Fordyce Creek Trail on 35s

A buddy and I ran the Fordyce a few years ago.
My TJ had a long-arm kit and armor, so it did pretty well.
His JK wasn't as built and he had a harder time picking lines.
It's the toughest trail I've ran, so far.

rjaym said:

Finally got around to watching your vid. Nicely shot. I have done this trail but was wondering if you made it to the top. Looks the jk sustained some body damage? Seems the buggies that run this trail may have tore it up a bit

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Thanks. Winch Hill #5 is where the JK is winching towards the end of the video/trail. Then we drove out on the fire roads. That's the end (top) as far as I know.

The JK took some bumps. It's a difficult trail and driver experience and ability really factored in there.
I lost a caliper bolt on the TJ (drove it home pulling right when applying brakes).

I don't recall it being overly torn up when we ran it, and would be hesitant to say that solely buggies are responsible for erosion in spots. There's always heavy-footed drivers, people getting stuck, etc., regardless of vehicle type. It's also been a few years since that video was shot, so I can't speak to the current condition of the trail.

What did you run the trail in? Tire size?

(WH#5 RT rocker damage on the JK)

rjaym said:

Apologies- I’m terrible at phone typing - that should read “haven’t done “ this trail.( an error like that could be life changing in different circumstances!) my lj is on35s- I’m considering doing the trail in the future. - a neighbor ran the trail with cal4wd event and said it was tricky but didn’t winch ( he’s on 40s) jlur / on tons) - at any rate - glad you made it through safely- and again nice vid effort . Russ

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No worries. Hope you run it, eventually. It’s worth the experience. Some people say it’s what the Rubicon used to be like before it was altered to be easier and accommodate the traffic it attracts.

Hamfists said:

Smittybuilt sliders ?

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Not sure. Maybe someone here knows.

In fairness to those sliders, I believe the rig impacted severely on that rocker. Maybe some other designs would hold up better overall, but that is a lot of weight coming down on one point in this situation.