Side B & TTORC Run: Mt Harris - Pics and Vids here

[lighthammer]

Phew, now reach home and I real tired!

What a run!
Not necessarily the hardest run we've had yet, but still more physically taxing than most. I dunno why I feel so tired, but it was a great run and we all made it in and out with little to no damage (except my Navara).


Basic summarized report:

- met at airport gas station, we all filled up and left a bit late (8:45am)
- decent turnout, approx 15 trucks + 3 TTORC vehicles
- made our way to Wallerfield, and turned into Cumuto, then onto Little Cora Road.
- Went towards Biche heading south, then stopped to check out the "Growing Stone" at Mt Harris

- Entered the trail and things got hopping from there.
- First to stick was the grey Mazda on highway tyres in a small slush pit, he got pulled out by Stingray & The Blu FLu
- Second to get stuck and sustained some damage was Chiney in the red Grand Vitara. He got stuck basically in the same soft spot as the grey Mazda. His front differential was slipping a lot in 4WD, and it eventually failed when he made it up the hill only to get hung up on another rut, there was a loud "BANG" and a puff of smoke as the differential failed and what seemed to be a burnt out front vaccum pump.

- Third to get stuck surprisingly was Jeremy in the Baby Blue ranger. His rear differential got hung up on a hidden rock in the tall-grass along the trail. We got him out by pulling using JonOne's BT-50 on KL71's.


- After the stickage, the next exciting hurdle was a 1 1/2 foot tall tree that had falled across the trail, we all had to cross it by climbing over one-by-one. Lots of guys grated their undersides on the treetrunk, and one or two got hung up but were pulled/lifted out.

- Last part of the trail ended in some very high bush and small trees, meaning that stock vehicles couldn't pass through without risking heavy body damage. Raised vehicles & those with mud tyres could go, but we didn't want to break our group up and leave some behind.

- Decision was made - turn around and then just head to the beach. So we turned around, some of us almost stepped on a hidden Mapipire snake, and we successfully got the Red Grand Vitara out of the trail up a hill in 4x2 mode.

- Last part of the run: we went to Manzanilla to the River Mouth to sit and eat lunch. Unfortunately the tide was a highest point so the entire beach and rivermouth was covered in water, hence we couldn't lime on the sand and drive around. We left soon after eating and split into the two respective groups - one headed to Sangre Grande and the other headed to Mayaro/Rio Claro and eventually south.


Here are the pics, or at least the ones I had time to take.






























































All-in-all, a good run.
Couple minor stuck vehicles at first, but took care of that easily enough.

Shame that the trail ended and we couldn't go all the way through. Was too overgrown and we'd end up damaging our trucks.


Glad that everyone made it out safe and sound, relatively little damage (I ripped out my stone shield in the Navara under the engine, kept bottoming out in the deep ruts and dragging the front chassis cross-member.)


Saw some guys who we haven't seen in a while, good to run with allyuh again.


Special Thanks goes out to the TTORC guys who came out and took us on this run. Was a real honor to have you guys show us the trail and had y'all guiding most of us through.
Let's hope maybe next time we'll make it all the way!


Keep On Truckin'

[jpec]

what lift on the hilux??

[Havoc]

next time allyuh find a snake plz don't send Droppa of all ppl to inform me....caus as he open he mouth my brain does automatically shut down (it's a reflex action)

u guys hv no idea hw lucky we were, that snake is a pit viper known as a Malayan pit viper
it is a highly venomous snake and if bitten u wud need to seek medical care within half hr....evn so ur most likely gonna lose the flesh surrounding the bite, worst yet if ur bitten on a finger or toe, that's as good as gone!

here's a pic of the snake u guys found

[droppa]

next time allyuh find a snake plz don't send Droppa of all ppl to inform me....caus as he open he mouth my brain does automatically shut down (it's a reflex action)

u guys hv no idea hw lucky we were, that snake is a pit viper known as a Malayan pit viper
it is a highly venomous snake and if bitten u wud need to seek medical care within half hr....evn so ur most likely gonna lose the flesh surrounding the bite, worst yet if ur bitten on a finger or toe, that's as good as gone!

here's a pic of the snake u guys found

dawg wen i come and tell u snake, i did not see no snake, no one knew there was a snake there, yuh kno me, i jus looking for some kinda idle ting....

[3stagevtec]

next time allyuh find a snake plz don't send Droppa of all ppl to inform me....caus as he open he mouth my brain does automatically shut down (it's a reflex action)

u guys hv no idea hw lucky we were, that snake is a pit viper known as a Malayan pit viper
it is a highly venomous snake and if bitten u wud need to seek medical care within half hr....evn so ur most likely gonna lose the flesh surrounding the bite, worst yet if ur bitten on a finger or toe, that's as good as gone!

here's a pic of the snake u guys found

[3stagevtec]

Nice pics Leo!

[lighthammer]

waiting for everyone else to post theirs, plus vids too!

[stingray316]

[sliderz1]

Phew, now reach home

posted: 6.55pm

if i know allyuh was leavin so fast i woulda stay

Good run guys......

except the log part

[Rx]

really hating that snake...

Excellent pics !!!

[droppa]

thats the good thing about being last on the convoy........ur the first to get out......

[stingray316]

thats the good thing about being last on the convoy........ur the first to get out......

U sure rite, b4 the rain and ruts set in... lmao, who dig up the track droppa?

[rottedv]

[Rx]

How did the Toyota Surf handle off road?

[lighthammer]

rottedv, like u have a thing for going off de trail into de mud bai

[sliderz1]

thats the good thing about being last on the convoy........ur the first to get out......

U sure rite, b4 the rain and ruts set in... lmao, who dig up the track droppa?

[droppa]

How did the Toyota Surf handle off road?

which one.....both were awsome, i basically was crusing tru, i idled over the log..

[AbuStar]

nice to see the surf's representing. Droppa i aint seeing you in any of the pics. Were you hiding? or too fast for the camera's?

[rottedv]

My surf handled the trail pretty well....It was my assness that got me stuck twice.....The first time I veered of the trail into a ditch when I had enough trail to move on...Juss wanted to get the van dirty right....lmao......The second was when I got hung up on the log....Front suspension actually....I took the wrong angle of approach and got myself into a tangle....was pulled off and tried again with no problems....Benefits of choosing the right line....I should have remembered Morne Diablo.....lol...

[Havoc]

after seein imtiaz in action i've lost all faith in those BFG MTs i hv.....evn tho i knw it was more about the driver than the tyres lol!!

[lighthammer]

My surf handled the trail pretty well....It was my assness that got me stuck twice.....The first time I veered of the trail into a ditch when I had enough trail to move on...Juss wanted to get the van dirty right....lmao......The second was when I got hung up on the log....Front suspension actually....I took the wrong angle of approach and got myself into a tangle....was pulled off and tried again with no problems....Benefits of choosing the right line....I should have remembered Morne Diablo.....lol...

You just like wildness eh!
Next time listen to your scout and your navigator!
Stop embarrassing the toyoda club or else droppa will smack u with the 2 by 4!

after seein imtiaz in action i've lost all faith in those BFG MTs i hv.....evn tho i knw it was more about the driver than the tyres lol!!

Baihavocbai, you didn't even bring ur NIssan and those fancy dancing shoes to the trail, so don't tote so nah bai.... bring those BFG's to Morne Diablo and Santa Flora and we'll show them moves like Jagger.


Anyway, like Havoc & RottedV said - it's all about driver skill, taking the best line, scouting the trail & obstacles first, and listening to your navigator/scout.



Everyone should note that off-roading isn't about how fast you can go, it's about how far you can go. Going far won't take speed, it'll take skill, patience, preparation and concentration, as well as teamwork.
One thing I learned from the TTORC guys on this trail was that it takes a certain amount of discipline and prior planning to be ready to tackle a trail. Now the trail itself wasn't hard, it really was a grade 2. I observed how the TTORC guys moved as a team, and they really have their sheit together and that's how I'd like Side B to operate.
Everyone should be fully prepared - pay attention to the safety briefing and equipment list, bring whatever safety and recovery gear you could - and we'll all have fun on the trail and be able to bring everyone in & out without incidents.

So far we've been pretty good, most guys come well prepared to a run so kudos to you guys.
Let's keep up the good work and continue trying to improve our standards, and keep on truckin'.

[civic minded]

great! - now when is the next one... need to do one before the year is out!

[lighthammer]

civic - no worries mate, we have a couple lined up..... but men have exams and ting into december, so will have to clear that out first.

[droppa]

we have our 1st Anniversary coming up soon.........that will be eeee peee eye see!!!!

[DooMRR]

IMO, this was a grade 1 trail. There really wasn't anything difficult. The log crossing was a bit of a concern, but there really wasn't anything much to worry about. It took a GV with street tires and 4x2 to get properly stuck. The hard parts were just lack of experience from what I see. Jeremy getting stuck on that rock (which I didn't see) was just a bit of bad luck. Imitaz getting stuck was just because he was playing the fool and the front of his van being too low (he needs to tension his torsion). I think there was a B2500 that got stuck and he was on street tires.

This was a good shakedown for the new recruits and a good warm up for the older members who was just waiting for a chance to put some mud on their clean vans. Speaking of mud, the one time I finally get the van to go driving around without washing it after a run, and it just looks like I been through some good rain and a dirty back road. I need some more mud. *sigh*

[3stagevtec]

after seein imtiaz in action i've lost all faith in those BFG MTs i hv.....evn tho i knw it was more about the driver than the tyres lol!!

The next muddy trail we go on, I'll let Imtiaz show you exactly how well they really are! Trust me, those tyres are far more capable than they seem..

Imtiaz, check your PM..

[Rx]

My surf handled the trail pretty well....It was my assness that got me stuck twice.....The first time I veered of the trail into a ditch when I had enough trail to move on...Juss wanted to get the van dirty right....lmao......The second was when I got hung up on the log....Front suspension actually....I took the wrong angle of approach and got myself into a tangle....was pulled off and tried again with no problems....Benefits of choosing the right line....I should have remembered Morne Diablo.....lol...

good to hear Buddy

[rottedv]

You just like wildness eh!
Next time listen to your scout and your navigator!
Stop embarrassing the toyoda club or else droppa will smack u with the 2 by 4!

LMAO.....Ok...Ok...Ok....Black Mamba was telling me the same thing all the while......He was like ' Hoss yuh embarassing we.....yuh graduate from 4x2 to 4x4 from street tyres to mud tyres and looking to get stick man....' I'll try to do better next time but with you guys around I could get stick whole day....you guys will be there helping out....Thats a great benefit of the club....

after seein imtiaz in action i've lost all faith in those BFG MTs i hv.....evn tho i knw it was more about the driver than the tyres lol!!

The next muddy trail we go on, I'll let Imtiaz show you exactly how well they really are! Trust me, those tyres are far more capable than they seem..

Imtiaz, check your PM..

Got it Rene....Thanks...

Havoc, I was not doing those tyres justice...I was to wild....On my way out of the trail...I got into a little difficulty in some places but powered through.....I do believe however that the tyres may b a bit too heavy for my surf....Maybe I might sell them and get a set of 31's instead...I'm still investigating...

[Havoc]

rottedv- it's a gd thing ur testing the limits of those tyres when ur wit us and not on ur own bro, u'll be able to knw exactly wat ur Surf can handle wit those tyres and wat u cant.....also i don't think that the bfgs were clearing out the mud as they shud, so u may be rite wen u say they're a bit too big to get them spinning fast enuff in a sticky situation

btw if ur selling d bfgs plz chek Jeremy first, he wanna buy mine but i feeling hard to part wit them *bbm big hug*

[3stagevtec]

My surf handled the trail pretty well....It was my assness that got me stuck twice.....The first time I veered of the trail into a ditch when I had enough trail to move on...Juss wanted to get the van dirty right....lmao......The second was when I got hung up on the log....Front suspension actually....I took the wrong angle of approach and got myself into a tangle....was pulled off and tried again with no problems....Benefits of choosing the right line....I should have remembered Morne Diablo.....lol...

good to hear Buddy

Like you have a project in mind?