May 1999 - Memorial Weekend in Dresser, WI

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This was my first real test with lockers, gears, and the new rearend. I had done some wheeling the weekend before, but nothing really hardcore. Our group included Brett & Dave (in the F-250), Dave and Andy (in the International), and Jonah, Sterling, & myself in the rig. There were three trails for the weekend that we could choose from, Red, White, and Blue. Evidentally the Blue trail was hell for any full size rig, so we avoided that. We did the red and white trails on Saturday and Sunday, respectively.

Saturday - The red trail was fun. Each obstacle had a bypass. Brett and I didn't take any bypasses on this trail. The International maybe took one or two bypasses, simply because he just did not have the traction to make it through. Don't get me wrong, he tried EVERYTHING. This thing wheeled like nothing else I had ever seen. For a completely stock truck with 35" BFG AT's on it, I was extremely impressed. Granted Brett and I never really struggled on the white trail, we would get out and watch Dave or Andy pilot the Nash. Several times when the Nash would emerge from an obstacle we'd cheer, it was really funny considering the thing came straight off the farm and had not been driven since last year at Dresser.

Here are movies from throughout the weekend. (you'll need Quicktime 4 to view these)

eric02.mov - 2.2mb	taking on some of the deeper water from the weekend.
eric04.mov - 4mb	idling over a bed of of wet/muddy rocks
eric07.mov - 3.7mb	taking it easy up a small hill
eric09.mov - 3mb	idling up a hill, managed to get 1 tire off the ground
international_mud.mov - 4.1mb	Dave shitcans the 'nash for some unknown reason
mudpit.mov - 12.2 mb	Brett and I take turns spraying each other in the shallow mud pit
overheating01.mov - 1.1mb	the rig overheats
rockhill02.mov - 3.8mb	backing up and taking a different line on the rockhill (cameraman Jonah gets worried about me hitting the rocks)
rockhill03.mov - 2.6mb	slowly making my way...
rockhill06.mov - 2.8mb	nice view from the front, getting to the steeper parts of the hill
rockhill09.mov - 2.9mb	tried slowly going forward, backed up about a foot, then punched it a bit
rockhill11.mov - 3.2mb	here's where i got a rock lodged behind my tire and quarter panel, had to use the hi-lift jack
rockhill13.mov - 5mb	having a little trouble, the BFG's were not biting the rocks at all
rockhill14.mov - 1.5mb	after (literally) 20 minutes I finally finish this damn hill

Anyway, here are some trail pics from Saturday:

The first major obstacle we came upon was a rock hill called "Yoda." When I first saw it, I wanted to try it. A 78/79 style yellow Bronco attempted it, but he had no luck. He was not locked in the front, only in the rear, and there was no way he was gonna make it up. I had to show off my new lockers, so when we got to "Yoda" I gave it a shot and made it. It took me quite a while to make it up, as there was plenty of backing up and maneuvering around rocks that were making me high center. At one point a rock got lodged in my wheel well between the tire and fender, bending the fender up. Brett got his hi-jack out and the guys jacked me up on the tow package and removed the rock. At this point I was overheating like a madman, and from this point on, the rest of the weekend was spent with the needle on or past "L" in "NORMAL."

If I had to do this rockhill again, I'd air down my tires a lot more, and probably stiffen up the shock setting. The suspension was on the softest setting, it felt pretty unstabled when I would slide off a rock as it would wobble back and forth quite a bit.