This weekend our Club headed up to Brimstone Recreation in Huntsville, TN for a toy run to benefit the underprivileged children of the area. Admission to the event was a toy (duh) or a $10 donation. T-shirt sales and a raffle was held to increase funds for this worthy cause.
There were some really nice rigs there:
After we registered and dropped off our toys we headed up the trails:
And were greeted with some awesome views:
And some tough trails:
Judging by the activity on the trails, there had to be at least 100 people at the event and we only saw a small portion of the park. I can't wait to go back again for next years event!
So after a year or so of little in the way of upgrades this past month has yielded some big changes to the Jeep. I've been running the puny Dana 35 rear axle which is fairly weak and has a tendency to snap the axles when coupled with larger tires and a heavy foot on the gas pedal.
Last month I ordered a Ford 8.8 axle from East Coast Gear Supply. This axle is much more robust than the D35. I passed on changing this in my backyard and instead had Jason at Rock Your 4x4 do the install. He's a member of our club and I'd highly recommend him for Jeep work.
I then ordered a pair of Rusty's 3 inch springs for the front as my old springs were sagging and the 2inch budget boost wasn't giving me enough clearance. The rear netted about 5/8" more lift with the axle change so nothing was changed out back.
Our club had a fun ride that covered both of these very cool spots in Royal Blue recently. The flame is a pipe sticking out of the ground that vents natural gas and seems to be perpetually burning. Caryville Flats is a spot on the south end of Royal Blue that offers a breathtaking view of the Lafollette area and beyond.
.../TN border on I-75 lies the Daniel Boone National Forest. Thanks to a few tips and relentless research by the crack (smoking) team here at IronJeep we found some trails up there!
Intentions are to eventually post exact directions and reports in the trail section over at the mothership http://www.ironjeep.com. We also hope to return soon and get more pics and some videos. As it stands, I definitely think a club ride up here would be worth the trip. We found trails from easy to moderate and didn't nearly scratch the surface of what's available in this area.
The KY officials seem to be taunting us with this sign:
So gentleman, the gauntlet has been cast, we must return for high water. :P
And I leave you with a pic of a happy Jeep, she's been clean too long:
Last weekend our Jeep club along with ET4WD ventured up to the sand mines at Royal Blue. According to a couple of friends that were on the trip with us, TVA mined sand out of the top of this mountain to be mixed for concrete for the dams.
The first hill climb turned out to be quite tricky as the rains made everything a muddy mess and we ended up having to winch up one section of the hill.
We stopped just short of the top at the wheelhouse. This is where they brought the sand down from the top and loaded it into carts for the ride down the mountain. Here's a picture of the wheelhouse:
Everyone with lockers continued up to the top where there's a small lake and lots of sand. (duh) :) Pictures never show it, but it was pretty steep up this last part:
And here's a video as proof that we went up there:
Special thanks to my stunt driver for making me look good.
