What a blast this weekend was! Big thanks to Michael for putting it all together.

Here's just some highlights..











Click here for the rest

here are the ones that I took
ECXC 2005 PICS

My group (west pa xterra club)

Dana (trail leader)


Brian


Me (Lenny)


Jim


Derick


Mike


Darrin


Frank

Jeremy only joined us on Friday and I bearly took any pics at Paragon....group shot....he's the blue one w/ the body lift and shrock bumper

Hey, was Pikachu there?

yep, sure was

Yes...Yes he was...Diamond plate rear window and all!!

Good guy. Hey Chris

nice pics man, i was proud to be the only Khaki X at ECXC 2K5

edit: heres my pics.... http://community.webshots.com/user/mud4x4

Here's my contribution.

CLICK ME

Here's what I have....

http://www.PictureTrail.com/gid7894765

My ECXC Skid Plate Testing Protocol yielded the following data:











So - A productive session.

Ouch.



Edit :
I wonder how that would have faired if the edge had a bend in it to add support to the skid.

"I see red X's...."

I think creasing the ends to provide bracing would help to a large degree...I believe the problem was the compromise between the production costs and clearance/matching adjacent plate height/profiles - and strengthening with creases.

The answer may be to flute the central part of the plates, especially where edge bends are impractical...this would of course increase cost...but increase protection as well.

The ends of the exposed frame horns took a licking, and are no longer square...So I do need a front plate from the bumper down to the S-R front plate at the cross member.

I was surprised at the hole in the gas skid..that got punched out pretty cleanly for a typical rock whack.

Now all I have to do is figure out how I'm going to straighten these puppies out again...and reinforce them to withstand my trade mark slow and gentle glide over the rocks.

Oh - And here's some random shots:

Centralia - Brent On-Roading

Photographer from India taking Brent's picture at Centralia

at one point the indian girl was taking a pic of brent's truck, and bent over in the same fashion.

brent and i are standing behind her, and i look at him as he is staring at her ass and says, "nice, very nice!"



it was fu$%^ing hysterical, im still laughing about it.

i dont know what everyone elses prob with him is, but i met him personally and i think he is a great guy, as long as you dont have thin skin.

and please dont turn this thread into a bashing event.

Manny! You survived!



To get up and function with so little blood in your alcohol stream...it brings tears to my eyes.

nice!

i need to stop being lazy and post some pics.

WTF??? This is pavement!! Why is it all fubared? Is this the Coal fire or something?

Yeah, its Centralia, PA...an old coal mining town that had to be abandoned I think about 15 years ago after a lightning strike(?) ignited an underground coal vein that has never been able to be put out...so there is still smoke rising out of the ground, fires burning under the ground you are walking on and the ground heaves up and down...its really a strange place...

my pics ECXC and centralia

The Centralia fire started just over 40 years ago. Nobody is sure how it started - though a landfill fire is one possibility.

Centralia Mine Fire

More Pics: Advanced Group on Saturday - MXO, SOXC, GDCXC -









Had a great time guys! All photos can be seen here:

web page

NOTE: Apparently this link requires that you join imagestation. Anyone wants some of these pics...if you do not want to join, email me at eoddvr@maxc.org and I'll send pics to you....Manny, Brian, Joe, Moe, Brent,...look forward to hearing from you.

For those who were with me on Fri...I don't have those pics yet.

hey man, if i could those pics you got from sat. run, that would be great, i am going to compose a dvd, or atleast try to anyways.

-manny

****LINKY TO MY PICS****









Thanks again Swampy!!

Reading this kinda reminds me of the Chernobyl incident and the wasteland it has become. Granted, Chernobyl was from a reactor meltdown, but the end result is eerily similar. Check out THIS site.

That is a cool page Pete, I have read that a while ago....was looking for the link.

Steve, do you have any pics from Friday?

I have a better shot of the t case skid that collapsed...it does have ridges (Sides), but no fluting in the middle, and is flat where it attaches to the cross members:



So, it was reinforced on the sides with a bend up to form the side itself, albeit collapsed anyway...just not as bad as it would have w/o any bends.

you're lucky you didn't hit the t-bar instead of the skid....pretty close there

I live for danger.

I thought you just did not know to slow down

Seriously...I normally go around 1 mph.

But, that run was fun.

Yeah, I think you did about 99.9% of that carnage in under 10 seconds, on about 100ft of trail.

Miikkaa -

If your estimate of 10 seconds for 100' was in range, that would work out to an average of about 6.8 mph....supersonic rock hopping.



Hey - Glen shot footage of the skid plate test run on Mike's camcorder....whatever happened to that footage, I haven't seen it yet.

?

you must mean this video TJ Rock Bouncing Video

That was who, TJ?


(Romp romp, honk! Romp squeak, bounce creak. Romp bounce, kerang! Romp romp.)
So much for finesse, eh?

The flag was because you were in the park, right? What trail rating does that section carry?

That was a Black Rated trail, #18, and an uphill section, which as usual you can't tell due to the camera angle.



I was grinning so much during that run that my cheeks hurt.

Rock on!

...I tried sending them to your email address embedded here and got them kicked back. Send me an email at eoddvr@maxc.org and I will send them to you.

Damn TJ...that is bad ass. I would have been worried about breaking something going that fast over those rocks.

Finally. Got my shots up:

http://ftp.njax.net/miikkaa/ecxc05/

I have one more file with the nightshots (infrared) to be albumed. Here's the link if you feel like looking at some huge files

http://ftp.njax.net/miikkaa/IR.zip

I'll post an update when Jorge gets a chance to put it in with the other files. If anyone wants an original(s) (the one's albumed are 1280x940) just look in the corresponding zip file on my main index (originals are 8M, 3264x2448) or if you don't feel like downloading huge files give me a yell and I'll hook you up.

Is there a higher resolution version of the above skid plate test protocol?

I'd like the original if there is.

I don't understand, what test? to how much damage you can do to them?

Their survivability...

Anywho...if there is a higher resolution version, and you would be so kind as to share it, I would greatly appreciate it.

I do forensic studies, and this would help me out.

- Thanks!



(If you don't have a better copy, no sweat...but if you do, I really appreciate it.)

damn!, nice video, i was watching it and thought to myself, "damn his truck sounds like its growling", then, my son son is watching and says, "dad, that truck sounds like a monster!"

nice driving!!!

Thanks Manny!



I like the part where I have to honk at people to get off the trail in front of me so they don't get run over.

I don't know if I missed this... but why were you going so fast down that trail?

here's another one for your research



TJ bangin\'

I was going up the trail.



I needed to test some skid plates, including the last one I made for the OBA tank.



I used the day to aim for some bounce and lunge shots.

After re-design work...I'll be going back to the same spots for re-testing all but the OBA skid, which was the only one to come through unscathed.

Damn Jersey drivers

Actually Trail 18 is a Blue rated trail. There is a Black obstacle on 18, but that isn't it.

-Michael

That's what I get for just reading the sign next to the shot... :rolleyes:

But at any rate, it was perfect for the test run, I just had to go a bit faster than normal to get the same impact.



BTW - Thanks for the maps! (They're great!)

I love Trail 18. Trail 4 has a cool Black Obstacle on it that is great too.

The first time I did 18, I ripped a sidewall on one of my 33x12.50s somewhere during that little hill climb.

Dana made the maps, I just handed them out

-Michael

Here are the pics I took. I thought I posted them here, but obviously I didn't.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/akordboy/sets/656112/