Haku
July 11th, 2011, 12:47 AM
We had a great day at Old Chinaman Gulch, despite a few setbacks at the start.
Zukrider put the trip together, and it was me and his friend Johnny in another Zuk tagging along. Saw a few other people at the trailhead, but only two other rigs on the trail itself. One guy passed us in a heavily built YJ on the way in, and another Yota on the way out.
We got up the first little hill with a few smallish ledges without much fuss, but Johnny had some loud popping coming from his front axle. Seemed like it could be either a birfield or the ring and pinion. We ended up replacing both birfields, but the noise persisted, so it pretty much has to be some teeth on the Ring and Pinion being broken off or similar. He decided to run the rest of the day with it, and it didn't seem to make a huge difference in what he could get up or not.
Got some decent pictures, but mostly just "the wedge" and the "rock pile". We kinda just cruised the rest of the day....
Zukrider and Johnny
https://byfiles.storage.live.com/y1pwud3ZccP6lr8yMsrQko8vG9snQimqcn1aS3UZGnRny121Hi sO2CHPh-W7K7giH0QM_r9RO98Z7Zo7hCCxeDdXQ/July-9th-1.jpg?psid=1
Nice thing about the Zuks is they respond well to a little help being so light
https://byfiles.storage.live.com/y1p0W0fGXcLkQ0kuCQJyLOim9fMz-AWf7_LWwFaKtMOZvJR3B_aDnWDE_Wjyothxfhb7_Df5xnUm-xgW8ziD2PNsA/July-9th-2.jpg?psid=1
Joe making it look good with 29's and welded differentials
https://byfiles.storage.live.com/y1p0W0fGXcLkQ3R7DFqlL201xkuegOJzD5hCE8vz2loyzB7EBx AwSlWhjWRIghDPK9SVc6RpsvGOWSHT5Es23jpKg/July-9th-3.jpg?psid=1
Johnny breezed through the easy line in the Rock Garden...
https://byfiles.storage.live.com/y1pzvUSIQGxSIi3XtJOkvyXVxyv48MwX9bJyOmd5X3SsazbD-usT-35ZnW2JSGO-1SNZ2hgSguPW12Cvuz4iOWIGA/July-9th-4.jpg?psid=1
...So he decided to try the middle line
https://byfiles.storage.live.com/y1p5ACBhdrVg-CFAncho4Y7NJdpgXr61zrWrwN9UivBuyzJZEgohZqJ1M3hpg6I 3Vq-c2ZnD_ktZ0YyxczCwwlX2g/July-9th-5.jpg?psid=1
"Well I see your problem right there"
https://byfiles.storage.live.com/y1p5ivGwxM_i7fAlwnhF055LDo205GlbpZdHDb56Fs6_0LGyBg jlEwu9FB6ZlO-wVHL5jJvtllBx03oAyz5aDseow/July-9th-6.jpg?psid=1
Made it through just fine
https://byfiles.storage.live.com/y1p6V-8GHwBi3JjNzj7k7gMbhsI_5KcKoX8gJHPbVKg66yq1mMOvX08E rusiW6vaeeMn8cpQYMY-uFRWl1SvGgZCQ/July-9th-7.jpg?psid=1
No pics of Joe going through, but I do have a video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KRu8jyoKTuc&hd=1
Don't have anything else from the trail itself. I was actually really happy with how my rig did. I walked up the whale back on the first try and before anyone could get their camera's out. I give most of the credit to having a power steering pump that actually works and will hold the tires where I want them, rather then where the rock wants to push them. On previous attempts, I had to bump it and drive with some momentum so that my steering wouldn't have time to get pushed around. Now with the new PSC pump, its very easy to adjust steering and stays where I want it so you can kind of just crawl up stuff. VERY noticeable in all kinds of wheeling. I know there is no proof without pictures, so I backed down and did it again with Joe taking video. Both Joe got up the middle part pretty easily, and Johnny did the far right side without issue too. Everyone also got over the Double Step stuff and the rest of the trail with ease.
We did go and watch a bunch of guys with Tube Buggies struggle up the exit of Carnage. They were from Rock Addicts Racing, and were very cool guys. Joe and Johnny only watched a few guys try it, but not having anything to do I stuck around. Chris, with an Ultra 4 buggy (King of Hammers racing spec) tried for a while but couldn't get up the hard line and got himself to a place where he could not get over to the easier line (relative of course) so he ended up winching up it. Crade, with a nice custom V8 buggy tried very hard to get up the hardest line, then the easier line, but ended up bashing the driveshaft really hard, which broke the ears off the output yoke of his transfer case. Its not the kind of place you can do with just front wheel drive, so it took a combination of winching and strapping to get him up it. Next up was Dustin, with another buggy with an LS1 engine, who ended up styling the easier middle line with minimal drama. He has the newest buggy of the bunch, and plans on racing at KOH this year. Super cool southern dude.
They had a pretty big group, and 3 more buggies still to go. Next up was Cody, who has a very nice, relatively lightweight buggy with a Jeep 4.0 HO inline 6. He definitely had the "entertainment of the day" prize, since he put it on its side trying to get up on the rock of the middle line, then with encouragement tried to drive it back on its wheels, but it ended up just making it worse. Ended up having to winch him back on his feet, but once he was there he got up the middle line with no more drama. Have to say I was seriously impressed with that engine. Not only did it start and run when it was on its side so far that it was leaning with the roof closer to the ground then the belly pan, but it once they had it back on its feet it didn't even smoke or complain. I still say that it was the dumbest decision Jeep ever made to stop using that engine.
Last up was a dude named Travis, who has a CJ styled V8 buggy, which was definitely the largest of the bunch. Cool rig, did really well, has room for 4 adults, and was a cool dude. After seeing Chris and Crade have their issues, he also went with the middle line and got up it with minimal drama as well. Even the "easy" lines up that exit there are harder then 99% of the trails in Colorado, so its always impressive if you make it up.
They invited me down to camp to hang out, and I got to know them. They kind of talked about maybe doing a night run of Carnage, which I was gonna tag along on. In the meanwhile, beers and cocktails, some yummy ribs, and a bunch of BSing and fooling around with vehicles. As the sun was starting to set over the Collegiate Mountains, I couldn't resist getting some pictures.
Purple Mountains Majesty...
https://byfiles.storage.live.com/y1p_T_1S8sF24y9xLkLrZq0KFK4ObnjQ8FHsxomjBX27XMDP5Y 5SL9gowzGZzkH3mYAErYvpOap4azZ3vma7h6_sQ/July-9th-8.jpg?psid=1
Travis's buggy and fooling around with a great backdrop
https://byfiles.storage.live.com/y1pScn7midcEFfsAgfO0U4eMvv74Jq6qQbnvZi8Xd7hMchmX4F aIKXQr1LQUpU-CNQ541AveYh0v1mO2MPhfg-dvQ/July-9th-9.jpg?psid=1
https://byfiles.storage.live.com/y1pox25je7j11BPW4WWyOZYJGT0C_yQdbKMlkKRPTbwqyi-dQS84DFBWVaeUtke77FrvdWHVq-U9nphbxKtebWkIg/July-9th-10.jpg?psid=1
At one point everyone kinda disappeared up Carnage Canyon. I stuck around at camp helping Crade try to figure out if he could bodge together a ujoint setup so he could go try Carnage again. Didn't end up finding one, so I went and tried to catch up to the rest of the group in my Yota. It was getting towards dusk when I went up. I had never tried Carnage before, but I didn't do too badly. Dented the front fender, but its nothing that a bit of bashing with a hammer won't fix. I think I got about 1/3 of the way up, but not sure since I have never ran it. Essentially got just past the huge boulder that you see a lot of pictures of buggies going over. Caught the rest of the crew as they were coming down, and not wanting to do the trail without guidance with at night, I followed them down. The first move coming up the Canyon is hard going up, but is even more daunting going down. Not a big deal if you have a tube buggy or an exo cage, but if you get it wrong it will either roll you or slam your rig into the side of a large boulder. On top of that, its rather chunky, so differentials are always getting hung up. I did eventually get lined up in a way that seemed like it would have the least likely chance of catastrophic damage, but got caught up just as I was about to go down, and couldn't move backwards or forwards. They hooked a strap up to me and gave a bit of yank to get me started, and then with a bit of a "courage move" I blasted down it with some momentum. Its the kind of thing where you have to kind of "go with the gravity", because trying to do it slow would be very tippy. Not usually a fan of bashing down through stuff like that, but it worked and got me down without an issue.
Not having any camping stuff, I decided to part ways with the guys and head home. Long day, but one of the better ones I have had wheeling in a while. I had only met Joe briefly when I sold him parts for his Zuk a month or so ago, but the rest of the people I had never met before and everyone was super cool. Its pretty neat to just run into people and pretty much become fast friends. I defintely plan on getting out with the Rock Addicts guys, and might even go do Pit Crew stuff with them at King of Hammers this year.
Zukrider put the trip together, and it was me and his friend Johnny in another Zuk tagging along. Saw a few other people at the trailhead, but only two other rigs on the trail itself. One guy passed us in a heavily built YJ on the way in, and another Yota on the way out.
We got up the first little hill with a few smallish ledges without much fuss, but Johnny had some loud popping coming from his front axle. Seemed like it could be either a birfield or the ring and pinion. We ended up replacing both birfields, but the noise persisted, so it pretty much has to be some teeth on the Ring and Pinion being broken off or similar. He decided to run the rest of the day with it, and it didn't seem to make a huge difference in what he could get up or not.
Got some decent pictures, but mostly just "the wedge" and the "rock pile". We kinda just cruised the rest of the day....
Zukrider and Johnny
https://byfiles.storage.live.com/y1pwud3ZccP6lr8yMsrQko8vG9snQimqcn1aS3UZGnRny121Hi sO2CHPh-W7K7giH0QM_r9RO98Z7Zo7hCCxeDdXQ/July-9th-1.jpg?psid=1
Nice thing about the Zuks is they respond well to a little help being so light
https://byfiles.storage.live.com/y1p0W0fGXcLkQ0kuCQJyLOim9fMz-AWf7_LWwFaKtMOZvJR3B_aDnWDE_Wjyothxfhb7_Df5xnUm-xgW8ziD2PNsA/July-9th-2.jpg?psid=1
Joe making it look good with 29's and welded differentials
https://byfiles.storage.live.com/y1p0W0fGXcLkQ3R7DFqlL201xkuegOJzD5hCE8vz2loyzB7EBx AwSlWhjWRIghDPK9SVc6RpsvGOWSHT5Es23jpKg/July-9th-3.jpg?psid=1
Johnny breezed through the easy line in the Rock Garden...
https://byfiles.storage.live.com/y1pzvUSIQGxSIi3XtJOkvyXVxyv48MwX9bJyOmd5X3SsazbD-usT-35ZnW2JSGO-1SNZ2hgSguPW12Cvuz4iOWIGA/July-9th-4.jpg?psid=1
...So he decided to try the middle line
https://byfiles.storage.live.com/y1p5ACBhdrVg-CFAncho4Y7NJdpgXr61zrWrwN9UivBuyzJZEgohZqJ1M3hpg6I 3Vq-c2ZnD_ktZ0YyxczCwwlX2g/July-9th-5.jpg?psid=1
"Well I see your problem right there"
https://byfiles.storage.live.com/y1p5ivGwxM_i7fAlwnhF055LDo205GlbpZdHDb56Fs6_0LGyBg jlEwu9FB6ZlO-wVHL5jJvtllBx03oAyz5aDseow/July-9th-6.jpg?psid=1
Made it through just fine
https://byfiles.storage.live.com/y1p6V-8GHwBi3JjNzj7k7gMbhsI_5KcKoX8gJHPbVKg66yq1mMOvX08E rusiW6vaeeMn8cpQYMY-uFRWl1SvGgZCQ/July-9th-7.jpg?psid=1
No pics of Joe going through, but I do have a video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KRu8jyoKTuc&hd=1
Don't have anything else from the trail itself. I was actually really happy with how my rig did. I walked up the whale back on the first try and before anyone could get their camera's out. I give most of the credit to having a power steering pump that actually works and will hold the tires where I want them, rather then where the rock wants to push them. On previous attempts, I had to bump it and drive with some momentum so that my steering wouldn't have time to get pushed around. Now with the new PSC pump, its very easy to adjust steering and stays where I want it so you can kind of just crawl up stuff. VERY noticeable in all kinds of wheeling. I know there is no proof without pictures, so I backed down and did it again with Joe taking video. Both Joe got up the middle part pretty easily, and Johnny did the far right side without issue too. Everyone also got over the Double Step stuff and the rest of the trail with ease.
We did go and watch a bunch of guys with Tube Buggies struggle up the exit of Carnage. They were from Rock Addicts Racing, and were very cool guys. Joe and Johnny only watched a few guys try it, but not having anything to do I stuck around. Chris, with an Ultra 4 buggy (King of Hammers racing spec) tried for a while but couldn't get up the hard line and got himself to a place where he could not get over to the easier line (relative of course) so he ended up winching up it. Crade, with a nice custom V8 buggy tried very hard to get up the hardest line, then the easier line, but ended up bashing the driveshaft really hard, which broke the ears off the output yoke of his transfer case. Its not the kind of place you can do with just front wheel drive, so it took a combination of winching and strapping to get him up it. Next up was Dustin, with another buggy with an LS1 engine, who ended up styling the easier middle line with minimal drama. He has the newest buggy of the bunch, and plans on racing at KOH this year. Super cool southern dude.
They had a pretty big group, and 3 more buggies still to go. Next up was Cody, who has a very nice, relatively lightweight buggy with a Jeep 4.0 HO inline 6. He definitely had the "entertainment of the day" prize, since he put it on its side trying to get up on the rock of the middle line, then with encouragement tried to drive it back on its wheels, but it ended up just making it worse. Ended up having to winch him back on his feet, but once he was there he got up the middle line with no more drama. Have to say I was seriously impressed with that engine. Not only did it start and run when it was on its side so far that it was leaning with the roof closer to the ground then the belly pan, but it once they had it back on its feet it didn't even smoke or complain. I still say that it was the dumbest decision Jeep ever made to stop using that engine.
Last up was a dude named Travis, who has a CJ styled V8 buggy, which was definitely the largest of the bunch. Cool rig, did really well, has room for 4 adults, and was a cool dude. After seeing Chris and Crade have their issues, he also went with the middle line and got up it with minimal drama as well. Even the "easy" lines up that exit there are harder then 99% of the trails in Colorado, so its always impressive if you make it up.
They invited me down to camp to hang out, and I got to know them. They kind of talked about maybe doing a night run of Carnage, which I was gonna tag along on. In the meanwhile, beers and cocktails, some yummy ribs, and a bunch of BSing and fooling around with vehicles. As the sun was starting to set over the Collegiate Mountains, I couldn't resist getting some pictures.
Purple Mountains Majesty...
https://byfiles.storage.live.com/y1p_T_1S8sF24y9xLkLrZq0KFK4ObnjQ8FHsxomjBX27XMDP5Y 5SL9gowzGZzkH3mYAErYvpOap4azZ3vma7h6_sQ/July-9th-8.jpg?psid=1
Travis's buggy and fooling around with a great backdrop
https://byfiles.storage.live.com/y1pScn7midcEFfsAgfO0U4eMvv74Jq6qQbnvZi8Xd7hMchmX4F aIKXQr1LQUpU-CNQ541AveYh0v1mO2MPhfg-dvQ/July-9th-9.jpg?psid=1
https://byfiles.storage.live.com/y1pox25je7j11BPW4WWyOZYJGT0C_yQdbKMlkKRPTbwqyi-dQS84DFBWVaeUtke77FrvdWHVq-U9nphbxKtebWkIg/July-9th-10.jpg?psid=1
At one point everyone kinda disappeared up Carnage Canyon. I stuck around at camp helping Crade try to figure out if he could bodge together a ujoint setup so he could go try Carnage again. Didn't end up finding one, so I went and tried to catch up to the rest of the group in my Yota. It was getting towards dusk when I went up. I had never tried Carnage before, but I didn't do too badly. Dented the front fender, but its nothing that a bit of bashing with a hammer won't fix. I think I got about 1/3 of the way up, but not sure since I have never ran it. Essentially got just past the huge boulder that you see a lot of pictures of buggies going over. Caught the rest of the crew as they were coming down, and not wanting to do the trail without guidance with at night, I followed them down. The first move coming up the Canyon is hard going up, but is even more daunting going down. Not a big deal if you have a tube buggy or an exo cage, but if you get it wrong it will either roll you or slam your rig into the side of a large boulder. On top of that, its rather chunky, so differentials are always getting hung up. I did eventually get lined up in a way that seemed like it would have the least likely chance of catastrophic damage, but got caught up just as I was about to go down, and couldn't move backwards or forwards. They hooked a strap up to me and gave a bit of yank to get me started, and then with a bit of a "courage move" I blasted down it with some momentum. Its the kind of thing where you have to kind of "go with the gravity", because trying to do it slow would be very tippy. Not usually a fan of bashing down through stuff like that, but it worked and got me down without an issue.
Not having any camping stuff, I decided to part ways with the guys and head home. Long day, but one of the better ones I have had wheeling in a while. I had only met Joe briefly when I sold him parts for his Zuk a month or so ago, but the rest of the people I had never met before and everyone was super cool. Its pretty neat to just run into people and pretty much become fast friends. I defintely plan on getting out with the Rock Addicts guys, and might even go do Pit Crew stuff with them at King of Hammers this year.