January 2020 Newsletter by Paul Kastle

The Rooster

January 2020

THE ROOSTER A monthly update from the Inland Empire Offroad Association

What’s New We are in the heart of the sand season, right between the two biggest trips. People should start arriving for New years at Glamis within days.

New Years Eve Pot Luck

Thanksgiving at Glamis Despite the forecast of rain and wind, we had a good size group at Wash 6 for Thanksgiving. While we didn’t get to eat outside, we set up the food in Jim’s trailer and everyone contributed to a great Thanksgiving Feast, which was attended by 38 people. The next morning the weather was great, and we got to have some fun rides. We also had a nice big omelette breakfast on Saturday, and the general crowd level in the dunes was low for Thanksgiving. Read more about it in Jim’s article on page 3.

We will be having the usual Spaghetti Pot luck dinner on New Year’s Eve. Bring whatever you’d like to share, or check out what others are bringing on the website.

Omelettes It has become a tradition, but I wanted to make sure everyone knows that we will do freezer bag omelettes in camp on Saturday morning during the New Years trip. It is a great way to get everyone together in the morning, and an easy way to a good breakfast.

The Rooster

January 2020

Three Strikes: Still Duning

Upcoming Events • December 21 - January 2nd: Christmas / New Years at Glamis, Wash 6 • January 17-20: MLK Dune Cleanup Weekend at Glamis, Wash 6.

December, 2019 S

January, 2020 S

During the Thanksgiving trip I had a few more mechanical issues than I would have preferred, but once again thanks to having the right parts, tools, and help I was able to drive the car in the trailer at the end of the weekend. The first failure was on the first ride, when the bolts that hold the wheel bearing to the bearing carrier broke. John and Jim ran back to camp to get them and tools, while I took it apart in the dunes. Unfortunately this bent the brake rotor, but I was still able to drive. On the next day we noticed some frame cracks that had gotten big enough to be considered breaks, so we fabricated a gusset and Barry welded it on, thus resolving a long time issue. Then, later my steering shaft splines stripped on the lower UJoint. This made the steering wheel put less than eﬀective, but fortunately I had bought new U-Joints and the spline material to install them a couple of years ago, and still had them in the trailer. We bolted them on and met the rest of the ride at Hill 3. While having the car break isn’t a highlight of a trip, it is inevitable and being able to deal with it sure makes things better. Thanks to everyone! -P.J 2

The Rooster

January 2020

Jim’s Thanksgiving at Glamis, 2019 The long-awaited oﬃcial start of the Glamis season finally arrived, but it didn’t quite live up to my expectations. It still was a great way to spend the week, however. The first sign of things to come was on Wednesday the 20th when I started to load the fifth wheel fridge which I had turned on the previous Sunday. The “check” light was on and it was not very cold. I did some trouble shooting and found it would run on 110 volts, but not on propane. I decided the 25 year old main board was bad. I couldn’t get one locally, and Amazon couldn’t get one to me until at least Friday. I decided to run the fridge on electricity until Nancy arrived next week with a new board. It would be a good test of the recently repaired generator, as I would have to run a generator non stop for the next week. I left for Glamis Thursday morning. I had a trouble free, easy drive to Glamis. The wash road was very muddy, but in pretty good shape until Wash 6 where it had a 6-8 inch deep rut running across it. Mike and Pat, Jerry and Linda, Don and Shirley, and much to my surprise, Darrel Harju and his friend Larry, were already set up. The ground was as wet as I’ve ever seen it, and it was impossible to enter the trailer without tracking in mud. I got the yellow trailer and my buggy box and set them up. I left the buggy in the trailer, as I planned to use the RZR until more buggies arrived later. Daren and   Tara, friends of Ray and Janice who have camped with us before arrived.   They have a new rescue puppy; I think it’s a Lab mix, with a great, playful personality. Ray and Janice arrived Friday. Most of the side by sides went for a short ride, but I opted out as the yellow trailer needed some work. The generator would not start. So I worked on it and found the carb was dirty. I was able to clean it up and it now runs, but randomly stops running after an hour or so. I’ll look at it in more depth later. Don discovered two bad tires on his RZR trailer and was going to go to Yuma for replacements and dinner. I joined him and Shirley. We dropped oﬀ the tires at Sam’s Club and went to Olive Garden. It was relatively early, so we were immediately seated. Our waiter was great, but the kitchen seemed a little slow. Great food and company! Don was supposed to get a call when the tires were done, but heard nothing until after dinner. We went by Sam’s anyway, and the tires were ready. We did some more shopping and headed back to camp. Saturday morning we went for a side by side ride. The sand was pretty wet, so I didn’t change to my paddles. I probably should have as it was a battle to keep up. I don’t recall any significant problems. When we got back to camp I put on the paddles. My fridge continued to work great as long as the generator was running. Sunday morning we had a well attended omelet boil. We were told “they” were predicting rain all day Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. We would just make the best of it. Daren’s brother and niece live in Yuma and were going to meet Daren for lunch at Duner’s Diner. It was a great opportunity for a ride. About ten side by sides had an uneventful ride there and back. The food and service were great, as they have been since the reopening. We really should consider making a Duner’s Diner run a part of every trip.

The Rooster

January 2020

Monday Darrel and Larry said their goodbyes. We then went for another side by side ride. My 900 had to work to keep up, even with the paddles. After the ride I went back to Yuma for water, fuel, Firehouse subs, and some casino time. Tuesday we had another side by side ride. It became clear to me the 900 is no longer a fun dune ride. I don’t like setting a pace that hinders other’s fun. I love it on trails, and as long as I have it, I will use it at Anza, around home, and Coral Pink, but its dune days are over. I’ll be looking at a replacement, but it’s not my highest priority. I have always felt way more comfortable in the sand rail in the dunes. Walt arrived with tales of how great his new-to-him truck tows. It was great to see him after his recent health issues. He is moving slower than he used to, and occasionally needs help doing things he used to do by himself, but he knows we are almost all willing to do what we can to help him. He had planned to spend just two or three days, but after a few days he decided he was doing well enough to extend his stay until Monday. Wednesday I was pleased to awake to nice, dry weather, despite the earlier predictions of Biblical rains. John and Anna had arrived overnight. This was the day that P.J. and family, and Nancy were to arrive. I finally decided that saving $35.00 by leaving Nancy’s car at GDS and not buying a pass was too inconvenient, so we bought a pass before leaving home. It was nice to not have to set up a meeting with Nancy to drop oﬀ her car. She drove straight to camp. I think that will become the norm. P.J. and Melissa were able to camp right by John and Anna and Nancy and me. Nancy brought out a new board for our refrigerator that I ordered once I got to Glamis and found that either no one in Yuma or El Centro had one in stock, or they had them for nearly twice Amazon’s price. P.J. helped, or actually installed it while I watched. I was surprised when it didn’t fix the problem. I ended up running the generator the rest of the trip. Once I got home, I replaced the thermocouple and it’s working perfectly. I am very pleased with my Honda generators, which as some of you may remember from the last newsletter I was disappointed with. I think their customer service is terrible, but their product is excellent. I don’t think they are designed to run non stop for 12 days, but between the two of them, they did. I stopped taking notes at this time; I guess I was too busy with the family, so I won’t give days for the rest of this report. I’ll write about what I remember. Pete and Jeremy arrived, with Pete driving the motor home towing his trailer, and Jeremy driving his Duramax pick up towing his new trailer he acquired with his sand rail. This was his first trip since getting the car last season. He’s been working and traveling a lot. He seems to really enjoy his job, and I think he is doing a fine job of enjoying the rewards of his hard work, as evidenced by the sand rail, truck, and his travels. Good Job, Jeremy!

The Rooster

January 2020

John, P.J. and I went for our first ride, and were west of Olds when P.J. radioed he had a problem with his right rear suspension. We stopped and he was right, the bolts that attach the unibearing to the bearing carrier had loosened, and one was broken, damaging the brake rotor and causing the wheel to decamber greatly. We keep spare bolts in our trailers, so John and I left him alone in the dunes with some tools, and went back to camp for parts and tools. By the time we got back, P.J. had removed the broken parts and was ready to make a temporary repair. In a surprisingly short time we had the car drivable and were able to return to camp. Pete soon walked up and reported Jeremy was broke down at Olds. Pete had gotten a ride back to camp and planned to use Jeremy’s truck and someone’s flatbed trailer to get Jeremy and his car. We discouraged that idea and said we’d go get him with the sand rails. When we go to Olds, we found that one of the U-Joint axles that were the rage a few years ago, but have not lived up to expectations, had failed. It was getting late, so rather than getting a spare axle from camp; John oﬀered to tow him back to camp. John was able to tow him back without incident, but reported it was not as easy as he thought it would be. That car must be heavy. I have a spare U-Joint axle that I carry in my trailer, and lent it to Jeremy. He and Pete installed it and he had no further axle issues, other than continually thinking of how to prevent a reoccurrence. Dale, Rebecca, and Bella arrived with some more improvements to the Can Am. They went on the buggy rides and had no problems keeping up. In fact I remember one ride where I had trouble keeping up with them. They hit some wet sand, and blasted me with a few big clods, and it hurt! My problem entirely, but I was surprised at the amount of sand that thing threw. Pete reported a noise coming from the rear of his car, and figured it was a CV problem. He and Jeremy worked a long time one evening, and found what seemed to be the problem, a worn CV joint. I had a new one in the trailer, so rather than install one of the many used ones we carry as well, which would necessitate R&Ring it twice, a very dirty, time consuming job, Pete installed my new one and will replace it with an identical one. Much to his disgust, the car still made the noise. Dale helped diagnose the noise, which turned out to be coming from a rear brake pad. Pete ran the rest of the trip with no further issues. On Thanksgiving the weather looked threatening, and there was a wind. The adjusted forecast had rain arriving around 1:00 P.M. We scheduled dinner at 3:00, which posed a potential problem. My sand rail won’t easily fit in the trailer without jacking it up and narrowing the track width, so I leave it out during a trip. Others put their cars in their trailers, so that made my trailer the easiest to clean out to serve food in. P.J. and I took a lot of stuﬀ out of the trailer, put in the tables we use for omelets, and moved it to the center of camp. Everyone figured out what the plan was, and the trailer was soon filled with all kinds of delicious food. It was cramped, but with Janice organizing the flow of people in and out, everyone got their food. It was raining by this time, so everyone retired to their separate campers, denying us the usual camaraderie, but as John said, “In 35 years of doing this, this is the first time we’ve had to do it this way. That’s a pretty good record.” Well said, John! I hope our New Year’s feast is in drier weather. I love the company! 5

The Rooster

January 2020

Tom and Sarah, with Aubrey and Jacob arrived, making Allie’s and Marshall’s trip! Mirroring what P.J., Melissa, and the other kids of a generation ago used to do; they dug a large fort in the sand. They had a ball. Jeff and Lavonne Oliver made it out for a few days, but I don’t recall seeing them on any rides. I know they made frequent trips to Gecko to be with Amber and her family. Lavonne’s new RZR almost immediately went into limp mode, and despite several people’s best efforts, it refused to come out of limp mode. Jeff made several calls to AZ West, the Polaris dealer he has bought several side by sides from, and received no help. That certainly is not the way a repeat customer should be treated. I understand he is taking it to Coyne, a dealer much nearer their house. Barry and his new bride, Ann arrived. They are having so much fun together it’s awesome! On one morning ride, one of Barry’s U-Joint axles broke. We were only 2 miles from camp, and he had a spare axle in camp, so we were ready to go get an entire axle, when Barry realized only part of the axle was broken, and it could easily be replaced, saving a lot of time. We got the replacement part from the spare axle, and by the time we got it back to the car, Barry was ready to install it. We were soon back to riding. I don’t have all the details, but Ray’s Can Am’s starter failed before Thanksgiving. Calls to all the Can Am dealers in El Centro and Yuma were fruitless. Ray had previously scheduled a trip home for a doctor’s appointment, so he and Janice figured they’d buy one at home. No one in the Inland Empire had one. They returned to camp Saturday, with plans for Ray to drive Janice’s RZR. He used it but reported that it was making a noise from either a CV or the transmission. I haven’t heard any more. On one ride the buggies and side by sides were separate, but could hear each other on the radios. 6

The Rooster

January 2020

Both groups were having a good time in the same general area near the flag pole when Barry lost a rear trailing arm bolt. While we were working on it, the side by sides were coming to help. Then we heard that someone lost a belt. It then became a race to see which group could get to the other sooner. We could see the other group about half a mile away. We finished the repair on Barry’s car in record time, and got to the side by sides to find Don had lost a belt, and the remains were knotted behind the clutch. Despite everyone’s efforts, we couldn’t get the knots out. We would have to remove the clutch. The buggies, and I imagine, but am not certain, a few side by sides went back to camp for tools. We got the tools, and had a good ride back to the side by sides where with the proper tools, removing the clutch and the remains of the old belt was surprisingly easy. John led us back towards camp, and was moving along pretty fast when Ray reported the pace was too fast for some of the side by sides. John had Ray lead the rest of the way, and it was a good ride for everyone. It didn’t seem any slower, but it took a different type of line. In looking back on this trip, there were what seems to be an unusual number of problems, but in typical Inland Empire Off Road style we handled most of them. The wet sand turned quite rough and rutted, but I can’t wait to go back! I hope to see everyone for New Year’s. -Jim

This month we’d like to thank Jim Kastle for writing about the Thanksgiving trip and encourage everyone else to submit content as well. If we are going to have a monthly newsletter, it is great to have content to share. If not, maybe it is time to look at investing the time in something diﬀerent. Please send anything you want to me at pkastle@msn.com and we will publish what content we have and a calendar of upcoming events published every month. -Paul, Melissa, Allie, and Marshall. 7