Real Truck Club Challenge Report

[gzzgfw]

Saturday, I went to the Badlands to watch the real truck club challenge.
The first event was a course set in a sand bowl with pretty good hill climbs. There was only one K5 there and it seemed that he was having a pretty hard time either driving or keeping the blazer running.

Here is the K5 coming down a hill, I don't know if he is a CK5 member or not.

The second event was a Mud run but ended in a mud bog. It was pretty bottomless. This bronco was first in.

Then this slick looking jeep with skinny 38" boggers went in. It dove in hooked up his winch and nearly pulled it over on its side. Thats how deep the pit was on the drivers side.

And this cut up xploder did a nice job.

 

[jjlaughner]

you didn't see Tim out there?

 

[beater_k20]

ah memories...

 

[gzzgfw]

you didn't see Tim out there?

Nope, nor his truck. From what I heard they were short a few trucks or something like that. They got a hold of IFWDA and the Illinois association looking for a couple of trucks to fill the field but invited back one or two contestants from last year, I was surprised he wasn't one of them since Tim is from Illinois.

My perspective on this was the only thing real about this was it was real disorganized. The trucks were way more modified than orgininally intended. We got there at 10 which was start time, they started at 10:45, moved to the quarry around 12, the mud pit was to start at 1. At 2:35 the first truck was in the pit. left at 4 after 4 in the pit.
However the mud pit did make up for alot of sitting and waiting. so it was all good.

 

[jarheadk5]

...looking for a couple of trucks to fill the field but invited back one or two contestants from last year, I was surprised he wasn't one of them since Tim is from Illinois.

I'm not surprised he wasn't invited back. Tim didn't do too well in the competition IIRC. If I were the magazine guy running the event, I'd be looking for folks who can add something to the competition, and not just be a placeholder. That means re-inviting the folks who performed well.
Plus, if Tim was being "Timmaaay" (and since I wasn't there, I have no idea whether he was or not - this is not a flame or accusation) at last year's RTCC, that pretty much guaranteed he'd not be invited to another event by the mag...

 

[CyberSniper]

I'm not surprised he wasn't invited back. Tim didn't do too well in the competition IIRC. If I were the magazine guy running the event, I'd be looking for folks who can add something to the competition, and not just be a placeholder. That means re-inviting the folks who performed well.
Plus, if Tim was being "Timmaaay" (and since I wasn't there, I have no idea whether he was or not - this is not a flame or accusation) at last year's RTCC, that pretty much guaranteed he'd not be invited to another event by the mag...

He wasn't. He met some of our club members and they didn't complain. Some of them are even on the testy side.

I don't know a single person that ran it last year that said they'd ever run it again. I know the competitor from our club wasn't pleased at all.

 

[jarheadk5]

He wasn't. He met some of our club members and they didn't complain. Some of them are even on the testy side.

I don't know a single person that ran it last year that said they'd ever run it again. I know the competitor from our club wasn't pleased at all.

Interesting... That's not the first time I've heard he's totally different in person. Oh well...

So what's the problem with RTCC? The venue looks pretty cool (aside from that slightly-overdone mudpit...). Organizer issues? Sponsor issues?

 

[gzzgfw]

It was alright. The biggest hassle is the TV crews. Moving and setting up, waiting until they are ready and such. Other than that, the course were ready and the organizers were ready. But that's looking outside in. I am sure the competitors have a different take.

 

[beater_k20]

I'm not surprised he wasn't invited back. Tim didn't do too well in the competition IIRC. If I were the magazine guy running the event, I'd be looking for folks who can add something to the competition, and not just be a placeholder. That means re-inviting the folks who performed well.
Plus, if Tim was being "Timmaaay" (and since I wasn't there, I have no idea whether he was or not - this is not a flame or accusation) at last year's RTCC, that pretty much guaranteed he'd not be invited to another event by the mag...

actually, for what we were working with, the truck did VERY well. 1st event was the hill climb. water pump let go about halfway through the run, so the truck got very hot. very hot engines dont make good power. that's what happened there. i ran into town and got a new water pump, we replaced it and moved on. 2nd even was the mud pit. ended up doing pretty well up to the point that the driveshaft broke. not real sure why it broke, but it did. ended up pulling the truck out of the mud, and reassembling the CV without the center ball, as it was missing. moved on to the 3rd event (obstacle course) with the cobbled together driveshaft. we actually ran the course in 2wd, Tim driving, me spotting, with my hand on the TC shifter ready to engage at a moments notice. still took it easy so as not to trash the remains of the front driveline. that night we tore into the driveshaft and eliminated the CV altogether and ran a 1350 on the TC end of the shaft. after getting the "new" shaft into the truck, we discovered that it bound terrribly with any sort of droop. we then made a travel limiter out of a piece of chain welded to the top of the '60 and bolted to the frame. on Sunday we attacked the rock crawl with some pretty good confidence, only to be "timed out" after 5 of our 10 minutes. turns out that they didnt like our spotter being an employee of Badlands. and then the final event actually went really well, Tim skyed it out of the last mud pit, JUST crossing the finish line and shattering the front driveshaft at the same time.

so before you believe what the magazine prints, try finding out what really happened.

actually, when you put Tim behind the wheel of a truck, or behind a wrench, he is a different person than he is when he's staring at a computer screen. still very sarcastic, but overall a good guy.

 

[beater_k20]

He wasn't. He met some of our club members and they didn't complain. Some of them are even on the testy side.

I don't know a single person that ran it last year that said they'd ever run it again. I know the competitor from our club wasn't pleased at all.

which competitors? which vehicle were they with?

 

[CyberSniper]

Jason Wyglendowski, "Jay". He has a red CJ7. He's in his early 30s and has a mustache.

 

[beater_k20]

not the guy from the KZoo area then, i believe he was the one with the Farmall sticker on the hood of his Heep. those guys were assbags.