Ok, I'm back.
Here's what I experienced:
Engineering/Show and Shine/Measurements
What can you say about this other than it was hot and mostly boring as you waited your turn to go. We were towards the end so we got to watch a lot of other rigs go first. After seeing the turning radius on most of the trucks, we knew we were in trouble.
John's Bronco (The winner) turned in 19 ft and then 24 feet on his second attempt. We just about took out the spectators seated 60 feet away.
Even though we had worked the steering quite a bit, it wasn't enough for this competition and we couldn't compete with 4 wheel steering. we did pretty well in the RTI.
Ride and Drive: umm the less said the better. We beat the Raptor and the Frog, but that's about it. The nice driveline shake from 0 to 60 mph and the various rattles and the fact we ran with the windshield down must have really impressed the judges as they placed us 8th, or second last. I think it was a gift.
Hill climb: This was the first real "event" and we didn't know what to expect. We were told to drive up the hill "Fast, but not out of control" I guess I didn't quite grasp all that as we finished 8th again. No one in the group knew what to expect from that event. It was a pretty steep hill, but no problems.
Acceleration test: This was new to pretty well everyone as well, as these trucks were never designed to drag race. We staged at the line, and as we took off, the front end did a nice lift and stagger as we drew away from the line. The big 502 really worked well and by the mid point we were flying and Cody my co-driver was yelling so loud I couldn't hear the engine
We placed 2nd, which I thought was great since the truck weighs 6000 lbs and the tires aren't the lightest either.
Braking Test: I had been dreading this as the Cruiser brakes are pretty soft and we had a leak in the front line. As we approached the stop line, I started pumping the brakes lightly to build up some pressure, and we actually locked them up pretty well. We placed 4th in this event.
Tow test: We had to tow one big mutha of a water truck up a fair hill. I made a mistake on this one and didn't let it all out soon enough. I started spinning at the start and let off too much, by the time I got back into it, the water truck was starting up the hill, and things got really heavy from there. We placed about 4th.
Frame Twister: We drew the dreaded number 1 on this event, and as Cody and I looked over the course, we thought we might try a little strategy and go to the left. Wrong. We should have started out with the winch cable in hand and just winched the dam thing over. We got bucked out on the left and hit a cone and then ended up winching over the last logs. It was nasty. Bent a lower link nicely coming out on the throttle. That was our first damage.
Mud Pit: After we changed out the lower link we bent in the frame twister, it was time for the mud pit. This should have been one of our better events, and as we got to the line (in the Number 2 position) I felt fairly confident. We got the go ahead and as I hit the gas, the truck died. We got about 2 feet over the line. They towed us out and as the other competitors ran the pit we feverishly tried to diagnose the problem. In the end, it turned out to be a nice big wad of plastic crap in the fuel filter from the brand new plastic tank. That in turn blew an ECM fuse and between those two things we weren't able to diagnose and fix it in time for the BOG so we got dead last. 10th Place.
Mini Rubicon: After working for about 1 1/2 hours in the beating 100 degree heat during the Mud Bog trying to get the fuel system running, we weren't prepared for the sight of the Mini Rubicon. We'd never seen rocks like this before. The Raptor co-driver asked the organizers why they "paved" it. Yikes. It didn't looked paved to me. It looked impossible. We made it about a third of the way and then got into a nice big 44 swallowing hole. Cody worked his butt off trying to stack some rocks under the tire, but after being in the hot sun all afternoon in the engine bay working on the fuel system, he suffered from it and we timed out with both of us exhausted and Cody receiving medical attention and oxygen on the side. In addition to that, we nicely cracked the HD TH400 transmission case in two and bent our replacement .25" wall lower link. I was a little worried at this point. We came 9th in this event.
Obstacle Course: We worked feverishly the night before to try and repair the transmission, and we didn't know how if would stand up to the strain, but after using a couple tubes of steel putty, a whole bunch of silicone, three tie down straps and a block of wood, the tranny was actually holding pressure. So we went into the Obstacle course thinking we were going to take it easy and save the truck for the Tank Trap. Wrong. I nailed it from the start and was doing pretty good until the off camber turn in the middle, where our not so tight turning radius got us and we had to back up twice. We got to the last part where there was a big wall and without having seen how the other competitor (we were number 2) had done it, I hit it pretty hard, and when we got bucked, my foot hammered the throttle and we took off, front wheels about 4 or 5 feet in the air, and according to witnesses, rear tires a couple feet in the air as well. It was one wild ride. After landing on all fours (thankfully) and not going over backwards, we tried a slightly different line and drove up and out for a 6th place finish. The tranny held together somehow.
Tank Trap: I was really worried after the pounding of the earlier events that we wouldn't be able to compete in final event, and with the truck running with a cracked transmission, front right coilover damaged, a replacement OBA system, bent front suspension link, two bent rear links and a fuel system that had already given us troubles, I was a little worried.
We pulled 8th in the draw, and watched as one by one the other competitors were led from camp by Rick (the Angel of Death we called him). The Frog went first and didn't complete, then Toby Lavender went and he made it. Cory Dean also made it, as did the Raptor and the Bronco.
By the time we were up, we had the truck running as best we could. We dove into the first hole and that was it. The truck sputtered and wouldn't go above about 400 rpm. The tires were turning, but about 1/2 revolution per second. Cody jumped out to go rig the winch and as we exited the first hole, the engine jumped a bit, and I got some momentum. Unfortunately, Cody slipped at that point and I ran over his foot. Oops. Luckily he was ok, and we winched/crawled up to the second hole, were we once again plopped in with the tires turning slowly and the engine plopping along at 400-500 rpm with both transfer cases engaged.
We continued up the canyon crawling along at a walking pace with my foot glued to the floor and the engine hardly running at all. About the 5th or 6th hole (sorry it's all a blur) we stalled and the entire electrical system went out and I thought we were done. We hooked up the winch to continue as far as wel could and as we cleared the hole, the fans came back on, and it started back up. With me yelling at Cody to get out of the way, we slowly made our way up what turned out to be the last hill, and into the last water hole. Up to this point, Cody had run pretty well the whole course, and after suffering heat exhaustion in the previous days events, he was wiped.
So I yelled what I meant to be "Cody, get in here and drive", which actually came out "Cody, get your F---ing Ass in the Truck!!!" (hope they do NOT put that on the tape) and we switched places and I ran the winch cable to the top of the hill. Or more like I stumbled and crawled the winch cable up the hill. By the time I made it to the top, I was so exhausted and hot, I could barely remember what I was supposed to hook the dam thing to, but I managed to tie it to the clevis on the tractor, and then realized I had to run back down the dam hill to engage the clutch on the winch.
Going down the hill exhausted was about as graceful as my ascent, and I just about mowed into my own truck, but I managed to catch myself before falling. My best memory of this was as I was running down the hill I happened to look right at Jon Thompson, Editor of Four Wheeler's face as I about to go head first into my own tire. He had that "Oh crap what the hell are you doing" look on his face and his arms were extended to somehow try and stop this madman from ruining his competition. Somehow I managed to recover and slid to a stop by the truck (much to everyone's relief)
After flipping the clutch, Cody started winching the truck up, and I collapsed at the bottom of the hill as medics poured water on me. I thought I better cross the finish line as well as my truck, so crawled up the hill, and we both crossed at about the same time (and in about the same condition). But we finished the event in 20 minutes, which was good enough for 4th placed.
Overall Team WOLF359 placed 6th.
I had a blast competing in this event, and I learned a ton from my fellow competitors. These guys were awesome.
John Reynolds Bronco: The overall winner, John has designed and with help from Eric@ Fat City, built an incredible machine. John is a great driver, and deserves all the credit for bringing home the Top Truck Challange title. Well done John. Both John and Jack (from CTM, his co-driver) are super guys. I had a great time getting to know them.
The Raptor: These guys REALLY, REALLY know how to compete (and drive), and the truck is unbelievable. They really deserved 2nd place. They are also two great guys and fun to camp with. Watching it go over and around and then over the rubicon again and again was amazing. You guys have to to teach me how to do that.
Cory Dean's Chevy: Cory shocked everyone by putting on an incredible display for third place. While everyone else had the coolest technology, Cory showed almost everyone up with his incredible engine and great driving. He sure took some nice damage on the tank trap. The truck did great, and I'm proud of my fellow Canadian (and Calgarian) for doing so well.
Toby Lavender's Flatty: Toby's truck has some wicked engineering (rotateable diff housings anyone) and Toby is also a classic driver. He was solid in all the events, and even though he had the smallest tires, spanked the tank trap.
Frog: Barry is a great guy, and it was a lot of fun getting to know him and his crew in camp all week. I loved the Frog. It didn't do as well as I thought in the engineering, but it's got all the coolest, beefy things on it that you could want. No crome, lots of welds, and big beefy suspension stuff. Barry took me for a ride and I thought it drove beautifully (better than mine) It was very stable. Again, Barry was consistent and did well in a lot of the events. He got the bad luck of running first in the tank trap, which likely hurt him in that event. Great Job Barry.
Jerry Cantrell's Jeep: this truck was so well put together. It was beautiful. Jerry had the bad luck of breaking a ring and pinion and a front output on his Atlas, on the obstacle course, so had to run the tank trap in 2 wheel drive. They worked all day in the heat to get it ready. Well done.
Robs Blazer/Mog (the Hulk): Rob and his team and us camped side by side, and as fellow Canadians, we got along great. We had great fun teasing our Texas friends about their english as they did about ours. Rob's Blazer had a little bad luck like we did and broke in the Rubicon, but they got it back together to run the tank trap. Their truck is huge, and the ground clearance on it amazing.
Abba's Scout: Abba had the most incredible support camp you could imagine, and I think he rebuilt most of the truck through the week. Abba's a great guy, and he amazed us with his driving in the Rubicon. To see that massive 44 swampered scout go through the rocks was incredible. Abba suffered an unfortunate break on the tank trap and layed the scout on it side, but he competed hard in all the events.
Jesse's MudTruck44: Jesse and Matt (thelakerat) were both really great guys, and I'm very happy I got to meet them. Jeese built his rig himself and did a wonderful job on it. Like us, he took some damage in the rubicon (and like us, he'd never seen rocks before). But they got it repaired, and if not for some eletrical problems in the Tank Trap, I think Jesse would have really done well. In a competition like this, there is no second chance, but I'd put Jesse's truck up against any of them on any given day. He just had some bad luck. Well done Jess.
Other than the competitors, the first alternate Toby Harrell was also there, and he drove all the way from Texas and didn't get to compete. But, if you went around to all the competitors and did a poll, I bet there was parts of Toby's truck on almost all the rigs. Toby lent out spares and tools and parts to pretty well every team. He and his son had a great time and he's a really cool guy. Thanks for coming Toby.
I got help down there from two guys who did a whole bunch of work, and aside from my Co-Driver Cody, I coldn't have done it without them.
Mark (wldnman), who drove back and forth each night from home, got parts, worked on the truck, gave advice, and overall just made the experience that much more enjoyable. Thanks Mark.
Tony, who was the co-driver for the Rogerbilt a few years ago, drove down from Canada and helped support us. Tony as well got parts and worked for hours on the Wolf. On the last day when they were handing out the prizes, I was sorry to see that Tony and his friend had already left. I didn't get a chance to properly thank them for their help. If you guys see this, thanks. It meant a lot to me.
If anyone would like information on the suspension system on the WOLF359, it was designed by Mark Cymbaluk of Rocky Mountain Offroad @ (403) 348-0160, and since Four Wheeler won't put something like this in the magazine, I would appreciate if people would help support Rocky Mountain Offroad. Mark can build just about anything for a 4 x 4. His suspension and fabrication work is awesome and stood up to the best that TTC had to offer and didn't break.
at least Cody didn't get a broken foot too!) lookin' forward to the Highriders Challenge with you. i've also found a "mini rubicon" right in the middle of the prairies, that could prove interesting for some "technical" driving practices. 
These rocks are as big as a large tractor!! 
:D:D:D
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