Rubicon Photos

heya guys, got back from the Rubicon a few hours ago and man o man it was an adventure. First all a big thanks to Fred for letting me use the Triple A for the tow home (I'll explain later). Another thanks for Mark for offering to come and tow my broke ass. The trip started with a check engine light (my rig), loss of power and electrical fix (Brandi), hitting Sacramento traffic, loss of transmission (me, again) and finally pulling in around 10ish. the trail was an eye opener for me as I thought I had a solid rig however now I'm re-evaluating what I really need to do to my jalopy to make it more capable. It was all good though it rained HARD and hailed, which made things slick and a PIA as I was being bounced around like a pin ball. Here's the list of carnage:
-1 broken short shaft
-1 cut tire
-1 bent skid plate
-1 one possible transmission
-2 dented aluminum rims

ok enough blabbing, here's some photos:






 

some more photos






 

that looks like an awesome trail, is that up by sac town  
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You know I love you all (in a manly non sexual way) Spawn_X

yep, east of Sac, closer to South Lake Tahoe  

So am I reading this right that you just got back TODAY? Crazy!

Those pics are awesome, looks like I missed one heck of a trip!

So whats the story on your Jeep? Why did you have to get it towed home? I know you mentioned trans but theres got to be more to the story...  
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Long Travel 4 Wheel Drive - The Best of Both Worlds!

Questions? Comments? Concerns? PM Me!

are there any local trails that are similar  
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You know I love you all (in a manly non sexual way) Spawn_X

Not really. But there is some stuff in Big Bear that is close-ish, like John Bull and the like.  
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Long Travel 4 Wheel Drive - The Best of Both Worlds!

Questions? Comments? Concerns? PM Me!

not as green, but you can always go to the Hammers  
2002 Nissan Frontier Money Pit!

I got back on Sunday but have been dealing with the jeep.  Basically, on the way there, the check engine light came on and the code was for a misfire in cylinder 4 and 5.  Swapped out plugs for new ones and off I went.  Then I lost my tranny, no drive, 1st or 2nd.  ATF was a tad low, so added about a quart and was good to go.  While on the last part of the trail, it rained HARD, hailed, and made us all bound on the trail like a pinball and then I got hung up on the tranny plate, bent it up and was starving the tranny of fluid.  Got pulled back to camp, took off tranny pan, filled her up and was good to go.  On the way home, the check engine light came on, but everything was running good.  Then all of a sudden lost the tranny again, so I had it towed.  Luckily my friend has Triple A and we were within 100 miles of their tow limit.  Took it to the dealership (yeah I know but parts still under warrenty).  They got it up and running and while on the way to work, same thing, so had it towed back and it's being looked at now  

The Rubicon is really different from what I've been used to wheeling in that most of the time there's dirt road, some rocks and an larger obsticle or 2.  On this trail is was all rocks, obsticle, more rocks, and hey more rocks.  I'm on 33's and I bumped, scraped, and banged my way on the trail.  Next time I hit it it'll be on 35's atleast  

And I thought you had a good running machine. I flipped mine 360 plus and it still ran after you guys put it back on it's feet. Just giving you a hard time.
TDS has a run schedule for some time in mid August. Not sure which end they will start from. Probably Loon Lake. I think we have about 7 so there is room for a few more. Hint.
George  
94 YJ Spring over with custom springs.
44's both ends with 4:56 gears. Auto 3speed and Atlas 11 (4.3). 35" Mud Terrians.
Detriot in rear and Lock-Rit in front.
Warn 8,000

yeah I know, its my luck that my rig dies on the highway  

Johnson Valley has some good rock piles and a little closer to us. I've done a few but haven't done the Sledge or Jack Hammer Trails. Lockers at both ends and probably 33's atleast. 35's would be better as some of the rocks are tall and closer together. We can talk about it around the campfire this weekend.
George  
94 YJ Spring over with custom springs.
44's both ends with 4:56 gears. Auto 3speed and Atlas 11 (4.3). 35" Mud Terrians.
Detriot in rear and Lock-Rit in front.
Warn 8,000

Killer pics! Trail looks pretty intense. Where did the grand cherokee lose its pass side trim panel? I need to get a smaller rig if I ever have hopes of hitting trails like this.  
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97 3/4ton Burb Slowly making Progress

yeah, he hit a rock similar to the photo but on a portion of the trail that's very narrow, near sluice box.  My rear fender flare hit the same rock but it bounced back, his didn't  
A larger rig would be ok but expect lots of new body "adjustments"