-2003 Toyota 4runner Jamboree- sponsored by Allpro Offroad

Wow, what a disaster and fun. we left the house at about 10:00pm and picked up some gas. after that we jumped on the freeway to Johnson valley. On the way up there, 1 hour from home, the motorhome's fuel pump went out and we stalled on the middle of the freeway. I knew it was the fuel pump and we had another fuel pump under the seat so i pulled the fuel lines of the old pump and installed the new pump but it still didnt start up. I tried alot of different things like reversing the direction of the fuel pump and jumping the fuel pump so it would be on all the time, but with all the cranking the battery was beginning to go dead.

We Engaged the emergency start and it worked but we where getting tired. I poured alittle bit of gas down the carb and it started to fire then backfired and caught my hand and the intake manifold on fire. Mike grabbed the fire extinguisher and put out the flames. After about an hour of messing around with it, we got tired of the motorhome shaking from the semi's wizzing by us so we unhooked the 4runner and the tow strap and attached it to the suspension on the MH and the rear bumper bracket on the 4runner. I towed the motorhome about 1/3 of a mile off the freeway to and offramp. When we got off i started looking around, and at 1st i thought it was a golf course becasue it looked like there were ponds in it, but it was actually a 500 car parking lot for the university of irvine. This place was perfect. It was big, it was lit, and there wasnt another person for 1 mile around us. we ran the generator for power so we didnt suck the aux battery down. It was about 2:30am so we throw in the towel and called it a night.

We woke up at 5:30 and i tried to start it, hoping that time might have corrected the problem, but instead i found that the starter had it. Ed and I jumped in the 4runner and cruised around irvine looking the an auto parts store for about an 15 minutes. we found one but it didnt open until 8:00 so we had 2 hours to burn. we went back to the mh and rested up alittle more. at 8:00 we got back up. it took about 5 minutes to get the starter out and ed and i were on our way back to Kregen. We pulled up just as the manager was opening the doors. We went in and got the Hi quality $50 starter and left in about 20minutes. I stuck on the starter and i cranked over acouple times so i knew it was good. I went back to figure out why the fuel pump wasnt pushing anything. i could feel it working but i disconnected the carb line and it was as dry as a bone. i started tracing back the lines to make sure i hooked them up correctly. I had to remove a rock shield infront of the gas tank to see where one of them was going. I traced it back and saw that i had it correctly. this is where i felt like a moron. I pulled off the carb line at the fuel pump and was about to blow in it to see if there was anything blocking it when i looked and saw a black object in the fuel line. it was about 1" past the end of the fuel line so i cut the fuel line 2" back and popped the object out with a screw driver.

OH CRAP. It was the dust cap from the new pump i just installed. It was dark on the freeway and i couldnt see what i was doing and apparently i shoved the fuel pump nipple along with the dust cap inside the hose. I told everyone it was a part of the old fuel pump. I felt so embarrested. We jumped the fuel pump and fuel stated squarting out the hose so i stuck it back together. I hit the emergency start and it cranked over very slowly so i stopped and started again and this time it started up right way. everyone was happy. I put the rock shield back on, tighten up the alternator pulley because it was making noise and secured the new fuel pump to the crossmember. WE got the motorhome cleaned up and were were on our way again to Johnson valley. THe motor home felt very sluggish while going up hills. On some of the hills, were were going at 25mph up, and where it looked like there were no hills, i couldnt get the MH over 45mph. I convinced my self that we must be going up hill. We finally got the Johnson Valley and we found a place to park next the the Sponsors Vehicles. It was about 2:00 Pm and the main trail ride was almost over and some people were already coming back so we grabbed some food and drinks and went out for alittle 4wheeling. We drove up the Sledge hammer 1st major obstical and drove back because we didnt have anyone else with us. We got alittle bit of footage of me rockcrawling then we went to the sand dunes where i played around until my engine got uncomfortly hot.

By the time we got back to camp, most of the trail rides were back, and it was like a show and tell. people where just walking around checking out other people's trucks. I felt like one of the stock vehicles compared to what some of these people had. At about 6:00 they rolled out the BBQ and started roasting up burgers for us. We had Cheese burgers, potato salad, chips and soda for dinner. After dinner we had the raffle. I didnt win anything of any value, they raffled off a set of tires, gift certificates, crossover steering setups, a computer, and on and on.

After breakfast, we cleaned up and got ready to do some more 4wheeling. We loaded the 4runner with snacks and drinks and went out looking for slick rock. We headed for a small valley with some good obsticles until we got to the end of the trail. there was no where else to go so we turned around and headed back to camp but decided to check out the ARCA (American Rock Crawling Association) competition. We headed out until we thought we where lost and then we found alot of truck around a pile of rocks. We stayed around for about an hour watching the competition. we saw acouple roll-overs, winching, axle breakage and alot of team work.

It was aproching 11:30 and it was beginning to get warm so we headed back to the Motorhome. I was blasting across the desert at about 50mph and were having fun. It took us about 15min to get out there and about 5 min to get back. we were hauling bananas. we hit some pretty good bumps that got us air borne to violently that it broke my tool box in the back. we made it back to the MH in one piece and got ready to go. We connected the 4runner to the back of the MH and we were off. Its about a 10 minute drive to the paved road so we took it slow and moved along with the other motorhomes on the dirt road. right before we got on the paved road I got out to check the 4runner one more time and to make sure that i didnt leave anything open on the motor home.

Right before i got back in side and father and son pulled up beside us in a Chevy Cavalier and asked for help. Apparently we was driving on trails in big bear when they took and wrong turn and ended up in the middle of the desert until the battery crapped out and were left stranded. they were about 3 miles from the road so they walked along a river bed until they came across the paved road. They called a cab to take them 20 miles to town. They hired a tow truck to bring they back over to the river bed but he was unable to go off road so he charged him $270 and took them 20 miles back to town again. Then they bought a battery and rented the Chevy Cavalier and drove around the area looking for some one to help. They said they would pay me to help them out but i didnt know if we wanted to, so i took a poll and nobody wanted to except marina who said "Someone helped you when you needed it".

We took off in the opposite direction for about 6 miles until we came to the river bed. We didnt know if they where some homicidal killer but we took the chance in good faith. Edgar went we me along with the castaways. We drove for about 20min thought the riverbed that was covered with rocks and sand until we thought we were lost. we where driving along the tire tracks of the jeep until we spotted the 98 CHEVY BLAZER stranded. I checked the lights and everything and determined that the battery needed to be changed so i gave them the ratchet set and they replaced the battery. It still wouldnt start because they cut a wire on the alarm trying the bypass it. they touched the wires and the engine started up. I crimped it and followed on the river bed but then we went back onto the high land. We ended back up on the road and i pulled behing the motor home and they pulled behind me. Apparently when driving on the highland, they ran over a bush and popped a tire. ITs funny because when i go offroading, i never even think of my tires or getting a flat. They jacked up the blazer and replaced the tire with the spare that was not inflated properly. I told they not to drive to fast and they left.

We hooked up the 4runner again and i did one last walk around and we left. We stopped at a filling station and we filled it up with $40 worth of gas. Ironicly, a few minutes before we got there we a chrysler plowed into the right side of a '98 4runner. 4 hours later we were back at home again. we pulled in the park again to unhitched the 4runner.