Not alone
Last week a person at the Monthly IOR meeting asked for assistance to get his classic CJ back on the road after it had rolled on a steep hill. The driver suffered lots of road rash, and the passenger broke an arm.
When he mentioned the location of the incident, I volunteered to help, as it was just up the hill from my house. We met today at 3pm. Nathan showed up first to help, and we proceeded up to the rig.
The road was fairly steep, covered in loose dirt and pine needles, and rutted from spring rain. The driver had been going up the hill, but thought it would be good to go back. He reversed, dropped a tire in the rut, and rolled the rig. Thanks to a water break and downed tree, it stopped.
After some consideration, Nathan and I drove to the top, turned around, and tied the #GrownUpTJ to a tree. The plan was to tie to the roll cage, winch the CT enough to replace the bad wheel, and get the rig turned around.
With the wheel swapped, the driver thought it would be easiest to go to the top of the hill and turn around. Nathan and I were certain traction would be a problem and convinced him to just back across the road while still tied off. Then we could point him down hill and head back.
The driver was back in his rig, Nathan spotting, and I was balancing the rig with the winch. “Turn a bit driver and go back slow,” said Nathan. Like a climber swinging on a cliff, the CJ pivoted through the ruts and was now pointed the right way.
Huge thanks to Nathan for stepping in when Glenn had an emergency to handle. Also, thanks to the other 5 Jeepers who were poised and ready to assist as we came down the hill. Had the CJ been 10 feet in either direction, we’d probably still be there getting it back on the road.
Lucky to have friends like you!
Good job guys. Did he drive the Jeep back? It didn’t look too badly damaged after rolling.
He drove it back to Shaw Mountain Road. He had a tow bar, to take it home. However, the tow bar didn’t mesh with the mounts; he’s bringing a friend up today to pick drive it home.
The 8 of us on the hill were amazed at how little it was damaged. The only problem fix will be the window frame that got bent and broke the top of the glass. Amazing machine.