We made a new rule, S&M can no longer be the first trail we run on any given day. Once again the money shot lived up to it's name and reputation as the most expensive obstacle in the state by claiming a rear drive shaft, Detroit locker and a portal gear set in under a half an hour. After watching the videos I think the key to minimizing breakage on this obstacle is getting the transmission into neutral if you start rolling or sliding back off the face.  This also means you have to hit the wall with some momentum so you have time to get it into neutral.  Pulling all the way up to the fall and trying to hit it didn't cut it. Here's some video of Jack's attempts: Video 1, Video 2 and Video 3.  

Here's some video of my attempts: Video 1 and Video 2. Despite everyone running sticky tires the fall was still a challenge due to the cold temperature and wet surface. I am also still fighting the engine cutting out so my last attempt I used a little more gas than needed.  I also got a clip of Brad's attempt, you'll notice he didn't get the car into neutral and was still on the gas when it landed after the bounce off the face of the fall.

With 3 of the 5 original rigs done for the weekend Jack and myself decided to take it easy for the rest of the day. We finished S&M and then went exploring.

Later in the day while heading down Single Serving we discovered the rains had washed the lower section of the trail out so there is now a really good obstacle at the start of the trail. The off camber notched looked nasty enough that we elected not to try driving down it.

Making a firewood run.

Sunday morning we did some more easy wheeling and site seeing before heading back to camp for a hot lunch followed by another firewood run. We cut some of the bigger logs we drug back with a chainsaw.  This log must have been a target at some point, as luck would have it we managed to cut the embedded bullet clean in half. 

By this time there were now 3 rigs, Scott had arrived while we were out gathering firewood. We took a slow cruise down a main wash and played around on some of the rock formations. 

On arriving back to camp, Scott noticed one of my u-joint bearing caps was starting to come out.  This solved the mystery of the metallic popping noise I heard on Sunday morning when I was backing up in some sand. I had lost the c-clip, the bearing cap moved outward and the roller bearings got all chewed up. We were able to fish the broken cap out and insert a new one without too much fuss. looks like it is about time for some upgraded axles. 

Next Page - Page 2