Sad but preventable story
Posted: August 15, 2017 Filed under: Uncategorized Leave a commentI’m posting this so we can all learn from it and prevent it from ever happening again.
We all wheel with others, right? We should all ensure that everyone in our rig and in our fellow wheelers rigs are wearing seat belts. Running Sierra Trek last week, at the drivers meeting, seat belts were very much emphasized by the committee. It might be uncomfortable at times but it would be more uncomfortable to explain to your passenger’s family why they died because you moved the rig while they were not belted in.
We shouldn’t even have to talk about drinking and driving but here we are. Again, we wheel with friends. If someone in the group has been drinking, it’s up to us to step forward and prevent them from driving. It may be an uncomfortable conversation but we’re friends, that bad conversation will be fine in the morning.
Georgetown Gazette
DUI suspected in fatal Jeep rollover on the Rubicon
A 49-year-old Auburn man suffered fatal injuries early Sunday after the 1986 Jeep in which he was a passenger rolled over in rugged terrain in the Rubicon wilderness area in the northeastern reaches of El Dorado County.
Dead at the scene of the 2 a.m. accident was John Gary Cawley, who was not wearing a seat belt when the Jeep driven by Kurt William Steever, 27, tumbled over as the pair traversed the treacherous landscape, according to the California Highway Patrol’s Placerville office.
Public Information Officer Andrew Brown said the driver, from Citrus Heights, suffered scratches and some cuts to his face but was not seriously injured. Steever was wearing his seat belt, according to CHP reports.
“Alcohol is believed to have been a factor” in the fatal mishap, said the PIO, who added that Cawley was ejected from the Jeep when the vehicle rolled onto its top, then rolled onto the victim, causing grievous injuries that led to his death.
CHP officers drove to Loon Lake in order to retrieve the victim’s body, along with taking custody of the suspect for booking into jail after his injuries were treated.
The area where the fatal rollover occurred is so remote that the CHP has asked the El Dorado County Sheriff’s Office to try to pinpoint it more accurately, using longitude and latitude figures provided. A helicopter team has been asked to provide aerial shots of the accident location as the investigation continues.
Officer Brown said there isn’t even a side road nearby with a name that would bear mention in trying to explain where the accident happened.
Middle Fork (15N38) reopened!
Posted: August 14, 2017 Filed under: Uncategorized Leave a commentThe Middle Fork Trail has been repaired and reopened by the Forest Service.
The road was partially washed out by winter/spring run-off:
TNF Fire Restrictions
Posted: July 27, 2017 Filed under: Uncategorized Leave a commentOn July 25th, the Tahoe National Forest implemented fire restrictions…
https://www.fs.usda.gov/detail/tahoe/news-events/?cid=FSEPRD551387
Although there is still snow in the highest points of the sierras, the lower elevations are drying out. Restrictions in the Eldorado should happen soon.
The Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit does not allow dispersed camping anywhere, thus, the only place you can have a camp fire is in a designated campground within a Forest Service provided fire pit. Fires and charcoal BBQs are not allowed on Lake Tahoe’s shoreline.
Please be fire safe.
Rubicon reopens
Posted: June 4, 2017 Filed under: Uncategorized Leave a commentThe Rubicon Trail was temporarily closed before Memorial weekend due to excessive water running down the trail between Wentworth and the Ellis Creek intertie.
Those flows have now subsided and the entire trail ‘system’ is now open.
Enjoy!
New Spring Hangers
Posted: May 18, 2017 Filed under: Uncategorized Leave a commentBack in 2009, when I bought my current CJ-7 trail rig, I noticed the U-bolt protection plates hanging down well below the axles. I thought I needed to get more clearance there before too long.
Well, seven years later, countless broken U-bolts later, I finally got rid of those low hanging hangers.
Thank you to Ruff Stuff for make a product I had been thinking about for years.
Spring Under U-Bolt Plates http://www.ruffstuffspecialties.com/catalog/R2198.html
The clearance is clear. The wood represents the leaf spring (sprung under). The old on the right, the new on the left. (It’s only a 1/4″ piece of steel under the spring. The block is to get the ‘springs’ at the same height for demonstration purposes.)
I have a problem that I can’t leave anything stock. I’m not always the one to come up with an idea but I can always figure out a way to make it better. So, in this case, I welded a thick washer in order to better protect the leaf spring bolt (actually the nut) from getting scraped or broken off.
Since I was relocating my anti-sway bar mounts, I had to fab up a new mount. This was an early version, the later version had two cross braces to prevent the bending of the plate. This involves a system to move the axle 1″ forward on the spring for better tire clearance with the back of the front fender.
I have these products on the rear axle of my CJ-7. I think I had to move the brake line mount because the U-bolts are spaced wider with this application. On the front, since this is made for 2 1/2″ spring, I had to install spaces to keep the springs aligned in the center of the bracket. The ‘seams’ of the new bracket were also welded for more strength.
On the front axle, the diff is off to the passenger side so I had to make room for the diff and cover. There was a little grinding of the front diff to get better clearance for the plate and the U-bolts.
Once making the clearance, I had to make braces to make up for my cuts in the original product. The results of my welding shows I’m a little out of practice.
Installed under the rig.
You can sort-of see the extra braces on the anti-sway bar mounts.
The heavy duty steering and tie rod went in at the same time. (see previous ‘knuckle’ post)
It has survived a mellow day of runs in the area. I’ll soon take it out for a true pre-season ruin. There’s still a ton of snow in the mountains so I have time to dial things in.
Rubicon Ronin
The 'Other' Rubicon 