leiniesred
Hard Core 4+
I'll try to have a friend send some pictures, but I ran Billings Canyon on Saturday.
I got strapped once, early, but now I'm sure I could have made that as I didn't get strapped/again after that. I learned some new to me techniques on this trail.
"beyond crawling ledges" (double down 2nd gear, steer into it and floor it.)
It is OK to spin tires on dusty rocks. You just have to to get the dirt off before the truck will move.
Rocking truck only a fraction of an inch with the clutch/rollback/clutch/rollback technique is often enough in those "can't steer" situations to get the sterring wheel to turn.
Having extra eyes around can prevent a big problem. (I almost drove the right side into a 4 foot deep hole off a rock.)
I ran this with a bunch of full width, 1 ton axled buggies with little or no body panels and a built Rover D90 which also featured the requisit Dana60 rear axle. I had the smallest tires at 36, the rover had 37s and the rest were BIG.
Damage:
I did loose a taillight and beatup the right rear QP. I yanked off my front bumper corners with my hand because the tires rubbed on them a lot and annoyed me.
My gas tank is now more inverted U shaped than ever. I ground the weight off my rear driveshaft on a rock so I have a slight vibration back there.
Oh, and EVERY piece of protection on my truck got used on rocks.
Frame rails, t-case skid, rear bumper, sliders, diff cover, my front spring hangers, rear spring hangers, springs, axle housing, diffs, etc all have rock chalk on 'em. The front diff (high pinion) didn't lose any paint and the front driveshaft didn't find any rocks, but the rear DS and diff were on LOTS of rocks.
You don't NEED a winch for this trail as no one used one in our group or the group ahead of us. I would say 35s, not just 33s and up. And with <40s you'll probably have to stack a couple of rocks in 3 places Be sure to UNSTACK! and please don't stack rocks at the gatekeeper. If you can't make that spot (there are no winch points there for a reason) you really should turn back. The trail gets much more interesting after the first 1/2 of a mile. (total length is only 1.2 miles.) Also, the group ahead of us pinched a winch power line between the body and a bumper on a jeep causing a dead short that burned up 2 optima batteries. The fire was extinguished 2x. CARRY FIRE PROTECTION!
Billings Canyon is a beautiful trail with good signage built and wheeled by wheelers who care. Yes, we did have and use a "spill cleanup kit" for some minor leakage on a Jeep (Fixed with a dime and some quickset JB weld I had in my truck.)
I would run this trail again. I think I could work around the tail light rock I hit without damage next time. (but probably take some damage someplace else!)
Hope to get pictures later, LeiniesRed.
PS The mountian biking in Fruita is GREAT!
I got strapped once, early, but now I'm sure I could have made that as I didn't get strapped/again after that. I learned some new to me techniques on this trail.
"beyond crawling ledges" (double down 2nd gear, steer into it and floor it.)
It is OK to spin tires on dusty rocks. You just have to to get the dirt off before the truck will move.
Rocking truck only a fraction of an inch with the clutch/rollback/clutch/rollback technique is often enough in those "can't steer" situations to get the sterring wheel to turn.
Having extra eyes around can prevent a big problem. (I almost drove the right side into a 4 foot deep hole off a rock.)
I ran this with a bunch of full width, 1 ton axled buggies with little or no body panels and a built Rover D90 which also featured the requisit Dana60 rear axle. I had the smallest tires at 36, the rover had 37s and the rest were BIG.
Damage:
I did loose a taillight and beatup the right rear QP. I yanked off my front bumper corners with my hand because the tires rubbed on them a lot and annoyed me.
My gas tank is now more inverted U shaped than ever. I ground the weight off my rear driveshaft on a rock so I have a slight vibration back there.
Oh, and EVERY piece of protection on my truck got used on rocks.
Frame rails, t-case skid, rear bumper, sliders, diff cover, my front spring hangers, rear spring hangers, springs, axle housing, diffs, etc all have rock chalk on 'em. The front diff (high pinion) didn't lose any paint and the front driveshaft didn't find any rocks, but the rear DS and diff were on LOTS of rocks.
You don't NEED a winch for this trail as no one used one in our group or the group ahead of us. I would say 35s, not just 33s and up. And with <40s you'll probably have to stack a couple of rocks in 3 places Be sure to UNSTACK! and please don't stack rocks at the gatekeeper. If you can't make that spot (there are no winch points there for a reason) you really should turn back. The trail gets much more interesting after the first 1/2 of a mile. (total length is only 1.2 miles.) Also, the group ahead of us pinched a winch power line between the body and a bumper on a jeep causing a dead short that burned up 2 optima batteries. The fire was extinguished 2x. CARRY FIRE PROTECTION!
Billings Canyon is a beautiful trail with good signage built and wheeled by wheelers who care. Yes, we did have and use a "spill cleanup kit" for some minor leakage on a Jeep (Fixed with a dime and some quickset JB weld I had in my truck.)
I would run this trail again. I think I could work around the tail light rock I hit without damage next time. (but probably take some damage someplace else!)
Hope to get pictures later, LeiniesRed.
PS The mountian biking in Fruita is GREAT!
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