Top Truck Challenge 2008 - Shake, Battle & Roll

Wood's CJ-5

Day 1 Event 2
The Frame Twister
What it is and how it works: Last year, the Frame Twister lived up to its name and trashed both framerails on Jeff Fink's TJ. Naturally we made the course harder this year. We added a 250-foot section that included an S-turn that forced competitors to travel over rocks and other brutal terrain before even getting to the evil, strategically-placed, car-sized boulders. Once they battled through the boulders, the competitors had to travel through water and dirt before coming face to face with the Frame Twister's most dreaded obstacle: logs placed perpendicular to the direction of travel with gaping chasms filled with mud and water. Time limit: 10 minutes. Penalties in the form of seconds were assessed for infractions such as winching. This year, three rigs powered through the course without winching.

Finish Line Quotes
"I've been waiting 16 years to do that. That was awesome. That was worth the whole entire trip and the whole entire event."
-Clayton Kraatz

"A little disappointing, but you know what? We're here to run it. I'm happy that the suspension actually held."
-Cheston Beck

"Pedal on the right, man. Pedal on the right. That was great. I loved it."
-Hoby Hulbert

"We were hoping to hit the middle, bounce, hit the last set of logs and goon through. I don't know what happened, but it didn't happen that way."
-Jeremy Naeger

"Oh man, what a rush."
-Brandon Lammers

"That's a good time. I almost want to do it again."
-Byron Hair

The Nitty-Gritty
Beck's International: Crunched the passenger door in the boulders. The team was only 10 seconds behind the Warthog's time when entering the logs. Unfortunately, the suspension bumpstops were too short, and when the rig hit the second log, this allowed the front-axle suspension links to smash the oil pan, which also damaged the sump and pump. The team chose to end their run less than 12 feet from the finish line.

Hair's Wagoneer: Easily crawled the boulders and attempted to power through the logs several times. A violent bounce off a log bent the tie rod and threw the rig slightly sideways, forcing the team to winch across the finish line.

Hulbert's Willys: Slow calculated run at the beginning. Came close to rolling over in the boulders. Hit the logs under power and floated the big 49s over the logs and the side-marker posts for a winch-free finish.

Kraatz' Warthog: Incredibly fast run. Used front "dig" on tight corners. Tipped precariously in the boulders and caught major air after charging the logs at full speed. Only penalized 8 seconds for two back-ups.

Lammers' Bronco: Ran with 3 psi in the front tires and 2 psi in the rear tires in hopes the tires would fold and pull over the logs better. Slow run with rear steer problems and lots of penalties. Winched over the finish line while on the clock.

Morris' Buggy: Great run utilizing rear steer with only one 4-second penalty for backing up in the boulders. Powered through the logs with no problem.

Naeger's Buggy: Ultra-fast run through the course until entering the logs. Attempted to power through, but a bad bounce off a log actually pushed him backwards, causing him to get stuck. The team salvaged the run with quick winching to earn a Fourth Place finish.

Swartz' Chevy: Ran with the traction bars removed. Tried to power through the logs but was disqualified when the rig took a bad bounce and the right front tire went out of bounds only 18 feet from the finish line.

Wood's CJ-5: First competitor. Ran with 5 psi and 4 psi in the front and rear tires, respectively. Rear steer helped make quick time through the twisty first part of the course. Major wheel lift coming through the boulders. Good speed into the logs but got stuck with the front tires up against the last log. Had to deal with a knot in the winch line. Winched over the finish line.