North Sand Hills 01.21.06 [video]

[fatwreck]

I went up to the North Sand Hills Recreation Area this weekend (3.5 hour drive) to meet up with Bob from TNT Customs (RockYacht) and some of the other members from this board. I'm glad I made the trip out there....it was worth every penny.

There were some of the sickest rigs I've seen there. Plenty of big CJs, a couple of really nice EBs, a YJ buggy, an H1, some nice XJs, etc. One of the CJs on 42s had a 383 stroker WITH a super charger. It was pretty sick to see those guys throw snow behind them when it was 3-4 ft. deep.....spinning all 4 tires.

I had a hard time even following some of the tracks they made. You know it's deep when the guys on 42s are dragging diffs.....there was no way I was going to be able to follow them everywhere with my 35s. I still had a good time though.

I'm hoping some other people can come through with some pictures of the trip. I lost my digital camera out there in the last 1/2 hour. I know right where I left it, but there was no going back when I realized it. It was late in the day. I still had 3.5 hours to drive home and I only had 1/4 tank of gas left. I just couldn't go back for it.

Here is the video. I hope you enjoy it despite the limited footage that I shot:
right click, save target as

[kPs]

That first shot sounds like your rig puttin out the horses. (sweet) Looks like a blast!!

[fatwreck]

haha....I wish. The exhaust on my rig sounds pretty good, but not that good. The audio you are hearing is the 400+ hp rig that is running up the other hill about 200 yrds away.

[kPs]

All in due time... Sucks about the camera

[dmeis]

Here's a big video of Eric. Notice how deep my tires are in the snow. The go pedal is on the one on the right.
right click save as

Some pics...
This one was our best...

Look at how the snow is formed after Eric's front axle passes over it...the misting of snow and the razor like edge on the drivers side. You can barely tell there is even an axle under the Jeep. haha

Seriously stuck... while I was tuning the injection I guess Dawn was taking the pics...What's Jason looking at and where is his shovel?


What were these guys looking at?


Oh yeah, this is what they were looking at... I didn't know this guy and I never heard if he got out.

[Wild Hare]

nice lil video fatwreck, thanx for postin it.

[Wally]

DAMN that looks like a LOT of fun!!! The only snow wheeling i've done is billings and 21 road in the snow, and if you care the least bit about your sheet metal i do not recommend doing that

[SilverstoneXJ]

.
Glad to see a few got to have fun on the run...

.

[TJ_Shunk]

I've got some pictures and I am working on a video (it will be small though) Let me get them uploaded and I will post them

-Matt

[Steve]

Wish I could have made it, but that's just too far from here with driving over the mountains, towing the EB, in the winter.

[WyoBinder]

Nice video,,, and Voodo Glow Skulls to top it off!!!

[Colin]

awesome!

[willyb]

Had a good time tearing up the snow and gettin' stuck... Here are a few shots I snapped during the day...









I think it's time for more power and some bigger rubber

-Will

[Jeffro600]

Woah....i didnt even recognize your XJ with bobs front bumper on there. Really makes it look different!

[MMIXJ]

what's w/ the JPMagazine placard? you guys get some coverage?

P.S. thanks for the invite!

(ah, who am i kidding... i wouldn't have driven that far anyway.
heck if i want to get stuck in the snow i can just drive west ~30 minutes.)

[strom911]

Ditto what Terry said, Brian!

Brian, looks like you had a blast. I couldn't have gone anyways. I am still getting the Unibody bent back, to be able to close the doors again. Chris

[OffroadGirl]

Awesome! I never would have thought of going there in the winter for some snow (it's a blast in the summer, too). Good idea!

[Scorpion]

what's w/ the JPMagazine placard? you guys get some coverage?

P.S. thanks for the invite!

(ah, who am i kidding... i wouldn't have driven that far anyway.
heck if i want to get stuck in the snow i can just drive west ~30 minutes.)

The snow was DEEP!

We did manged to talk JP in coming out for a little snow run. Unfortunately you'll have to wait until July '06 issue to read about it. Looks like the run may have netted a few feature articles, a cover shot, and a trip article so it must have been worth their time to make the trip. We'll have to wait to see when the features run but one of them should be a fellow CO4x4 member...

A run like this proved to many that lockers, horsepower and tire size are all that matters in deep snow. As you see in the pictures above, the snow was deep enough to bury the guys running 42's and +400CI motors but it was fun as hell to watch.

[Eric]

I'm hoping some other people can come through with some pictures of the trip. I lost my digital camera out there in the last 1/2 hour. I know right where I left it, but there was no going back when I realized it. It was late in the day. I still had 3.5 hours to drive home and I only had 1/4 tank of gas left. I just couldn't go back for it.

Ouch. Fwiw I left the keys there for the Heep, so pick them up for me when you go pack for your camera I didn't get many pictures but I thought these were worth sharing:




This was my first visit to the dunes and I had a great time up until I shredded the harmonic balancer on the 401 (who would have ever thought that's a wear item ). Many thanks to Bob and Dmeis for helping me limp back to the trailer. All day long I heard reports of carnage over the CB ranging from mild issues (flat tires and broken driveshafts) to complete motor failure I thought I was going to make it through the day without any issues until the balancer let go right as we were turning around to head home. It only got better when I got home and realized I'd lost the Heep keys That's a $15 lesson to separate the spare key from the primary key (f'in duh).

The dunes are a blast in the snow, I look forward to another visit!

[Wally]

Eric your rig breaks more often than mine

Oh....again...sweet pics guys

[fatwreck]

Fortunately, the camera led a good solid life of 4 years. It has been dropped a couple of times, had sand in it from moab, been bounced all over my jeep on nearly every trail I've done. I really can't complain. I got my money out of it. I would like to have the pictures though.

I've thought about going back with a metal detector....know anyone that has one of those things?

Thanks for posting up a couple of pics, Eric.

[Grizzly4x4]

I didn't get many pics either but here are a few. I have never seen so many people at Walden in January! The snow was unbelieveble, and just getting TO the dunes was tough.

I was bummed to see you going out on the strap Eric but there seemed to be alot of that going on.
Rod blew up his motor and John lost his transmission.
There should end up being 2 features, I know of two guys who went for a photo shoot.



The D44 is surviving so far in the Bronc!

[dmeis]

Hey Chris! It was good wheeling with you again. Too bad about your air leaker. Didn't you learn your lesson about those when I had one?

It sure would have been nice if Eric and I would have had more backup up sooner on the back side of the dunes. I'm sure you would have followed us if it wasnt for your 3-wheel drive. The snow was pretty deep and was kicking our asses over there. I was really wanting to make it to the bowl. We finally decided to head back to the front half to see where everyone was at when we ran into Bob. Then Steve and Marlin showed up just as Eric's harmonic balancer unbalanced itself. I guess there is always next year...

[FJBen]

Nice guys, we used to snowmobile in the winter all the time up there. Doesn't look like a ton of snow tho. I'm from Walden so the dunes were our backyard.

[Alpine Spirit]

Nice VID!!!

[Grizzly4x4]

Hey Chris! It was good wheeling with you again. Too bad about your air leaker. Didn't you learn your lesson about those when I had one?

Actually it turns out the air leaker is OK. It must have been froze from staying overnight in Walden (COLD!!) cuz later in the day it started engaging just fine. Also it turns out the noise I was hearing was just the front CV joint rubbing on the edge of the tranny mount washer. I am good to go without having to dump more buckets of money into it.
I figure that since I already broke one Detroit I wasn't going to try another. The ARB seemed to be the best choice, plus it will take some strain off the axleshafts.
I think most of your air leaker woes were operator error anyway.

It sure would have been nice if Eric and I would have had more backup up sooner on the back side of the dunes. I'm sure you would have followed us if it wasnt for your 3-wheel drive. The snow was pretty deep and was kicking our asses over there. I was really wanting to make it to the bowl. We finally decided to head back to the front half to see where everyone was at when we ran into Bob. Then Steve and Marlin showed up just as Eric's harmonic balancer unbalanced itself. I guess there is always next year...

It was killing me not to be able to go with you guys. I really wanted to go bust some more snow, and with how well the Bronc worked busting the main trail I was really disappointed.
Here's to next time anyway, we still have a few more months of snow runs. Always good to see you guys.

[TJ_Shunk]

Here are the pictures finally.

[Jeffro600]

Whom does this belong too??

That things AWESOME!!!

[fatwreck]

Here are the pictures finally.

Awesome pictures! I think that is what a lot of mine looked like. Any chance you can email me the original of that one?! brian@projectxj.com

[TJ_Shunk]

Whom does this belong too??

That things AWESOME!!!

That is Eric, the Head man of Colorado4x4

[Marshall Brown]

Alright already, who got the feature pics taken
Marshall

[RockYacht]

Awesome! I never would have thought of going there in the winter for some snow (it's a blast in the summer, too). Good idea!

That's the only time of year to go to Walden, no ATV's

Didn't get any pics, camera never left the bag... To all of you that did get pics, thanks!

Hey Fatwreck, who's your stunt double? Bummer on the camera, that sucks. I know you had some good shots too... Always good to see you.

[CSP]

Nice to see the Scram made it out Bob. I still want to hear that angry (dapozer's words) roar of your 440 throwing rooster tails!

[dmeis]

Alright already, who got the feature pics taken
Marshall

[74BuckinBronc]

I saw a couple shots of EB's playing in the snow. Good pics and good vids! Looks like a lot of fun!

J.D.

[Marshall Brown]

Good deal!

So how are things going Dave? Haven't talked to you in a while.

Does anyone have any more video, that was pretty cool. Long sigh...I miss Cheyenne

[dmeis]

We were too busy wheeling to take many pics/video. The snow was too deep this year.

Things are going well. It's good to see you keeping tabs on us. When will you be back?

[TJ_Shunk]

I'm working on a short video myself that will have Bobs engine making plenty of noise in it

[Marshall Brown]

That's great, I'd love to see Bob gettin after it.

Yeah, I still linger around here, don't post much. I still email Howard pretty regular and we talk on the phone once in a while. I have been talking to Kelley about maybe moving back out that way when I retire. we both liked it alot. Florida just isn't the same as it was the first two times I lived here, the people are the worst thing about being down here. I have 3 and a half years before I can retire, we'll see what happens. Being gone from home an average of 300 days every year is gettin old too.

[fatwreck]

You guys aren't going to believe this! I went back today with some friends and a metal detector. We took the daily driver up there and hiked in once the snow got bad. WE FOUND THE CAMERA!! I'm pretty stoked about that. I haven't fired it up yet to see if it still works, but I did get the pictures off of it. Here they are: