Shakedown run for my rebuilt engine and my first Badge of Honor check-in.
After getting my Jeep back together finally after the engine rebuild, cooling upgrade, and alternator swap, I wanted to take it for a test drive. I noticed that the closest trail in the Jeep Badge of Honor app was Beasly Knob.
I had been to Beasly about ten years ago. It is a small trail system in north Georgia near Blairsville. I knew I would never be too far from the trailer if something went wrong. I recruited Robert and Tom to go along in case I needed a tow.
We entered at the propane tanks on Rosemary Drive. I had a little trouble getting my F250 into 4wd for the pull up the gravel hill. I think my old Suburban would have pulled it easily. But the trip there and back was much better in the Ford. I paid the fee at the Chevron before getting to eh park, but there is a self-pay kiosk there as well.
I took a picture of the map since it is different from the one online. I don’t think either is exactly correct. I checked in with the App at the trailhead.
We headed up trail 93. They are all numbered 93 which is a bit confusing. We eventually turned up one of the trails labeled more difficult. 93C maybe.
The first obstacle to cath out my support crew was a tight turn around a tree with a rock in the way. I bounced across it easily, but Roberts Toyota was just a bit too long and hed was having trouble with the tree. So he decided to back out rather than risk body damage.
Tom then hopped in with his Amigo. Without lockers, he was having trouble finding traction. We started stacking rocks for him when I noticed his front drive was not working. He mentioned he had had trouble with that before but it had then worked OK.
We got some help from some 4 wheelers that wanted to pass and got him pushed back out of the hole. We then headed back down the hill and toward the opposite trailhead.
Along the way, we stopped to asses the damage.
I found Tom’s axle shaft was pulling out of the hub disengaging the spline when the wheel was at droop. Probably lost the snap ring that holds it in place. Either way, we were not fixing it on the trail so we continued to the opposite trailhead.
We dropped off the Isuzu and Tom jumped in my passenger seat. We then ran 93D and F with included some nice rocky climbs. Robert made it up this just fine in his Toyota. He got high centered once, but we stacked some rocks and got him through without a tug.
We finally made it back to the trailer. My Jeep did really well. The only carnage was an exhaust hanger I damaged when I was backing up to the tree obstacle. The engine ran cool and there was no knock. I had one small issue with heat soak but not nearly as bad as it has been in the past.
