FinalGear 4Wheelers meet? - Moab

JipJopJones

JipJopJones

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Location
North Shore
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1979 Cressida Wagon, 1981 Corolla Hardtop
So I'm heading down to Moab this may 2nd and I'll be in the area for probably about a week. Then I'm heading elsewhere (but not too far) and I figured I'd put the word out incase any "locals" wanted to do a mini FinalGear meetup. Perhaps hit up some trails.

I know there are a couple of you within a reasonable driving distance, so as I said, I thought I'd put the word out and if you've got nothing better to do, why not make the drive and do some 4wheeling? :cool:
 
JipJopJones said:
So I'm heading down to Moab this may 2nd and I'll be in the area for probably about a week. Then I'm heading elsewhere (but not too far) and I figured I'd put the word out incase any "locals" wanted to do a mini FinalGear meetup. Perhaps hit up some trails.

I know there are a couple of you within a reasonable driving distance, so as I said, I thought I'd put the word out and if you've got nothing better to do, why not make the drive and do some 4wheeling? :cool:
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I'm totally down for a trip to Moab!

I've been looking to get someone to go with me and I get some interest but no one that can confirm on a date. I should have my Toyota Pickup crawler ready, but depending on what trails we run I would maybe drive my lightly modified Toyota 4runner instead (welded rear and I'll have a dual transfercase in it before long).

I'm in Denver, but its a half day drive so not too bad.

Here are my rigs...

My "work in progress" Crawler
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and my 4runner
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I'm up for whatever, but would prefer camping to getting a hotel room. Not sure how much you want to wheel compared to other activities, but I usually prefer to spend most of my days there out on the trail.
 
Bah, you're all in the wrong country! :p
 
I'll have a few of my buddies with me, and I'm pretty sure they want to do other things than just go wheeling, so I was thinking 2-3 days of 4x4ing, then the rest seeing the sights of southern Utah.

As for trails, I'm thinking of keeping it to the more moderate ones. Stuff that's still fun, but I really don't feel like breaking anything on my Jeep when I'm over 1000 miles from home.

My Jeep is locked at both ends, with 35" tires, so I'm sure we can find some decent stuff that will be fun but non-breakage worthy.

I'm totally up for camping too, that was the plan with my friends. We're trying to keep the trip Cheap.

Matt2000 said:
Bah, you're all in the wrong country! :p
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It's too bad too, because I'd love to see that LR in action.
 
TC said:
You have excellent taste in rigs. :p

I'd love to go to Moab someday, but it won't be anytime soon sadly.
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Thanks.....two 88' Toyota's in my possession, one much more built then the other. Rocking my subbie as a daily driver.

Moab is truly awesome and even when you aren't having the greatest trip its still hugely enjoyable. The first trip out there in my Pickup I spun a rod bearing in the engine and had to have it towed home, but still had fun riding with others. Then on my last trip there I had this happen....

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...but got it back to town and welded back up and spent almost 2 weeks wheeling the crud out of it afterwards. Missed out last year, which sucks, but I'm not gonna let it happen this year. Definitely worth the drive, though there are definitely some great offroad trails in Arizona too.

If its only gonna be a day or two of wheeling then I'd probably just bring the 4runner since its much nicer to drive on the highway and I don't have a tow rig.

I'm definitely penciling in the dates into my schedule and will do my best to come.
 
Sounds good man, It'd be sweet to have someone who knows the area. I'm pretty much been going off of what people say on the internet to find out about trails and such.
 
Cool man.

Best trail resource out there is www.traildamage.com with full descriptions of the trails and they even have .kmx or .gpl files you can plug into a Google Earth or your GPS unit thats makes navigating easier. Its mostly a Colorado based site, but they have the Moab area pretty well covered. Last time I used Orux Maps (android app) and downloaded the satellite images to navigate with, as its really easy to see the tire tracks on the slick rock that way.

A good first day is Fins n Things, and if that goes well, Hells Revenge. They are right outside town and are a ton of fun and you spend most of the time on Slick Rock. If you like those, then the Poison Spider trio (Poison Spider, Goldbar Rim and Golden Spike) makes a long but very fun day. I've always wanted to do Cliff Hanger, and I hear good things about Metal Masher and Steel Bender as easier trails to get out on too.

If you want to get into Canyon Lands, Elephant Hill is a fun one, and is a bit over an hour drive from Moab and is doable by anything with a low range t-case. Same goes for Top of the World, which is maybe half an hour from Moab and has the best views in the area and a cool picture opportunity at the top...

Top-of-the-World-1.jpg


The whole area around Moab is crazy and has so many places you can explore, and that is not even counting setting foot in the National Parks (which are very cool too). I've been going there since I was a kid so I lose sight of how unique it is, but its almost like going to another planet sometimes.

Don't let the names intimidate you, they are much scarier then they ought to be.
 
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I'm already planning to be there May 5-9 to ride dirt bikes. If you guys are still around on the 10th I could do a trail or two, but I'll only have my 2 wheeled machines, the Jeep is still in Texas.
 
I'll be in the general vicinity from May 2nd to probably the 13th or 14th. So if later works for people, my friends and I can get the touristy parts out of the way and save the wheeling for later.

@Electric-Mayhem: Thanks for all the info, it sounds like you know the area quite well. I've been looking over trails, and yes, the names can be very intimidating. Haha! I thought Poision Spider was a lot harder, but then I saw a pretty much stock looking 4Runner on the trail (pics) so I honestly have no idea what trails I'll be capable of untill I see them/do a bit more research.
 
I'd like to be there, but the 2nd is the last day of finals week for me, and funds for gas (and time, for that matter) might be a bit tight. I don't even know if I can get my truck street-legal by then (registration lapsed on it, needs a grand worth of tires)

I might be heading back east sometime in may (plans for that are super tentative depending on whether or not I am going to be taking extra classes this summer), so I may not even be available. I'll know more come the first week of april.
 
JipJopJones said:
@Electric-Mayhem: Thanks for all the info, it sounds like you know the area quite well. I've been looking over trails, and yes, the names can be very intimidating. Haha! I thought Poision Spider was a lot harder, but then I saw a pretty much stock looking 4Runner on the trail (pics) so I honestly have no idea what trails I'll be capable of untill I see them/do a bit more research.
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No problem.

I've done 3 or 4 different wheeling specific trips out there and have spent time in the area since I was kid, so I know it pretty well.

Any of those trails I listed above are doable by any vehicle with a low range t-case, its just down to your pucker factor and what you are comfortable with. There will be stuff that might scare you, but no uber exposed or truly dangerous stuff. At least for me, its only worth doing if its a 4/5 or higher, the only exception being if there is something cool to go see or do on an easier trail.

The cool thing about Moab is that a lot of the trails have multiple routes around an obstacle that vary in difficulty, so you can make it as difficult as you want. There are definitely some hard trails like Pritchett Canyon and Behind the Rocks that have mandatory obstacles that can roll you, but we'll be avoiding those (unless you want to hike it or something).

You can get the Charles Wells Moab book, which is a nice reference to have in the vehicle and such. I recommend the spiral bound version (you can buy it from his website) but the bound version works great too. He tends to rate the trails harder then they deserve, and I think the trail damage site I linked above is more reasonable.

Should be fun, and I promise I won't push anyone too hard.
 
Sounds good to me!

I'm looking forward to it!

Edit: I'd love to do the Poison Spider Trio, after reading about it, it seems like it's got the good stuff. Ever since I was a kid I've wanted to try out the golden crack.

I will admit though, I don't consider myself the most experienced 4wheeler, my Jeep is probably a lot more capable than I am. But then again, there is only one way to gain experience... :cool:
 
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So....still thinking the first week of May or are we gonna do it the second week?

I usually like to do it over a long weekend, leave home in the afternoon on Thursday and drive and spend Friday through Sunday or Monday doing fun stuff and then drive home the evening of the last day or first thing in the morning the next day. I realize I am probably the closest member to this that is planning on going, so that schedule may or may not work for others but let me know.

At this point I can do the first or second weekend of May, so whichever works for the most people.
 
I'm still planning on going for now, so long as I can get the Blazer registered in time. Looks like the money for that is going to come through, I just need to arrange to get the new tires, inspection, and registration done.
The second weekend in may would probably be better for me, but since I'll need the truck to get all my school stuff home anyways, it should be ready by the first weekend in may.

The truck is a completely bone-stock K5 Blazer though, and while it is surprisingly capable as-is, I do not have any sort of traction device in either the front or rear axle.

I'll be up in Spanish Fork by then, so Moab is only about 3 hours away. so I'll probably show up early friday morning (if we go for the second weekend in may) or sat morning (for the first weekend in may) and stay till I've had enough, or I've spent enough on gas hehe.
 
Sweet...sounds good to me. I'm fine with the second weekend, and its sounds like others will be there through that time too. If my schedule is still free I may show up early and join JipJopJones or something. Might try and get some other 4x4 friends to come along too. Even more ideal would be to score a ride on a Trailer, but I'm not counting on it.

I think your K5 will be fine. The cool thing about Moab is that the slick rock is really the opposite, and as long as you keep all 3 wheels on the ground you don't really need lockers. Don't get me wrong, they help, but aren't absolutely necessary.
 
I'll be down there the 2nd (or rather leaving on the 2nd, down there the 3rd) of may, but if people want to hold off wheelin' until the 10th/11th/12th, that's totally fine with me. I'm sure my friends and I can keep ourselves occupied with hikes and other exploring in the mean time.

EDIT: I just got back this sunday from the Portland swapmeet. I was using this run as a "warm up" for the newly modified Jeep - I was really happy with how well my Jeep performed on the highway. Although my fuel mileage has dropped significantly... :(

oh well :lol:
 
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Well Damn.
My parents just informed me that as a surprise to the family, and to celebrate my grandmothers 90th birthday, we are all going on a road trip to either Pittsburgh or west palm beach Florida, leaving on the 9th or 10th of may.

Thanks to school, I wont be able to make it the first weekend of may, and now with this trip back east (which I'm sure to enjoy too) I wont be able to come wheel Moab with you guys.
Shame, but it's a worthy reason to have to miss hehe.

Enjoy your time in Moab JipJopJones and Electric-Mayhem.
 
Too bad man, I but I hear ya. Thats kind of your back yard, so I'd probably take somewhere further away and especially the case with family stuff.

If its just JipJap and I, then I'm kind of thinking the first weekend of May works better for me now. Family is going out of town the second weekend and I'm supposed to babysit the dog. I'd bring him along, but not sure he'd enjoy all the riding around in cars and stuff. If it works better for people,I'm still cool with going the second weekend though, since we can leave the dog with a friend for the weekend too.
 
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