Bronco...I'll meet ya up at the McDs. I'm in Crystal Lake, so it's only about 15 - 20 minutes from me...

Cool, I'm not sure how many total trucks we have at this point we picked up a Toyota guy. So I believe we are looking at 5-6 trucks. I will be avaliable here on the site today and tommarow after that I will only be avaliable by cell phone,
The number is 815-351-1519.
I will also have my hand held radio on channel 8.
Hawk I will meet you at McDonald's around 9:30 If anyone needs better directions let me know.

I think I am still going to be in the area. If I am, I will go....then you guys can come to my place for some beers if you want afterwards.

Looking good guys. SO far we have Seven of us and we picked up three guys from the Land Rover club. So as we look right now we have ten trucks.

How many people are meeting me at McDonald's?
I Know Hawk is, anybody else?

My buddy in the Dodge said he will follow me and join us at the McDs on Sat morning....9:30 is cool for me!! I told him we were gonna meet at the bar I work at at around 9 and head up to the McDs...

So, we have 5 Xs, a Dodge, a Toy, and 3 Rovers? Is that the correct tally?

At this point I don't know if all three are Rovers. The Toyota guy is also a member of the Rover club. I believe they are open to other makes.

I'm in...
I'll meet you guys at the McDonald's and convoy out with you, I'll be there in between 9-9:30...
Is that channel 8 on the cb or frs?
Also just to clairify that McDonald's is part of a BP gas station correct?
See ya there.

I am still waiting to hear if my carpet install is going to happen or not, but if it doesn't happen, I am going to try and make it!

So as far as I can figure out these poeople are going, BroncoX, Hawk, RoofGoat, Pinoy, Lincolnellie, Mildew, 1 Toyota, 1 Dodge, and 2 possible others from the Rover group? Is this correct or am I missing anyone?

I'm still in. Broncox, what intersection is this McD's.

That would be at the Intersection of Route 12 and Route 120 in Fox Lake/ Volo area. I will be on FRS channel 8.

Pinoy, Yes it is part of a BP gas station.

I went out to the trails to check it out today. It looks pretty decent. People that have side rails definatly want to take them off. Because of the recent warm temps, it looks pretty muddy out there. Recovery gear is a must (I have a lot) and I would suggest getting a hitch receiver Shackle mount if you can get one before Sat. It should be a good time. I am going to call the guy with the Samy tonight and see if he is in. Who is up for beers afterwards? Friends of mine own a bar that is pretty cool (my sister is a bartender there). If anyone has anymore questions, feel free to ask. If anybody decides to stay later, you could always crash at my place.

I have two 20' - 10000# straps and a 10' - 10000# chain. I can't seem to find the trailer hitch shackle.....Anyone know where to get one?

You probably won't be able to order one and get it before the event, so don't sweat it. If you go to a local shop, they might have them. It is just a nice thing to have and makes pulling your ass out a lot easier.

Where do you attach a strap to in the rear to tow if there is no hitch?

If you have a hitch and no receiver shackle:

Put the loop inside the receiver and insert the dowel through the loop and put the cotter pin into the dowel. A cheap alternative to a D-shackle.

If you don't have a hitch:

You could put a D-ring through your shackles in the back. I would rather use the front tow hooks on the vehicle being recovered and the receiver shackle on the vehicle doing the recovering.

I think what I'm going to do is go get a set of shackles, and another receiver tongue, and just make my own recover hitch......

Ok I am officialy OUT for tomorrow!

Take lots of pictures so I can see what I missed!!

-erik

That sucks....

Yea it does, even though the carpet people aren't coming we've got to go through anything and everything that is on the carpet, and then pack it up and store it it somewhere so it's off any carpeted areas, so tomorrow and Sunday my wife and I will be busy! One good thing is that it'll make moving easier and make the house seem less cluttered when we go to sell it in a couple of months!

That blows....I'm bringin the gfs digital camera with extra battery, and 16, 32, and 64MB XD Memory cards, so I will have loads of pics....I'll even bring the laptop so I can upload them directly to the laptop and reuse the memory cards again and again.....

As for the hitch shackle....I went and bought a second $20 tongue and installed a shackle onto it. It sits vertically instead of horizontally, but should still work fine!!

That will work fine, what time are we meeting there?

Forget it, I found it...10:30am

had a good (although short) time with you guys. Impressed with your driving too. I'm looking forward to any stories (if any) after I left.

Hawk, you're nut with those F1 Race Tires
It took guts to tackle the stuff you did.

Hope you all made it home unscathed.

The "trail leader" who had the yellow jeep, anyone remember his name and how to get a hold of him? Was it Dave and Katie? He works for a Nissan dealer - may see if he can set me up with a new side mirror.

Yeah, rough break for you bro! (no pun intended! )We ended up being out there till about 6:00pm. We have lots of pics to post, we'll get them up as soon as possible. We got a pic that I think might make Xterra of the month. I am going to try and find you a fender. I will keep you updated.