The Rough Rider

The Monthly Newsletter of the Tucson Rough Riders, Inc.

September 2018

Volume 43 Issue 9

Upcoming Events 2-3 Meeting Minutes 4-5 Participation Report 6-8 Run Reports 9-10 White Ridge Trail and Rescue 11-16 Charouleau Gap Kiosk 17-19 For Sale 20 Club Officers 21 Member Anniversaries 21 Publishing Schedule 21 Editor’s Corner 22

In This Issue

2018 Meeting Dates January 23 July 24 February 27 August 28 March 27 September 25 April 24 October 23 May 22 November 27 June 26 December 8 Summer Picnic June 24

Trail Dust Days October 4-7 Christmas Party December 8

The Rough Rider is the official publication of the Tucson Rough Riders, Inc., P.O. Box 78726, Tucson, Arizona, 85703-8726.

The Tucson Rough Riders, Inc., is a rough-terrain vehicle club with the following goals: to enjoy and protect the natural environment, to provide social and recreational activities for its members, and to promote family togeth-erness. The Club assists the state and national resource management agencies and local community charitable organizations.

The Club’s general meetings are held on the 4th Tuesday of each month at the U-Like Oriental Buffet, 5101 N. Oracle Road, Tucson, unless otherwise specified. The social gathering is from 6:30 PM to 7:00 PM, with the meeting starting at 7:00 PM. Members, guests, advertisers and the public are cordially invited to attend.

Membership in the Tucson Rough Riders is $40.00 annually. Optional name tags may be purchased for $10.00 each. To qualify for membership, a four-wheel-drive vehicle owner must attend two runs and two meetings. Any-one wishing to join the Tucson Rough Riders is encouraged to contact any of the Board members, visit our web-site, or write to the Club at the above post office box.

www.tucsonroughriders.com

The Rough Rider 2 September 2018

Plan to be at these events for a great time. It is a wonderful opportunity to meet new people or spend time with old friends. Don’t have a ride? I’m sure someone has a seat. Don’t forget your camera!

NOTE: PLEASE CHECK THE CLUB CALENDAR FOR UPDATES

SEPTEMBER 2018 BACK THE BLUE

September 29. Meet by 8 AM at Harkins Theater (5755 Arizona Pavilions Dr., Tucson 85743).

Run Leader: Not Given.

Trail Rating: n/a

Destination: Arizona Motorplex / Tucson International Raceway (4300 E. Los Reales Rd., Tucson 85756). [The following is copied from Facebook.] This is a family friendly and FREE event brought to you by Tucson Jeeps and DM Military Jeepers to support local law enforcement. This is a FREE event and all 4WD street legal vehicles are invited to participate in the convoy. Our goal is to bring maxi-mum off-roading community support for law enforcement officers that serve us in and around southern Arizona. Whatev-er type of 4 Wheel drive vehicle you drive, you are welcome and invited to this event. The Convoy will begin at Harkins Theater off of Cortaro Rd. 5755 Arizona Pavilions Dr. Tucson AZ 85743 . Local law enforcement will lead the convoy to the event location Arizona Motorplex/Tucson International Raceway 4300 E Los Re-ales Rd, Tucson, AZ 85756 More information will be announced and released as it becomes available. Mark interested on the event to get updates when they are released. You can see images, videos and posts of everything that was donated on the following Facebook links and group web-site: Event Facebook page: www.facebook.com/jeepbacktheblue Davis-Monthan Military Jeepers: https://www.facebook.com/groups/DMMilitaryJeepers/ Tucson Jeeps Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/TucsonJeeps/ Tucson Jeeps Official website: www.tucsonjeeps.com If you are able to donate to the event please email us at jeepbacktheblue@gmail.com OCTOBER 2018 TRAIL DUST DAYS

October 4-7. Meet at Catalina State Park (Oracle Road, just north of Oro Valley).

Run Leader(s): Various.

Trail Rating(s): Various.

Destinations: Various. This is the 25th Trail Dust Days. Registration is required; see elsewhere in this issue for the registration form. You can also register on the club’s website (www.tucsonroughriders.com). DEER CREEK RANCH WORK RUN

October 20, 8:30 AM. Meet at the southwest corner of Houghton and I-10.

Run Leader: Rheal Tetreault (682-0273).

Upcoming events

The Rough Rider 3 September 2018

Trail Rating: Not Given.

Destination: Deer Creek Ranch, north of Willcox. It is time for our yearly Deer Creek Ranch run. This is done in conjunction with the Game and Fish Adopt-a-Ranch pro-gram. We usually camp overnight, but is isn’t required. The ranch is located north of Willcox, on the way to Klondike. Typically we arrive at the camping spot, set up our tents, and have lunch. After lunch we will do some work if the rancher has anything for us to do. Work usually consist of hauling rock to a washout. After the work is done, we enjoy the evening around the campfire in the Galiuro foothills. NOVEMBER 2018 CHAROULEAU GAP WORK RUN

November 18, 8:30 AM. Meet at Bashas’ in Catalina (Oracle Road and Golder Ranch).

Run Leader: Rheal Tetreault (682-0273).

Trail Rating: Not given.

Destination: Charouleau Gap. We will be doing the fall work run on the Gap. Bring work gloves, shovels, 5-gallon buckets, fence pliers, and your lunch. Expect to be out all day. DECEMBER 2018 ASA4WDC LAND WORK RUN

December 15, 8:00 AM. Meet at Bashas’ in Catalina (Oracle Road and Golder Ranch).

Run Leader: Rheal Tetreault (682-0273).

Trail Rating: Not Given.

Destination: ASA4WDC property outside of Florence. At this point we are planning on putting the gateposts up. Some more cleanup of the cholla on the property is also possi-ble. Bring gloves, yard tools, and lunch.

Have an idea for a run?

Do you have an idea but don’t want to lead a trip, or you don’t know the route? Don’t worry! Just contact a Board mem-ber with your ideas.

Please remember these trips usually are day trips which means to bring plenty of water.

Upcoming events (Cont’d.)

The Rough Rider 4 September 2018

Call to Order

The meeting was called to order at 7:05 PM and the Pledge of Allegiance was recited. A motion was called for, made, seconded, voted on, and passed to accept the August meeting’s minutes as printed in the Rough Rider.

Land Use (Becky)

NOHVCC ROXOR - Mini ATV. Jeep type vehicle. BLM plans are in process. We are in the Objection

time period. Multiple closures.

Sierra Vista is signed.

Arizona Average Joe 4x4 event. Will be the first of the year. Located in Phoenix

State Report, Adopt-a-Trail/Adopt-a-Ranch

(Rheal)

ASA land needs work. Culvert needs work. Still think-ing about a 40' conex. Need costs. No utilities.

Adopt-a-Road. Rice Peak. See new runs / work runs for upcoming runs.

Guests (Phil for Andy)

*** Welcome*** ☺ my apologies up front for any mis-spelling. Jeff and Jeanie Pachard 2018 Rubicon. Kevin intro-

duced him. Chad and Sharon Taback. 1995 YJ.

Membership (Tom)

Two runs, two meetings. Name Tag: $10 each. If a run is on the calendar at least 4 days in advance,

it counts as a run. New Membership. *** Welcome aboard. *** ☺ my

apologies up front for any misspelling. Mark Porter. Moved, seconded, and voted in.

Participation Report (Phil for Miles) Miles is still back east. See report for more details. Two rescues. #4 Phil David #3 Tim Naylor #2 Steve Archer #1 Jeff Merrell with 48 points Thank you all!

Safety and Education (Phil for Ben & Leo)

Need a volunteer for safety. Massive fissures observed in some of the rock areas.

Be observant and aware of road safety when off road.

Presentations

No presentation this month.

President’s Report (Phil for Andy)

Phil David covering as Andy is out sick. Moved to donate $500 from the Land Use Fund for

ASA. Passed. Discount at O’Rielly Auto Parts. 1643839. Tucson

Rough Riders.

Editor’s Report (Dave)

Please submit your inputs by Saturday evening. Please get your run reports in. Work run reports are really needed. They exemplify

what the club does.

Website (Tim)

Trail Dust Days. GPS tracks are up and on the front page.

Rubicon trip. 20-minute video. Look for it.

Old Business

Trail Dust Days 25

th annual.

Speed limit is 25 max.

State land permit. Make sure you have it. Takes about 5 minutes to get.

Tech inspections. Thursday evening, Friday morn-ing, Friday evening and Saturday morning.

Run List needs to come off the website.

Catalina State Park Day pass is 1/2 price for vet-erans. Need ID

New Business

Health and welfare article. Any issues with club mem-bers. Bob Hval volunteered to support this. Social communications.

Christmas party 12/8 Leo’s house.

Run Reports

For details and photos, please check out the “Run Re-ports” section elsewhere in the newsletter.

White Ridge trail. The two trails. Three wall canyon

with cattle trough. North east corner of Rincon Moun-tains. Broke the axle housing. Steve Williams’s rear end locked up.

Smelter Wash. Steve and Tim got stuck. Could not get up a “washout”.

Rice Peak Work run. Put fence in the lower switch-back area. Mostly old guys. Want rocks and shade. Nice day. 4 vehicles. 5 people. Nice up at the peak.

Gila River. Loved the dog. Fence across the river un-der the trestle. See report in newsletter.

GAP Kiosk. Installed new Kiosk. Old one was put up in 2004. Game and Fish was very supportive. Section

Meeting Minutes

The Rough Rider 5 September 2018

of state trust land provides action. Game and Fish pur-chased a perpetual easement. Could be moved but will stay open. Cut up the old Kiosk. Dug three holes about 30" deep. Very slow going. Now has cement and metal posts. Took all day to work through. Saved all the signs. Forest service hauled away the old piec-es.

Elvis and Box Canyon. Locked gate on Price road. There is a bypass. Box Canyon we met up with on-coming vehicles. They had 17 vehicles. Arizona Jeep Girls club. Box Canyon is ok. Dave Bunch had steer-ing stabilizer issue. Lost front wheel drive.

Ajax. Rumor said it was impassable. The rock garden has more boulders. The obstacle the "V" now has a car-size boulder. Waterfall is cut out about 4-5' more. Went over to Woodpecker. Lots of rocks. Lots of washouts. Bypasses are very bad. Road needs work to recover from water damage.

Ripsy Mine. Road is in good condition. Mine has been cleaned up. San Pedro was flowing really heavily.

Cowboy Miller road. Road in good condition. Table Mountain Mine. Checked Carpet Hill. Bottom half was tough.

Run Announcements

For details, please check out the “Upcoming Events” sec-tion elsewhere in the newsletter. Official runs must be posted on the calendar a minimum of 4 days in advance. Run leaders, make sure everyone signs in appropriately. Guest vs Members. Must be legible. Sutherland trail. Pre-run on Sunday. Back the Blue. 3rd Annual. Leaves at 9:30. Be there

by 8:30. Bring water to donate. After the Feast run the Friday after Thanksgiving. Red Rock run in October. White Ridge on the 27th. Will try again. WORK RUNS. See Calendar.

10/20. Deer Creek. Work with the Rancher. Over-night. About 5000 feet. Nice Camping. Rancher does have work for us. Gorgeous spot.

11/17. Charouleau Gap. Conflict - Tour De Tuc-son. [Editor’s Note: As of 10/1/18, the date on the club calendar has been changed to 11/18 to avoid conflict with El Tour de Tucson.]

12/15. ASA land in Florence. Gate and other work.

Land use Donation

$86.56 Meeting Adjournment

Meeting adjourned at 8:35 PM.

Meeting Minutes (Cont’d.)

The Rough Rider 6 September 2018

(Article by Miles Weigold) The September report below includes all runs and rescues through the Gila Beach pre-run on 9/16 except for the 9/12 Smelter Wash pre-run and the 9/22 Elvis and Box Canyon runs. Please forward copies of these rosters to me ASAP. I’ve listed the top 20 points earners YTD. The complete list for all who have earned points will be included in the September newsletter. As always, if you feel a revision is required please let me know at the email address above. With only 2 rescues to date, you should all take pride in proper maintenance and careful trail driving. Note to file: when Jeff Merrell breaks down, he really breaks down!! We will return to Marana 1

st week in November. Advanced thanks to all who helped make Trail Dust Days a success.

Sorry I’ll miss the fun! [Update 10/01/18] The following are points totals including all runs through the 9/29 “Back the Blue” run. Also included are all members who have earned points YTD through 9/29/2018. Note that there are 19 members who have not earned any points.

Participation Report

Summary for meeting:

Meeting attendees - members 269

Meeting attendees - guests 75

Meeting attendees - total 344

Run participants-members 551

Run participants-guests 205

Run participants-all 756

Runs 59

Rescues 2

Rescue participants 6

Participants-all events 1106

Vehicles on runs 581

2018 Tucson Rough Riders Participation Points Summary Revised: 10/1/2018

Lname Fname Meetings Runs Run Lead Rescues Total Position

Merrell Jeffrey 6 22 22 0 50 1

Naylor Tim 8 23 12 3 46 2

Archer Steven 4 34 4 2 44 3

David Phil 7 17 16 0 40 4

Hogan Bart 8 25 4 0 37 5

Narcus Larry 7 30 0 0 37 5

Antle/Tetrault Becky 6 12 18 0 36 7

Williams Mike 6 16 8 0 30 8

Feldman Ken 5 17 6 0 28 9

Sacio Andres 6 18 4 0 28 9

The Rough Rider 7 September 2018

Participation Report (Cont’d.)

Lname Fname Meetings Runs Run Lead Rescues Total

Leslie Malcolm 7 16 0 2 25

Siskind Paul 6 19 0 0 25

Kennedy Kevin 6 10 8 0 24

O'Campo Leo 4 19 0 0 23

Fetherman Stan 7 11 4 0 22

Ratzlaff Bill 7 9 4 0 20

Collins/Thilges Mike 0 15 4 0 19

McCoy Jess 3 14 0 0 17

Robertson Scott 2 14 0 0 16

Williams Steven 1 12 0 2 15

Zuleta Ever 6 7 0 2 15

Whitlock Jim 6 8 0 0 14

Bates Pam 4 10 0 0 14

Acuna Ruben 6 7 0 0 13

Cristia Robert 4 9 0 0 13

Webley Dave 5 7 0 0 12

Hockwitt Mel 3 4 2 3 12

Richardson Chris 5 7 0 0 12

Finstad Paul 2 9 0 0 11

Weigold Miles 5 5 0 0 10

Mandoske John 3 7 0 0 10

Hval Bob 5 4 0 0 9

Parker Tom 5 4 0 0 9

Drenten Lon 7 1 0 0 8

Fabiano Gary 3 5 0 0 8

Nezelek Vaughn 4 4 0 0 8

Raya Mike 1 5 2 0 8

Van Der Peet Jacqui 1 7 0 0 8

Palumbo Gary 5 3 0 0 8

Fearnow John 1 6 0 0 7

Overbey John 6 1 0 0 7

Campion Mark 3 3 0 0 6

Carruthers Chuck 3 3 0 0 6

Greven Erwin 4 2 0 0 6

Harford Brad 0 6 0 0 6

Cauthen Harold 1 5 0 0 6

Conrow Sherman 4 2 0 0 6

Lindskoog Jon 3 3 0 0 6

Peterson Dave 6 0 0 0 6

Baldwin Andy 3 2 0 0 5

Carrier Mike 3 2 0 0 5

Grisillo Joe 3 2 0 0 5

Knuckles Ben 1 4 0 0 5

Ulrich Bill 1 4 0 0 5

Ambler Tom 5 0 0 0 5

Johnson Terry 2 3 0 0 5

Nelson Dean 3 2 0 0 5

The Rough Rider 8 September 2018

Participation Report (Cont’d.)

Lname Fname Meetings Runs Run Lead Rescues Total

Bunting/Swanson Betsy 1 3 0 0 4

Dean Michael 3 1 0 0 4

Zigelstein Stephen 2 2 0 0 4

Mathwig Jack 4 0 0 0 4

Stites James 3 1 0 0 4

Wall Bob 3 1 0 0 4

Bockwaldt Walter 2 1 0 0 3

Coombs David 1 2 0 0 3

Fraynd Darrell 3 0 0 0 3

Larabee Constance 1 2 0 0 3

McInturf Jesse 2 1 0 0 3

Mummert Steve 1 2 0 0 3

Natzke Ken 0 3 0 0 3

Faggard Gene 2 0 0 0 2

Nelson Clint 1 1 0 0 2

Nepsa Kimberly 0 2 0 0 2

Nickerson Danny 1 1 0 0 2

Bunch David 0 2 0 0 2

Di Maria Mike 0 1 0 0 1

Bryson Greg 0 1 0 0 1

Caulkins Brian 1 0 0 0 1

Porter Mark 0 1 0 0 1

Anderson Charles 0 0 0 0 0

Batorson Steve 0 0 0 0 0

Beyer Steve 0 0 0 0 0

Bose Tamal 0 0 0 0 0

Bozarth Bob 0 0 0 0 0

Cameron Scotty 0 0 0 0 0

Di Maria Brandon 0 0 0 0 0

Efird Kassi 0 0 0 0 0

Fontana Jason 0 0 0 0 0

Franzen Norman 0 0 0 0 0

Harrison Rick 0 0 0 0 0

Hill John 0 0 0 0 0

Johnson Bill 0 0 0 0 0

Johnson Bob 0 0 0 0 0

Levine Larry 0 0 0 0 0

McDonald Mike 0 0 0 0 0

Purscelley Howard 0 0 0 0 0

Rinehart Parks 0 0 0 0 0

Stith Dean 0 0 0 0 0

Wells Charles 0 0 0 0 0

Shayla The Dog 7

Member Total 99

The Rough Rider 9 September 2018

TDD: Gila Beach Pre-Run (09/16 Lon Drenten) (Story by Lon Drenten)

The run did not start out well - no one showed up. About the time I was going to go on my own or go home, two guests arrived and wanted to go on their first run in Tucson with the Rough Riders. Outstand-ing. Chad and Sharon Tarack arrived with their (new to them) 1995 Wrangler. Lifted, 4 cylinder, ARB front and rear with a winch. Nice Jeep. The run started with an attempted rescue. A lady in the Bashas’ parking lot could not start her car. We checked the battery; it had plenty of voltage but there was no volt-age draw or solenoid noise when she attempted to start it. The fuses looked good so we loaned her a phone to call her family for assistance. So it was kind of a rescue...

We were off. The Taracks are new to Tucson and they brought their new adopted dog along. We arrived at the boulders about 10 AM and aired down. We went in Hawk View Rd. (power line road) to go to the first wash and south beach. There have been changes and washouts, but nothing catastrophic. At the first beach we found the river flowing but still very low, about 6" deep. There were some people at the beach so we walked the area and allowed the puppy to play in the water. We then took the rock garden crossover which too was uneventful except that the gate in the middle needs some work. When we arrived at the north beach, we heard a cowbell and some people but did not see any of either. The puppy (4 year old) was having a blast in the water and chasing birds. Then she found a cow patty and rubbed all over it. Chad and Sharon were going to have one smelly dog. But the fun continued. The puppy went back in the water and found a hole in the river that was deeper that she was (more than 2.5 feet deep). That's when we found out she did not know how to swim. Just as we were getting ready to go in for her she surfaced but immediately went down again. She surfaced again and had figured swimming out and was fine. Not to mention the cow patty was washed off. We kept hear-ing the cowbell. I wondered if Paul was there... Then I saw the cow. We let the dog dry and continued to the trestle for lunch. There is a new gate at the trestle. The rock that made it a tight turn dropping into the trestle had been winched out and the river was about a foot deep. The barbed wire across the river was new as well. We kept the puppy on a leash and ate lunch.

After lunch we headed out, aired up and returned to Tucson. Overall the run was a nice day out and about without being too crowded. Nothing broke, we did not get stuck, the dog did not smell too bad (but I am told it would have a shower tonight). Chad and Sharon seemed to have a good time. I hope so. And I hope to see the Taracks at the next meeting (as they live close) and at TDD as well. I will use the same path for the run during TDD.

Thank you.

Lon Drenten

Run Reports (Cont’d.)

The Rough Rider 10 September 2018

Trail Dust Days: Elvis Pre-Run (09/22 Tim Naylor) (Photos by Tim Naylor.)

Run Reports

The Rough Rider 11 September 2018

Trail Leader, Jeff Merrell (Story by Jeff Merrell. Photos by Tim Naylor, Malcolm Leslie and Steve Archer.)

Well, I have to say this will be one of the most memorable trail runs I have had the bad luck to lead. Everything started out great. Nine vehicles met at Circle K at 9 AM and headed off to the trailhead. We arrived at the trailhead around 9:45; the day was crystal clear and still a little cool, so on we went. We reached the bottom of the canyon, about a distance of 5 miles, and started up the first of two hill tops - this one at a spring on top of the north-west hills. I had reached the end of the first leg of the trail and as I circled around a tree at the end to line up to start

back down and to the second leg of the trail, I was turning left but the jeep kept going to the right! Obviously something was wrong. I got out to see what the problem was and noticed my driver’s wheel badly tilted inward at the top. Looking under the Jeep, I could see that my axle housing had broken in half between the outside of the driver’s side coil spring perch and the inside of the wheel yoke. My Jeep was going nowhere. I’d

have to return with a completely built front axle and swap it out. Paul Siskind offered me a seat, so I cleaned out the Jeep and jumped into the Bronco. Now here’s where it really turns some kind of screwed up, because just as I was getting out of my Jeep, Steve Williams called on the CB saying that, as he was approaching the end of the trail, the rear diff in his JKU locked up and the wheels would not move. So started the

epic task of trying to get his Jeep capable of getting off the trail. After about one hour, Steve and Paul had the cover off the diff and discovered ALL TEN OF THE BOLTS that mount the ring gear had backed out, jamming into the inside of the diff housing, basically grinding the case metal away and jam-ming the bolt between the ring gear and locker housing and the diff case wall. Steve and Paul tried for about four hours to remove the dam-aged bolts in an attempt to get the diff to turn, but try as they might they could not get the last bolt out. At this time, it was decided to remove the rear axles, pull the diff out, clear the jam, reassemble the diff, take out the rear drive shaft and drive out with front wheel drive only. So we started our new course of action. All went well till we tried to reassemble the ARB locker, when a new problem popped up: all the bolts that hold the locker housing to the ring gear were damaged. So Paul drove me up to my broken Jeep to get my hardware bag. We finally found one setup that would work, so we took out the ring gear and assembled the ARB locker halves to-

White Ridge Trail (09/08/18)

The Rough Rider 12 September 2018

gether with one bolt on each side of the locker. We cut them down with a grinder for sidewall clearance. It was just enough to hold the locker together to support the inner axle shafts. So, finally, with the locker assembled and installed we were able to reinstall the axle shafts, brakes, wheels and the diff cover. The diff cover had a hole through it from one of the ring gear bolts, but there wasn’t much we could do about that. Paul tried to bend the pieces to close up the hole a little, but the pieces just broke off, so Steve just dumped a little oil in the housing and hoped it would make it to the Circle K where he would call for a tow truck. I kind of lost track of time at this point but we started heading out just as dusk started falling. We made it to the Circle K, but it was dark by then, so Steve called AAA and Paul gave me a ride home. All in all, this trip really sucked but will, again, be memorable. Now I have to build up a front differential and go back out next Saturday with my son and Steve Archer and replace it, hoping no one

filled my jeep full of bullet holes or stripped it. We’ll see. Thanks to Steve W, Steve A, Jess, Jason, Paul, Tim and guest Tom for all the help to get this bonny repair done and making the jeep movable. Thanks, all.

White Ridge Trail (Cont’d.) (09/08/18)

The Rough Rider 13 September 2018

Trail Leader, Jeff Merrell (Story by Steve Williams)

Bad Day on White Ridge Trail Last Saturday eight Jeeps from the TRR were 20 miles from pavement on the rarely traveled but very easy White Ridge trail off of Redington Road, east of Tucson. The trail leader, Jeff Merrell, called on the CB and reported a problem so we all stopped and waited to hear what his issue was. He came back and let us know he had broken his axle and we would be there a while. I started to pull on up to him and when I put my 2011 JK back in gear, she wouldn’t roll, no gear forward or reverse. I tried everything I could think of from the cockpit, as you do in those situations, and finally gave up and got out to see if I could see a problem. A bunch of fluid on the ground under the rear diff was the first clue; the 1 inch jagged hole in the ARB diff cover was the second. I let the crew know I had a problem too and got out the tools. I pulled the cover that revealed a real mess. All ten ½-inch-diameter ring gear bolts were loose or completely out. Four or five were lying in the bottom of the housing along with a huge pile of metal shavings, and the rest were jammed at an angle with a couple of threads in the ring gear. One had blown the hole in the cover and worst of all, one bolt was jammed between the locker plate and the back of the ring gear, jamming it against the pinion and housing. We were going to be there a while. I had just had a regear done in May by a very well respected local shop that installed new 5.13 gears and the ARB locker when I put in the Dynatrac ProRock 44 in the front. It looks like they had not torqued the bolts and there is no evidence of any thread locker. There are about 4000 miles on the diff since they rebuilt it. I was on a pretty good downhill in loose gravel and leaning to the left about fifteen degrees. We needed to clear the jammed bolt or she wasn’t going anywhere. I was running as the tailgunner so everyone was between me and Jeff, who also wasn’t going to move. Six Jeeps were stuck between us on the narrow trail. Everyone rallied around and we tried for the next two hours to clear the bolt. We tried to drive forward/backward to clear it. The gear would turn about 10 degrees then lock up, no good. We tried jacking up the rear axle to get some leverage on the tires, back and forth, no good. We removed the rear drive shaft and Paul tried turning the pinion yoke with a big lever arm, no good. We had to get down the hill on flat ground and get to a spot where the other Jeeps could get past me. So with the rear drive shaft out, we drove her forward about 30 yards using the front axle and just dragged the locked rear tires through the dirt to level ground where we could safely work on the Jeep. The only thing we could think of was to pull the axles so we could remove the diff and get the damn bolt clear so she would at least roll. We used every jack I carry and then some to raise the rear end so we could pull the axles. We had two floor jacks under the axle, my Hi-lift was on the left side rock sliders to level her, and my bottle jack was under the axle tube as a safety. We pulled the tires, rotors and axles and pulled Steve Archer’s JK around behind her in order to use the winch to pull the diff out. The shop I used doesn’t use a spreader but instead machines a close tolerance spacer so we were able to pull it without pulling the Jeep off the jacks. All the parts were really beat up, but 4 hours after we stopped the bolt was finally clear. The initial plan was to clean it up and get it back together to at least hold the axles in place so we could drive out on the front wheels. Paul Siskind used a grinder that a guest had in his rig to level out all the torn up metal but we could-n’t find 3 good bolts to reinstall the ring gear. All the threads were chewed up too badly. We went after a couple of the best ones with thread files but no joy. We were almost back together but were frustrated. It was hot, upper 90’s, with no shade, and we were starting to share water with folks who hadn’t planned on a long day in the sun. I felt terrible for the rest of the folks who were patiently waiting and helping with tools and moral support. I know the Tucson Rough Riders pride themselves on never leaving a member in the desert but this was way past what anyone should have to deal with. I have no idea how I’ll make it up to them. We were just about to the point of taking apart another D44 to scavenge a couple of bolts when Jeff came up with the idea to bolt the two plates together without the ring gear. Did I mention that the guy whose axle was broken spent the day helping me instead of beating feet back to town to fix his own ride? He’s building up a fresh axle and we are going back out to do the swap this week. We found two bolts that would work in the bottom of one of Jeff’s tool bags, bolted it up, used a cutoff wheel that some-one had to trim the bolts so they would fit, reinstalled the axles and brakes, put the tires back on, reinstalled the cover,

White Ridge Trail (Cont’d.) (09/08/18)

The Rough Rider 14 September 2018

filled the diff with a quart of fluid through the open hole, picked up all the tools and drove out. Well it wasn’t quite that easy; a couple of the long hills were too steep for front wheel drive only, so I got a tug from Dr. Archer. We had been had been out there since 9:00 am, and it was 8:00 pm when we got the twenty miles back to cell coverage so I could call a tow truck. Everyone was unbelievably supportive. Once upon a time, a very long time ago, I was an A&P [Editor’s note: “Airframe and Powerplant”] mechanic so I know which end of the wrench to hold but it was Jeff and Paul’s Jeep knowledge that got us out of there. Jess McCoy and Steve Archer were also a huge help along with a bunch more folks I can’t name. Thanks to all!

White Ridge Trail (Cont’d.) (09/08/18)

The Rough Rider 15 September 2018

Trail Leader, Jeff Merrell (Commentary by Larry Narcus)

THE TRAIL MECHANICS OF THE TUCSON ROUGH RIDERS

We all join up for trail runs that we believe will be fun and within our realm of competency with respect to our experience level and that of our vehicle. We hope that the run will go off without a mechanical hitch for ourselves and our run mates. And, of course, all goes well until it doesn’t. Breakdowns of varying magnitudes happen all the time and without warning, at the worst possible place.

And this is where and when our club “trail mechanics” jump in and always save the day. What would we do without them? This weekend was a perfect example. On Saturday, Sept. 8

th, Jeff Merrell led a run he calls the “White Ridge

Trail.” Not a hard trail, rated 3.0, some decent hills and loose rocks, but nothing especially demanding. Well, all went OK for the first few hours. We went up a long hill to get to a dead end with a water tank, where we took a break. Jeff at this point discovered that his front end had pretty much collapsed. The only solution, since it required notable welding, was to secure a spare front end that he has and is looking to do the replacement this coming Saturday- the latest word is that he could use some help. While we were discussing what to do about Jeff’s Cherokee, a call came in that Steve Williams could not get his Jeep in gear. We all went down the hill only to discover that Steve’s rear diff had essentially come apart. I believe virtually all of the ring bolts had worked their way out of their respective housings and had jammed the rear diff solid. What to do??

Well, our gifted trail mechanics jumped into action. Jeff Merrell and Paul Siskind took command, with some help from others (including Steve), and worked on that vehicle for about 8 hours in the sun and heat (it had to be 95 degrees, at least), finally removing the rear axles after trying a number of different solution approaches. To be honest, I do not know what Steve would have done absent Jeff and Paul.

And that is just the point of all of this. I don’t know how many times, in my somewhat limited experience with the Tucson Rough Riders, have people like Jeff (as if he didn’t have enough on his mind), Paul and Chris Richardson jumped in to create a solution so that stranded vehicles could make it home for repairs. There are probably many others whom I have forgotten and I do apologize for the memory lapses of an Old Man. What would we do without these guys!!

You know, we give an award every year that we term the “Black Cloud Award” for the most hideous breakdown of the past year. We even, jokingly, go out of our way to purchase a cow bell and donate that object to the unfortunate soul who broke down, awaiting the next poor soul who will inherit said bell. I would like to propose that we give a yearly award (or awards) to those people who take charge of an unfortunate event and just get the job done and get the poor soul home with his/her vehicle. Maybe call it the “Trail Mechanic of the Year Award” - just a thought.

I think we should all be very grateful for the time, effort, and competency that these individuals bring to our trail runs. Big

KUDOS to them all!!!

White Ridge Trail (Cont’d.) (09/08/18)

The Rough Rider 16 September 2018

(Photos by Malcom Leslie and Ever Zuleta)

White Ridge Rescue (09/15/18)

The Rough Rider 17 September 2018

Trail Leader, Rheal Tetreault (Article by Becky Antle. Photos by Andy Sacio, Becky Antle and Tim Naylor.)

The Charouleau Gap road has been an Adopt-a-Road for the TRR since before 1998. At least that is when the agreement was signed with the Coronado National Forest Service Santa Catalina District. And we have kept up our bargain of running the trail twice a year since then for road repairs, cleanup and maintenance. Both the Gap and Rice Peak Roads are under the Arizona State Association of 4 Wheel Drive Clubs Adopt A Road Program. Rheal has worked with agencies on the physical side of the project: what needs to be fixed, how to fix it, what materials are needed. I have always worked on the other side: the pa-perwork, meetings, outreach and political side. A project we actually work well together on!

The original entrance to the Gap was down Edwin road, which is a private road that runs through a residential area. This was the entrance for many years and as the trail be-came more popular it also received more traffic. This in turn caused dust, noise, speeding vehicles and sometimes rude people driving through. The homeowners in the area began to complain about these issues and the road was eventually closed. So, for several years the Gap was one way in and one way out, with the only entrance being in Oracle. This was the be-ginning for the construction for the current access road. The current Gap access road is on Arizona State Land and is adjacent to the SaddleBrooke community. This in itself was a big issue. You have to buy state land, but it has to be ap-praised and discussed prior to payment, and paperwork has to be filed. It isn’t an easy process.

The original road was appraised for a 40-foot wide easement, but the cost was too high for the funds available. It ended up being the 20-foot wide easement we have today. This new access road was proposed and debated and debated! Local SaddleBrooke homeowners and the developer for Sad-dleBrooke did not want the new road so they fought against its development. Their letters said that we would shoot out their propane tanks on the stored motorhomes in the storage lot, we would have wild parties back there and other things that never happened. I always looked for those wild parties, but never saw one! The local community, recreation users, bicyclists, motorcy-clists, 4 wheel drives, hunters and local businesses were for the new road. This was access into the forest for all uses. The

Santa Catalinas are very rugged, and we have very few roads into the area, this being one of them. The Gap road pro-vides access to several hiking trails and hunting camps. There were meetings, often in the Catalina and the Oracle area. These were highly visible and contested. In a few cases the number of people attending the meeting completely outgrew the location it was held in. One of these meetings was

Charouleau Gap Kiosk Replacement (09/16/18)

The Rough Rider 18 September 2018

held at the Buffalo Bill Cody “High Jinks” Ranch in the moun-tains above Oracle. It was a fantastic place to hold a meeting and I am so glad I was able to see that historic property. The process was a verbal and written battle that lasted a few years. In fact, at one point I talked to someone on the agency side of the issue and they said there was an entire bookshelf of large binders containing letters, from both sides. That per-son even gave me a few quotes out of them. Eventually, after months and months of meetings and discus-sions we finally got approval to purchase the property with AZ Game & Fish Heritage Funds to build the new access road. The original ROW (Right of Way) for the new access road was signed on October 8, 1997 for a 10 year lease. This

would have to be renewed every 10 years. So, I started to do a little investigating around 2002 and real-ized that we were 5 years into the original ROW with 5 years left. So, I arranged to meet with the Game and Fish Depart-ment to see if we could start the process for the next 10 year lease. This is government land, so we know how fast that work goes. We began to develop a plan to provide a lease for the next 10 years on our access road. The Game and Fish Department looked into a longer lease, possibly a 25 year. But for some reason that wasn’t available. Then it was suggested to try for a perpetual lease which would solve our problem of having to go through this process every 5 to 10 years to keep the road open. The G & F was

able to procure the perpetual lease, which means if the prop-erty is sold for development the road will remain. It may not be in the same location, but it will be there to provide access to the Gap road. This eliminates the renewal process every 10 years. On April 22, 2002 the Game & Fish tried to transfer the ROW to the Coronado NF. The Coronado NF, Santa Catalina Dis-trict did not take ownership because the FS could not come to an agreement on the acquisition cost through AZ State Land Department. The two agencies’ appraisal systems did not

agree with each other. The property was bought and is still owned by the Game and Fish Department today. The construction of the Gap Access road was a joint effort with the Game and Fish Department, TRR and the ASA4WDC. We had ASA4WDC clubs come down on the work weekends to relocate cactus from the proposed road-bed to the sides of the road, as specified in the agreement. That means we dug up cholla and replanted it along the roadside. This replanting made a natural barrier along the

Charouleau Gap Kiosk Replacement (09/16/18)

The Rough Rider 19 September 2018

road. In places that did not have vegetation, or along creek crossings, we installed fencing. The fencing and posts were put in by hand and corner posts were welded. As we built the road, we could see people sneaking through the trees taking pictures of what we were doing. Not sure what they did with them, but it was interesting. We assumed they were adjacent homeowners who are now users of the access road that they did not want. The Gap is one of the motorized recreation success stories. It was a long, hard fight, but we made it to the end. That is why it is so important to continue the work runs so this road does not get shut down, but it also makes us stakeholders in the area.

The FS goes through and scrapes / grades the Gap road once every 10 years or so. As users of the trail we may not like it, but it is necessary - even if it makes the road less chal-lenging for a few years - but as we know that is constantly changing. The road has to be repaired to keep it open. The TRR has even ridden along, in past years, with the FS prior to grading work to evaluate what needs to be done. When the FS goes through they grade the road to stabilize it and reinforce the water bars, and fix some of the really diffi-cult areas such as Kiss Rock. This helps provide access for ranching activities and fire suppression. It may be easier for the first few years after grading but it doesn’t take too long for it to go back to being a challenge. At one point the FS actually dynamited the Kiss Rock area because it was becoming impassable. The TRR, the FS and I took a lot of bad press from users outside of organized motorized recreation on that one. Over the years the TRR, FS and I (personally) have taken heat for the grading of which I have been accused of working against recreation when the road gets graded. The TRR has also been bad-mouthed about this in the past, mainly because people don’t understand that we are not the only users of the road. The TRR has done many, many years of maintenance, repairs and rock hauling to keep the roads open for our use. Not to mention that there is over 10,000 hours of volunteer manpower that have gone into keeping the Gap and Rice Peak roads open. But it has been a very good partnership with the Coronado NF and hopefully will continue for many, many years. The Kiosk installation was the latest in our work runs.

Charouleau Gap Kiosk Replacement (09/16/18)

The Rough Rider 20 September 2018

[Editor’s Note: This section only appears when it’s needed. If you have something for sale, please send it to me by the announced (and published) deadline for the issue you want it run in. I will run an ad as long as it’s requested, but it must be requested each month to avoid the situation where the ad continues running but is no longer relevant.] Tim Naylor has a steel winch cable for sale. $50. Good condition, no snags. Cable length and diameter aren’t specified; please call Tim at 991-4155 or email him at tim.naylor@comcast.net for additional information or if you’re interested.

For Sale

The Rough Rider 21 September 2018

Board of Directors

President

Andy Sacio nieveria@aol.com

Vice President

Phil David phil@vailpools.com

Treasurer

Malcolm Leslie malcolmxyz@aol.com

Secretary

Lon Drenten drentenfam@aol.com

ASA4WDC Delegate

Becky Antle 4critter@comcast.net

ASA4WDC Delegate

Rheal Tetreault 4critter@comcast.net

Non-BoD Positions

Editor

Dave Peterson gonzodave@yahoo.com

Historian

Tim Naylor tim.naylor@comcast.net

Membership Tom Parker

k5mud@earthlink.net

Participation Miles Weigold

milesweigold@mac.com

Webmaster Tim Naylor

tim.naylor@comcast.net

Rescue Patrol Mel Hockwitt

melhockwitt@msn.com

Club Officers Member Anniversaries

September

Darrell Fraynd 2016 Steve Mummert 2015 Parks Rinehart 2001 Dean & Angela Stith 2016 Dave Webley & Sharon Harris 2015 October

Andy & Bonnie Baldwin 2017 Steve & Hiromi Beyer 1995 Erwin & Jeannie Greven 2013 Kevin Kennedy 2010 Andres & Gayle Sacio 2013 Charles Wells (Honorary) 2011 Congratulations to the Grevens and the Sacios on their fifth membership anniversary! NOTE: If your anniversary date is incorrect in any way (it’s here and shouldn’t be; it’s not here and should be; the month is correct but the year isn’t; etc.), please let Tom Parker know so he can correct our records.

Publishing Schedule

2018 Rough Rider Publishing Dates: January: 1/28 July: 7/29 February: 3/4 August: 9/2 March: 4/9 September: 9/30 April: 5/10* October: 10/28 May: 5/25* November: 12/2 June: 7/4* December: 12/28 NOTE: Dates may vary due to travel or holiday. Date changes will be published as soon as they are known. * - Change from previous issue

The Rough Rider 22 September 2018

Still no real progress on the JeepMonster, but it’s in its new home!

Editor’s Corner