Jeep Hill Climb - Silver Lake Sand Dunes

The whole idea behind going to Michigan was to wade around in the mud like an overgrown hog on a hot summer's day. But when David Obney of the Moonlight Stompers told us there were also dunes there, our curiosity was piqued.

With just a little hemming and hawing, we ended up on the Silver Lake Dunes in Mears, Michigan. The Dunes are sandwiched between Lake Michigan and Silver Lake and offer fun for everyone. From crazy steep ascents and descents to more mild hills, this ended up being a nice break from our planned wallowing.

Tam Loomis was driving her husband Bill's M-725 around for much of the day. With a 472ci Cadillac V-8, Turbo 400, and NP203, the stock Dana 60 front and Dana 70 rear would be in trouble in rocks, but out in the sand, it had no problems at all.

Joe Ramm had a blast entertaining us with his high-rpm, high-speed antics through this pond that was formed by a week of solid rain. With a 304 V-8, eight-lug Dana 44 front axle, and 14-bolt rear, he was fearless with the gas pedal. Unfortunately, his radiator was scared stiff, and he overheated after lunch.

Meet Mike Adkins, our chauffeur for most of the day. Mike was new to the Jeep thing, but he took us anywhere we wanted to go. It was a nice cush ride, to be sure. His '05 TJ with stock drivetrain and 3.73s rolling on 33x12.50 R15LT TrXus tires got us where we wanted to go in comfort.

The 4.7L sticker got our attention real quick. It was done in the stock front, but it only took us all of a couple minutes to get Brendan Witgen to show us how not stock his engine was. With the 4.0L engine stroked and bored .060 over, he's pushing 300 hp, and with the 4.56s, he was shooting roosters all day long.

This guy had his TJ for only about a week when this picture was taken. He told us afterward that he's not a Jeep guy, per se, but has wheeled all kinds of vehicles. He mentioned he breaks them pretty frequently and needs to get new wheeling toys. For the life of us, we can't figure out why.

We saw this XJ pulling into the parking lot, and the "454" on the door didn't go unnoticed. With the gutted interior, 2311/42-point rollcage, dual fenderwell headers with side pipes, and paddle tires, this thing was a race car in a Jeep's body being let loose on the sand. Michael Zahul built it in his garage, and the 454 Chevy engine was actually .060 over to make 468 ci.

OK, it's true that we aren't fans of CJ-3Bs. It's also true that we aren't fans of wings. But when Bill Loomis showed up in his '57 Oldsmobile V-8-powered 3B and nailed the throttle, we decided there was an exception to every rule.

Some of the leeward sides of the hills were tough climbs. With two to three feet of loose sand, if you didn't get a good run at it or have some power pushing you, the top of the hill would be out of reach. Steve Anderson piloted his '81 CJ-7 up without a hitch.

Sand Drags. That's where it's at. We didn't have any floozy waving a scarf to start us off, but the competition was fierce nonetheless. With a 350, the white YJ seemed to have an advantage over the CJ, but the real edge was the paddle tires he was running. If you are going to race in sand, get paddles.

Sometimes, if you aren't on the throttle, the sand will suck you in. While waiting for a chance at this hill, the Gun Metal-colored TJ (left) ended up sliding into the tree. A side pull from Pat Kinne got him out, and there was plenty of moral support in the background.