Nothing Special home ('wheeling) movies

[Gary Lewis]

Hey, we all had to start sometime! This is just a record of where I started!

I was never too scared by it stalling. With the relatively low gearing (but not low relative to my Bronco!) it just came to a stop. But it was really annoying. Still, finishing a build and taking it on a trip like that a few weeks later? I think I did pretty well to get through as well as I did.

I said this in my 2018 trip report, but I was disappointed to not be able to get through this trail in what is by far the most capable trail vehicle I've had. I made it in the Jeep twice, my bone stock '85 F-250 once, and a friend's bone stock '87 Wrangler once (although we didn't make it quit to where the video ends before turning around). But the place where we both stalled in this video was eating 37" tall tires in 2018. My 33s (with no rocker guards yet) didn't have a chance so we turned around.

As to the angle the Bronco was at in that picture, I didn't like it either! I got on the gas as hard as I dared there to get it to pull its way back upright. I probably wasn't THAT close to rolling over, but it sure felt TOO close!

LOL! Yes, it is where you started, and that's surely well past where I started.

Sounds like my 33's and essentially no rocker guards wouldn't make it either. (Have visions of turning the step bars into rocker guards at some point, which is partly why I reinforced the mounts so dramatically.)

As for the angle, having now seen the FJ go over I'm leery. I don't think I'd have gone where you did.

[Nothing Special]

LOL! Yes, it is where you started, and that's surely well past where I started.

Sounds like my 33's and essentially no rocker guards wouldn't make it either. (Have visions of turning the step bars into rocker guards at some point, which is partly why I reinforced the mounts so dramatically.)

As for the angle, having now seen the FJ go over I'm leery. I don't think I'd have gone where you did.

I probably wouldn't go there either if I knew what I was doing!:nabble_smiley_scared:

That was a few years ago and I don't remember everything perfectly, but it was at the end of the last day of a week-long 'wheeling trip. I had really wanted to go over this trail for nostalgia reasons and I was turned back. I think I was probably hurrying a bit too much and didn't spot this quite as well as I should've. Lesley was in front (with the camera), but she does not spot for me, so it's all on me.

I've said before how dropping one front tire too far before the other drops has seemed to me to be the most common way to have an actual rollover (as opposed to just flopping over on your side). In watching other people roll on YouTube that's what seems to be the easiest mistake to make.

If you look behind my front tires you can see that this was not quite the case here, but effectively it was the same. My right front was going down a fairly consistent slope but my left front just came out of a hole. That's a lot like the FJ-40 running his left front up on the bank when his right front was already lower on the sloped trail.

One or two things saved me from a roll here. One might have been that my accelerating was successful at pulling the tires back under the cg. It's a little counter-intuitive to hit the gas in a situation like that, kind of like not hitting the brakes when you're going too fast on snow and are starting to slide. But it is what you need to do. Think of what would happen if you did the opposite and nailed the brakes. That unweights the rear more, exacerbating the problem I needed to solve.

The other thing that likely saved me was just luck! In spite of not paying close enough attention I still didn't cross the thin line. I'd rather be good than lucky. But when I'm not good enough I'll sure take lucky!

A better line from this view would've been about 3' to the left, getting my right side tires out of that hole. Of course from this view you can't see how close that would've put me to ending up on I-70! So there may have been a good reason I was where I was. But yes, it was closer to a roll than I wish I'd been!

[Gary Lewis]

I probably wouldn't go there either if I knew what I was doing!:nabble_smiley_scared:

That was a few years ago and I don't remember everything perfectly, but it was at the end of the last day of a week-long 'wheeling trip. I had really wanted to go over this trail for nostalgia reasons and I was turned back. I think I was probably hurrying a bit too much and didn't spot this quite as well as I should've. Lesley was in front (with the camera), but she does not spot for me, so it's all on me.

I've said before how dropping one front tire too far before the other drops has seemed to me to be the most common way to have an actual rollover (as opposed to just flopping over on your side). In watching other people roll on YouTube that's what seems to be the easiest mistake to make.

If you look behind my front tires you can see that this was not quite the case here, but effectively it was the same. My right front was going down a fairly consistent slope but my left front just came out of a hole. That's a lot like the FJ-40 running his left front up on the bank when his right front was already lower on the sloped trail.

One or two things saved me from a roll here. One might have been that my accelerating was successful at pulling the tires back under the cg. It's a little counter-intuitive to hit the gas in a situation like that, kind of like not hitting the brakes when you're going too fast on snow and are starting to slide. But it is what you need to do. Think of what would happen if you did the opposite and nailed the brakes. That unweights the rear more, exacerbating the problem I needed to solve.

The other thing that likely saved me was just luck! In spite of not paying close enough attention I still didn't cross the thin line. I'd rather be good than lucky. But when I'm not good enough I'll sure take lucky!

A better line from this view would've been about 3' to the left, getting my right side tires out of that hole. Of course from this view you can't see how close that would've put me to ending up on I-70! So there may have been a good reason I was where I was. But yes, it was closer to a roll than I wish I'd been!

I'd not thought about hitting the gas, but I can see that hitting the brakes would be the last thing to do, so hitting the gas would be good. The analogy about skidding on snow is appropriate.

And yes, dropping one tire while the other goes up can be a major problem. My new truck, and probably a lot of the Jeeps and other vehicles, have inclinometers that should warn you about an impending debacle. But, at what point are you going to tip? How do you tell in advance?

This discussion, and seeing that FJ roll, makes me even more cautious. And I already was pretty cautious. In fact, our new-found friend with the 4Runner said he could easily tell who was driving as my brother is a lot less cautious than I am. I laughed it off saying "It's my truck!" But the fact is that I've always been more cautious than he.

Anyway, I'm looking forward to more videos! Lots of fun second-guessing lines, suspension, lockers, etc.

 

[BigBrother-84]

Man!

Pavement aggregates are impressive on this mountain road!

[Nothing Special]

Man!

Pavement aggregates are impressive on this mountain road!

My first 'wheeling trip was to Colorado in 1987 for a week living out of my friend's brand new '87 YJ (the odometer turned 5000 miles on top of Mt. Bross). It wasn't called overlanding then, but now I guess it would be.

My second trip was the one in the two videos above. We were staying in campgrounds and using the Jeeps to run out to the trails.

My third trip also had no video documentation, but it was "overlanding" as well, in Colorado for a week in '95 with two of us living out of my '85 F-250.

By '96 I had two kids, and there was no way the four of us were going to live out of a CJ5. But that was still the type of trip I (thought I) wanted to take. So I built a trailer that the Jeep could pull on trails. I was scrambling to get it finished for another week in Colorado. I didn't quite make it, but I was close enough. I stuck some aluminum flashing on for fenders, attached a piece of plywood for a lid and called it good. No paint yet, but it was time to go! We left my 11 month old son with my parents and took my two year old along. A friend also joined in with his Chevy S-10.

It turned out that driving a CJ5 from Minnesota to Colorado isn't really as much fun as you might think . The 4.27 gears limited me to about 50 mph, so it was a long, loud drive. Once out there we found that camping out of a Jeep wasn't really what we wanted to be doing either. We survived it (although we did stay in hotels a couple of nights). But this was my last overlanding trip.

Anyway, here are the videos:

This is a short clip driving around a little to see how the Jeep and trailer would work with each other:

Here is a little from Mosquito Pass. This is a road that any high clearance vehicle could do with low enough gearing, even in 2WD. But it was narrow and shelfy, with tight switchbacks. So it gave us some good experience.

We returned to South Halfmoon Creek (a trail from the trip above). Still a pretty easy trail, but good experience for beginners.

Taylor Pass was another good beginner trail. We had to pick lines, and driving through the creek was fun (but even the S-10 was a challenge to make one turn in the creek). But neither the rock nor the water was over our heads!

And this isn't a 'wheeling video, but it's too fun not to share! My two year old sat on my lap and drove the Jeep for a little on a smooth section of gravel!

So that wraps up that trip. Thanks for reading and watching!

[Gary Lewis]

My first 'wheeling trip was to Colorado in 1987 for a week living out of my friend's brand new '87 YJ (the odometer turned 5000 miles on top of Mt. Bross). It wasn't called overlanding then, but now I guess it would be.

My second trip was the one in the two videos above. We were staying in campgrounds and using the Jeeps to run out to the trails.

My third trip also had no video documentation, but it was "overlanding" as well, in Colorado for a week in '95 with two of us living out of my '85 F-250.

By '96 I had two kids, and there was no way the four of us were going to live out of a CJ5. But that was still the type of trip I (thought I) wanted to take. So I built a trailer that the Jeep could pull on trails. I was scrambling to get it finished for another week in Colorado. I didn't quite make it, but I was close enough. I stuck some aluminum flashing on for fenders, attached a piece of plywood for a lid and called it good. No paint yet, but it was time to go! We left my 11 month old son with my parents and took my two year old along. A friend also joined in with his Chevy S-10.

It turned out that driving a CJ5 from Minnesota to Colorado isn't really as much fun as you might think . The 4.27 gears limited me to about 50 mph, so it was a long, loud drive. Once out there we found that camping out of a Jeep wasn't really what we wanted to be doing either. We survived it (although we did stay in hotels a couple of nights). But this was my last overlanding trip.

Anyway, here are the videos:

This is a short clip driving around a little to see how the Jeep and trailer would work with each other:

Here is a little from Mosquito Pass. This is a road that any high clearance vehicle could do with low enough gearing, even in 2WD. But it was narrow and shelfy, with tight switchbacks. So it gave us some good experience.

We returned to South Halfmoon Creek (a trail from the trip above). Still a pretty easy trail, but good experience for beginners.

Taylor Pass was another good beginner trail. We had to pick lines, and driving through the creek was fun (but even the S-10 was a challenge to make one turn in the creek). But neither the rock nor the water was over our heads!

And this isn't a 'wheeling video, but it's too fun not to share! My two year old sat on my lap and drove the Jeep for a little on a smooth section of gravel!

So that wraps up that trip. Thanks for reading and watching!

Love the videos! And especially the one with Mikey driving.

The trailer seems to have done very well. I've often wondered how they are on the trail, but it seems to have followed nicely. What did you think about it? Could you go where you wanted to go? Did it tend to stop you at times?

And the S10 seems to have done well. Maybe as well as your buddy's Jeep in the previous videos? Did it have a locker?

But you still didn't have a way to air up, right?

[Nothing Special]

Love the videos! And especially the one with Mikey driving.

The trailer seems to have done very well. I've often wondered how they are on the trail, but it seems to have followed nicely. What did you think about it? Could you go where you wanted to go? Did it tend to stop you at times?

And the S10 seems to have done well. Maybe as well as your buddy's Jeep in the previous videos? Did it have a locker?

But you still didn't have a way to air up, right?

The trailer wasn't really a hindrance on those trails. I have thought about how it would do on a trail like the Rubicon where traction is more limited as you are climbing big rocks. I can see needing a strap on occasion there. But it worked well for us.

The S-10 was the ZR2 model, which is pretty good right out of the box with ~31" BFG AT tires stock and the clearance to use them. And yes, he added a LockRight locker to the rear. I'd say it was quite a bit more capable than the green CJ5 from the earlier videos except that it was bigger when maneuverability was at a premium and it was a lot nicer when just sending it might be the tactic!

And correct, still no on-board air and still running street pressure.

[grumpin]

The trailer wasn't really a hindrance on those trails. I have thought about how it would do on a trail like the Rubicon where traction is more limited as you are climbing big rocks. I can see needing a strap on occasion there. But it worked well for us.

The S-10 was the ZR2 model, which is pretty good right out of the box with ~31" BFG AT tires stock and the clearance to use them. And yes, he added a LockRight locker to the rear. I'd say it was quite a bit more capable than the green CJ5 from the earlier videos except that it was bigger when maneuverability was at a premium and it was a lot nicer when just sending it might be the tactic!

And correct, still no on-board air and still running street pressure.

I’ve got my eye on a 2001 S10 ZR2. A friend used to sell them and says they are great little pickups.

It’s far away but I’ll be in the area next week, hopefully, getting some snow. I’ll see if it’s still there this weekend.

Speaking of which, had an errand to run today and thought I’d better get gas. I forget how much the NP 208 whines while in 4WD!

Neat stories on what you guys did!

[Gary Lewis]

I’ve got my eye on a 2001 S10 ZR2. A friend used to sell them and says they are great little pickups.

It’s far away but I’ll be in the area next week, hopefully, getting some snow. I’ll see if it’s still there this weekend.

Speaking of which, had an errand to run today and thought I’d better get gas. I forget how much the NP 208 whines while in 4WD!

Neat stories on what you guys did!

Bob - Interesting about the trailer. I'd often wondered.

But I didn't know those S10 ZR2's were that capable. His really did well compared to the Jeep.

Dane - You'll have to tell us how the search for the S10 goes. Don't hesitate to post what you find.

As for the t-case whine, Big Blue is rather noisy on the mountain. The headers and Magnaflow's can be heard, but that BW1345 makes the most noise.

[grumpin]

Bob - Interesting about the trailer. I'd often wondered.

But I didn't know those S10 ZR2's were that capable. His really did well compared to the Jeep.

Dane - You'll have to tell us how the search for the S10 goes. Don't hesitate to post what you find.

As for the t-case whine, Big Blue is rather noisy on the mountain. The headers and Magnaflow's can be heard, but that BW1345 makes the most noise.

The S10 sold today.

$5000.00 firm on the price, nowadays I didn’t expect it to last.

I guess since these transfer cases don’t get used a lot, they like to sing when they do!