PDA

View Full Version : Uwharrie - April 29-30



JeepinHank
05-03-2006, 09:55 AM
Well, I've been throwing up pics in the staging area, so I figured I'd bite the bullet and throw up a trip report.

As usual, we all started out late. I hit the road around 7:45 Saturday morning and met up with Rob (Rob92xj) and Shawn (StinkoMan20X6) around 8:30 in Raeford. We waited around for another friend who turned out to be a no show, and hit the road for Uwharrie around 9:00.

We zipped into the Outpost to get our passes. Went ahead and got a bite for lunch, and left in search of a campsite. We ended up settling for the old stand by - Uwharrie Hunt Camp because of the easy access to everything. Set up camp, aired down, and hit our first trail of the day.

We decided to hit Daniel first. By the time we got to the ledge, there was a pretty good sized group of XJ's there trying to negotiate it. We waited around, watched and cheered the rigs as they made it one by one. I was leading the group, and maneuvered into position to start my ascent. As I hit the gas, and crested the ledge, someone shouted that another rig was on its way down. So, I backed off and waited, but nobody came. On my second attempt, I took the higher line to the left but started to slide right. I turned into the slide to keep traction and slid right into the wall on the right.

That gave me this:

JeepinHank
05-03-2006, 10:08 AM
So, this is my first run of the season. On the first trail of the run, I break less than 1/4 mile in. AGAIN. Hmmmm.... how many kittens and poor defenseless old ladies did I kill in a past life to accumulate this much bad karma??

I had bent the tie rod so bad that it rolled down and under my front diff. I had to get this thing off the trail, so I hooked the winch up the the tie rod and took two pairs of vise grips and clamped them on each side of the hook.

JeepinHank
05-03-2006, 10:32 AM
That allowed me to clear the trail and let the large group that was accumulating behind us clear out.

Then it was decision time. Do I leave the Jeep here out of the way or do I take the chance and try to drive it out to the trail head. I trust people around Uwharrie, but I've also seen a few carcasses of old vehicles around these trails. I figured I wouldn't tempt any passers by, and drove it in 2 wd (quite gingerly) out the the trail head.

JeepinHank
05-03-2006, 10:36 AM
Now there was the matter of finding parts. As expected, Advance Auto parts had nothing except for the TREs. We searched around for a JY but nothing was open on a Saturday. The Manager at Advance Auto suggested we check out Galloway's 4wd Center in New London (about 30-45 minutes away). Luckily they were having a truck / jeep show there that day because they normally close around 2:00. I ended up getting an entire (used) stock replacement steering set up (drag link, tie rod, and ends that still had grease in the boots) for $60. I was happy to pay it. Considering they could have screwed me royally, I thought they were great guys to buy from.

We enjoyed watching some crazy stuff at the truck show, including an old beat up Chebby 3500 4wd dually hook up to a new 4wd F-250 and pull it until it puked t-case and tranny fluid all over the place. Unfortunately nobody had a camera for that one. :(

We made a b-line back to the trailhead and quckly replaced my steering. With 3 people going to it, we had it done in under an hour.

JeepinHank
05-03-2006, 10:42 AM
So after all of that, we were determined to run Daniel. So we went right back to it for another go. It was quickly getting dark, so we didn't get many good pictures. But here's a shot of each of us clearing the ledge Rob, then Shawn, then Me:

JeepinHank
05-05-2006, 05:32 PM
To continue with the story:

After running Daniel at sun down, we headed back to the camp site for some supper and a little relaxation. I had a few drinks, and figured it would be safer NOT to hit the trails, but no one else was drinking, and they wanted to go for a night run. I was happy to ride, so I piled into Sean's (sorry for the mis-spellings man) ZJ and played navigator / heckler from the passenger seat. We took it easy and ran wolf den and dickey bell. The trails were dry and sort of anti-climatic, but we stayed out till almost 2:00 anyway. Glad I wasn't driving - I fell asleep in the passenger seat.

The next morning, I was up at 7:00 and ready to wheel. Everyone else wanted to sleep in for a while, but they all seemed to wake up after they heard me fire up the ZJ. We went, got some breakfast at El Dorado, and set our course for the trails.

The plan for Sunday was to hit Rocky Mountain Loop and head back to camp to leave early. We decided that we should take the long way to Rocky Mountain loop. We took Wolf Den, to Dutch John, to Rocky Mountain Loop.

Now on to the pics: First the poser shots (on Dutch John)

JeepinHank
05-05-2006, 05:36 PM
Sean taking Kodak Rock:

rob92xj
05-05-2006, 06:57 PM
Wheres the pics of you trying to climb Kodak Rock?
I still have to work on the video from last weekend. Now that it is down pouring shoould make for some interseting video this weekend.
By the way your not a "Moving Hazzard" the ZJ I had to work on today is though.

ELLLLLIOTTTTT
05-05-2006, 07:36 PM
POST PICS OF SEAN'S REAR DIFF COVER!!!

:smt117

JeepinHank
05-05-2006, 10:10 PM
Allright here:

JeepinHank
05-05-2006, 10:12 PM
More:

JeepinHank
05-05-2006, 10:13 PM
I'll have to re-size seans, and I'll post them up too.

rob92xj
05-05-2006, 10:20 PM
I can't post pics. But I'll take some pics of Sean's diff cover this weekend for ya.