|
First Annual Canadian 49th Parallel Run
June 28 to July 2, 2003
Osovoos, British Columbia, Canada
Page
2
 Yep, it’s funny when I think back, but to have a small convoy of S-series trucks
all parked in a driveway, each with their own pair of legs sticking out form
underneath. Ryan and Andrea made the necessary repairs to their Jimmy. Rocco was
able to track down a new tranny mount at the local auto parts store. And
Craig??? Well, he was in a pile of trouble. Where exactly am I going to find a
spare front shaft… especially the ones for the second generation? Ryan Fulcher
kindly offered to hit a few of the boneyards with me, only to find all of them
closed for the long weekend. Panic was setting in. None of the Dealers had
anything
 in stock and I was rather disgusted with the fact that the shaft I just
broke was only two days old. I felt that putting the same piece of junk back in
would be useless. Ryan then suggested that we try to fab up something completely
new. Not a bad idea. He knew a fabricator in town who would be more than happy
to help out. So the brainstorming began. We decided that a double cardon joint
would be required and a slip yoke, just to ensure that there is some movement.
Fulcher had a shaft off his Wagoneer that he was willing to part with and if we
could get the fabricator to use the existing splined end as well as the yoke end
on my broken shaft, mate these onto the Wagoneer shaft, we would be sailing. So
it was off to the fabricator later that afternoon. Ryan has much confidence in
him so I felt assured that we would be able to come up with a reasonable
solution.
3:30 in the afternoon we arrive at the shop. Ryan Fulcher introduces
Ryan Egger and me to Wally, the miracle worker. Enclosed within his wonderful
shop are all the necessary pieces of equipment to “Get the job done”. Wally’s
experience with fabrication began in Germany almost 50 years ago. He is
considered one of the best in his trade. Amazing how a little town can hide such
a wonderful treasure
 such as Wally. We went on explaining to him our dilemma and
amongst all of us, we came up with a plan. Wally of course would make our plans
come to reality. Looking at my broken shaft, he was able to lathe down all the
nonsense that makes up the CV portion of the shaft and salvage the splined
female end that would be reused on the Wagoneer shaft. This end would then fit
on the splined end of the transfer case. Now you might be asking yourself why I
keep mentioning a CV end on my front drive shaft. Most of you are familiar with
the first generation trucks, where both ends of the shaft used a universal
joint. Well some GM engineer in their great wisdom decided to go with a CV end
on the front shaft and a universal joint on the differential end with the second
generations. Talk about a weak link. Wally then proceeded to remove the yoke on
the broken shaft to be refitted and reused on the Wagoneer shaft. As time went
on,
 we got a visit from Wally’s wife. She was a little concerned that he hasn’t
eaten yet and that they both were missing a birthday party. We all decided to
take a break for a couple of hours and get right back into it. I was beginning
to feel bad as it was a Friday evening, Wally was missing a party and he already
put in a full day before the S-10 boys showed up. But for this guy, it truly is
a labor of love. Later that evening, we got a call from Ryan to return to the
shop. There we find Wally lining things up on the lathe. Things were looking
pretty good. He tacked the ends on and we proceeded to try it on. The splined
end fit just nice. The double cardon joint barely clears the cross member, but
enough room to avoid trouble. We found however that the shaft was a little too
long and we couldn’t fit the other end into the yoke on the differential. Out it
came and Wally went ahead to shorten it by half an inch. There isn’t much for
spline on the slip yoke so we had to be careful only to take off what was
necessary. After a few more refits, the shaft finally fit. The ultimate test was
to come.
 So driving along the alley at about 70 km per hour, I would play with
the 4WD system. It was working perfect! All of us gave Wally our biggest thanks
and headed back for camp. It was close to getting locked out for the night so we
had to make tracks back to camp. Driving down the road, I decided to try the 4WD
again. Flawless. No vibrations, no binding… nothing. I was a happy camper again.
That night, while sitting around with the group, it was quite evident that Wally
became a god to us and we also decided to credit him with the first ever
aftermarket front driveline component for the S-series. We named it the “Wally
Shaft”. Now some in our group would rather call it the “Wally Frankenshaft”, but
to me that shaft was a work of art!!! So “Wally Shaft” is what I claim it to be.
Each time I hit that push button 4WD, I’m gonna think of Wally! It wound up
being a long day for all of us. All the wrenching, grinding and tears makes most
grown men tired, so it was off to bed for a 9 a.m. start in the morning.
Sunday morning came quick. But everyone was eager to hit the trails
again. This time round we would have a full complement going. All glitches taken
care of. Big Jimmy went thru some trimming, the SFA-10 stuffed with a new tranny
mount, and Craig’s ride sporting the all-new “Wally Shaft.” We were a happy
bunch. Things felt much better going in to this run. While Rocco and I had to
keep watching our temp gauges, everything else seemed all right. About an hour
into our ride, Big Jimmy peeps out on the radio that they were having troubles.
Our trail boss found a somewhat shady place to stop for us and help out Ryan and
Andrea. They were having troubles with the right rear drum brake. I guess the
drum was not quite the right size and would not allow the brake cable assembly
inside to stay tight. The slack in the cable allowed a clip to fall off, thus
making a bit of noise to catch the “Ol man’s attention”. About 20 minutes later,
we were back on the trail. Trial boss took us down to a lake where one of the
local ranchers ran cattle. There were quite a number of cattle around and mixed
among them, 3 good-looking horses enjoying the native grasses on the hillside.
The scenery was always entertaining. It was getting
 well into the day and we all
decided that it was time to head back for camp, grab some lunch and plan the
evening’s trip. Back at camp, we all decided to relax and socialize. The group
got to talking about doing this trip again for next year. There was talk that
the same trails we were riding in Osoyoos would be closed by then, so our
discussions took us to alternative sites. The discussions will resume at a later
date. Tyler and Joanne decided that it was time for them to head back home.
Joanne had a touch of the flu and we all could relate to being sick in the hot
weather. We all said our farewells and safe travels. While the rest of the group
decided to wind down, perhaps hit the lake for some swimming we awaited for the
cooler weather for the evening. While walking down to the beach, some of us were
entertained by a Lincoln Navigator all hung up on a concrete sign block. It’s
quite entertaining watching a bunch of rich yuppies help this fella off the
block. He was developing quite the spectator scene, when we finally arrived and
the first thing that ran through my mind is… “Too bad we all didn’t pull up
right beside this poor bugger in our trucks and offer to help. Heh heh, I bet
that would have changed the minds of most of them yuppies. Anyways, the wealthy
ones there finally jacked this dude off the block. He finally decided to back
the Navigator off the rest of the way, without realizing that he darn near tore
off half of this air damn. Just when we were prepared to watch the air damn stay
behind, it snapped over the anchors installed on the top of the block. It’s
seems that all the wealthy ones have all the luck.
Sunday evening came around and the group all-full of supper decided it was time
to hit the trails again. The weather seemed to take a slight turn which somewhat
intimidated us, but we hoped for the best. Our trail boss led the way. Nothing
really happened per se, other than a brief stop to get that bum leg on Big Jimmy
fixed again, Oh yeah, and remove one loose shock tower, but the group proceeded
forward. Rocco and I found a grassy area on the top of a flat to climb around.
Rocco found some great rock piles that entertained him for a while otherwise it
was a cool and scenic ride. By the time we made it back to the highway, we were
19 km from camp and it was getting close to closing time at the gates, the group
found a Chevron, aired the tires back up, fueled up and headed for base. We
talked amongst each other and decided Monday’s itinerary. Since Pete needed to
be back in Westbank (where his granny lives) that day, and I was under extreme
pressure to let the Y/L do some shopping, it was agreed that we would make a
trip in to Kelowna for the day. Yeah, otherwise I would have been in them
trails. Amazing the power of a mall. At the same time, while in Kelowna, Ryan
Egger and I decided to figure out why my truck was overheating. I won’t go into
too much detail other than we must of hit every Lordco auto parts store on the
way out to change one part at a time to fix the problem… only to find that when
we arrived back in Osoyoos to join our Trail Boss for dinner at his place, the
thing that kept my engine running hot was a good for nothing air pocket in the
radiator. All that grief over a pocket of air. We enjoyed a wonderful dinner
prepared by Ryan Fulcher’s mom, socialized for a little while and headed back
for camp. Later that evening, while talking amongst the group, we were quite
happy with the weekend’s events. Andrea and Ryan felt that the weekend really
exposed some of the weaknesses with Big Jimmy. Rocco and Tiffany decided it was
time for a new rad and an LT1. I realized that my truck does break! It’s been
years since I’ve had a break on the trails and sometimes, good common sense can
build you a better component. I am also very thankful to have met the group of
people who enjoyed that weekend as much as I did. Everybody helped each other
out in some way and by doing so kept all of us on the trails. A big thanks goes
out to all of you!!!
While Tuesday morning rolled around, we all knew that it was time to
pack up camp and travel back into reality. Blah! Those of us remaining decided
to catch the Canada Day Parade along Main Street in Osoyoos and grab some
brunch. At this point, we gave our goodbyes and each went our own ways. It was a
great weekend. I don’t think I would have done anything different, other than
hope a few more will join us for next year, if we can pull it off. Thanks for
the wonderful weekend to all who participated and let’s hope for a 2nd Annual
49th Parallel Run for 2004!!!
Happy Wheeling!
Submitted by
Craig Sapriken (aka Mr.Hay)
Thanks Craig for the great write-up!
Previous Page
Next Page and More Pictures
|
