- Location
- Grand Junction, CO
Hickey (aka Jeremy) planned a Moab trip for his son who is leaving on his LDS mission very soon... we put together a plan and meet up for a 3 day weekend of Moab fun. I had heard that Hickey used to wheel, but never really saw him on the trail.... much like a Unicorn. :guilty: I was skeptical that he knew how to drive, let alone wheel a pretty JK in Moab. Turns out he is a great driver and we were both sporting white Jeeps JK Rubicons on 35's, mine being the Unlimited. We were topless and doorless, making it easy to see and doubling the fun factor!
On Friday we headed out to Kane Creek, for some wet fun. As most of you know, the start of the trail is a bumpy, dusty and LONG start before the real fun. There were some fun climbs to play on, on our way out, so we played. I was leading and started pushing the JKU pretty hard in the whoops, working those Teraflex Speed Bumps and loving how they dampened what would have been a hard hit. Several miles into the start of the trail my steering got very vague and I knew something happened to the track bar. I pulled over and sure enough, the axle bracket had torn free of it's mounts, probably from pushing the Jeep hard at speed. We both had some ratcheting tie downs and to secure the front axle side-to-side best we could. The drive into town took a long time, as we broke 2 of the ratchet strap hooks and I was getting some fun death wobble since the axle wasn't secured.
We limped the Jeep to Moab Outpost on Friday afternoon.... there were people in the shop working and the showroom was open. I asked the guy at the desk if they could weld the track bar bracket back in place and was surprised when he said he didn't have someone there to do it. Realizing my best option was looking grim, I asked if I could use their welder and to the job myself. I've done plenty of welding and felt comfortable doing the job and actually helped another RME member years ago that was in a similar situation. The reply was that both welders were tied up, doing axle swaps. I've heard great things about Moab Outpost, but I was very disappointed with my experience there. I started to have thoughts about how my weekend plans were changing fast and then wondering how I'd be able to get the Jeep back to Colorado if I couldn't fix the track bar mount. I was bummed, to say the least.
I pulled out the phone, searched 'welder repair Moab' and found Wilson Performance. I called, Ben Wilson answered and said he could help, asking if the Jeep was driveable and if I could get it to the shop. He does offer Mobile repair, if needed. He was just a handful of minutes from where we were, so we limped the JKU to the shop. Ben was friendly and helpful, checking out the needed repair. He put me at ease, saying it was a simple fix and could be beefed up with a few additional beads. His work was exact and meticulous, to the point that he broke out the porta-power to line up the bracket better after the initial tack weld. Soon he was laying killer beads and it wasn't long before the Jeep was road & trail ready and a price that I would have paid double considering how professional he was... thanks Ben!! I'd highly recommend Wilson Performance in Moab if you need something welded back together!
It was now close to dinner, so we had some Mexican for dinner then decided to hit up Hells Revenge in the dark! It was a blast, but the shadows would spook you! Not many pics were taken due to the dark, but Hells was a blast!
Saturday morning came fast and it was our big day, we planned to drive the Poison Spider Mesa / Golden Spike / Gold Bar Rim combo. We had invited an old friend to ride along and someone I've spent plenty of time on the trail with, Chris Bolos aka YellowBronco. We picked up Chris and hit the trailhead around 8:30 AM, preparing for a long day. About 1/3 of the way into the trail a amazing JKU with a couple from Canada asked if they could join us. Their JKU was setup with Teraflex long arms and anti-sway bar, Offroad Evolution EVO 1 bolt-on(!) coilovers, 39" BFG Krawlers mounted on Hutchinson beadlocks. It was amazingly built and perfect for the Moab trails, I wish I would have gotten a full build list! It was also sporting a Magnaflow exhaust which sounded amazing when the engine was revved up... which we got to hear often! :greg:
We worked our way over the trail slowly, stopping now & again for the most difficult obstacles and photo ops.
On Friday we headed out to Kane Creek, for some wet fun. As most of you know, the start of the trail is a bumpy, dusty and LONG start before the real fun. There were some fun climbs to play on, on our way out, so we played. I was leading and started pushing the JKU pretty hard in the whoops, working those Teraflex Speed Bumps and loving how they dampened what would have been a hard hit. Several miles into the start of the trail my steering got very vague and I knew something happened to the track bar. I pulled over and sure enough, the axle bracket had torn free of it's mounts, probably from pushing the Jeep hard at speed. We both had some ratcheting tie downs and to secure the front axle side-to-side best we could. The drive into town took a long time, as we broke 2 of the ratchet strap hooks and I was getting some fun death wobble since the axle wasn't secured.
We limped the Jeep to Moab Outpost on Friday afternoon.... there were people in the shop working and the showroom was open. I asked the guy at the desk if they could weld the track bar bracket back in place and was surprised when he said he didn't have someone there to do it. Realizing my best option was looking grim, I asked if I could use their welder and to the job myself. I've done plenty of welding and felt comfortable doing the job and actually helped another RME member years ago that was in a similar situation. The reply was that both welders were tied up, doing axle swaps. I've heard great things about Moab Outpost, but I was very disappointed with my experience there. I started to have thoughts about how my weekend plans were changing fast and then wondering how I'd be able to get the Jeep back to Colorado if I couldn't fix the track bar mount. I was bummed, to say the least.
I pulled out the phone, searched 'welder repair Moab' and found Wilson Performance. I called, Ben Wilson answered and said he could help, asking if the Jeep was driveable and if I could get it to the shop. He does offer Mobile repair, if needed. He was just a handful of minutes from where we were, so we limped the JKU to the shop. Ben was friendly and helpful, checking out the needed repair. He put me at ease, saying it was a simple fix and could be beefed up with a few additional beads. His work was exact and meticulous, to the point that he broke out the porta-power to line up the bracket better after the initial tack weld. Soon he was laying killer beads and it wasn't long before the Jeep was road & trail ready and a price that I would have paid double considering how professional he was... thanks Ben!! I'd highly recommend Wilson Performance in Moab if you need something welded back together!
It was now close to dinner, so we had some Mexican for dinner then decided to hit up Hells Revenge in the dark! It was a blast, but the shadows would spook you! Not many pics were taken due to the dark, but Hells was a blast!
Saturday morning came fast and it was our big day, we planned to drive the Poison Spider Mesa / Golden Spike / Gold Bar Rim combo. We had invited an old friend to ride along and someone I've spent plenty of time on the trail with, Chris Bolos aka YellowBronco. We picked up Chris and hit the trailhead around 8:30 AM, preparing for a long day. About 1/3 of the way into the trail a amazing JKU with a couple from Canada asked if they could join us. Their JKU was setup with Teraflex long arms and anti-sway bar, Offroad Evolution EVO 1 bolt-on(!) coilovers, 39" BFG Krawlers mounted on Hutchinson beadlocks. It was amazingly built and perfect for the Moab trails, I wish I would have gotten a full build list! It was also sporting a Magnaflow exhaust which sounded amazing when the engine was revved up... which we got to hear often! :greg:
We worked our way over the trail slowly, stopping now & again for the most difficult obstacles and photo ops.
It's been years since I've had a long Moab-wheelin weekend and this trip was perfect andjust what I needed, even with the track bar bracket hiccup early on. What's a Moab trip without carnage?! It really was a great time and made me think back on many Moab trips with friends in the past. 
