4Runner Jamboree '98
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Date: Fri, 31 Jul 1998 11:40:34 -0700
From: "jskaggs"
Subject: 4Runner Jamboree
There was a pretty big turn out for the 4Runner Jamboree, close to 50 but
don't know exactly how many. Everyone met in the McD's parking lot. There
were
alot of nice rigs there that I was a little jealous of, but I hope my rig
will get there at some point. The event was divided into to two separate
runs moderate and difficult because El Nino caused the trail to be to
difficult for the stock vehicles. The requirements for the difficult run
was 31" or larger tires and at least one traction aiding device like limited
slips or lockers. I went there with a friend who has 35" BFG M/T's, 7" of
lift, 5.29's, rear ARB, winch, and a Marlin Crawler with (old 3.??)
prototype gears. My only modifications are 33" Big O M/T's and 5" Alcans.
I talked to one of the trail leaders and asked if I could go on the
difficult run because I didn't want to limit my friends capabilities. He
said I should make it without to many problems so I decided to try it.
Right at the beginning of the run there was a little trouble with one
4Runner overheating (it was pretty hot out), don't know for sure if his
truck was fixed or if he turned around but after a short delay we all got
underway. My friend decided to run near the rear of the pack so I followed
him. I kind of wanted to run in front because that means the trail won't be
as torn up for my open diffs and also because 4Wheel Drive & Sport Utility
magazine was there and I would like to get my a picture of my 4Runner in it
(they might put it in ugly readers rides but who cares). The first real
obstacle was Deep Creek and the climb out of it. The creek was just below
bumper high on most of the rigs (not that deep), the climb out of the creek
was sandy with some pretty big boulders, another one of the bad things about
being in the back is that I heard a lot of crunching and banging on the
rocks that I still had to go over, but a good thing about it is that I can
look at the different lines and pick the best one so that I don't hear that
crunching and banging on my rig. :-) After Deep Creek we proceeded down the
trail going over some off camber spots and some suspension flexing moguls
then we came up to a climb that looked intimidating. I'll try to verbally
drive you thru it. It starts out by letting your left front tire go down
first and letting your right rear get light, then you start slightly up hill
thru a runoff gully it is off camber to the left with your left side also
climbing rocks, after a large rock on the left side you turn left and climb
the
left side of the gully diagonally now your a little off camber to the right,
after you climb out you have to weave yourself between two rocks (it was
a pretty big one on the right that dented a few center caps) after you get
your front end around the rock on your right you turn right and square your
self up to climb a rock wall that had a light coating of dirt on it so it
was kind of slippery, after you got on top of this wall you are pretty much
done except for a few more rocker panel crunching rocks. From here on the
trail was pretty easy with a few puckering off camber spots.
I liked the trail over all, it wasn't to tough or to easy. I hurt my clutch
a little because I have to slip it so much from being over geared but I made
all the obstacles without needing the strap (no I'm not one of those people
that refuses to take the strap due to embarrassment). I made it through
with no new dents, I did hit both diff's on one rock but not to bad, I did
end up with a new scratch but I have no idea how it got there and it has a
weird pattern, it goes from the left rear taillight to the tailgate latch
handle. There was only one casualty a BFG A/T got a sidewall puncture.
After the run we all gathered at the Crab Flats camping area and told the
stories and waited for our raffle ticket #'s to be called. I did not win
anything from the raffle but I only bought 2 tickets (the more I spend on
the raffle the less that goes into my truck). All in all it was pretty fun.
I didn't go on the Sunday run. We decided to go and have lunch by the lake
and just relax. It's kind of a good thing that we didn't go wheelin on Sunday,
because the guy I went with dropped his rear driveshaft on the way home.
I hope that everyone that attended has as much of a good time as I did.
John Skaggs
TLCA# 5560
thunder90@msn.com
Visalia, CA
85 4Runner
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