Started the Rubicon Trail Today

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Water Dog

Well-known member
Joined
Sep 27, 2010
Posts
2,487
Location
Sumner, TX
My two brothers and a nephew headed to Loon Lake this morning to take on the Rubicon Trail from Loon to Lake Tahoe. We were having a great time and had about 2 miles of the 17 in when my brother broke the "good ol" Dana 35 axle in his almost stock TJ. That happened about 1 this afternoon and after a drive down to Placerville and many phone calls it seems that a Dana 35 axle is about 4 days out for everyone (sounds like a bit out of one of my favorite movies in a scene about pomade). I think I have a line on one from the outfit that did my regear, but they are closed til morning. Guess the one brother and nephew will be sleeping in their bags on the rocks tonight. The other brother and I? We're sleeping in our own beds...... ;D Here's a few pics.
 

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Nice pictures Dennis!  Too bad about a broken axle  :( - at least he still had front wheel drive.  I have a rebuilt front axle spare in a coach compartment but not a spare rear.  Maybe this winter I'll install some Ten Factory chrome moly rears and carry a spare rear.

I really want to do the Jeep Jamboree Rubicon event, but our idea of camping is in the Horizon - we don't do tents and sleeping bags.

 
Great pics Dennis.  Sorry 'bout the breakdown.  Your  photos have me really wanting to get back out on some trails.

Betty
 
I'd love to do that, but no way I can do that with a stock Xterra, I'd need a bit more armor, a lift and 33s.  Currently stock with 32s, but not enough armour to attempt those obstacles.  Sliders for starters, thicker skids, and a steel front bumper.  I already have a locker in the rear, so I think I'd be good that way.


I guess the bigger obstacle is finding enough time off to drive across the continent to get there and back.
 
  Were did you park the MH's our club had Rubicon skedaddled for Sept. but cancelled it because of road work on Icehouse Rd. Then most of our buggy's aren't street leagel.
 
We got back up on the trail on Friday about noon with a brand new axle, and had the broken down Jeep repaired by about 2:30 and got restarted. Finished the approximately 17 mile trek today at about 1:30. What a ride...! It definitely lives up to it's name. I'll post some more pics once I downsize a few.

Marc L said:
I'd love to do that, but no way I can do that with a stock Xterra, I'd need a bit more armor, a lift and 33s.  Currently stock with 32s, but not enough armour to attempt those obstacles.  Sliders for starters, thicker skids, and a steel front bumper.  I already have a locker in the rear, so I think I'd be good that way.

Mark, we did it with two TJ's. His has a 3" lift, and mine a 4". All the axles are stock D-35's and no lockers. Mine even has AT tires on it. We did have some body armor thankfully...needed it, and I used my winch once to help him up over a ledge in a tight spot.

Jim Logan said:
  Were did you park the MH's our club had Rubicon skedaddled for Sept. but cancelled it because of road work on Icehouse Rd. Then most of our buggy's aren't street leagel.

Jim, Ice House Road was completely open and actually in very nice condition all the way to Loon Lake. There were road crews in two areas where they had lane control just over two small bridges where they were placing some gravel, but we didn't even have to wait. Because we live in Roseville, we didn't take the mh, just the Jeeps this time. We are going to plan another trip and do the smaller section between Wentworth Springs and Loon Lake. When we do that, we'll take the wives and probably be looking at parking the mh in either Ice House, Union Valley Reservoir, or Loon Lake (don't know what Loon's camping sites are like at this point). You might consider doing it the other direction and starting on the west shore of Tahoe. There is a trailhead and staging area at that end (Tahoma, CA) where you can park trailers etc., but there is also plenty of parking room on the Loon Lake end.

Betty Brewer said:
Great pics Dennis.  Sorry 'bout the breakdown.  Your  photos have me really wanting to get back out on some trails.

Betty

Betty, actually the breakdown couldn't have happened at a better place. The giant slab of granite the Jeep was parked on was like working on it in the driveway. And the fact that it happened only about 45 minutes into the trail and not 5 hours into the trail was a real blessing. The total hours actually spent driving the trail excluding breakdowns, sleeping and eating was right at 10 hours. The rest of the trip was just the normal rock rash on the wheels and sliders.

John Canfield said:
Nice pictures Dennis!  Too bad about a broken axle  :( - at least he still had front wheel drive.  I have a rebuilt front axle spare in a coach compartment but not a spare rear.  Maybe this winter I'll install some Ten Factory chrome moly rears and carry a spare rear.

I really want to do the Jeep Jamboree Rubicon event, but our idea of camping is in the Horizon - we don't do tents and sleeping bags.

Unfortunately, although he still had front wheel drive, the rear axles he has are the type with the "C" Clips in the dif housing to hold them in, so once broke, they just slide out....I think what we need to do is spring for some Dana 44's.
 
Got a few pictures resized of our trip. I highly recommend adding this to your bucket list. We had a great time, even though a bear drank half of our cereal milk that was stored in an ice chest in my brother's Jeep... :'(
 

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Betty Brewer said:
What fun.  What great looking  pics.  How was the weather?

We couldn't have ordered up any better weather Betty, it was probably low to mid 70's with just a wisp of a breeze..just enough to be really comfortable in t-shirts. The night probably dropped to about 50 ... not too bad, but warmed up as soon as the sun broke over the ridge. The night sky was incredible with a half moon and thousands of stars. If anyone is interested in seeing all the pictures, I put them on photobucket here, but there are like 250 of them, and I forgot to put them in order before posting.
 
Thanks John, we're really looking forward to the next time. Probably spend this next week cleaning, and servicing, as well as sanding and repainting the rock rash. My brother and I are going to the state surplus auto auction this week. I think he's considering trying to pick up an older Cherokee on the cheap to build on.
 
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