Trail Mater recovery of rolled JT Gladiator on Pritchett Canyon Trail

[EddyArnold]

Oops I posted without seeing this one! This was a fun vid, I had never watched his channel before

 

[sass JT]

I was just out at Moab… but I wouldn’t touch Pritchett unless I had a crazy built rig or buggy.

 

[NC_Overland]

I hate it for the owner and I hope no one got hurt, but that video made the Gladiator look really good.

 

[Timoleon]

Lovin the lockers here. On a ride in February south of Caballo Lake, the folks in the club were impressed how well the Gladiator did with the lockers... But this guy in the Gladiator was doing ok for it being just after demonstrating the crash bar function.

 

[tommyp]

Can’t argue with that. Other than the roll. We don’t know if that happened as a result of being on a trail that was too much for that setup. If it was unable to get up a climb for example. 4:1 or lockers could have made the difference easily on a trail like Pritchett. Just speculating unless someone knows the circumstances regarding the roll.

He explained it in the video. The guy went up a bypass which was really tricky and he said that it was trickier than a different way maybe the actual obstacle. It looked like he dropped a wheel in between two rocks on a ledge and flopped it. There were a bunch of smaller rocks that people pack in the area between the two larger rocks but they were displaced.

Pretty interesting to see a basic gladiator on what looked like 37's 'do ok. Prtichett is like what a level 9 trail. I also am impressed by the tow mater k30. I have one and love the ground clearance it has. It was really made for offroad driving not the newer gens that are more on road than off. Not that I drive mine really off road since its a large flatbed dually but watching him wheel that big beast around is pretty darn cool. It shows off how capable those old big straight axle trucks were.

 

[Kevin_D]

And you guys do this shit for fun?!?
Nuckin’ futz…

Kevin

It IS fun though. Really fun.

I'll stick to this stuff with my bike (not bicycle.)
It's a whole heluva lot easier to pick up!

Kevin

 

[Geoarch]

I just don’t understand why someone would take a JT without lockers or proper skids on Pritchett. I’ll do it when everything’s done, but it’ll be over built for that day. Just one opinion.

I agree. I’ve been wheeling since 1968 in Jeeps, Toyotas, Isuzus, and it’s all about knowing the limitations of your vehicle and your experience, or in this case the lack of…

 

[Barnaby’sdad]

I just don’t understand why someone would take a JT without lockers or proper skids on Pritchett. I’ll do it when everything’s done, but it’ll be over built for that day. Just one opinion.

Some folks don’t know any better. “Some lift, big tires, and 4WD…good to go!” That’s my assumption given the wheel selection. Those are generally reserved for bro-dozers in my neck of the woods.

I had a similar reaction today (“that checks out”) seeing a sheriffs deputy putting out road flares on a twisty road to caution drivers about a bright colored Dodge Challenger that…somehow…departed the road and ended up traveling through a ditch and ending up resting up an embankment.

 

[LostWoods]

This video brings up the question of weight distribution for all the diesel JL and JT drivers and how if at all should we approach steeper inclines and declines differently.

If anything the JT is better on the steep stuff. The longer wheelbase is a longer lever which requires a lot more force to lift the rear compared to a JL/JLU. Dude is rolling a bobbed single cab chassis so as big as the truck is, the wheelbase is probably 2ft shorter than the JT.

 

[Tommyd]

Okay, gotta be really impressed with that glad. Watching it drive out under its own power, no lockers and no 4:1.

Im impressed!

Any idea as to it’s tire size and lift/details?

Aside from needing more bump stop and/or high clearance flares, it worked really well!

It went up that side rock section so good for no lockers!

 

[Tommyd]

Okay, gotta be really impressed with that glad. Watching it drive out under its own power, no lockers and no 4:1.

Im impressed!

Any idea as to it’s tire size and lift/details?

Aside from needing more bump stop and/or high clearance flares, it worked really well!

40s

 

[Elff]

That would not have required additional help to get off the trails if the person was packed properly for 4 wheeling.

 

[LostWoods]

That would not have required additional help to get off the trails if the person was packed properly for 4 wheeling.

I'm not sure that track bar is something even the most prepared people would be prepared to fix. Certainly not without another vehicle at the least.

 

[Tommyd]

He explained it in the video. The guy went up a bypass which was really tricky and he said that it was trickier than a different way maybe the actual obstacle. It looked like he dropped a wheel in between two rocks on a ledge and flopped it. There were a bunch of smaller rocks that people pack in the area between the two larger rocks but they were displaced.

Pretty interesting to see a basic gladiator on what looked like 37's 'do ok. Prtichett is like what a level 9 trail. I also am impressed by the tow mater k30. I have one and love the ground clearance it has. It was really made for offroad driving not the newer gens that are more on road than off. Not that I drive mine really off road since its a large flatbed dually but watching him wheel that big beast around is pretty darn cool. It shows off how capable those old big straight axle trucks were.

Those where 40s not 37s

 

[Elff]

I'm not sure that track bar is something even the most prepared people would be prepared to fix. Certainly not without another vehicle at the least.

When wheeling in terrain like that, vs driving to a camping spot, you should always go in pairs.
So if they were solo, that's a breakage of one major safety rule.

And when wheeling terrain like that, IMHO a winch is a necessity. But, even with that bent trackbar, once the tire was on, they should have been able to limp out of there.

This past weekend we wheeled a bunch of Red Trails. In the mid west, they would be rated 8-10.
There were a variety of times where we broke out the winches. In some cases, it was just for proactive safety to prevent a flop. I even messed up once and needed a slight pull to get me off and over a rock that had me wedged in.

A couple of weekend's ago, I wheeled with a different club and assumed that everyone was setup properly. They weren't and I had to recover the other jeeps on 4 separate occasions and they should have been able to do it themselves. I had to run about 80' of winch line to put a snatch block in front of them, while my jeep was behind them and then pull them forward and/or to the side. That was a learning lesson for me. In the future, I will make sure people have winches if we are hitting the hardcore trails and if they don't 2 things will happen. I will tell them to join a lower rated group or I will not go with them.

Just my $.05 from decades of experience