Holy Crap (Cross)....Video Added.

[Frank Z]

Conrad, EvilDucky (Chuck & Lori), and myself teamed up today to tackle Holy Cross. We intended on getting to the trailhead before 10AM to meet up with Tom N., JTW2, Whitey, and a few others. Conrad and I got way behind and arrived to find Chuck and Lori waiting for us. After we got to the trailhead we learned that the rest of the rigs had started up the trail ahead of us...sorry we were late folks.
http://www.colorado4x4.org/gallery/files/4/6/6/1/HolyCross001a.JPG

The first part of the trail went well, no issues at all on the way up to where the trail exit is.
http://www.colorado4x4.org/gallery/files/4/6/6/1/HolyCross002a.JPG

http://www.colorado4x4.org/gallery/files/4/6/6/1/HolyCross004a.JPG

Conrad and Chuck went on ahead and borrowed a set of jumper cables from JTW2 so I could weld the trackbar backtogether. Thanks Jeff!!

After they got back I welded up the trackbar and had to move the heep a bit to get the trackbar frame end to line up, and it was at that time that my drivers side front shock decided it was time to break as well.

We all made it off the trail without any further problems and after numerous stops on the way home to check the trail reapir we got back to town and home safely.

Even with the carnage I still had a great time with great people. Highlight of the trip was seeing Conrad get to wheel his rig after a long summer off.

We got past to the sign that warns that the trail changes from Moderate to Difficult.
http://www.colorado4x4.org/gallery/files/4/6/6/1/HolyCross009a.JPG
I was the first to go up the rock obstacle right after the sign...
http://www.colorado4x4.org/gallery/files/4/6/6/1/HolyCross010a.JPG

...and promptly snaped the axle side of the trackbar that holds the bushing.:mad:
http://www.colorado4x4.org/gallery/files/4/6/6/1/HolyCross011a.JPG

[Funrover]

OUCH!!!Glad you made it back safe!

[Renegade_Jeeper]

damn frank sorry to see it but yea glad to see you made it home dude,
funny you make it through indy trail system but holycross was your maker bad luck dude, i have to say tincup did that to me dude.

[Matt]

Man Frank, sounds like you need to start over from scratch on the trackbar.

Glad you made it home safe.





On another note: The 44 looks good. :thumbsup:

[Frank Z]

I screwed up when I re-used part of the previous trackbar. Lesson learned, more beef required! Stay tuned for pics of the upcomming 300lb Bombproof Bushing Sleeve from Hell!!

[oleblue]

We can thank Oscar, he jinxed frank and the rest of us too. I'm one of the "others" that was with Jtw2.

Yes even a bad day wheeling is better than a day at werk.

The rain on and off all day, always came when a repair needed to be done. funny how that worked.

My Known carnage for the day - 2 front broken body mounts , funny How I could grab the fender and move the whole front clip side to side.. Wonder if that had anything to do with the fan blade, bent and jammed into the, was nice oversized aluminum radiator. Stick JB weld to the rescue, worked great.

Main leaf spring left front snapped bout 4 inces from the spring hanger. Ratchet strap and winch used to get me off the trail, was slow going but it worked in the end.

It's fun to wheel and open top Jeep in the cold rain all day long. I truly did have a great time. Now to rebuild my Jeep. Wanted new springs anyway.

[Frank Z]

When Conrad and Chuck were on the way back down they told us (on the CB) that French Creek was a mess with multiple stuck rigs and some serious carnage too. I saw Tom N. on the dirt road down from the exit. He showed us the damaged rear driveshaft under his rig...uhg-a-ly!!

I sure hope everyone made it down okay.

[Matt]

How come that doesn't suprise me. I wonder if that boulder on the left has slid down anymore.

Winch Creek sucks!

[rch]

Sorry to hear about the bad day folks, I definatley learned it the hard way about a month ago....

Hey frank, talking about my track bar... and yours broke:flipoff2:
But im glad that you and the Z family made it back home safely.

You got to pay to play... :beer:

[oleblue]

Yup we all got down safe. I did not have my camera but I think Whitey got some pics of my broken spring and trail repair, it was ghetto for sure.

[Frank Z]

Russ,
No family this time. Daniel was slammed with homework.

Curt,
Glad you guys made it out.


In case anyone wants to see what happened...
Pop! Clank! (http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=4427211857999151151&hl=en)

[Conrad]

wow... you got that pretty good..

[Frank Z]

I aim to entertain!

[Conrad]

yesterday was pretty lame on the pics... I will post the like 3 I have after work...

[jeeplvr79]

Conrad... nice to see your rig on the trails... looks good!!!

[Funrover]

OOOOOOOOOOUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCCCCCCCCCCCCCHHHHHHHHHH!!!

That video just looks bad!

[jtw2]

yup, we had a good time.

No issues up to French Creek then Whitey went in on the far right line, slid off the drivers side rock and got wedged in hard. While trying to get him out we broke his winch rope and grenaded the drivers side U-joint and yoke ears. Finally got him out w/a combination of jacking the front end up, stacking rocks under the tires, etc until we got the front end up on the rock again and then Tom winched him out from behind w/a snatch block.

We originally tried to get him out from behind with a snatch block from Chris' rig but he slashed the inner sidewall on his passenger front tire so we changed that in the middle of the creek.

I tried a bunch of lines cause I didn't want to end up like whitey but then finally did the far right line as well and made it through though I think I did some damage that wasn't noticed till later.

Chris made it up the left line and then Curt started up. We heard a load pop and we're pretty sure that's when he broke his spring. Then on the way up the far side of the creek we saw steam coming out from under the hood. popped it open and found a fan blade buried into the fan and another cut on the other side. Curt patched it with JB weld and it held!

Tom buried his rig on the far side of the creek where he put the nice candy stripes and dent in his drive shaft.

5 hours were spent on French Creek.

Coming back down we stopped to check on Curt's trail fix on his spring and Chris noticed one of my leaves was cockeyed. tapped it back in and noticed that it was way to far back and there were only 4 leaves instead of 5. center pin looks like is sheared about half way down so I tightened up the ubolts and is seemed to hold fine. Got everyone down and ended up leaving the trail around 7:15.

Still beats the crap outta going to werk!

pics later.

[Whitey]

Sorry we missed ya Frank, EvilDucky (Chuck & Lori) and briefly seeing Conrad

Conrad came when we had three rigs in the creek, all trying to get me out after I snapped the synthetic winch line and broke an axle u-joint.

Here's what he reported:
This white TJ is Chris', sitting just right of center creek:

http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b7d705b3127ccebd6fd48f137a00000026100AYtmzVy1bt2Og

Popped a bead we thought, until we noticed this:
http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b7d705b3127ccebd68b947b2f900000026100AYtmzVy1bt2Og



Tom was lining up to use a snatch block on me and bent his drive shaft, he was on the left line:

http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b7d705b3127ccebd69889053d200000036100AYtmzVy1bt2Og


My rig was on the far end after taking the right line. I couldn't have accomplished this if had been trying:

http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b7d705b3127ccebd68b8a273b400000026100AYtmzVy1bt2Og
http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b7d705b3127ccebd69b612d27f00000035100AYtmzVy1bt2Og

I wedged in so tight, we couldn't winch sideways from the rear, couldn't do it from the front, I couldn't get my winch gear or highlift and couldn't move at all. Couldn't raise the back, yada, yada .........

This was easy in June, I just screwed up.

[Steve]

French Creek is a LOT harder right now than it's ever been.

[Whitey]

Oleblue had to limp off the trail, got the axle tied with what we had:

A wire come-a-long would have been better, but .............
http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b7d705b3127ccebd6f1801139200000026100AYtmzVy1bt2Og

Here is the tie with to the front with the winch cable and the yellow is the strap. Notice the broken spring.
http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b7d705b3127ccebd68be20f20500000026100AYtmzVy1bt2Og

Here's a couple more:
Notice the air under the rear tires - jtw2 got out of this w/o any assist.
http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b7d705b3127ccebd6ff3ee539000000026100AYtmzVy1bt2Og

Jeff leaving,
http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b7d705b3127ccebd68b92fb29100000026100AYtmzVy1bt2Og
http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b7d705b3127ccebd68be50f27500000026100AYtmzVy1bt2Og

Oleblue on the trail:
http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b7d705b3127ccebd6fb20992ff00000026100AYtmzVy1bt2Og

Some sort of sick fun being a part of group working to take care of things using what is at hand. It was a good day, the rain and cold just added to it.

All in all, I had a super time! Thanks guy's, I would'a been up a creek w/o ya. :beer: :thumbsup:

[Tom N]

Yeah, trip report time: Baja'ed over Mosquito to HC, Waited at the trailhead and while I aired down my daughter went wandering off across the road with our dog which was on a leash. I hear barking & yelping, moments later my daughter comes back saying a loose dog attacked our dog, and our dog bit it on the leg and the other dog took off. I lightly reprimand her for taking off without telling me. Oh well, all's well that ends well. Then I see a group of Jeeps go by and one looks like oleblues jeep minus the clevis on steroids so Ibbbbbbbb head up after them. Then we hit the trail and JTW2s report covers it up until I bail early after only 2 hours at French Creek, for which my daughter is very grateful. I drive home and notice that at above 55 my driveline gets severe Parkinsons disease so I keep to that on the highway. I baja'ed back over Mosquito even faster (it's smoother when you're aired down) and get home to Foulplay just in time to find out the Bronco's sucked wind. When I go out later I can't figure out why the Jimmy won't roll downhill backwards in Neutral. Flat tire. So I say fork it and try and rebead it with starting fluid but the bead keeps blowing right over the rim. My neighbor asks if I set off a bomb,My wife comes out yelling "Quit it, you're scaring the dog,what are you doing,where did you learn to do that?" so I throw the spare on, park the rig and call it a day.:D

Top of Mosquito
http://i157.photobucket.com/albums/t75/bbigtn/0000739_fs_655885_0011024x680.jpg

Coyote up there(digital zoom)
http://i157.photobucket.com/albums/t75/bbigtn/Coyote1024x768.jpg

Chipmunk climbing grass at trailhead.
http://i157.photobucket.com/albums/t75/bbigtn/0000739_fs_655896_0121024x768.jpg

Ole blue (cyclops)
http://i157.photobucket.com/albums/t75/bbigtn/0000739_fs_655900_0161024x768.jpg

[Tom N]

Whitey's jeep, moments before ujoint go boom.
http://i157.photobucket.com/albums/t75/bbigtn/0000739_fs_655901_0171024x768.jpg

After go boom.
http://i157.photobucket.com/albums/t75/bbigtn/b.jpg

Spare remounted.
http://i157.photobucket.com/albums/t75/bbigtn/0000739_fs_655905_0211024x768.jpg

Plan A no workee.
http://i157.photobucket.com/albums/t75/bbigtn/0000739_fs_655908_0241024x768.jpg

Makin' it...
http://i157.photobucket.com/albums/t75/bbigtn/0000739_fs_655910_0261024x768.jpg
http://i157.photobucket.com/albums/t75/bbigtn/0000739_fs_655912_0281024x768-1.jpg
http://i157.photobucket.com/albums/t75/bbigtn/0000739_fs_655914_0301024x768.jpg
bhttp://i157.photobucket.com/albums/t75/bbigtn/0000739_fs_655915_0311024x768.jpg
1st try...
http://i157.photobucket.com/albums/t75/bbigtn/0000739_fs_655916_0321024x768.jpg

[Tom N]

Just before Camp Hale,taken out window while driving.
http://i157.photobucket.com/albums/t75/bbigtn/0000739_fs_655917_0331024x768.jpg

Mosquito,Leadville side at top,
http://i157.photobucket.com/albums/t75/bbigtn/0000739_fs_655919_0351024x768.jpg

Mosquito, Alma side near top.
http://i157.photobucket.com/albums/t75/bbigtn/0000739_fs_655923_0391024x768.jpg

Thats all folks. I didn't take a lot of pics. :shrug:

[oleblue]

I think you got more than anybody else in the group.. I did not get one, no camera.

Thanks for posting those.

LOL, "cyclops" :D

[Frank Z]

Great pics and text by everyone! Nicely done folks.

Found out my busted shock only had a 90 day warranty....Pfft.

Got the trackbar re-bootyfabbed and installed a new shock today.

[Whitey]

Nice Tom. Like the lighter fluid story, good wheeling with ya. :D

BTW, thanks for the pull. I got one pic of ya and that's the one I put up. Didn't get many pics, but did get a lot of the ATV guys as we watched them for a while before it was our turn.

This is what we drove up on at French Creek.

http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b7d705b3127ccebd6fb070928700000026100AYtmzVy1bt2Og
http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b7d705b3127ccebd6fc8df132400000026100AYtmzVy1bt2Og

Wasn't a long wait and I enjoyed watching em maneuver around the rocks.

[Tom N]

Nice Tom. Like the lighter fluid story, good wheeling with ya. :D

.

Likewise for all you guys. And they were some nice fireballs. :eek: :D

[REDBULL]

Wow! Sorry to hear about all the carnage! We ran it Saturday and it was dry and beautiful... :flipoff2: Now I'm kinda glad we didn't run on Sunday as well. We decided to take a drive over Shrine Pass after packing up camp on Sunday morning and caught some really nice color.

Good pics! :thumbsup:

[Oscar]

We can thank Oscar, he jinxed frank and the rest of us too. I'm one of the "others" that was with Jtw2.


What did I do? I wasn't able to go was taking care of wifey after surgery.

[Frank Z]

Yeah, Conrad mentioned something about bad vibes as we approached Sherwood Forrest Estates! Voodoo and Black Magic I tells ya!!

[Funrover]

WOW Great pics........ French Creek is getting to look rough!!! I need to get back up there!

[LandBruiser]

Nice Pics Guys! The ones taken from aways away really show how hard it is. The ones taken from in the creek don't really depict the difficulty, and do it justice.

[oleblue]

What did I do? I wasn't able to go was taking care of wifey after surgery.
:flipoff2:
http://www.colorado4x4.org/vbb/showpost.php?p=885364&postcount=44

[MountainJeep]

classic rough day of breakage and fixage.