Dave's import 4 wheel drive gallery

I almost didnt go on this trip. I had sold my 4Runner earlier in the year and I just couldnt see a trip to Lingham as a passenger being any fun. I will admit this trip was not as much fun as if I had my own truck but it was a blast in the end! A good friend who owns a Cherokee XJ came along on last years trip and now wanted to try his truck on the trails and maybe the powerline so we set a date and made the plans. A week or so prior my Cherokee buddy called to say another regular on the JeepKings message board wanted to tag along..... which was great because I certainly didn't want to go into Lingham without backup. We decided to meet on the road at Havelock and head in from there. The other guys couldn't go anywhere without a case of beer so we had to sit and wait for the beer store to open.... which was a little worrisome..... not that I have a problem with beer... but there is a time and place for it and its not on the trails. The guys seemed nice enough so we headed in. When we got to the creek crossing the other guy (we will call him Blue XJ for the rest of this story) was a little concerned with the water crossing but once he saw us go through in the Red XJ he seemed confident. We continued on until we came to the mud pits just in from the creek where under a huge cloud of smoke we found a very decrepit Ford fullsize 4X4 (or what was left of it) buried in the center mud hole. The two "gentlemen" who were running the Ford had gone in with no tow strap, an offshore hilift wannabe jack, and a case of beer. These guys were fairly lucky we came along as most of the traffic is Quads. We offered to assist and they agreed. Luckily I had brought along my strap but it was too short so we asked Blue XJ if he had one... he said he did and went to get it. He brought out a brand new POS strap with little steel snap hooks on the end..... we didnt want to use it (and I dont think Blue XJ wanted to see it get dirty either) but we doubled it up and hoped for the best. The Ford was not going anywhere forwards so we were going to have to pull him out backwards.... only one problems.... he had no bumper, no rear hooks, and for that matter his rear frame rails were almost non-existant as well. We strapped him around his rear spring hangers and crossed our fingers. A couple of tugs and out he came in a huge cloud of blue smoke.... but...... he kept gunning it and managed to drive right up the bank and high center on the berm at the end of the mud hole.... this was actually a good thing because that berm was all that stopped him from ramming our red XJ...soooooo..... we pull the straps of the back (noticing that we have tweaked both his frame rails in from the last pull) and put the straps on the front. Once Mr. Ford was back on dry land he paid us with one beer..... he couldnt spare more or he wouldnt have enough for the trip out....His words not mine.... So we headed up the trail and after an uneventful trek set up camp at the lake.   After a delicious meal of steak and potatoes and an amusing time of watching Blue XJ try to put up his tent with no tent poles "my girlfriend used it last so she must have lost them"... we watche the stars come out and hit the hay.

Morning came early and cool so after a quick breakfast of bacon, eggs and bagels (we travel in style!!) we took Red XJ's kayaks out on the lake for a cruise. After a few hours we decided to go and do some wheeliing before we had to head out. We asked Blue XJ to come along but he declined as he still had most of a case of beer and he wanted to work on his tan...... now why you would want to come in here and not wheel.... I just dont know. We headed back down and came to the mud pits and found.... surprise... the Ford sitting high centered on the wall of a mud hole.... on closer inspection we realized he lost his right rear axle.... and from what I understand that truck is still sitting there as I type this based on a report from The MudMeisters (its a shame that people leave regular garbage out here..... never mind a whole truck!!) We then crossed the creek and decided to explore in the opposite direction from the road. We figured if we got to messed up we had the CB or the FRS radio to keep us out of trouble. We went out about 15 minutes and came across a nice soupy mud hole and Red XJ wanted to give it a go and get some pics so I hopped out to spot and take pics and he headed in..... now if you have read about last years Lingham trip you know that Dave's and Mud holes with no other trucks around means trouble and this time was no different.... you see Red XJ's owner is a Dave as well.... so yes he got stuck. I mean he did an admirable job of almost making it..... but when he backed up for his 4th or 5th try to climb the far bank his right rear came up over a submerged stump and he was stuck fast.    So just like last year ..... we have to walk for nearly 2 hours back to camp because the CB stopped wroking and the FRS radios didnt work until we wer about 50 feet from camp....NOTE TO SELF>>>>DONT RELY ON FRS RADIOS>>>> THEY SUCK!

So we ask Blue XJ and his pal to mount up and come to our rescue.... and beleive it or not.... he really didnt want to.... I actually think we was a little annoyed that we would go out and get stuck...... well what else did we come up here to do???? once we got to the Red XJ we broke out the straps and then had to educate Blue XJ on extraction techniques. we strapped through Red's receiver and onto Blue's front hooks.... and blue gently gave a tentative tug...... NO NO GIVE IT SOME GAS!!! he did and I notice his tow hooks start to toe into the center..... I told him to stop and went to have a look....... hmmmm... only one bolt (not even a hardened bolt) in the front mouting hole of the hook...... Blue's response..... yeah well my Dad put those on... what an idiot..... ( I was begining to wonder if his Dad and girlfriend were really the culprits here).   After much work with a shovel, and Blue XJ's $20 offshore hilift POS (which by the way he had powder coated to make it pretty and he was not happy when we scuffed his powder coat and got the jack dirty) we finally used Blue's bumper mounted hitch to get us out.....barely. It was now getting late so we headed back, broke camp and headed out. Blue muttered about having to get his truck painted now.... hehe and we hit the road. Back at the mudholes All in all a worth while trip. Anyhow go view the pics here.... they are not all in order but you will get the idea