17 days, 3258 miles, 6 trails, 13 mpg, 102 hours seat time, 1 big crunch

[Tricky Mike]

October 4th I set off to run the Rubicon with the Inland NW Bronco Club. I arrived at Airport Flat campground 10/5 and we started the trail 10/6. We finished 10/8. I didn't do the buggy stuff but I took as many of the hard lines as was reasonable and it performed very well.

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[Tricky Mike]

Then we headed to Carson City, NV and on 10/9 we met up with a group to do some trail clean up. We recovered 2 abandoned vehicles. The rest of the week was spent at NV Super Cel. The rest of the club headed home but I had other plans.

 

[Tricky Mike]

10/13 I ran Deer Valley. This was a relatively easy trail that a Fauxsquatch can do, never needed lockers.

 

[Tricky Mike]

Then immediately afterwards I ran Slickrock. This was much harder and I shouldn't have been out alone, but I got through it.

 

[Tricky Mike]

10/14 I ran Sourgrass. Very easy trail, out in back in about an hour. Then I headed down to Lodi to visit Wildhorses, where I loaded up on some goodies. BTW a 1G grill doesn't quite fit inside the roll bar halo...

10/16 I met up with a local with a 4dr and we ran Barrett Jeep Trail. This is where it all went to hell. I flopped on the gatekeeper. We decided to continue on, the damage was already done.

Unfortunately the Bronco electronics had other plans. I started to intermittently lose 4WD, then I had an ABS fault and lost all GOAT modes and lockers. Also it started raining pretty hard. We made it about 3/4 to the end and the Bronco had had enough and I was pretty defeated myself. So we turned back. His ABS also faulted on the way out! So we fought and clawed our way back out with frequent winching. After airing back up back on pavement all codes cleared within 2 minutes. Thanks Bronco!

 

[Tricky Mike]

So at this point I'm not in the best head space so I drove back to Carson City and got a room for the night. I was intending the cut the trip short at this point.

A good night's sleep did wonders and I got the Bronco patched up in the morning. I let @popo_patty know I was back in for the Reno to Vegas 500 starting on 10/18.

The RtV500 was a new experience. I learned 100" is not an optimal wheelbase for desert bashing, especially as loaded down as I was. Without proper bumpstops my tires kept getting into my fenders and eventually broke all the clips on one flare.

We ended up cutting it 80 miles short after the Braptor blew it's 2nd sidewall. I had signal and jumped on FB Marketplace while we attempted to patch the sidewall with Gluetread for the second time. I found a guy 2 hours south that had a 37 on a F150 wheel and arranged for @JohnGalt to meet him.

The 2nd patch also leaked but held well enough for him to limp down there. Once we got to pavement and called it I went north instead to cut some hours off my return trip.

I pulled into my driveway on 10/21, completely exhausted. I averaged 13 mpg over the entire trip of 3258 miles. I often got 10-11 on the highway with the RTT up there. If there was any kind of crosswind it screamed like a banshee. IDK if that was the rack or tent but it made me never want to use it again.

 

[dpAtlanta]

Great write up Greg!
And a proper 2-door Bronco for the journey!

 

[ezapar 2]

Killer pics Mike!

 

[Brian_B]

It'll buff out

 

[Russ.Cere]

Ah a proper looking batch of Broncos

 

[Newbie]

I got the Bronco patched up in the morning

 

[RC Bronco]

Dude what a trip! Sorry you damaged your rig, but man what memories you created! And several badass photos to boot! Bravo my man!!

 

[Karl_in_Chicago]

Love the improv'd right side view mirror. Sorry for the damage but mad kudos to you for going above and beyond.

 

[SS Bronco]

What an adventure! Its awesome you hit all the NorCal trails in a few weeks.

 

[Toccoa]

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