I just got back from my first Rubithon. It was quite the adventure. I had a
fantastic time and I'm already thinking about my next trip to the Rubicon.
I'm glad the TLCA put this event on. Better said I'm glad the people in
our little community that care about Rubithon put it on. What a fantastic
and excellent adventure! I got to meet some great people, do some
unbelievable wheeling with them, and have an absolute blast.
Starting in January I'd been working on the truck, getting it ready for
this trip. I've done scout ps, low gears, some protection and a locker, and
it was a lot of work for me. The Rubicon became some sort of quest or
challenge for me - to my inexperienced eyes it was more of a test than a
vacation. Like many of you have probably done, I was feverishly wrenching*
the night before the start, and I drove all night while my trusty co-pilot
Chris Alger dozed in the passenger seat. I was mildly offended when I found
out that the ear plugs he brought were not for making other campers quiet
at bedtime, but rather for riding in my truck! I got to the Ice House at
5AM, 2.5 hours before the start of run #4, and boy was I nervous! My heart
was pounding and I was so nervous as we queued up for tech
inspection. Every rig was bigger than mine, had a shorter wheelbase, the
drivers were all old hands, and I was sure I was in for trouble. Mouth dry
and palms sweaty, I started off on run #4.
The good news is that I passed the test, in that I had a great time,
learned how to wheel on a hard trail, solved a difficuly mechanical
problem** with the help of good friends, met some fantastic people,
experienced one of the finest four-wheeling cultures around and spent four
days in one of the most beautiful places I've ever seen. My FJ55 _______
rocked! Let me tell you this Your cruiser can wheel better than you can,
no matter how good you are. You just have to discover how to get the best
out of your cruiser.
I'm tired, showered and this beer is putting me to sleep. I've got some
video I can hopefully digitize, and if I can I'll share it with you. Lance,
I'll send you a copy! Chris Alger took a lot of pictures while he was
there, and I hope you'll all be seeing them soon. I'll try to write my
Rubithon 2000 story and put it on a web page.
Some thoughts
o When a newbie experiences four-wheeling for the first time, it's often
viewed as an activity, but I believe that the culture is what really
binds four-wheelers together, and helps newbies learn their way. I'm
finding it's a knack or a pursuit that is handed down across
generations, introduced by friends and neighbors, and that trails like
the Rubicon have a culture and a history around them that are as
interesting and as enjoyable as driving the thing.
o I have an aftermarket lift kit for the FJ55. It gets part of its lift
from long shackles. If you have any plans to crawl on technical trails
replete with big boulders, DO NOT USE LONG SHACKLES! These things
smacked every boulder, and the articulation was not great. I am
definitely going spring-over.
o The worst damage I did was when I didn't steer clear of a piece of wood
on the side of the trail, but rather let the vehicle push it out of the
way. Turns out the angry, obdurate piece of wood was a stubborn root
that pushed my sheet metal out of the way, leaving a long crease on my
passenger side. Otherwise, some damage to the rear quarters, which I
expected. Going to cut them out and armor that area next. Pigs can do
the Rubicon.
o The NP203 tcase doubler mod was so very useful on this trek. I cannot
tell you how very fine a 1051 low is, except to say that I drove my
cruiser up, down and across some significant trail with great
control. Low gears rock!
o I met lots of people on this list that I've only known as virtual
identities up 'til now, like Jerry Nichols, Phil Johnson, (& Becky!)
Bruce Westlund, John and Sue Pardi, Danny Warden, Luke Porter, Tom
Boyd, Brian Sullivan, Jim Brantley, Phil Pasciak, Dave Brown and
surely others I'm not mentioning due to brain fade and bad manners.
o Wagons can do the Rubicon, but some body damage will occur. It's a zen
thing. Get over it and wheel. I want to add a front locker, spring it
over and go to 35s on a wider stance (if possible) for better
clearance, better articulation and the ability to roll over stuff that
traps smaller tires. Long wheelbase can be good. I climbed Cadillac
without resorting to the strap, and some of the scary obstacles - like
"V rock" - weren't scary at all in the wagon. SWB vehicles can
sinuously traverse an obstacle, the driver can be capricious in his
choice of lines, and the vehicle can just plain turn tight. The driver
of a wagon has to plan ahead, choose lines tens of yards in advance,
and resort to non-standard (i.e. for the SWB crowd) means of getting
over and through.
o Henry Cubillan, you will cream when you see Chris' pictures.
o A rear locker made a big difference, wish I'd added a front
locker. Will do. (FJ80 electric)
o Butch's rocker protection just plain rocked. I hit on my rockers SO
MANY TIMES, and the 4" square tubes (3/16" walls) didn't even show it,
but for scuffed paint. I could put the 2" nerf against a boulder in a
turn, and pivot on the boulder without any damage. They made a huge
difference. Protect your rockers!
o The Slabs are scary. I lifted two uphill wheels while following the
canonical line and going slow. *shiver* (The pig was really overloaded,
had plenty on the roof rack.)
o If you were there and I talked with you I got a Scout box. Had to go
up Cadillac, drive to Reno, pull four scout boxes at quitting time
before I found the right one, drive back to Tahoma, descend Cadillac in
the dark (Ian Plaine and Jimmy Miller driving, thanks guys so much!)
and install the replacement box in camp before climbing out this
morning. What an adventure!
o I have never seen something as unbelievably cool as Andy Plaine
piloting a STOCK FJ60 (on its sunset run) through the Rubicon. This
guy drives with gusto!
o The TLCA rocks. Thanks for Rubithon. The shirt is cool this year,
thanks Terry Holben!
Oh man, time for bed. Hope to see you at Rubithon '01.
morgan
* The NP203 project caused the tcase to move back a foot and down 2". Butch
made the stock skid plate 6" wider and Chris Alger and I spaced it from the
frame with 2" square tubing, drilled six holes through the new plate, tubes
and the frame, then tapped (I know!) the frame for 8mm x 1.25 threads. Got
three honest threads out of the frame steel. Bolted the skid plate to the
frame with grade 8 bolts and red loc-tite, and I'm amazed and proud to say
that the skid plate took huge hits, was deformed by them and yet it's
connection is still rock solid. I'll do it properly now that the trip has
been done, but I'm glad it worked.
** My steering started locking up, coming into Rubicon Springs. It would
bind, then I couldn't turn the wheel. If I really put some force into it,
it would break free, then steer for a bit, then lock up. I was on some
tricky rock when it finally failed completely. After I broke past the bind,
the wheel spun freely through the worm gear's range of motion, but the
front wheels didn't turn at all - they went wherever they pleased. I'd
rebuilt the box earlier this year myself, and I'm sure that was the
problem. Thanks to unselfish help from friends Andy, Trevor and Ian Plaine,
Chris Alger and Jimmy Miller, I was able to get the pig to camp, climb out
Cadillac, find a used scout box hours away, and return to camp. This
morning I installed the salvage box and it works just great. Whew! I'm just
glad it didn't fail on the Slabs, or half-way up Cadillac.
--
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>> Morgan Fletcher 63 FJ40, 76 FJ55, TLCA #5973, Oakland, CA <<
>> Illegitimi non carborundum http//www.off-road.com/~morgan <<