stioc
Expedition Leader
This past Sat I ran the Cleghorn trail with the ExPo guys, all 13 to 14 of us, of all different capabilities and varieties- more on that in a bit. Cleghorn itself is a dirt road, fairly mild but it has optional off-shoots that make it a challenging trail. Unlike many trails in and around BigBear, Cleghorn is not rocky (it does have some boulders but not a typical rock garden) but it's a great training ground because it has a lot flexing/articulation/rutting combined with steep uphill or downhill sections. Lots of 3 wheeling, even momentary 2 wheeling action and teeter-totting.
I was without a co-pilot so didn't get a lot of pics of my truck but someone took a few in a couple of sections. To get a better idea of what was traversed take a look at all the pics posted, starting on page 12 (along with the gallery links):
http://www.expeditionportal.com/forum/threads/101062-Cleghorn-Shake-Down-Run-May-11th/page12
Here's a few of the Pathy. This was the first obstacle, the Subarus and a couple of other rigs opted to not touch it. It doesn't look steep but walking up and especially downhill wasn't easy. Our trail leader and friend 'nwoods' recently bought a Montero and wanted to shake it down. He has taught and led trails for years in his Rubicon and LR3. He made it up but there was a bit of struggle and drama. So when they asked me if I wanted to give it a go I said I'd give it a go. Lowered the tire pressure, put it in 4Lo, hit the locker button and the way I climbed up it was like I was driving on pavement. People outside were yelling ata-boy and Nathan said 'dude, you made that look too easy'. I think the locker and my attempt to try and keep the truck as level as possible did the trick.
Who says IFS doesn't flex? it does, though nothing like the SAs.
Check out the flex on the PowerWagon- 35" tires, fully locked and armor'd
Same section as above- the sliders did their job on this section.
Overall I was very pleased with how the Pathy did. There was a 'Jeeps only' section that I shouldn't have tried but by the time I got to the difficult part it was too late to turn back. After making my way through some tough terrain I came up to the part where you crest the hill, there was a 4ft rock that was vertical like a wall. My pseudo 31" tires tried as best as they could but there was no way to cllimb it without a front locker, the tires were just too small. On my third go I gave it some more power and the whole truck pitched sideways, burried itself and we heard a hisssssssss - crap! did I cut my tire open? did I break the bead? I asked the Power Wagon to tug me up as I didn't want to break anything else. We threw the stap on it and I told him to go easy while I'll try to give it some gas. As he started moving forward I chose a slightly different line, gave it some gas and pop it went over the rock. I thought I got some help from the Power Wagon but I later found out he never even took up the slack. This was the part where I felt I beat up the truck a bit. There was another section with huge ruts and boulders but with a couple of rock stacking on the toughest obstacleI made it up without a problem. Oh the hsssss? turns out it was the exhaust stuffed in the dirt- oops.
nwoods and I had the smallest tires in the group (minus the Subarus which bypassed the technical sections), the smallest lift/ground-clearance too and we both had rear lockers (his are factory). Even he bypassed three sections but I made it through them thanks to the better tires and articulation- though nothing like the Jeeps, Dodge etc.
What I learned about my truck: The only thing holding it back is the ground clearance and small tires. May be the taller tires will address the lift too but even with the AC lift and 245/75/16 people think it's stock, it does look about as high as a stock 4runner. I put my tires for sale in the for-sale section here...I'm hoping someone would buy them so I can get the next size or two up.
Carnage: It did develop a clunk and a creak that I couldn't figure out exactly where it's coming from but it's steering related. It sounds like something is binding as I turn the steering wheel left/right (even when not moving). It won't do it on the painted floor in the garage (too smooth) but in the driveway it does and sometimes even when I pump the brakes making the front end dip. I can also feel it under my feet but I think it's coming from the steering linkage or the rack. I did find a slight slop in the steering rack; if I hold the tie rod and have someone move the steering wheel I can feel the slop which I don't on the passenger side. Though if I try to move the tie rod itself there's no movement leading me to believe the slop is in the rack.
I was without a co-pilot so didn't get a lot of pics of my truck but someone took a few in a couple of sections. To get a better idea of what was traversed take a look at all the pics posted, starting on page 12 (along with the gallery links):
http://www.expeditionportal.com/forum/threads/101062-Cleghorn-Shake-Down-Run-May-11th/page12
Here's a few of the Pathy. This was the first obstacle, the Subarus and a couple of other rigs opted to not touch it. It doesn't look steep but walking up and especially downhill wasn't easy. Our trail leader and friend 'nwoods' recently bought a Montero and wanted to shake it down. He has taught and led trails for years in his Rubicon and LR3. He made it up but there was a bit of struggle and drama. So when they asked me if I wanted to give it a go I said I'd give it a go. Lowered the tire pressure, put it in 4Lo, hit the locker button and the way I climbed up it was like I was driving on pavement. People outside were yelling ata-boy and Nathan said 'dude, you made that look too easy'. I think the locker and my attempt to try and keep the truck as level as possible did the trick.
Who says IFS doesn't flex? it does, though nothing like the SAs.
Check out the flex on the PowerWagon- 35" tires, fully locked and armor'd
Same section as above- the sliders did their job on this section.
Overall I was very pleased with how the Pathy did. There was a 'Jeeps only' section that I shouldn't have tried but by the time I got to the difficult part it was too late to turn back. After making my way through some tough terrain I came up to the part where you crest the hill, there was a 4ft rock that was vertical like a wall. My pseudo 31" tires tried as best as they could but there was no way to cllimb it without a front locker, the tires were just too small. On my third go I gave it some more power and the whole truck pitched sideways, burried itself and we heard a hisssssssss - crap! did I cut my tire open? did I break the bead? I asked the Power Wagon to tug me up as I didn't want to break anything else. We threw the stap on it and I told him to go easy while I'll try to give it some gas. As he started moving forward I chose a slightly different line, gave it some gas and pop it went over the rock. I thought I got some help from the Power Wagon but I later found out he never even took up the slack. This was the part where I felt I beat up the truck a bit. There was another section with huge ruts and boulders but with a couple of rock stacking on the toughest obstacleI made it up without a problem. Oh the hsssss? turns out it was the exhaust stuffed in the dirt- oops.
nwoods and I had the smallest tires in the group (minus the Subarus which bypassed the technical sections), the smallest lift/ground-clearance too and we both had rear lockers (his are factory). Even he bypassed three sections but I made it through them thanks to the better tires and articulation- though nothing like the Jeeps, Dodge etc.
What I learned about my truck: The only thing holding it back is the ground clearance and small tires. May be the taller tires will address the lift too but even with the AC lift and 245/75/16 people think it's stock, it does look about as high as a stock 4runner. I put my tires for sale in the for-sale section here...I'm hoping someone would buy them so I can get the next size or two up.
Carnage: It did develop a clunk and a creak that I couldn't figure out exactly where it's coming from but it's steering related. It sounds like something is binding as I turn the steering wheel left/right (even when not moving). It won't do it on the painted floor in the garage (too smooth) but in the driveway it does and sometimes even when I pump the brakes making the front end dip. I can also feel it under my feet but I think it's coming from the steering linkage or the rack. I did find a slight slop in the steering rack; if I hold the tie rod and have someone move the steering wheel I can feel the slop which I don't on the passenger side. Though if I try to move the tie rod itself there's no movement leading me to believe the slop is in the rack.
Last edited:
