KOH2015-572 4400 class
Contributing Sponsors: LifetimeLED, HahnAutomotive / NuWay
Racer programs / discounts: Rugged radios, RCV, Solid Axle, PSC, BFG, FOX, Ruffstuff, KMC, summit racing, speedway motors
130miles / 215 miles completed. 2/3 full laps DNF 10PM time out.
KOH 2015 Prep
What a crazy few months that flew by after the last 2014 regional U4 Race in KY last year. I had planned that during a 2 week holiday shutdown the entire car would be torn down and prepped for the big race. I committed to that and maintained a pretty good time line for completion. Most everything was sent out that needed to be and a ton of parts arrived ready for the big push. A total chassis tear down minus engine / trans pull was the plan. All suspension and critical hardware was changed. FOX 2.5†DSC CO’s were upgraded as well as the front of the chassis for visibility. 260lbs was removed from the chassis to make the 4400 lb class weigh in. Air filtration on the car was upgraded to take the duration and conditions of the race. Lots of aluminum was added to the car with steel removed. Winch was upgraded to a faster comp Superwinch. Light upgrades added. A new driver air system added. GPS location changed, external GPS antenna added. Communication radios installed. Axles pulled, plated, rebuilt. Solid dana60 kingpins installed. 300M RCVs sent out for inspection and rebuild. The entire chassis got stripped and painted. All fluids flushed and changed. Additional steering cooling added. New KMC beadlocks and BFG sticky tires installed. Shop showing and car sendoff Party completed with 60+ people. We were prepped and ready to go.
Trip out
Mike and I decided the best plan was to haul 3 cars / tools / gear on his trailer behind my new Ram4500 that I had just gotten, mostly for this trip! Erik and Cora would also make the drive with their RV with Jeep/UTV in tow. The rest of the team would fly out, grab rental RV’s and meet up with us out on the lake bed. We got off to a rough start finding some truck/trailer lighting issues by the time we got ready to load the night before planned departure. Ryan and Matt stopped by to help but we were unable to get the truck and trailer to play. Subzero Rochester temps late that night took their toll on us and we were forced to regroup in the morning. Fixed broken shorting wires in daylight and finally finished loaded the cars and gear. We packed two 40â€x48â€x48†Delco crates on the truck bed in front of the trailer, and checked air pressures of 34 tires in service, spare, or tow. We left about 2pm on Thursday Jan 29, 2015. The truck and trailer were handling the load well and on we went. About 3 hrs into the trip as the sun was setting I noticed the running lights on the trailer were out. We stopped and found a loose plug, did a quick strap and trailer check and continued on our way. 12 miles later we pulled into our first fuel stop- with a trailer now that only had 3 wheels! Both of us realized the potential disaster of this. The front driver wheel hub had lost 8 studs and vacated a tire/wheel/lug nuts. We knew 3 potential causes- loose lug nuts, gross over weight, or stud stretch from weight and pot holes. I had prepped the trailer bearings and checked all tire pressures but didn’t check lug nuts on the trailer. Being that we brought two unmounted 19.5 tires, and two 16†mounted F rated normal trailer tires, we decided the only option was to go back and retrieve that 19.5 wheel. Mike had a spare drum brake hub, so in a few hours we got the trailer back on 4 wheels. This involved strapping a caliper on the deck with a hammer handle clamped inside of it and borrowing some lug nuts from the other 3 corners. We turned around, backtracked, turned back on course and found the tire. Drove through the night on the spare setup as all parts stores were closed, and the local auto place would not take phone payment and leave parts outside. Walmart doesn’t even carry ricer ½†lug nuts- we tried. Forging on, mike took over and I woke up in a TSC somewhere in Missouri at 7:03am. We got studs and lug nuts. The next TSC stop got us more that could fix and repair again if needed. We were surprised the studs were common since this was an aftermarket disk brake setup on the trailer. Conveniently next to the 2nd TSC, we spotted a hole in the wall Mexican place for lunch! We decided to swap the trailer back over to new parts, full disk brake hubs, and four 19.5’s before grabbing lunch. Quite possibly the best Mexican nachos I have ever had! We were back rolling full status. In Missouri we bumped into some other racers at a fuel stop headed in the same direction. They had an F450 with 48’ enclosed in tow. We parted ways- but would meet again…. Continuing onward shift after shift the truck and trailer were doing well. Tires and hubs cool with a little change with ambient temps. We hit New Mexico to find snowy icy roads and cars in ditches everywhere. 3hrs with the 4x4 on, I trucked through to Arizona with warmer temps and rain. Cali border it cleaned up and the sun started to come out! Finally! The vegtable inspection station the guy could not believe we came all the way from NY and let us right though. 3 hours from our destination I spotted a familiar F450 with its hood up in front of the enclosed we had met earlier in the trip. I stopped and found 3 guys with a blown 6.4 motor. Dave the owner ended up hopping in with us for a ride to either get help or worst case id head back and grab is trailer for him. He was able to get a tow truck to get the truck to Barstow but no dice on the trailer. He left his two pit crew guys with the rigs. We arrived in hammer town! We unpacked the truck and trailer. Mike grabbed a lull and got the Delco crates off the truck! Dave and I headed back and retrieved his trailer and crew. We arrived just as the tow truck driver was loading up the poor ford. Another 3hr trip again, we were back in hammer town. What a mess. They had had rain and rain. It was a mud bog out back where Dave’s trailer needed to get. The Ram got stuck and there we sat. The next morning I was pulled out by Mike and Erik. We got situated in our pit and started prep for the week.
Race week
The plan was registration, radios, GPS work, prerun, qualify, more prerun, final race prep, Race. Registration was a breeze this year, and we got that done. Pit vehicles, arm bands, state OHV passes, team numbers all were procured. Everyone stepped up this year and got good Rugged Race radios installed in the cars. It took a little bit more time than I thought, but the rugged guys got our channel set, tuned all the cars and got our helmets wired up. They were a huge help. Next was the GPS. Mine was a little picky, and I ended up getting a new micro SD card. We got it loaded and between Matt and Mike they got me set up pretty good. We decided to prerun and ran a shorter version of lap one with the three cars. On the way back from remote pit1 571 encountered a steering issue, and 572 was running a flat tire. We fixed and changed both, got back. Qualifying Tuesday- I preran it and it felt fine. During my run I got a little off course and missed a turn. Media Helicopters 25’ off your window also didn’t help haha! Managed to get back on course and with some radio help finished. Time wasn’t very good and put me at the back of the pack. The next day while Mike was running for a new PS bracket, Matt and I decided to prerun some rock trails. We headed in after Chocolate thunder, and ran wrecking ball, and a few others. Found a race car on its lid at the top of wrecking ball. No tools, no lights, no fluids, no winch cable on the car in trouble. They had poor cell service and no one in reach on their radios. They were happy to see us after being rubber side up for almost 3 hours. I rolled them back over and we helped them get the car back running with some fluids and plug pulls. They followed us out and we headed back to hammer town. Thursday while the EMC race was going on, we decided to do some shock tuning, or adjust some of the compression knobs I now had! I felt a noticeable change with adjustments and we felt we picked up probably 10-15mph in low and high speed 1-2’ chop. I hit a sand birm and noticed the car was pulling a little the last few runs at the whoops. I didn’t think much about it more than to note to check the new aluminum tie rods and give the front and a look over. Back at the pits we had a meeting of the crew, determined race mile plan- fuel locations, pit locations, ect. I can’t thank Erik enough for taking charge of this and developing a solid plan to guide the team! We did some final adjustments to the car, packed recovery gear, food, water, and made some tool bag changes. I felt we were in great shape and ready for a good night’s sleep. As I pulled the car into the pit tent Harrison noticed my front left tire had no drive. That Sand whoop while shock tuning had blown the short side inner 300M RCV shaft and CV bell. It didn’t matter why or when, it needed to be fixed fast! In a panic we jumped in and got the front end torn down- replaced the shaft with one of my spare 4130 RCVs and buttoned the car back up. Last minute things like this really bother me! But we managed and got it done. Alarm was set for 5:30 and which meant only a few hours of sleep. Not the best conditions. I couldn’t sleep much anyway with the toughest off road race only hours away. I got the car on the line Friday morning in formation at 6:03. I happened to start lined up with our buddy Dave! By 8:30 I left the line in pairs. Hit the first desert section and already passed almost 15 cars broken, rolled or limping along. I drove conservative and knew this was only the beginning. I managed to get the car though the first desert loop and dropped into crowbar without issues. I noticed a little reduction in power and the engine starting to stumble. Miles later I came to a crawl and stop. Fuel system issues! Unbelted, pulled the tools out and changed the fuel filter. Back in business and continued on course. I radioed ahead as I called out race mile after race mile. Passed the first two pits- met up with Mike and Kim at Main pit. Took a water and did a tire and lug check. Mike gave me a can of brake clean for more filter service if needed. My next stop was with Erik and Cora at remote pit 2 where we planned to fuel. I continued on until about 1 mile from the pit- the car just died with no stumble. Determined out of fuel, or later to still be investigated a cell pick up issue. Dragged the car nose up, and re fired the car. I confirmed a fuel level issue. Erik had all the fuel I needed .89 miles away. Unfortunately he was on the other side of a large mountain. Uphill both ways it seemed- after some radio conversation I headed out on foot. I meet Erik for much needed water and strapped a 5 gallon jug of gas to my back. Head back. The hike seemed to take hours. But I made it. Fueled the car and made it again back to pit. The car took 22 gallons confirming a fuel pickup issue. Our mileage calculations were correct, but now had to be changed with only 20 gallons usable in a 32 gallon cell for some reason still unknown. I continued on after a leaking tire was changed. 20 miles later I came to the Jackhammer parking lot. I sat at the back of a 20 car line for almost 2 hours as race officials assisted broken and stuck race cars at a bottle neck. It was devastating to sit there and just wait. I could feel the race slipping away after this delay in addition to my fuel system time losses. Finally it came my turn and Karl on the radio was able to help me through the hard spots and got the car though no problems. I forged on, pushing the car as fast as I could. First time through the Hammer trails- all of them- one after another. Mike listed off the trails one after another, and off I went. The car had little to no issues, just another day rock crawling mile after mile. I did have to stop once to brake clean the fuel filter again and then continued on. Darkness set in and the Lifetime LED lights were put to work! I started to realize that I would not be let back on course to start my 3rd lab, but that didn’t slow me down. I got back around the west desert loop and headed again toward remote pit one. Matt and Joe had fuel and a plate of potato salad for me! On I went. Completed crowbar a second time, and also bypassed the alternate route to find a 12’ vertical drop down we had not preran! Bounced the car down and powered out. Got a checkpoint sticker for that! Made it back in to hammer town and course officials confirmed I was done. I had completed 2 / 3 laps of the hardest off road race in the world. I was disappointed but at the same time in aw what we had accomplished. The car was in good shape, and physically and mentally I was ready for more. It was a great feeling. Mike backed me on to the podium and I was interviewed at the finish. Big thanks to Ryan at LIFETIME LED, Arie at Hahn Automotive / Advantage Auto parts, and the Fingerlakes4x4 crew! Mike M, Kim, Matt, Joe, Erik, Cora, Spenser, Kelsey, Harrison, Hanna, Molly, Reese, Karl & wife thanks so much! I couldn’t have done it without all your help and encouragement.
The ride home
We hooked up the trailer Saturday morning and bought it back into hammer town. Loaded the Delco totes and Mike grabbed a lull again to lift onto the 4500. Cars were loaded and gear / tires once again packed! We rolled from hammer town about 4pm. Mostly an uneventful trip as we rolled along state after state headed back east. We stopped again in Missouri and decided to change a tire that was starting to eat it self. Met a manager of the Love’s truck stop who was very interested in the cars! He hand swapped a tire to the 19.5 wheel and didn’t charge us! We grabbed some subway and continued on. A few hundred miles from home at a stop we found a trailer brake caliper vacated and line gone. We pinched the line, checked the bolts on remaining calipers and continued on our way. The ride was clear and dry until about the last 15 minutes on 90 rolling to the Henrietta exit. We made it back to the shop where Brett was snow blowing for us! We had about 3’ of snow piled up in the shop lot and my plow truck was buried! Great thanks again to Brett! We unloaded and headed home for hot showers and a warm bed. We made the 2600 mile trip in 45hours. It was finally time to relax for the first time in 6 months.
KOH2015 was a crazy ride and a huge accomplishment even to make it across the country race and back. I am very happy how the team pulled together and made this possible for me to do. I would have loved to complete the final lap of the race, and am confident that we could have done it with more time. I hope that we can race again next year and get the car stepped up to the next level.
