John Hamrick works on U.S. Air Force jets for a living, but his hobby is obviously working on his YJ. The Wrangler used to be his wife's daily driver, but more recently John has borrowed the Jeep for some trail fun. The YJ still runs the original 4.0L, which spins an SM465 en route to a flipped Dana 300, a high-pinion Dana 44 front, and a Dana 60 rear.
As Smiley gazed upwards towards the rainy Tellico morning light he said: “Well, the ground’s slicker than eel snot, and my Honda Recon’s a bit low on blinker fluid, so I guess I’ll leaver’ here for the day.” You see, Smiley was a fairly durable individual who had gone ’wheeling before with the folks from Down East Off-Road in Wilson, North Carolina, but knowing what he knew about the weather in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina, he had opted for the heated interior of one of his buddy’s Jeeps to carry him out to the trailhead instead of his four-wheeler. Who could blame him, the weather was terrible and could only be made worse by having to ride an uncovered vehicle around all day in the driving rain and sloshing mud. As it turned out, Smiley was right. The ground was slicker than eel snot, and all the blinker fluid in the world would not make Tellico’s Lower Two trail any easier. The result was a shaft-breaking, mud-slinging January Saturday.
This '82 Scrambler, owned by Doug Smith, has to be one of the cleanest Scramblers that exists on the East Coast. Doug has added a built '79 AMC 304 with a reverse-mounted Quadrajet, an NP435, some lockers, and a slew of other goodies to his CJ-8. Rumor has it that Doug carries enough parts to rebuild almost anything on his Scrambler, but there was no need on this rainy day. | 
Jeff Bishop brought his flexy '97 TJ up from Leicester, North Carolina, for the assault on Lower Two. The Wrangler has a mildly tuned 4.0L, a 6-inch Rubicon Express long-arm kit, and some 35-inch MT/Rs. Despite the lack of traction, severe weather, and a nasty trail, the rear Dana 35 in Jeff's TJ stayed together thanks to a Warn full-float kit, 4.88 gears, and a Lock-Right locker. | 
This green TJ is owned by John Filbert of Goldsboro, North Carolina. The '97 TJ sits about 10 inches above stock and spins some 38.5-inch TSLs through a Dana 44 front and a 60 rear. Both axles spin 4.88 gears with a Lincoln-locked front and a Detroit Locker for the rear. John also uses Down East's Dana Model 300 flip kit. |
Most of John W. Little's friends call him "Little," but we'd be careful with that because it misleads you into believing that he is small, which he is not, and his job involves carrying a gun and riding around in a car with lights on it. John, who hails from Wilson, North Carolina, drives an '86 CJ-7 that is pushed along by a '94 Wrangler 4.0L attached to a Torqueflite 999, and a stock rear Dana 44. Little led the trail with much driving skill until a front U-joint gave up and he had to rely on three-wheel drive and the winch cable. | 
This is eel snot... | 
This is what eel snot does... |