AllPro Off Road Rock Crawling

Springtime in the southwestern deserts provides for some mighty fine wheeling. With cool morning temperatures and mild short-sleeve days, you can't beat the generally sunny, pleasant weather. It was April and time for some rockcrawling in Arizona.

A group of us gathered in the desert just north of Phoenix for an event sponsored by All-Pro Off Road. All-Pro is a premier supplier of Toyota truck and 4Runner parts, and owner Jon Bundrant wanted to offer a fun weekend as an appreciation gesture to his customers and fellow rockcrawlers.

The group of rigs, numbering about 25 or so, converged on the Table Mesa area beginning Thursday night. Friday, the trail fun started with rigs running the Terminator trails and Anaconda. Due to a wet winter, there was still considerable standing water in many of the washes. There was exhaust gurgle and fan spray as some rigs found the deeper depths of water holes scattered amongst the craggy rocks in the wash bottoms.

At one point in the day, Jon tackled a particularly nasty ascent off Terminator and did a three-bounce pogo down a 12-foot drop. Bouncing vertically on the grille of his truck, he scarcely managed to set it back down on the ground on the tires rather than on the roof. All was good in the end, with only some crinkled body panels and a broken headlight.

Saturday dawned beautifully and the sun soon provided a warm, clear day for more trail running. One group ran the Terminators again, followed by Judgement Day and another run up Anaconda. Another group set its sights on the tougher trails of Collateral Damage and Twisted.

We couldn't help but have fun as we wound our way through rocks, water, and sandy stretches of canyon. A tire cut necessitated a handful of plugs and another a spare tire install. Up on Twisted, the trail reached out and snapped a transfer case output shaft, and two rear axleshafts gave their lives, unable to withstand the torque applied to them.

After a good day on the trail, Jon and his crew treated the hungry wheelers to burgers and dogs. Following dinner was a parts raffle and a roaring campfire. Participants swapped trail stories and lies long into the night.

All-Pro has several other such gatherings planned for later this year. For more information, take a look at www.allprooffroad.com.