So what better way to celebrate Thanksgiving than an impromptu trail run to Box Canyon (Florence, AZ)? We left Gilbert at 8:15 a.m. and were back home by 1:20 p.m. We blazed it! This was the maiden off-road voyage for my new-to-me '97 4Runner, which I'm happy to say did awesome! Wheeling with a locker made a night and day difference.

My wife did most of the driving since A) I've run this trail plenty of times and was happy to let her try, B) I trust her, and C) she has a blast manuevering over all the obstacles. The boys came with us, of course. The FJ is owned by my brother, Joe, who brought his 2 boys as well. The Ford Explorer is owned by my dad. He and my cousin, Chris, took up the rear on the trail. I was a little leary about his Explorer, since it has such low ground clearance and lame tires, but let me tell you, with some great spotting (props to me), he did awesome! Read on...





Airing down at the entrance to the canyon...



Rhys exploring...



Poser Shot



...to put it into perspective just how big these canyon walls are



A shot out of the sunroof...





Melanie got to engage the RR DIFF LOCK at least twice... She did great!















What's a Thanksgiving without stuffing? My dad at full stuff...



Although just moments before, he was at full scrape...











Full Droop...







TOYOTA pose...



The wife is still driving...





...Yes, that's her behind the wheel!









FJ makes it look easy!





The biggest feat of the day was definitely getting this stock, low-slung Explorer up over this rock. No scraping. Just perfectly straddling the wall and the rock. It was awesome!!!









The end...

 

NIce pics! I would love to have something like that around here!

 

ya im from rhode island, we have nothing like that round here!! enjoy it.

 

20005spd, hit up ne4roc.org

we are up in new england, and we wheel and hang out all the time.

 

its very very niceeeeeeee!!!

 

its very very niceeeeeeee.

heading up to pismo tonight. will post some pics when back.

Happy Thanksgiving

 

It's cool to see that your wife enjoys wheeling so much (wish mine did)! Nice pics...thanks for sharing!

 

Yes, I'm really glad that she enjoys not only going with us, but also taking the wheel. Then I usually am running alongside, taking photos, and spotting everyone!

 

Fun stuff, Scott! Great pics!

 

Thanks CJ

 

Looks like fun Scott! Maybe I can actually get some action shots next weekend with your help, since I have none.

The 4R is currently under the knife and it gets new shoes on Wednesday.

 

Great lookin pics. I can't wait to start wheeling down in phoenix. Im slowly finding people to wheel with down there.

 

I'm jealous, I had my eye on a rear locked 4runner but someone got on it before me. Great pics.

 

Awesome C-Dog! What tires did you decide on? Nitto TGs I hope! Sedona will be a blast next weekend. I'll be glad to help you get some good shots when we run Broken Arrow. I've got another trip to Box Canyon going on tomorrow. The guys from Cornerstone had their run to the Coke Ovens cancelled, so I offered to lead a short 1/2 day run to Box Canyon - not knowing that we'd run it on Thanksgiving. So that will make it 4 times I will have run BC in 2 mos! Crazy. Good luck with the brake job!

 

Great pics! This is exactly the type of wheeling I enjoy--rocks and scenery. This trail is now on my out-of-state wheeling list.

BTW, pics like this make you realize how high our 4Runners are compared to other SUVs.

 

You'll just have to wait and see.

I found the axle seal leaky on my driver's side when I went to do the rear brakes. So, I fixed that side first, then did the brakes. BTW, I now have a tool that knocks these pesky inner seals in quite nicely. So, if you ever need to put another one in, you can use this tool. Freezing them helps too.

New brakes are installed. I just need to adjust the e-brake and I should be good to go. We are looking forward to getting out of town!