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**CT99XJ** · 08-09-2010, 01:25 PM

The local club I'm in (SiS Offroad) went to Rausch Creek for three days of wheeling, and with the intention of having participants bring supplies to make care packages for troops overseas. From my house to Rausch is 230-something miles- I figured I'd have to gas up at least once, but made it all the way there on three-quarters of a tank.

Pre-OER pic:

About 5 rigs met in Fairfield, CT and convoyed down to Rausch Thursday afternoon. We had to stop twice because my transmission decided to piss fluid onto my downpipe, but it happened after hard stop and go traffic, so we attributed it to the tranny being overfull, fashioned up a baffle to keep the fluid from dripping onto the downpipe, and kept going.

People showed up all through the night, ending with about twelve to fifteen rigs by Friday morning, with another four or so showing up before we set out to wheel. People split into three/four groups based on trail difficulty- as this was my first time down there and really the first serious wheeling I've done, I started in the easy group.

The group right before setting out:

First shot of the day:

No pics, but my upper radiator hose developed a pinhole above the clamp on the thermostat housing on the Pole Line, so I cut it an inch shorter and remounted it. Forgot to let the system burp itself and minor overheating plagued me throughout the rest of Friday.

Got to play on the Comp Course a bit:

**CT99XJ** · 08-09-2010, 01:26 PM

Watched some of the harder groups attempt Jotter's Way, Shoot the Moon and Crawl Daddy. Most pics here are from Shoot the Moon:

My rig was having SERIOUS overheating problems now, so we trail-fixed my e-fan and limped back to camp. Once there, I swapped in a new fan clutch (mine was completely fisted) and let the cooling system burp itself for about half an hour. Once that was done, a few of us went back to play on the comp course:

This picture was taken at the two-stepped section of the shock-crete mound. It took me a few attempts, but I got my front end on the top.

**CT99XJ** · 08-09-2010, 01:28 PM

Just because it was an epic shot:

The entire group (minus a few rigs) parked on the comp course for a group shot:

Oh, and Erik Miller happened to be there with his KOH buggy filming a promotional shoot:

Drive home was reasonably uneventful, aside from almost getting mashed into Jersey barriers by a tour bus that decided to merge into me at 65 miles an hour; once I finished ****ting a sideways brick, everything went smooth.

Or as smooth as two shot D30 U-joints, a fisted right-side unit bearing, and wicked toe-in can run

But I'd do it again in a fawking heartbeat

**mcatald** · 08-09-2010, 02:31 PM

Looks like a really good time thanks for sharing the pics; very nice.
Classic shot on top of your rig, I saw that on Quartneys album and had a sneaky suspicion that was you.

Bummer about the little gremlins that showed up. It just means you will have them ironed out and be good to go for your next outing.

That Shoot the Moon looks gnarly.

By the way awesome cause, you guys and gals ROCK.

**CT99XJ** · 08-09-2010, 04:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mcatald

Looks like a really good time thanks for sharing the pics; very nice.
Classic shot on top of your rig, I saw that on Quartneys album and had a sneaky suspicion that was you.

Bummer about the little gremlins that showed up. It just means you will have them ironed out and be good to go for your next outing.

That Shoot the Moon looks gnarly.

By the way awesome cause, you guys and gals ROCK.

Shoot the Moon was fawking scary, dude. That red XJ on 37's made it look pretty easy, though. Granted, his entire underside is built: D44 front, Ford 9" rear, 4.56's, locked f/r. He knocked the hatch glass out in one piece on Outer Limits the day before, but I was back at camp burping my coolant.

:flag: It's a damn good cause, man. You should seriously see about coming down next year.

**muddeprived** · 08-09-2010, 04:26 PM

Sounds like your tranny overheated. Mine did that once and spit tranny fluid out on the downpipe. Might wanna change the fluid.

Looks like a fun time there. How did you "burp" the system?

**CT99XJ** · 08-09-2010, 05:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by muddeprived

Sounds like your tranny overheated. Mine did that once and spit tranny fluid out on the downpipe. Might wanna change the fluid.

Looks like a fun time there. How did you "burp" the system?

My buddy has a special cap for the radiator that has a funnel on it, you fill it with coolant and just let the vehicle run with the heat on for around 20 minutes to half an hour. It works all the air bubbles out. Since the engine sits at an angle, I parked my rear axle on a small rock to keep the engine level.

**jakeWI** · 08-09-2010, 08:02 PM

great pics!

**CT99XJ** · 08-10-2010, 10:23 PM

Mark, the stuff collected ended up as seven or so boxes sent overseas.

I'm still finding some more pics- I'm linking them from other club members' Photobuckets and such because my camera happened to be in my hatch, and became thoroughly lubricated with ATF.