Desertcrawler Posted July 16, 2015 Report Share Posted July 16, 2015 Wrenching party tommorow night at Dans house. Let's do this Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lilcrawler Posted July 16, 2015 Author Report Share Posted July 16, 2015 Just got a message from Graeme saying that my shipment has been... recovered? Whatever that means. Hopefully they didn't drop it... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Desertcrawler Posted July 16, 2015 Report Share Posted July 16, 2015 Start wrenching Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DHappel Posted July 17, 2015 Report Share Posted July 17, 2015 IMPORTANT UPDATE As of right now, it appears that I will not have my rear locker in time (trouble with customs), and everyone else is scrambling similarly to get vehicles prepared. As Graeme put it, "You have untested equipment on your truck, I have untested equipment on mine, your dad has untested equipment on his. This is not how we want to go into a difficult trail." We are still going to recce the trail, but as soon as we get to something that looks incredibly difficult we are going to stop, walk ahead, and see if we want to press onwards or turn around. I am bringing maps and multiple trail books, so in the event we do turn around, we will select another trail in the area to explore, and still have a great time. It's not worth destroying our vehicles just to say that we have done Fordyce.As co-driver, I feel it is my job to say 'yeah, you can do that...just one more obstacle then you know it will get easy....' Because peer-pressure always results in great outcomes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DHappel Posted July 17, 2015 Report Share Posted July 17, 2015 I was planning to wrench on my own rig this weekend, but I might could find it in my heart to help out some of you guys depending on where/what/when. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Desertcrawler Posted July 17, 2015 Report Share Posted July 17, 2015 Cmon up to Dans house, but we should ask him first!! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Disco2Guy Posted July 17, 2015 Report Share Posted July 17, 2015 As co-driver, I feel it is my job to say 'yeah, you can do that...just one more obstacle then you know it will get easy....' Because peer-pressure always results in great outcomes. *Correction, BEER pressure always results in great outcomes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TomOwen Posted July 21, 2015 Report Share Posted July 21, 2015 Safe Trip guys! Keep us posted, UPLOAD: URL: //norcalrovers.smugmug.com/upload/ZwnMDP/Fordyce2015Gallery:https://norcalrovers.smugmug.com/Trip-Photos/Fordyce-2015/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Disco2Guy Posted July 21, 2015 Report Share Posted July 21, 2015 This trip became more of a recce during the Mendo Rally. Chuck's truck wasn't driveable until Sunday, and needs some break-in time. Graeme had a shipment from the UK held up for over 2 weeks in customs, so Tyler didn't get the Ashcroft air locker installed. Oh, and Graeme lost both front shocks on Saturday at the rally. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TigerDan Posted July 21, 2015 Report Share Posted July 21, 2015 They pulled out of here a little after 7:00 last night for the drive up to the cabin they procured at the last minute which was (so I was told) about 5-10 miles from the Eagle Lakes exit off of I-80. The new locker and gears on Chuck's truck were in and working well all day Sunday, but I still had some bumper supports to build and install for the rear bumper, which I hoped to do in a couple of hours. Turned out that the RTE on the back of Chuck's truck had some modifications done to it, I guess when it was built, that had a weld that failed so I had to remove the rear bumper and repair it. Then of course I had to do some exhaust mods to reroute the tailpipe up and over the new bumper support on the left side. All this in 103º heat. Not my idea of a good time! While this was going on Graeme was able to repair and reinstall his front shocks, and Tyler made a few minor mods and repairs to his truck as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Disco2Guy Posted July 22, 2015 Report Share Posted July 22, 2015 Sweet! It's all about who you know, and location, location, location. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TigerDan Posted July 22, 2015 Report Share Posted July 22, 2015 Chuck called me this evening, seems they've got decent cell reception. They're 7 miles in with a few vehicle problems but nothing they haven't been able to work around. Chuck's been posting updates on his FB page so you can follow along here: https://www.facebook.com/chuck.mobraten?fref=pb&hc_location=friends_tab&pnref=friends.all Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ndamico Posted July 22, 2015 Report Share Posted July 22, 2015 looks like lots of carnage. Glad the RRC wasn't ready in time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
psykokid Posted July 22, 2015 Report Share Posted July 22, 2015 just a wee bit of carnage.. I spotted a few dented panels, a couple of bent track rods, a broken front bumper, couple of dented wheels and some flats. From the looks of it most of the carnage seemed to be limited to Graeme's truck.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ndamico Posted July 22, 2015 Report Share Posted July 22, 2015 Did graeme manage to bend one of the sumo bars? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Desertcrawler Posted July 23, 2015 Report Share Posted July 23, 2015 My carnage is a bad voltage regulator causing battery to almost explode due to overcharge, a ripped cv boot. So far all else is good pending inspection. Rear bumper held up well as did the new Arb Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GraemeWare Posted July 23, 2015 Report Share Posted July 23, 2015 Did graeme manage to bend one of the sumo bars? Nick, Yes I did, but not bad enough to stop me doing anything else. I bent the original one without any apparent impact (probably clawing a rock). Put on the Sumobar and hit that hard at a place where Tyler and Chuck had been winching for 1 hour 40 minutes. I drove straight up, and I wish I'd had a GoPro mounted as clearly nobody was expecting me to power up both parts, and the look on Chuck's face as he dived for cover was priceless. It didn't come at no cost though. I bent the track bar and knocked the end off my minimalist bumper (it was not one of my better welds, and since it was ground flat too, there was just not enough strength). Not too much of a problem, although there may be further damage behind that I can't see. Sliders were great, a few scuffs but held perfectly (again, minimalistic home brews). Slight scuff on the gutter from a tree that tried to jump out and take the back out, and a few minor knocks on the rear quarters (no worse that Signal Peak last week). Oh, and a ding from a high lift on the hood (ooops, I'm blaming Don for that one). Knocked a tire off the bead (and dented the rim, front left), then dented another rim (rear), then got a sidewall gash in the front right (but had used the spare already). My theory is that I had aired down too much, possibly due to an inaccurate gauge. Anyway, we managed to straighten the original front left and re-seated the bead with a truck load binder and CO2 (at 150PSI). Worked great and ran well at higher pressure. So, two dented rims (trash) and a tire. They were road/trail tires, not really extreme off-road suitable, so I can't really blame the tires. We struggled getting out a little, getting back to I80 at 5:00pm. I had a clear run back and was home at 8:15pm. A big thank you to our trail leader, Tyler, and our Chief Rock Stacker, Don. A great trip, and I'll let the others tell all the rest of the details (including the lies ....). Ask Tyler how he opens his doors now (he was hard on the sliders), about the dents in two panels, and .... Overall, I'd take the D1, Katrina (Experimental) over either of the other rigs .... all of the issues were of my own making. Regards, Graeme Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DHappel Posted July 23, 2015 Report Share Posted July 23, 2015 So those who have been on Fordyce were no doubt asking yourselves 'what were they thinking taking a bunch of Disco on 33s or 35s in there?' And you'd be right to ask that. I think we could call this one 'I fought Fordyce, and Fordyce won'. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Desertcrawler Posted July 23, 2015 Report Share Posted July 23, 2015 Oh and I forgot about a dead winch perhaps due to battery failure.. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Desertcrawler Posted July 23, 2015 Report Share Posted July 23, 2015 Fordyce is no joke. it's doable but you need working equipment and backup items as well.. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DHappel Posted July 24, 2015 Report Share Posted July 24, 2015 I've uploaded a bunch of short videos to Youtube. Unedited, as I have no video editor yet...so you'll just have to deal with it. It's probably easier to just search YouTube for videos by me than for me to post all of them up - you'll only find Fordyce and Signal Peak from the week before as I haven't put anything else up. Here's a start:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EEhRyhFuuRU I'll try to do a little write-up this weekend when I have more time. Keep in mind we didn't even make it to the actual 'hard' parts of the trail other than on foot (!). There are plenty of videos you can find of others running the trail to get an idea of what was yet to come - just search for Fordyce and winch hill and you'll get a good start. The Cal4 annual Sierra Trek runs a bunch of rigs through this trail in a single day with a minimum requirement of 35s, 3" of lift, and one locker. But keep in mind they have dozens of extremely experienced spotters there to guide you every inch on the perfect line and pre-positioned winching rigs to pull those people through who can't make it over an obstacle in a few tries. In tough spots like Winch Hill 1 they literally pass you from spotter to spotter all the way up the hill. So although they have fairly modest minimum requirements (all the same Chuck was actually the only one of our group to meet them other than Barry in his trail-only CJ7 on 37s) if you were going to run this trail on your own I'd recommend more. 35s or 37s; f/r lockers; serious armor; long winch cables and extensions; lots of spares (though we didn't actually break any driveline parts, keep in mind we didn't get to the tough part); and probably 2 to 4 rigs running together to help each other out. And I'd still plan for 2 days with a 3rd available in case of breakage. Expect body damage and other breakage and be prepared for it. There's a reason it's often called the toughest trail in the Sierras. Frankly, we only have a handful of rigs and drivers in the club up to this trail. Jason and Collin come to mind, and maybe a couple others. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GraemeWare Posted July 24, 2015 Report Share Posted July 24, 2015 I've uploaded a bunch of short videos to Youtube. Unedited, as I have no video editor yet...so you'll just have to deal with it. It's probably easier to just search YouTube for videos by me than for me to post all of them up - you'll only find Fordyce and Signal Peak from the week before as I haven't put anything else up. Here's a start:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EEhRyhFuuRU I'll try to do a little write-up this weekend when I have more time. Don, Looks easy in that video .... Regards, Graeme Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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