While my parents were visiting a couple weeks back my dad decided rather than sit in LA traffic to see the sites again, that he would rather see the mountains. So i loaded them up in the 4runner, and first hit Lake Arrowhead, and Big Bear for lunch.


Then I decided to "show them the mountains" ....





for those of you from the local area here, you should know this spot well...



Yes we did the full loop, no my dad didn't have another heart attack

Sorry no really cool wheeling shots from this round.

and for those people that never seem to believe my little 4runner hits the trails i snapped some pics of the trail abuse before fixing what i could.



90% of that came out with a quick buff... the rest will come out next time around i'm sure.



and my FJ wheels are no longer mint, but she still cleans up pretty good

thats one of the cleanest looking rigs ive ever seen! Nice combo, i love everything about it.

HA! I'm not the only guy who buffs the scratches out after!!! Nice pics man! I really like the look you've got going on with your rig too!

I would never try and get the scratches out of mine. Its par if its character, and scratches from rocks dont buff out..... Then again it didnt ever look that shiny since I owned it.

So i see you ran up the the old pontiac on pontiac sluice. Did you run the loop up to the top of the mountain. Its got a little fun spot here and there

Yeah we ran the whole loop, I wasn't aiming for the hardest lines by any means, but the truck always impresses me with what its capable of...... of course that stock e-locker helps things a bit too.

We had to come in the back way off of the 18 (38 was shut down for the fuel spill) so we had a lot of dirt/light rock road driving even to get to it, otherwise i would have like to spend some more time.

When did they shut down the climb out from broom flats is it?

As far as the scratches, yeah they have to come out! For now I still use the truck for a little bit of everything ... Towing, to trails, to IKEA runs to make the g/f happy.

Very clean runner. I know the spot, here is a pic I took last time I was there.

looking good man. so whats the story behind that wrecked car?

I don't know the story behind it , but I'm sure it was a blast driving it there. It is a long way from a good road.

Wow you really did give them the tour if you took them on Heartbreak Ridge

Here is my pic from a few weeks ago. That trail about gave me a heartattack in a few spots though. That is the most difficult trail I have done to date as I am still new to whellin'. I just started a year ago.

PS I buff out the scratches to as it is my daily driver for work

Dave

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Nice! Pontiac/Heartbreak is a fun little trail. That real leany section on the way down the loop always makes me pucker a little. I think it's the 100' cliff maybe.

quick question Stick Figure,

what did you use to remove the scratches?

I had the same issue last time when I went wheeling..

I always wondered if it was left over from days when there may have been a better road in there for the mining operation.

Its not the size of the cliff, as much as the fact there is nothing to catch you if you slide off. A couple trees would make this a little less nerve racking.



3M Perfect-It 3000 Rubbing Compound, 3M Rubbing Compound, 3M Perfect It 3

That and a Makita buffer is what i use.

Keep in mind though this isn't a magical fix, you will eventually buff your paint away. The good news (for my paint anyway) is that i don't tend to wheel all that often, and when i do i try to avoid doing that. I've only pin striped it a couple times out of all my adventures. This time around it was brush the tree or risk real damage taking a harder line. Until I build my sliders and get some skid plates I would rather drive out with scratches than have to be towed out with out them.

I know you wheel you truck, I remember you posting up GM runs solo when you first joined the forum. The only issue I have is that you do it solo all the time. Can you do me a favor and keep my number handy in case you have an issue. I will gladly come help you out if you break down or get stuck. Brian2sun is a local up there and I am sure he would come help you out of a situation as well as many others on here. Better yet take a second vehicle with you. Anyways glad to see you gave your parents the nickle tour of the mountain. Looked like a good day.

Yeah^^. I would definitely also be willing to help out any fellow members if they get into trouble up here. PM me if any of you would like to get my phone number. You never know when you might need it.

Pikeman the comment about people not believing it gets dirty was more from a "car show" we did mid summer. I really didn't have anything car wise worth showing, but being a ricer show and have a 4x4 category i figured i would clean up the truck and see what happens. The judge didn't seem to believe that I ever took it on more than a dirt road since it wasn't as been up and scratched as his rig.

As far as wheeling alone, yeah I do have Pikeman's number and it wouldn't hurt to have Brian2sun's as well as others. I usually go solo vehicle for the sheer fact that my trips are more ... "what do you want to do today? ... eh lets take the truck to play" ... or after a hike the g/f saying "um where the hell are we going now". Nothing ever has much planning to it. I do try to pick places and lines that are appropriate for someone with out a "plan b" just to keep things on the safer side though.