Jeeping with Wes: Catastrophe

Just got back from Jeeping with Wes in Uwharrie. Wes decided to break in his BRAND NEW Jeep on the trail. He seriously got it no more than 10 days ago. It’s a 2004, but it was in pristine condition at the beginning of the day.

I fixed that. Got the new off.

Dumbass that I am, decided to back down a bit to get another go at an obstacle. I was pretty close to Wes, but thought not much of it.

I took a good look at the hill, mentally pictured going up it, and hit the gas. I needed to get a bit of speed because not all tires would be on the ground, and I don’t have lockers. I needed to roll over the obstacle a bit until all 4 wheels touched again for traction uphill.

Note to self: Before hitting the gas enthusiastically, check to see what gear you are in. If you want to go forward, perhaps the big R is not the right choice.

Wes received 5700 lbs, 290 ft-lbs of torque, in 4 wheel low straight to the Grill / Hood / Radiator. This required us to actually replace the radiator shortly after the incident as the life blood of the cooling system drained away. Poor environment.

On the plus side, I now know how to replace a radiator, and how much they cost.

Witness the carnage:

Luckily we were able to restore it to “just like factory” specifications:

Yep. Classic.

That will be an experience I’ll not likely live down. I normally wouldn’t post something this embarrassing so soon after it happened, but listen closely to 1:58 in the second video. I’m pretty much awesome.