If you get a "page not found" error or something similar, please try again later. The server owner has limited the bandwidth to my site (that's the price I have to pay for free server space. LOL.) Since this will be hitting all my lists at once, etc, there will probably be a lot of folks trying to hit on the site. Please be patient and check back if you don't get in on the first try. The page will be slow to load due to the pictures embedded in the trip report, and, if you decide to check out the picture link at the bottom of the page, please remember that it will load VERY VERY SLOW. I cut out more than 1/2 the pictures that we took, but there is still a LOT of them there (400-ish). Click on an image for the larger pic.
JB, really enjoyed seeing your pictures and reading your reports. Our group (Creeper Jeepers, Durango CO) was on the Rubicon the 16th - 18th and probably just missed you. Since we only had 2 1/2 days we skipped the Little Sluice and did the bypass, which was tough enough. Stayed at Buck Island the first night, then stopped at Rubicon Springs early the second afternoon and camped the night. Did Cadillac Hill on day 3 and we were back in Tahoe in time to catch a dinner cruise on the MS Dixie.
We all survived with just a few dings and a broken hard brake line on an XJ. I "doinked" both of the front fenders on my YJ with the tires from underneath (wanted tube fenders, anyway) and peeled the cover back on my rear D60 just enough to watch it drip for 3 days, wondering how much gear oil was left every morning. (I put a drip pan under it and measured the loss!) Still had plenty when I got back to Tahoe, at which time I wrapped it in a towel, which the group dubbed "the diaper", which I will not live down soon. The best part is that a nice Poison Spider "Rock Ring" that would have prevented all this was sitting on my workbench, too busy / lazy to install it before I left town.
I was busy driving so I only got about 50 shots in the whole time we were on the trail. However the others got quite a few, so as soon I have everyone's photos sorted I'll put a link up on Webshots.
Glad you all made it back safe & sound. Sounds like you had more of a "carnage adventure" than we did, but the trail is not to be missed.
Actually, we had less big carnage that I thought we would. the brakes were scary but easily fixed. Its funny how the body damage didnt bother me. Nothing like rolling your rig to put it all in perspective! I figured I would be the one with the busted axles, but I guess I got lucky!! I really liked the trail a lot. Its not like Moab where you have hard obsticales and then a nice drive, and then some more hard stuff. Its rock, all the time rock, and then the rock gets bigger and badder in the hard stuff. You have to be on top of it all the time. I was bummed to miss cadilac hill, but the guys didnt want to go out that way. Rubicon springs was nice, the day trip there and back was fun. Little sluice looked like fun for about 1/2 way up. LOL. Then the rock is too big for my 33's. Old sluice and Big Sluice were just plain fun (well, other than the brakes). I dont know if I mentioned it in the trip report or not, but I was the only driver that had never done the trail before. They kept forgetting that, and it was so very different from what I am used to. I cant wait to go back again!! (once I get my rig out of the shop - my mechanic is having a heyday, all the parts showed up this afternoon and he got really excited about it and started working on it already.) We are doing the tera rear brake conversion, PS trail corners, and flush mounted tail lights, in addition to a sh**load of maintenance work.
Yep, the diaper will be hard to live down. As will Todd's "axle tampon" (I forgot and left it out of the trip report) ... the plug he made to go inside the axle housing for the trip home - its absorbent on the inside, its got a string on it, so what else could you call it? Maria kept us in stiches for about 15 minutes with that. Unfortunitly, that was some of the pics on the camera card that went bad on me. =( It was a rubber glove stuffed with rags, with a zip tie on the middle to hold it together and a string from that so that he could get a hold of it to pull it out when he got the rig home.
Glad to hear you guys had a good time too. I'll look fowards to seeing those pic's!
I wasn't aware there was another way out other than Cadillac Hill. Frankly, if you went out there without a detailed map or a guide you could get yourself in a great deal of trouble in a hurry. Few trail markers and tire marks going in every direction. With one exception, our trail leader, this was the first time on the Rubicon for all of us. We planned the trip out for several months and our leader had us well educated on what to expect. He and his wife had videotaped their first visit last summer, so we all got to see the thing beforehand. It was still a major handful. You are absolutely correct in your trail description. It is just one continuous obstacle. Since we're just a couple of hours from Moab and very close to Silverton/Ouray we don;t generally leave this area very often. Several of us are already planning "Rubicon II", so who knows!
We entered at Wentworth, went as far as Rubicon Springs, and then exited at Loon Lake. Except those of us who had to take Ellis Creek Road out.
You are 100% correct, you will be in big trouble. In its own way its harder than finding the trails at Moab, since there you search for known trail markers, scrapes, tire marks, etc. Several times I couldnt figure out where the guys in front of me had gone...they got out of site by the time I got there and it would look like there was two routes...sometimes there was.
2 of the 3 sluices seemed to have bypasses. Many of the obsticales had bypasses. The slabs are easier than the sluices and the hills. Not that they are easy mind you.
Who makes good replacement D44 axle shafts?? I am not changing the spline count, I just need new ones. The shop just pulled the shafts for the brake conversion and one of them is starting to bend. What companies do I look at for getting replacements? How about upgrading to Chromoly? Thoughts?? Thanks
Superior Axle sells them for $120 or so per side, maybe less if you shop around. To get to Chromolly, you'd have to go with their Super44 axle kit which includes a locker. I'm running Superior Axle D44 axleshaft replacements and they're reportedly 15-20% stronger than OE axle shafts.
We missed the "Old Sluice". Our trail leader took us down a trail that was closed due to the Spider lake situation. At the Little Sluice some of us went to the left, some took the steep slickrock to the right. I think the right side is easier overall. The Big Sluice you just have to do, too long for any real bypasses.
Looking at all your fabulous pictures I recognized a lot of the spots and finally came to the conclusion that you'd done it East to West, rather than the other way as we did. Hmmm, maybe that's what we'll do next time!
We had a great trail leader who must have a memory like an elephant, he never took a wrong turn, etc. He'd really studied the map and his co-pilot wife was on the CB all the time telling us what was coming up. It was great, like a guided tour. Our trail leader is a German national who retired here in Durango many years ago. A somewhat fearless XJ driver, I eventually dubbed him "Der Spot Meister" because he was the best trail spotter I've ever had. (Unfortunately "Der Spot Meister" is gibberish in German, but he's getting a T-Shirt with it anyway.) He drove without a spotter and was peerless.
The area is laced with tire marks and oil spills in spots that aren't really part of the trail. I gets really confusing and at one point when we got separated I ended up walking the trail to be sure. Some of the only trail markers we saw had been nailed on some trees 8 - 10 ft up, hard to spot.
finding the trails at Moab, since there you search for known trail markers, scrapes, tire marks, etc. Several times I couldn't figure out where the guys in front of me
I wonder if the Rubicon shafts are any stronger than the stock ones? A local guy has installed the Superior kit and loves it, mostly because of the Detroit.
I wondered because I haven't heard of anyone snapping one of the Rubicon D44 axle shafts, despite the factory locker. However a few folks have complained about breaking the stock TJ D44 shafts.
It was on one of these boardsd, not sure which. I was really surprised to read they'd broken TJ 44 axles shafts. As Jerry B. pointed out, it was most likely caused by lockers and tires in the 35-37 range. Superior's "Super 44" kit is supposed to remove this risk.
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