Pics from Bill moore

[MikeXML320]

yo

[MikeXML320]

yo

[MikeXML320]

Adam, you should have been there you would have laughed your ass off and sorry Ryan that you had to work. Well we ran bill moore lake on Saturday Adam and Ryan couldn't make it so it was myself in the sami with co pilot Dwayne, Jody in the benz with my mom and sis, and Steve in his blazer. We left empire about 10:15 to start our adventure. At the base of the trail we noticed a group of heavily modified jeeps airing down so we thought that would be good to air down there as well. It's a 6 rated trail although we really only ran into two real tricky spots, the first was the steep rocky hill leading to the lake just before the summit. Steve made short work of it in his blazer, Jody was a little nervous so I drove the benz through this part, so I picked the best line I saw and floored it, lots of dirt and rocks flying but I made it without any scrapes or dents. So it was time for the sami, well my mother was there because she loves to wheel so she decided to kick me out of the drivers seat of the sami she tried Nemours times and couldn’t make it. Well in the mean time a guy with his jeep grand Cherokee with 31's was watching us he tried the hill twice and turned around. So I kicked her out and tried myself with similar results so I made one last effort and floored it made it about half way up (the prob was lack of power it kept stalling) put on the e brake and said f$#k it, hooked the benz to the sami to tow it up the hill (You want to get a good laugh picture the benz towing the sami up a steep rocky hill and the modified jeeps that I mentioned drive by looking in amazement, they were kind enough to offer their services and one even made a comment about how shocked he was about me taking the benz up there, I am sure more than one hummer owner has heard that) So after yanking the sami up I popped the hood the problem was one of the plug wires came off the distributor and some how it got knocked back into 4 hi. After putting the wire on and going back into 4 lo there was a world of difference (Don’t feel bad mom you prob would have made it). We drove down another hill and we were there, it is beautiful up there the weather was crazy it was raining while it was sunny, cold then warm the clouds came screaming by. We ate lunch threw the football around sat for a little while and headed back. Steve was kind enough to let me drive his blazer (it's a world of difference driving someone else’s vehicle I scrapped one or two times and cringed but it was well plated and he wasn’t too worried so I calmed down and continued on) Dwayne has never 4 wheeled before so we threw him in the sami and said have fun. the rest of the trail was uneventful we got back to empire about 5:00 Dwayne was so excited we decided to hit another trail, so we went to dakan rd just off rampart range road(Ry I stopped by to see if you were up for it did you get my notes that I plastered all over your jeep). It was just starting to get dark when we got there. A built k-5 blazer went ahead of us because we weren’t sure if we could get the Benz up there (it's soft dirt but when it rains it makes huge ruts and holes that could swallow cars). We should have just quit with one trail because it was a disaster from there. The blazer driven by two teens, were showing off and almost rolled he was so tipped that all you saw was his roof, after that they were gone, way up the trail. I was driving the Benz it was really washed out and the ground was damp and it’s quite an incline. The Benz did ok. Steve got caught in one of the ruts and got high centered (and he was not happy about it) so I drove the sami back down to pull him backwards because there was no way he was going forward. I got in another rut and almost rolled the sami sideways well we got him free and continued on (at this point everyone was tired, grouchy and ready to call it a day but we were stuck we had to go back down and exit or continue to the exit at the top). Almost to the top there was a really bad section and I was really pissy (never drive with your anger!!!!!) so I floored it in the Benz the front end got a couple feet of the ground and I slammed down over corrected into another rut and bombed out of that one as well. I busted my fog lights, sway bar, gas tank strap, and gave my mom severe whiplash (OOPS) and I think everyone thinks I am a little nuts. no more in the benz for a while. Steve I added a pick of Ry and his jeep and Adam in his h2, hopfully next time we go they will both be there. More pics coming soon I need to resize a few and get some of Dwayne's pics.

[MikeXML320]

They want 400 for the fog lights, I broke one but they make you buy them in pairs....I straightened out the brush guard and fixed the sway bar. Just got it back from the dealer where they proceeded to screw me 115 for an oil change and 80 for brake sys flush.

[PARAGON]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Mike_ML320:
They want 400 for the fog lights, I broke one but they make you buy them in pairs....I straightened out the brush guard and fixed the sway bar. Just got it back from the dealer where they proceeded to screw me 115 for an oil change and 80 for brake sys flush. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>I did a quick search for ML parts and a whole headlight assembly is only $125. I bet if you look up on the internet you can find one replacement for a little more reasonable price.

[MikeXML320]

I have always had this funny thing about only buying from the dealer. They are piaa lights the only difference between the aftermarket piaa's and the dealer piaa's is they come with the factory harness to plug directly in, instead of using crimp connectors. I suppose that I will try to find them online or maybe a wrecking yard, because I refuse to pay 400 for fog lights.