The Q did well and did everything we asked of it despite it being underpowered as a tow rig.
Our plan was to camp at El Morrow on the way up but we were faced with a decision about 25 miles south of Gallup, NM.
We were at the turn to El Morrow and staring into a really big storm.
Faced with setting up camp in the rain or waiting out the storm we decided to push north and see what was on the other side of the storm.
Just before the NM/CO state line Em' posted on FB where we were and F&K called and said to come on in and grab some rest, we had been on the road since 5am, about 13 hours.
We got to stay dry and the needed sleep was good (thank you).
Monday we slept in a bit (for us), had some breakfast then did the remaining 4 hours into camp.
Setup took longer than normal in-between rain showers, we knew more rain would come so we tarped everything knowing we had a few bad canvas spots.
As Em' said, "always wear protection".
Tuesday we woke feeling pretty rested and enjoyed a nice breakfast of BBQuray cooked pork chops and eggs, awesome.
Knowing we were running on the 12 year old (non-servicable) factory half-shafts and u-joints I had called ahead to the Montrose O'reillys and ordered them, everything was there except for the front driveshaft u-joints which would come in later that night from SLC.
We decided to go ahead and run without the front spares.
We bagged around Sliverton Tuesday morning enjoying some ice cream and expresso while wait for another group to finish Mineral Creek and then headed out with a group of 7-8 rigs to do Corkscrew.
Here we are chasing Ronnie and the Mutt out to the trail.
Ronnie likes to do things a bit differently.
It's amazing how he can drive that thing backwards so well.
It rained on and off for most of the early part getting up to Corkscrew.
The top was beautiful and we had some downtime when a front u-joint spit out of a rig taking with it the front stub shaft. That got removed very quickly as I think all of us had pulled several over the years and made it just a simple task.
Like clockwork the NC folks developed fuel issues just after the top of Corkscrew, getting off the mountain involved lots of strapping and put us at the bottom around 8pm.
Heading back to camp on 550 we find the road closed for construction, closed all night.
Two options, drive all the way back through Silverton and around (probably 6 hours) or take on Ophir pass in the dark.
Over in the dark we went.
We are now on the trail/road for over 9 hours, didn't really pack for this amount of time.
Having been over Ophir before (it's not a bad road) hungry, tired and with my sucky night vision I'm getting pretty cranky.
My apologies to anyone I snapped at.
We make it back to camp after mid-night, total time on road/trail about 13 hours.
Wednesday is a wash, tired, beat, we decide to not run.
Had some good lunch in Montrose, picked up the front u-joints, relaxed and chatted the rest of the day enjoying the beer and the people.
Thursday brings on Imogene.
We take the shortcut by the mansion, it's quicker but has a few steps to be concerned about.
I take the hard line for the most part but try to keep the front wheels out of any holes.
I don't want to change a half-shaft on the trail if we can help it.
Temp's climb even in the Q so here we are resting just before the last obstacle to the trail and the top.
Again, like clockwork a rig needs to be strapped over the top.
We take the hard line with the Q over the last obstacle to avoid being trapped behind the rig being strapped and we simply pop up on top.
A little poser shot just to give a size comparison.
The views are great from the top of Imogene.
Friday is another wash.
Heading up to Clear Lake on the switchbacks I think I feel issues with the Q's transmission.
After a mile or two climbing in low range I notice what I think is the trans not shifting from 1-2-D.
We pop onto a flat spot and let some rigs pass, temps are normal but the hood feels hot so Bob and I (Em' stayed back at camp) let the Q cool for about 10 minutes.
Put the Q back in high and try the next section, seems to shift fine.
Try it in low range, seems fine, I call it quits based on a trans with 200K and not knowing much about this type of trans.
Back on level ground at the bottom we check fluid (good) test run at some higher speeds, everything seems fine.
Knowing we have 720 miles to drive/tow on Saturday and not wanting to break something to prove a point we head back to camp for lunch, relax and start organizing for the long haul back.
The Q ran great and for the grand total of $3,500.00 (including yet installed parts) I think it's a keeper.
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