3 Enter... only 1 Leaves.

[Sancho]

Figure I would share my experience over the weekend.

Backstory... FINALLY! Two buddies of mine bought 4x4 vehicles, AND want to actually get out and wheel. Very rare.

So 1 guy bought a H2 Hummer, clean and decked out. More of a show piece.

My other friend bought the opposite... a beastly looking tundra setup for desert racing. The thing is completely sprayed with rhino liner. Lol.

And there is me.. in my stockish TJ 2005.

They called it cute... uhuh.



So I take them to a place I know very well... Ocorillo Wells OHV park.. 2 hours east of San Diego.

I have them do the "tourist" route.. showing them all the sites.. shell reef, pumpkin patch, etc.., and taking the very easy routes.

So, the adventure started well. Almost rolled my jeep on devil's slide, but recovered. Pucker factor 6 out of 5.

Later..
The H2 gets stuck! Bogged in sand, in Thules Wash. But I get it out, teaching them how to safely recover a vehucle, and techniques to get it out.

Then... the tundra breaks, on a flat dirt road of all places. It's done for... the IFS connection popped of the wheel. 2 hours later.. a flat bed arrives.

As we are wrapping up the trip.. the H2 rotor siezes... hub is done... cv boot melted.

So cute little, old reliable... is standing overwatch on the casualties. The kids in the H2 run at the chance to ride in the jeep. And not so quiet cursing is coming from my friends, lamenting how "The damn Jeep is the only one who made it out".

The tundra friend is done.. he wants a jeep now.

 

[L J]

The tundra friend is done.. he wants a jeep now. H2 friend is done.. won't touch dirt again.

:biggrin:

 

[Chris]

I hate IFS for this kind of off-roading. More crap to break and go wrong if you ask me.

Awesome story though!

 

[Sancho]

Ya.. that area does not have a lot of articulation.. it's just flat desert and some minor hills.


That Jeep meme I posted.. I actually sent to one friend later that night... Just to keep the jeep vs hummer feud alive.

 

[sgtjdgelinas]

When I was young a buddies uncle tried to tell my cousins and I how much better his Yota was than Jeeps, so we all piled into his FJ for him to show us.
He finds a rut on a dirt road and starts talking about articulation while flexing his Yota and "SNAP" bye bye drag link. We were rolling.

 

[mrblaine]

I hate IFS for this kind of off-roading. More crap to break and go wrong if you ask me.

Awesome story though!

Which kind of offroading would you like IFS for?

 

[Sancho]

Which kind of offroading would you like IFS for?

Isn't an IFS good for straight fast desert racing? I thought it's gives you better natural clearance, and handles bumps smoother. Articuation... not so much.

 

[Chris]

Which kind of offroading would you like IFS for?

The kind where they go real fast over very bumpy and uneven terrain. Baja is what they call it I believe.

 

[Duke-TJ]

Sounds like they deserved some of what they got after poking fun at the almighty TJ. Jeeps aren't immune from trail break downs, but obviously your faithful Jeep and your expertise ruled the day, and earned all of our TJs a bit of respect!
Thanks!

 

[mrblaine]

I hate IFS for this kind of off-roading. More crap to break and go wrong if you ask me.

The kind where they go real fast over very bumpy and uneven terrain. Baja is what they call it I believe.

Going real fast over bumpy uneven terrain is done quite well with IFS. Baja is done with IFS as is KOH with some very serious contenders. The part that has me confused is just how hard going fast is over bumpy uneven is on equipment. They are considerably tougher and stronger than any solid axle front that most of us will ever own. The axle shafts they run cost about 3500 bucks. Just the shafts.