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| Johnson Valley, CA - November 1999 | Short Cuts | ||||||||||||||||
by: Jefe Reynolds
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What You'll Need to Be a Contender...
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| The Stump Commando was one of the few low-buck rigs that did well, but missed for the finals. Todd Adams |
The whole paradigm of rock crawling has changed. Creative crawlers are devising new and more extreme ways to get over the rocks. Those on the leading edge of the movement were showcased at the Warn Rock Crawling Championship held in Johnson Valley, CA, in November of 1999. The very best of these were selected for the "dirty dozen", the survivors of the preliminaries of the event. My brother John and I were in this elite group. He drove and I spotted.
"If you think that you can just slap a 4" lift, a pair of locked Dana 44's, and 35" tires on your TJ and drive to the event and be a contender, think again."
Before I make any observations or recommendations, I will say that it will take lots of time and money -- lots of money -- to create a machine that will be a contender. Many of the finalists were well-connected with the 4X4 industry in one way or another and had monetary or logistical support, not to mention a vested interest and a tax write-off. A handful of budget entries competed, but none made it into the Dirty Dozen.
Maybe there is some luck involved in being a finalist, but it was obvious that the fine preparation of both the rig and the driver/spotter were the most important aspects.
| 1st place: team # 15, Sniper #001 Troy Meyers driving, with Neal Trudeau spotting Z24-GM350V8/TH400/Atlas Reverse-cut Dana 60 with Detroits, front and rear Quarter-elliptical suspension, Warn 9500 winch, MRT wheels, 15-42-15 Super Swampers |
| 2nd place: team #20, '99 Sniper #003 Steve Rumore driving, with Drew Barber spotting GM350V8/TH700R4/NP205 2-1/2 ton military axles/6.72/Detroits, front and rear Quarter-elliptical rear/coil over front suspension. Warn winch. Custom Avalanche beadlocks/44-18.5-15 Super Swampers |
| 3rd place: team #31, Jeep (a custom chassis/frame rig) Ken Ristau driving, with Paul Curoe spotting 4.3L GM Vortec V6/TH350/Dana300/4:1 Dana 44/4.56/Detroit front, AMC20/4.56/Lincoln rear Custom suspension. TX-2. MRT 15 x 10 beadlocks/38.5-14.5-15 Super Swampers |
| 4th place: team #23, '84 CJ7 Sam Patton driving, with Mike Cox spotting GM350/TH700R4/Atlas 4.3 Reverse cut Dana 60's/Detroit, front/rear National 3" SOA. Warn 12000. 14x15 Alcoas/39.5 Boggers |
| 5th place: team #33, '89 YJ Jason Bunch driving, with Steve Hastings spotting 2.5L 4-cylinder/AX5/Atlas 4.3 Dana 30/Detroit front, Dana44/Detroit rear Warn coil over. Warn winch. Champion beadlocks/35-12.5 Goodyears |
| 6th place: team #54, '71 Bronco Pat Gremillion driving, with John Sumner spotting 5.0L Mustang/C4/Atlas. Dana 60s/4.10/ARB's, front/rear Custom all-coil, 3-link suspension. Warn winch. Custom beadlocked wheels/ 14.5-38.5-16.5 Swampers |
| 7th place: team #45, CJ7 Kevin Yoder driving, with Robert Webb spotting GM454/NP435/AtlasII Dana 60's/ARB's front/rear 3/4 elliptical suspension. Warn 8274 winch. Stockton 10" beadlocks/39.5-18-15 Boggers |
| 8th place: team #41, '49CJ2A Kevin Hawkins driving, with Tony Barton spotting 4.1L Buick V6/TH350V8/Dana 18 Dana44's/5.38/Detroits, front/rear National Springs, SOA. Warn winch. Champion beadlocks/36-12.5 Swamper SX |
| 9th place: team #28, '98TJ John Currie driving, with Jeff Waggoner spotting 4.0L I-6/Auto/NV231 9" high pinion/4.11/Detroit front/rear Currie suspension. Warn winch. Centerlines/35-12.5 Goodyears |
| 10th place: team #56, '93 YJ Jim Stump driving, with Miller spotting 4.0L I-6/Auto/NV231 Dana 44's, front/rear Warn winch. Coil over suspension. Beadlocked/36-12.5 Swampers |
| 11th place: team #13, '77 CJ5 John Lockwood driving, with Tim Moore spotting AMC304/NV4500/AtlasII Dana 60/5.13/ARB front, Reverse cut Dana 60/5.13/ARB rear National Spring, SOA. Warn 9000 winch. Alcoa/beadlocks/38-12.5-15 Swamper SX |
| 12th place: team #4,'73 Bronco John Reynolds driving, with Jeff Reynolds spotting 302 EFI/NP435/Atlas 35 spline Dana 60's/4.11/ARB's front/rear Custom front coil suspension/National rear leaf. Warn 9000 winch. Champion 10" beadlocks/15-42-15 Super Swampers |
| 13th place: team #11, Flatfendered Willys Ned Bacon driving, with Marcel Blada spotting Z24 GM350 V8/SM420/Spicer 18 Self-made suspension. Warn 9500 winch. MRT Beadlocks/35" Super Swamper SSR's, Hydraulic Steering |
Go Big or Go Home...
Last summer when brother John told me that he was going to dump his puny little 36" tires and go to 42" tires, I thought he was crazy. Those 36" Swamper Radials stick like glue on the rocks!. Alas, I was in the old paradigm. I was entrenched in the status quo; a roiling sea of me-too/same-size tires. I told him that even 38" tires would be overkill and maybe he should rethink down to at least 39.5" or 40" tires. Nope. He was sure that the terrain on the competition courses laid out in the Hammers would dictate a change in the way we look at tires and clearance. I have come around; I now think he is right. It's a sea change. To be a contender you need big clearance and big traction.
Big Tires
Remember back a few short years when you thought 33" tires were as big as any rock crawler would ever need? And then 35" tires were just gigantic? I go back so far that I remember when 30" tires were large -- it's all relative. These days 36" or 38" tires are in use by more and more crawlers. Bigger tires yet are looming large on the horizon. I predict 40" tires will soon be average. Tire size is growing faster than we can keep up. Get over it. Get on board. Get over the rocks.
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| 42-inch rubber wasn't even always enough to keep the frame off the rocks. Matt Reynolds |
John ran his Bronco's 15-42-15 Super Swamper tires on 10" bead locked rims at 4-1/2 lbs. of air. There was a very narrow band or sweet spot for these bias ply tires. 5 lbs. was too stiff and 4 lbs. was too low, with too much side wall flex. I did notice that many in the preliminaries ran at too high a tire pressure, failing to get maximum traction from their tires. Some of this was due to their reluctance to lower the loaded radius any more and further reduce their clearance. John figured 42" tires would only add 3 inches more to his ground clearance than his 36" tires, but add mightily to the amount of tire gripping the ground.
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