Well, I've been one to preach and practice until this Saturday, never to wheel alone. I made a bit of an ***, and a prime example of myself... on to the story.

My friends and I were going to go down to Atlantic City for the night Saturday, for a friend's 27th birthday. I had no gift, so I planned on picking him up something durring the day. Well, the dogs smelled like crap, so Jen (my fiance) asked me to take them to where she works so she could clean them up and groom them. The Ranger had a bunch of stuff in the back of the cab, and I wouldn't have been able to fit them in that, so I decided to take the Bronco... and of course, more my reason was wouldn't it be cool to show up to the mall with a dirty, topless, lifted Bronco? -Didn't even have to think twice about that one.

So I drop off the dogs, get suckered into washing mine (she still stinks afterwards by the way), pick up what I need at the mall, then get back and pick up the dogs. Now here's where the fun begins... there are some trails around my house which I've never really explored before. I found one with the Ranger and only went about 500' before spotting a big puddle and turning around. Now that I had some spare time and the Bronco, things were different. I went down the trail, and made it through the first puddle with no problem. Figuring it was easy enough, I then attempted the second puddle at a low speed in 2wd. It started to pull me in, and I brought the truck to the outside of the puddle. I got further into it, but it pulled me back in again. Here is where I begin to notice that I have screwed myself over. I climb out the window and try to reach down and lock my hubs... My f***ing truck is too big to reach them from the hood! So I take my socks and newish sneakers off and jump into the 18-30 inches of mud (depending on where you were standing). Locked the hubs, and tried getting out of the puddle in reverse with 4x4... no luck, just dug in. Tried to turn the wheels and go forward... CLUNK! I put it in park and tried to turn the wheels, they weren't moving. Knowing that I didn't want to break a CV joint while stuck in a mud puddle on my own, I started looking around for alternative solutions.

Here's where my lack of observation smacked me across the face. There were 4 foot lengths of 6x6's everywhere... and quite a few deep ruts in the go-around. If I had noticed this, I never would have made an attempt... ok, yes I would have, but thats besides the point. I took out my (not so trusty) high lift and jacked up the front left side as far as the jack would go. This allowed me to get one of the 6x6's barely under the tire. I started up the truck again and still couldn't turn the wheels, or move in either direction. I shut it down and got to work on the front right side. After jacking it up as high as it could go, it still wasn't enough to get a 6x6 under my wheel, however after putting my jack on top of another 6x6, I was able to get it high enough and on top of the original 6x6. I turned on the truck, checked my steering -it was good, tried moving -it was bad... my back wheels were spinning, the truck had sunk down to the axel in mud. So I get my (not so trusty) hi lift out of the back of the truck again. It has so much mud in it that it doesn't want to move. Being that I left my BFH (big ****ing hammer) at home, I had to kick it (barefoot) to try and get it to work... it did.

Keep in mind, I'm doing this all barefoot, walking around, finding 6x6's and trying to jack up my truck in 18-30" of muck with two clean dogs in the truck that just love muddy water. I put another 6x6 down and jacked up the rear right side of the truck on top of it. It was just enough to slide a 6x6 under the wheel... I did the same for the right side. Great, it took about 1.5 hours, but all 4 tires are on 6x6's. I start the truck and try reverse, nothing but spinning wheels. I then try to move forward and get about 6 inches, then I'm stuck again. Right then, the finace calls and says, "I'm on my way home from work." To which I say, "That's wonderful, I'm stuck." Expecting to get flamed, I hear, "Are my dogs still clean?" After reassuring her that the dogs had not a single spot of mud on them, she went and got the Ranger and my tow straps at the house. When she got to my point on the trail, the dogs when to jump out and greet her... yet they seemed to understand her threat of beating them to bloody pulps if they got dirty, and stayed in the truck. With the Ranger and Bronco each in 4x4 connected by a 20 foot tow strap, I was finally out of the mud puddle.

So there is another example of why you don't want to wheel alone. If you do it for whatever reason, I hope you have another truck nearby that can pull you out. And yeah, I know... bite me.

 

man my feet hurt from reading this story.

glad you got out!

 

Haha... but in all honesty... aren't those the best stories to look back on? Haha...

 

I LOL at you!!! good one winky

 

Winks you bone head.... Good laugh on my end though! You are lucky those dogs stayed clean or your A$$ would have been grass....lol.

 

priceless

 

Nice story. At least you were near your house and not in the middle of nowhere on top of a snowed in mountain which is technically closed for winter That was my dumb stuck alone. Only took me 3 hours to get out.

 

Nice story winks. LOL. You could have given me a call. I wasn't around but hey it would have given me the opportunity for a good laugh. Kinda reminds me of the story I told you about that place.

 

i bought fell out of my chair laughing.....nice job winks.....that was brilliant......

i bet you be more observant next time on a trail

 

Glad I got a bit of laughs on that, I hope I wrote it well enough. And Bryan, I'd like to try that spot again if you wanna come up.

 

Best story of the day!

~HJ

 

so what was wrong with the 4wd

 

Nothing was wrong with the 4wd, I was just so stuck that I couldn't get out on my own.

 

Okay. I would love to come up. I can't right now because I need to get my fan working properly.

Yesterday I tried to use the AC and it wasn't blowing very cold. I figured it needed a recharge. So yesterday around 8pm I go to give it a recharge. The fan is flopped back toward the engine because the top two things broke off. So I have a piece of tin that is the perfect size to make a shroud to attach it to my stock shroud like Griggs did. Well I work on it till 10pm after a run to lowes. Get it perfect I mean it was beautiful. I took some pics and everything. Looked great. Then I realize I mounted it backwards. So I fix that. Now it doesn't look so good since some of the tin got bent up. But it still looks good. I sealed everything with some Silicone sealant the stuff works great. So now it is 10:30 and I go to put it in the truck. Well the fan was too close to the engine. LIke hitting the engine. I need it atleast 1 inch closer to the radiator. So I have to figure something out fast since I needed to drive to work this morning. I get mounted it looks like crap and doesn't do a good job of keeping the truck cool and it was 11:30 once I got it in the truck.

I have to fix it today. Along with working on the tile in my kitchen today. Since the inlaws are coming Saturday. Tomorrow I am going to The New Jersey Horse Farm. For a carnival/fair. Then friday I have to finish the tile so it looks nice when the inlaws get here.

If no one is going to wharton Sunday. Maybe we can go sunday if that is good for you. If not how about monday.

 

Wow, don't you hate when you do so much work, just to get something wrong?

Sunday is no good for me, as I posted in the Wharton thread, but Monday after work we could check it out if you're free.

If you need help tiling, let me know.

 

I am done tiling today I have to seal it then I have to grout it. I am going to go seal in a few minutes. I hope I am not up till after midnight on Friday.

 

Well written and humorous. Kind of makes me want to go wheeling.

 

Same here but it was 8 hours

 

Ouch... that had to suck.

 

i wasnt even trying to wheel... the snow was about half an inch deep and all of a sudden the road dipped and i burried it in 4 feet of snow, couldnt tell it was coming. well once my momentum stoped i was 4 feet down and 8 feet away from freedom. after breaking off a sign and trying to dig out for 2 hours i gave up and walked into to cell phone range (3 miles at 11 pm) and a buddy came up and pulled me out. after my hands warmed up i noticed deep cuts and could hold anything for a week... i kept that sign and lets just say i have never gone alone again... wait never mind i did and i got suck the 2nd day i bought my 03

 

That sucks.... Glad you got out. I got stuck alone in Ft Mott once and needed to walk prob about a mile until I found an s-10 blazer to come pull me out.... How embarrassing! could have called me also.. I was actually home today bored out of my mind!

 

ha ha great story

 

wow, that sucks, glad you got out

 

Thanks Pat, but you've seen my headlights in your rearview enough. I'll give you a break... for now. lol

 

and that is the same area you invited me to go check out with you. Thank god I couldn't make it! lol