Trip Report Pritchett, all to ourselves!

Greg

Make RME Rockcrawling Again!
Admin
On Saturday @Hickey & @SoopaHick started early and we meet up in Moab for a Pritchett Canyon run. We've been talking about a Moab trip ever since we both got our new rigs and Pritchett was on the list.

I was still being cautious with the TJ after a bunch of work, so I figured I'd be taking it easy. It was going to be warm, around 90*'s so we hit the trail right away. It's been a good 15-16 years for both of us and we knew Pritchett had changed... we just didn't know how much it had changed. We're both running DOT tires and I could have been aired down more, was at 10 PSI for this trip.

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We dropped into the canyon and started making our way up, playing on the optional ledges and climbs along the way.

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We eventually came to a pretty tore up drop down the side of the canyon, into the bottom filled with a lot of boulders. This section is one of the spots that has changed a ton and it's gnarly. I ended up fighting to find the right line, sliding into a large rock in front of me and struggling for a good bit. With my example of where not to go, Jeremy cruised right thru without a problem. I didn't get any real pics of video, unfortunately.... the downside of driving, lol.



Next up was Chewy.... it was another one where it took me a bit to find the right line to get all 4 tires on it, then up and over. Once again, Jeremy quickly and cleanly cruised right up.

There were several more obstacles to play around on along the way, but eventually we made it to Rocker Knocker. We talked about the traditional line, and the bonus line shooting straight up on the right. We both decided the traditional line was fine for us! When I was on it, my front tires felt like they wanted to climb the upper ledge and I got pretty tippy.... I paused to put my right hand on the shifter, in case I had to toss it in reverse. With some careful throttle and feeling it out, the TJ made it up.


Jeremy's line worked out well, no drama and a perfect example of the traditional line.


The views once past Rocker Knocker are INCREDIBLE, love seeing both up and down the canyon, checking out the arches, etc.

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Greg

Make RME Rockcrawling Again!
Admin
Axle Hill is a great tire test! It took me a few tries, but eventually I found the line, let the LS3 sing and made those new Nittos bark as they fought for every inch of traction.


Rock Pile was next, I pulled up on it and said EFF THAT.... it felt so sketchy. Didn't even bother trying to get up it. Jeremy was more brave, he gave it some effort only to get denied. We moved on to Yellow Hill, I took the steep, smooth line on the left. Jeremy played around on the rocks on the right. We made it to the top, had lunch and a well earned adult beverage with our lunches, courtesy of Jeremy packing in his cooler & @Cody and BeWilder doing their incredible magic.


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It took us about 3 hours to make it to the top, then 1 hour to get back down.... there were some exciting moments, Chewy damn near tossed me coming down. We didn't see a SINGE other person on Pritchett the whole time, it was so nice!
 

Greg

Make RME Rockcrawling Again!
Admin
We finished with Pritchett about 2 PM and had plenty of light left in the day, so we decided to buzz over to Moab Rim. It was getting pretty warm, 90*'s or so. Once we hit the trail the wind was blowing the same way were were driving and my TJ started getting HOT... it had been getting up to 220-230*'s on Pritchett, which is warm for an LS. As we passed Devils Crack, I started seeing close to 240*'s!

As we hit the bottom of Z Turn, I put in in Park and left it running, hoping it would cool down. I walked around the front of the TJ and heard a dreaded knocking, sounded like a rod knock! :eek::ouch:

@Hickey has had some issued with Moab Rim and has never been past Z Turn and unfortunatley, we decided to tuck tail and limp back to the tow rigs.... but not before some scenic pics from the trail.

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After getting the TJ home and taking to Chad, he enlightened me on the belt tensioner contacting the thermostat housing in some situations. Apparently when it got real hot, the belt got even more loose and the tensioner bounced back & forth, hitting the thermostat housing.... sounding JUST like a rod knock! Glad I'm not tearing out the LS3 for a rebuild!
 

UNSTUCK

But stuck more often.
I know you don’t want to but adding at least some small holes under the hood scoop, out of sight, will help cool things down.
 

Greg

Make RME Rockcrawling Again!
Admin
I know you don’t want to but adding at least some small holes under the hood scoop, out of sight, will help cool things down.

It might, but the engine compartment is so wide opened without fenders I think the heat isn't really getting trapped under the hood. The cooling updates I mentioned should do the trick. Also, as I mentioned in the build thread, the hood is already so flimsy... I don't want to remove any more structure from it.
 
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