Hatari! To the Rubicon, Part 2 Web Extras

If you really want a relatively rust-free oddball Jeep, just travel the desert backroads with a small wad of cash in your pockets. We're sure this spring-over, Dauntless-powered Jeepster could be had for well under $2500 and the rust was minimal.

For some reason, Cappa has a fetish for affixing Jp Magazine stickers to unusual places and snapping a photo with his fisheye lense. Moments later, a group of Girl Scouts pelted him with Thin Mints until he removed the sticker.

Flatfenders were everywhere. This one was parked at a service station outside of Mono Lake with a busted steering bellcrank. It also sported about 3,000lbs of extra metal welded to it in various places.

The day before saw two CJ-6s meeting each other at 75 mph on the highway. This day saw two somewhat rare full size Cherokees parked only a few yards from each other. We dug the orange one.

This shovel was powered by an antique flathead four cylinder and looked dangerous just sitting there statically. We can't imagine being near this thing when it was moving. A close inspection revealed that nearly 20-percent of the chassis and gear teeth were made entirely out of welding rod. When it cracked, the just laid a bead and carried on.

Another scary item at the Lee Vining museum was this Ingersoll Rand compressor. The motor that drove the compressor was a full two times larger than the one that drove the chassis it all sat on.

Yet another 3A in somebody's front yard being guarded by some sort of Llama.

Our trip took place near the height of the "OPEC gonna rape you" gas price gouging. The highest price we paid at the pump was 3.999 in Bridgeport just before heading into the mountains leading to Tahoe.

The retread tires did surprisingly well for a $50 tire. They weren't as grippy as some tread we've used on the slick granite of the Sierras, but they weren't the worst either. By the end of the trip, there was some chunking and a few gouges on the tread, but they didn't delaminate on the trail or on the road like some predicted.

While we mistook him for the lady at the gold court who delivers the beers, our buddy Orion Burns graciously snapped photos for us when not trying to destroy a $6,000 quad on a rocky trail. A full half of our group opted for quads and motorcycles this year, proving to us that high gas prices suck monkey bag.

The Omix 9-leaf from spring and 11-leaf rear springs seemed like overkill when we first ordered them, but proved to be the right choice when we loaded the CJ-6 down for the trail. One thing we did overlook was some sort of U-bolt protection. Ours are now hammered and in need of replacement thanks to lots of granite contact.

Our buddy Robbie Jenkins has seen the beginning to The Beverlee Hillbillies one time too many. Here he is loosing a case of water and Mountain Dew moments before laying his rig on its side on Soup Can Rock. Sharp eyes will spot the Hazel 60 under the front of the rig.

Although our J.E. Reel front and rear Canyon Crawler driveshafts made it out completely undamaged despite heavy contact with rocks, we can't say the same for our stock crossmember. It got bashed pretty good on the way to our camp at Buck Island Lake.

Hazel cut out a reinforcement patch for the crossmember out of some spare 3/16-inch plate using the on-board Premeir Power Welder and a grinder.

After beating the crossmember back into shape as best as possible, the reinforcement plate was welded in to ensure the crossmember wouldn't distort any worse on the way out.