What did you do WITH your Gladiator today?

[drewcnit]

I definitely would have, but I’m heading for a Alabama tomorrow first thing.

I did do all four badge trails today, and as a bonus, did F47, which is rated 5 out of five. It’s a valid rating. I made it out without actual damage, but destroyed one of my front frame side LCA skids. I removed them until I can repair or replace them, so all good. They did their job.

Snake was “fine”, but I thoroughly enjoyed Fun Run, Rubicon Ridge, and Quartz Canyon. It’s the first park I’ve been to, so didn’t know what to expect, but the trails do not disappoint.

Yeah, we are hitting the badge trails on Friday, then Saturday is our 'free' day to explore the other trails, think so far we've been told that rock fink ravine is fun, it's a Snake off-shoot trail, then Squid's Jaunt I've heard a lot about and seen on Youtube. I did Snake last year, when the Jeep was still stock, so will be interesting to see how it feels now.

Speaking of Alabama, you do realize there's another park down there with Badges... Stoney Lonesome. I know, I know I'm a bad influence, you're headed for a work trip. ?

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[WILDHOBO]

Yeah, we are hitting the badge trails on Friday, then Saturday is our 'free' day to explore the other trails, think so far we've been told that rock fink ravine is fun, it's a Snake off-shoot trail, then Squid's Jaunt I've heard a lot about and seen on Youtube. I did Snake last year, when the Jeep was still stock, so will be interesting to see how it feels now.

Speaking of Alabama, you do realize there's another park down there with Badges... Stoney Lonesome. I know, I know I'm a bad influence, you're headed for a work trip. ?

I’m my own bad influence. I drove instead of flying so I could hit the Alabama BOH trails. Arkansas was a side thing. It was only 45 minutes out of the way…plus the entire day of wheeling and fixing things, but that’s not my fault.

 

[jeepstertim]

Hit the dunes after the scorching Arabian summer, good to be back out of the city. A couple of degrees cooler and the RTT can go back on.

 

[KevinM60]

Hit the dunes after the scorching Arabian summer, good to be back out of the city. A couple of degrees cooler and the RTT can go back on.

I'm curious if you tried that dune uphill.
I was at Blow Sand at Ocotillo Wells on Saturday.
I'm guessing it's between 20-25 deg pitch and super soft and about 100 yards high.
I couldn't even get half way up without digging in. I tried 3 times and even airing down I couldn't make it.
The Can Am and Banshee that I was running with made it but I was stuck watching till they finished.

 

[jeepstertim]

I'm curious if you tried that dune uphill.
I was at Blow Sand at Ocotillo Wells on Saturday.
I'm guessing it's between 20-25 deg pitch and super soft and about 100 yards high.
I couldn't even get half way up without digging in. I tried 3 times and even airing down I couldn't make it.
The Can Am and Banshee that I was running with made it but I was stuck watching till they finished.

Not a chance, I run at 12-15psi all the time in the sand but I wouldn't get more than 20-30% back up it. The biggest issue is the angle from the level floor to the dune, hit that too fast and something is going to break. The locals might be able to get up to the top but they will attack on the oblique, at terrifying speeds and trust Allah is going to keep them safe. Seen some bad accidents.

 

[KevinM60]

Went to Ocotillo Wells with some friends and family for a couple nights

Our campsight.
Over the hill from Holmes camp

took a run to pumpkin patch
Very interesting

On the way back a sandstorm hit that lasted until late afternoon. That was not fun but it didn’t take away from the satisfaction of the trip. once the sand quit blowing we went to Blow Sand and found I couldn’t climb steep super soft sand dunes.
I got a lot of good practice in sand and had fun throwing a lot of sand around.
For the most part the trips will be shifting from the mountains to the desert but I still want to get in some snow play.
Ocotillo in the south and Lucerne and Johnson valley in the upper desert.
Let the good times roll.

 

[KevinM60]

Not a chance, I run at 12-15psi all the time in the sand but I wouldn't get more than 20-30% back up it. The biggest issue is the angle from the level floor to the dune, hit that too fast and something is going to break. The locals might be able to get up to the top but they will attack on the oblique, at terrifying speeds and trust Allah is going to keep them safe. Seen some bad accidents.

Sounds about right.
I like having fun and getting into some toe curling obstacles but I’m not ready to die or wreck my truck.
I’ve been dropping to 18 but I’m going to try 15. I’m wondering how low I can go with the factory 33s without bead lockers and not loose it. I’m ready to start asking around.

 

[jeepstertim]

Sounds about right.
I like having fun and getting into some toe curling obstacles but I’m not ready to die or wreck my truck.
I’ve been dropping to 18 but I’m going to try 15. I’m wondering how low I can go with the factory 33s without bead lockers and not loose it. I’m ready to start asking around.

I'm running 35" on stock wheels and 12 is fine. I suspect having a tyre that's 'too wide' for the stock wheel actually makes it less likely it'll come off the rim when running low pressures.

 

[WILDHOBO]

Sounds about right.
I like having fun and getting into some toe curling obstacles but I’m not ready to die or wreck my truck.
I’ve been dropping to 18 but I’m going to try 15. I’m wondering how low I can go with the factory 33s without bead lockers and not loose it. I’m ready to start asking around.

I used to run 15psi on my factory 33’s on factory wheels on rocks. I also ran 15psi on 37’s on the same wheels. No problems whatsoever. Granted. I drive slow on the rocks. I’ve never tried dunes at speed.

 

[WILDHOBO]

Yeah, we are hitting the badge trails on Friday, then Saturday is our 'free' day to explore the other trails, think so far we've been told that rock fink ravine is fun, it's a Snake off-shoot trail, then Squid's Jaunt I've heard a lot about and seen on Youtube. I did Snake last year, when the Jeep was still stock, so will be interesting to see how it feels now.

Speaking of Alabama, you do realize there's another park down there with Badges... Stoney Lonesome. I know, I know I'm a bad influence, you're headed for a work trip. ?

Now that I have a good signal, here are a few pictures from Hot Springs.

 

[WILDHOBO]

I'm running 35" on stock wheels and 12 is fine. I suspect having a tyre that's 'too wide' for the stock wheel actually makes it less likely it'll come off the rim when running low pressures.

Yep. Poor man’s beadlock.

 

[KevinM60]

Now that I have a good signal, here are a few pictures from Hot Springs.

Those are some nice rocks!!
Just looking at the pics has me picking my lines.
Makes me want to get out to the hills right away.

 

[WILDHOBO]

Those are some nice rocks!!
Just looking at the pics has me picking my lines.
Makes me want to get out to the hills right away.

I give Arkansas a ton of credit. I’m not one to take bypasses, or shy away from high difficulty trails, but they’ve got rocks up the wazoo there. No shortage of terrain. It was as difficult as I wanted, and more.

 

[drewcnit]

Now that I have a good signal, here are a few pictures from Hot Springs.

So what's your recommendation on doing the badge trails, which order seems to make the most sense. I was thinking Snake -> Rubicon -> Fun Run -> Quartz but was unsure if that was the quickest way to go about it.
Getting pretty excited now looking at your pics to get out there, but dang that's one hell of a rock to bend that rock hard 4x4 skid back like that.

 

[KevinM60]

Now that I have a good signal, here are a few pictures from Hot Springs.

You made good use of that stubby bumper.
I'm still stumped on what that broken piece is.

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