Ok, round two.
A week before Christmas 2006, a large group of us headed up to Goat Mt. for some snow wheeling. It had been a fairly uneventful trip up to the towers, where we stopped to have some lunch and hang out for a few. A couple of us decided to go rown the road a bit and play in a rock quarry. After watching a couple of rigs make a short, steep hill climb, and one get denied, I decided to try it. Didn't make it on the first try, so I backed up and hit it again. Right at the top, the Jeep swung to the left, flipped and landed square on it's lid. Once I got my bearings, I shut the rig off, and made sure my wife and 5yo son were OK. We were all still secure in our seats. My wife was able to get herself unbuckled and she helped me get out. I don't recall exactly how my son was extracted, as it was all a blur.
Once out of the vehicle, it was winched back over so the rubber side was down. We assessed the damage and it was not good. Crushed roof, bent passenger doors, broken glass and wrinkled fenders.
The windshield was removed, and an ammo can was placed on the passenger side floor. We then set a hi-lift on the ammo can and proceeded to jack the roof up. We were then able to get the doors to latch shut. After topping off the fluids, I got in to start it and nothing happened...no click, no noise...nothing. After a few seconds, I heard someone yell "Put it in park!' Oh, right...got it!
It fired up easily enough, so I let it sit and idle for a bit. I decided to drive it around to make sure everything was working like it should. Placing the trans in drive resulted in a lot of steam! Something told me this wasn't right!
I shut it down and popped the hood. A quick inspection revealed a heater hose tee that had broken. I stood there, dumbfounded, and still trying to get my wits about me, while others re-routed the hoses to eliminate the tee. The problem was that it also eliminated the heater core. So, here I am, in feet of snow, at the top of the mountain, in a vehicle with no windshield and no heater. I believe the temp was around 26 degrees.
My wife and son were loaded into another rig, and I got bundled up in fleece, insulated gloves and whatever else I could bum from people for the long drive to Colton.
By the time we got to the bottom, I was cold, tired and still pretty shaken. I also had an impressive frozen crust of snot on my upper lip!
Jake (Twisted) was kind enough to let us hang out at his house while Trainwreck and Raven trailered their buggy home. The came back empty so the Jeep could be loaded up and hauled to their shop.
I spent the next few weeks without my daily driver XJ while a roof was grafted on. Once that was done, I hauled it home and put the rest of it back together. I am still driving it every day.
