Just a little stress crack

April 25, 2012

Well the jamboree was great. Ricksrb did a great job. We were having good rides then Bruhaw started to get cocky. He started to tear it up and of coarse I couldn't let him look too good so I started the chase. Tom, Bruhaws friend, joined in too and it was a race. The wash was about 150 yards wide and often had a second or third trail following it. There was a fair amount of dust so if you were going to catch anyone, it required taking an alternate trail or just go for it looking for a slot between the plants and trees. Going for it didn't always work. I would slow down to 50 mph in a few spots but was generally running 60 to 70. Getting susprised with 8" to 12" deep washs that were 3 foot wide at speed was not uncommon. Then there were the whoop de doos that were from 12" to 18" deep and about 10 feet apart. I hit some of these at 65 mph. The suspension did well but it really worked it and every once in a while you would hit a big one that would bottom things hard. Then there was also dips in the trails that were maybe 3 to 4 feet deep and maybe 25 to 30 feet across. These also came on unexpectedly and would bottom out my suspension hard against the bump stops and my newly added front skid plate would save the day by sking me out of trouble. Well that said, I found another weak spot on the Troopers frame design. Just some slight frame cracking but I made it back to camp, by some miracle. My rear right drive shaft fell loose from the diff about 1/4 mile from the finish but things held together until back. When I backed up to align with the trailer, it all collapsed. I should not have backed up but wasn't thinking. Backing up caused things to tear loose the rest of the way. The pictures, though out of sequense, give the whole story. You can see it before I backed up and after along with the damage done. A whole piece of the frame tore out along with destroying a shock shaft. I'll fix it so it won't happen again. Almost bought a Go Pro camera before the Jamboree and now sorry I didn't. This was full out desert racing, rough and fast. This was Baja Throphy truck stuff scaled down to T2 size. One of the best parts was dusting the pickup truck that was determined to not let us pass. Never saw him again. May be the best Jamboree yet.

There are 9 pictures to look at.

Lenny

rocmoc · April 25, 2012

WOW!

Good thing you have almost 2 weeks to repair before we get there. Go Pro would have been fun to watch.

We were glad to see ya again and meet the rest of the crew. Now to plan next year, LOL!

rocmoc n AZ/Mexico

Tinman · April 25, 2012

Hotdiggedydog. Your pics are awesome, and your T2 is even better. I'm drooling...

bruhaw · April 25, 2012

Well I was there through it all and we did have a great time. Up until the very end of the ride on Sunday which was the last ride of the weekend. Coming back and basically in the campground I could see Lenny's drive shaft flopping around and just figured from one of the hard hits he took it popped out. We did a pretty high speed run that morning and that was the final dagger so to speak. He hobbled it back from when I saw it probably a 1/4 mile or less from and figured it would be not too much of an issue to get it another 15 feet to the trailer but that wasn't in the cards. It could have been way worse with it either happening on Thursday when he got there or when he was doing 65 down a wash. Luck was on his side because we got all the riding in that weekend and had a great time. If this happened to most of us it would be taking it to a good welding shop/fabricator to fix and costing some money but not for Lenny. He is the welding shop and fabricator and he will have it fixed better than it is stock that is for sure. His ride is a sweet one as it has the power and suspension we all would like to have. Just hanging out and talking with him was the highlight of the weekend for me. I can ride and go hard any weekend but to talk with him and see what he has done was worth making it to the Jamboree. We just need more Joyners there next year! Rick - thanks for setting it all up and taking extra time in advance to map trails and set up the accomodations there. You did a great job and we appreciated it! Lenny - thanks for all of your time talking Joyner with me and showing me some of the mods that can be made. Lenny, Tom and I talked and we will be getting together probably in the fall in or around Lake Havasu or Parker if anyone wants to be a part of that it will be posted. Since that is in Rick's back yard I know he will be there and I know Casey from JMC wants to go so there will be a few of us.

showa · April 25, 2012

Sounds like a great time.... One of these trips I'll make it again....

Lenny, you should just do a new frame to mount the Joyner stuff in......

Then let me know how much a copy would cost...... Lol

Tinman · April 25, 2012

Lenny,

Are you running the stock Diffs with your shim kit, or did you modify or change the differentials? I was just curious as to how strong the diffs are. If they survive your bashings, they can survive anything...