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TX4WD MEGARUN - Barnwell Mountain
Gilmer, Texas
- March 5th, 2005
Got there Friday night and
setup camp, unloaded the rig, and had a few cold ones....
Saturday the events started. I was happy to see that they
checked vehicles for lockers during the tech inspection. Jacked
them up and turned the wheels. Limited Slips counted as lockers
for this event and it kept it fair.
Extreme Class - Rock Garden and a few from Wild Class
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My first event
was the blind man's course. They had a mild course setup
and the driver wore welder's goggles while your co-pilot
guided you through. We did pretty good at 2:02 minutes.
But we got spanked by 30 seconds or so, by the winner.
I'll tell you, it seems like you're cruisin when you
can't see... |
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The second event was the rock
garden. It was timed and measured in distance. It was
rough. Only one person in my class actually completed
the course and I knew him. So, I was going to make it
darnit. I got pretty far...only two other guys made it
further but I had some penalties for backing and
stopping, so I didn't place. |
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I ended up
snapping my front axle at the U-joint and blowing out my
spider gears in the rear. I was able to cripple back to
camp under my own power and fix the front with the
spares that I brought but couldn't fix the rear. |
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Because of
breakage, I missed the hill climb event. I did manage to
get it back together enough to do the poker run trail
ride event. I just let the front wheels pull me around.
So I didn't win anything.
 But
that's OK. |
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Barnwell is
awesome...This was my second trip there and I'm ready to
go back for more exploring, I haven't seen an 1/8th of
the place... They have 1800 acres, 50 or more labeled
and rated trails, Air tanks at the entrance, and plenty
of camping all over the property. Although, Shiloh is
very nice, it is worth the extra couple of hours to go
to Barnwell. It's so big, it's probably best to plan for
the weekend. Unlike Shiloh, you can drive around all day
and not see the same place twice. It's fun to explore
and unlocked vehicles can easily accomplish 80% of the
trails when it's dry. Also Gilmer is bigger than Alto.
Resteraunts, Hotels, etc. |
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When we were
leaving Sunday we blew a tire on the trailer and our
spare didn't fit. We got so lucky that a guy who owns
the tire shop in Gilmer pulled up behind us with a
trailer. He let us use his spare to get to Gilmer and
then found us a used trailer tire for $20. If you bust
your tire in Gilmer make sure you use Washburn Tire
company. Freindliest guy ever. |
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All in all, great
trip...I need to replace my front spare axle, and I get
an upgrade opportunity to put a limited slip in the
rear. That's going to have to hold me over until I
replace this weak D35...Kinda sucks because it's my
daily driver but my intention was to find the weak spot.
I knew I'd be hard on it due to the competitive and
timed nature. |
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Contact Me.
tank@millertek.com
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