I finally got a chance to put a wheeling trip on the calendar. This trip was planned as the first outing after the engine swap, and all the major modifications. All the break-in maintenance was complete and it was time to put the Jeep in the dirt. We decided we would drive the Jeep to Bridgeport since the tow pig AC was not really working that well. The afternoon temperature was expected to be in the high 90s with very high humidity and only a slight breeze. The executive decision was made to make the trip with no doors, and leave the Bestop Trektop bikini top on for shade. The morning began with a meetup at a QT in Mansfield to group up and convoy. The turnout was better than I expected for such a hot day. We rolled out from QT and got on the highway and the group convoy was quickly broken apart. We rolled on and grouped up again at the Love’s Truck Stop in Bridgeport for a bio break and some fuel for a few rigs, then it was off to the park.
Once everyone was in the park , we all aired down and disconnected sway bars and hit the trails. My buddy Freddie took the lead on the first run and decided we would take an easy up route to go to the pavillion and decide what trails from there. The first obstacle we encountered was a short climb with basketball size loose rocks, a lot of dust and not very difficult. I confidently rolled up to the base of the obstacle in 2HI thinking I could chug right up, the loose rocks and dust saw things a little different. I stopped and slipped the Atlas into 4HI and started again only to notice that I didn’t have drive to the front axle. I was able to apply enough pressure to the front twin stick to engage the front axle and keep it from popping out of front high range to get up the tiny hill and pull under a shade tree by the pavillion. We talked for a while about the transfer case assessment and I was personally ready to head back to the house and do something different for the day. The crew encouraged me to climb under and see what it would take to get things operational. The rest of the group went on to hit some trails, while I hung back and put my shade tree mechanic skills to work. I had to drop the transfer case skip plate to access the Atlas shift cables. The front range cable was out of adjustment far enough that the selector lever was hitting the console before the Atlas was fully engaged. One thing to note here, we just drove over an hour at highway speeds and hit the trails with very little cool down period so the exhaust, transmission, Atlas, and the entire driveline was blazing hot. I was able to use some gloves and towels to protect my hands and arms while working very close to a 200 degree transmission and exhaust. It took a bit to get the collar nuts loose from the shift cables, but my pit girl Cindi and I finally got the shift range cables dialed and everything tightened up as the crew returned to the pavillion to check progress. The only thing left was putting the skid plate back on and thankfully Freddie was carrying a huge prybar to align some bolt holes, or I am confident the skid would have been riding inside with us.
With the Jeep back together and one trail half ass complete, another good friend took the lead to a nice little climb up the quarry wall. There were several Jeeps from another group coming down the wall, so we sat and cringed as their spotters had Jeeps teetering off camber on a shelf drop on the quarry wall. After the trail cleared, Freddie headed up first, then Jerry, then me. I ended up spotting the rest of the pack up and over the quarry wall while the others cleared the top and headed back to the pavillion. Freddie took the lead again and headed for the power lines. I think his idea of shakedown run was a little different than mine because I saw him lining up to tackle Twins (right side) which has some big nasty rocks, and a crazy crevice turn about halfway up. As Feddie pulled up to the base of Twins, he motioned for me to come up to the front of the pack to discuss going up and spotting. We walked up to assess the obstacles since the last visit and it didn’t look too bad. I drew my line in my mind and told him I would go up first to check the Jeep driveline and let everybody see how the trail looked for their rigs. Freddie went up about half way to spot me around a blind passenger side boulder that I needed to pivot rub to make a turn in a crevis. The Jeep did amazing and didn’t have any problems tackling the entire obstacle. We had a good laugh at a moment of spotting where I couldn’t see Freddie and I heard “brake” when he actually said “straight”. I couldn’t figure out for the the life of me why I needed to brake, but it all worked out with a good laugh at my old age. Several others successfully made the climb leaving some rim rash scars behind, but no other damage to report. After the Twins climb we headed up and over to Mena Creek with the group. We told several in the group they may want to consider a different route back to the pavillion or the park exit, since this creek had pretty big boulders where 37s and lockers were pretty much a requirement without yanking winch cable. The creek run was a success and the Jeep never stumbled on the big rocks and narrow creek path. That was the end of our day as we headed back to the park entrance to air up and disperse for the ride home. This turned out to be a very successful shakedown run after the intial cable adjustment issue. This was also Cindi’s first off road experience since her lumbar fusion surgery in late 2019. and she did great!
