Lesson at Truck Hill
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Date: Sun, 25 Jan 1998 20:52:08 -0800
From: Scott Wilson
Subject: Truck Hill -almost- claims another
To: Toy4x4 List
Yeah.....ME! I'll tell you up front though...there are no pictures to
be seen on my web page. Mark and I forgot our cameras today. ;-( The
best action of the day was captured on video though, so as soon as I get
a copy of the tape I'll have some pics for my web page.
Mark and I made him some custom spring packs yesterday. Removed his
'firm' add-a-leaf and added the extra #3 leaves I had laying around,
then added some extended length shackles. We wanted to see the results
of our work so we headed down to Hollister this afternoon, just for an
hour or two.
The spring packs work great! Marks rear axle articulates remarkable
well now. I'm used to watching his truck since I wheel with him
often...with this new found wheel travel he kept the wheels on the
ground and therefore had considerably more traction. He really made
short work of the frame twister today.
The park has at its worst today. With all the rain this area has seen
in the last month Hollister Hills looked remarkably different. Four
Wheeler should hold their Tough Truck Competition this time of
year...then they could really put the vehicles to the test. I drove the
park 2 weeks after the competition this last summer so I remember what
it was like....what I saw today was easily 150% harder in many places.
Mark and I were working our way toward the obstacle course, I was
negotiating a big ol' rain rut and stalled the truck. I tried to
restart it, but it wouldn't. I think I have a MAJOR short in my +
battery cable. This happened to me the other day, and after wiggling
the battery cables it started. I guess today it shorted for a minute
the then was back...but somehow the alarm got confused and armed
itself. I tried to get out of the car, and then the alarm went off! It
wouldn't shut off either! I popped the hood, grabbed a wrench, and had
to stand right infront of that stupid siren while I tried to get the
cable off. (mean while 2 16 yr old kids in a Chevy are laughing at
me)(it's ok...I know it must have been hilareous to watch :-)
Anyway...put the cable back on the all has returned to normal. Good.
Mark and I head to the Frame Twister to see his springs in action.
There we meet Tom who is driving a YJ. Nice guy, and he decides to tag
along as we go to find some more challenging stuff.
We head to Truck Hill and take the trail with lots of deep whoop-de-doos
filled with water to get there. Truck Hill looks NASTY today...it was
begging me to tame it...so I took it up on the challenge. It had
MASSIVE rain ruts all over it, some as much as 3.5-4" deep. It was a
tough ride up...but then nearly half way up it got worse....much worse.
Without warning the front end bounces HARD to the right! I'm on the
brakes at the first notion of side movement, but it does no good. The
truck slides WAY too far over and I'm now pointed about 45 degrees to
the right instead of straight up the hill. I don't have a
clinometer...so I can't tell you how steep truck hill is in
general...but if you take into consideration the deep ruts and dips it
gets up around 70-75 degrees at some points.
The front left wheel lifted more than 2' in the air, and as the truck
came to a stop, it settled down to a measly 12" off the ground...measly
if you're on level ground maybe....but on Truck Hill, this is BAAAAD
news!
With Mark perched on my front left tire it was safe for me to get
out...so I got out and assessed the situation. Lucky for me there was a
smooth crest of another hill, that joins up with Truck Hill only 15' or
so from where I am. I get Tom to drive his YJ up onto it and snatch my
front end with a tow strap. Now at least my chances of rolling have
been diminished considerably.
I go to start the truck to get out of this 'situation' and NOTHING
HAPPENS!! No power...anywhere. Oh sh*t. I pop the hood and get Mark
to check everything out, but everything is in order...it still wont'
start. Finally something he did makes my phone (which is hooked up to
charge) beep...so I know something he did just got power to it. I yell
at him to do it again...and eventually we get it so it is working 100%.
yippy. (Thanks Mark!) I have to believe that the short is another
bi-product of Steven's Creek Toyota's work..because it never did it
before they remvoed the battery while doing the engine rebuild.
I give it some gas with the wheel cranked, and becasue of the tension on
the tow strap, the 4runner straightens right out. yeah! But its not
over yet.
Dan (Tom's passenger) scouts ahead, and tells me the trail worsens. He
says I could probably make it, but if I did get into trouble I wouldn't
have a nice 'side road' that somebody to could pull up and rescue me
from. None of the other vehicles around were locked, and they had 31"
tires also...I know from experience that when truck hill is at its best
it takes more than 31's to negotiate it, and when its in this condition
35's would be my choice. ;-)
I decide to try and get another 30 foot up the hill and try to back down
and over so I can get on that 'side road' that Tom had tugged me from.
I must have tried 10 times, but with the loose dirt, and steep, sloped
hill it was pulling me toward the large rain rust every time. I
couldn't get the truck over where I wanted it to safely back it onto the
'side-road.'
We all agree I should try to make it over the top becuase I'd be
entirely on my own... I'm now gonna have to back down the nasty piece of
trail that nearly tossed me when I was trying it in the 'sane'
direction. :-) Lucky for me (sarcastic) my brakes had not dried
entirely from the water I'd gone through getting to Truck Hill, so
control in braking was a non-existing thing at the moment.
At most gyms I can leg press the entire stack on the non-free weight
machines. My legs are much stronger than 'average.' At times I was
pressing that brake pedal so hard I feared it breaking...but I could
still hear the load groans of the brakes as they continued to slip.
That was the scariest thing I've ever experienced (well...almost) but
little did I know, that was noting compared to what I was about to
experience.
With ample spotting I began to negotiate backward. The slightest
mistake, or slip will put you in a really BAD position. Several times
during the negotiating backwards the brakes would not hold and I'd end
up with a front tire 2+ feet in the air as I come to a stop, and then
settle back down to a foot or so off the ground. Everytime I wondered
if it would stop before sending me over.
My seatbelt was VERY much locked, so I couldn't lean out to see where
the tires were or anything. I was relying VERY much on Tom and Mark to
spot. Only when I had the truck perfectly straight was it safe enough
to put it in gear and get out.
It was in one of these "trusting" times that Tom told me to turn the
wheel to the left and let it roll back. I turned the wheel to the
left, moved back....AND ROLL IT DID!! No questions...it was GOING
you'd have to talk to Mark to find out how far the front end came
up...but I know it was FAAAAARRR and it happened outrageously fast! I
can't wait to see the video myself...
Instinct kicked in and I popped the clutch, with the pedal flooooored,
while I spun the steering wheel all the way around as fast as I could!
Now I'm probably wondering if I was better off rolling! :-) (no...not
really) But here I am speeding down the nastiest hill around just
praying I can keep it pointed DOWN the hill. I get it straight and
immediately SLAM on the brakes...which doesn't have the reaction it
should, cause like I told you...the brakes are still moist. :-(
The thing that really got me slowed down was smashing the right corner
of my rear bumper, both tires/wheels/hubs, and the body panel just
forward of the brake light into the far side of a rain rut that was
about 4" deep. The truck came to a stop about 5ft behind where I
smashed the body.
I got stopped...and in gear...and got out for a loooong breather. The
damage really isn't bad at all. I can get in through both the storage
compartment, and the brake light housing to push the sheet metal back
out. The thing that kept it from being really bad damage is, it hit
right where the side is reinforced. So basically I ended up with two
shallow dents diveded by a nice crease. The crease is where the side is
reinforced. The paint will clean up...but will always have Deeeep
scratches.
|From here on the decent went much smoother. I was now nearing the base
of the hill so it was gradually getting less steep and easier to
control. I got safely to the bottom, and we shot for the exit of the
park...Mark was now VERY VERY late for his Superbowl party. :-)
PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE....if you are ever spotting for someone...be sure
of yourself. Now that it's all said and done I can see why Tom gave me
the advice he did, and had me turn the wheel the wrong way.....he never
looked at the other side of my truck!! If he had, he would have seen
the DEEP rut my right rear was about to fall into and wouldn't have told
me to drop into it sideways.
If you're going to help someone out who's in trouble...don't half ass
it. Do your job. If Tom had done his job correctly I wouldn't have a
smashed up body panel.
Don't get me wrong...Tom is now a friend, and I'm am Truely grateful to
he and Mark for helping me get off that hill. Thanks again Mark.
As soon as I get the video and get it on my web page I'll let you guys
know...
Scott
- --
_____
/_/_|_\__ Scott Wilson
| _ _ : Santa Clara, CA
*/_\---/_\' http://www.off-road.com/~swilson
(_) (_)
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Date: Mon, 26 Jan 1998 17:27:58 -0800
From: Scott Wilson
Subject: Truck Hill -almost- claims another
To: Toy4x4@tlca.org
Leo G. Divinagracia III wrote:
>
> From: Scott Wilson
>
> I go to start the truck to get out of this 'situation' and NOTHING
> HAPPENS!! No power...anywhere.
>
> i'd check the ground wire from the battery to the engine block. it may have
> been loose and mark's shaking it could have caused it to contact enough for
> you to start it. it's bolted to a bottom part of the engine, on the
> passenger's side in the front. you can work on it from under, remove the
> aluminum foil... er i mean the front skid plate first. if i remember right,
> it's a weird head on the bolt, like a torx...
It was the + cable. The lousy techs at Steven's Creek Toyota didn't
screw it down tight. I found the loose wing nut today.
Scott
- --
_____
/_/_|_\__ Scott Wilson
| _ _ : Santa Clara, CA
*/_\---/_\' http://www.off-road.com/~swilson
(_) (_)
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