Moab

[Paul]

Okay, so Moab Utah is not necessarily a Pacific Northwest destination, but it is arguably the finest four wheeling site in the world. Fifty plus trails, incredible scenery, a wide array of trail difficulty with runs for stock four wheel (or AWD) vehicles to trails where body damage to some of the most capable rigs that money can afford is virtually guaranteed.

Since I went to Moab directly after the Owyhee Expedition, I thought I’d post a brief trip report from my extended four wheeling vacation.

As a Ford Explorer owner, I habitually visit an Explorer website, www.explorerforum.com, which has a number of tours and scheduled runs. . . Usually they plan a Moab Run once a year, and this year was no exception.

Moab is a great small town in Eastern Utah, plenty of accommodations, a full range of outdoor activities - - four wheeling, mountain biking, hiking, river rafting, climbing, etc.

Although primarily a Explorer centric group, we have a number of members that “used to” have Explorers, and bring a variety of four wheel vehicles to the runs.

Here are a few photos from the trip. . .


If you have never been to Moab, schedule this must-do trip. It is usually best to visit in the Spring or Fall, as Moab can become unbearable in the Summer (at least for us Northwesterners).

[Jerry]

GASP! YOU GOTTA BE KIDDIN'
PS I'm glad you made it home safely and hope everything worked okay.

[RidgeRunner]

Paul, it looks like you had a great time. That's certainly a long way down there but there's so much to see and do that it makes the trip worth while.

Thanks for sharing.

Mick

[Paul]

Actual runs that we enjoyed included Rose Garden Hill and Top of the World trails on Friday, the 30th of the May (the photo of my Blue Explorer is the "ledge" on Top of the World); Hell's Revenge on Saturday, the 31st (Hell's Revenge includes the optional obstacles of "Hell's Gate" and the "Escalator", which can hurt your pride as well as bodywork), and on Sunday, the 1st of June we went on Fins and Things and Poison Spider Mesa.

If you plan on making the trip, I strongly encourage picking up the Moab Trail Guide (2nd Edition) by Charles Wells (available from most on-line book stores or his FunTrek website). No affililation, just a satisified customer.

A few more pics...

[Albino94ltd]

DO I see a booboo on the left rear??

Must have been great, I'm jealous.

Are you ready for something a little tamer, like Liberty/Table Mt July 11-13????

[Paul]

I had an axle fail and the as the tire separated from housing it ripped up the fender flare, which Bushwhacker no longer makes...

I've been piecing the flare together and hopefully with another coat of Herculiner it will look good as new.

Moab was great, will have to get back to you on Liberty. . .

Regards,

Paul

[Jerry]

I've been piecing the flare together and hopefully with another coat of Herculiner it will look good as new.

What material are you using to patch the flare, Paul? I have a hunk out of one of the Bushwacher Flares on my Wrangler; looks like a giant bite out of an apple, but with cracks and popped rivets. I thought about gluing a piece of plastic in place then saw your post and am hoping you have a better solution.
Jerry

[Albino94ltd]

Originally Posted by soggymountain

What material are you using to patch the flare, Paul? I have a hunk out of one of the Bushwacher Flares on my Wrangler; looks like a giant bite out of an apple, but with cracks and popped rivets. I thought about gluing a piece of plastic in place then saw your post and am hoping you have a better solution.
Jerry

I'd try fiberglass tape and epoxy resin on the back side, covered by herculiner. You'll have to rough up the surface for the expoy to stick.

Or even Herculiner and fiberglass tape.

[Jerry]

Good suggestions. Thanks. It sure looks like heck the way it is now.
Jerry

[Paul]

Jerry -

I used Elmer's High Performance Glue (the Elmer's version on Gorilla Glue)to piece the flare back together. I was planning on using fierglass tape and resin on the inside, but was so impressed with the results of the glue that I vacated that idea. I had a bit of some old, slightly hardened Herculiner that I they slathered on the inside of the flare, and when that dried I remounted the flare and applied a fresh coat of Herculiner to the four fender flares, rocker panels, and rock sliders.

I've attached a photo of the damaged flare a few minutes after the mishap. Although it looks like only one chunk of flare was missing, the flare was cracked and came apart into three pieces. I was glad to have the presence of mind to walk back down the road and actually find the one missing piece, because without it, putting it all back together would have been significantly more difficult...

I'll take a photo of the finished product in the next day or two.


Paul
'91 Explorer Sport