BlazerBash'04 in Moab

BlazerBash '04 in Moab

BlazerBash'02 in Moab

BlazerBash'04 in Moab

Midwest 'Wheeling

El Camino del Diablo

Millennium Tour

SoCal Trail Rides

South Dakota Badlands

The 'new' Cruiser...

This page chronicles the adventures of the Lowrider truck and the 'ColoradoK5 Sheetmetal Gang' during BlazerBash '04 in Moab, Utah. Since there seem to be more and more highly modified vehicles such as buggies and truggies or narrowed trucks with pulled-in fenders for tire clearance, those of us that like their truck to (roughly) look like the factory intended them to look like, have now formed the 'Sheetmetal Gang'. This next little paragraph is intended to serve as the 'manifesto' (or mission statement in corporate speak) on what the Sheetmetal Gang is all about: The 'Sheetmetal Gang' likes to 'wheel K series trucks in near stock form and not break them doing so. In terms of hardware, this means essentially the standard K5 build parameters, with 3-4 inches of lift and 33 to 35" tires and possibly one traction-aiding device. This year, the spectrum went from a truck with open differentials and 33's to a full one ton/locked setup on 38s (and that, ladies and gentlemen, would be the Storm Trooper, the big black truck piloted by Dave Godzak!). The Lowrider is somewhere in the middle, with 3.5" lift, tires a little less than 35", but lockers front and rear. The idea of the Sheetmetal Gang is to go on these Moab trail rides and bring out the truck (more or less, accidents happen every now and then) unharmed, since a lot of us will have to drive the truck home, and still have a ton of fun on the trails! The Lowrider was the first example for a ColoradoK5 truck in Moab at stock suspension height attending BlazerBash'02; last year MrBill showed up at BlazerBash'03 with a stock height Blazer, so we would encourage everyone to come out to the next Bash, even if your truck isn't built to the hilt! We expect mechanical soundness and reliability, and we're all willing to lend a hand or parts if things go sour - so no one will be left behind on the trail and everyone makes it back to town safely! You can have a ton of fourwheeling fun without running coilovers - and that's a quote from Stephen Watson, by the way! Of course, the Sheetmetal Gang can not ensure that you will not get infected with the K5 buildup bug, just see what happened to the Lowrider....

Behind the Rocks - first a few pictures from White Knuckle Hill with the Lowrider on the winch line, then an area called RollerCoaster, and then UpChuck and NoseDive (aka HighDive). Toby (Moneypit) has already made it up in his buggy and is waiting to spot the next trucks. We drove the trail in backwards direction, so you see Paxx in Brown Betty coming down UpChuck and going up NoseDive, with Stephen Watson from Offroad Design providing advice.
Adventures on NoseDive continue with Dean in the white Suburban putting a front tire 5 feet into the air. The Lowrider makes it carefully down UpChuck and begins the ascent on NoseDive. After making the first bump, a failure to climb on the right side pulls the truck to the right. While trying to reset, the right rear tire drops in a hole, resulting in a scary teeter-totter. Thanks to Toby for jumping quickly onto the left front corner, and to Stephen, Max, Dean, John, and Dave who lent their weight to keep the Lowrider from a sure rollover! Being on the wheel in this situation, I thought 'that rollcage better hold up'! Funny thing is, while walking the obstacle to check things out, I found a penny and put it in my pocket for luck - I think it worked really well! I will mount it permanently in the truck. I'd like to have a rock buggy someday, but not this way....
NoseDive and UpChuck again, just a few different perspectives. First, the trucks in our group are lined up to come down UpChuck (sorry for the long wait, Brandon!), then Dean having fun in his huge Suburban, and then Dave and the StormTrooper making the difficult ascent look easy! The lower row documents the struggles of the Lowrider on this steep obstacle, without the additional weight on the front corner, this sure would have been ugly! Thanks again to all who helped me get out of that difficult and dangerous situation!
We ran Cliffhanger and the Poison Spider/Golden Spike/Gold Bar Rim loop during the next two days - here are a few impressions from the two days: Sheer rock cliffs cut dramatically into the blue sky, and the Lowrider is crawling up an obstacle on the way up to the ridge on Cliffhanger. The wedgie is an obstacle on Poison Spider that requires careful tire placement to avoid sliding into the 'V' and leaving paint on the wall to the right. Thanks to Dirk Phillips for spotting me and honoring my request for 'no air!'. I think I got enough air under my tires during the near-calamity on NoseDive! Of course, that 'no air!' deal lasted only until we came to the LaunchPad, a very steep climb where you can see nothing but the hood of the truck and the sky above - better not stall, and that carburetor better work at steep angles, otherwise.... we don't want to think about that. The slickrock leans a bit to the left at the top of the obstacle, and the truck does too when it gets up there, so again, there's nothing but air under the right front...
Here's a collection of images, first from CliffHanger, with the Lowrider coming down the steps at the tricky entrance, and oatsk5 coming up the obstacle right after crossing Kane Creek. Getting close to that sheet metal! The following are images from the Golden Spike Trail which we ran as part of the big loop on Sunday. This is a gear grinder trail which never lets up. One hardly has time to admire the awesome and breathtaking scenery, there always seems to be yet another obstacle that requires attention. Tires in the air were the norm, first for Paxx in Brown Betty, then for Matt, for the K5 with open diffs (and a wooden back!) while crossing the Golden Crack - great job! No sweat for Paxx at the crack, while the last pics is again from Cliffhanger.
The Lowrider on the Golden Spike Trail, dropping off some ledges, and crossing the Golden Crack!
A collection of pictures that illustrates why we like 'wheeling in Moab. Our group of trucks lined up on an obstacle on CliffHanger; a view up along the cliffs; a glimpse of the red rock phantasyland called 'Behind the Rocks' with the snow-capped LaSal mountains as the backdrop; the StormTrooper overlooking Jackson Hole from Cliffhanger; just at lunch break on Golden Spike at the overlook; the town of Moab as seen from Golden Spike; and finally, a view of the breathtaking scenery of Canyonlands National Park! For everyone that owns a K5 out there: come to Moab the next Blazer Bash - phantastic landscape, great 'wheeling, hard and mild obstacles, and great cameraderie among fellow K5 owners!