My 2nd time/experience at The Flats!! AWESOME.

John Fuller

John Fuller

XJ Fanatic!!
Banned
Joined
Jan 3, 2015
Location
Boone NC
So as many know i went for second time to The Flats 5-29 weekend and WOW!!! I never in my life have i had so much fun and driving experience as this trip. I wanna give HUGE Recognition to David Walker with Wicked Kreationz...You ROCK dude. My trip started Friday after settling camp and messing around small trails David walks over says "c'mon lets go Easy street, you can follow my buggy and i'll guide you". SO, of course scared because of most comments from people i say "no, i don't wanna brake anything this early in the trip." He tells me, you won't break i promise you, and assures me i have a more than capable rig to hit Easy Street. So, long story short, He guided me up the harder spots and i made it pretty easy and then you guessed it.....I LOVE EASY ST NOW...i done it flowlessly rest of the time there. So, thank you Mr. David Walker for motivating me to have some faith in my Jeep because the rest of the trip, i did every yellow on the park which Lourel Lane turned out to be one of my other favorite trails. So by Sat midday, all yellows are complete so now what....i went in search for a Red to try and I picked Ol Stumpy...OMG THAT WAS THE COOLEST TRAIL EVER. Took a little more umph & rpms in certain places but i did it fairly easy as far as never got above 3Krpms and never got stuck or needed help. I did it twice more with some friends who wanted to see and even better those 2 rounds. In conclusion to this experience, i've learned one thing so far from 2times going there with my jeep...TIRES TIRES TIRES!! Many Many people commented on how good these tires i grooved were doing and several places on Easy St, Laurel Lane, Ol Stumpy and other yellows I had really good traction compared to others and i've also learned that it's not about your axle size, your tire size, or your engine size...it really is more in the driver of the vehicle than the rig itself. This is no means a bragging thread but I am very proud of my abilities with my Jeep out there...first finish at the top of Ol Stumpy and i was jumping for joy out of the jeep while certain distant folks giving me looks but in my opinion, a buggy or built rig to make it up that might not be that special but for $1200 very cheap XJ on 35s to make that and without crazy issues...i think that is impressive. I have not once on any trails mentioned had to really get on it like a lot of folks so again, tires tires tires seem to be huge impact as i always thought.
To Conclude, i never thought after 2 trips there i will be working/modifying my Jeep to try few more Reds...skid plates are a must now..need all new ball joints in front (Ol Stumpy put a good slop in them but they are original too), hope to upgrade steering links, and do something with my cheap ass suspension i hope...at least longer shocks and springs cause i carry a lot of tire with this cheap lift and that really puts hurt on certain trails lol. I hope everyone else had a blast as much as i did and feel free to share your experience
top of Ol Stumpy pose..picture sucks but i was teetering pretty good and that was pretty sketchy
OLE STUMPY POSE.jpg
 
madJeepJ10 said:
i enjoyed riding with you and family i am glad you had a blast
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dude i almost tried Sloppy Joe Red but ran out of daytime but next time in July for my Birthday when we come, with hopefully a few better things we're going to hit Sloppy Joe for sure, Ol Stumpy again, i'm gonna try Rock Ledge (if someone with a winch is around for that one big ledge on it) and maybe try twist it IF and only IF i get my suspension better. we had fun too brother and see you in 2 months. I'm stoked cause i got 2 months to do some mods so hopefully if money is available, my jeep will be ready for few more reds.
 
i am goning to try and get mine ready for at lest the yellow it all depends on money
 
yeah i also realize the "dryness" i'm sure played a major role in the ease of most of the yellows and the one red for me so next trip, i actually hope it's more wet so the yellows are more challenging which would then probably keep me away from the reds LOL...i'm gonna work on my tires some more too. my right front is the best one done and i can feel it grip better than the others so i will for sure have all 4 done the best i can do taking my time on every lug to get even better traction...as long as i'm hitting dirt somewhere, i kept moving. oh i forgot to tell you, my front and rear diff covers took a pretty good beating apparently from easy st and Ol Stumpy...just noticed it when i got home and cleaned it up. guess i've got to be more weary of where the rocks are lol and i bent my steering link about a inch hehe
 
i've got my work cutout for me now but at least i know what to improve for what trails and at least it's not street jeep anymore so don't have to worry about road friendly setup and that is so much easier on the mods
 
diffs are ok just dents in the covers lol...no biggie right now. and, no spare arm but i'm gonna take the whole arm off and sleeve it with bigger tube that it will fit inside of from the metal shop.
 
I was the guy in the white Samurai behind you on Ol Stumpy the first time you hit it. Those cut Thornbirds dig. They definitely impressed me.
 
drkelly said:
I was the guy in the white Samurai behind you on Ol Stumpy the first time you hit it. Those cut Thornbirds dig. They definitely impressed me.
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DUDE!!!!!!!CMON>>>>>you gotta tell me these things. it was a pleasure and very awesome to ride up it and have you follow me and you gave me the inspiration to try it and i thank you for that. well now i know the face with your screen name. Nice to meet you finally and i'm so glad that a common member in my threads was there to enjoy my accomplishment. thank you sir and BTW, Your Samurai is FREAKING AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! next time I would love to ride around with you some more and see what else I might can keep up with. You made Ol Stumpy look easy so I would love to follow you up a couple other trails (reds) if possible. Thanks again and glad to meet you!!
 
i have some extra diff covers if you need them and i am still waiting on her for the axle price.
 
oh don't worry about axle stuff...when i brake the D30 disco shafts, i'm just going to convert it to solid one since it's not street jeep anymore i don't need the disco thingy but it's holding up pretty darn good since i'm being careful and smart with it.
 
Find a v8 grand cherokee there steering is a lot beefier than the xjs.
If you wanna improve your shocks I'd suggest finding the parts to allow you to use a double eye shock. (Jks and iron rock offroad make them) once you have them you can get any length shock you want and the shocks are pretty cheap. What is wrong with your suspension? I didn't check it out last month, but I have short arms and fallowed a three linked Comanche on 40s around till I broke my locker. Its all about the down travel.
 
^^^it sucks complete ASS, LOL NO Droop, NO UPtravel. 3"springs front with 2"pucks and stock shocks with lowered mounts LOL (I'm cheap), rear is 2 FULL Cherokee leafs combined with the main leaf from the second giving the 5" lift and stock shocks with mounts moved up (cheap cheap). this jeep is $1200 including price of jeep itself and tires and all so I can't complain considering how capable it is for such a cheap locked front and rear XJ but i have already acquired shocks that are 4"longer than mine, gonna try & redo track bar for longer droop, lenghten front shaft, and for the rear........???no money to buy anything yet but the front will at least be much better by the next trip. for the rear, i'm at least gonna but longer shackles which will help some and hope to get 6" coils for the front by July.
 
But hey, it makes the jeep for now that much more impressive doing what it does with no articulation and carrying so much tire all the time. It really does put all the attention on my tires....they are doing like all the work along with the welded diffs and being pretty good working both pedals at the same time
 
friend just sent me this from his phone so it's a little better than the other one but still was better than it looks and as you can see, NO DROOP lol so yeah lift sucks and hope to change it. (top of Ol Stumpy)
top of Ol Stumpy flex.jpg
 
CThurmond said:
Looks like track bar is limiting

Is yours a ball joint style ?
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yeah it its cause i never fixed the axle side of it where it hits the tab so that's on my to do list for sure...i'm hoping to do away with the setup completely and run a TJ track bar
 
drkelly said:
I was the guy in the white Samurai behind you on Ol Stumpy the first time you hit it. Those cut Thornbirds dig. They definitely impressed me.
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You actually came out wheeling?
 
John Fuller said:
yeah i also realize the "dryness" i'm sure played a major role in the ease of most of the yellows and the one red for me so next trip, i actually hope it's more wet so the yellows are more challenging which would then probably keep me away from the reds
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I'll say this, the flats is one place where dry, it's a fun dirt road drive. Just add water and it's OMG no fawking way. But that's just what makes it fun.

I remember that one race and...yeah
 
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Dangit Mr. @John Fuller I missed ya again! I was just at the Flats the weekend before last with my SC crew. I'll be back though. It was dry then with enough traction for me to break a Dana 60 front inner shaft.
 
Ron said:
I'll say this, the flats is one place where dry, it's a fun dirt road drive. Just add water and it's OMG no fawking way. But that's just what makes it f
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yeah that's why i was thinking next trip i hope it's more wet so the yellows would be more fun and challengine. I'm pretty sure laurel lane, sthil hill, easy st, and the other yellows would keep me plenty busy when it's wet that i wouldn't have time to go to Ol Stumpy lol but i am looking forward to that cause i even admit, the yellows were too easy being dry. I guess if my Jeep does all the yellows on a wet day, i would be pretty impressed even though I'm already very happy with it, doing all those wet would be a real accomplishment and if that turns out successful, then i guess Ol Stumpy when it's wet would be my first real challenge.
 
OH Yeah, I have to share this funny experience sat night: we were packing up camp about 11pm sat night and our neighbors next to us were partying and drinking so this drunk guy decides to just run right through our camp not knowing my German Shepherd was tied up right there and lets me say....He better be glad she was tied up otherwise she would've put a good marking on him cause she flared up so hard at him when he brazed her haulin ass and her leash is the only thing that kept him from getting bit. Shouldn't run up through someone's camp at night, especially when you're drunk and I'm pretty sure he got the point across. It didn't bother me except i got scared as much as he did from her launching K-9 style up at him lol. I was glad to see her at only a year old doing her job though and protecting our area!!! Glad he didn't get bit but 2 lessons to be learned for him: Don't drink on park grounds and don't run through peoples camp.
 
XJsavage said:
Dangit Mr. @John Fuller I missed ya again! I
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it's ok, we are coming agian towards end of July for my Birthday...no June to give me time to do some stuff to it i hope if finances allows it but either way, July is our next trip so hope to see you there.
 
John Fuller said:
DUDE!!!!!!!CMON>>>>>you gotta tell me these things. it was a pleasure and very awesome to ride up it and have you follow me and you gave me the inspiration to try it and i thank you for that. well now i know the face with your screen name. Nice to meet you finally and i'm so glad that a common member in my threads was there to enjoy my accomplishment. thank you sir and BTW, Your Samurai is FREAKING AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! next time I would love to ride around with you some more and see what else I might can keep up with. You made Ol Stumpy look easy so I would love to follow you up a couple other trails (reds) if possible. Thanks again and glad to meet you!!
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It was nice to meet you. I think you could have made it up 'Twist It' and possibly 'The Ledge' last Saturday. I think 'The Ledge' could be renamed to 'Flex It' due to all the alternating holes after you get over what is left of the ledge. Last weekend was the first time I made it up both of those trails after years of trying. The conditions were just right. I also think you could have made it up '3-way' possibly needing to winch 20 ft past one section about 1/4-1/3 of the way up. I made it, but had to winch just a short section about that far in. You should keep your eyes open for a used winch. It will allow you to try more of the trails there without becoming a trail plug and pissing people off.
 
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