All in all, I had a great time at ZuZoo VII (my first) but Cliff Hanger (4+) took its toll on my poor lil IFS rig. Going in was great (other than the to be expected scrapes, etc.) and we (Fernando, Travis and I) were looking forward being back in camp early <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/cheers.gif" alt="" /> ...

Coming back though was another story. Fernando crawled Cliff Hanger (a 4-5' boulder problem with ~600' of exposure on the right side) without any problems and guided me up. I took a poor line and wedged my right rear tire in a nasty crack. Over application of the "stupid" pedal resulted in a LARGE POP. The right front CV (or so we thougt at the time) was toast so we disconnected the hub and decided to proceed on with 3WD.

Travis expertly guided me backwards (though uncomfortably from my POV <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/barf.gif" alt="" />) towards the cliff edge where he could get by to winch me from the top. Travis also climbed CH without problem and successfully winched me over the edge (an hour later, with much jacking and stacking of rock - Thanks Fernando). WHEW.

Travis had to strap me again on one little problem, but we otherwise made it down to the last obstacle, which is within spitting distance of the exit road. This last obstacle begins with a 3-4' step then proceeds though multiple 1-3'ft steps over 50-100' to the road.

I had it locked F&R so that I could negotiate the problem and blipped the gas to get over the first step ... BAM. I thought I just hit my skid-plate hard on something and backed off to try a slightly different line... in gear ... slight application of gas ... release clutch and ... nada. Maybe it popped out of 4L (?) ... re-engage ... in gear ... slight application of gas ... release clutch and ... NADA. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif" alt="" /> UH-OH ... now, both rear-wheels along with one front were out!!

Travis (again) winched me over the large step and strapped/winched me though about 2/3 of the remaining problem before his winch pooped out and two jeeps showed up to winch me up the rest of the way. 1-1/2 hours later we limped back to camp in 1WD.

Randy and Dallas helped me diagnose that the problem was in the transfer case, as opposed to the rear diff, though neither could rationalize out how the front wheel would turn and not the rear. I drained the xfer case ... no chunks and (with Dallas, Dan and Chad's help) proceeded to take it apart ... what do you know ... I had sheared the rear output shaft <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" />

Well, long story EVEN longer, the front CV was not broke, but I had demolished the SW hub. We replaced the hub, reinstalled the xfer case and I got home in FWD. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/kewl.gif" alt="" />

In no particular order I'd like to sincerely thank: Fernando, Travis, Dallas, Randy, Dan (Houlster), Chad, Peter, Dan Russo, Chris P., Steve (lilbuddy), Steve (Dodge), Damon, Eric and Mike for your guidance, help and support without which I'm not sure I'd be writing to you right now (at least not from home). Like I said, all-in-all, ZuZoo VII was great <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/kewl.gif" alt="" />