Date: Fri, 29 May 2015 20:42:08 -0700
Reply-To: Alistair Bell <albell@SHAW.CA>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Alistair Bell <albell@SHAW.CA>
Subject: Re: Warning to VanagonPilots
In-Reply-To: <0013803D-546C-44B2-9091-548D15F80E9A@Comcast.net>
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The heck with the caliche, you're paddling a prospector clone?
Alistair
> On May 29, 2015, at 8:38 PM, OlRivrRat <OlRivrRat@COMCAST.NET> wrote:
>
> I've been driving the BackRoads of NewMexico for 45Yrs & have, on WayTooMany Occasions, found myself forced to SlippySlide along
>
> on miles of Wet Caliche Surfaced roads ~ This past weekend, while taking the ShortRoute from ABQ to ElVado Dam for a ChamaRiverRun,
>
> I encountered 3Mi's of the LovelyStuff right @ the VeryEnd of that S'R' (the TailEnd of which is 16Mi's of Dirt) ~ I Trolled that 3Mi's @ 1-3
>
> MPH & actually spent 75Yrds of it Clawing my way (miraculously) out of a Ditch & in the end, made it (VeryThankfully), to my destination ~
>
> The next day I drove the 55Mi's to the TakeOut, Parked VDubaru for the weekend, & headed back to the PutIn in a friends truck, Completely
>
> Unaware of the Damage that had been done to my RearTires in that 55Mi's ~ 3&aHalf days later, after a Wonderful 28Mi RioRun (including
>
> 8Mi's of Class 2-3 WhiteH2O Solo in my 16Ft Bell Chestnut Prospector) I was back in my VDubaru & heading home ~ After just 5Mi's more
>
> of dirt & 2Mi's of HiWay my RearPass'Side Tire Blew & I had to drive on it for about 1/2Mi to a RestArea ~ On pulling that Tire I discovered
>
> that the EntireArea above the TrailingArm from the Shock to the Front of the WheelWell was a VerySolidMass of DriedCaliche, that had been
>
> been fractured into several pieces by SuspensionAction but remained mostly intact ~ I broke it up with a hammer & got it out of there ~ The
>
> DriverSide was similar but Tire appeared to be Fine so I assumed that I had Damaged the PassSideTire during the Torture I had PutItThrough
>
> while trying to get out of the Ditch back on the 1st day ~ I kept the speeds low the rest of the way home as I was not TerriblyConfident in my
>
> Spare & got home without further incident ~ The next day I pulled the DriverSide to inspect & be sure I had gotten all of the Caliche cleared
>
> away & found that it also had been damaged beyond further safe usage ~
>
> Pics of tires & 1 Chunk of Mud I saved here ~
>
> https://plus.google.com/photos/109991183317103413704/albums/6154147871482117665?banner=pwa&gpsrc=pwrd1
>
> Some info about Caliche here ~
>
> http://azdailysun.com/a-mud-like-no-other-caliche/article_102317ed-73e2-5039-b2e4-0f7dc88159ba.html
>
> ORR ~ DeanB
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