1057753
So there I was, in the middle of the Oceano beach stuck in the sand after only 5 minutes thinking "great...what now?". This was 6 years ago, I was living in southern California, and I had put my Jeep on steriods (i.e. a 4" lift, bigger tires, etc.) just days earlier and this was the first time taking it out on a real off roading test drive. This "test drive" happened to be at the Oceano Beach State Vehicle Recreational Area (SVRA) about 4 hours north of Los Angeles. After sulking in self-pity for a few moments, I realized...that...would you believe...I still had it in 2WD. So I put it in 4WD and off she goes, pulls out of the sand pit with the greatest of ease...and my confidence soars!!! Therein lies the problem.
I suddenly felt that I could take virtually anything. The Oceano SVRA was also home of Oceano Dunes...an area were the wind blows sand dunes as high as 15-20 feet and for miles you can see a seemingly enless landscape of dune after dune after dune as though you're on Mars or some other planet. So after getting my burst of confidence, I set my eyes on a nearby dune and charge eastward toward it. As I go up and over, I got a mildly strange feeling. But before I could feel too strange that feeling was interruped by a sudden boom as I was jolted forward toward the windsheild, luckily restrained by my seatbelt. Then my YJ suddenly stalled and cut off. I'm thinking "something really odd just happened...but what". Here I am in the middle of a seemingly non-earthly landscape and my Jeep is apparently very unhappy. Should I be? After clearing the mental cobwebs, I get out to inspect my Jeep, I realize that there is some damage to front wheel....no, the front wheel and axle...and shocks...and springs...and....
As I began to piece together what happened, I realized that I had just driven up the sanddune and flown off a ledge/hazard called a slipface at about 15-20 mph. My Jeep apparently became airborne as it simultaneously plummeted anywhere from 10 to 20 feet before hitting the ground. The scenery of endless sky above and endless sanddunes below had completely deadened my visual senses so I didn' t have a clue what has happening as it happened. I had to put it all together afterwards.
During the fall, the Jeep gradually turned from it's horizontal position when it was normally footed on all fours to a near vertical nose dive. Luckily for me and my Jeep, the impact occured just before the Jeep was completely vertical (thus avoiding a 100% fender impact) or even worse, an inverted (or upside-down) landing. The slightly off-vertical position caused the front right tire to take the brunt of the impact. Because the Jeep was nearly vertical on impact, the right side of the axle was driven up (or backwards) into the rest of the suspension. The spring was twisted up quite literally like a pretzel, the shock was shaped like a "V" since the axle was pushed up (or backwards) at least a foot. Of course everything else connected to those components were damaged in some way. Amazingly, I was uninjured with the exception of a seat belt burn which appeared the next day and while damaged, my jeep was actually still driveable....at least enough to get it to a shop under it's own power.
As I later learned, there are several accidental deaths at Oceano Dunes SVRA each year due to that very hazard. But most of those unlucky souls were in ATV's and end up landing upside down or something like it. It took more than 2 months and over $5500 to put my YJ back together again. I was completely honest and my insurance company actually paid for it!!! ...but that's another story. Over the next few years, my YJ and I became very accustomed to the body shop but that was my wildest and wierdest experience.
Ken[addsig]
So there I was, in the middle of the Oceano beach stuck in the sand after only 5 minutes thinking "great...what now?". This was 6 years ago, I was living in southern California, and I had put my Jeep on steriods (i.e. a 4" lift, bigger tires, etc.) just days earlier and this was the first time taking it out on a real off roading test drive. This "test drive" happened to be at the Oceano Beach State Vehicle Recreational Area (SVRA) about 4 hours north of Los Angeles. After sulking in self-pity for a few moments, I realized...that...would you believe...I still had it in 2WD. So I put it in 4WD and off she goes, pulls out of the sand pit with the greatest of ease...and my confidence soars!!! Therein lies the problem.
I suddenly felt that I could take virtually anything. The Oceano SVRA was also home of Oceano Dunes...an area were the wind blows sand dunes as high as 15-20 feet and for miles you can see a seemingly enless landscape of dune after dune after dune as though you're on Mars or some other planet. So after getting my burst of confidence, I set my eyes on a nearby dune and charge eastward toward it. As I go up and over, I got a mildly strange feeling. But before I could feel too strange that feeling was interruped by a sudden boom as I was jolted forward toward the windsheild, luckily restrained by my seatbelt. Then my YJ suddenly stalled and cut off. I'm thinking "something really odd just happened...but what". Here I am in the middle of a seemingly non-earthly landscape and my Jeep is apparently very unhappy. Should I be? After clearing the mental cobwebs, I get out to inspect my Jeep, I realize that there is some damage to front wheel....no, the front wheel and axle...and shocks...and springs...and....
As I began to piece together what happened, I realized that I had just driven up the sanddune and flown off a ledge/hazard called a slipface at about 15-20 mph. My Jeep apparently became airborne as it simultaneously plummeted anywhere from 10 to 20 feet before hitting the ground. The scenery of endless sky above and endless sanddunes below had completely deadened my visual senses so I didn' t have a clue what has happening as it happened. I had to put it all together afterwards.
During the fall, the Jeep gradually turned from it's horizontal position when it was normally footed on all fours to a near vertical nose dive. Luckily for me and my Jeep, the impact occured just before the Jeep was completely vertical (thus avoiding a 100% fender impact) or even worse, an inverted (or upside-down) landing. The slightly off-vertical position caused the front right tire to take the brunt of the impact. Because the Jeep was nearly vertical on impact, the right side of the axle was driven up (or backwards) into the rest of the suspension. The spring was twisted up quite literally like a pretzel, the shock was shaped like a "V" since the axle was pushed up (or backwards) at least a foot. Of course everything else connected to those components were damaged in some way. Amazingly, I was uninjured with the exception of a seat belt burn which appeared the next day and while damaged, my jeep was actually still driveable....at least enough to get it to a shop under it's own power.
As I later learned, there are several accidental deaths at Oceano Dunes SVRA each year due to that very hazard. But most of those unlucky souls were in ATV's and end up landing upside down or something like it. It took more than 2 months and over $5500 to put my YJ back together again. I was completely honest and my insurance company actually paid for it!!! ...but that's another story. Over the next few years, my YJ and I became very accustomed to the body shop but that was my wildest and wierdest experience.
Ken[addsig]
i had the time of my life, grinning from ear to ear the whole rest of the day (halloween)... and my jeep was COVERED head to toe in caked on mud... it was fun! and then when i went trick-or-treating (no age restrictions on that! leave me alone...
But heck they´re not heartless.
