Posted by wws on May 04, 03 at 21:57:18:
Attended the 4WD Safety Clinic yesterday, sponsored by Esprit De Four - a local 4WD club. Took my '96 K1500 Sub. Stock height and stock sized LTX M/S tires. My tires also have 45k miles on them - so looked like racing slicks compared to some of the other vehicles. Went with a pal of mine - who has a '94 Grand Cherokee - also fairly stock.
The event was held at Hollister Hills, California. This is a California state park which is dedicated to off-road vehicles. (See http://www.hollisterhills.com) There were about 60 attendees. I'd say 3/4 had Jeeps of one sort or another. There were only a few Chevys and I was the only Suburban. They split us up by vehicle type. My group included an Avalanche, a Silverado p/u, a Durango, and a few other smaller SUVS.
I should add that it was raining most of the day, so the park got quite muddy and slick. We aired down my tires to 20 lbs.
First up was the 4WD class. It was held in a small 1-room school house on the park property. The instructors talked a lot about equipment, trail safety, how to cross various types of obstacles, etc. Some of it was common sense, some I've known for a long time, but a lot of new things too. Of course the "Tread Lightly" theme. Somebody had a few slides of a guy recklessly playing in a water crossing. Ended up with water in every drivetrain component, fan into the radiator, etc. Several $K in damages...
Next we saddled up and split off into our groups. My group went the 'obstacle course'. First was the 'stair step' - a concrete hill with bumps and large rocks at strategic locations to make it 'interesting'. Short wheelbase vehicles have a problem at the very start because there are two large bumps strategically placed so that you have to power over both at the same time. On the way up you then have to avoid a rock on the right, then veer to the right to make the curve at the top. Of course another stragic bump makes things difficult if you have lost your momentum while trying to avoid the rock. My Sub did fine at the bottom as with the longer wheelbase, as your front wheels are going down the second bump your rears are going over the first bump. So it is easy to keep up the momentum. Half way up the hill was a different matter. Stupid me didn't pay attention and forgot to put the tranny in D1 - so it shifted gears, I flinched, and lost my momentum while trying to avoid that big rock... Several more attemps kept me sliding sideways on the slick concrete and finally in the interest of time, the guide at the top gave me a quick pull with his Scout and up I went. He thought that my problem was that 20 lbsin the tires was a bit high, and by dropping it a couple of psi, I probably would have had no problem.
The 2nd obstacle was easy. Just a series of wooden 'rocks' on a flat - but twisty - course. The intent is to know how to place your tires, especially the rear ones, to use rocks and bumps to lift your drivetrain parts. Due to the long wheelbase on the Sub, one has to go out a bit before turning in order to get a rear wheel placed correctly. I found that I could see my wheel wells by winding the power mirros all the way down, and this actually helped.
The 3rd obstacle was the 'frame twister'. This was a series of logs across a bunch of mud, followed by a water pit with some strategically placed rocks that one has to hit 'just right'. I watched several people go through it, but in the end, both the Silverado guy and I chickened out.
We then went on a trail run. Did I say it was raining and muddy? This first trail was pretty easy with some nice scenery. The only hard parts were a pair of switchbacks which required 3-point turns. The Sub actually required a 4-point turn - in the midst of backing up the second time, the rear wheels slid in the mud and positioned me perfectly to shoot downhill! The next switchback was easy. This then led to the 2nd obstacle course.
The second obstacle course was a pair of, by now, very muddy hill climbs. They wanted to teach a couple of things on these. The first one you go about half way up. Then set the E-brake, put in neutral (NOT 'Park') and turn the engine off. This demos stopping on the hill. Then start up again, and loop around a big tree - at about a 15 degree angle, then slide down the hill. No sweat. The second hill climb one did the same thing. But instead of going all the way up (it was a very long climb), one backs down without turning. This demos using the engine to brake the vehicle in the event you decide you really didn't want to climb that hill after all. Again, no sweat in the Sub.
Last was a final trail run, and this turned out to be the most entertaining event. This trail was a lot muddier than the first. We were slip-sliding our way cautiously through it with no real problem, other than a scraped bottom or two. However near the high point of the trail there was a dirt bank crossing the trail. Most of the vehicles went over it with no problem, then you go downhill - by now *very* muddy - carefully avoiding the large rut on the right side of the trail...
The fellow in the Silverado was in front of me. I was the last student, then after me was an instructor in a lifted Jeep. The Silverado high-centered on the bank. So one of the instructors in front of us drove her Jeepup the hill, used her winch and pulled him across. I decided to go a bit to the right to avoid the spot where he got stuck, ended up sliding in the mud, and got high-centered myself. But with the added bonus that my right front wheel was starting to get caught in that rut... She pulled me across with her winch, but due to the rut I could not get left enough to get around her. So she backed up a bit to give me a bit more room. Unfortunately she got stuck sliding backward, caught in the rut, and her Jeep tipped about 80 degrees on its side! She stopped sliding when her rear got caught in a falled tree branch which was lying across part of the trail.
So with two rescues down, we now had to rescue the rescuer... We ended up completely unwinding her winch cable and hooking it to my Sub (which by now I had finally positioned in a good spot to make the downhill run.) The winch cable just reached, pulled her Jeep back up and onto all 4 wheels. Not a scratch on the Jeep - just muddy! We then went down the hill and I was on my way to the BBQ dinner. Only later did I hear that the instructor behind me got turned sideways going down the hill and got wedged *between* two trees... Glad I missed that one.
My friend did everything in his Grand Cherokee - but did admit that the 'frame twister' was a bit of a problem for him. We had a fine BBQ dinner, then home.
It would have been fun to take a photo of the Sub with all the mud on it. But with the downpour, much of it washed off on the way home.
This was a really fun time. They are going hold another class in september. I'd highly recommend it to anyone who isn't worried about getting their truck dirty.