I actually had things pretty much ready to go the night before for a change. I was up late (as usual) and put two brand new Goodyear Wrangler ATs on the back of my Travelall thinking, "Cool, new tires! These shouldn't pose any problems..."
Friday night we took off for Bozeman and stopped in Townsend for A&W food. I did my usual "walk around the truck and feel every tire and wheel hub" and noticed one of the new tires was sporting an even newer split down the sidewall. :-(.
I pulled out the air wrench and floor jack and proceeded to replace both rear tires with my spares, and then shifted the Scout farther back on the trailer to take some of the tongue weight off.
On the road again.. we rolled into Mike's Offroad rather late and met up with Blair Howze getting his FS Bronco race ready.
Blair was kind enough to let us spend the night at his place, and then loaned us the keys to his street Bronco to cruise to Livingston, MT to have a look-see at an IH pickup for sale.
A few hours later we pulled back into Mike's Offroad - Michelle was driving Blair's Bronco, and I was driving my new land yacht, er, tow rig. A 1974 International Harvester 200 "Travelette" pickup. That translates to 3/4+T, 4-door/crewcab, and this one sports the 8' bonus-load long box. 166" WB and a LOT of truck. This one was optioned out with 1T equipment (9,000lbs GVW) and will make a SUPER tow rig. Unfortunately, I had to park it at Mike's and then climb into my 1/2T Travelall for the exhausting drive to Billings.
Several fuel stops later (Livingston, Big Timber, Laurel, Billings) we finally arrived at the Billings Motorsports Park just as it was getting dark - always the best time to pitch a tent!
In the morning we unloaded the racers, changed the tires on Little Devil, and checked pressures, fluids, etc.
I drew a low number, making me the third rig to run the obstacle course. Michelle was a few in line behind me, and Blair was not long after Michelle.
| Title | 128kbit | 384kbit |
|---|---|---|
| Tom's Obstacle Run | 3.1M | 9.2M |
| Tom's Bunny Hop Only | 378k | 1.1M |
| Tom's Finish Only | 416k | 1.2M |
I really enjoyed my run, taking it relatively easy. I tried to take the jumps softly and make up my time between them, on the flats. The new transmission and torque converter worked very well with the engine. I managed to squeeze out a 3rd place finish. Blair beat my time, but he mowed down a few course markers in the process. I even practiced my jumping a bit, as in this "bunnyhop" pic:
Michelle then ran the obstacle. She was a fair bit slower than me, still getting used to the new shifter and transmission, but she still managed a 1st place finish in the women's class.
| Title | 128kbit | 384kbit |
|---|---|---|
| Michelle's Obstacle Run | 4.1M | 12.3M |
After two Obstacle runs..
And after Michelle, Blair ran.
| Title | 128kbit | 384kbit |
|---|---|---|
| Blair's Obstacle Run | 2.6M | 7.8M |
Blair's rig after his run
After Blair, I managed to get some video of Mark Shepard, out of Bozeman - another part of the three similar looking full size Broncos Mike's Offroad is sponsoring.
| Title | 128kbit | 384kbit |
|---|---|---|
| Mark's Obstacle Run | 1.1M | 3.3M |
After the obstacles I tightened up a rear shock that was coming loose, and we started the baja! 4 rigs were in the running in my class.
| Title | 128kbit | 384kbit |
|---|---|---|
| Baja Part 1 | 4.9M | 14.6M |
| Baja Part 2 | 4.7M | 14.0M |
| Baja Part 3 | 5.1M | 18.6M |
I didn't want to be in the lead, so I purposely hung back at the start - bad move, I choked on dust until I was a full half lap down. I simply couldn't see.
Blair got in the lead and stayed there. I was out getting practice driving, and hoping someone else would break, assuring me of 3rd place. *grin* I was practicing my jumps n' such when I came down hard onto the driver's brake hose. Smashed it shut. The next thing I knew, I would touch the brakes and my Scout would pivot on the passenger front tire making me go sideways. Not great @ 60mph on the "shelf/table-top' loop, or when in some offcamber S turns where application of the brakes would throw me UPHILL - I thought I was going to test the rollcage more than once. I started to adjust my driving style for having no brakes, and got slower. Soon I was lapped. Still, I finished.
When I finished the race the engine was at a solid 230degrees, I had broken a rear upper shock mount, then flopped the shock into the gas tank, putting a hole in it. Up front the driver's shock hoop had come apart as well as tearing from the frame. This also caused the destruction of the brake m/c to prop. valve lines. What's worse than only a RF brake? no brakes at all!
Blair attempted to roll his Bronco, too - right at the beginning of "part 2."
At the end of the 1/2 hour, Blair emerged the victor, and I claimed dead last. I did get several comments on how well my 'Binder performed. It's finally holding together fairly well and is becoming halfway competitive.
Change the tires, break camp, load up.. and away we went. We even managed to get moving early enough that we drove straight through to Helena, arriving around midnight or so.
I left the Scout on the trailer and welded up the shock mounts and replaced the brake hardware before heading to Lolo for the June30th/July1st rally..
Thanks to the Magic City 4-Wheelers for putting on another great rally!
Gas tank repair.
Front shock mount tore from the frame
Another view of the front mount.
And the rear mount that ripped out..
Tom Mandera
Racing Index
Copyright 2001, Tom Mandera