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News Release: June 20, 2005
Xtreme 4x4 TV and iMPAKS take on Tellico
That is correct iMPAKS.com was invited to go wheeling with Xtreme
4x4 TV to help break in 2 of there project rigs (The Cheap Jeep &
Project AJ)
So what happens when you put 8 seasoned rigs, and 2 New Project Rigs
together for a weekend at a highly-difficult OHV off-road park? You
get the Xtreme 4x4 TV Shake Down Run. The plan was to run as many
trails as possible. With great weather and a good crowd this was
looking to be an awesome weekend.
With the support of iMPAKS, LLC;
Ellis Off Road;
Carolina Rock Shop;
and 4x4 Review we set out to assist Xtreme 4x4 TV in the Shake down
run in any way possible.
When everyone arrived at the trail entrance at 8:00 am we all
learned very quickly that TV-time is very different than
real-world-time. We all arrived at 8:30am and finally headed out at
10:30am all eager to hit the trails and have some fun. The weather
was fair and about 70 degrees. By the afternoon it had warmed up to
the high 80’s / 90’s. We hit the trails and headed up trail 1, to
trail 5, then to trail 4 and up to SlickRock. Since this was the 1st
time for the Xtreme 4x4 TV rigs to even drive on the road let alone
on the trails they did have to get a few bugs worked out of them.
The Project AJ ended up having a bad alternator. After many stops
trying to fix it we decided to drive/tow it out. Since I was the
Tail-Gunner I volunteered to help Get the AJ and Ian, the host of
Xtreme 4x4 TV, off the mountain so we can get a new alternator.
Everyone else headed up to SlickRock. .
As the day wound down, The Cheap Jeep and all the others had a great
time going up SlickRock and then turning around and coming back down
(all for good TV) as Ian, John Herr and I struggled to get the
Project AJ off of the trails. We eventually got it out but man if
you could have seen the Jerry Rigging we did you would have laughed
your butt off.
The next morning a lot of the rigs had a few things to fix so some
worked on their rigs while others played on the rock garden at
Crawford’s Campground. At about 2pm we headed out to run Lower 2 and
get some good TV film. Since we left so late some had to head out of
town so we only head up lower 2 with 6 rigs total.
Again
I took up Tail-Gunner position to make sure all of us made it… and
what would ya know the Cheap Jeep’s (that Jesse, other host for
Xtreme 4x4 TV, was driving) battery was not charging so I started my
Jeep up and took out my battery and swapped it with hers so she
could drive on a fully charged battery and my Jeep would charge
hers.
Well it worked… but, I just could not turn my Jeep off all day. We
finally caught up to everyone else and to everyone’s surprise we all
drove up Lower 2 with out pulling cable or straps until Jesse broke
the rear Dana 20 u-bolt straps. So we got the winch out and strapped
her up to the top and everyone else after her still drove right up
with no problems.
Since we all got to the top so quick and we still had some day
light, 4 us decided to head to Upper 2. Funny part is we did not
even get one picture because we never got out of our rigs. The 4 of
us just drove the entire trail with no problem at all (well I did
take out my rear tail light on a rock- no biggee).
All in all we had a GREAT weekend and would love to do it again.I
must admit that Ian and Jesse have the best jobs in the world. The
coolest part about them and their jobs was that they were so laid
back and just all around great people to hang out with, wrench with,
and chat with.. Lastly,their producer and camera guys were
great to work with as well.
A
BIG THANK YOU goes out to Xtreme 4x4 TV, Ian, Jesse, Tom, Moe and
Hutch.Thanks for letting us tag along and we hope to do it again
someday.
To
see more Pics Click Here
As always Tread
lightly and be safe.
-Editor/Owner Ken Carter aka: BRUISER
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