Made a last minute decision to do a day trip to Hawk Pride this past Saturday. They have done a lot of work on the access roads and with the dry weather and that work, Hawk Pride is in great shape right now (no large mud holes in middle of Access Roads). I had a few mishaps during the day (somedays things go your way and some days they don't) but the ol' TJ still did great and wheeled with the big boys. In the morning two of us (me in my TJ on 35's and a JKU on 40's) did Goose, Merlin, and Fatty's Crack. Merlin turned out to be very tough and it took us about an hour to do the trail, at the very last obstacle I popped a bead but was able to get it to reseal without too much issue.
Here are videos of Goose and Merlin and JKU climbing a step on Fatty's. I cut the video of Merlin down to 20 min (which is long, but if you are bored you can see how tight and rocky the trails are at Hawk Pride). You can use the 40" tires on the JKU as a reference for how big the rocks are because the Go Pro makes everything look small. I also did NOT like having the camera mounted that low on the windshield, I will move it higher and point it more down at the front of the Jeep in the future.
Goose
Merlin
JKU climbing step
In the afternoon a 2 dr JK on 40's joined us and we did Cherokee, treestand, hardline, ol' 22, waterfall, brokefoot, backdoor, and then up Ol' 21. The step on Ol' 21 is no longer a step and I couldn't make the line that I wanted so I ended trying a line that I knew if I didn't hit perfect would result in consequences.
From where I was sitting, I knew if I could get that front tire to climb that she would stand right back up, but I could not get the traction and had to pull the winch line for the first time of the day.
Sure enough, a 6" pull and I was able to walk right out. TJ on 35's!!
After watching the 2dr JK walk right through (I will post video later) without incident, we headed over to Sidewinder where I had my last mishap of the day when all 5 lug studs sheared off my DS Rear Axle.
I am very surprised that they would shear like that without the lugs being loose, I did find 3 of the 5 lug nuts which had the broken part of the studs firmly still installed, but I did not find the other two, so possibly they worked there way off which caused the issue. Anyway, I had another axle in my truck in the parking lot, so one guy went back to the parking lot to grab my axle, while I pulled the axle with the broken studs. 45 minutes later we were rolling again.
Notice the dreaded jack doing it's job (also notice the large rock that we slid under the jeep and sat the jeep down on while I was doing the work).
Even with the few mishaps, we had a great trip!! Post ride inspection showed that I left some paint on some rocks, put a nice dent in the right rear fender, bent the right front fender (these were not due to being on side, but from a previous attempt at the same obstacle) and my rear axle passenger side upper control arm bracket is cracked. This bracket is the last remaining OEM bracket left on the axles and I have a new one ready to install which is good because I have to get the Jeep ready for choccolocco in a few weeks!
I will add some more videos later after I get a chance to review the footage.
Here are videos of Goose and Merlin and JKU climbing a step on Fatty's. I cut the video of Merlin down to 20 min (which is long, but if you are bored you can see how tight and rocky the trails are at Hawk Pride). You can use the 40" tires on the JKU as a reference for how big the rocks are because the Go Pro makes everything look small. I also did NOT like having the camera mounted that low on the windshield, I will move it higher and point it more down at the front of the Jeep in the future.
Goose
Merlin
JKU climbing step
In the afternoon a 2 dr JK on 40's joined us and we did Cherokee, treestand, hardline, ol' 22, waterfall, brokefoot, backdoor, and then up Ol' 21. The step on Ol' 21 is no longer a step and I couldn't make the line that I wanted so I ended trying a line that I knew if I didn't hit perfect would result in consequences.
From where I was sitting, I knew if I could get that front tire to climb that she would stand right back up, but I could not get the traction and had to pull the winch line for the first time of the day.
Sure enough, a 6" pull and I was able to walk right out. TJ on 35's!!
After watching the 2dr JK walk right through (I will post video later) without incident, we headed over to Sidewinder where I had my last mishap of the day when all 5 lug studs sheared off my DS Rear Axle.
I am very surprised that they would shear like that without the lugs being loose, I did find 3 of the 5 lug nuts which had the broken part of the studs firmly still installed, but I did not find the other two, so possibly they worked there way off which caused the issue. Anyway, I had another axle in my truck in the parking lot, so one guy went back to the parking lot to grab my axle, while I pulled the axle with the broken studs. 45 minutes later we were rolling again.
Notice the dreaded jack doing it's job (also notice the large rock that we slid under the jeep and sat the jeep down on while I was doing the work).
Even with the few mishaps, we had a great trip!! Post ride inspection showed that I left some paint on some rocks, put a nice dent in the right rear fender, bent the right front fender (these were not due to being on side, but from a previous attempt at the same obstacle) and my rear axle passenger side upper control arm bracket is cracked. This bracket is the last remaining OEM bracket left on the axles and I have a new one ready to install which is good because I have to get the Jeep ready for choccolocco in a few weeks!
I will add some more videos later after I get a chance to review the footage.
