My First Trail Ride (and the First Jeep Casualty)

August 14, 1998

It all started out kind of casual-like. There were too few OBH runs scheduled in August, and a few people were getting restless. So a run sort of sprung into being with a plaintive query on the discussion list, "Anyone out there with cabin fever? Who's for TMS (Tillamook State Forest - Oregon) this Friday?" Four vehicles showed up, and mine was the oldest and scruffiest. This was appropriate, for I myself was the oldest and scruffiest.

TMS was 100 miles away, the farthest I'd gone away from home in the Jeep since I'd bought it and started putting it back together, and I wasn't all that confident. But I took it easy and got there in time for our 9:00 a.m. gathering after a 3-hour drive.

We met at the sand pit at the summit on highway 6, about 30 miles west of Portland, and aired down. For those of you who don't know what I'm talking about (like me!) that means we let a lot of the air out of our tires. All my driving life I've tried to keep air in my tires, and here I am deliberately letting it out. But there's a reason. On paved roads, you need the recommended air pressure for proper control, conserving tires, and so forth. But half-flat tires give you better traction off-road, and let you go where fully inflated tires would spin. I aired down from 30 psi to 15.

A new friend airing down my Jeep at the sand pit. (I'm going to have to check my scanner; the photo was better than that!)

And off we went. Almost immediately, the leader of our little safari took a dive down a drop-off that looked almost vertical from my perspective There was an alternate route that was almost a freeway by comparison, and I said to myself, "Self," I said, "if you have the brains most people are born with, you'll take the alternate.".

But Self replied, "No way; you wanted to find out what this thing can do. If Fearless Leader can do it, so can you." So down we went, Self and I, and when we got to the bottom the only visible damage to the Jeep was a brown spot on the driver's seat.

And then we turned around and went up it. Down is easier (Newton's Law). It took me two tries, because the first time I forgot to put it in 4-wheel drive.

This went on for a half-dozen or so "challenges," until someone noticed gasoline leaking from my gas tank. It was coming out in drops from about five sources. If they'd come together, it would have been a steady stream. Since I was 100 miles from home, it seemed wise to leave immediately and let the others have their fun. So I bailed out, leaving a trail of gasoline like a mechanized Hansel and Gretel.

One of the guys suggested that if I run out of gas, instead of pouring the 5 gallons from my Jerry can into the tank and letting it leak out, I should run a line from the can to the fuel pump, and let the can be the tank. I did run out, and ran the line, and got home.

Now came the tough part. It took me two days to get the old tank out, because the bolts were rusted and turned with the nut and there wasn't enough space to get a grip on the nut and the bolt at the same time. Finally, I punched a hole in the bottom of the tank to drain what was left of the gas (about a pint), plugged the hole and filled the tank with water. Then I cut the bolts off with a cut-off attachment on a Dremel tool.

Installing the new tank took only about four hours. Probably it's a two-hour job for someone who knows which end of a wrench grips the nut. I'd bought a new tank because I figured that patching the old one was just asking for trouble. That was the right decision. The old one had five patches, and they had all let go in the bouncing around at TMS.

All that grief for one two-hour trail ride? Never again! On the other hand, there's one next Sunday, and I think I'll go …

There were some things I learned on that ride that made the mechanical problems worthwhile.

First, if you're careful with it, the Jeep can take you just about wherever you want to go - within reason, of course. We went places I never would have tried, if I hadn't seen FL (Fearless Leader) do it first.

Second, strangers can become friends real fast when you share a hobby; especially when you depend on that stranger to help you out if you break down.

And finally, off-roading with Jeeps and other 4x4s is really fun!