Big Bear Rocks

[ETD]

Neo. Great Pics. Good job getting home in one piece . Where is this place?

[NEOCON1]

he had to bail half way thru the day so wasnt at the second area we were at in the later pix i was so happy nothin broke and i didant need a strap this was my first run since moab so was a good test

[NEOCON1]

Originally Posted by ETD

Neo. Great Pics. Good job getting home in one piece . Where is this place?

this is north east of los angeles in the lake arrowhead - big bear area these are from the start of the john bull trail and the obstacles on other trails to get to john bull trail head .

[The Green Lantern]

Those are amazing pics!!!...very nice Neo.

[DDWH]

Great pics Neo!

[Bully13]

That looks like so much fun. I finnally got my step bars off. Now I just have to get the rocker panels.

[RonB]

nice to meet you Steve, Darla, and Fred (Wilfred) and see Horace again.

We had a great time even though we didn't make it all the way through. It was slow going with alot of spotting needed, and there was some serious carnage in the group ahead of us so we had to wait awhile for the trail to clear. It was about 4:30 pm once we got moving and we had 2.5 miles of really technical stuff ahead...after about 1/2 mile of near death we thought it smart to come back another day instead of risk being stranded in the dark if we broke something (very likely on John Bull).

Some parts were easier than I remember, other parts were harder. I'm still amazed how easy stuff looks in pictures (we had trouble walking up some of these spots we had to negotiate). I can say that we were the only stock trucks I saw on the trail.

Fred, in the yellow H2 did Gold Mnt with us in the morning, had lunch with us and called it a day. The first trail is a good warm-up, but in no way compares to the difficulty of John Bull. It's been a year since I've been there so my memory had faded a bit -- sorry Steve if I had given you the impression that it was easier than it turned out to be. You did great, though. Horace you did well also, but mother nature must have issues with your wheelbase/height/ground clearance/width...perhaps all three dimentions come out to 666 or something?

I think all of out trucks would be better served by another inch or two of lift with our longer wheel bases. The rear shock mounts on the H3 did quite a bit of rubbing as did the diff on the H2. We really bent the snot out of Horace's rock sliders (mine too!). I think the H2 is too heavy, but one and all should check out the Air-Rock system that Offroad-Only sells ( www.offroadonly.com ). Look under products, then under suspension to find info on the air rock systems.

Looking forward to the next time. I'd like to try again before I go back to work at the end of July.

Ron B

[NEOCON1]

hey ron no problem with the difficulty level . with you spottin me i was goin up stuff that i didant dream i could make . it sucks the photos flatten the terrain so much . looking forward to next time . i love being on the trails where all we see are moded heeps and built rigs . sure they laugh at us , but we laugh right back further up the trail

cool http://www.offroadonly.com/ the link above has an ) in it thats not working

[RonB]

thanks Steve, I fixed the original link. My truck is due for service and some tlc. Plus I want to put in the detroit that's sitting in my garage taunting me. I'll be ready to go again in a month!

btw...I'm going to attempt Mt Whitney in a few days and I have a spot or two open on the entry permit (June 1 entry).

RB

[NEOCON1]

man i wish we could make it but am all tied up till end of june

july is open for us but back to Moab in august

[Sewie]

Great pics Neo and glad to hear there was no carnage.

[blindzebra]

Great pics. Thanks for posting. They're making me get the itchto wheel.

O yeah, GO CANES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!

[H2Finally]

Kuddos to Ron for the great spotting (only reason I didn't break something -- 'cause I was ready to just smash through anything at the end), and NEO for representin' the H3!!!

Sorry guys we had to turn around. Granted that this is JBT, one of the hardest trail for any stock vehicle (the Hammers is for the heavily modded), but come on -- I was hung up or slippin or slidin every 5 FEET!!! I'm all out of excuses. Bottom line was that was the hardest time I ever had on a trail. Every line I took turned out to be the wrong one. Every time I tried to correct, it got worse. At the end, it wasn't fun anymore, just frustrating, embarrassing, and fukcing maddening and that's when we turned around.

But not to worry, I shall return, and I shall ride the BULL again!!!

There is a happy ending though. On the way home I had a chance to pick up another set of rocker panels I won on ebay (seller live in the area), which was great timing since I bent mine (actually cracked the rock I landed it on!) -- and these new ones are CHROMED BLING-BLING BABY!!!!

[DennisAJC]

Great pics guys! Go Team Hummer!

I remember you doing this run with no issues last time H2F.

What up with that? Could it be the BLING? Do you have air suspension? Maybe it's the BLING? The new undercarraige weigh you down? Could it be the BLING?

[CO Hummer]

Great pics Neo. Yah, good to see you're in one piece!

[NEOCON1]

hey Horace , dont beat yourself up too much we have all had days like that we will go again sometime and you will own that mountain



thanx everyone that enjoyed these pix as usual Nav4 got some sweet ones

[RonB]

the H2 has always made me nervous during difficult climbs -- the front two tires go crosseyed. There were a couple of moments when you were turning while I was spotting and only one tire was turning. I kept waiting for a snap! I guess the H3 being lighter may not be as affected -- at least I didn't notice it happening with Steve's truck.

Horace, are you using 37's or the stock size MTR's (I forgot)? Pretty wierd, I know alot of H1's using those and they love them. You sure couldn't get any grip -- I think we tried every possible line on that initial obstacle with no luck. The rocks were pretty slippery.

One of the jeepers gave me the biggest compliment I've had in a while. After watching me back down that hill and strap you he said my truck was more like a tractor than an suv. I thought that was funny.

I'm glad there was no carnage -- just alot of banging. Your rear diff is probably flattened out!

Ron B

[RonB]

Horace, here's a picture of that same spot exactly 1 year ago. It seems alot different now -- last year I had alot of trouble as you did this year.

Ron B