Tellico

The Ocala Jeep Club of Florida

The Ocala Jeep Club Tackles Tellico By Ray Woo

    A warm autumn weekend greeted the Ocala Jeep Club as they met members of the Legendary Jeep Club, Orlando Jeep Club, Jeepers Creepers, Suncoast Flatlanders, and the crew from Wilson's 4X4 Shop to run the trails at Upper Tellico ORV area in North Carolina. Twelve club members and their families drove, towed, and trailered ten Jeeps to Murphy North Carolina during the November 18 weekend. Members present included Scott Lundy (Flea), Ron Tyrie, Mike Coleman, Troy McCall, Randy Ellis and his father, Steve Felder, Joe Smith, Beth Prevedel, Jeff Priest, Scott Allen, myself and all our families.

    An impromptu driver's meeting held in the parking lot of the local Best Western divided folks into Easy, Intermediate, and Hard Core groups for the following morning's rides. Fueled by bravado and excitement a large group began to gather around for the Hard Core rides, but folks soon started sneaking back into the other groups as the Trail Boss warned that "you WILL get body damage, and expect broken driveline parts!" As the weekend progressed this prophesy became quite true...to all groups!

    Scott Allen, Scott Lundy (Flea), Troy McCall and I (with Randy as copilot and videographer), met up with others for Friday's hardcore ride while the others chose to test the waters and refine their rockcrawling skills on the intermediate and easy rides. The plan was to try to tackle 4 of the 5 Most Difficult obstacles: Guardrail and Helicopter Pad on Trail 11, SchoolBus on Trail 12, and the RockGarden on Trail 2a. Confidence ran high as everyone made it up Guardrail without difficulty or the winchhook, and all were eager to try Helicopter Pad....were all the fun started.

    Dr. Dirt, the trailboss, showed us why the Pad has a tendency to eat Jeeps as he mashed his left rear corner and ripped off the taillight on Taillight Rock at the foot of the Pad. A convenient sidepass was available for those who didn't wish to try their skill, but all the OJC guys went for the gusto (was it courage or stupidity?). Flea was first to try, and surprised everyone (including the trailboss) as he scampered up the lower part of the Pad. However, as Flea tried to crest the top of the Pad his Flea-J took one too many hops and shuddered to a sudden stop. Closer inspection revealed a broker front axle yoke, ball joints, and a transfer case output shaft. Flea accepted the hook and was winched over the top. Troy followed and found the right line over the Pad. Soon after Troy left the group as he volunteered to tow Flea on a four hour trip down the mountain. Scott Allen then tried to follow the same line sideways across the rock, getting MAJOR air when three wheels lost contact with terra firma when gravity temporarily overtook momentum. I think Scott's wife Penny lost about 10 years as she watched the guys scramble to hook the winch to the Jeep! I ascended the Pad with less excitement - opting for the hook after my rear corner tasted Taillight Rock.

    SchoolBus on trail 12 also claimed a victim as Scott's rear Gearless Locker broke - leaving him with 3 wheel drive. Going down Schoolbus was fun - we were told it will be even more fun going back up the next day.

    After lunch we drove to the Rock Garden where one member in our ride promptly broke the Dana 35 rear axle in his TJ as he was trying to show us how to work the harder line. Scott's rear diff finally gave up the ghost as the Gearless Locker grenaded - punching a hole in the diff cover. After removing the bits and pieces of shattered locker Scott limped back to the hard road as I finished up the ride with the two other remaining Jeeps.

    Everyone met back at the Best Western to swap stories: Beth's refitted Blues-Clues blue CJ melted its tranny shifter cable that morning - luckily Ernie was able to locate a dust covered new rod linkage shifter in Murphy and they were able to rejoin their ride later that afternoon. After our steak dinner (Thanks Mr Wilson!) the parking lot was buzzing with with sounds of electrical generators powering halogen lights and welders as the crew scrambled to repair their injured steeds. Unfortunately the Flea-J was done for the weekend, but Scott's YJ was repaired with an open diff and he finished off the rest of the weekend riding in the intermediate group.

    Saturday's hardcore ride saw the addition of Jeff Priest and his new sprung-over wrangler to our group. We tackled Schoolbus again...uphill. A steady 30-45 degree climb straight up the mountain puts a whole new meaning to being "schooled" in four wheeling. Jeff soon found that the combination of the steep grade and heavy load in the rear of his Jeep was too much as the front driveshaft slipped out of its yoke during a particularly nasty section. Quick repairs with a air grinder soon had him running again. This same section of trail claimed Troy's front locker, and he soon departed for the hotel - but not after first adding to his Jeep's new collection of body dents and dings! Jeff got a lesson in offcamber driving as we finished up Schoolbus and started towards Slick Rock....it only *feels* like your Jeep is going over at 45 degrees of roll! Unfortunately we were unable to do Slickrock due to a number of broken fullsize rigs on the trail.

As we rejoined everyone that evening we discovered that we weren't the only ones who had some fun. The advanced intermediate group had decided to tackle the Rock Garden that day - Score: Rock Garden 9, Jeeps 3! Randy referred to the sounds of metal axles and shafts snapping as "the sound of money!" Steve Felder and Ron Tyrie also discovered that lifted CJ5's need all your attention on downhills unless you enjoy crashing down the mountain with your rear axle 3 feet up in the air! I hear that Jeff may be able to repair those fingernail marks on Ron's steering wheel, and Ron has gained a new appreciation for the stopping power of a tree!

Folks began leaving at various times during the night and the next morning. Unfortunately Randy's dad was involved in an accident in the rain at Micanopy. Thankfully nobody was injured and both the Scrambler and the F250 were unscathed. In all, everyone had fun and there was even talk about going back again before next March!