Myself, Matt, Nick, and Kat. Saturday it rained like you wouldn't believe. We were glad we took the blue/black route. Our guide was good about picking the appropriate trails to challenge all of us. we had about 12 vehicles in the group. Very interesting terrain. there were a lot of hill climbs, humps in the trail, rock gardens and enough to keep it interesting. if it were dry it would be a good trip for vehicles on 33" tires but when wet it was tough on everyone. there was a lot of 2nd and 3rd gear hills while bouncing off the rev limiter because of the wet leaves and mud. Sunday we tried Guru after sitting in the blue/black line for a couple hours not making much progress because of all the little jeeps. we teamed up with a guide in the back of the pack and hit a Black/Red trail. definitely a red trail in the rain. there were a lot of obstacles that reminded us of Whompum and voodoo but with mud and wet leaves. Lots of Winching. Oh yeah and my rear ARB locker is still not working. busted my track bar mount off the front axle. Again it was a rock Krawler brand product and it didn't bust at the weld. It sheared the 1/4" metal in half. Needless to say I had to evacuate the shortest way out and limp back to the trailer. Matt and Nick finished the trail and exercised the winches heavily. I'd like to go back when I get the rear locker replaced and get the track bar mount rebuild. I think I'll gusset my control arm mounts while I'm at it. Glad the house turned out nice. Thanks all for a great time out there.

My pics: http://s228.photobucket.com/albums/ee227/Madness-N-Mayhem/Rock%20Run%202008%20Oct%2025-26/

Nicks pics: http://picasaweb.google.com/njf128/RockRun_10_2526_08

How did Ginger like the trails?

I forgot I never answered this. She was pretty good. She didn't like being in the back seat and getting her back there is a challenge but when we were moving she layed down & stayed put. Apparently she was whimpering when I was gunning it up one of the slippery hills. I didn't hear her but Dave told me. Because of that he probaby won't let me take her much.

So after my winch malfunctioning on this trip, I pulled the control box apart this weekend. After some testing malfunctions and a few sparks here and there (all from operator error of course) it appears that the problem is just one of the solonoids (the bottom right one to be exact). I had a replacement that wasn't exactly the right type but by putting it in we were able to get the motor running again...although it wasn't enough to turn the winch. I'm ordering 4 new solonoids from db electric. It doesn't appear that too many people carry this replacement solonoid for my winch (the Warn 9000) and it was cheaper to get 4 so I figured I might as well get them. That should give me enough spares for awhile. Hopefully when they come in and I get one hooked up everything will be fine.

Matt - do you have a Warn 8000 or did you just mount your control box in a different place?