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View Full Version : MOAB 3/28 - 4/2



zjmike4
04-03-2007, 01:25 PM
Just got back last night from my trip out to Moab. Had a lot of fun and saw some built rigs out there for EJS. It was Me with my new (to me) 34 TSLs, my dad is his 04 Rubi on 35s and my buddy Mike in his 89 XJ on 31s. Mike went out the Saturday before I got there and the plan was for me to meet up with him on Wednesday when I got there. Only problem was he blew out his AW4 on I-70 in Utah before the Moab exit. He sat there and made a sign that said "need ATF" but no one stopped for 4 hours. Finally the group he was meeting out there caught up with him and got him into town. His tranny was toast, but he did some research and found a 21 spline AW4 in Grand Junction. Him and the guys he was with drove out there, pulled the tranny and drove back to Moab to install it. It was all in and ready to go by Thursday afternoon. We decided to do something easy to break in the new tranny and ran Fins and Things. About 20 minutes into the trail I started getting driveline noises in the front, figured it was a U-joint and got the Jeep off the trail and back to camp to check it out further. Turns out the front driveshaft u-joint at the axle and the rear at the axle were both a little more worn than I thought so we pulled the shafts and threw in new u-joints and got back on the trail Friday. Friday we ran PSM, with the intention of going all the way through to Golden Spike and Gold Bar but after the high speed mesa I broke my rear track bar bracket (again). Finally got a chance to break out the new trail welder and got it fixed as best as we could. By this time, it was too late to keep going on Golden Spike so we turned back around and headed to camp. The track bar bracket weld didn't hold for very long (it was badly tweaked to begin with) so I dropped the Jeep off at 4x4 outpost and went to Potato Salad hill to watch until it was done. Finally got it back and headed off for Hell's Revenge around 6 for a night run. Everything went smoothly on that trail and Mike took his XJ up the Escalator. Sunday we ran Cliffhanger and Moab Rim. Cliffhanger seems to be a little harder than it was at GSW 2005 but the cliff section is still a breeze. Moab Rim was a lot fun. on our way up there was an XJ on 35's coming down that had rolled at the z turns. He was far right and did a 3/4 roll with his kids in the car, luckily everyone was ok. So I studied the z-turn descent a little more before I went up it to make sure I had my line set for coming down and didn't have a repeat of what the XJ just did. We found the best way is to go straight down the steeper but less off camber middle portion rather than trying to go right and avoid the large drop off (like the XJ did). Monday I just putted around on the roller coaster section on Fins and went down to the Jeep tent to check out the Gladiator and Rescue concepts they brought out for EJS. then I hit the road home. In between fruita and junction the Jeep started vibing a little more than usual... then I heard a WHAM and it started shaking uncrontrollably. So I pull over and wonder what I broke, it felt like my tranny fell out. Turns out the u-joint on the front driveshaft axle end that I replaced exploded and was barely still attached. So I pulled the shaft and headed home. All in all it was a great trip!

Pictures will be up soon, I'm at work....

zjmike4
04-03-2007, 09:48 PM
here are the pictures:

http://www.imagestation.com/album/pictures.html?id=2093769905

JohnBoulderCO
04-03-2007, 10:15 PM
Nice pics! Time to trim a little more?

PassRunnerZJ
04-04-2007, 10:52 AM
Interesting thought on the Z-turn. When I/we did it in January we went up on the far left and down pretty much on the same line to the far right without any issues. I know on 31's I wasn't going to make it nicely going any further to the right going up or left coming down. Also, we almost flopped the Unlimited Rubi on 35's going up when he was to the right of the line we finally decided on going up. We looked at his original line and found that the passinger side tire dropped into a hole right before the ledge as his driver rear was starting up the ledge on a bit of a ramp vs. the same type of ledge the passinger was trying to negotiate. I'm talking about the bottom part of the Z-turn and I think you are talking about the same part.

There was a CJ buggy on 42's and there weren't any bad/hard lines for him. Kind of took the fun out of it, but it was interesting to watch him play on the ledges, both up and down.

Cody
04-04-2007, 01:09 PM
I've been up that trail a handful of times and led a GSW group up there a couple years ago---and I'm still not sure how anyone is getting offcamber on the Z turn. I can see if you are dropping off of the ledges and not paying attention to how you're lined up, but that is an optional line.

Those ledges are pretty fun to play on for sure.

northgazj
04-04-2007, 03:36 PM
Nice pics.

I know TSLs aren't easy to balance, but I believe you've added a couple hundred lbs. to the weight of your ZJ with all of the wheel weights stacked on those wheels.

BigDaveZJ
04-04-2007, 03:48 PM
Mike,
How bad (or good depending on your perspective!) is the other main obstacle on Cliffhanger? The one a little before the cliff where you can take it dead on and make a sharp left at the top, or swing wiiiiide right and go straight up?

zjmike4
04-04-2007, 10:57 PM
Yeah, definatly time to trim some more! I was rubbing like crazy all weekend! And with those TSL's being bias ply, they are really hard to balance. The shop guys brought me back to show me how hard of a time they were having.

As far as the Z turn goes, I never had problems with it the first few times I ran that trail, but for some reason I kept getting off camber the last few times I've done it , don't know why, maybe some rocks have moved and it pushes you further to one side than before. The middle line was no problem though and its the way I'll keep doing it I think.

Dave, are you talking about the obstacle in between the cliff and the overlook? That one is pretty good still, I tried the right line and was sooooooo close to making it but it was a double whammy. The only other obstacle that I had to stop and pick a line for was the exit. I ran it to get an idea of the trail for GSW... the trail's gotten harder since the last time I ran it in 05 but not by a whole lot.

zjmike4
04-04-2007, 11:05 PM
Dave, the picture # for the obstacle on cliffhanger that I think you are talking about is dc150

BigDaveZJ
04-04-2007, 11:35 PM
Nope, that's not it.

Here's a pic of it:

zjmike4
04-05-2007, 11:05 AM
oh ok I know what you're talking about now... I went on the same line thats in your pic. The straight line has gotten pretty chewed up now. there was a few buggies in front of us and only one tried it, on 37s, he couldn't make it and was winched up.

BigDaveZJ
04-05-2007, 11:06 AM
The line in the pic is what got paved, I'm assuming it's still pretty simple?

Tommy
04-09-2007, 02:11 PM
Nice pics. I just got back on friday. It was awesome. I am already looking forward to next year. Just being around all of the cool ass rigs there gives you so many ideas. So much shit I want to change on my rig. Sarting with going another 4" lower and 41" IROKS for next year.

chadjans
04-09-2007, 11:12 PM
Not very busy this year?

zjmike4
04-12-2007, 11:16 AM
Yeah its still pretty simple, but it definately isn't paved anymore! Its about on par for the tougher obstacles on the trail now.

Texas ZJ1
04-12-2007, 06:50 PM
What, no bug bites?


Hunter

zjmike4
04-14-2007, 01:06 PM
Yeah it was nice to not have to go to the er this time!