Three Wheelin'
Well, it finally happened. I went three (and two) wheeling.. in my
Scout! Julie and I were killing some time this Sunday evening, and
decided to go play in the hills.. we took a trail that was one street
down from others we've been on (in Helena, if you drive to the south side
of town, there are dirt trails at the end of nearly every street!).
Well, we had just started off the pavement, when a nice ascent presented
itself.. so I started charging right on up. This is all in my 1977 Scout
II, complete with a 3spd, Dana 20, 4.11 gears (Track-lok rear), stock
235/75R15 tires. Anyhow, we were zipping on up the hill in 1st gear 2wd,
doing just fine.. then the terrain got very rough, bumpy, and steep,
along with a run-off formed mini-crevice on the left side of the narrow
trail. Well, as always, the little 196 4cyl just couldn't keep us going,
so we stalled (or almost stalled?) about 2/3 of the way up the trail. No
problem. I reach down to slip into 4-lo. I try giving 'er some gas, and
succeed in smoking the two rear tires (Track-loked!) in the soft sandy
dirt. Julie then got out to lock the hubs for me. About this time we
noticed the truck tipping just a bit.. she gasped as she realized where I
was.. not on the trall, but with one rear wheel sitting over the foot
wide, foot deep, crevice. Gas it again, no dice. What followed was
about 15 minutes of "fun".. Julie was convinced I was going to roll over
and down the hill (yet she still asks, "Do you really *need* a front
cage??"). I was having fun, nervous, but having fun. I kept wanting to
get out to see my articulation and such, but every time I opened the door
and started to get out, the truck would teeter downhill.. (I was on the
uphill side). Eventually, by throttleing forward to the right, backup up
over the crevice, forward again, back. I managed to get out. It all
ended with downhill (pass) rear tire on the other side of the crevice,
and the driver's wheel out in the air. I goosed it, and the rear
Track-lok locked up, senidng my little Scout bolting forward, the factor
step bumper took some of the far side of the crevice as the rear end sank
into the hole, then the bumper proceeded to scrape more off as the rear
end rebounded up and out of the ditch. Julie claims a good chunk of dirt
fell out of the bumper after I stopped. We then climbed back in, and
took a different trail, vowing to return when Julie was feeling a bit
better.. and a lot less scared!
Of course, I thought it was great fun. I did get out once, and saw my
driver's rear wheel stuffed into the fender, with less than an inch to
the bolts that still protrude from the roll-bar legs. I also noticed
that the little mud/snuw 235/75R15 retreads kinda bulged a bit on the
side (I didn't air down). Full compression. The other side was the
opposite, showing me what full droop was like on a stock Scout. I was
also made a true believer in *some* type of traction device on at least
one axle. This was my first time on two wheels, "crossed up," and it was
interesting. I'm rather proud of my little 4-banger Scout II, but I
certainly am thinking a lot more about a dual Transfer case for more
grunt. I'll also be sure to lockup and gear down before any mild
wheelin' on unknown trails. The 4cyl with 4.11s just doesn't have the
grunt to power up long or steep hills in high range. It tries though..
-Tom Mandera, Helena MT
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