Newsletter0415 by Paul Kastle

The Rooster

April 2015

THE ROOSTER A monthly update from the Inland Empire Offroad Association

Whats New We had another great long trip to Glamis for Presidents Day, and we’ve got two articles covering it in this newsletter.

President’s Day Trip by Rick and Melanie Alonso! Melanie and I arrived on Sunday 2/15 around 3:30 PM to find we could see the camp light, but we were unable to see a way to get in due to the large crowd parked in the area. I proceeded to walk in, and after greeting some familiar faces, Mike Bacon volunteered to guide us into camp where we were barely able to squeeze in next to Mike’s trailer.

Glamis for Easter After discussing it over the Presidents trip and posting a poll on the club website for over three weeks, 76% or responses said they favored going to Glamis, Wash 6 for the Easter trip, so thats where we’ll be.

Glamis Store Sold Despite this being the April issue, it is no joke that the Glamis Store has been sold. New owners are running the business now, and we’ll see what they have planned. We will miss seeing Jeannie LeBlanc at pizza as she moves on to life after Glamis.

A ride was just about to start, but we skipped it to rest for a bit. Later on we joined the large crowd gathered around the fire where more greetings with familiar faces took place. Around 9:00 PM we called it a day.

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April 2015 Monday morning we woke up to warm weather and clear skies. After almost a year, we were finally going to get to try our, new to us, mid travel buggy with a fresh 2.4 Ecotec Chevy engine. What a world of difference in smooth running and torque. We took off in the ride, and after about 25 minutes a horrible whining sound came from the right rear of the buggy. Low and behold the brake disk bolts were backing out and were hitting the trailing arm, resulting in loss of braking. In, stepped John “MacGyver” Cole and after about 15 minutes of wrapping the brake caliper in a rag

Upcoming Events • March 27-April 6: Easter Week at Glamis, Wash 6. Those of us in camp on Easter Sunday will do an Easter Egg hunt for everyone, so bring some plastic eggs and fun prizes. • April 30-May 4th: Weekend at Dumont. This has been a great trip to round out the season for the last many years.

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On Tuesday we went to Yuma in Jim’s truck along with the Ford’s for some shopping and dinner at Texas Road House. For the next couple of days we had some good and uneventful rides behind the Razors. We found out that shock tuning is way more complicated than I thought. We also came up with some mysterious axle related noises that have yet to be sorted out.

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plus miles and miles of electric tape, we took off again with partial brakes (brakes are overrated anyway). Later on with Jim giving me two bolts from his extensive collection + some red Loctite, we would ride again.

At the fire on Wednesday night we were introduced to the idea of “Baggie Omelets”, so on Thursday morning, with all the ingredients provided by Jim, Ford’s, Walt and Mike we had our first taste of a great camping delicacy. Thanks to all for feeding us. Also many thanks for the advice, mechanical help and hospitality. We have been members since the 90s and it is always good to “go back to where everybody knows your name”.

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April 2015

President's Week 2015 by Jim Kastle Nancy and I arrived at Wash 6 Thursday around 2:00 P.M. We drove around, but noticed no familiar vehicles. I parked and began to level the trailer when I saw a RZR drive up. It was Mike Bacon, who was observant enough to notice me drive right by his truck and trailer. He led us the 150 yards to camp where Steve and Kimmie were there as well. I had driven right by, not recognizing Mike's truck and trailer. This despite the fact we've made at least five trips this year where Mike's truck and trailer were there! Nancy and I quickly unhitched the white trailer and drove back to the store where we had left her Subaru. When we dropped it off the bartender came over and told Nancy, "You can't park here overnight." Nancy explained that we were just going to camp and would have the car moved within an hour. He said that would be okay. I wanted to make it clear we weren't leaving the car overnight. I picked up the yellow trailer and Nancy left her car in the yellow trailer's spot. Dave and Cindy Huggard and Steve and Janice Tharp soon arrived, followed by Bobby, Walt, and Ray and Janice. We spent the rest of the day setting up camp and enjoying a campfire. Friday morning John and Anna arrived. As John had to do some work on the buggy, I went on a RZR ride. I had borrowed some RZR paddles and front tires from Ray and Janice with the intent of testing them to see if I wanted to buy them. Since buying the RZR 2 1/2 years ago I have resisted buying paddles, thinking that using 4 wheel drive was good enough, thus avoiding the hassle of changing tires when I change from Arizona to Glamis. But with the clutch problems I had last trip, I realized paddles might make life easier for my RZR. I was very impressed with the way the tires performed. Pete and Linda Hagen arrived after driving through a maze of camps that had developed around our camp. I don't recall a more crowded holiday, not even a Thanksgiving. At the campfire Ray and Janice treated us to some Dutch oven cherry cobbler. It was outstanding! P.J., Melissa, and Allie planned to arrive shortly before midnight so I stayed up in order to lead them in through the maze. Following the track on the GPS made it a relatively easy task. Saturday morning Barry walked into camp, having spent the night at Red Earth, not wanting drive through the maze of camps at 2:00 A.M. He was soon parked and set up, but was not yet ready for a buggy ride. So Dave, Steve, Pete, John, P.J., and I went for a buggy ride that was cut short when less than a mile and a half from camp John had a flat on a paddle tire. We returned to camp to allow John to change tires and for Barry to join us. On the way back to camp we heard on the radio that Ray had a paddle tire failure on his RZR. In Camp I returned the borrowed paddles to Ray. We went on another ride that was stopped less than two miles from camp when John's left front spindle broke, turning his car into a three wheeler. Steve, P.J. with John as a passenger, and I went back to camp to get replacement parts. On the way back out, less than half a mile from John's car, Steve reported he had a problem. A trailing arm bracket had broken, causing the right rear tire to tilt at an angle similar to John's front. John instructed 3

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April 2015

Steve to remove the right rear axle and said we'd be back after fixing his car. We quickly made the trip to John's car and did the repair and returned to Steve. Thanks to some heavy duty straps provided by both Pete and Dave we were able to secure the trailing arm very solidly to the car. John and Steve figured we had earned some ice cream so we stopped by the flats on our way back to camp. We all enjoyed some celebratory ice cream. Thanks, Steve and John. Back in camp lots of us helped Barry do a great job of reattaching and strengthening Steve's trailing arm mount. We went to Mama Jeannie's for dinner. At Jeannie's she gave us some bad news. She said that her dad had sold the business and that the restaurant would close March 11. This meant that P.J., Melissa, and Allison were having their last Mama Jeannie's pizza. Those of us who get to stay the week will enjoy one more pizza meal next Saturday, but it will be a very sad evening. While we were at pizza, Steve painted the repair on the sandrail. We had a campfire with the highlight being Ray and Janice's Dutch oven pineapple upside down cake, served with ice cream, compliments of Mike. After the campfire several of us went to Olds where we had another campfire and enjoyed watching a pretty good sized crowd. We saw at least three RZR's roll. Apparently there were no injuries, other than to the RZR's and the driver's pride. Sunday morning we had another omelette boil, with lots of participants. We had so many participants that at one time we had to have a waiting line for room in the turkey fryer. I hope someone can bring an additional turkey fryer out for the Easter trip. After breakfast we quickly finished the repair of Steve's sandrail then all of the buggies went on a very long ride all the way down to Hill 7. The RZR ride left camp at about the same time as the buggy ride and at one point the RZRs followed the buggies so we had approximately 20 vehicles in a line. There was lots of trash talk between the two groups. It was all in fun, but to the casual observer it sounded like we didn't like each other. The ride to Hill 7 was mostly in near virgin sand. After Hill 7 we attempted to go to the plane crash but discovered that the plane crash is actually in a closed area as we thought it might've been last time we went. They have much more clearly marked the area now so we won't be going back to the crash site. The buggies then went 4

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to Hills 6, 5, and 4. Near Hill 4 Barry ran out of gas. He hadn't bother to fill the buggy after Saturday's short rides, because we only drove 5 or 6 miles. We quickly transferred gas from my car to Barry's and made it back to camp. It's a pretty good 3+ hour ride when the only mechanical problem is one car running out of gas. An interesting note is that after we had lunch we decided to take Allie and her new friend Araya (Bobby's granddaughter) to the store for ice cream. P.J. didn't make it a hundred yards out of camp before running out of gas. He had forgotten to refuel after the morning ride, and he DID fuel before the morning ride! Rick and Melanie Alonzo arrived with their new-to-them sandrail. When they bought it it was set up for a VW but Rick installed a GM Ecotec engine. CBM provided the engine and a really neat installation package, and answered lots of Rick's questions during the installation. Rick had a shop, Sand Buggy Supply, do the fab work, and Rick handled all the details, including some beautiful aluminum diamond plate. He found a powder coater who exactly matched the original powder coat, and the result looks like it always had the Ecotec. Good work Rick! We had dinner in camp and then a campfire again featuring Ray and Janice's Dutch oven delights. After dessert several of us, including Steve and Janice Tharp in the buggy and RZR respectfully, went to Olds and watched a tamer crowd. We didn't see any crashes, but several near-misses. As we left John discovered his right rear tire was going flat for the second time that day. He has known for some time it was about time to get new tires and this trip convinced him the time is now. Monday some of our camp had to leave, starting with P.J., Melissa, and Allie. Melissa had to go to work to do payroll so they left before the morning ride. P.J. Left his tires for John to try. That meant we HAD to go for a buggy ride. We arranged to meet the RZR ride at the flag. The buggies had a good ride to the flag in the dunes near hills 3 and 4, and John loved P.J.'s tires, making the choice for his new ones easy. We met the RZRs at the flag and then the groups continued on their separate rides. The buggies played in the recently reopened area southwest of the flag and found lots of near-virgin sand. When we got back to camp several had to leave. Before leaving, Ray returned the paddles to me, and I decided to buy them. Janice later emailed Mike that there was a truck fire on interstate 10, bringing the traffic nearly to a stop. Janice was able to let John know, allowing him to take a detour via Route 62 through Yucca Valley and avoid the traffic jam on I 10. Ray and Janice, however, didn't get home until nearly 11:00 PM. The Monday evening campfire lacked any Dutch oven delights, darn! Tuesday morning I offered to take four people with me to Yuma that afternoon for Texas Roadhouse. Don needed to drop some Corvette pieces at the chromer in Yuma so he and Shirley decided to come, as did Rick and Melanie. We went for a RZR and Rick's buggy ride, expertly led by Mike. I had so much fun I don' really know where all we went, but I was loving the new tires. And Rick was loving the new car. After the ride, 5

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we hopped in the dually and made a run to Yuma that involved stops at Sam's club, Firehouse Subs, Harbor Freight, Fry's grocery and fuel, and, of course, Texas Roadhouse. We returned to camp in time for a campfire. Wednesday morning Mike had to go to visit a customer in El Centro, and Don and Walt had to return to the chrome shop (it had been closed Tuesday) so I went for a walk and then puttered around camp doing some long-neglected chores. When Don and Walt returned, Walt lead a pretty fast paced RZR and Rick's buggy ride. After Mike got back he led another ride. Maybe I'm getting old, but this ride also seemed fast paced. With my new paddles, though, I had little trouble keeping up. We ended the day with another campfire, again sans any Dutch oven delights. As Rick and Melanie had heard about our omelets, we decided to do another omelette boil Thursday morning before Rick and Melanie headed for home. Mike lead us on a RZR ride in the area around the flag. The rest of the day we spent in camp just puttering and relaxing. Don and Shirley invited me to dinner where Shirley prepared kielbasa and cabbage using Darrel Harju's recipe. It was really good. We ended the day with another campfire. Friday morning we were getting ready for the ride when Bobby Amador returned to camp. I gave him a ride back to the storage area to pick up the second truck and trailer. Mike, Don, Walt, and I then went on a RZR ride while Bobby set up camp. While we were in Yuma Paula got back to the dunes. Back in camp Don and Walt called the chrome shop and found the chrome was ready. The Fords, Walt, and I took the dually to Yuma where we picked up Walt's chrome, but found Don's chrome was pitted quite badly. Don told them the work was not acceptable, and after some back and forth, they agreed to redo the work, but that means Don has to make another trip to Yuma next week. We bought some propane and gas, made a small WalMart run, and went to Cracker Barrel. On the way back we stopped at the rest area on I 8 in filled my water barrel. While we were in Yuma, Paula got back to the dunes, and Leanne arrived, having just gotten home from her cruise. We got back to camp in time for another campfire. Bob's daughter Lynette and her husband stopped by for a few minutes on their way to Laughlin. Saturday morning Mike led us on another RZR ride. As I finish this article, it's March 8th, and I don't recall many details. I do, however, remember Paula rode A LONG time before starting to feel a little carsick. Despite her never tossing her cookies, Bobby immediately gave her a new nickname, "Pukey." In typical Bobby style, he made sure all of us on the ride will forever remember her new nickname. He even staged a photo with Mike seemingly holding Paula's hair out of her puke. Bob sent that picture to everyone on the ride, to remind us of her nickname. That afternoon we began packing up. Saturday night we went to Mama Jeannie's for the last time. We were able to visit with her for quite a while, and Shirley and Jeannie exchanged email addresses. This just in- last week Jeannie emailed Shirley that she opened escrow on a home in Havasu. We had a campfire where we burned some of the larger pieces of wood we had collected during the week. Sunday we awoke to find it was really windy, the strongest winds of the trip. Mike and Bobby left early and Don and Shirley decided to head home. Before Don left we loaded the extra wood in the trailer. For the first time this season we had more wood in the trailer at the end of the trip than at the beginning. Walt and I finished packing up and watched the Daytona 500. The wind had let up some, but we decided not to ride, and to head home that afternoon. Based on the poll P.J. put on the website, it appears that we will make one more Glamis trip this season, the week before Easter. It seems like just a few months ago we made the last trip of last season. Again, my sincerest thanks to all who make my dune trips so special, and the season seem so short. 6

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April 2015

Car to Car Radios By Paul Kastle One of the nicest improvements we have experienced in the last many years is the use of quality radios in the vehicles on rides. Whether you're in a RZR or Sandrail, it is pretty neat to be able to reliably communicate, and often we have been able to talk between multiple rides while out in the dunes. Now that the concept has been proven to be successful, more people are asking about what it takes to get a radio setup for the dunes, so I figured I'd write an article. Hopefully it isn't too technical, and perhaps it will help some members who are considering getting radios so that more of us have them on the rides. First of all comes the easy (and cheap, by comparison) part, which is the radio itself. We use VHF business band radios, and primarily use the "PCI Relay" channel, which has a frequency of 154.515 MHz. While this seems overly technical, it is the only way to confirm the actual channel we use. Since these radios can be programmed differently by assigning different frequency values to memory "channel numbers," there is no way to be sure that one person's "Channel 16" is the same as another's. Rugged Radios has a standard set of frequencies though, and most of our radios follow their convention and have PCI Relay as channel 16. Handheld radios that will work in this range are available for as little as $40 (Baofeng UV-5R from Amazon), or Rugged offers their own version of this radio, which they call the RH5R and sell for $85 or less. The most commonly used radio in the club is the Standard Horizon HX370s, which is a waterproof marine radio that can be programmed with these channels. I have the software to do this, and it takes just a few minutes. The HX370s radios have recently been discontinued, but still can be found online for under $200. Its replacement is the HX400, which is a little smaller and has the same features. We have not yet programmed one of these, but the software is available and it uses the same cable. They are available from Amazon for about $180. There are also mobile radios available which mount permanently in the vehicle, but these tend to cost more. Once you have a radio, the more complicated part is hooking it up so that you can hear it while driving. The cheapest option here would be a headset adapter and a set of earbuds, which could be as cheap as $20 depending on your radio, but dealing with earbuds and their wires under a helmet can be a pain and you still won't be able to talk on the radio from your headset. Most of us have gone to a car harness setup, which connects the radio to a headset or helmet kit and a separate push to talk button. While this is a nice setup, it isn't cheap since the cost of the separate components adds up. You'll need the harness ($85-$100), a push to talk switch ($30-$50), a radio jumper ($25), and your headset or helmet kit ($50-$150). You could save a bit by using the push to talk button on the radio itself and a cable direct from the helmet to the radio (for just over $100), but this isn’t as common. In total, it is easy to wind up spending close to $200 in wiring to get a nice setup, and that doesn't even get into adding an intercom for communication between multiple passengers in the vehicle. There are lots of benefits though, and it is neat to be able to have a conversation with friends on another ride. If you need help figuring out what to order, feel free to e-mail me at pkastle@msn.com and I'll help answer any questions you may have.

This month we’d like to thank Rick and Melanie Alonso and Jim Kastle for writing articles about the Presidents Week trip. We still have another big trip coming for Easter, and it looks like the group will be spread out over both weekends, so we’ll need help to cover all of the fun. The next newsletter will be out in late April, shortly before the season ending trip to Dumont. We look forward to seeing you in the dunes at least one more time before the weather warms up.