Bonanza
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- Apr 22, 2020
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We ran Holcomb Creek Trail this past Saturday in Big Bear. It’s a very fun trail with big boulders in two of its rock gardens, and a challenging entry/exit involving a 90 degree turn onto wet boulders. I have a sport MT— 3.5” JKS lift and 37s. I had previously done this trail with a 2 door JK, a 4 door JK, and now the gladiator.
The long wheelbase was no problem. At all... I was surprised, and it some situations it actually helped me take lines the 2 doors in my group couldn’t take. I did have to do some three point turns to line up correctly at times, but I was thrilled with how these perform. Never needed lockers, even if I did have them. The 37s help quite a bit, to be fair. And despite how proud I was of my home made hitch skid, the welds failed and it broke near the end of the trail.
Takeaways:
37s are a must, sliders a must, lift a must before doing rocks.
Rear bumper, shock mount skids, and hitch took a few hits, but the belly was mostly untouched.
Gladiator is much more enjoyable to drive to and from the actual trail. Less rocking and jarring.
Long wheelbase can help at times.
The entry or exit depending on which way you start. I believe this to be the hardest part of the trail. 90 degree hard right up onto rocks. The 2 doors do better here- I had to drive into the trees somewhat to line up.
Rock garden in the middle, and the second hardest part of the trail.
My hitch skid before the welds broke.
Second rock garden.
Here you can see the bad angles for gladiators. The two doors were able to pivot the rear passenger on that rock and take a better line. I couldn’t turn so I took a different, higher line. While I still made it through, this is an example of when the long wheelbase takes away some options.
Another view of that spot.
Break for lunch. Here the wheelbase helped. I climbed easily, the two doors didn’t mount this ledge with confidence.
Departure angle. My hitch skid is broken already. This is after rock garden 2
the final rock garden. Gatekeeper if you start. This looks rough but we walked through this easily.
The long wheelbase was no problem. At all... I was surprised, and it some situations it actually helped me take lines the 2 doors in my group couldn’t take. I did have to do some three point turns to line up correctly at times, but I was thrilled with how these perform. Never needed lockers, even if I did have them. The 37s help quite a bit, to be fair. And despite how proud I was of my home made hitch skid, the welds failed and it broke near the end of the trail.
Takeaways:
37s are a must, sliders a must, lift a must before doing rocks.
Rear bumper, shock mount skids, and hitch took a few hits, but the belly was mostly untouched.
Gladiator is much more enjoyable to drive to and from the actual trail. Less rocking and jarring.
Long wheelbase can help at times.
The entry or exit depending on which way you start. I believe this to be the hardest part of the trail. 90 degree hard right up onto rocks. The 2 doors do better here- I had to drive into the trees somewhat to line up.
Rock garden in the middle, and the second hardest part of the trail.
My hitch skid before the welds broke.
Second rock garden.
Here you can see the bad angles for gladiators. The two doors were able to pivot the rear passenger on that rock and take a better line. I couldn’t turn so I took a different, higher line. While I still made it through, this is an example of when the long wheelbase takes away some options.
Another view of that spot.
Break for lunch. Here the wheelbase helped. I climbed easily, the two doors didn’t mount this ledge with confidence.
Departure angle. My hitch skid is broken already. This is after rock garden 2
the final rock garden. Gatekeeper if you start. This looks rough but we walked through this easily.
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