Hello, all. Long time since my last post - which was probably another question...heh.
Anyhow - I'm wondering "what is best way to tackle a loose rock section of trail"?
On Thursday and Friday, I decided to take a couple of days off work and try a new trail (to me) here in Arizona. My trail running experience is very limited, I still consider myself a n00b. Mainly stuff like "front way to Crown King", or a run to Sheep Bridge or Horseshoe Dam. Mostly dirt, with some small rocky sections, ruts, light water, etc. My TJ isn't outfitted with big axles or anything...it's no Rubicon...lol.
I just like to go out every once in a while to have fun, otherwise right now it mostly sits (because I work from home now), even though I call it my "daily driver" (at one time, I used it to "commute" to my work mostly). Since it rarely sees more than my driveway, though, I figured that now I have another job and can afford driving her again, why not some weekend fun on a trail here and there?
So - this new trail was something I thought would be in my same "comfort zone" - Table Mesa Road from the I-17, east to the intersection with Seven Springs Road (then a leisurely ride on that road back home - I love the area, and am somewhat familiar with it, since all you need is 2WD for the Seven Springs area, mostly). I had decided to do a "forced overnight" - starting out from home at 5:30pm, over-night camping (ie - sleeping in the Jeep) somewhere before the turnoff. I had hoped to get close to the turnoff before camping...
...but boy, was I wrong!
I have honestly never been on a more challenging drive off-road than this one. There were at least two times I thought I was going to be stuck but good, and have to be rescued (I left info for everything with my wife - if I didn't come home by midnight on Friday, send a search team - AZ 4x4 Offroad Recovery, etc). I don't have a winch on my TJ yet (next thing on the list, especially after this run!) - but I have a large hi-lift jack, jackmate, long length of chain, straps, etc - you name it, I probably took it with me - just in case I needed it.
What I encountered more than one time in the area, as the trail wound beside, in and over New River and various washes - were areas I called "rock fall" - it seemed like a bunch of loose rock, 8" or larger - up to about the size of a small microwave - as part of the trail. I have some damn good tires on my ride - I tore the heck (pretend that was a different word) out of 'em (32" ProComp AT Extremes or something like that - 8 ply rated, IIRC - and I was running them at around 45 psi). I was being bounced around left and right, manhandling my steering (sometimes it manhandled me back!). More than once spit rock out the rear, spinning all four wheels, getting stuck, having to back up, try a different track. I was in 4HI most of the time, 1st or 2nd gear. I probably should've been in 4LO. I probably should've dropped the pressure in my tires. Even so, I made it up (and down) these areas - but each and every time I thought for sure "OMG, I'm either going to be stuck on these rocks, or I'm going to break something expensive getting past 'em!
There were several times I stopped, and looked over my Jeep to see if I had broken something. At one point, it really felt like I had seriously fubar'd my steering. I can't explain it - it felt - and probably looked like it (I wish I had video) - I was slamming and bouncing hard over these rocks - doing anything and everything I could to avoid "stopping" - keeping my momentum going forward. More than once my tires scraped the insides of my fenders. More than once I "burned rubber" scrambling up these areas. More than once I am sure I hit the bump stops on the suspension. I honestly don't know how all the crap I had with me inside the cab didn't become beans rattling inside a can - but somehow, it all stayed in place...
One time (after I had broke camp the next morning, on Friday), I got stuck in such a way with a rock behind one of my front wheels that I couldn't move forward or backwards. Even steer hard left and right, rocking, etc - nothing would break things free, but I could see that the wheel (when I steered) did move the rock around. I ended up getting out, shifting that rock back by hand, then stacking some rocks behind the rear wheels, because I was on this "ledge" with about a 9" drop - and I needed to back up some, and then "launch" toward the right, away from some larger rocks on the driver's side, and up other rocks on the right. After making those adjustment, I got back in the cab, said a little prayer to a non-existent deity, patted my Candi urging her to take me home, and went for it. I made it up, somehow. But that was just one more in a long line of such "scrambles" up these rocks.
If you ever played with the old Stompers toys on one of the old foam and plastic playsets, and watched your vehicle bounce around while tackling the terrain - I swear that is what it felt like to me - almost all 19+ miles of that trail to the turnoff. I was led to believe it wouldn't be much more severe than maybe the last time I went to Horseshoe Dam - I thought it would be rough, but I had no idea it would be as rough as it was - rough to the point that I thought I was either going to get stuck, be stuck, or break my Jeep trying to not be stuck.
Well - I'm here typing this - so you know I made it home. Amazingly, I haven't found any damage. Drove it home from Seven Springs thru Cave Creek and all the way back to my home (which is roughly near 51st Ave and Cactus) - steering was fine, handling was normal, everything felt "normal". No CEL or anything like that; I still need to check underneath to see if scraped anything, but I don't think I did. Tires are chewed up like a dog toy (but I needed new tires soon anyhow), but amazingly, my wheels look as good as when I started (I thought for sure they'd be chewed up too). No punctures in my tires that I can tell. Air pressure still holding in 'em...
So I'm wondering - did I do things wrong? I mean, by the above, you might think "well, you got home, didn't ya?" - but I'm wondering if my "look at the course ahead, keep it in low gear, and send it!" is really the right thing to do? I know for sure I should've probably have been in an even lower gear (4LO) for some of those areas, and maybe dropping the tire pressure down some (30-35 psi?) might have helped with the climbs...but I'm wondering what experienced people do?
And is my thinking wrong that this kind of trail was hard for my experience level? It was definitely out of my comfort zone, more than I had planned or hoped for. I don't want to stay in an area of comfort, I want to expand my knowledge and comfort level - and this trail definitely did that! I'm just wondering if there is something else I could have done to make those areas easier on myself and my rig?
Finally - this trail/road/whatever-you-want-to-call-it - is actually one of our "forest service roads" - it's one of the few ways going between the I-17 and Seven Springs (to the north, there's another trail I want to try, called "Bloody Basin Road", that is also one of the east-west paths in the area - maybe I'll find out why they call it that - sigh). What I want to know is - what kind of rigs do they run to get over these areas - for rescue, fire fighting, floods, etc? I mean - I can't imagine using roads like that in a real emergency - but they have to, right? So what are they using - and do they get jounced around as badly as I did?
Saturday and today, I've mostly spent eating a bunch of ibuprofen, drinking coffee, resting, etc - I'm super sore and beat up, and I did no favors to my lower back. But the next few things I want to get put on my Jeep is a front skid plate, maybe some kind of "armor" for my steering box and diffs, and a proper winch and bumper for the front...
Anyhow - I'm wondering "what is best way to tackle a loose rock section of trail"?
On Thursday and Friday, I decided to take a couple of days off work and try a new trail (to me) here in Arizona. My trail running experience is very limited, I still consider myself a n00b. Mainly stuff like "front way to Crown King", or a run to Sheep Bridge or Horseshoe Dam. Mostly dirt, with some small rocky sections, ruts, light water, etc. My TJ isn't outfitted with big axles or anything...it's no Rubicon...lol.
I just like to go out every once in a while to have fun, otherwise right now it mostly sits (because I work from home now), even though I call it my "daily driver" (at one time, I used it to "commute" to my work mostly). Since it rarely sees more than my driveway, though, I figured that now I have another job and can afford driving her again, why not some weekend fun on a trail here and there?
So - this new trail was something I thought would be in my same "comfort zone" - Table Mesa Road from the I-17, east to the intersection with Seven Springs Road (then a leisurely ride on that road back home - I love the area, and am somewhat familiar with it, since all you need is 2WD for the Seven Springs area, mostly). I had decided to do a "forced overnight" - starting out from home at 5:30pm, over-night camping (ie - sleeping in the Jeep) somewhere before the turnoff. I had hoped to get close to the turnoff before camping...
...but boy, was I wrong!
I have honestly never been on a more challenging drive off-road than this one. There were at least two times I thought I was going to be stuck but good, and have to be rescued (I left info for everything with my wife - if I didn't come home by midnight on Friday, send a search team - AZ 4x4 Offroad Recovery, etc). I don't have a winch on my TJ yet (next thing on the list, especially after this run!) - but I have a large hi-lift jack, jackmate, long length of chain, straps, etc - you name it, I probably took it with me - just in case I needed it.
What I encountered more than one time in the area, as the trail wound beside, in and over New River and various washes - were areas I called "rock fall" - it seemed like a bunch of loose rock, 8" or larger - up to about the size of a small microwave - as part of the trail. I have some damn good tires on my ride - I tore the heck (pretend that was a different word) out of 'em (32" ProComp AT Extremes or something like that - 8 ply rated, IIRC - and I was running them at around 45 psi). I was being bounced around left and right, manhandling my steering (sometimes it manhandled me back!). More than once spit rock out the rear, spinning all four wheels, getting stuck, having to back up, try a different track. I was in 4HI most of the time, 1st or 2nd gear. I probably should've been in 4LO. I probably should've dropped the pressure in my tires. Even so, I made it up (and down) these areas - but each and every time I thought for sure "OMG, I'm either going to be stuck on these rocks, or I'm going to break something expensive getting past 'em!
There were several times I stopped, and looked over my Jeep to see if I had broken something. At one point, it really felt like I had seriously fubar'd my steering. I can't explain it - it felt - and probably looked like it (I wish I had video) - I was slamming and bouncing hard over these rocks - doing anything and everything I could to avoid "stopping" - keeping my momentum going forward. More than once my tires scraped the insides of my fenders. More than once I "burned rubber" scrambling up these areas. More than once I am sure I hit the bump stops on the suspension. I honestly don't know how all the crap I had with me inside the cab didn't become beans rattling inside a can - but somehow, it all stayed in place...
One time (after I had broke camp the next morning, on Friday), I got stuck in such a way with a rock behind one of my front wheels that I couldn't move forward or backwards. Even steer hard left and right, rocking, etc - nothing would break things free, but I could see that the wheel (when I steered) did move the rock around. I ended up getting out, shifting that rock back by hand, then stacking some rocks behind the rear wheels, because I was on this "ledge" with about a 9" drop - and I needed to back up some, and then "launch" toward the right, away from some larger rocks on the driver's side, and up other rocks on the right. After making those adjustment, I got back in the cab, said a little prayer to a non-existent deity, patted my Candi urging her to take me home, and went for it. I made it up, somehow. But that was just one more in a long line of such "scrambles" up these rocks.
If you ever played with the old Stompers toys on one of the old foam and plastic playsets, and watched your vehicle bounce around while tackling the terrain - I swear that is what it felt like to me - almost all 19+ miles of that trail to the turnoff. I was led to believe it wouldn't be much more severe than maybe the last time I went to Horseshoe Dam - I thought it would be rough, but I had no idea it would be as rough as it was - rough to the point that I thought I was either going to get stuck, be stuck, or break my Jeep trying to not be stuck.
Well - I'm here typing this - so you know I made it home. Amazingly, I haven't found any damage. Drove it home from Seven Springs thru Cave Creek and all the way back to my home (which is roughly near 51st Ave and Cactus) - steering was fine, handling was normal, everything felt "normal". No CEL or anything like that; I still need to check underneath to see if scraped anything, but I don't think I did. Tires are chewed up like a dog toy (but I needed new tires soon anyhow), but amazingly, my wheels look as good as when I started (I thought for sure they'd be chewed up too). No punctures in my tires that I can tell. Air pressure still holding in 'em...
So I'm wondering - did I do things wrong? I mean, by the above, you might think "well, you got home, didn't ya?" - but I'm wondering if my "look at the course ahead, keep it in low gear, and send it!" is really the right thing to do? I know for sure I should've probably have been in an even lower gear (4LO) for some of those areas, and maybe dropping the tire pressure down some (30-35 psi?) might have helped with the climbs...but I'm wondering what experienced people do?
And is my thinking wrong that this kind of trail was hard for my experience level? It was definitely out of my comfort zone, more than I had planned or hoped for. I don't want to stay in an area of comfort, I want to expand my knowledge and comfort level - and this trail definitely did that! I'm just wondering if there is something else I could have done to make those areas easier on myself and my rig?
Finally - this trail/road/whatever-you-want-to-call-it - is actually one of our "forest service roads" - it's one of the few ways going between the I-17 and Seven Springs (to the north, there's another trail I want to try, called "Bloody Basin Road", that is also one of the east-west paths in the area - maybe I'll find out why they call it that - sigh). What I want to know is - what kind of rigs do they run to get over these areas - for rescue, fire fighting, floods, etc? I mean - I can't imagine using roads like that in a real emergency - but they have to, right? So what are they using - and do they get jounced around as badly as I did?
Saturday and today, I've mostly spent eating a bunch of ibuprofen, drinking coffee, resting, etc - I'm super sore and beat up, and I did no favors to my lower back. But the next few things I want to get put on my Jeep is a front skid plate, maybe some kind of "armor" for my steering box and diffs, and a proper winch and bumper for the front...
