All I can say, is if you have not made a trip to Northwoods Overland,
Northwoods Overland - About Us
what are you waiting for? I made my first trip there last year during dry weather in August. The miles of trails were really fun, but this time, wet weather turned the park into a Camel Trophy event.
I've never winched so much. Rains turned the soil into a black, greasy Northwoods goo, and the BF Goodrich Rugged Trail T/A's clogged instantly, generating about as much friction as a set of greasy doughnuts.
Hills the FJ scrambled over last summer required winching. I had to winch so much, that I kept the controller connected at all times.
But the greatest challenge of all occurred on a Yellow trail. Three innocuous mud puddles in a row appeared to present a decent challenge - until the FJ, with OME suspension and All Pro bumper sank until even the winch went under!
The truck went so deep, the exhaust was totally under the thick goo, and gurgled away like a Yellowstone mud pot. The three pits were sperated by steep, tire eroded root walls - absloutely night marish. For the first time ever, the Warn 8000 was not powerful to extract the truck, so I dug out a pully and doubled the line. It took 70 minutes and 6 different winch pulls both direct and off center to finally beat the obstacle; I thought I was going to tear the front bumber off.
Finally, she pulled free. The only casualty was the driver side rear bumper endcap, visible in this picture on the ground behind the truck.
It was quite an adventure and the FJ continues to impress the snot out of me. Also the addition of the OME suspension and 3.5 inches of new height made a huge difference on the trail.
But this place is much more than just good trails. There is a really nice campground with showers, electric and H2o hookups, primitive camp sites, a scramble area - and the owner is constantly upgrading. Well worth the drive!
I did the pipeline and McCaslin last fall and I would probably lean toward Overland - much nicer campground and fewer metal bending rocks, but still very challenging.
I would be interested in going back sometime in late summer or fall - perhaps some of you Illinesians might want to make the trip?
Dave
