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Written By: Sarah Caler, All-Pro Off Road GM
Pictures By: Marlon Trujillo, SiRMarlon Photography
October 24th, 2009 will be forever etched in the minds of the participants of the “Get Hammered” with All-Pro Off Road trail run, many stating it was by far the hardest trail they have ran to date. This was certainly a memorable event for all involved and we want to thank everyone for coming out.
Last year’s FJ Cruiser Challenge was such a huge success, we decided to follow it up with another IFS Hammers run, but this time we ran Aftershock. Since we had more Tacomas than FJ Cruisers this time around, we re-named the run “Get Hammered” with All-Pro, and we did just that!
Aftershock is one of the original “Hammers” trails in Johnson Valley, founded by the Victor Valley 4Wheelers. Although this trail has been ran by a few IFS trucks in the past, it is mostly traversed by trucks with short wheel-bases, solid front axles, and large tires. Making this trail harder yet, it is now part of the King of the Hammers race course, an annual rock race that has caused many of the Hammers trails to get chewed up by the buggies that race through it. It was definitely a harder trail than Claw Hammer was for the FJ Cruiser Challenge and newer IFS Toyotas have yet to make it through the entire trail.
This weekend started out Friday night with some good times back at camp, and a trip out to the appropriately named “Drunk Trail” where All-Pro’s Jon Bundrant put on a show trying to get up the first waterfall in his Polaris RZR-S, even rolling over once. But, the challenge is still out there since “as of October 23rd, 2009, no Toyota Tacoma has ever made it up the Drunk Trail,” and a FJ Cruiser has according to Jon.
Saturday morning started off with a delicious breakfast at the Johnson Valley Community Center provided by All-Pro – thanks Jon! Then we aired down, packed up and took off for the trail around 9am. On the way to the trail head, we stopped and walked to the exit, seeing the hardest part of the trail beforehand, just to make sure everyone knew what they were getting themselves into. Yet, at that point, no one hesitated at giving it a go, so we followed Jon in his FJ-40 Landcruiser to the beginning of the trail (which actually turned out to be the end of trail too!)
(Checking out the trail - driver's meeting)
The first obstacle was a 4 foot high waterfall. Most making it on their own power, 1 or 2 getting pulled up, and 1 not making it at all after breaking his rear ring and pinion – sorry about your bad luck Paul, but a little less skinny pedal next time! Paul Murphy, from Huntington Beach, CA, as indicated by his screen name HBMurphy, was hesitant about attempting this trail without a front locker. Otherwise his ’09 Tacoma was set-up with the factory e-locker, armor, 33” tires, and a front winch mount bumper. In hindsight, I guess we should have stuck to our original requirements. But then again, Paul wouldn’t have got his new nickname “Mater,” as in Tow Mater from the movie Cars – “the world’s best backwards driver” from driving backward 10 miles from the trail back to Jon’s cabin since going forward, his rear-end was locking up.
(Jon leading the way)
(The first obstacle where Paul broke)
Helping Paul back to camp was Brent Akers (Dustpark) and his wife Cheryl in their All-Pro SASed ‘07 FJ Cruiser. Brent ran Claw Hammer last year in the FJ Cruiser Challenge when his rig was still IFS. He agrees that Aftershock is much harder. Brent was gracious enough to help out on this run but perhaps needs a few more spotting lessons from Jon after he told his buddy Brian Simpson (Pelon17) to just “get on it” over a rock, resulting in a broken CV on his ’01 Tacoma. Brian didn’t have a spare, so he limped back down the trail in 3-wheel drive.
(Brent Akers, aka "Poster Boy" from last year's FJ Cruiser Challenge - doesn't disappoint trying to get another poster shot, as he does a little 3 wheelin' action of his own.)
(Brian Simpson in his '01 Double Cab Tacoma)
Also turning around early was John Economides in his red ’05 Tacoma. No shame John, even without a front locker & winch, and with a manual transmission, you still gave it hell. Thanks for coming out all the way from Arizona.
(John Economides in his '05 Tacoma from AZ)
Three down, ten IFS trucks to go, plus 6 solid axle trucks. This trail was difficult from beginning to end, pushing everyone’s trucks to their limits. The next breakage occurred when George Zoros, in his ’07 Supercharged FJ Cruiser was trying to pull Shane Williams’ ’07 Tacoma free from 2 rocks it was wedged between. The Tacoma didn’t give, but the FJs Lefty Tcase did, losing low range. George, who has been dubbed “the most interesting man in the world” due to his resemblance to the guy in the Dos Equis commercials, doesn’t always drink beer, but when he does, it is to drown his sorrows of his baby breaking!
(George Zoros with the most interesting FJ in the world)
Shane really lived up to his screen name “TacoAbuse.” Despite all the abuse, he made it through the rest of the trail, and back – but I think a winch will be his next mod. In last year’s FJ Cruiser Challenge, he rode shotgun with Jaya Lozano, but this time he decided to tackle the Hammers himself.
(Hi-Lift Jack got a lot of use)
Jaya was on hand for this one as well, but ditched his FJ Cruiser for a ’93 FJ-80 Landcruiser. He hit the trail right behind Jon, and was the only one other than Jon to attempt the last section. Once he got hung up in his solid axle FJ80, and Jon couldn’t even winch him up, the decision was made to turn around and head back down the trail, as daylight was scarce. We were up to the obstacle “depreciation knob” – I think the name is pretty self explanatory, so getting around it in the dark would have probably meant total devastation. Jon even had a bit of a tough time squeezing through in this FJ-40!
(Jaya Lozano, FJ Cruiser Challenge alumni, in his '93 FJ-80 Landcruiser)
The rest of the trail was really more of the same – big rocks, loose rocks, with enough sand in between to keep it interesting. Some amount of body damage was had by most, if not all. The obstacles proved to be a bit tight for the newer, larger vehicles, and too much for another of the first generation Tacoma CVs. John Dicus (Stealth4x4), from AZ, who had just broke one the week before, brought spares, and was able to do a trail repair in less than an hour with some help. His wife Melanie, was his trusty sidekick and even got in there to help push some trucks off the big rocks.
(John & Melanie Dicus from AZ in their '03 Tacoma)
The Rookie of the Year award goes to Stephen Frisbie (Scuba951), aka “Frodo.” He got the farthest with the least equipped truck and did surprisingly well for having an open front diff, stock gears, manual transmission, and no winch. However, he did have a slight advantage due to the short wheel base of his ’99 Tacoma Single Cab on 33s. The quote of the day came from spotter Bob Bindles when Stephen didn’t want to turn around, he was told “what you want to do and what you’re going to do and two different things.” Scuba – hope you’re not too mad about getting your valve stems pulled while you slept in your truck!
(Rookie of the Year - Stephen Frisbie, aka Scuba951)
Also exceeding our expectations was Brandon Hegg, driving his ’07 Double Cab Tacoma, so he gets the Most Improved award. He listened well to the spotters and put his newly installed All-Pro plate style rear bumper to the test. Great job Brandon!
(Brandon Hegg - Most Improved in his '07 Tacoma)
Brandon’s other two amigos – Tom Page and Denny Trujillo also tackled this trail in style, both in ’08 Double Cab Tacomas with All-Pro Long Travel kits, trying some harder lines. I knew these guys wouldn’t have a problem! Thanks goes out to Denny’s brother Marlon for all the great pictures.
(Tom Page - "MonkeyProof")
(Denny Trujillo getting his '08 Tacoma a little too close for comfort)
Thanks is also due to All-Pro employee Pepe Palomo and his brother Carlos. It would have been a really long night on the trail without you guys! Instead it was a really long night around the campfire. Everyone was really impressed with your spotting abilities, and even more impressed with Pep’s truck the “Macho Taco.”
(All-Pro employee Pepe Palomo in the "Macho Taco")
Mike Kirsch, “FJFunJunkie” was indeed a lot of fun, both on and off the trail. I mean, this guy drinks beer out of a horn! His ’07 FJ Cruiser liked to get hung-up, but had probably never seen rocks that big before. It even “bled” as the low hanging rear diff cover left a trail of red as its paint scraped off. Thanks goes out to your friend who showed up at 3 in the morning to keep the party going.
(Mike's "Pig" - nice tube doors!)
The other FJ Cruiser in the group belonged to Eric Peters, “E-Rocker”, who truly rocked the Hammers. He and a few others couldn’t get enough, so they ran Lower Big Johnson the next day. Let’s just say he’s a glutton for punishment. He definitely got the most body damage, taking out his passenger side door – twice. Eric, you really need a someone to ride along with you to keep an eye on that side!
(Eric Peters - aka "E-Rocker" in his '08 FJ Cruiser)
Last, but not least, was my truck. Actually it was the first IFS up the trail, but that means last on the way back, that is until we got off the trail and hit the open desert, then it was first again thanks to the long travel! From the last Hammers run to this one, there was definitely a noticeable difference from the LT kit. My only carnage was a small dent in the passenger front fender behind the tire, but I’m getting fiberglass fenders soon anyhow, and my driveshaft got candy-caned, so it’s time to re-tube.
(Jon Bundrant spotting Sarah Caler's '08 All-Pro Tacoma)
We all got back to Jon’s cabin around 9pm and enjoyed some gourmet hamburgers and then we really got hammered! Although it was a long day, we really did great considering we did almost the entire trail twice! Even though we weren’t able to tackle the whole trail, I still consider it a success. I mean, we were pretty much attempting something that had never been done before, especially with the trail in that condition. All I can say is this was one of the best groups and it was a pleasure wheelin’ with everyone. Thanks again for coming out.
Lesson of the Day: TURN YOUR FRONT LOCKER ON!
Long Distance Award: George Zoros from New Mexico
Rookie of the Year Award: Stephen Frisbie
Most Improved: Brandon Hegg
Best Carnage: Paul Murphy
Most Body Damage: Eric Peters
(Chicks dig body damage)
(Spotter Bob Bindles in his FJ-40 Landcruiser - aka "the naked guy on the couch")
(Look who else showed up to get schooled by Team All-Pro!)
LOOK FOR A FULL FEATURE STORY IN 4WD TOYOTA OWNER MAGAZINE!
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