Derek's 1997 Jeep XJ

IFWDA Spring Fling, May 18-20, 2001
Badlands Off-Road Park, Attica, IN

After joining the Iron Horse 4x4 Club, I joined a few Iron Horse members and attended the Indiana Four Wheel Drive Association 2001 Spring Fling. This event featured rally style trail rides, food, a raffle, and a bunch of new 4x4 friends to meet. In addition to my fellow Iron Horse members, a couple of friends from MadXJ joined me as well.

We arrived at the camp site on Friday, May 18th. The organized rally style trail ride started the next morning. Before the trail rides started, my friend Scott from MadXJ joined me for some fun in the rock quarry. There is a little mini Rubicon section along the quarry that worked our way through. You may notice that Scott's XJ has lost its doors since the MadXJ Mid Winter Run at Land Between the Lakes in KY.

Here I am going through the same obstacles as Scott. It was a little harder for me because I don't quite have the lift or tires that Scott does, but I managed to make it without too much problem. Having lockers front and rear helps out a lot :-)

After we played around for an hour or so, we returned to join up with the organized trail rides. Scott and I ran the most difficult trails. The following are a few pictures of the trail ride.

My favorite 4x4 picture ever is shown below. This is a stock XJ pulling an Army Humvee that is stuck on a tiny sand hill that any stock XJ or TJ can easily climb. XJ 1, Humvee 0.

If you have ever run at the Badlands, you are no doubt familiar with the infamous "Sniper Pit" on the Pink trail (bottom left).

This is my first time attempting the Sniper Pit since installing the Lock Rite in the front diff. The first attempt in first gear was unsuccessful. It was pretty muddy, so I gave it another try with a little more momentum using second gear. It worked and for the first time ever I conquered the Sniper Pit! (bottom middle).

Scott also attempted the Sniper Pit. He was a little more adventurous and tried a new line. It took him a few tries, but he also made it through this obstacle (bottom right).

Finally, here is a group shot of the trail ride from Sunday May 20th.

Home My 1997 XJ Co-Pilot Pictures

This web page was created by Derek Paschal.

Last updated on 26 Nov 2006.

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