hubs (3 externals d30 and one internal D44), one broken tail housings (SYE np231 with 4:1 kit), one busted tranny adaper (727 to dana 20), 1 cooked automatic (AW4), 2 bent tie rods (cj std duty had spares), 1 bent drag-link (xj had spares), 1 dropped valve saved the motor luckily someone had a spare set of keepers and locks nothing like opening up your motor on the top of WH 1 (brand new amc 401 2000 miles since it came out of the machine shop 20 months earlier), 2 front drive lines, 3 busted yokes and two ring and pinions (dana 30's), 1 stripped detroit, 1 busted ox locker, oh yeah and one smoked fuel pump, 1 busted winch mount and cracked winch housing ( 2 were in the group), a cooked distibutor and a spring center pin but those are easy. left on friday made it back monday morning two hours before work................................

It was one of those trips where everybody had rigs that had done fordyce 10-20+ times and no problems, no ones rig lacked money having been put into it, everyone had warn premiums alloy rear shafts in the rear amc model 20 or a flanged dana 44 or a super 35 kit not like they were exteme rigs but for the most part all fairly well setup it sometimes all happens at once.........we usually had 1 or two break downs per trip on fordyce maybe an axle or a hub but never anything like this in all the years of doing it...................... stars must have been lined up for you but then again that trail can do it to you.


hope that little story helps you feel a little better

[blaisearts]

Originally Posted by OlRusty

The good news is I finally got the credit cards paid off.

That means you're just about ready to break a bunch of shit and dump all that money right back onto the cards. I just wish I had the money to dump into my truck in the first place right now, but either way good luck out there with your rig. Hopefully you put it all together good enough to beat the trail.

[WHITE RHINO]

fordyce got the best of me this past trip, but it wasnt all bad. I exploded a bushing on my upper link trying winch hill 3 for the first time and had no spare so i had to limp out. At least i didnt break any axle parts. Thank god for 1tons

[sierravalley]

A few years back we went in there and my buddy in his FJ40 broke both birfields and then sheared his rear pinion off. Then we tried to get him off the winch hill and broke a ford 9" spool in my other buddys bronco 2. We left the fj40 on winch hill 2 hanging from his winch for a week before we were able to get back in with another rig to tow him out. It was a long ride out with 4 of us and all our camping and hunting gear in my buddys broken bronco 2, especially with a dana 44 front and 40" tires as the only mode to get us out through committee and back to I80.

That trip made my buddy brian and his fj40 go from this


to this

[CaliCruiser]

This last weekend was my first time on this trail in my blue FJ60 Landcruiser and what a tough trail! I sheared off driver side knuckle studs (they were tight), blew out a tire on WH1, and broke/sheared miscelaneous little parts. What a great trail though! I am repairing everything now and plan to go back ASAP.

Dylan

[Jevy]

I shouldn't have been on this trail, but my partner in crime shouldn't have been either. I have a TJ with 31's and an ARB in the front, my buddy with an XJ with a 9" lift and 33's. Didn't break a thing, although both of us did bend our tie rod sleeve. Just wanted to say thanks to the guys who pointed us in the right direction at wagon wheel and at WH#2. Also to whoever or whatever allowed the river to be so low, couldn't have done it without you!

[Tinman]

PG&E baby!

[jethrodeg]

Originally Posted by Jevy

I shouldn't have been on this trail, but my partner in crime shouldn't have been either. I have a TJ with 31's and an ARB in the front, my buddy with an XJ with a 9" lift and 33's. Didn't break a thing, although both of us did bend our tie rod sleeve. Just wanted to say thanks to the guys who pointed us in the right direction at wagon wheel and at WH#2. Also to whoever or whatever allowed the river to be so low, couldn't have done it without you!

Did you head out the committee crossing on Saturday evening?

[Jevy]

No, we left through commitee on Sun. Morning

[FATMANZ]

Put Some Real Axles In That Junk.