ROCKtober Therapy - THE Moab Gathering

There is a giant camping field right across the road from BFE. That's where I camped last time. I'd prefer we camp there because my race trailer cannot make it down the road to the usualcamp.

 

there used to be a parking area up top where we had trailers parked when we had the event at BFE... not sure what robert's rental/access fees are these days. he's got a lot of building planned for that place, so it'll all change very soon.

 

Im super proud of you guys running it. Its not easy. But it is the finest trail moab has to offer whem your ls2 swaped on 42's

 

Oh yeah, at that point there isn’t much (if anything at all) that Moab has to offer that’s a challenge

 

This came up on my FB Feed today.

 

Get that quadfecta in. Hit where eagles dare ita not hard and those views are killer

 

it's a sign... you must return!

 

I might not be able to make it back this year. Thought I'd have my "trail rig" T4R ready, but I just put in the order for the skid plates from RCI, and 8 weeks of lead time would have them shipping out around halloween (plus going via FedEx, which seems to mean an extra 5-12 days of transit time beyond what any other shipper would take for the same trip).

Since the whole point of building the Runner was to take on the tougher trails that my PreRunner can't handle out there, it doesn't make a lot of sense to try to go without skids. OEM plates are rusted through, and the front skid is shaped like a taco shell after taking a hard impact in Tahoe this July.

I've also got a big week coming up in L.A. right after the trip would have been. Everything would definitely be ready to go in 2022 though. 5 years was already too long to wait for a second time, 6 is going to be a tough wait, but at least it'll give me time to get the OBA and locking diff (or diffs) sorted out in addition to the armor and maybe also an upgrade to the shocks.

 

Depending on what trails you take, I did several trails at Moab last year with my 4R.

I only had 1-2 weeks to do stuff to the 4R and all I did was King 2.5 front and rear. Stock skids, bumper, etc.

Another friend only had Bilstein 4600s with stock armor, skids.

 

I'm on 5100s with a 3" (maybe a bit more) spring lift and 34" Ridge Grapplers. Front/rear bumpers and sliders are done with a tire carrier in the rear and winch (mounting/wiring TBD). One of the purposes of getting this rig together is to do ToTW.

If I'm going to have to take it easy, I might as well bring my 2WD Tacoma again; 2" lift on 32s with a partial front bumper/winch, sliders, and high clearance rear bumper (but with the spare still slung underneath) with a rear e-locker.

 

Ah, not familiar with what you'd need to reach that.

What I'm saying is, we both went with no armor (he had sliders, that's it).

He had stock suspension, and we were both on 33s only.

Seems you're way more upfitted than we were.

You should be fine as I've seen lesser equipped vehicles hit it.

 

I'm still considering my options. Like I said, I've been out there in my tacoma in 2016, and could do enough trails in that to stay busy the whole time. More trail time in the PreRunner will be good practice at picking lines.

Is there going to be a rep from RCI there? If they could bring my skids along, I might be able to do the install at the camp site...

 

Last time I was there was 2016. Probably 60-100 trucks out at BFE (I think there were two full rows at the dunes, and they used a drone to take the group photo), and several sponsors who had some kind of something set up around trailers near their camp sites. There were a couple nights that someone had brought in a big flatbed with some stadium speakers and blasted music out over the the assemblage of camp sites.

Seems like it might have gotten to be more low key? I think I remember hearing there was some friction with BFE and the organizers might have had some burnout from putting together some parts of it.

 

While I agree with you these days, 5 or 6 years ago it was a somewhat different thing. There were designated vendors, raffles, sorta somewhat organized trail runs...it has changed a bit over the years. Definitely more low key.

That was my first year. Hasn't been the same since.

 

much more low key.. no vendors anymore.. goal was always to put on the event at no cost to the participants and without all the insurances and other paperwork that events require these days...

so now we're back to the beginnings... just good friends and good times.

there are many from the CO Front range who make it out, they could possibly bring something out with them for you to install there...

 

@Littles I want to say that my rig is toward the left end in the group photos (dark grey 2nd gen access cab with a Bestop), and I was probably the only one that almost got stuck heading over to the dunes (2WD and hadn't really aired down much).

@NYCO I've got no idea if the stuff would be ready in time (if the 8 week lead time is accurate, it won't be), and can't imagine it'd be easy to make the arrangements for a pick-up. I delayed picking the skids for my build because RCI only ships FedEx but finally decided that the $400 price difference for the full set plus shipping was too big to eat just to get it sent UPS. I've got a cousin in Loveland who I considered asking to pick up and ship the plates to me instead, but he's got a wife and kids and doesn't need to be putting in time on my hobbies.

It's not too bad of a drive from L.A., so I'll have to see how I'm feeling closer to the day and what my schedule is looking like.

 

I can't complain about the bigger event. Won a free Prinsu rack in the raffle that year

 

Yeah nowadays it’s more like 20 ish give or take trucks that show up, and we usually just chat around the campfire what trails will be run the next day. The trail runs I’ve been on the last 2-3 years there have all been roughly 5-8 trucks. FWIW, if the skids are done on time, myself or any of the other probably dozen people from the front range can grab them on our way out. I’ll likely be arriving late Thursday night or early Friday morning

 

RCI just shipped my skids, so if I can't make the trip now, that won't be the reason. Assuming FedEx can move something 1300 miles in under 5-6 weeks...

 

How's it looking?