4Wheel & Off-Road Homepage

Moab 2002

The Center of the Off-Road Universe
Plus, Complete Video Coverage: The Rollovers•Proving Grounds•Potato Salad Hill•Post Your Own Photos in Our Event Coverage•and More!

By David Kennedy
photographer: John Cappa, The 4-Wheel & Off-Road Staff

The hero of the week was Charlie Copsey in his tube-frame Jeep with a supercharged Buick 3.8L, a TH700R4, and Unimog 404 axles. This yellow spider four-wheel steered its way up the last waterfall on Proving Grounds with help from two guys pulling on the winch cable. That’s the closest thing to driving this obstacle we’ve ever seen.
The new Duramax trucks are nice, and those F-550s have a heck of a GVW, but when you need to bring three rigs to the trailhead, nothing beats a Peterbilt with a Caterpillar engine. Scared to drive your junk to Utah? Ship your 4x4s to Moab by tractor-trailer, and fly into town for the ultimate week of wheelin’ like these guys did.Click the filmstrip icon for video>>>
Yup, just 15 minutes south of town Moab’s even got sand.Click the filmstrip icon for video>>>
Ah yeah...Right about now we’d be reciting every prayer we could think of. As a rule of thumb any time the passenger’s seat cushion is higher than your head—you’re dead. To see if Aaron Axelson lived to tell his tale check out our Moab event coverage video. Click the filmstrip icon for video>>>
People come from all over the world to try their luck at crossing the Golden Crack. These guys rolled out from Indiana on their spring break in this “UN-Limited” Cherokee to wheel the slick rock, pick up local chicks, and evidently test out their new tow strap. Remember, kids: Cancun sucks! Moab’s where it’s at.Click the filmstrip icon for video>>>
Teraflex’s own Curtis McNeil showed us his patented “Quarter McNeil” technique that usually gets him over an obstacle—or puts him on his lid. Kids, don’t try this at home.
Our trail leader up Pritchett Canyon on Tuesday was Stephen Watson in his green giant GMC Jimmy. His big-block, coil-sprung, Dana-60-front, 14-bolt-rear, 42-inch-tire-wearing K5 is a work of engineering art and made everything look easy. The weak link? Valve springs. Hey, every truck’s got to have a fuse!
For a long time Double Whammy was thought to be the toughest obstacle in Moab. That is until fullsize trucks hit the trail to teach Jeep guys how it’s done. This Dodge left its doors at home and showed that a 118-inch wheelbase can make you look like a god on obstacles that would eat a CJ-5 alive.
Mark Hanson, your Toyota rock shuttle has been cleared for launch. We met Mark and the guys from Wagoner Machine last year at Moab and now we know that wherever they go the action follows.
What’s your excuse? This ’89 Suburban land barge owned by Robert and Donna Boggio lifted its 38-inch Swamper off the ground and still kept climbing up Pritchet Canyon thanks to the 6.5 turbodiesel, an Off-Road Design Doubler, a Dana 60 front, a Dana 70 rear, and dual ARBs.
There was a lot less traffic at the world-famous Dump Bump this year because the owner threw up a fence across the old entrance to the place. Now you have to pay the Bureau of Land Management five bucks for a three-day pass in order to test your skill on the intimidating rock. It’s still the best ticket in town to see wheels-up action, and we’re always lurking about with our cameras to immortalize your rollover or drivetrain breakage. Make sure you smile as you go over onto your roof.


Tim Odell wanted to make sure everyone in America got to see the homebuilt solid axle swap on his ’91 Toyota. Hey Tim, the obstacle is called Rocker Knocker, not Roof Crusher!
The Leaning Tower of   Zuki can only be seen in Moab.
In Moab, Swampers are your street tires.

For the 36th year in a row the Red Rock 4-Wheelers and Moab Chamber of Commerce opened up the town of Moab, Utah, and invited the entire planet to come wheel in their backyard at the Easter Jeep Safari. The EJS is the Super Bowl, the World Series, and the Daytona 500 of the off-road world all wrapped up into seven days of fun held the week before Easter every year.

We never miss it, and can’t think of a single reason why you should either. Every year it grows and this year was no exception. The event has at least 32 organized trail runs, a manufacturer’s midway at the Spanish Trails Arena, and hundreds of small independent trail rides to enjoy. Sure, Potato Salad Hill looked more like a mosh pit than an obstacle this year, but the warm weather that brought the crowds also guaranteed a good time for everyone out on the trail.

For more information on how you can be part of it next year call the Red Rock 4-Wheelers at 435/259-ROCK.

To upload your own action shots from slickrock central, just follow the steps below to add photos to the Moab gallery:

•Scroll down to “Event Photo Gallery” at the bottom of this page.
•Click on Submit Photo.
•You’ll need to enter your user name and password to get to the photo-upload page. Once there, follow the specs, enter a description, and then watch for your photos to appear with our very own event coverage!


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