Over Memorial Day weekend Ryan H and I decided to do a shakedown run with the Rovers after finally installing some much-desired components over the past month or so.
Ryan was testing his new 33” Goodyear MT/R’s and ARB front air-locker and I just had to check out the new-to-me Safari Gard 3-link and 35” Goodyear MT/R’s we had just finished installing. Another item we had to keep in mind was the vehicle’s sheet metal after installing new tires. The 33’s on 8” wide rims cleared for Ryan with minimal trimming but my 35’s on 10” wide rims really fill up the wheel wells at full articulation and I had to trim parts of the rear doors along with the front fenders. Luckily, I packed a hack saw for all those “Trail Mods” just in case. Ryan was solo this day and I brought my wife and 2 kids none of which are strangers to Arizona’s variety of difficult trails.
This was not the first time we had attempted “Lower Terminator”. We had both driven portions of the trail from start to finish but figured this time we could try all the most difficult obstacles and difficult lines.
At the first obstacle I knew we were in the right place for a tough trail when a buggy lined up behind us. I made short change of the challenge then allowed the buggy to pass so we could focus on driving without feeling pressured that a more capable extreme trail vehicle would want to drive faster.
{rokbox album=|album| title=|Terminator Shakedown :: Rock Climbing|}images/stories/2011/terminator/4.png{/rokbox} {rokbox album=|album| title=|Terminator Shakedown :: Climbing|}images/stories/2011/terminator/5.png{/rokbox} {rokbox album=|album| title=|Terminator Shakedown :: Ledges|}images/stories/2011/terminator/6.png{/rokbox}
{rokbox album=|album| title=|Terminator Shakedown :: Previous attempt at Z-Turn|}images/stories/2011/terminator/16.jpg{/rokbox}
There was one main obstacle I really wanted to tackle. Either the bypass is called “Z-Turn” and the obstacle “Terminator” or the entire obstacle area is called “Z-Turn”. Regardless, we wanted to succeed without any damage to the vehicles while testing the vehicle and our driving. My last attempt was the bypass to this obstacle and it made a lasting impression as I pointed my vehicle in the sky on two wheels at one point.
{rokbox album=|album| title=|Terminator Shakedown :: Looking good|}images/stories/2011/terminator/9.png{/rokbox} {rokbox album=|album| title=|Terminator Shakedown :: Ryan on Z |}images/stories/2011/terminator/11.png{/rokbox} {rokbox album=|album| title=|Terminator Shakedown :: Do I spy a winch line?|}images/stories/2011/terminator/12.png{/rokbox}
This time would fair far easier as I slowly maneuvered my 94’ Discovery successfully over the large boulders. Ryan faired no differently as we both pushed the limits of the vehicles, especially the power steering!
Upon completing the trail we took the kids to an old stone fort to do some exploring. It was a nice change of scenery for them since it was very scenic. All in all we had a great time. As we drove back to the air up area I could only think of one thing to say to the Terminator trails, “I’ll be back!” 😉
– Shaun {jcomments on}
