ARB bumper protection Question

disco_drum

Well-known member
Jan 27, 2006
1,996
15
41
Woodstock, GA
I am a fairly mature adult. I am a college professor. I am a daddy of 3 and happily married, BUT on dweb I usually act about 12 years old. It is more fun that way....plus.... where else can I get called a "Cheap Fuck" by complete strangers....
 

coop74

Well-known member
Dec 10, 2015
287
7
Alcoa TN
Tell me where to meet you and I will be there.

36.067251,-84.652634

Noon This Sunday. The coords above are the kick off point. We will start with a little drive thru a civil war era tunnel, it could have water as deep as a foot or so, and then we will double back on the trail that comes back to the road. The tunnel is near a mile long so bring some good headlights too.

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A picture at this spot in your wife's mini-van and once again when we get to the road the money is your's...


I assume 20's in cash are good for the hundred bucks. What color mini-van should i look for. Confirm you are coming as that little slice of heaven is about 40 miles from the house.

What kind of beer do you want? If you are watching this thread come along too, not often you get to drive in an abandon train tunnel...
 

disco_drum

Well-known member
Jan 27, 2006
1,996
15
41
Woodstock, GA
My oldest daughter has a gymnastics meet this Sunday. The minivan will be putting in some hard work hauling the family to her meet.
 

coop74

Well-known member
Dec 10, 2015
287
7
Alcoa TN
I wheeled with a guy in Frontier Pro 4x.. great truck, but it kept getting high centered on everything! Again.. its light duty off road truck not a serious off roader.
That no doubt is a down fall of the Nissan made worse by the fact that i have the really long version with the long bed and what they call the crew cab (king cab is smaller go figure).


It does however do a great job of pulling my trailer and allows me to pull from here to Colo and west in great comfort. Also i have complete bottom skids to include gas tank skids which get a good work out because of the lack of ramp over angle. It also has a very heavy frame so you learn to anticipate the touch down of the center. There are some cases however where the long wheel base is helpful however especially on some stair step obstacles as the rear end can stay in traction while the front is climbing with lower traction.


for example this spot which many may recogonize. the bank is stepish and normally slick. The long wheel base in this case is great... it is that short water crossing at CFW campsite. it is steeper then it looks. I am sure some of you have seen my truck at CFW driving down the creek at the gathering.


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But you are correct, i rarely just wheel to wheel probably more better described as overlanding (if there is a definition that fits), it is mostly to travel to those remote hard to find spots to camp... some of which are off road.

vsEg81W2IE3G30C9tbiB3FYiyVoxSg_TVJSEkeg3xhgoXOubHPeaK9zwF-tI0de8ZWlhHF6AeBuk37Ms13MfTmrw7xhpg_eyHjHe_W3AYW2Xc1IJ0P2a7pUN29GhiDt4rdTfZZ4ENAUhqhDciuDRPstuuX_0VeQjfvKzoQmvjktIrdIAvGHnhfHAGNRmlKItSkymQ-ZHBCyknqXw78AvaV9PKckhzvzfHFLRFmwP2xBWJTz16eTyvSuHoHPYiu-xT128FtVfp0dsadVssZN-1mpMiQY7UZNvwFV9F50zAe_3HaHGIv_2JJiV5oAv35RsDiQSfrlQ7gZTVJAf6hy4wzpopJZk7rKd1OjpG1p4JyH6sifCtRVWogVZuBU_yczCsfQxyOUtq5IyteNo_QLrSEjNzsYDfyPvfaXXlKv2a_xhu0t0Id2KFlxOfGrfoF8HH5mD33pNqounH9TuehTJZzlP08kA88CkK5Q01GQ_TfTUoZ3O7RQOMcA268JxDEOVsrQuQ-rqn2a7U_hG2MQu6XjlqL8qRXiqejLulHE0_7St6CDD90yeJOT_5RoswJtUU6o8Se79cUH8Rg65k5k24wWbuLFh9dKbk6rQrlguXg=w1319-h989-no



BTW that is Portsmouth Island. A cool island only accessible by ferry which really only has one road which is sand the balance is driving the beach. If you have not gone i encourage it. And you actually get to camp on the beach!
 

Howski

Well-known member
Oct 19, 2009
1,493
211
Alabama
Did any minivans take that climb at CFW? Their longer wheelbase would be helpful there as wel
 

coop74

Well-known member
Dec 10, 2015
287
7
Alcoa TN
I found this website http://easyoffroading.com/index.php...-train-tunnels-in-catoosa-national-forest-tn/ and I assume this is the tunnel you speak of. In my 13 years of off roading I have figured out that if a public website calls it easy it is probably extremely easy.... so...i am still game to bring the van when i find a weekend.

yes it is fairly close to Winrock... and the tunnel is indeed easy, the lower returning trail is probably a 3-5 scale trail with about 3 real obstacles which i ensure you the Mini-van will not work as they are rock steps that are probably close to a foot vertical. Most people who drive the tunnel drive the tunnel in both directions which is why it gets the easy rating because other then dealing with water and people's complete fear of the tunnel itself is not hard.

What makes it interesting on the bikes or trucks for that matter is the game we play on the bikes. You get to the middle where you can not see the light from either in and everyone turns off their bikes. The first person to turn the lights back on buys lunch. It is a real hoot if you are in the tunnel when a train goes buy as the new train tunnel is close to the abandon one and it roars and shakes in the old one.

And given now you have to "find a weekend" i guess your response of "name the time" is moot. I find that to happen a lot when the smart guy makes a boast. That is why in the Army we called it the put up or shut statement.
 

coop74

Well-known member
Dec 10, 2015
287
7
Alcoa TN
Did any minivans take that climb at CFW? Their longer wheelbase would be helpful there as wel

I did not see any mini vans but did see a fair number of short wheel base trucks spinning madly to climb out of the creek when they had open diffs with out traction control. Part of their issues however is lack of driver training and skill.

Driver skill has a lot to do with being successful off road. When they introduced the first Cherokees to the public they brought like 5 to the Appalachian Jeep jamboree. These were the first off the production line. 3 were basically stock and 2 had hand built modifications with minor lifts. All were on good tires.

Mark Smith, (https://www.jeep.com/en/markasmith/) and a crew of pro jeep drivers took them out on a trail ride. The big wheeled CJ's at the time scoffed at them. At the end of the day all of them returned and had gone everywhere the big tired Jeeps went. Admittedly they were pro drivers.

And yes knowing and riding with Mark Smith shows my age...
 
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coop74

Well-known member
Dec 10, 2015
287
7
Alcoa TN
Ok now the boys are done playing my penis is bigger than yours anyone running the ARB bumper? if so what was your solution for the gap between the rear of the bumper and the front of the Disco?
 

ERover82

Well-known member
Nov 26, 2011
3,919
458
Darien Gap
What makes it interesting on the bikes or trucks for that matter is the game we play on the bikes. You get to the middle where you can not see the light from either in and everyone turns off their bikes. The first person to turn the lights back on buys lunch.

There's a couple other guys on here that like to play games in the dark together too.
 

disco_drum

Well-known member
Jan 27, 2006
1,996
15
41
Woodstock, GA
yes it is fairly close to Winrock... and the tunnel is indeed easy, the lower returning trail is probably a 3-5 scale trail with about 3 real obstacles which i ensure you the Mini-van will not work as they are rock steps that are probably close to a foot vertical. Most people who drive the tunnel drive the tunnel in both directions which is why it gets the easy rating because other then dealing with water and people's complete fear of the tunnel itself is not hard.

What makes it interesting on the bikes or trucks for that matter is the game we play on the bikes. You get to the middle where you can not see the light from either in and everyone turns off their bikes. The first person to turn the lights back on buys lunch. It is a real hoot if you are in the tunnel when a train goes buy as the new train tunnel is close to the abandon one and it roars and shakes in the old one.

And given now you have to "find a weekend" i guess your response of "name the time" is moot. I find that to happen a lot when the smart guy makes a boast. That is why in the Army we called it the put up or shut statement.

That game you mentioned sounds gay. I bet you have a Hillary Clinton sticker on your bike helmet.
 

coop74

Well-known member
Dec 10, 2015
287
7
Alcoa TN
That game you mentioned sounds gay. I bet you have a Hillary Clinton sticker on your bike helmet.

Nope, pretty much don't Care for Ms. Clinton. Work in the security world and what she did with the classified emails would land most people in jail.
 

coop74

Well-known member
Dec 10, 2015
287
7
Alcoa TN
I ran one and did nothing about the gap. Never had an issue, aside from the bumper hitting everything I wanted to drive over.

Having driven the Haul Road to the Arctic circle, Baja, and the big lap around the Island of Newfound land i have discovered it is best not to have a lower access route to your radiator (or even your gas tank) if you like your radiator so i have to imagine some form of stone guard is called for.

I will poke over to the Australian forums as those folks know "off road" so i am sure someone has encountered the issue.
 

coop74

Well-known member
Dec 10, 2015
287
7
Alcoa TN
Do you listen to Nickelback? I bet you do....

No much more of a Billy Joel kind of guy... Throw in a little Sting, Beach boys, and ZZ top and you have my play list covered.

But to be honest if the music has a good rhythm, and is not angry or anti cop or belittling to woman i will listen to anything some.

Sorry to come back and edit but i left of BB King and Santana... also favorites
 
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