Last Man Standing - Jonny coming in his new Wildtrack pickup!

[KTMphil]

In about an hour Frank (KTM 690 Enduro R) & myself (KTM 300 EXC 2 stroke) are going to ride up Last Man Standing trail on Doi Suthep. Mr Sneds who is out of action with a snapped right arm has decided he wants to attempt this with us in his brand new 4WD Ford Wildtrack.


We watched a go-pro video last night of an accent of this trail he filmed and he thinks he can get it up there (one dip concerns him). Will report later on how this works out.

Map data copyright RideAsia.net - All rights reserved

 

[johnnysneds]

Ready to roll. Only a novice at 4x4 and wasn't really sure what to bring so filled the cooler box up with ice cream.8-)

 

[KTMphil]

Luke thinks you won't get more than 1km, he thinks there s some rock drop offs that will be a problem.

Never sent from an I-Phone

 

[lakota]

not with those road tyres they will become slick in no time if you've had rain. at best your going to ruin those sill protector bars. worst case I dread to think, anyway it's your Nice new Pickup , do what you like :?

 

[crs]

Eh? After 5 minutes spent scoffing ice-cream while likely surveying the now somewhat less than pristine pickup, what's the plan for if it gets stuck?

Well, good luck - and I'll be waiting for the cam vids... :RE

 

[Loop]

Hope he puts his seat belt on!!

 

[BWG950S]

 

[Pounce]

Johnny, all night beers on me if you make it even halfway.
Gravity beats shinny new truck every time.

 

[LUFC]

Reversing doon should be fun!

There are some massive ruts not far from the start, they will test your ground clearance. I agree with Luke, maybe 1km at best.

 

[LivinLOS]

Still up there ???

 

[KTMphil]

Still up there ???

Back down.... Didn't quite go as planned

Never sent from an I-Phone

 

[BWG950S]

New Truck + Novice + Ice Cream========Got to see the pics.

 

[bigntall]

You're a star Johnny!!!! I love the optimism!!! The great thing is we've all been up Last Man and know its a difficult trail and in a stock truck would be impossible. Yet Johnny (who's ridden the trail) think he'll give it a go, again I love the optimism. I trust you are sticking to the guidelines for breaking in the truck that Ford outlines? Lets see some pics or it didn't happen.

 

[KTMphil]

Teaser for tomorrow's story

 

[johnnysneds]

Here's some photos in no particular order. Was my fist 4x4 off-road experience. I cant really drive this off-road truck because of the auld arm at the minute so asked Matt to come along. Matt's pretty handy with a 4x4 and was doing stuff I wouldn't have even contemplated, not for damaging the truck but rather because of the crazy angles the vehicle was achieving, it just didn't look right at all. Sterling job by that man. I was quite happy jumping in/out trying to give directions as best I could, eventually we settled on Left and the other left - seemed to work!
I couldn't believe the hills and rutts this truck was going up, im sure the other guys there will confirm this. We did get a bit lost at the beginning and ended up on a trail adjacent to the LMS proper. There a two big downed trees which meant we needed to take the detour which proved to be the first challenge. After that things just got crazier and crazier and turned out to be one of the best off-road days ive had. We did get a fair ways up and ultimately in the end the trail that we were on became too thick with trees and we were already tired cutting down trees and running low on water so decided to return the same way.
I think some people might be surprised just how far this would have got up LMS had we got on the trail early on. Im definitely going to try it again starting on the correct trail this time! If I had to say a negative it would have been the clearance, but to be honest I wee bit of planning and thinking we managed to get past everything that was thrown at us. Myself and Matt thought it might we a good idea to go to Global Home this morning and get some jungle 4x4 tools. An axe, 1T wire rope come-along, couple of 5m slings and a big saw swiftly ended up in the shopping trolley and you know what we used every one of those items today to great effect, the addition of a chainsaw would have been welcome also.
Still to look at the videos and edit them when I get time, should be some good banter going on from inside the cabin.....
Big thanks to Frank and Phil who tagged along with us and helped out when needed. Sorry for dragging y'all back.

 

[BWG950S]

Looks like your stock Ranger did very well Johnny. Little bit of rain and we would be seeing some "really" interesting photos. Glad to see you decided to Navigate with that bum arm of yours. I am glad I ended up with a 4x2 for a new truck.

 

[KTMphil]

With the diff. lock engaged, astounding what this stock 4wd is capable of. As usual it doesn't show the gradient on the camera, but this was steep.


Nice driving by Mr. H

[video=youtube_share;A4Z0ZIifNl8]http://youtu.be/A4Z0ZIifNl8[/video]

 

[MastaMax]

And mountain bikers complain about bikes going up this trail... Would be funny to post the story on one of their forums haha!

Impressed with the performance and the spirit Johnny (and all those who helped). Didn't see any ice creams on the pictures, maybe next time have a ice cream break on the steep bit (no chicken run for Johnny!).

:RO

 

[KTMphil]

Nothing was a problem, some discussion was needed about how to best attack certain areas, in the ruts or out of the ruts etc...

& some adjustments to the terrain was needed to stop the differential in the middle of the rear axle from dragging, bigger wheels might cure this problem raising the truck.

 

[KTMphil]

Everything they bought for trail assistance was used!!


Matt with the wood saw

Frank cutting a huge tree that was blocking the trail

 

[KTMphil]

The initial problem was getting onto the Last-man-Standing trail. It was so overgrown with dense bush at the bottom, it would scratch the hell out of this brand new truck, so we detoured and went up the mountain on a trail slightly to the east (of LMS) which was still pretty wild low down.

 

[KTMphil]

Frank scouting ahead to see if the truck would fit between the trees

 

[KTMphil]

1st time off-road, a few little tests with the diff. lock engaged to see what this beast could do on some steep stuff, it handled everything amazingly.

 

[KTMphil]

Then into the lions mouth, across the rocky waterfall trails area & westwards up a nasty loose incline towards the Last-Man-Standing trail

 

[KTMphil]

HUGE ruts going down had Matt a little concerned driving Jonny's new truck on 3 wheels

Big grins everywhere, everything going to plan

 

[KTMphil]

The sill protector bars got a little scratched in the trails waterfall area but weren't too much of a hindrance'

 

[KTMphil]

Dead end, reverse back down

 

[KTMphil]

The hill westwards 200 meters to join the Last-Man-Standing trail

None of the gradients were a problem, the only hindrance was the trees on the edge of the trails

 

[KTMphil]

The blue line on the map below is the route we took slightly to the east of the Last-Man-Standing trail

 

[KTMphil]

We got the truck withing 100 meters of getting back on the Last-Man-Standing trail but the trees were too close together and we didn't want to destroy the forest. Getting late in the day and running low on water we decided to turn back.

None of the hills were a problem at all, if the trail was wide enough and diligence was used around the deep ruts, this truck might be able to get to the top, a challenge to be continued.




[video=youtube_share;5XdT35heh9Q]http://youtu.be/5XdT35heh9Q[/video]

 

[KTMphil]

If you do something like this, the unexpected is how slow the pace is. There is a lot of very slow maneuvering around ruts which reduces the progress the most.

 

[Pounce]

Phew, I saved a shit load of money then.
Good effort old chap.

 

[johnnysneds]

Phew, I saved a shit load of money then.
Good effort old chap.

Dont count yer chickens just yet young man!

 

[Pounce]

Hey, you get 2 free drinks for saying I'm young.

(offer has expired for others that think they can sweet talk me)

 

[Lao2stroker]

Brave brave man....make sure the warranty tech at the dealer doesn't get hold of those vid'S!!!!!

Great job

 

[Loop]

More chance of body damage than mechanical. Sounds like the duco and panels survived ok

 

[FrankT]

Great story guys and truly impressed what the stock tires can achieve, what's next...?

 

[bsacbob]

For sale Ford Wildtrack, crazy farang owner never used off road :LOL.