Saturday morning after the group picture we joined one of the two moderate groups to try out even more of the trails.  We had about 6 vehicles in our group, as did the other group.  We rode around until about 1 and broke for lunch.  After lunch a small group of us went back out for more trail riding until about 4.  At this point we started loading up our gear in preparation for the night’s events.  Saturday night the SOA provided a BBQ dinner from Bobby Q’s Restaurant and live entertainment from Iron Horse Bluegrass Band, both the food and entertainment were excellent.

Every night door prizes were given out, with the most highly sought after prizes being reserved for Saturday night’s drawing.  After everyone had a chance to eat and visit, the big door prizes were given out, as well as the overall awards for the weekend.  These awards were a huge hit and themed such as “Worst Break”, “Worst Paint Job”, “Longest Road Trip without a Trailer”, and “People’s Choice”.

Door Prize Winner

The winner of Extreme Roc Rigs door prize was Tim Shepard of Baltimore, OH.

Extreme Roc Rigs would like to thank the Scrambler Owners Associations for allowing us to join them during this event.  This group of individuals are a unique and friendly group just like the Jeep Scrambler.

This year’s race brought with it more competitors and spectators. Of those spectators were members of Extreme Roc Rigs. Some of our group arrived Monday before the race to set up camp and get a feel for the course while the remaining group arrived on Thursday night. Friday morning we awoke to the sound of revving engines and the smell of high octane race fuel. The race started promptly at 8:00am and once all the competitors crossed the start line we were off to find the obstacles, the first being Aftershock. After we watched the first quarter of the field pass through Aftershock we decide to

Adam Woodlee on Aftershock KOH 2010

move on to Chocolate Thunder. Chocolate Thunder was not as impressive as Aftershock. Most of the competitors blew through it without any trouble.  One competitor passed the obstacle with a front tire completely flat and dangling from the bead-lock. From Chocolate Thunder we hiked over to Sledgehammer.  We’re not sure of the distance between the two obstacles but it was a LONG walk.

Anyone that has ever heard of Johnson Valley has heard of Sledgehammer. Its one of those obstacles that is known for carnage and carnage is exactly what it had in store for the competitors of this year’s race. When we arrived at Sledgehammer both sides of the mountain were filled with spectators.  As the race progressed the mountain walls seem to move because of the amount of spectators.  At one point we had the “wave” going, such as one you would see in a stadium.

Our group as well as the majority of the spectators left Sledgehammer and headed back to Hammer town after the Shannon Campbell bounced his way through Sledgehammer.  The trail of people leaving was unreal, it looked like a trail of refugees.

In 2007 we decided to make a dream reality.  The goal was to supply top quality parts to those weekend rock crawlers that drove their rig to work and as well offer parts for customers with more aggressive rigs that are trailered to and from the trail.  With this goal in mind, we located vendors that we felt complemented our business goals as well as met the needs of our customers.  We carry a full line of parts and accessories but feature parts from vendors such as Winchline, PSC, Rubicon Express, and the future Coleworx line.

The following are some examples of our work and the story behind the build:

After the business was started we were asked to build a front bumper for a 2000 TJ.  Our customer wanted something that was similar to an ARB bumper but not as big.  After a CAD model was made and approved by the customer we proceed with the build.  This bumper is one of our favorites and we have decided to make it part of our product line.  This particular bumper is 52” wide with built in winch and D-ring mounts.  The customer opted to have the bumper painted rather than the suggested powder coating.  The production version will be 54″ wide to help protect the fenders a little more.

Although not as complex the as above bumper we recently built a bumper for an individual that uses his CJ7 to drag logs from his farm back to his wood shop.  This customer wanted a bumper that would would protect his beautiful CJ7 as well as hold up to the abuse of pulling heavy logs through the woods.  This bumper is 58″ wide and features a 2″ receiver as well as D-ring mounts.  Its made from 1/4″ wall 2″ x 4″ rectangular tubing.  The bumper bolted to the frame in 12 places using Grade 8 hardware.  This bumper was power coated semi-gloss black.

More recently we designed and built a front bumper for one of our personal vehicles.  The bumper is not completed in this picture but it shows where the integrated driving lights will be, as well as the built in 8274 winch and D-ring mounts.  The tube work was designed to protect the vulnerable front fenders as well as protect the winch from sticky fingers.   Once completed the bumper will be sandblasted and power coated semi-gloss black.

We are currently designing a matching front and rear bumper for the Jeep Grand Cherokee, WJ model, as well as finishing a rear bumper for a CJ7 that features a tire carrier capable of holding a 38″ spare.  Once the CJ rear bumper is completed we’ll post pictures of it as well as the WJ bumpers.  If you would like to contact us concerning a custom bumper please email us at sales@extremerocrigs.com.  If you are interested in purchasing our D-Ring hangers please visit our store front, www.extremerocrigs.com/store

This year’s ride was a cold and wet one with periods of rain and snow all day after paying to ride, our group as well as Coleworx and many others headed down the mountain to enjoy some of these trails.  The trail conditions were extremely bad because of the amount of rain the area had received during the week prior to the ride. Creeks had become rivers and dry rock ledges were now huge waterfalls.

Almost everyone incurred some type of break or damage but the well built rigs held up to the brutal terrain.

To resolve this problem we decided to modify the stock auto transmission skid plate by cutting the skid plate between the skid plate itself and the driverside main mounting bolt with the intention of routing the skid plate up and over the driveshaft.  To assist in the design, templates were made from cardboard while the uncut skid plate was installed.  Once the templates were designed they were drawn in CAD and transferred to a plasma CAM.   The material of choice for this modification was 1/8” steel.

Once the templates were tacked in place, the modified skid plate was temporarily installed to be sure that the skid plate didn’t interfere with the transmission or driveshaft.  The only issue that we ran into was the transmission coolant hose, which is a stainless steel tube, was firmly pressed against the skid plate.  The tube was gently bent so that it cleared both the transmission and the modified skid plate.  After the fit was confirmed, the remaining structure was tacked into place.

From the pictures you can see a notch in the new structure. This notch was to clear the transmission and the coolant hose.  The welds were left as-is instead of grinding them flush for strength reasons.

This design is being updated so that the welds can be ground flush yet still maintain strength.  Updates to the design will also include additional bracing for strength.  If you’re interested in having your skid plate modified please email us at sales@extremerocrigs.com.

Extreme Roc Rigs strives to find products that can be used on hardcore trails day after day and get you back home or to the trailer. We carry a full line of aftermarket accessories; however we chose to feature products in our online store that we use ourselves or stand behind. With this in mind we approached Bryan in November about making Coleworx small parts available to the general public. Coleworx is in the process of having an inventory built up to meet the demands of its rock buggy building and the new retail side.  Extreme Roc Rigs is proud to be the official vendor of these products as well as Coleworx products that are soon to be released. Please visit our online store to find out more about the availability of the Coleworx line and our other featured products.  If you have any questions about the Coleworx product line or any of our other featured products please feel free to email us at  sales@extremerocrigs.com.

Extreme Roc Rigs was in attendance for the 2010 New Years Day trail ride at Golden Mountain OHV park, (GMP) in Sparta, TN.  Golden Mountain OHV Park is a family oriented recreational area that has over 40 trails on 500 acres for trail riding with ATV’s, Motorcycles, Jeeps, Trucks, and UTV’s.  GMP has pavilions on site that can be rented for get-togethers, family reunions, or to use as shelter for camping. A playground is near the campground so kids can play while dinner is being prepared.  GMP also has a basketball court, volleyball court, and 2 ponds for catch and release fishing.  The park also offers bunk houses and motor home hook-ups for those staying a few days.  GMP is open from 2pm on Friday till 6pm on Sunday. 

For the New Years Day Ride GMP was open from Thursday, December 31^st till Sunday January 3^rd.  We arrived at the park on Thursday, December 31^st about 10:30AM.  On Thursday the weather conditions were pretty nasty.  The temperature was about 40 degrees and raining.  The trails had already been saturated with rain from the previous days so we knew we were in for a slick time.  While preparing our Jeeps to trail ride a fellow by the name of Steve asked us if we wanted him to show us around the park.  Since no one in our party had previously been to GMP, we agreed.  We spent Thursday getting to know the park and where all the different trails lead.  Traction was a problem all day.  Just to get from the parking lot to the trailhead of Trail #1 you had to be in 4-wheeldrive.  Not only were the rocks wet but once crossed by a vehicle they were covered in mud.  Some of the least difficult trails were now ones that required aggressive mud tires, lockers front and rear and a winch just to get up.  Since traction was not easily found we stayed on the moderate trails, knowing we had two more days of wheeling planned. 

On New Years day we met up with Bryan Cole of ColeWorx and Adam Woodlee of Wide Open Design.  ColeWorX and Wide Open Design both build custom, turn key, high horsepower rock buggies. The details that go into these rigs is imressive as well as their ability to perform.  As the day progressed and the trail difficulty increased parts began to break.  The group split up about mid day when Bryan Cole’s Highlighter decided it needed a new battery.  Over the past few months Bryan has been in the process of replacing his NV4500 transmission with a TH400.  During a winching exercise the battery died due to the Highlighter not being ran.  After finding an extra battery that was being used to run accessories on one of the rigs in our group we got the Highlighter running and to the top of the trail.  The Big Yellow Jeep Scrambler that was behind the Highlighter sat on a new set of 47” Super Swamper LTBs.  While several attempts to climb the stair steps of Trail 13 failed it was time for more aggressive approach.  During this attempt the right front tire found the jagged edge of a rock and punchered a hole large enough to place two thumbs inside the sidewall.  A trail repair was done to the side wall and we headed back to camp to perform a more permanent fix to the large hole.  Once the tire was patched from the inside we all loaded up to find some grub. 

On Saturday Extreme Roc Rigs and ColeWorX decided to head to Wheeling in the Country (WITC) which is located in Summertown, TN.  This park has been open for several years but is a park that none of the members of Extreme Roc Rigs had visited before.  Once Bryan found this out he invited us to let him show us around.  We arrived at WITC about 2pm and after a few minor repairs from the previous day we were ready to hit the trails.  WITC is famous for its New Years day trail rides even late on Saturday afternoon there were several hundred vehicles ranging from stock ATVs to highly modified ATVs and VW bugs to custom built ColeWorX rock buggies.  We didn’t get to trail ride as much as we hoped because of a trail repair but we promised the ColeWorX bunch that we would come back so they could give us the full tour.

Last weekend, November 6^th-8^th, Extreme Roc Rigs and members of the Rocket City Rock Crawlers met in Hot Springs, Arkansas at the Superlift ORV to see what the park had to offer.  There were 5 rigs in our group all being locked front and rear with winches up front.  The rigs included XJ Cherokees, 1 YJ Wrangler, 1 LJ Wrangler, a Toyota.  The park was laid out nicely and had a wide range of trails to choose from.  Each trail was labeled with the type of approved vehicle and the trail rating.  The 4X4 trails on the map ranged from 0 to 5 with 0 meaning 4X4 were not allowed to 5 indicating most difficult.  The provided map had some discrepancy on the ratings but nothing that was far off.  Most of the trails had an entrance and exit so you don’t have to worry about a fellow wheeler coming from the opposite direction.

Once everyone arrived at the park we decided to warm up and hit trails rated 2 and 3.  After lunch we started hitting the 3 and 4’s, leaving the 5’s for Sunday.  Before lunch we ran Patriot Pass and Box Canyon.  While on Box Canyon one member of our group got into a delicate situation which called for a slight recovery.  Once the recovery was completed the group finished Box Canyon and met back at the pond for lunch.  After lunch ended we made our way to Slammer and Can Opener both with a rating of 4.  Both of these trails were rocky creek bed types of trails leading to the base of the mountain.  At the base of the mountain we were greeted with a very slick and damp quartz slap of rock.  Slammer did pose any sort of problems for our group however Can Opener was a different story.  At the top of Can Opener was a large ledge. This ledge had to be overcome to proceed on with the trail.   If you went toward the left of the ledge you were tossed off cambered back down the mountain, if you went to the right you were slammed up against a rock face on the passenger side.  We all made it up the trail unassisted using both routes or by a more creative route.  Can Opener was the last trail completed on Saturday and definitely left its mark on some of our rigs.

Sunday we started the day running Buckhorn North, rated 3, over to Concrete Hill and Sardine Ravine.  Buckhorn consisted of a trail at the bottom of two hills that weaved back and forth, up and over the terrain.  At the end of Buckhorn

Gumby on Concrete Hill

North are two trails rated five on the map however the trail marker rated Concrete Hill a 6.  Concrete Hill was made up of several slaps of Arkansas rock that were literally a vertical climb.  Project Gumby and the Toyota truck were both able to make it up without assistance.  The LJ in our group ended up breaking an upgraded Dana 44 driver side rear axle shaft at the base of the trail and winched up the rest.  In addition to the LJ breaking one of the Cherokees in our group developed an electrical problem which caused a 30 amp mini fuse to blowi repeatedly.

After lunch on Sunday one of the Cherokees and the Unlimited loaded up and headed back to town.  The remaining 3 rigs proceeded to Ultimate Adventure, Four Fingers, Greg’s Rock and One Rock at a Time.  Ultimate Adventure is a rated 4 trail that leads to Four Fingers and One Rock at a time. Four Fingers required one rig to winch at the first section of stair steps.  We probably could have been able to negotiate this obstacle however the driver gave it three good attempts and decide it was time to move on up the trail.  At the end of Four Fingers the trail was split between a 3 and 5 rated trail.  Both of these trails did exterior damage to rigs.  Project Gumby suffered from dent where the top of the fender and A pillar meet while the YJ in our group, which was on the 3 rated trail tore the roll cage padding, luckily the soft top was not on the YJ or it would have been completely destroyed.  The next trail on our agenda was One Rock at a Time.  As with most trails in the park the end of the particular trail was a steep hill climb.  Drivers of Gumby and the Toyota decided to try their hand at One Rock at a Time, while the owners of the YJ sat out the last couple of trails.  The hill climb at the end of One Rock at a Time caused us to  pull cable for Gumby to make it up.  The climb was steep and the rocks were covered with rich Arkansas soil which wasn’t giving in to Gumby’s attacks.  After pulling cable to complete  the obstacle the owner of the Toyota decide to take the by pass.   The final trail was Greg’s Rock.  The owners of the YJ decided it was time to go and start cooking some food, so they headed back to camp.  On Greg’s Rock winch cable had to be pulled for our lone Toyota.  Gumby, for some unknown reason, would not start before proceeding to Greg’s Rock so it was left at the base of the trail.  After our Toyota owner was able to finish Greg’s Rock everyone made their way back to Gumby.  By this time Gumby had sat for a while and fired back up and was driven back to camp.

If you haven’t been to the Superlift ORV, 501-625-3600, you need to go.  It’s open Thursday thru Monday from 9-til sunset.  The park is located close to town and the Hot Springs folk are friendly.

38” TSL tires, mounted to Pro Comp Rock Crawler steel wheels

Project Gumby was destined to be different from the beginning. The owner had chosen axles, tires, and rims, but the suspension and wheelbase was up in the air. The 38” TSL tires were mounted to Pro Comp Rock Crawler steel wheels. The steel wheels were fitted with DIY bead-locks with a 3.75” backspacing. Once the tires and axles were under the jeep, it was obvious that the wheelbase had to be extended. Cutting the sheet metal just to create space was not an option to the owner, so we decided to move the stock wheel opening toward the rear.

It just so happened that XRR was involved with project Smokey, a 79 CJ turned in to a 79 CXYJ. The owner of the 79 CJ had acquired an 89 XJ and had robbed the head and other fuel injected related items for the AMC 258 that came with the 79 CJ. After all of the fuel injection items were removed the 89 XJ was bought as a sheet-metal donor for project Gumby. To keep the center of gravity as low as possible, the rear axle was moved back to the point where the front of the rear tire cleared the body just behind the rear doors at full compression. To accomplish the stretch, a main leaf from a Jeep Comanche was selected since its center pin is about 3” off-center (toward the rear) and it is also a slightly longer leaf spring as compared to the original Cherokee spring. In addition to using the Comanche main leafs, the custom spring pads for the rear Dana 60 were drilled about an inch off center.

Since we had a sheet-metal donor it was decided that most of the rear quarter would be removed and that the donor sheet-metal would be used to keep the original look of the Cherokee, giving the Cherokee a full body look instead of the comp look. By doing this we widened the wheel well approximately 6”. Original Cherokee, the gas cap is located just behind the driver rear wheel. When the wheel well was widened we lost use of the original gas filler location. This was resolved by using a Jeep TJ filler which was re-plumbed to utilize the original fuel tank which was also moved to the rear approximately 3” to allow clearance for the differential at full compression. The original shackles on the rear suspension were almost horizontal when used with the longer Comanche leaf springs. A custom shackle relocation bracket, designed by Extreme Roc Rigs was used to compensate for the longer leafs. The XJ shackle relocation bracket uses the OEM shackle bolt along with mounting holes found within the frame making it a complete bolt on part.. Gumby’s finished wheelbase is 106”, approximately 5” longer than stock.

The front suspension on Gumby is a one-off radius arm design using 2-1/2”OD ¼”wall DOM for the main link and 2”OD 1/8” wall DOM for the upper link. The radius arm is connected to the Jeep via a custom transfer case skid plate made from ¼” steel plate that sets flush with the bottom of the uni-body. The main link and bottom link utilize QA1 heim joints while the upper link uses Rubicon Express large rubber bushings.

Extreme Roc Rigs fitted both axles with 5.39 gears. The front gears ride on an ARB air locker while the rear axle was made to be a “Lincoln Locker”. Both differential covers were reinforced with ¼ steel to protect the ring gear from any close encounters of the granite kind. The front stub shafts were replaced with 35 spline units and connected to the stock 35 spline inner shaft via a Dana Spicer U-joint. Warn Premium locking hubs were used to keep the wheels locked to the ARB locker.

We moved the entire wheel opening back to accomodate the axle stretch.

Initial testing of the suspension was performed by using a forklift to simulate compression scenarios. Cycling the suspension allowed us to see if there was any thing binding and also allow us to properly fit the axles with the correct length shock. Adjustments were made between cycles to dial in the suspension.

During the 2008 Toy 4 Tots ride at Grayrock ORV the once mildly modified Cherokee was reunited with the off-road park and began its life as Gumby. Gumby performed flawlessly on its maiden run and has been on several rides which have provided many opportunities for fine tuning in real-world use. Since its maiden voyage Gumby has been fitted with 1-1/2” wheel spacers on the rear as well as a rear disc brake conversion. Currently an exo-cage is being designed to protect Gumby and strengthen the uni-body Jeep.