A healthy crowd showed up on Wednesday morning at our meeting point. There were representatives from two magazines, several prominent manufacturers like BDS Suspension and Mickey Thompson tires, and readers with Fords, Chevys, Dodges, and more. The vehicles ran the gamut from full-on show trucks to budget beaters, with some daily drivers and even a 4WD IFS 12-passenger van thrown in the mix. They were all treated with OFF-ROAD and Four Wheeler stickers and our coveted license plates.
We even let a few Jeeps and downsized vehicles join our Invasion, but not without some good-natured hazing on the trail. We had any non-fullsizers wear SCUBA masks and “off-road” snorkels.
The group of 20 vehicles convoyed to the Poison Spyder Mesa trailhead to air down and get started. Conventional thinking tells us that for every additional vehicle a trail run will take twice as long, so we were expecting a long day. Surprisingly we had very few problems, as the long wheelbases and wide track widths of our group made many of the climbs like The Waterfall and Prelaunch Pad relatively easy compared to short wheelbase Jeeps. We have run this trail in the past in a Jeep Wrangler TJ and it can be downright scary when making some of these climbs, since all you see is sky. Add two feet of wheelbase and remove the worry about breaking a Dana 35 rear axle and all of a sudden Poison Spyder Mesa becomes an enjoyable experience.
Does it count if it has a fullsize drivetrain? Dan Wright was stationed in Utah in the Air
Former OFF-ROAD publisher Jeff Dahlin did have some fuel-delivery issues early in the day in his project Bronco. So, Mel Wade from Off Road Evolution took one for the team, escorting Dahlin’s Bronco back to town and missing the trail ride. What a guy! But the rest of us finished the trail with no issue we couldn’t handle. One of the perks of traveling with a group of fullsize vehicles is that everyone has plenty of room for tools, spare parts, camping gear, lunch, and more. Even though most did not know each other, everyone was willing to lend a hand whether it was spotting on the trail, offering a bottle of water, or tugging a stuck vehicle. With nearly all of the rigs packing V-8s or diesels under the hood if you did need a tug it wasn’t a problem.
Mark your calendars, because we will be back in Moab next year running more trails with Off Road Design and other fullsizes. If there is enough interest from you, we’ll plan trail rides on more than one day. So, bring your fullsize to Easter Jeep Safari 2013. You never know, you might even end up in these very pages a year from now!
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If you bring a Jeep or mini-truck to the Fullsize Invasion, you better have thick skin. Da
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Got wheelbase? Quigley does. While the IFS lifted a tire, it did not stop progress up this
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With linked suspension and coilovers Dan Merrill had one of the most capable trucks of the
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Dave Hellman was down to give rides to everyone who wanted to hop in his custom Chevy peop
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Editor Jerrod Jones performed one of his now-famous last-minute thrashfests in order to ge
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Yet another Cummins swap was Doug Hampton’s Suburban. The big Chevy is set up for fast pre