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Hallo'wharrie 2011 Aftermath, Pictures, and Stories!

22K views 58 replies 17 participants last post by  Ekholm1997 
#1 ·
I just got home from Uwharrie, and I know there are plenty of stories and pictures to be shared. I quickly got the tail light and turn signal lens from my brown truck and fixed my busted lights, so that is good and I did finish replacing my outer tie rod end. The Pin Ball Wizard rides again..... :twisted:

So lets hear the stories of the workday extravaganza, the great Zeno's Calzone eating contest hosted by Ron, the routine night run that ended up not being so routine! I will post more later after I get some food in me.
 
#2 ·
did it drive well going down the road. you did well putting it together you should be proud. now you need to get the brakes fixed.
 
#3 ·
I'll get some pics up later but the run Saturday night was a blast! Yeah Eli..................so much for "routine" Noting like looking out the top of my windshield and seeing you teetering in the turn! I thought we were about to have a rolling Raider! Of course that WAS a nice hole/rut right there on the onside of that turn. I had to back up a bit and move over to get by.
 
#5 ·
both hammer and fork. That thing was welded on. hahahaha but eventually the pickle fork prevailed.
 
#7 ·
Great shot of "that ole rascal"


Looks like a good time was had by all. That and another successful trash collection. I wish I could have been there.
 
#8 ·
I second Mark's thoughts. It kills me that I missed both events this year and things are not looking good for my Trooper's future. It seems to need more attention than I can afford to give it at the moment.

Hopefully I will be there for next spring's event! I hope someone used my site and it didn't go to waste.
 
#9 ·
Man it was great to see you all even if it was only for a few. So it sounds like I missed the best part of the trip damn!! :( What happened on this not so routine night run?

Leland thanks for all the great pics I think this may be my new favorite

 
#11 ·
2002trooper4me said:
I second Mark's thoughts. It kills me that I missed both events this year and things are not looking good for my Trooper's future. It seems to need more attention than I can afford to give it at the moment.

Hopefully I will be there for next spring's event! I hope someone used my site and it didn't go to waste.
Mike, didn't you ride with me to the Spring '11 event? 8)

I know what you are saying, though--it was a bummer to miss the Fall event--all the conditions are just right at Uwharrie! Hope to also attend the Spring '12 event. Great pictures, all, and I'm anxious to read about the stories.
 
#12 ·
squatch said:
Great shot of "that ole rascal"
Yep, but what is that, the Stargate.
 
#13 ·
The whole weekend had went smoothly without as much as a hiccup (to my knowledge at least) and then the Saturday night run was just around the corner. We ate at Zeno's early just to make sure we made a night run. So after seeing Dutch John going down it yesterday, I figured it would be dried out by now and fairly easy. Add Falls Dam to the mix and I figured a Falls Dam to Dutch John run would be easy with no problems.

So we went out and got all the way to the hill climb on Dutch John (near the end of the trail) with no problems. Some of the group even played in the mud holes on Falls Dam with no issues. So I was trail leader so I was first one up the hill climb. I didn't even remember I hadn't aired down all weekend. I had mentioned it on the way there, but when we finally got to the hill climb it magically slipped my mind to air down. So my bias ply TSLs were essentially like those toy bouncy balls you played with in the house until they broke a window. Mistake number 1. Having seen the hill climb just yesterday I assumed it would be dry, Mistake number 2. I have run the hill climb enough times (even once with a failing carb that crapped out the next day) I had an idea of what level throttle to use etc, but that information was based on it being dry and with aired down tires. Mistake number 3. So I get going up the hill climb everything is going smoothly till I get to the corner. Its more rutted out on the left than I remember and I didn't see the rut on the right had returned so I hugged the right (taking the wrong line) and the bouncing began. I never bounced like that before ever and before I could make it past the rutted area it bounced so hard it died out.

I rolled back down the hill all the way down with no brakes. But I didn't just slide I bounced between the walls on 2 tires, hit one side with the drivers front and rear passengers on the ground then slam the other way with the passengers front and drivers rear on the ground. I thought we were going to roll backwards end over end down the hill, that is how high in the air we were bouncing. We finally came to a stop and not hearing any noises to tell me I had my passengers outer tie rod end come apart I took stab number 2 at it. I got to the turn in the hill climb and tried to turn. To my horror (not exaggerating) instead of turning the truck headed straight and my drivers side tire started climbing the vertical wall in front of us, but before I could think another thought we dropped/slid 4-5 feet off the wall angled just enough to go around the corner and we bounced far enough up I thought we are going to make it. But I was wrong, we bounced and died out just before clearing the rutted section. Again we slid back with no brakes but this time I got wedged at an angle right after the turn. My front passengers turn sign in the right hand side wall, and the drivers side turn signal wedged into the left hand side wall.

I wasn't getting out of the truck, and it felt like I was about to roll down the hill if I made one wrong move. Van came up the hill and started to winch my rear end around so I could come down the hill. As he winched the rear passengers tire started to leak air/come off the bead. So he had to stop, that meant I had to go back up forward a couple feet some how to get angled correctly to roll back down the hill. At this point I still didn't know my tie rod had come apart on the way down from my first attempt up so when I heard talk of my tire being messed up I figured my rear passenger tire that was leaking got messed up. Wrong. By the time we rolled me down to the flat spot I found out my tie rod was no good. I had a heavy sinking feeling wondering how would we get my truck off the trail, I am stuck between a hill climb and a switch back. Someone (Ron or someone else) said something about using wire to wrap around the tie rod to hold it together. The bailing wire I had put in my truck to help a co-worker get their muffler held up off the ground turned out to be just the ticket. Ron flipped the tie rod over on top of the castle nut and Van wrapped the wire around it.

At this point I have no want to drive up the hill climb in any shape or form. Let alone be dragged up it with a tie rod wrapped in wire. We unlock my hubs and van drags me up the hill climb me pushing the gas just a little. My truck I guess didn't want to quit all the way so after the ruts it drove up the last short span of the hill climb to the flat area. At this point I almost fall out of the truck my heart racing just happy to be past the hill. Then the reality of how am I going to get home sets on me. Finding parts for a rare vehicle on a Sunday didn't give me any hope. But on the way back I tried to be positive, and we joked over the CB about it all. I said something about my truck bouncing around like a ping pong ball. Ron said no, more line a pinball. The Pinball Wizard song popped into my head, and I said yeah like the Pinball Wizard. And since then it has kind of stuck. Turns out my decision to let the tie rod end go a little longer when the grease fitting got bent and I couldn't grease it was another mistake. Mistake number 4 to be exact. The tie rod was completely dry on the inside, so if it hadn't gone on the trail it probably would have been on the way home on the highway. It was the grace of god that things didn't go much much worse.

A big thanks to everyone that helped me, including a huge thanks to Van, Kenny, Ron, Ernie (?), and Janet. Without the help from everyone I would have been stranded on the Dutch John trail.
 
#14 ·
Man, I'm still tired. What a GREAT weekend!!!
Glad to hear you were able to get "Pinball Wizard's" Raider back on the road. Looked like you guys had it licked when I left. Did you figure out a way to get the tie rod end mounted to Eli's hood while you were at it? :idea:
I wanted to give out a quick thanks to everyone that attended. Eli, thanks for spotting me up that first switch back, that would have been pretty difficult without your help. To all the new "peeps" I had the privledge of meeting this weekend (forgive me if I miss anyone :shock: ) in no particular order, Van, Eli, Dylan, Ron, Ernie, Leland, Jerry, Kenny, Wayne, Joe and everyone else that I can't remember your name, thanks for making me feel welcome. My Rodeo and I had a blast!!! :D
Stories and pics to follow....
 
#15 ·
Mike, pleasure to meet you as well. like the rodeo very much. shoot me a PM about the parts also.

Pinball... ;) anytime. glad i was there to help. Van did a great job wiring that Tierod on. i was just lucky enough to get the jam nut loose and it fit over the castle nut, PLUS Ernie (i think) had the TOOLS!!!! that was the important part. all we saw at the bottom of the hill was your taillights shaking, rocking, back and forth and looked like you were going over. even with my weight on the front bumper that truck was only on 3 wheels and the right rear was leaking quickly...NOT a good combo. we all made it out alive, and i had a great weekend with my family and you all!!!
 
#16 ·
Thanks to everyone that attended and helped on the cleanup day/workday. I guess I'll never understand the mentality of people who go camping or 4wheeling to enjoy the outdoors and then leave trash behind. :roll: It was great to see some old faces and meet some new. :D

I'll have to start off by saying that I'm surprised nobody saw the irony in this pic of Jerry... after all, he's always been a prankster and has a little devil in him... look at the devils tail in the left flame. :lol: :lol:


Now on to some random pics... video coming soon.
 

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#17 ·
Bailing wire tie rod end. Now that is some dirt road engineering for sure. I'm glad to hear it all worked out and nobody got hurt. Another good adventure story for years to come.

Adventure is what happens when things don't go as planned. No need to seek adventure it will find you! When it turns out OK it's an adventure. When it doesn't it's a catastrophy!
 
#18 ·
Man that was a crazy night it seems like. Man i kinda hate i missed the run but glad everyone is safe and got home ok! It was great to see old friends and make some new ones. From looking over the truck looks like i scratched and dented the skids a little and put a huge gash in my frame and ripped the body mount on the frame side. Nothing too serious and can be fixed very quickly. I will say I still never saw that rock on Rocky Mtn. untill it was under the truck, It was so big Darlington said it had a sign on it " Dont drive over me!!!" LOL.
 
#25 ·
Nice vids Van. Wayne I have to say both your truck and your off road driving skills have come a long way since that 1st trip to URE last year. I love the little side step your truck did in that last video. Gotta love a 1st gen. They are like a good dog so eager to please.
 
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