Moab: 5/1/2011 - 5/7/2011

The Jeep is on the trailer, heading out after work tomorrow. Arriving in Moab Saturday night.

Pics to follow...

Have a safe & enjoyable trip...take lots of creative non-poser pics, some good action shots for us web-wheelers...actually anything will do

Same for the rest of you that are going also

Will try not to roll it but make the high light real! Plan to head out about 5pm this evening!!!! :cheers:BTW...Thanks for all your hard work, Chris on my Jeep....I love it!

Have a great time!

Jon and Jess went to Moab and wheeled hard. Jon got bit, but he was still wheeling vicariously with a bike helmet on.






The roll over happened just before dark on Potato Salad Hill. Sue and Bill both have video of the roll. I'm sure we will post up the video soon. Everyone helped out getting the jeep uprighted and on his trailer after dark. There was a few tense moments after the roll, only the sound of his air tank losing pressure.

Great pictures Mark! Hopefully I will be adding some in the next couple of days...

What trail was the roll over on? Explains the helmet

Having fun on the rocks.

Nice pic's....Currently looking for some Jeep parts! Like CJ hood, grill, YJ window frame, ect..... I rolled the dice and lost!!!! HAD A GREAT TRIP....Thanks for all your support and help!!!!!

Just enjoying the scenery, the company and the warm weather.

Great pictures Mark! I wanna go back...

So, I wonder? I see that Jon keeps rolling his jeep there, is it the suspension (leaf springs)? the jeep setup (spring-over & big tires)? or the driver (Jon)? I'm setup similar so. Keeping that in mind & that I've never been there I'm just wondering?

Looks like it was cool there, everyone is bundled up?

How's Robins knee?

...more pics, please?

The mornings were cool but it heated up to 70 deg - 90 deg depending on the day.
The rear drive line broke as he tried to climb the last ledge. Jon wasn't able to hold the hill and bounced sideways which started the roll.
He wasn't hammering it, it was the second drive line failure in 2 days.

After exploring the DL breakage......I believe the failure was due to old/saggy leaf springs. The springs allowed the pinion yoke and DL to bind causing u-joint beakage. Mechanical failure lead to roll!!! It happens (& really quick) .....when you take a gamble and roll the dice! You either look like a rockstar or a demolition derby car at the end of the day!!! The Jeep looked like a demo car but is totally fixable w/ a new set of custom leaf springs on order (from Deaver custom spring's in Cali)! May have to grind out yoke or the DL if it still binds. Finding new sheet metal currently! See you on the trails soon.

Maybe its time for coilovers on all 4 corners, you've got everything else!

Keeping it old school......the new leaf packs should be more flexible than old set-up and hold their shape. (I was running rear Wrangler springs front and rear....then added helper leafs in rear to keep the rear from dragging.) The problem with that is they were never intended to be SOA, and the natural bow colapses over time leading to my current mess!! When talking to Jeff (the designer) at Deaver custom springs, he noted tire size, engine set-up, winch, spare tire, ect, and all weight-producing items of the jeep. His plan is to design a 8-10 leaf system for front/rear to match my current set-up. Only cost about twice that of stock leafs and should allow for a good all around ride. We'll see??

Was considering stretching wheel base with 1995 F150 springs in rear (needed to weld new mounts) and Waggy springs in front (need to remove the reverse shackle and reweld hangers)......and would also have to relocate gas tank (in tub ), mess with DL lengths again, and comp cut the rear corners!!!!! I figured, I wouldn't re-invent the wheel again!!!! Keeping those plans for later (maybe a couple of years??), and get the Jeep back on the trail for the summer!

Zip wrote:How's Robins knee?

Swelling in the knee is going down slowly, but still quite painful to put weight on it.

Looks like another fun trip with great weather, So where's the vid at?

I attempted the hill shortly before Jon did but was unsuccessful. Bill went to the top of the hill to winch me up. I was dangling on the hill pushing on the brake hard for about 2 minutes while bill drove around and put a hook on me. Dale tells me to relax because I'm hooked up to bills jeep. I'm waiting for the front of my jeep to get sucked down. I can hear the winch running.There is just one problem, the winch is not engaged. I'm glad I didn't relax to much, would have made some good video me heading down the hill backwords with a winch cable attached. After Jons roll we are going to use Bills jeep positioned on the top of the hill to ease Jon back over as Dale pulls him upright. Bill pulls closer to the edge of the hill and I grab his winch cable pulled it out 25ft or more and attach to Jons roll bar. When I look up the hill and ask Bill to tightened up the winch line he said "we have a problem". The look on Bills face was priceless. He had run over the winch control cable and tore it in half. We unhooked Bill's jeep and I hooked up to Jon's roll bar and eased him back over. Potato Salad hill kicked our ASS.

Great video! Thanks for posting it....It is like one of those movies that you like, but you also know how it ends!!!! Glad I survived it and have already gotten some new sheet metal for the Jeep!

Here is my trip report:

Friday, April 29th - headed out after work, got about 6 hours down the road.




Saturday, April 30th - arrived in Moab in the evening, and got settled into the condo.




Sunday, May 1 - ran Fins-n-Things and Hells Revenge back to back. Pretty chilly day, probably only got up into the mid 50's, but each day got about 10 degrees warmer until we were in the high 80's to low 90's by the end of the week.






Monday, May 2 - hiked Negro Bill Canyon. On the way back out, Robin hyper-extended her bad knee while jumping over a creek and had to limp out with the help of a big stick that Jonalyn found for her.






Tuesday, May 3 - ran Seven Mile Rim, then after supper went over to Potato Salad Hill. Mark attempted it first, got up to the big ledge at the top and decided to winch the rest of the way. Jon went next, got to the same point, and after a couple of tries at that ledge, his rear driveline snapped. At that point he lost all braking power and started to roll backwards. Couldn't keep it straight and ended up doing a pretty hard roll. He was done wheeling for the week. We used two winches to flop him back over gently, then towed him to the top of the hill with mine and Dale's Jeeps strapped together, and loaded him on the trailer. Jon and Jess hiked and biked the rest of the week.










Wednesday, May 4 - joined up with MTDIRK and ran Strike Ravine and BFE.








Thursday, May 5 - the rest of the group went to run Cliffhanger, but Robin's knee was really swelling up and painful, so we decided a trip to the emergency room was in order. That took most of the morning, and afterwards we headed out by ourselves to run Bull Canyon (rated moderate, really mostly pretty easy, but very scenic). After supper, we did a spur-of-the-moment trip out to pose for photos on Baby Lions Back with Dale and Jonalyn, and to catch a sunset on Fins-n-Things.









Friday, May 6 - planned to run Pritchett Canyon, and headed down the trail, but when we got to the first big hill, there was a huge lineup, at least 20 vehicles waiting their turn to go up. We sat and watched for about 90 minutes in the baking hot sun, and then decided we didn't want to do that all day, we would rather wheel than sit. So we headed over to nearby Kane Creek Canyon and ran that. Fun trail, good choice...









Saturday, May 7 - headed for home.
Sunday, May 8 - arrived back home.

Had an awesome week, and can't wait to go back again!

Hells Revenge Mark

Helles Revenge Dale

Hells Revenge Jon