Author Topic: MCR4 Story and Picture Thread (Read 56498 times)

79coyotefrg · « **Reply #30 on:** Sep 19, 2005, 09:17:50 AM »

lookslike some really beautiful country

FIREBALL · « **Reply #31 on:** Sep 19, 2005, 09:21:34 AM »

Quote from: 79Coyotefrg on Sep 19, 2005, 09:17:50 AM

lookslike some really beautiful country

The most!!!

Great shot of Marlin talking about "anatomy"

raybie · « **Reply #32 on:** Sep 19, 2005, 09:53:56 AM »

anyone have some more pics of this runner??

NUb · « **Reply #33 on:** Sep 19, 2005, 09:57:45 AM »

I might Ray I will Take a look we were parked to the right of that picture

BigMike · « **Reply #34 on:** Sep 19, 2005, 10:41:31 AM »

Quote from: FIREBALL on Sep 19, 2005, 08:57:56 AM

Well, I didn't take any pics either.

Here, I found one of ya:

Lady Di · « **Reply #35 on:** Sep 19, 2005, 10:44:52 AM »

That trail is something else!! Even though I ended up having the crap scared out of me by MrW about putting it on the spare on that slab before Cadillac and then BigMike telling us how challening it was, off camber on the passenger side with a shear drop that will easily turn you over 30 times before you hit bottom (thanks BigMike, that really helped to sooth my nerves

JK! You weren't the first one to put the fear into me), so I ended up walking Cadillac, in hindsight (now that I'm on flat ground again) it was a great time.

I used the excuse that I would video tape (not that anyone believed me) but id-10-t that I am I had the camera turned on as I was walking up the trail and when I went to film I was turning it off!

I am so freekin pissed

I got one little good piece of footage, and then some footage at the Observation Point area.

We rolled out of the campground with over_rev, rocks hurts good, yotaboy79, Geno and his wife, Stephanie, rockcrawlintoy, his friend Brian and Dave Zartman (owner of the new Toyota 4WD magazine, gotta check that one out), and hit the trail with all them, Angelo with his wife Candy driving, Lil Buddy, Texx (and probably some others, I apologize if I forgot you).

It was an honor to crawl with you all! And I had such a great time meeting everyone on Sat. at the MCR4 Bash.Great food, great music, great company! ROCK ON!

As you can see by the picture below Lil Buddy isn't nearly as short as everyone makes him out to be

Thats me and Germ below that enjoying a drink or 12. Great getting to party with you, dude

And Fireball, thanks for putting up with us all, you really rocked that party! What a great time, it was well worth the drive, I will never forget it.

Lady Di · « **Reply #36 on:** Sep 19, 2005, 10:54:26 AM »

Quote from: 79Coyotefrg on Sep 19, 2005, 09:17:50 AM

lookslike some really beautiful country

Glen, I have never seen such amazing scenery in my life, it was so amazing.

I think the most incredible time was when I crawled out of the tent in the morning. We had gotten into camp in the dark so couldn't see anything till the next morning. Incredible!

Here's a couple pictures of the springs that was just a short walk over the rocks from our campsite

Geno · « **Reply #37 on:** Sep 19, 2005, 10:56:35 AM »

I had so much fun and I could have listened to Marlin all night.

RUGER · « **Reply #38 on:** Sep 19, 2005, 11:01:07 AM »

i had a great time wheeling and meating yall. the marlin crew out did themselves yet once again. $Beer Chug\'n$

ill get my picks up tonight after i get home from school...if my puter cooperates.

happy trails
rich *ruger*

BigMike · « **Reply #39 on:** Sep 19, 2005, 11:12:47 AM »

Yeah, I thought Lilbuddy was shorter, but it turns out that he's just as tall as me and TracVino!

I didnt take as many pics as I wanted to, between driving all night, sleeping most of Sat., and then leaving Sun morning, I didnt get as much free time as I would have liked to have, but that was possibly the most fun I've ever had at Rubicon. Meeting Lilbuddy, TacoRunner, Infernal and Yotaon40s, RUGER, BLACKDOG, FFC, germ, and many others, I really had a great time. Next year I'd better be able to go in 2 or 3 days early, instead of showing up at 11am on the last day of the event

I'll post what pics I got later this afternoon

*FFC* · « **Reply #40 on:** Sep 19, 2005, 12:15:37 PM »

Quote from: derek on Sep 18, 2005, 08:14:37 PM

heard fordfreakchick really worked the amigo on the way out.
kind of want to see the aftermath.

derek

I drove the Amigo out Cadillac hill Sunday morning. We hit the trail around 10 am, and got to the trailhead around 5. With germ in the lead and then me, then Ruger behind me, we made it through!!!! Hooked up the tow strap a few times but not as much as I thought we'd have to

OMG you guys I had SOOOO much fun!! It was great meeting you all!!! Mrs and Mr Willys, TrackVino, Fireball, Bigmike, germ, blackdog, spotter, ruger, Infernal, yotaon40s, marlin, tex, lilbuddy, kyota, rocks hurt good, geno, and OOPS!!!! I don't know what I would have done without Blackdog's Spotter (damn good spotter btw

), Blackdog, Ruger, germ and OOPS! Without them the weekend would have been impossible for me. It was AWSOME meeting you all and finally putting faces to names!!!

As for pics of the Amigo's aftermath, I got about 70 pictures on the way out, so as soon as I can find a cable to get em online, they'll be up

reklund5 · « **Reply #41 on:** Sep 19, 2005, 12:34:56 PM »

So I'm interested to hear the story of how Marlin's business got started.... Somebody wanna give me the rundown?

Ryan

Anthony · « **Reply #42 on:** Sep 19, 2005, 12:40:04 PM »

I wish i would have been able to finish my truck so i could have gone. looks like everyone had allot of fun. Maybe next year.

Keep the pictures coming.

Hyena · « **Reply #43 on:** Sep 19, 2005, 12:44:36 PM »

I flopped it at the bottom of Walker on the way in Friday. And then on the way out the top bolts on my front driveline loosened up and sheared off so i had to drive out on 2wd. TEXXX had to pull me through gatekeeper. And i had to walk out on sunday to get a part for TEXXX's truck. I also had to wheel from the springs to Were TEXXX broke right by spider by myself on sunday morning. That was fun. Had a hard time going up Old Sluice. Was all alone going through it. Tried a few lines that didn't work. Finally found the right line. Put the passenger front tire over the middle rock and held on. That tire had to of been at least 4 feet in the air with my drivers door smashed into the left rock keeping me from rolling. I was thinking at the time "What if i roll? There is no one around to help me get it back on all 4's" Then the front tire came down hard and i made it.

BigMike · « **Reply #44 on:** Sep 19, 2005, 03:04:28 PM »

Here goes...

We worked on Marlin's truck all day on Friday and finally got it finished by midnight Friday night. I've gotta give some Thanks to BruceTS, who had stopped in at the shop on Friday on his way through California to the Rubicon, and then decided to stick around and help us get Marlin's truck together. Bevin (from Bevin's 3RZ Conversion thread), who was my copilot, also came down early on Friday to help Marlin out, and if it wasn't for those two guys helping us out, Marlin most likely would have NOT gone.

Yes, Seriously, it was that close.

TURBO worked SOOOOOOOOOOO HARD to get his truck together, but he just didnt have enough time. It he had one more day, he would have made it, but he has been working so hard, I cant even believe it. On Thursday night, TURBO found out that his water pump was leaking water, so on Friday he replaced his water pump, and then he had really bad vibrations on the freeway, so he had to weld on some shims to his rear pirches, and then he still hadn't finished his Hybrid flatbed/bedsides rear setup, so he had to work on that before he could even pack his stuff, and then, as if it couldn't get any worse, around 10pm Friday night he finds out that his Alternator is not charging, and then at midnight when we locked up the shop, his truck stopped running and he was left with no time and nothing to do. He told me on the phone that his truck would start up for about a min, and then just die.

I felt really sad for TURBO because he put his heart into his truck trying to get it going for this event, but it just wasnt to be. It was probably a good thing, as I'm sure he had other things that were not ready either, and I think it would have been a really long weekend for him, had he gone...

So after we left the shop, everyone got to Marlin's house at about midnight, Marlin decided to just go to sleep and wake up early to head to Rubicon, but I really wanted to get there ASAP so Bevin, Bruce, and I left Fresno at about 12:30am and got to Loon Lake just after 4am Saturday Morning.

BigMike · « **Reply #45 on:** Sep 19, 2005, 03:19:09 PM »

So that was AMAZING TIME from Fresno to Loon Resivor, JUST 4 HOURS!! That's 2 hours faster than the normal time. Bruce has a 3.4 V6 in his 4Runner, and with my 2.7 in my rig, we hauled up the hills at 75-85mph the whole way up through Placerville and Pollock Pines, and we hauled up Ice House road, and I even got us Lost by missing the Loon turn off and went down to the Wentworth springs trail, and had to turn around to get back on the right road.

So we started off at about 4:30am, and I had planned to skip everything and just get to the Little Sluice as quickly as possible.

So to skip Gatekeeper, I decided to take the lower bypass route to the Granite Bowl, but then I got us lost again, and Bruce and I drove all over the place trying to find the Bowl and after being lost for about 30mins, I happened to notice that my front drivers side tire was completely FLAT.

I had no idea how long I was driving with it flat? So we got out, now maybe 5am or so, and luckly air had just leaked out past the bead and we had to take the tire off and break the bead off, use some silicone around the rim, and finally got it reseated and aired up, all using my $20 Kragens air pump

Well, we finally found the Bowl, but then at the top of the Bowl, I GOT LOST AGAIN! and this time it was a bit worse and it took us about 45mins to find the correct trail. I kept driving into camp grounds after camp grounds, dead ends and then more dead ends, and then we found a bunch of boundry markers, and followed them for about 5 mins, and then it just was another dead end.

We had back tracked over our own tracks about 3 times and it was pretty lame. There I was, I wanted to get to the Sluice Box as fast as possible, and I thought I could boogie and move setting new speed records, and there I was getting lost for the third time. I've night wheeled many times in the past, and I've got excellent night lights and lights on my steering arms also for directional flood lighting, but the problem is that the trail branches into about 50 other trails in numerous locations, and especially when you are on a large granite slab, it's really hard to see where the rest of the trail is...

BigMike · « **Reply #46 on:** Sep 19, 2005, 03:29:16 PM »

Once we got to the Little Sluice, and it was already 7am, there was no way I was going to stop and camp. So on to the springs we went!

From there out it wasn't to bad, I found the Slabs bypass for the Old Sluice without much trouble, as it was the first time I've ever gone in from Loon and gone down the Slabs. Every single time that I've gone to Rubicon, I've ALWAYS gone the Old Sluice, so this was a first for me to go down the slabs. I've been up them many times, but never down.

Soon we hit the camp at Buck Lake and a couple of people were awake as we drove by.

When I got to the top of the hill before dropping down into the Big Sluice, I was expecting there to be a traffic jam, but to my surpise, no one was there. This is the first time in my life that I've wheeled straight from Buck to the Bridge without running into ANY traffic.

MiniSimp · « **Reply #47 on:** Sep 19, 2005, 03:39:49 PM »

Nice pics!

BigMike · « **Reply #48 on:** Sep 19, 2005, 03:42:04 PM »

Actually, we did catch a couple of Jeeps just before the Bridge, but they promptly moved right as we caught them.

But when we stopped, I closed my eyes for a min, and the next thing you know, I was fast asleep. Bruce and Bevin were chatting for who knows how long when I finally woke back up. I think I must have caught 3 or 4 flies while I was sleeping

Then, now more than 5mins later, I blew my passengers side bead. According to Bruce's GPS, we were 200 feet from the Bridge. I was tired and really frustrated with my two front tires. If it wasn't for Bruce helping me out, I don't know what I would have done. I was really really REALLY pissed off.

RE my tires blowing beads, I had started the trail out running 6psi. Then after I blew the first bead, I aired all my tires up to 8psi. Then when I blew the 2nd bead, I aired up to 10psi.

But in the past, I've already ran the entire Rubicon trail with 4 psi in the back and 5psi in the front, and I didn't blow a single bead.

Now both of my front tires are new to me. I got them from Angelo, they were his two best tires that he gave me right before he upgraded to 37s. And I had just mounted them on Friday afternoon before we left Fresno, and I noticed two things: One of his tires was mounted on a 7" wide spare rim, and the other had huge chunks of rubber missing from just below the inner bead.
So my drivers front tire, was previously seated on a 7" rim, so with just 6psi in it, it didn't have enough pressure at the bead, and I easily got some dirt in the bead and it just slowly leaked out all the air and by the time I noticed it, it was already flat.
And for the passengers side, the bead looks like someone in the past had installed the tire using a machedi knife or something because huge chunks of rubber were missing from just past the bead. So I am assuming that it didnt seat properly and just slowly leaked air during the morning and eventually got flat as well.

So that's a lesson I leaned about using used tires. Always make sure to carefully inspect the beads and if there is any problem, then just use some silicone on is when you are seating it on your tire machine......

So we got that tire reseated, and then rolled into the Springs camp ground at 10:51am.

BigMike · « **Reply #49 on:** Sep 19, 2005, 03:58:34 PM »

Once at the springs, Bevin and I set up both our Tents and we just hit the sack. I think I slept until about 5pm when I heard Marlin talking to someone outside my tent. I think Marlin got to the Springs at 3pm. They left home at 6am and came down Cadillac hill midday Saturday.

I got to meet a bunch of people from the Forum, there was alot of people, I would say 200 or so all eating and talking. I got to meet lilbuddy, FFC, RUGER, BLACKDOG, TacoRunner, and later I finally found Infernal Jeep, Yotaon40s, RokCrawlinToy, and a couple others including germ.

During the early dinner, Marlin was up front on the mic, and he was talking about how he got started. And if anyone has ever talked to Marlin, you know how he loves to talk. He must have talked for an easy hour about the whole history of Marlin Crawler. Despite going into deep detail like Marlin often does, his audience stuck with his story and everyone looked like they were having a great time.

I had found TacoRunner and had left the main area to go look at his truck with Bevin, and then we three went over to our camp where I showed TacoRunner Dean's 3RZ, Marlin's 3RZ, and my 3RZ conversion. We were all like one big happy 3RZ family. Then Dean came over and we pulled the RC Buggys out again and did some crawling near the Rubicon River.....

...... and then come to find out when I got back to the main area, Marlin had talked alot about me and I was supposed to be there but I was busy meeting friends I never knew I had. I hear Marlin got pretty emotional when he was talking about me, I Love ya Dad! Sorry I missed your speech!

$I\'m Down$

BigMike · « **Reply #50 on:** Sep 19, 2005, 04:09:34 PM »

FIREBALL was the man behind the mic as he was once again MC for another successful Marlin Crawler Round-Up.

I had a great time hanging out late with Infernal, Yotaon40s, RokCrawlinToy, germ, lilbuddy, and someone else at the fire pit until about midnight. We had a great time talking all about the forum, interactions and memories of the board members..

Say, where was DIGGERTOY??? HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA oh, sorry.

Also, I'll tell you what Rebeltildeath, your girlfriend would have been a star of the show, that's for sure

The next morning, many rigs left around 6-7am, but since Marlin got in so late on Sat., there was really no reason to haul out, so we just woke up around 7-8am and rolled out taking it easy. lilbuddy got to wheel with Angel and us, and we all had a great time.

I had met yotaboy79 who was hanging out with Hyena Sat. evening, and he wheeled out with us along with bigbluewilly that morning.

I caught the Mammoth's at the base of Cadillac hill and Louie in his full size Blazer with an Ultimate

transfercase and Holly in Evil Toy from the Wicked Wheelers caught up behind me. This is the 2nd time I've wheeled Cadillac hill with Louie behind me, so that was cool

At the the lookout point, I was playing on some rocks and CJ noticed that I had lost a shackle nut and spacer. Good thing he had a spare! I've gotta lock tite those suckers from now on!

BigMike · « **Reply #51 on:** Sep 19, 2005, 04:12:19 PM »

Playing at the Look-Out

BigMike · « **Reply #52 on:** Sep 19, 2005, 04:19:51 PM »

I just noticed that in my reply (reply #49) it's hard to see RUGER in that pic once I resized it down so I could upload it. He's actually behind that guy who looks like the arrow is pointed at. RUGER's got his Red

Hat on

So here's the pic of my nice shackle, minus the nut and spacer. Thanks CJ for carrying those parts!

And also it looks like I measured the 14" shocks on the front just right, because the clearancing I had to do to my Oil Pan to clean the HySteer turned out to be just barely enough! wow

And also, since I was able to keep this a secret, here's my new

valve cover