xwaz
Member
Next up was a run on a trail that both my dad and I had wanted to do since we first heard of it. The trail is called T-33A plane crash and as the name suggests the trail takes you out to a short hike that ends at the location in which a T-33A jet crashed during a training mission, the cause of the crash is unknown. The wreckage of the plane still remains as a memorial to the 2 pilots that lost their lives in the crash.
The trail is rated 5/10-6/10 depending on the source and it accessed after completing the better part of Bunce school road *which sits at about a 4/10 depending on the way you run it. This was one of the hardest trails that I have completed in the Wj, I am not sure if Elephant hill in the snow was harder or easier.
I had spent the night at my uncle and aunts house in Nederland where I had camped outside that night. My parents and I got in the Jeep and headed out to Bunce school road, where one of my favorite local trails, Ironclads, is located and that I had done a few months prior at the beginning of January while home for the Sportsman expo. I used that multiple times to test out new mods on the Jeep and to compare it to my ZJ that I build a few years ago.
I aired down to my usual 16 psi and disconnected my sway bar. We made our way through Bunce which up until this I had never actually done all the way, I had done a couple short runs a couple miles in during the winter.
Bunce had a couple rocky sections and one ledge but nothing major.
The trail starts out with some minor rocky until you hit the major obstacle which is the V notch, a 3' ledge that is in the shape of a V, easy enough but it is positioned right behind a weirdly off camber granite slab which forces our approach to be rather awkward. I had caught up with a couple of mildly build 5th gen 4runner Trail editions, I ended up spotting them up and teaching them how to properly use the A-trac and rear locker in these situations. I knew how to use them from when I owned my old 4runner. With a bit of teaching and a better line choice they crawled up it with a bit of difficulty.
I unfortunately did not get many pictures of my jeep going up it as I gave my dad my camera and he was expecting it to take longer, but knowing the line I managed to crawl directly up in in one shot without as much spinning a tire. I should mention I decided to run this trail without using my rear locker to see how capable the jeep was if I was in a situation that the locker was not functioning. Needless to say the Jeep had zero issue running without a locker the front LSD caused both front tires to spin under even with one tire in the air.
The Rest of the trail winds its way through the wood till you hit a small parking circle which marks the end of the trail. A quick quarter mile hike reveals the first piece of the plane and by walking around that area you can find all parts of the plane including the jet engine, tail, and fuselage.
The trail then returns out the same way you came in. You descend down the V ledge and then continue down through the other rock gardens before returning to bunce which in my case had some rather deep puddles which caused the mud on the side of the jeep.
Upon descending the ledge I finally hit the rear bumper, first time for everything, and proceeded to drag it across the edge of the rock. Nothing but a scratch. On this trip I ended up giving 3 of my wheels pretty good rock rash, in which I finished the 4th one off up here in Gunnison wheeling at Hartmans in September. I still don’t have rock sliders on but I somehow have managed to not hit even though I have gotten within a half inch of them multiple times. They hopefully with be the next welding project.
Overall a successful run, no issues at all the Jeep did the whole trail without issue and without breakage. Just minor scrapping on skid plates. I did notice on the trip a ripped cv boot which wasn’t clicking or damaged just ripped.
Sent from my VS996 using Tapatalk
The trail is rated 5/10-6/10 depending on the source and it accessed after completing the better part of Bunce school road *which sits at about a 4/10 depending on the way you run it. This was one of the hardest trails that I have completed in the Wj, I am not sure if Elephant hill in the snow was harder or easier.
I had spent the night at my uncle and aunts house in Nederland where I had camped outside that night. My parents and I got in the Jeep and headed out to Bunce school road, where one of my favorite local trails, Ironclads, is located and that I had done a few months prior at the beginning of January while home for the Sportsman expo. I used that multiple times to test out new mods on the Jeep and to compare it to my ZJ that I build a few years ago.
I aired down to my usual 16 psi and disconnected my sway bar. We made our way through Bunce which up until this I had never actually done all the way, I had done a couple short runs a couple miles in during the winter.
Bunce had a couple rocky sections and one ledge but nothing major.
The trail starts out with some minor rocky until you hit the major obstacle which is the V notch, a 3' ledge that is in the shape of a V, easy enough but it is positioned right behind a weirdly off camber granite slab which forces our approach to be rather awkward. I had caught up with a couple of mildly build 5th gen 4runner Trail editions, I ended up spotting them up and teaching them how to properly use the A-trac and rear locker in these situations. I knew how to use them from when I owned my old 4runner. With a bit of teaching and a better line choice they crawled up it with a bit of difficulty.
I unfortunately did not get many pictures of my jeep going up it as I gave my dad my camera and he was expecting it to take longer, but knowing the line I managed to crawl directly up in in one shot without as much spinning a tire. I should mention I decided to run this trail without using my rear locker to see how capable the jeep was if I was in a situation that the locker was not functioning. Needless to say the Jeep had zero issue running without a locker the front LSD caused both front tires to spin under even with one tire in the air.
The Rest of the trail winds its way through the wood till you hit a small parking circle which marks the end of the trail. A quick quarter mile hike reveals the first piece of the plane and by walking around that area you can find all parts of the plane including the jet engine, tail, and fuselage.
The trail then returns out the same way you came in. You descend down the V ledge and then continue down through the other rock gardens before returning to bunce which in my case had some rather deep puddles which caused the mud on the side of the jeep.
Upon descending the ledge I finally hit the rear bumper, first time for everything, and proceeded to drag it across the edge of the rock. Nothing but a scratch. On this trip I ended up giving 3 of my wheels pretty good rock rash, in which I finished the 4th one off up here in Gunnison wheeling at Hartmans in September. I still don’t have rock sliders on but I somehow have managed to not hit even though I have gotten within a half inch of them multiple times. They hopefully with be the next welding project.
Overall a successful run, no issues at all the Jeep did the whole trail without issue and without breakage. Just minor scrapping on skid plates. I did notice on the trip a ripped cv boot which wasn’t clicking or damaged just ripped.
Sent from my VS996 using Tapatalk
