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Nothing Special home ('wheeling) movies

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    Posted: 12 Dec. 2021 at 9:02pm
We got our first video camera in between my first 'wheeling trip in 1987 and my second in 1993, so all of my 'wheeling trips other than the first one have been partly documented on video.  However I've never had a good way to share them.  This weekend I finally started a YouTube channel with the same name as my screen name here, Nothing Special.

That name REALLY fits my videos!  The amateur nature of the camera work is only surpassed by the amateur nature of the editing!  And the 'wheeling, especially at the beginning, is pretty mild by most YouTube standards.

Still, mild 'wheeling to some is over-the-top for others, so maybe some people will get something out of this.  They certainly show that you don't need to be an expert (either at 'wheeling or at making videos!) to have fun.  So if you're interested, I hope you like them.  If they're not your cup of tea, that's OK too.

I started loading videos chronologically, so right now I only have two videos from my second 'wheeling trip.  This was a trip out to Colorado in July 1993 with a pretty big group of friends but only two trail rigs, a pair of CJ5s.  Mine (the red one) had a 258 six, close ratio T-18 4 speed, stock model 20 t.case, rear Dana 44 with 4.27 gears and a Detroit locker, stock Dana 30 front with an open diff and 235/85-16E BFG Mud-Terrains (~32" tall).  I had just finished building it a few weeks before this trip and really didn't have the carb dialed in yet.  I stalled it OFTEN from sloshing fuel out of the float bowls and flooding it out.

My friends CJ5 had a 258 with a 3 speed, open diffs and 31" BFG M/Ts.

This first video is of Spring Creek Trail outside of Idaho Springs.  It was pretty mild 28 years ago (not so much any more), but still a pretty good challenge for us as beginners.



This second video is of a trail called South Halfmoon Creek near Leadville.  It was more of a scenic trail than a serious challenge (I haven't seen it in years so I don't know what it's like now), but it was a good trail for us at that time.  I had figured out that dropping the float levels kept me from flooding out so often, but there's not much video of my Jeep in this one because my wife rode most of the way (we did get my friend's Jeep when we stopped to watch him go through the most interesting spots).



So anyway, there it is.  I'll be adding the rest of my trips as I get around to it.  Once I get caught up I'll be adding a lot slower as I actually do new stuff.  Thanks for reading and watching!


Edited by Nothing Special - 12 Dec. 2021 at 9:04pm
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Nothing Special Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 15 Dec. 2021 at 12:57pm
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 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 Wink.  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 a hotel 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 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!

St that wraps up that trip.  Thanks for reading and watching!
Bob

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Nothing Special Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 18 Dec. 2021 at 12:09pm
Our next 'wheeling trip was in 1998 to the Black Hills in South Dakota.  The kids were 4 and 2 and we brought both of them.  We flat-towed the Jeep behind my wife's 1993 Explorer and stayed in Yogi Bear's Jellystone Park just south of Rapid City.  The campground had a pool, a TV room with Hanna-Barbera cartoons on video tape and a "train" ride with Yogi every night!  The kids loved all of that!  We also did a lot of touristy stuff to break up the trip (and got ice cream at Mt. Rushmore several times).  That all kept the trip more fun for everyone.  In fact, while this was our first trip to the Black Hills I think we've been there about 8 times now.

But yes, this was still a 'wheeling trip.  There was this new thing called "The Internet" and I had made contact with a guy in a local 4WD club who had suggest some maps I should get.  I met with him on our first day there and he pointed me to some good places to try.  We also made plans to meet up on our last day and he'd guide me on a trail!

We didn't get much video of our first few days.  It was more exploring and not a lot of very difficult challenges.  But we did get some video of a trail I was told was named "Old Miner."  It was mostly a powerline road, with some very steep hills with slightly loose gravel.  It doesn’t look like much in the video, but these hills were hard to walk up or down.  It was a little spooky starting down one the first time, not knowing if I’d be able to drive back up it, but it turned out to be a piece of cake.



This next trail is the one that the local guy guided us on.  He said it was called “Trapper's Run”.  Looking back, as much fun as we had on our other trips, this was the first real rock crawling we’d done other than Spring Creek Trail.  Being able to watch someone else do it first, having an experienced spotter, and knowing that even if I did break I’d be able to get out all made it possible to push my limits farther than I otherwise would’ve.  I also learned to air down tires this day!  I think I went down to about 15 psi.



That's all the video from this trip.  Thanks for reading and watching!
Bob

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Nothing Special Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 19 Dec. 2021 at 8:54am
In 2000 we went to Ouray Colorado.  My wife and both sons (ages 6 and 4) came along, but it was just us with no other vehicles.  We really enjoyed Ouray.  It was great to be able to 'wheel well above treeline, but still camp low enough that altitude sickness wasn't a factor.

The first couple of days were mostly scenic trails rather than big challenges.  We took photos but no video.  That is, until the end of day 2 when we found ourselves at the top of Poughkeepsie Gulch, heading down.

We were back in Ouray in 2018, and Poughkeepsie Gulch was quite a difficult trail in spots then.  But in 2000 it was a really good beginner's challenge.  There were a few places going down that I was a little spooked, but as we looked at the first place, trying to figure out if we could do it, another family came down in a couple of TJ Wranglers (new at that time).  Only one of the people in that group dared drive on some of the sections, but as he shuttled their two Jeeps down I was able to watch how it went and ended up deciding that I could do it too.



The next day we took on Black Bear Road.  My wife was pretty spooked by shelf roads, so I'm not sure how I got her to go on this!  But she was a trooper!  She ended up staying in the Jeep the entire trail, so we only have video from the passenger's seat, and only from just past Adios Curve to the second switchback.  But that's the part that best captures Black Bear anyway.  (And in the audio you get a picture of what it's like to 'wheel with two very young boys!)



We decided to go back to Poughkeepsie again the next day, but to drive up it this time.  We have a lot more video of my boys playing on the rocks (including driving their Jeeps, and my older son's is a flatfender!) than of me playing on the rocks with my CJ5.  We also watched a couple other well-built Jeeps play and we were able to see what lines we wanted to try (or really didn't want to try).  Anyway, here's the little bit of video we have of me on the rocks (with a little of my kids).



After that we packed up camp and headed north to Idaho Springs to run Spring Creek Trail again.  I made it through the rock garden a little easier this time than I had in 1993 due to more experience.  But it was still a challenge.



And that concludes that trip.  Thanks for reading and watching!
Bob

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Nothing Special Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 21 Dec. 2021 at 8:38pm
2001 was another rare trip where I wasn't alone.  My friend with the S-10 was along again on this trip to the Black Hills in South Dakota.

Another significant thing about this trip is that with our boys being 7 and 5 years old we were realizing that a CJ5 was not going to work for us much longer.  I love the smaller Jeeps (which is why I'm here!), but when you put 4 people in a CJ5 you don't have room to also bring lunch!  And two of the people better be really little if it's going to be a very long day.  After this trip I started shopping for a bigger trail vehicle, buying my Bronco in 2002.

But we weren't done with the Jeep yet!  We started this trip with a little 'wheeling in the Badlands.  There wasn't much of a challenge on the trails we found, but it was very different scenery, and was a lot of fun to do.



Our next trail day was in an area I was told was called Calamity Canyon.  It's sort of the southern end of the trail system that includes Camp 5 Road.  We didn't have a great map so we sort of meandered around (you can't be lost if you're not trying to get anywhere in particular!).  We found a few interesting challenges in our explorations.



The next day we explored another trail system that was marked as Horselt Gulch on my map (I keep calling it that even though that may have been a typo since I've also seen it called Horsely Gulch).  In our wanderings we ran into a couple of locals in another CJ5.  They asked if we wanted to go 'wheeling, and of course the answer was yes!  They led us up this steep, rocky hill that was kind of fun.  Then it started raining and they took on a much harder rock crawl than we were up to, so we headed back to camp.



We took a day off 'wheeling and did touristy things the next day, but then we started up a trail called Warrior Gulch.  These was a fun little rock crawl at the beginning, but then the trail started climbing a hill in the woods.  There was a lot of sidehill and eventually I slid off the trail.  After getting everyone else out of the Jeep (and into the poison ivy-infested woods) I tried backing the Jeep back onto the trail, but got hung up on a stump.  Some work with a hi-lift and a come-along was necessary to get me back on the trail.  I was pretty nervous during some of the recovery, but we made it with no injuries or damage.

A fun result of this was that my 5 year old became an expert at spotting poison ivy!  He'd be looking out of the Jeep as we were driving and say "there's some!"  And every time we checked he was right!  (And no one ended up itching.)



Our final trail of the trip was Prospector Gulch.  This had some very fun rocks for the Jeep, but the S-10 was a little more challenged with less ground clearance and a longer wheelbase.  We'd been told we wouldn't get through all the way, so we decided to turn back when we got to a place that seemed a little too likely to bite the S-10s rockers.



And that concludes that trip.  Thanks for reading and watching!
Bob

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Nothing Special Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 23 Dec. 2021 at 2:28pm
Now in 2003 I had the Bronco, but it was no where near ready for a trip.  So we took the Jeep back out to the Black Hills.  This was again just my family (my boys were now 9 and 7).  My skill level was slowly starting to progress, so we were on a little harder trails a little more of the time.

I now had 33/12.50-15C tires in place of the 235/85-16E that I'd had up to this point.  Still BFG Mud-Terrains, but a little taller, a lot wider and a lot softer.  They were a big improvement in ride quality on the trail!

And in an effort to make the small Jeep still work with 4 people I had built a new rear bumper and tire carrier with a Rubicon rack.  That gave us a place to put lunch so everyone's feet could be on the floor!

We started on Prospector Gulch, where we finished the last trip.  Without the S-10 we made it in quite a bit farther, but got to the top of a fairly steep dirt and grass hill.  It was pretty wet and slippery, and with no help and no winch I decided to turn around rather than going down it and possibly getting stuck.

And at the end of this video I included a short clip showing the "train" ride with Yogi Bear that my kids loved in the campground.  It also shows our camping setup at that time.



The only other video-worthy trail of this trip was back on the Calamity Canyon trail system.  We meandered around, figuring out the trails a little more.  But only got video on one short section.



That's it from this trip.  Thanks for reading and watching!
Bob

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Nothing Special Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 24 Dec. 2021 at 12:38pm
In 2004 we were still 'wheeling the Jeep, this time around Leadville Colorado.  My boys were 10 and 8 now, and my older son, Mike, started driving on some of the trails!  I started the engine in gear and he steered while I worked the hand throttle.  Nothing like what Dylan was doing at that age, but still fun for us all (and maybe most fun for his younger brother!).

This first trail, South Halfmoon Creek, is one we'd done a few times before.



The next video is much more of a home movie than a 'wheeling video.  The trail wasn't difficult and my son drove for all of the video.  So feel free to skip this one if you don't want that.  If you do watch it, around 2:55 you hear what Mike thinks of fourwheeling and what our plans were for the Jeep at that time.  But after my wife and I had talked about it more we decided that a CJ-5 wasn't a good first car for a teenage boy and we couldn't justify keeping two toys, so we did sell the Jeep eventually.



We didn't get any video of most of this next trail.  Most of it was in the trees, with steep sidehills and deep bogs.  No danger of dying on this trail, but the possibility of getting stuck alone and without a winch was very real, which made it pretty tense for me.



Tincup Pass was the last trail we ran on this trip.  I always like trails that get above treeline, and this one has the added bonus of having some rocks to crawl over.



That's it for that trip.  Again, thanks for reading and watching!
Bob

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Nothing Special Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 25 Dec. 2021 at 12:10pm
On New Years Day 2006 I got an opportunity to go snow 'wheeling with a few people from the Minnesota Trailriders, a local 4WD club.  My wife thought that going outside in the winter on purpose was ridiculous, so it was just me and my sons (ages 11 and 10).  

This was on some private land owned by one of the club members.



Thanks for reading and watching!


Edited by Nothing Special - 25 Dec. 2021 at 11:00pm
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Nothing Special Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 25 Dec. 2021 at 11:20pm
In 2006 we went to the Iron Range OHV area in northern Minnesota for the first time (also called "Gilbert" for the name of the town it's next to).  This is next to a retired open pit mine.  The pit is now a lake (Lake Ore-Be-Gone, I kid you not) and the old tailing piles are a rock crawler's paradise!

My wife and both sons (ages 12 and 10) were with me on this trip.  And I should warn you that in addition to my younger son doing some driving on this trip for the first time, he also debuted as a videographer and color commentator!  He's improved a lot since then.  But seriously, there is still some good rock crawling here.

By the way, this ended up being the last trip for the Jeep.  It was taking too much time, space and money that was holding up the Bronco project.  With the Jeep gone I did get the Bronco out on the roads and trails the next year, but it took another 3 years before it was working well at either.

Anyway, here's this trip.



Thanks for reading and watching!
Bob

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Nothing Special Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 26 Dec. 2021 at 1:09pm
Our next trip, and our first trip with the Bronco, was in 2007 to the Black Hills.  I don't have any video from that trip.  At that time the Bronco had an automatic trans and electric cooling fans.  That combination was not good.  I had overheating problems driving on the roads in the Black Hills, and could hardly do any trail driving without sending temperatures soaring.  I also had open diffs in both axles.  The result of that combination was that there just wasn't any 'wheeling worth video.

Over the next few years I pulled the automatic trans out and put the stock 3 speed manual back in, and added a Detroit locker in the rear.  So when we went back to the Black Hills in 2010 we were able to use the Bronco more and got some video.

This first video is a short section of Prospector Gulch.  I had done this trail with the Jeep, and I found it much more difficult in the Bronco.  The A/T tires (rather than M/T) might have been a factor.  The Bronco might not flex as well as the Jeep did.  But another big issue was the crawl ratio.  Both had the same 34:1, but the Jeep engine would idle down better while the Bronco engine kept dying if I didn't go too fast.  Oh well, room for improvement!  Anyway, here's Prospector Gulch:



In this next video we were starting into the Horselt Gulch trails.  My younger son (age 14) was filming and providing commentary while my older son (age 16) was driving.  Mike wanted to stop before this mud but I told him to keep going.  Getting back out on our own with only a hi-lift, a come-along and a lot of rope was a different type of challenge than I was hoping for!



Then we went back into the Calamity Canyon trails (with more 14 year old commentary).  One sign here that we had turned a corner in our rockcrawling is at 1:30 in the video.  I was going to take a bypass but my wife wanted me to take the harder line so she could get better pictures!



We finished the trip back at Horselt Gulch (but skipping the mud!).  We didn't get into anything too challenging here, and no one got out to film much, so most of the video is from inside the Bronco, not the greatest perspective for a video, but it's what I have.  And by the way, the hill we go down at the end is the hill the S-10 and I went up in 2001.



Thanks for reading and watching!
Bob

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Nothing Special Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 26 Dec. 2021 at 7:38pm
It was a little while before I was able to take the Bronco on another trip, but in 2014 we went back to the Black Hills.  That had given me time to make some improvements.  That, along with my younger son's driving ability and confidence improving, allowed us to do some significantly more difficult trails.

The biggest change to the Bronco was installing an Atlas 4.3:1 transfer case and NV3550 5 speed trans.  That took it from a 34:1 crawl ratio to 71:1.  That completely transformed it off-road!  I also had replaced the ineffective electric cooling fans, going back to the stock mechanical fan.

For our first trail on this trip we were back to Prospector Gulch.  Both of my sons also drove on this trail.  As we were playing around with the Bronco's new capability we found our limits, but the Bronco did quite well.



Our second trail was a new one for us, a forest road off Bogus Jim Road.  My older son and I both drove this trail.  The Bronco took some rather tame damage here, mostly the wipers and antenna were broken by tree branches, but we also crunched both rear quarters.



Trail 3 was another new one for us.  No colorful name, just FR 8085 on the map.  No big rocks here, but the low gearing was sure nice on the STEEP hills on a somewhat loose surface.  And weaving through tight trees was interesting too.  Too bad "steep" never shows well on photos or videos...



For our fourth trail of the trip we went back to the familiar Calamity Canyon.  But now with a better map and a more capable vehicle we weren't... exploring quite as much.  It was interesting to see how te 71:1 crawl ratio did hitting rocks.  Even with a manual trans and not touching the clutch the tires hit the rocks, it pauses briefly and then goes right over, pretty much the same speed it was going.  I like this setup!

And yes, at about 7:40 the cameraman slips and falls.  But hey, at least I kept the Bronco in the picture!



For our last trail we headed right back to Calamity Canyon where we found a couple of short fun sections that we could loop back over with different drivers and different lines. 



That's it for that trip.  Thanks for reading and watching!
Bob

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Nothing Special Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 28 Dec. 2021 at 7:15pm
In 2015 we went back to the Iron Range OHV park in Gilbert Mn.  We were definitely doing some harder trails now, but a lot of the time both of my boys wanted to ride, so much of the video is shot from inside the Bronco.  That's not my favorite perspective to watch, but it's what we have.

Most of this video is working our way up a steep hill with kind of loose dirt and a few big rocks.  "Steep" never shows up well in pictures or videos, but as you hear the tires slipping it gives some idea.  By the top I was wishing for a winch, and if I'd had one I'd have used it.  Since I didn't I managed to drive all the way.



The second part of this series is meandering around on a few different trails.  Nothing as steep as in part 1!  But a few bigger rocks.



Part 3 is more wandering around, but we did have fun on some rocks.  Well, most of us had fun.  Starting at 4:50 you can see what Kirby, my wife's Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, thinks about having "her person" not be in the vehicle with her!



In part 4 we found a few bigger rocks, including a few that stopped us (at least briefly).  This was a fun, challenging day for us!



Thanks for reading and watching!
Bob

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote otto Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 28 Dec. 2021 at 7:43pm
You can tell the trail in the first video is indeed steep. I have ridden countless trails like that on a motorcycle where photos and video made it look much flatter. Sometimes it was tough to explain to others why it was difficult to climb it. 
Guess you just had to be there.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Nothing Special Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 30 Dec. 2021 at 1:05pm
In 2017 we headed back to Gilbert in northern Minnesota.  This was a short quick trip, mostly to test out our new-to-us motorhome on a weekend that ended up being good for motorhome testing (cold and rainy).  The weather cooperated enough for the 'wheeling, but we didn't get a lot of video, so I threw in a few still pics.

This trip was just my wife, my younger son and I.  Dan and I kept working better together so we keep increasing the amount of trouble we can get in!

I had added a winch since the last trip.  It's a Warn 8000 lb with a wire rope.  It's on a receiver mount so I can use it at either end, or take it off completely when I'm at home.  I ended up getting an opportunity to try it out on day 2.

Here on day 1 we were playing at the Iron Range OHV Area again.



On day 2 we tried out a new trail nearby, the Mesabi Mountain Trail.  At least at that time it was an out-and-back trail.  I've heard they've added on to it since then, but I don't know if it's just longer or if it goes through or anything.  In 2017 there were plenty of obstacles for us, some beyond our comfort level (and probably abilities).  But there was always a bypass  we could make, so we did get all the way to the end.

The one opportunity to use the winch was more an opportunity than a necessity.  I was a little hung up on a ledge, and I had slid to the left a bit, so if I backed straight up I'd be backing off the trail.  I'd like to think I could have driven out of there with some effort, but having the new winch to try out made it simple.

And VERY little video from this day, but here's what I've got.



Thanks for reading and watching!
Bob

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Nothing Special Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 31 Dec. 2021 at 12:08pm
A couple months after that trip we went back out to the Black Hills.  This was our fifth "last family vacation," and so far at least it really was the last.  It was also our last trip to the Black Hills, at least to date.  I expect we'll go back sometime.

For some reason we didn't get any video until the last day of this trip, but this day was pretty good.  This might be some of the most serious rock crawling that I have on video.  Not saying it's extreme by YouTube standards, but it's pretty good, at least for me and my vehicle.

This is also a good commercial for the need for a front locker.  Much of the video shows us struggling to get over things that would be a lot easier if I could just make that right front tire keep turning!

At 3:55 there's also a commercial for rock rails.  It doesn't show real well in the video, but that's where I did probably the worst body damage I've done 'wheeling so far.  I have added rock rails since then, and in doing that I cut off all of the damage I did here, so it's all good now!

And one other thing to note, I had torn a motor mount earlier in this trip.  I didn't realize that until I got home and started looking things over, but by this point I had certainly noticed that I had torn the exhaust open.  Turned out that the engine moving had pulled the pipe off the manifold, so it sounds a little rougher than normal (and that's putting it charitably)



And that might about be it for this thread.  I think I have separate trip reports for all of the trips I've taken since this one, so I think I'll go back to those threads to add video rather than posting the video here.

Thanks for reading and watching!
Bob

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'71 Ford Bronco
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Nothing Special Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 01 Jan. 2022 at 8:36am
I guess I spoke a bit too soon.  I forgot that I don't have a trip report for the trip I was invited on to Southern Missouri Off Road Ranch in 2020.  Brian (Bridog) invited me to join a group of people from this page so I got to meet and 'wheel with him, Dylan and Brian's daughter (Molly? sorry, I'm not sure I remember her name), Fuzz (snave), Jeff (jpet), Dale, Alan (AKoller), Wade (sonoblast) and others who's names I don't remember.  It was a great time!

I drove my Bronco 600 miles down to Missouri, 'wheeled a couple days and then drove it home.  I came down alone except for my dog, Kenzie.

This first video is stuff others shot of my Bronco.  While some of this 'wheeling was the rock crawling I'm used to (where a heavy throttle can break things and I'm usually alone, so I really don't want to break things!), much of it was steep hills with loose surfaces where a heavy throttle is more necessary.  My lack of experience with that, as well as my need to drive it 600 miles to get home, limited my success a bit.  But I still had fun, and I always eventually got where I needed to go (even if it was with a little help from my friends).



This next video is from the passenger's seat of Bam Bam!  Jeff was nice enough to offer Kenzie and me a ride up "Rocky Road", a trail I wasn't going to attempt given the 600 mile drive ahead of me.  It was an experience that neither Kenzie nor I will ever forget (although only one of us would like to repeat it!)



The last video from this trip is mostly some stuff I shot of Blueberry, Olive Oyl and Bam Bam going up "Larry's Hill."  It was fun watching what good drivers in good vehicle with good spotters could do!  (And this was definitely Kenzie's favorite way to experience 'wheeling!)



Huge thanks to Brian for inviting me, Jeff for the ride in Bam Bam and to Fuzz, Dale, Alan and everyone else who made me and my Bronco feel welcome in a group of Jeeps!

These are the last videos I'll be putting in this thread.  I only have videos of one more trip to load and I know I have a trip report for it.  So thanks again for reading at watching!
Bob

Flatfender wannabe
'71 Ford Bronco
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