R.Creek 10/27/07

Had a great day! Me and Bill had some fun. The first thing we came across was this: Bill went around and pulled the poor guy out, I went through with no trouble.
After a few trails (and a few minor adjustments on the Willys) we stumbled across some people swamped in Milkshake. We had no trouble.
Bill was nice enough to introduce me to Lake Kristy and her steep friends.

Nice job Bill. I tried but without a front locker and a very soggy hill, I only made it about 2/3 up. oh, well. Shortly after that I started having some trouble with overheating. We worked our way out to the mud pit on the power line. While waiting for someone swamped there, I pulled my thermostat out. Now I'm cool! My co-pilot talked me into the mud pit. No trouble on the shallow side. Now feeling cocky, how about the DEEP side? OK,Well just as I was about to exit I ran out of gas. Jumped out, valved on the other tank so quick the water and mud didn't have time to attack,BACKED up the length of the pit, put it in L1 out she came! No problem! I think I could have played around in there all day. Bill has video I cant wait to see. All and all a great day. I whined about the $ for the new trans. but it was well worth it. Next up: High steeer arms and a front locker.
Damage report:
Me- Some skid plate clearence bugs to work out, A much needed oil change from the mud pit,a ground wire needs fixed,and relace the thermostat. Not bad for the amount of oddball crap I've done to this thing.
Bill- none!!!!
Bills son- two bee stings. OUCH!!
Bills dog- possible belly ache from a soggy ham sandwich (or two)
Thanks Bill.

Oh yeh, Bill, get some tires for that trailer!

It was a blast out there. pulling into Rausch Creek the rain was still quite heavy around 8:30 am. We got started around 9 anyway. Cruised around the comp course to check it out, out past gauntlet. Didn't want to mess around on the extreme rocks in the rain first thing. stopped to tighten a few bolts on the willys and continued on. We headed out to the "hills and bowls" trail where Von busted a D60 pinion and decided not to attempt it after trying to walk the trail and finding a lot of slick muddy hills. Headed out to trail 2 to shake out the willys a little and gradually work it harder. Really cool to hear the propane V8 negotiate the hill. coming down the other side looked a little hairy when he got a little sideways just over the top. Next up was frog hole but there were jeeps backed up and that could only mean one thing. I walked over to find the yellow 2003 unlimited stuck in the hole. they couldn't figure out how to get him out. I leaned over from the stump side and saw the driver was scart and so was his son. I helped his kid out the window and straddled from the jeep to the stump hill to help him get out. the driver said he didn't know which way to go and the trail looked better traveled on the water side. so he eased in and felt the front end drop and figured he better hit the gas to get through. it was his first time out and he was looking for green trails. I layed on his hood and reached into the muddy water to hook up a strap and pulled him out. he did not hydrolock as the stock intake is at hood level but there was water all over the air cleaner and another couple inches of water and he would have been done. next we headed west and ran trail 10 in search of mud. went to milkshake and found it was plugged with a CJ. after they pulled him out we went through with no issues. seems the pits are getting a bit easier. there is less of that mucky mud and its just becoming deeply rutted so shorter jeeps become high centered on the pumpkins. next hit "smoothie" which was very easy now, Dave just basically idled through and the rock at the end is half buried now. We drove past rock creek and onto 13, headed back to pole line. did the rocky hill climbs where Kat flipped last month to troubleshoot a clearance problem with the willys. front pinion clipping the massive oil pan skid. problem fixed so headed to south property to do hill climbs on lake cristy. took on the one that everyone took last week that has the new loop to the left after you get to the top. Dave has no front locker so I tried it first without lockers to check traction and got halfway. it was really slick from all the rain. Tried rear locker without much better results so tried front and rear lockers and made it to about 20' from the top. I was getting stuck on a slick root up front and a rock in back. I backed up a couple feet and put her in third and gave her hell. I made it up after a 3rd effort using that technique. Dave tried and did well but with the ruts I dug and no front locker it just wasn't happening today. we headed out and hit pole line again. Dave was talked into doing the 5' mud pit (didn't take much talkin) and took the easy side of the pit first and it was no effort for the willys. so he turned around and hit the pit the other way taking a slightly harder line and it did require a lot of skinny pedal but made it just fine. So he turned around again and took the deep line hugging the bank. the willys sank hard but was able to churn away with the v8 power all the way to the end and just as he was to climb out he ran out of gas. It was a very impressive show of gymnastics as he got out and switched the tank lever and got back in quickly enough to get it started again. climbed the truck out with no effort. I have video but have to figure how to transfer from my phone. We headed out towards the staging area with the intent of hittng stairstep but the willys wasn't happy about the water in the oil and decided to hop on the trailer and play it safe. It was a great day, no major carnage and was a pleasure wheeling with Dave again. Seeing that thing work was amazing and with a front locker that thing will be unstoppable. pics to come soon.

Twisted Willys wrote:

Oh yeh, Bill, get some tires for that trailer!

Yeah time to repack the wheel bearings on the trailer and get some new tires. My name is Bill and I am guilty of trailer neglect.

Rockn93YJ wrote:

Twisted Willys wrote:

Oh yeh, Bill, get some tires for that trailer!

Yeah time to repack the wheel bearings on the trailer and get some new tires. My name is Bill and I am guilty of trailer neglect.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ll31tQMP6WE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1T_TFemFgYk

My carnage after inspection is Drivers side rear axletube is leaking gear oil, rear ARB line is busted at the rear axle, drive belt is loose again(wonder if it is stretching?)

Tell your kid that the bee stings are going to cost him big money $$$$$$ FBI here...just doing my job. Hope he's ok...anyway, way to break your Jeep dick! I love the giggle when the willys is going through the mud...when you hear that you know something is going right! Where are the axle seals in the 9" and are they a PITA? I just replaced one in the 8.8 and wasn't too bad. What'd you break the arb line on? I've yet to toast one although I do carry enough spare ARB parts for front/rear of my rig and 10 friends just in case!!

Locked_N_Loaded wrote:

Tell your kid that the bee stings are going to cost him big money $$$$$$ FBI here...just doing my job. Hope he's ok...anyway, way to break your Jeep dick! I love the giggle when the willys is going through the mud...when you hear that you know something is going right! Where are the axle seals in the 9" and are they a PITA? I just replaced one in the 8.8 and wasn't too bad. What'd you break the arb line on? I've yet to toast one although I do carry enough spare ARB parts for front/rear of my rig and 10 friends just in case!!

He forgot all about the bee stings now but you can bet he'll be looking for them next time out. That willys was just sick, no mud out there would stop it even without a front locker. The seal for teh axle tube is at the end of the tube. I didn't have a leak on the trail. After I got it home there was a puddle on the rim and down teh tire onto the trailer. Almost as if it was because I strapped it down to tight or something. The ARB line looks like it was rubbing my upper control arms (triangulated over the pumpkin) and the addition of heat from the exhaust blowing on it from about 15" away. Didn't notice it until putting it on the trailer. I have a union for it but didn't bother putting it on. I can just take the end out, cut it and stick it back in since the break is about 2" off the pumpkin and I left plenty of slack in the line. The leak happened before and I think it is because the plate on the end of the axle that retains the nuts is bent. not sure though. I'll fix it this weekend.

I copied this post from the rausch creek forum. it is from the guy in the yellow 2003 unlimited I pulled from the frog hole.

"Thanks for postin my unlimited on the site. Thanks again for pullin me and my son out. Yes, I was a little scared, thinkin what the hell did I just do. The lj ran fine the rest of the day. Had to clean out the gravel from the front brakes once near the mud pit and she overheated twice. Ran fine on the way home and my wife told me I was and idiot. No added adjectives, just an idiot."

my hood is up to my forhead, im 5'9 and when i put the jimmy in there it was cresting the hood. i went all in and was able to back out but that hole was deeeeeeeeeeeep from the torrential downpour from the night before.

smoothie was interesting, other then stinking like butt i idled through it with little issues and that was up to my doors and thats pretty high up.

Yeah, with lots of rain it gets interesting. I'd like to see more mud holes and hill climbs at RC. I've been posting under their thread "what would you like to see" for future upgrades at the park. Time will tell.

Less hill climbs and mud...more rock...but who am I to argue I'm just jealous because I miss throttle action

Rockn93YJ wrote:

My carnage after inspection is Drivers side rear axletube is leaking gear oil, rear ARB line is busted at the rear axle, drive belt is loose again(wonder if it is stretching?)

Currie says axle tube leak is from one of the following: fluid level too high, clogged axle vent, or warped axle tube. The fluid is about 1/2 quart high to make up for the high pinion and I don't want to seize the pinion bearing again. The axle vent is clear. tube could be warped but doubtful. I drained it down to see if the overfilled differential is causing the seal to blow. Rear ARB line has been fixed. I used a union and cut out the bad section of tube. I got a new, shorter, belt and replaced the old one. Also took off the mount and shaved the groove with a drill bit since I'm using an oversized bolt and that makes it easier to adjust belt tension. I can still go shorter with the belt and if its still a problem then thats what I'll do. Also called advanced adapters about the clunk in the drivetrain and they believe the problem is the tranny is about to go. Tried to mount a set of seats with 5 point harnesses from the new jeep but they are too tall and put my head above the roll cage. gonna run standard seatbelt at the comp.

Rockn93YJ wrote:

Twisted Willys wrote:

Oh yeh, Bill, get some tires for that trailer!

Yeah time to repack the wheel bearings on the trailer and get some new tires. My name is Bill and I am guilty of trailer neglect.

I repacked the wheel bearings and had new radial tires mounted. Also welded a loose piece of fender sheet metal back on. Had the trialer looked over by a trailer service center and they said my axles are fine. they don't have a curve to them because they are an "off brand" type of axle. Trailer is ready to go.