05 Flame Red TJ Build

[JMT]

Nobody anticipated the depth of the hole on the rear passenger tire.

There’s a good lesson here to learn about up travel and why you want more of it. That front passenger tire can articulate up into the wheel well until you either hit your bump stops or your shocks bottom out and the goal is to have your shock be the limiter and so you basically want your shock to soft bottom out. At that point you have no more uptravel and any more movement will cause the body to roll. And that’s what happened. I reached maximum uptravel which is about 5 1/2 inches on my rig and then the body gets upset and it happens quick. If you have more uptravel, then you can gain more articulation for longer which will enable you to stay stable and the body to be happy.

This is why a low center of gravity build would’ve done even worse.

 

[JMT]

Islands in the Sky

 

[JMT]

Corona Arch

 

[JMT]

Bowtie Arch

 

[lBasket]

Islands in the Sky

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Wow that view is insane!

 

[JMT]

Mesa Arch!

 

[Rubeyu]

Mike pulled line after many attempts (TJ). Then Ryan got up after many attempts (LJ). Then I tried many attempts thinking we now knew the line (TJ). There were too many spotter voices in my opinion and my own brain saying throw in the towel, but I didn’t speak up. Like Apollo in Rocky III. The issue is hard to describe, but the spotters on the passenger side were saying stay a bit tight. The spotter in front was saying a little bit more right. I couldn’t be in both places. On that climb everyone thought I had it and they were rooting yea yes, and then out of nowhere oh no, no, no. In the end it’s my fault. I should have thrown in the towel.

As a spectator it's incredibly difficult not to want to help out and give directions.
As a driver I completely understand the feeling of hearing multiple people telling you what to do especially when your in a tough spot it gets confusing real quick. I'm a horrible spotter and make a point to keep my mouth shut. If I see something that might help the situation I'll tell the spotter.

 

[Rubeyu]

Nobody anticipated the depth of the hole on the rear passenger tire.

There’s a good lesson here to learn about up travel and why you want more of it. That front passenger tire can articulate up into the wheel well until you either hit your bump stops or your shocks bottom out and the goal is to have your shock be the limiter and so you basically want your shock to soft bottom out. At that point you have no more uptravel and any more movement will cause the body to roll. And that’s what happened. I reached maximum uptravel which is about 5 1/2 inches on my rig and then the body gets upset and it happens quick. If you have more uptravel, then you can gain more articulation for longer which will enable you to stay stable and the body to be happy.

This is why a low center of gravity build would’ve done even worse.

I think the placement of your right front tire was way too high and at the same time the driver rear dropped out and you went over real quick there was no catching that one. Wheelbase was not your friend.

 

[Apparition]

I think the placement of your right front tire was way too high and at the same time the driver rear dropped out and you went over real quick there was no catching that one. Wheelbase was not your friend.

I’d like to see the footage of me going up as I think Jeremy was on a similar line when he rolled. As said wheelbase was at play.

 

[JMT]

Wheelbase was not your friend.

No, it was not. I’m glad I had some friends to pick me up, get me on all 4’s, and get me home safe.

I just watched the full 6:38 video for the first time. I was trying to crawl it like @Apparition did. I had finally got my front passenger on top of that second rock. It looked like a walk, but not. The right was too high and climbing, the left was too low. Happened fast.

 

[JMT]

@inkedrose and I cruisin’ Metal Masher

 

[JMT]

T-Shirt my wife had made for me after rolling on Cliffhanger. Koozie too. The shirt is funny though.

 

[JMT]

Trails I’ve now done at Moab:

Fins-N-Things
Elephant Hill
Steel Bender
Hells Revenge (including Hell’s Gate and Escalator)
Top of the World
Metal Masher (no Rock Chucker or Widow Maker)
Trifecta (Poison Spider, Gold Bar Rim, Golden Spike)
Kane Creek
Moab Rim
Cliffhanger
Behind the Rocks (no High Dive or White Knuckle)
Pritchett Canyon (no Rocker Knocker, Chewy, or Axle Hill)

Things I’ve learned coming soon…

 

[inkedrose]

@inkedrose and I cruisin’ Metal Masher

Yeah buddy! Glad to get to wheel with you! Safe travels

 

[JMT]

Yeah buddy! Glad to get to wheel with you! Safe travels

I’ve got more videos man!

 

[Alex01]

Trails I’ve now done at Moab:

Elephant Hill
Steel Bender
Hells Revenge (including Hell’s Gate and Escalator)
Top of the World
Metal Masher (incomplete)
Trifecta (Poison Spider, Gold Bar Rim, Golden Spike)
Kane Creek
Moab Rim
Cliffhanger
Behind the Rocks (incomplete)
Pritchett Canyon (incomplete)

Things I’ve learned coming soon…

What did we miss on pritchett?

 

[JMT]

What did we miss on pritchett?

I missed Chewy, Rocker Knocker, and Axle Hill.

You only missed Chewy.

 

[Alex01]

I missed Chewy, Rocker Knocker, and Axle Hill.

You only missed Chewy.

Got it. Incomplete means winched. Forgot the hardest trail. Fins and things.

 

[JMT]

Got it. Incomplete means winched. Forgot the hardest trail. Fins and things.

I forget about Fins because it’s so hard.

I’ve about exhausted what I’d like to do there. It changes every year, so there is that, but all I’d like to complete is Pritchett in one day without winching.

 

[JMT]

After four trips to Moab these are my thoughts.

1. Follow someone who knows what they’re doing the first time.
2. You will think you know what you are do but you have no clue.
3. I can now do a lot of trails in Moab, probably 98%.
4. I don’t wheel enough to do the hardest obstacles (e.g. Rock Chucker, Axle Hill, Chewy, et. Al.)
5. I don’t have the right rig to do some of the hardest obstacles (e.g. Widow Maker).
6. The trails with movement are getting harder every year, so if you did it in 2021 it doesn’t count for 2025.
7. Trying to do the hardest obstacles can get you in serious trouble.
8. One spotter is enough. Too many voices is not okay.
9. Wheelbase does matter, and usually the advantage is more.
10. The main thing to do to prepare is focus on wheeling a lot. Learn the limits of your rig.
11. Learn from watching people who obviously have used trial and error (e.g. Victor, Garrett, Jeff)
12. There are pretty boys and men. The pretty boys are using their rigs as daily drivers (I’m one of them). The men are destroying their rigs by trial and error (only some of them fix the destruction). It doesn’t matter because they are not daily drivers.

Probably more, but that’s it for now. I don’t know if I have the time or what it takes to prepare for the hardest obstacles. I feel like they are too sparsely experienced by me to be able to be comfortable on them.