Hell's Revenge in a (mostly) stock Rubicon

[OnlyOne]

Then there's this video of a Crown Vic doing Hell's Revenge.

Shhhhhush it. Don’t tell anybody……we can let anyone know this!

It’s definitely a fun trail. 99% easy with amazing views with a few challenging sections. It’s always nice to see a video of it.

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[ColoradoMike]

Yeah its really not a hard trail ride. I was thinking a car could make it most of the way. I guess this proves it. The optional courses is where the fun picks up.

Not sure about all this. They don't show the car doing any of the rocky stuff; just the smooth parts. No way he did the whole trail in that thing. Guessing he turned back and returned the way he came. But... could be wrong!

 

[ColoradoMike]

Love to see a couple pics of how your ASFIR plates held up.
Great video BTW.

John and team: What do you guys think? Here are pics of the skid damage.
The deal: I have Asfir aluminum oil pan and transmission skid plates. I hit the both hard on Hell's Revenge:
The pro's:

• There is zero bending, crunching, structural deformation.
• The mounts and bolts seem unphazed: nothing wiggles, flexes, etc. Feels super-solid.

The con's:

• There are deep GOUGES in the aluminum, as opposed to the scratches I expected to find.

So I have to wonder...

1. Would those deep gouges have happened with a steel skid, or would the steel skid have just had scratches.
2. Do I care? Is this nothing to worry about? Or do we think that if I run 4-5 more hard trails and scrape hard over rocks on those skids again that I am going to ultimately just tear through the aluminum skid as if it were cloth?

I might ultimately re-post this as a separate thread to the forum.

 

[Dyolfknip74]

John and team: What do you guys think? Here are pics of the skid damage.
The deal: I have Asfir aluminum oil pan and transmission skid plates. I hit the both hard on Hell's Revenge:
The pro's:

• There is zero bending, crunching, structural deformation.
• The mounts and bolts seem unphazed: nothing wiggles, flexes, etc. Feels super-solid.

The con's:

• There are deep GOUGES in the aluminum, as opposed to the scratches I expected to find.

So I have to wonder...

1. Would those deep gouges have happened with a steel skid, or would the steel skid have just had scratches.
2. Do I care? Is this nothing to worry about? Or do we think that if I run 4-5 more hard trails and scrape hard over rocks on those skids again that I am going to ultimately just tear through the aluminum skid as if it were cloth?

I might ultimately re-post this as a separate thread to the forum.

They would not have happened with steel but there would be some pretty deep scratches. Looks like they did amazing and for the wheeling I do, they're perfect. Thanks for the pics.

 

[gato]

Same deal with my Artec aluminum skids - deep gauges on them. My Rock Hard steel skids on my JKUR that I had before just had scratches that I spray painted after every wheeling trip, and after 4 years had a bit of rust.

Neither of them bent or deformed. In the end I like the 200lbs savings One has no rust but deeper gauges, the other one had a bit of rust. Nothing is perfect, but on balance I'd do aluminum again.

 

[GearWhore]

I'd stay away from Escalator if you haven't spent some time on slickrock and especially after a few successful runs of Hell's. Ideally, 35" tires or larger with some additional width beyond your fenders. Air down. The obstacle is basically an easy climb into a small bowl, steep waterfall climb into another hole, then immediate second climb to a bigger hole before climbing out of that off-camber. I'd say not technically very difficult driving, but high-consequence if you don't get it right the first time, for sure.

Last November we were driving past a couple in a 4Runner TRDPROMAXOFFROADEXTREME scoping it out and my wife joke-challenged me, so I turned right and went up (without walking it). Note: I may do dumb things to impress her. When the front driver's wheel dropped out into and above the second bowl, and the passenger side kept climbing the wall, I had some questions about my decisions. Tire ended up fully dropped and about 3' above the ground and we tilted way to passenger side (slight scuff on rear passenger fender lip) before everything leveled out again. 4Runner couple sent us a video they took which was fun.

This was the pucker moment into the second bowl:

Transition to off-camber climb out:

Hell's Gate is another fun obstacle, but not one I like to do often.

 

[west tex]

Hell's Revenge was my favorite when I did Moab in October. My 2dr 80th Edition only has 33s, LSD and sway bar disconnects and yes, I did plenty of scraping, but nothing damaged. I'm sure any stock JL could do it as long as you didn't get off the main trail and into the extreme stuff like the hot tubs, escalator, etc.

 

[Mgg253]

John and team: What do you guys think? Here are pics of the skid damage.
The deal: I have Asfir aluminum oil pan and transmission skid plates. I hit the both hard on Hell's Revenge:
The pro's:

• There is zero bending, crunching, structural deformation.
• The mounts and bolts seem unphazed: nothing wiggles, flexes, etc. Feels super-solid.

The con's:

• There are deep GOUGES in the aluminum, as opposed to the scratches I expected to find.

So I have to wonder...

1. Would those deep gouges have happened with a steel skid, or would the steel skid have just had scratches.
2. Do I care? Is this nothing to worry about? Or do we think that if I run 4-5 more hard trails and scrape hard over rocks on those skids again that I am going to ultimately just tear through the aluminum skid as if it were cloth?

I might ultimately re-post this as a separate thread to the forum.

thanks for sharing, I will be putting these skids on as soon as I plan to start wheeling this year (no sense adding weight before necessary)
Post up your CO wheeling trips and I’d love to see you guys on the trails! If your in for overnights I’ll be doing some wheeling camp trips for sure

 

[Encino Stan]

I did Hell's Revenge and Hell's Gate last year with my stock 2020 JLU Rubicon (only addition being front and rear diff skid plates).
https://www.gorancho.com/products/r...rential-glide-plate-dana-44-rear-rs62117.html

Also did Fins and Things, Poison Spider, and Golden Spike.

 

[betsy]

Awesome video, and the music was great, have watched video of that trail many times, yours was top notch, thanks.

 

[Gunfighter]

Very cool!

 

[entropy]

Great stuff! Looks like your (mostly) stock Rubi did great. Were you into your lockers much? I haven't done this trail yet in my (lifted on 35's) Sport but hope to one day.

you dont need lockers for hells revenge.

 

[ColoradoMike]

thanks for sharing, I will be putting these skids on as soon as I plan to start wheeling this year (no sense adding weight before necessary)
Post up your CO wheeling trips and I’d love to see you guys on the trails! If your in for overnights I’ll be doing some wheeling camp trips for sure

Absolutely!

 

[ColoradoMike]

Awesome video, and the music was great, have watched video of that trail many times, yours was top notch, thanks.

Right on, and thank you! I put a lot of effort into the soundtrack and production and such. For me, it makes a huge difference. I appreciate hearing this.

 

[ColoradoMike]

I did Hell's Revenge and Hell's Gate last year with my stock 2020 JLU Rubicon (only addition being front and rear diff skid plates).
https://www.gorancho.com/products/r...rential-glide-plate-dana-44-rear-rs62117.html

Also did Fins and Things, Poison Spider, and Golden Spike.

This is great to hear. I really want to do Poison Spider, and I probably will go back to run Hell's Gate.

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