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SKYJACKER ROCKS TENNESSEE

By Mike "TXJEEPER" Cohn

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Our next big stop was "The Peanut Butter Hole," which turned out to be one of the most fun play areas we've come across in this part of the country. Reminiscent of the dry, rock-stepped areas of Texas, the hole was non-stop obstacles in both directions. Plenty of spots to test your driving skills and your rig abounded in all directions and the area was packed with every sort of off-road vehicle, including Jeeps, trucks, rails, buggies, hybrids, ATV's, and motorcycles. It was a free-for-all on the rocks and was great fun.

Skyjacker Rocks Tennessee
The Peanut Butter Hole was great fun...
Skyjacker Rocks Tennessee
...and a wonderful place to really play around.

Once we were done playing, we decided to take a somewhat more leisurely trail back out of the area and began our trip back to camp, when Steve heard a metal snap going down one of the power line trails. Looking under his rig, his son, discovered a leaf spring broken in half! As Steve deliberated over how he was going to get the Toyota back to camp, we watched the hybrid trucks attack the hills surrounding us.

Hybrids are somewhat unique to this part of the country. A typical hybrid or "cab truck" setup would be a Chevy S-10 pickup cab atop an old V-8 full-size truck chassis. Most of the time, there is no hood or front sheet metal at all and the motor is fully exposed. The trucks run 1 ton axles and minimum 38" tires. Many cabs are even starting to run Propane for fuel, as well. These trucks are loud and usually take on the hills at full speed and can be quite entertaining to watch, whether you like them or not.

Skyjacker Rocks Tennessee
A cab truck takes on the hills.
Skyjacker Rocks Tennessee
Steve's leaf spring snapped in half. Every leaf!

Once Steve figured out how to secure his broken spring, we made our way back into town. Upon reaching the pavement, I found that I had a wobbling rear wheel and had a violent death wobble once we reached 30 mph. Further inspection at the camp revealed a bent Weld rim. Thinking it would cure our problem, we swapped on a fresh wheel and tire that had never been on the ground, however, it did not fix the problem. Knowing we had a trailer to get the Jeep home on, we just kept it slow and decided to wheel again on Sunday and figure out the rest of the problem once we got back home.

Skyjacker Rocks Tennessee
Steve Roach takes on a tall step.
Skyjacker Rocks Tennessee
Scott Gross takes the high line.

On Saturday, we met up with Steve for the G trail again but this time we had a whole new crew. A few of the Jeeps were from back home in Birmingham, while a couple others were from Louisiana. We pretty much ran many of the same trails as Saturday, however, without the roll-over delay we made it much further into the trail system and got to see a whole lot more of what the area had to offer.

The trails were packed, not only from the Skyjacker ride, but with hundreds of locals, as well. Not a trail was left untouched by the end of the day. Though we weren't with the Skyjacker gang on Sunday, we did hear that Skyjacker Inside Sales Manager, Scott Gross managed to drive their red TJ over some of the toughest hills the area had to offer.

Skyjacker Rocks Tennessee
The Louisiana Jeeps had fun in the Peanut Butter Hole...
Skyjacker Rocks Tennessee
and attempting "Windshield Hill"

As for us, we had a wonderful day of trailing, wrapping up a great weekend. The trails were great, the scenery was great, and despite what turned out to be a bent Dana 60 axle shaft, our Jeep did great, as well. Next Labor Day, we'd definitely recommend the Skyjacker Rocks Tennessee event to anyone looking for lots of hills and thrills. The scenery is gorgeous and the trails challenging. See you next year!

 

 
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