monkeynuts

here they are...

for those of you who weren't there, this happened when a some of us from the forum decided to head out to In Ko Pah, about 4000 ft directly above the anza borrego desert out here in san diego. we were driving on a shelf road , I was following rob when the edge of the road gave out and his 4runner was left hanging with the back end teetering off of the edge, over part of an old mine. Lance, who was in front, hooked his ’03 4runner to the front of rob’s and tried to pull him out. As soon as they did this, the ground under the front tire gave out and left the whole left side of rob’s truck hanging off the edge, only supported by the tow strap an lance’s 4runner. At this point we found a border patrol agent who gave us another tow strap. rob’s truck looked like it was going to fall at any second and there was nothing to stop it until about 25’ down the edge. At this point I brought my 4runner up behind him, did a 50-point turn on the shelf road until I was able to back into a mine. Using my truck as an anchor in the mine to help keep the truck from falling, and lance’s pulling from the other end, we tried pulling rob’s truck out in neutral with no one in it, expecting the worst. We couldn’t move it, so rob got some balls and got in his truck. We gave it one last try, lance pulling up front, me following behind, and another rope though the back windows and over the roof to a bunch of people up on the mountain trying to pull some of the weight from the top over toward the mountain. Lance started pulling I started following once I felt lance pulling both of us, and next thing I remember, everyone was cheering. as far as I know, there was no damage to any of the rigs, except for a banged up running board from the mine on the side of my truck (an excuse for sliders).

Thanks again to the border patrol agent, the hikers in the 4runner that came to help, and everyone else there that was able to help.

Just glad no one was hurt!

here's a link to the pics:
http://community.webshots.com/album/66029437YFRLge

upndair

Glad to see everyone got out OK and there was some good teamwork. I hope a couple of lessons learned as well.

1) Don't go wheeling alone. If he'd been out there by himself, he would have been screwed.
2) EVERYONE should have at least one tow strap.
3) From what I could see, it looked like he was driving way to close to the edge and had about 6 or 7 feet of space between the him and the edge of the hill which is where he should have been driving. Luckily he'll have a chance to try it again.

WATRD

Yikes! I am glad to hear that hear that everyone came away okay.

It looks like the only damage, besides the running board, was some large "suck marks" in the seat of that 4Runner and I imagine, a funny smell...

jalaber

OMG...What was he doing so close to the edge. I'd be hugging the right side the whole way up. Glad to see everyone and everything is OK.

Corey

iTrader: (1)

Oh my, that has got to be one of the greatest "Oh ˟˟˟˟˟" moments.

I could just imagine the panic he was feeling.
I felt that way a few years ago on a snow patch up at Greenwater with me sliding towards the right side on an incline, and towards a sheer drop off.

Glad everyone ended up OK, and that there was plenty of support available.

monkeynuts

jalaber, upndair:

you can't really tell from the pics, but he didn't have much room on the other side. his truck had just slid so far out that it makes the trail look wider than it was.

Good Times

yikes!!!!

Luckly for us, we were all able to come home safely with just a few shakes but it could have easily been worse.

The line that rob took was a valid line. The only problem was that the line he took on the left side was giving away after my 4runner along w/ 2 others had gone thru. the right side of that trail had a 2 foot rut which is impossible for any of our almost stock 4runners to go thru so taking that left line was a must. Apparently as Rob passed thru the back tire gave out as the ground started to give way

the only thing that, that 4runner was held by was his tow hitch and rear diff sitting on the rock along w/ the front right tire firmly on the ground.

We assessed the damage and determined that his vehicle was going to be pretty difficult to rescue so creativity took action. Three vehicles made it past that point and as my 4runner was the heaviest and the strongest (1 tacoma and a 2nd gen 4runner), I made back down the switchback to become the anchor point on the front to ensure that his vehicle will not roll down the hill. I attempted to pull his vehicle out by dragging him but this only made the situation worse as his vehicle started to slide out down even more (as you can see in some of the pix of his 4runner leaning down... ).

Luckly for us, we all had frs radios and a cb calling for help and a good samaritan heard our distress for additional recovery gear and was able to dispatch a border patrol that was near by to our location to assist us. With the help of the border patrol, we were able to get a 2nd tow strap and anchor the back of rob's 4runner to another 4runner (scott) so that rob's 4runner will not roll down as I pull.

As soon as we determined that there was no way out but to take a risk by me pulling him forward and hope for the best, we took action. Out only safety point was that scott's 4runner was anchoring rob's rear end down ensuring that his 4runner will not roll: this was crucial as I was determined to make sure that his 4runner was not going to be lost. I attempted twice to pulling rob's 4runner out but with almost no traction from my 4runner and the fact that I was pretty much attemping to pull 2 4runners, even the v8 had no power to do so (dang it!!!)... btw, rob was not in his 4runner for these 2 attempts as I didn't want anything to happen rob if indeed the 4runner was going to go down the hill. (his 4runner at this point was in neutral and all the brakes were released.)

After we deteremind that my 4runner was not going to be able to pull out his 4runner and the anchor 4runner in the back, our only option was to have rob sit in his 4runner and have him drive it out (going forward towards me) while I pull him out and scott in the rear anchoring him down moving slowly forward so that rob can move forward. After 3 hrs of high stress levels we determined that this was our last option as we discussed it with others that helped out to assess the situation.

Scott, Rob and myself all sat in our 4runner's and hoped for the best. As soon as I started to pull Rob's 4runner and he felt the tug, he started to throttle his 4runner forward. This all happened so quick so I'm not sure what exactly happened next. All I know is that my 4runner got a real good traction feel as we had stuffed rocks under the tires to better assist me... but as soon as I saw robs car moving towards me, I didn't stop! I kept on going in reverse until I heard screaming to stop..

At that moment, I knew that Rob's 4runner was saved! Talk about a stressful moment. Luckly, with Rob's 4runner in his rear locking tires, as soon as his left rear (that was hanging) got onto firm ground, he was back on all 4 and back on the middle of the trail !!!!!

Everyone was happy and relieved as I know I myself, Rob and Scott were all happy that this disaster was avoided. People that were in the nearby area rocking climbing apparently was watching the chaos unfold. As soon as they saw that Rob's 4runner was saved, we heard cheering from across the canyon !! that was a very exhilarating feeling as people around were also happy to see the outcome be a positive one instead of one that would have been real real bad.

As soon as Rob's 4runner was saved, we saw a helicopter come by to make sure everything was okay. I'm pretty sure it was for the boarder patrol but I guess they also came to make sure everything was okay!

I must say in the end, this entry level offroading expedition became one crazy offroading trip! Thank goodness that we all came back in one piece and are able to talk about...

Lance

Thanks to everyone that helped make this trip possible (scott) and also being there to hold Rob's rear!! hehe sounds soo bad ehe! . Thanks for the hikers and also the border patrol and everyone else out there cheering us on!

Marc P

What a trip that was. Lets go again soon!!!! By the way where are the pics of my truck??JK. This was quite a learning experience for me as well as the rest of the group. For those who made comments about taking the wrong line up the road you are only 1/2 correct. This was a tight road up, I went up first and saw the hazard, but it did not look as soft as it really was. I think the recent rains may have loosened up that area (2 mines almost on top of eachother).

Rob, Lance , Scott you guys did great, and I will wheel with you guys anytime. Lets go buy towstraps!!

Until next time!!

HBoss

Great job boys & "WOW!" to those pics. Ok, who was sitting there snapping pics instead of helping?!? Heh, j/k.

Nice teamwork & quick-thinking. Glad you were able to save Rob's 4Runner. I can just imagine what was going through Rob's mind when the trail started giving way...