I haven't written much this past year as I'm holding down two full time jobs and pretty much working 7 days a week. It's time.
"My son Matt suggested that instead of doing our usual Moab Pilgrimage this spring, we spend our Jeeping time at the Hammers, also know as the Johnson Valley Recreation Area in the Southern California desert east of Los Angeles. We just completed a 35 spline, D60, Detroit, 4.10 geared rear end for his Jeep C104 and needed a venue that could take advantage of the increased strength. Our rigs were pretty evenly matched and it looked like we would be alone out there. We never saw another rig on the trails. Not one.
For those of you who are not in-the-know about the 'Hammers', it's a rock crawler's dream, a locale for jeepers designed and serviced by the Victor Valley Jeep Club. They have made the routes 'just' passable by very well built, and specifically rock crawler style rigs. You need big clearance, very low gears, lockers on both ends, and a drivetrain that can take brutal punishement. The place eats rigs. The landscape is variously sharp ignious rock, some sand, and a little sandstone. Almost nothing grows there and the whole area is open to wheeled travel, no restrictions.
We arrived on Wednsday afternoon, travelling the 3 miles of sandy road, across the Means dry lake and up a rocky arroyo and around a hill to a sand dune area just a half mile from the start of the Sledgehammer and Jackhammer routes. We had to traverse some of the sand to get to the site and the Cummins quickly dug 4 holes. It was time to unload my CJ8 from the trailer. That being done, and the tire pressure taken down to 10 lbs., the Load range 'E' truck tires were dropped from 80 down to 20 lbs. I was then able to grunt the Dodge with empty trailer over to the camp site. The site was picked because it was on the lee side of windward, in the wind shadow, a savvy choice we found out, as the wind was incessant. Except for the afternoon we left, It blew, 24 hours a day for the whole time we were there. With no tent set up, we decided to sleep in the bed of my pickup with the tailgate up and the lid down, mostly. Except for the wind (which was a lot less in camp than out on the flat) camp was a pleasant place with a good view to the south to Landers.
As soon as we set up camp, we were ready to tackle the first route. I don't use the term 'trail' here, as it conotes something that's passable. Route is a more apt description. We hit the "Sledgehammer", the grandaddy of the the hammers at about 4pm. It gets you right away with some large 'gatekeeper' rocks that make sure you have that very high clearance, super low gears and stout, locked axles. We didn't have much trouble with this one, finishing it in about an hour and a half. (The first time I went through this route, it took us about 4 hours, with breakdowns, lots of jacking and stacking). It did remind me that I haven't been rockcrawling for a while and my 'chops' were rusty. After a while I started picking better lines so as not to get high centered. We took the sand hill exit and mushed back to camp before dark and made dinner. It was a good run. We were preparred. Here's a rundown of the rigs:
Jefe's CJ8: '82 CJ-8, SOA (YJ- 7 leaf front springs, CJ- 10 leaf miltary wrap rrs) 4.4L, H.O., MPI (Hesco RV cam, Cloyes timing gears/chains advanced 4 deg., high vol oil pump, adjustable fuel pressure regulator), AGR steering, NP435, D300/4:1, D44, D60, 4.88's, ARB's, 130:1, 36" TSL Swamper Radials, reinforced front frame horns, Currie steering brace, Currie dual sticks, Warn 8274, 24 gal tank with steel skid, D rings all around, CO2 tank, Onboard stick welder, lots of recovery equipment.
Matts '73 Jeep Commando, C-104: SOA, 304V8, wide ratio Jeep T-18, Scout D300 with Tera low 4:1 gears, 6 states driveshafts, Scout D44 front axle (4.09) Detroit, outboard of frame, with Waggie outers and Parts Mike spring-over steering arms with H.D. Waggie tie rod and drag link. Rear axle: 35 spline D60, Detroit, 4.10, cut down to Scout width. 36" Swamper TSL radials on 8" alum rims. His final drive in low/low is 104:1, fine with the torque of the V8.
So, pretty evenly matched for the trail. He stopped on the way to the area a bought a complete set of front axle shafts, assembled.
(continued in pt. 2)
"My son Matt suggested that instead of doing our usual Moab Pilgrimage this spring, we spend our Jeeping time at the Hammers, also know as the Johnson Valley Recreation Area in the Southern California desert east of Los Angeles. We just completed a 35 spline, D60, Detroit, 4.10 geared rear end for his Jeep C104 and needed a venue that could take advantage of the increased strength. Our rigs were pretty evenly matched and it looked like we would be alone out there. We never saw another rig on the trails. Not one.
For those of you who are not in-the-know about the 'Hammers', it's a rock crawler's dream, a locale for jeepers designed and serviced by the Victor Valley Jeep Club. They have made the routes 'just' passable by very well built, and specifically rock crawler style rigs. You need big clearance, very low gears, lockers on both ends, and a drivetrain that can take brutal punishement. The place eats rigs. The landscape is variously sharp ignious rock, some sand, and a little sandstone. Almost nothing grows there and the whole area is open to wheeled travel, no restrictions.
We arrived on Wednsday afternoon, travelling the 3 miles of sandy road, across the Means dry lake and up a rocky arroyo and around a hill to a sand dune area just a half mile from the start of the Sledgehammer and Jackhammer routes. We had to traverse some of the sand to get to the site and the Cummins quickly dug 4 holes. It was time to unload my CJ8 from the trailer. That being done, and the tire pressure taken down to 10 lbs., the Load range 'E' truck tires were dropped from 80 down to 20 lbs. I was then able to grunt the Dodge with empty trailer over to the camp site. The site was picked because it was on the lee side of windward, in the wind shadow, a savvy choice we found out, as the wind was incessant. Except for the afternoon we left, It blew, 24 hours a day for the whole time we were there. With no tent set up, we decided to sleep in the bed of my pickup with the tailgate up and the lid down, mostly. Except for the wind (which was a lot less in camp than out on the flat) camp was a pleasant place with a good view to the south to Landers.
As soon as we set up camp, we were ready to tackle the first route. I don't use the term 'trail' here, as it conotes something that's passable. Route is a more apt description. We hit the "Sledgehammer", the grandaddy of the the hammers at about 4pm. It gets you right away with some large 'gatekeeper' rocks that make sure you have that very high clearance, super low gears and stout, locked axles. We didn't have much trouble with this one, finishing it in about an hour and a half. (The first time I went through this route, it took us about 4 hours, with breakdowns, lots of jacking and stacking). It did remind me that I haven't been rockcrawling for a while and my 'chops' were rusty. After a while I started picking better lines so as not to get high centered. We took the sand hill exit and mushed back to camp before dark and made dinner. It was a good run. We were preparred. Here's a rundown of the rigs:
Jefe's CJ8: '82 CJ-8, SOA (YJ- 7 leaf front springs, CJ- 10 leaf miltary wrap rrs) 4.4L, H.O., MPI (Hesco RV cam, Cloyes timing gears/chains advanced 4 deg., high vol oil pump, adjustable fuel pressure regulator), AGR steering, NP435, D300/4:1, D44, D60, 4.88's, ARB's, 130:1, 36" TSL Swamper Radials, reinforced front frame horns, Currie steering brace, Currie dual sticks, Warn 8274, 24 gal tank with steel skid, D rings all around, CO2 tank, Onboard stick welder, lots of recovery equipment.
Matts '73 Jeep Commando, C-104: SOA, 304V8, wide ratio Jeep T-18, Scout D300 with Tera low 4:1 gears, 6 states driveshafts, Scout D44 front axle (4.09) Detroit, outboard of frame, with Waggie outers and Parts Mike spring-over steering arms with H.D. Waggie tie rod and drag link. Rear axle: 35 spline D60, Detroit, 4.10, cut down to Scout width. 36" Swamper TSL radials on 8" alum rims. His final drive in low/low is 104:1, fine with the torque of the V8.
So, pretty evenly matched for the trail. He stopped on the way to the area a bought a complete set of front axle shafts, assembled.
(continued in pt. 2)
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