Cruise Moab Live (2016)

[BigMike]

But wait, there's more!

This is the same Troopie from Safety Inspection. Wow two 70-series Troopies on the same run.



A pair of non-Land Cruisers

[BigMike]

And at the end of the line was this J-E-W-E-L.

[BigMike]

Driver's meeting. The staff at Cruise Moab is really top notch.





The LX450 next to the meeting

[BigMike]

And there they go!

[BigMike]

And that's pretty much it for me and the event for a while. I'm gonna run a bone-head easy trail solo just to get out and enjoy this Tacoma. I've driven almost 5,000 miles and I haven't been off pavement yet which is an utter insult to the brand.

Gonna run Hurrah Pass followed by Chicken Corners. Should get some sweet pics of the Tacoma. Depending on what time I return I might not get back to post updates until either very late after the Vender Show tonight or first thing tomorrow morning.

Marlin and Co is in charge of and running Poison Spider Mesa today, Hell's Revenge tomorrow.

Until then hope everyone has a safe day and catch ya on the rebound!

Regards,
BigMike

[blackdiamond]

Might check it out tonight, thanks!

La Hacienda is the place.  It's just north of Poison Spider Bicycles and the Maverick Gas station on the opposite side of the street.  Let me know which is better (and why) for my next trip.

[SqWADoosh]

La Hacienda is the place.  It's just north of Poison Spider Bicycles and the Maverick Gas station on the opposite side of the street.  Let me know which is better (and why) for my next trip.

Wasn't impressed with the other Mexican joint (had fiesta in the name).

[blackdiamond]

Wasn't impressed with the other Mexican joint (had fiesta in the name).

Did you eat at both places?  The one you are referring to is a standalone building near the hardware store, right?  Their food has been good but nothing special in the past.

[SqWADoosh]

Did you eat at both places?  The one you are referring to is a standalone building near the hardware store, right?  Their food has been good but nothing special in the past.

No, the place you recommended was closed for whatever reason....

[BigMike]

Ok guys!! My truck's cherry has been popped!!!!

The plan was to run a moderately difficult trail to see what the Tacoma can handle. Using the Funtreks' guidebook, I picked a trail in the middle of the "Moderate" section that also had some great overlooks/vistas for nice pictures and as mentioned above I decided on Chicken Corners. Out of 16 "Moderate" trials, Chicken Corners ranks the 5th most difficult. I don't know what the deal is with this book but I'd rate this a #1 bonehead easy trail. Because I have a lot of true Rock Crawling experience I don't think I can critique the book without coming across as arrogant, but I can't imagine even a complete beginner rating this trail anything other than "easy".

Heading south on Main Street, turn left onto Kane Creek Rd. Kane Creek Rd essentially turns into the Chicken Corners trail. You just drive forever and before you realize it you're already on the trail. To get to Chicken Corners you must first ascend Hurrah Pass. Hurrah Pass is in the guidebook and out of 19 "Easy" trails it is the 10th most difficult.

The road leaves town and follows the Colorado through a steep canyon. Found some paddle boarders



The directions in the guidebook were vague, and it mentions Hurrah Pass beginning at a cattle crossing. Well, this was right before the cattle crossing and had an obvious bright red "Pritchett - Hurrah Pass - Kane Sprgs" TRAILHEAD sign. The book did not mention anything about crossing private property. But the sign... This must be it. So I slipped $3 into the iron ranger and entered. Ha. It's just some dead-end campground. I hope my $3 goes to good use

Despite the proper signage, don't go this way.


Continuing on the main road. It wasn't until after this I realized why the book was so vague as there isn't anything to do other than continue on the main road. It would have been nice if it included, "don't get tricked by incorrect private property signs." Turned into a dirt road and leaves the Colorado through some awesome narrow and steep canyons.


You'll pass a few campsites and then the road will become a bit more bumpy. I was jam'n in 2WD high-range and decided to air down a tad. The tire pressure read-out is an awesome feature of the Tacoma. I plan to transfer the sensors into beadlock wheels. Curious if it will accurately read PSI down in the 4 and 5 PSI range!

I didn't even bring a tire pressure gauge so I just counted down while deflating by hand. Check out these hardcore tire pressures!

[BigMike]

The road was so boneheaded easy I didn't even take any pictures. There were a few Jeeps and ATVs jamming around. Found a really nice Early Bronco on 35s and chatted with the guy a bit.

About 30 mins in I came across this optional dirt climb. It turns out the road has a few of these every mile or so and I attempted everyone I could find



Sweeeeet! First wheel'n experience ever! Shifted, or rather "rotated a dial and waited for some electrical device to shift" into low range and proceed up.



Can you believe it I was already dragging my trailer hitch!



First time using low range, no clue how effective this "Auto LSD" stuff is, and knowing that if I continue I'll reach a point I cannot back up and will be committed, I backed up.

I backed about 70% out of it and turned to continue while partially running up the side of the hill because Rock Crawler and this happened



WOOHOOO!! FIRST CARNAGE!!! hahahah I was laughing SO MUCH over this you have no idea.

[BigMike]

Of course the valance should be removed. I should have just removed it before leaving Fresno. I wasn't planning on selling it anyway so not too concerned about damaging it. That said I do find it extremely cool when I see for example a 1st gen Hilux still with the original metal valance beneath the factory bumper. How cool! But the Tacoma was purchased with the sole intent of becoming a Crawler so bubye!

The first mod takes place on a dirt road in Moab





Oh man that felt GREAT removing the valance. That, "oh my goodness the truck is brand-new don't touch it, wash your hands, don't get in with your dirty shoes, I'm worried about bugs splattering on the hood" feeling is finnnnnnaaaaalllllly beginning to leave me. I have to get over this feeling or else I'll never want to modify the truck.

[BigMike]

Here is what most of these optional side routes look like. On the entire trail there was about a dozen of them.



"Hardcore"

[BigMike]

Easy to see why the trail is called "Chicken Corners". I'll have more of these to share, but look just over the right of my truck and you'll see a clear view leading straight down to the valley below. As the trail continued these before more frequent and more steep.



Unmistakable Moab country.

[BigMike]

I got to the top of the pass and there were waaaay too many Jeeps, dirt bikes, and mountain bikers for me to take any pictures. I'll return the same way so I'll grab pics then.

Descending down the other side of the pass. Awesome scenery.



YES! I took my first undercarriage damage.



Reunited with the Colorado

[BigMike]

Just a bit beyond here was Catacomb Rock which I drove over to check out and again it was full of motorcycles and side-by-sides so I didn't take any pictures. It was either just some cliff structure or I did not see/find the rock. Looked like there might have been a very small cave...

...and then I continued on a bit more...

...and at this point I'm sorry to say that time was catching up to me and I had to get back to camp to setup for Vendor Night. I didn't take that many pictures on the way in but this was already a good 10 miles since leaving pavement and from the time I left Moab had taken already 3 hours. So I turned around about a mile before the end of the trail. It was a bummer but I'm glad I made the responsible decision because it probably would have been another hour to the end, then another hour back to Catacomb Rock, then 2-3 hrs back to camp... Before I knew it it would become an 8 hour trip.

As I was not on Poison Spider Mesa with the rest of the group I was responsible for getting our booth and all display items setup before everyone returned for the 5pm vendor show. I also knew that turning around early would give me that much more time to enjoy the drive out and stop for many more pics

I had very weak cell service but was able to get Google Maps to (partially) load. Here is where I turned around. You can see Moab at top-right



Here is a picture of the guidebook and my approximate location.



This is what a lot of the trail looked like. For a while it felt a lot like driving around the flat sections of Johnson Valley with a lot of washboard and a lot of whoops.

[BigMike]

Very pretty out here

[BigMike]

Trying to hit any and every obstacle I could



You know, for a major change of pace, this was a lot of fun. Because I didn't get all the way to the end, I would like to return to complete the trail someday and it will be neat to have then-and-now comparison pictures.

[BigMike]

OHHHH MAN CHECK OUT THE MASSIVE LEDGE!

I did get out a few times wondering if I would clear the bumper or not. The truck will get dented. This is unavoidable. But not when it's all stock and not on a trail like this



I returned to Catacomb Rock and now there was a group of quads. I'm not sure where the rock is to be honest or if the entire structure is the rock. Took a quick pic and then burned outta there

[BigMike]

This place was pretty cool. Multiple different routes and some sidehill. I went up and down four times learning what the truck was all about.



The Auto LSD does a good job. When you lose traction and get wheel spin the first instinct of course is to lift. This causes the truck to stall so you have to engage the clutch. Slipping the clutch again and you get wheel spin. The Auto LSD is counter intuitive in that you have to keep your foot in it for it to detect wheel spin and activate the brakes electronically. It makes a sort of low frequency humming or rumbling noise and suddenly you can feel the loaded tire(s) being to pull.

It encourages the incorrect way to clear an obstacle -- gun it the first moment you get stuck -- but based on how the system works it makes sense. In my opinion there are times when you need to gun it, but only after going slow fails and only as a last resort. Unless of course you have a fetish for changing axles.

[BigMike]

In stock form so long as you're not going up anything steep, 1st gear low range does well. First gear of this 2nd generation 6-speed manual (RC62F) is barely lower then the common G and W trans at 3.98:1. Combined with the moderately low diff gearing of 4.30:1 and you get a final drive of 43.98:1 (3.98 x 2.57 x 4.30). In comparison, the original 4WD Toyota pickup, the 1979 Hilux, had a stock final drive of 34.39:1. So the new Tacoma is 27.89% lower which is significant especially with the small stock tires.

But get it on any sort of steep incline and it is all about clutch abuse. Descents are equally lacking as I was continuously riding the brakes on every drop off almost to the point of killing the engine in gear. Especially with how bouncy these stock Hitachi shocks are and how limited the ground clearance is. I can see it not taking much to get body damage on a stock truck and this isn't even a difficult trail. The Marlin Crawler would instantly fix all of this. It is truly an amazing thing. I cannot wait to get working on this baby

[BigMike]

Almost back up to the initial pass

[BigMike]

Got back to the pass and I was the only one there!

[BigMike]

[BigMike]

Here is another picture of the deadly sudden drop offs directly off the road. The majority of them were along side a cliff wall where space was tight and I did not stop.

[BigMike]

More eggcellent photo opportunities on the other side of the pass

[BigMike]

[BigMike]

The drive back out was much like this for a few miles



One of the few "difficult" optional routes





And that was about it. I continued back down to the Colorado and then eventually back into town.

Cab got dirty for the first time in it's life! So exciting haha

[BigMike]

Ok that's all the time I have for now. Need to take Marlin's tow rig over to his trailer, rearrange all his junk in the bed to be ready to put all his recovery stuff away once he returns, so I've got a lot to do. Marlin and CJ are currently out on Hell's Revenge. Tonight will be the main dinner of the entire event which was a lot of fun last year.

At the moment I'm planning on driving the 12 hours back home all in one shot tomorrow. I'll grab everyone's pictures from Poison Spider (yesterday) and Hell's Revenge (today) and get them posted once I'm home

I still have many pictures to share from the vendor show last night which I'm hoping I can get posted later this afternoon.

Until then hope everyone is having a nice Friday!

BigMike on the side

[blackdiamond]

At the moment I'm planning on driving the 12 hours back home all in one shot tomorrow.

Don't overwhelm yourself!  I did about 17-1/2 hours in my 89 4Runner last Saturday and still have 2-1/2 hours to go on Sunday morning.  12 hours is cake in your plush ride.  Just turn up the AC and enjoy the ride.