OCG....lots of driving for not much wheeling

[Haku]

Hey all,

So the trip didn't exactly go as planned. Seems like it was a cursed weekend for FR trips, as the Slaughterhouse didn't happen and Chinaman had a few snafus.

Drove up there as planned on Sunday morning to meet KB, who stayed at a friends in Fairplay. Found out that I hate driving the Samurai in high wind, as you probably could have figured out. Combination of low horsepower, a small boxy vehicle, and wind that seemed to always blow against the direction of travel i.e. it sucked going up and coming back. I think my engine hates me, and it made its protest by using the most fuel I have ever used in MPG terms.

So drive done, I meet KB at the Gunsmoke Truck Stop in Johnson Village. We gas up and head to the trailhead a mile away. Of course, I leave my gas cap sitting on top of the gas turnstile and have to go back through the gated entrance to OCG again. Anyways, we both air down a little bit (nothing to extreme, just a bit to make the ride softer mostly). That done we head up the trail, which starts out very easy for the first 100 yards and then picks right up.

Unfortunately, this pick up is the beggining of the end for us on this trip. On the very first small ledge we hit, a loud BANG! comes from under KB's Samurai. He said he wasn't sure what it was at first, but it was noticeable and loud. I think this is the ledge it happened on (if not its the next one):

http://tvjykw.bay.livefilestore.com/y1pg1-i0GT0dlyzjs3X0aNaXSUWgMONvlPkY9iDFLEL4cuY7pMMQ7COY 5RJKNgi5utSU04VfAXHPCvFYX2mhYOTIg8Z8jrNao3K/1.jpg

Note that this is the "easy" run in stuff to the harder part. This is less then a half mile up the trail.

Anyways, we get up over a few more medium sized ledge like obstacles, and I see KB stopped up ahead on a flatish spot. Turns out this were the rear driveshaft finally fully gave out and I could see it hanging under the car. Turns out the u-joints ends had completely sheared off inside the yoke. The t-case flange part was fine, but the yoke of the driveshaft was much worse off. Luckily the Samurai driveshafts are bolted to both the t-case and differential, so they are easy to remove and work on out from under the car. 8 bolts undone and we had the think pulled out. Here are a few pics of KB with his hands ass deep in his Samurai:

http://tvjykw.bay.livefilestore.com/y1pstanm--xQsYGBZa4oH7JxV6Oswq7Zsn1QBBt3F3NRJ43hefI4MAxxcyMZ xa0lD4L4yep6-5C-Q3xX8TodhuFTaYvvWv5dl8L/2.jpg

http://tvjykw.bay.livefilestore.com/y1p9e14qbymTgcOKSUJHpTJ5LaIyX_qtanH45zV37T66V9Fl1T UB8hTrgpa-LaUhlp6Uv18eWHg7hdHrhfhXoCMI99MFYQAyT_6/3.jpg

[Haku]

I did do more then just take pictures, I just wanted to make sure it was documented. On the up side, KB got to try out his newly fabbed u-joint tool. Down side, the yoke of the driveshaft got wallowed out and now had an oblong hole that didn't fit the replacement u-joint that KB carried with him. You could jiggle the joing around in the holes, which isn't good. Oh well, at least we had some views to look at while we worked:

http://tvjykw.bay.livefilestore.com/y1p_t1Gqx_AT76xZTqXFso0wgSe882lSX-Z72a4om_5X7RiHGk8w6gUxLL__db-soVdH5VUOr3bHuBq_WohoLgYlEZ3980Zm8Xa/4.jpg

http://tvjykw.bay.livefilestore.com/y1piokL1ZP6ib1yU8J5BNBO4H68JgDuiy-xTcYRmf53gilcboFEcGQB13Q4hsn6jWpK3jlHHvevWI4nVDnm7 11VNAmJBX0YU2rs/5.jpg

http://cid-6d5c6bd062842f31.skydrive.live.com/self.aspx/OCG/5.jpg

At this point KB called it quits for him for the day. Chinaman isn't really a great place to have breaking issues, since rescue is rather challenging. So rather then risk the driveshaft breaking again, we decided to call it a day and head back down. Another group passed us while we were fixing stuff, but they got too far ahead for me to catch up by the time we were done and I escorted KB down the trail. I don't have much in the way of recovery gear or spare parts, so I decided to also play it safe and just call it a day as well. We did walk a ways up Carnage Canyon to check it out, but only made it about a 1/3 of the way up before turning around. We also thought about doing Guanella Pass, but weren't sure of it was open or not yet. Rather then get halfway up and find out its closed, we decided to just go home.

So yeah, not the way I would have wished it went, but not bad either. The part of the trail we did do was fun and challenging, and I definitely want to do the rest of it. I have a few more things to do to my rig, but it was very clear to me that the new suspension I put on has made a huge difference in stability and its capabilities. Lots less lifting of tires and loosing traction.

Depending on if I can sell some gear or not (yay for living paycheck to paycheck), I'm headed to Moab this coming weekend. If I can't manage to sell the gear, I might be interested in getting out and trying something more local, whether it be Chinaman or Left Hand or what not. I do want to hit Moab, but not if I can't afford it. I'll keep ya'll posted.

JH

[4Runninfun]

bummer on the breakage. but we've all had that day. looks like great weather down there.

[WINKY]

if i was there we could have loaded it up in brutus and take him home :lol:

[Funrover]

That sucks about the breakage

[billsbar]

so did KB drive it home as a front wheel drive?

[Haku]

Nope.......we fixed the driveshaft.....it was just to iffy to really beat on like you do offroad. It worked fine on the road, at least enough to get home.

JH

[Roostercruiser]

you should write off road books, you put the smallest detail in your post which makes for great reading. sorry to hear about the ruff day/

[Haku]

Thanks man, its nice to hear that. I've definitely thought about going into writing since I seem to have made up for my verbal awkwardness with written eloquence (anyone who knows me, knows that I'm not the best talker in the world). Should see what it takes to get into writing magazine articles or something.

JH

[Roostercruiser]

your welcome.

[Jamie]

Good choice to turn around.

I made the wrong choice when Jim ripped his rig up and I decided to go out because I was sure it was shorter than going back. :D Wrong choice.:bang:

[Haku]

hehee......yeah......it was a no brainer here since we hadn't even made it half way to the where it splits for the loop. I could see how that choice would be hard once you got a ways up there though. Sounds like the second half is a tiny bit easier and has less big obstacles, but not sure.

JH

[Gecko Cycles]

I'm not very pleased with the outcome of this run to say the least.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ya_mkTqhmtQ