Hatari! To the Rubicon, Part 2 Web Extras

Once the welder comes out everybody wants to join the party. Our buddy, Jake Cusenza needed a massive crack on the rear of his M38A1 welded up, so Cappa put the rod to it.

Although we really dig the old-school look of a side-mounted spare tire, we nearly tore it off on the ride into the trail. We ratchet-strapped it to the rollbar for the ride out so we wouldn't tear the mount right out of the sheetmetal.

We didn't think to add anti-kickback shackles before hitting the trail, and as a result, our spring shackles kept inverting when the suspension fully dropped out. As a trail fix, we bolted a length of chain from the bumper to the spring eye to keep it from fully dropping out. We figured we'd fix it when we got home, but now we're convinced the chain will remain on the Jeep forever.

We tore the snot out of the cheapie mufflers that were reinstalled for this trip. Although sacrificial, we still had to ride over 600 miles home with them barking at us. Cappa bought this fishing stringer at the Ice House store after we left the trail. We pounded the outlet tube back into the muffler and used the stringer to keep it from falling off the vehicle. It sounded horrible and after a few miles we thought open headers would be better, but didn't have the energy to remove them.

We also thought to check the t-case oil level for the first time since leaving Cappa's house and originally discovering it's leaking. Thankfully, it only took a very small amount to bring 90W pouring out the fill plug hole, so we didn't worry about it the rest of the way home.

Heading out of the Tahoe area, we always take Monitor Pass. The air is a little thin, so Hazel checks to see if the marker is a mirage or not. Notice the dent on the rear quarter. Total trail damage can be chalked up to two blown front shocks, a dented rear quarter, bent spare tire mount, dented and bent t-case crossmember, scuffed front fender, and a slightly bent gas tank skid plate.

If we had real brass clangers we would have bought this Model T, turned around, and hit the trail again for some real retro wheeling. Back in the day folks used to drive cars just like this over the Rubicon. Of course, there wasn't any TV, so what else did they have to do?

If you're jonesing for a good burger you need to hit the Mt. Whitney Restaruant in Independence. Just make sure you don't hit it at noontime on a weekday because the local high school across the street sends the students there for lunch and it fills up fast.

No, it isn't Cappa's house. It's much nicer. Another place we'd passed for years and never stopped in is this little abandoned caf outside of Inyo. Inhabited mostly by lizards and bums, the bar stools and counter still exist inside.