Hobart Ultimate Adventure

Day 7 - End of the Road

2005-07-16T19:32:00.000-07:00

At 1,989 feet, Cavanal is the world's highest hill and the location where all the drivers met for the last day of the 2005 Ultimate Adventure. As steep as it is challenging, the Cavanal terrain presented many obstacles with large to small rocks that the drivers will overcome before reaching the top.

Drivers line up before giving the next climb their best attempt.

The environment is filled with all kinds of insects such as mosquitoes, bees, ticks and chiggers. Above, a sand scorpion runs for cover to avoid being run over.

At the top of the first hill, there was an abandoned Buick that has seen better days. A piece of equipment like this found in the field is like a piece of art. You wonder to yourself how it got here, who drove it last and why was it left to this fate. This has not stopped the drivers from leaving their mark in the form of tire tracks across the abandoned vehicle.

A blown clutch line stopped Colorado Springs driver Paul Chowanec in his tracks. Being resourceful, he replaced the line and shielded it with some rubber tubing pirated from the old Buick.

The end of the ride finally came into view. It was an emotion filled moment for the drivers as it signified the end of the trail, the ride and the time spent with this great bunch of wheelers. Stories and camaraderie will be shared around a victory dinner back in town celebrating the close to another successful Ultimate Adventure.

Before going down into town, the riders took a moment to admire the view looking out over the towns below from atop the world's highest hill.

The Ultimate Chevy proudly displays its damage as if it was a medal to be shown and honored.

4Wheel & Off-Road Publisher Jeff Nassi's '57 Jeep gallantly sits ready for the next ride.

Back in town the streets fill up with the rigs and stories of the ride.

All week long we kept tally of which vehicle and driver sustained the most debilitating damage. As the Official Welders for the ride, Hobart Welders presented Paul Chowanec with a Hobart Handler 140 as the carnage award, recognizing his efforts and that of his team. Due to his resourceful thinking and persistence not to give up, Paul was able to overcome a variety of obstacles that could have kept him from crossing the finish line.

Congratulations to Paul and all the drivers for a successful and memorable 2005 Ultimate Adventure!

We were honored to be the Official Welders and had a lot of fun!

Day 6 - Third Road Trip

2005-07-15T05:03:00.000-07:00

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The orange Bronco suffered the most extensive damage we've seen so far in terms of welding repairs. The shock tower tore away from the frame on both sides requiring us to remove the tire and shock. We used four pieces of 1/4" steel plate to rebuild the frame and re-welded the tower to the plate.

Drivers line up in front of the Hobart truck to take care of their rigs before setting out on a 4-hour back roads drive to Poteau, OK.

When we got to the hotel in Poteau, a driver in an army green Toyota crawler came over for help. The brackets that hold his suspension springs in place kept spreading apart due to the stress and fell off on the road. We fabricated one new bracket and he welded all four closed, ensuring that they won't be going anywhere, anytime soon.

Above, Jeff Nassi looks at his broken rear differential to his '67 Jeep. The gears possibly slipped due to wear causing a breakdown that will most likely put his rig out of the last ride. (click to enlarge showing more of the damage in detail on the gear.)

Tomorrow's ride, still shrouded in secrecy, is rumored to be another haven for rock crawlers and should be hard on many of the rigs. Since tomorrow is last trail ride of this year's Ultimate Adventure, these riders are going to put everything they've got on the line. They've made it this far on the trail; none of the rigs have had to drop out of the adventure. I expect some pretty aggressive driving tomorrow as they scale, crawl and climb out of anything the ride throws their way. Stay tuned!

Day 5 - Green Acres Off-Road Park

2005-07-14T04:30:00.000-07:00

The riders awoke to a humid 90-degree morning high in the hills of Green Acres Off-Road Park. Above you can see a typical setting at base camp, rigs and tents. Even at night it was so hot and humid that many of the riders slept above the covers of their sleeping bags.

The first weld of the day came early as you can see here by clicking to enlarge the picture. A shock tower tore away from the frame that previously rusted. We used the Airforce 400 to cut a small gusset from 1/4" plate and re-welded the tower back onto the frame using a Handler 180.

Above, Rick Pewe gives his daily morning riders meeting explaining what to expect through the course of the day.

A traffic jam was the result of a breakdown coming out of a water obstacle.

The yellow Jeep above broke a front axle control arm bracket on a climb out of the water.

Spotting is the best way to wheel. Getting help from another driver or passenger protects your rig and makes the ride more fun as the vehicle is put in all kinds of positions sometimes not allowing the driver to see what he/she is balancing on.

With 20 drivers in the Ultimate Adventure, winching after a third attempt at getting over an obstacle is necessary to give everyone a try before sunset.

Above, Rick Pewe crunches the right side of his rig on a trail called black sheep, named due to the black rocks which are now coverd in his yellow paint. When getting to the top, the driver's side rear tire was flat due to a large hole in the sidewall caused by a jagged rock.

Once again, the winch saves the day, helping to make the tire swap easier!

Day 4 - Second Road Trip

2005-07-13T04:21:00.000-07:00

The second road trip day was semi-uneventful as the riders made their way from Prairie Grove, AK to Clayton, OK and wound up riding through a small rain storm; the first storm ever on the Ultimate Adventure. Since we ran out of 4-1/2" cutoff wheels the night before, we decided to drop in on a local Tractor Supply store to restock.

Day 3 - Outlaw Adventures Off-Road Park

2005-07-12T19:08:00.000-07:00

Outlaw Adventures is where the crew finds themselves today having made final repairs to their rigs after getting into town late last night. In 40 acres of wheeling bliss, today's ride was full of obstacles that caused a lot of damage.

The course had a lot more boulders and rocks suitable for crawling. Those in the group from California and Colorado felt a little more at home and eagerly accepted the challenge!

Crawling over rough outcrops along the edge of a creek bed, one of the Jeeps broke its knuckle making a hard turn to stay upright.

The broken knuckle & axle seen here were replaced a few hours later when parts arrived; the rest would need to be welded. The jeep was moved off to the side of the trail using the guide's winch, however in the process fracture cracks appeared on his undercarriage frame requiring him to motor up to the Hobart van waiting at the top of the hill for a quick fix.

I used the Handler 180 to apply a fillet weld to the cracks in the trail guide's front undercarriage frame. With a solid frame once again, the guide returned back down the trail as the Ultimate Chevy pulled into sight.

Rick Pewe broke a wheel locker and needed to find some way to improvise a repair to finish out the rest of the day on the trails. After a few ideas were kicked around, a decision was made introducing the "Allen Locker" to the Ultimate Adventure. A carefully selected allen wrench was cut into six small pieces that fit in between the teeth of the locker, a quick but necessary fix.

Each trail of the day presented its own obstacle and strategy as drivers picked various "lines" or routes that may work out best for their rig. An orange Bronco tipped over trying to climb out of this very challenging water obstacle.

The Jeep from Sam's Off-Road Club made it back to camp with a leaf spring hanger that tore away from its frame. The two half-inch bolts that held it in place were cut off and the hanger was welded directly to the frame using the Handler 180 and .030 solid wire with C25 shielding gas.

The day left most of the riders with a few more repairs to be made to their rigs; sheared bolts, broken spring brackets, to name a few... and this is only the beginning!

Day 2 - First Roadtrip

2005-07-11T23:45:00.000-07:00

As the first designated travel day, the convoy of wheelers left in a dust cloud embarking down a rig friendly route that Rick Pewe led. 200 miles later, the convoy made a dusty arrival into camp. Our truck seen here is taking the slightly more direct route to be waiting in camp when the crew arrives.

Here's a little bit of FYI we picked up today: Did you know that most wheelers average 7-12 miles per gallon; no wonder why rock "crawling" is becoming so popular!

Believe it or not, we found a Champ 8500 built in 1999. the owners had been using it to power compressors and power tools used in building houses.

Most rigs find out on the flat roads what broke the day before but didn't surface until the creaks and squeaks led drivers to investigate.

A Ford Bronco needed to have a bracket that holds the brake calliper repaired. This is the second time the bracket failed for the Bronco so he turned to us to weld a plate onto the back that would be secured by a bolt, giving it a whole lot more holding power to deal with the given stress of going up and down the hills.

We're set up and ready on a Ford F-150 to go down into the trails with a Champ 4500 and a Handler 140 running .035 self-shielded flux cored. If one of the rigs breaks down on the trail, we should be able to pull off emergency repairs to get them back into base camp. See you back at camp!

Day 1 - Let The Adventure Begin!

2005-07-10T21:40:00.000-07:00

Let the adventure begin! The Ozark Mountains came alive this morning at Southern Missouri Off-Road Ranch. The first weld of the ride came before anyone even left for the trails. A roller guide needed to be attached to the winch on front of the Official Ultimate Adventure vehicle, known as the Ultimate Chevy driven by Rick Pewe, editor of Peterson's 4Wheel Off-Road Magazine.

The winch plays a very important role in wheeling: to get home. It'll pull many rigs through rough obsticals by the end of the day.

With final inspections complete, more than 20 drivers and their rigs headed south in a convoy anticipating a great day of boulder bouncing, ledge hopping and tree biting.

If day one was supposed to be a warm-up, it must have been the five mile road trip to get here. This was the real thing ... broken hubs, twisted u-joints, dented body panels to name a few. And lots of smiles. Whoever thought breaking stuff could be so much fun?

No major damage today although the rock ledge on "Double Whammie" trail gave us a tough challenge ... we did plenty of winching when a 30" undercut below the ledge won the battle against man and machine. Not that we didn't try. Check out this photo ... how many Jeeps does it take to put a Bronco back on its tires?

And we learned a little advice from the pros: when tipping over on a side, shut the vehicle off right away to avoid having the cylinders blow due to oil saturating the heads. When tipped back up on all fours, let gravity do its thing; then immediately remove the spark plugs to check for any oil that ran into the cylinders. Drain the cylinders, replace the plugs, then slowly turn the engine over a few times to clear any left over oil before starting. Still the best advice is to not tip over in the first place. (Click on the photo for a larger view.)

By 7 p.m. we headed back to the parking lot for burgers, brats and beans. And plenty of bragging. The guys have gotten their first taste of the adventure they've been anticipating since last year.

And they're hungry for more. With this appetite we'll be welding spring hangers and shock mounts real soon! See you tomorrow.

Registration Day

2005-07-09T03:43:00.000-07:00

Welcome to the Ultimate Adventure 2005!!! I'm Caleb Krisher, Product Manager with Hobart Welders and I'll be along for the ride with three other members of the Hobart team, giving you day-by-day account of the action! Organized by Peterson's 4Wheel Off-Road Magazine, The Ultimate Adventure is an annual 7 day off-road "wheeling" competition that spans select states each year covering some of the hardest terrains guaranteeing torn metal, carnage of mechanical nature and plain old fun out in the woods as sponsored participants, and average readers alike compete towards a common goal... to finish.

Hobart Welders are onboard as the Official Welding sponsor driving support each day of the ride. Any metal that falls off a rig, gets torn off by trees and rock or breaks due to physical stress out on the trail can be repaired using Hobart's fully equipped truck of wire and Stick welders, plasma cutters and welding generators.

Best of all, we'll let you ride shotgun with us, check back here daily for pictures and key events as they unfold each day of the ride!

In its seventh year, the 2005 Ultimate Adventure starts in Seymour, MO, travels to Prairie City, AK, then hits Clayton, OK, ending in Poteau, OK. Today was designated for pre-ride registration where all those crazy enough to come along had their rigs checked for safety equipment and got to meet others along for the ride.

There was a deep rumbling in the distance as participants drove their rigs into Seymour, MO. One of the first on the scene were the Hillbilly Cruisers, although not seriously riding in the Ultimate Adventure, they didn't even flinch as the other rigs rolled into their hometown.

As the Official Welder for Ultimate Adventure, many of the participants adorned their vehicles with the Hobart Welders logo.

During registration, participants were eager to test out the latest welding equipment such as the Handler 180, and try their hand at plasma cutting.

It's going to be a rough ride the next few days, so check back as we bring you details, coverage from the trails, and advice from the riders! Stay tuned!

The Adventure Begins

2005-07-08T12:37:00.000-07:00

Welcome to the official first-hand account of the Hobart Welders Ultimate Adventure. The adventure has begun and will run through July 26, 2005. Check back for daily updates from Hobart staff on location. Also, don't forget to check out Hobart's brand new Off-Road / 4x4 Forum.