Toys 4 Tots at Behind the Church

A Northeast Offroad Vehicle Alliance Event

Hosted by Jeep & Truck 4x4

by Evan Silverman

I would like to start my trail report by saying that the guys that ran the trail ride and walked us through the trails (JT4x4) are a great bunch of guys and made us feel very welcome. The minister of the church was also very welcoming as well as giving us a prayer for God to keep an eye on us. I liked the idea of a little extra help.

The property behind the church probably has more obstacles per acre than anywhere that we have ever wheeled. Although the property is less then 20 acres, the trails are set up so that you feel like there are miles of trails, not just trails but unbelievable trails. A group of 15 trucks can pretty much all be at an obstacle at the same time. The other cool thing is that the property is so small that spectators with baby strollers were following us around having a great time watching us. Another cool thing was that we left our rigs on the trail and walked back to the church for a delicious and warm hot dog lunch which raised money for charity.

The trail leaders decided to let LIOR go into the trail first and hit a new section that they cut. Our group consisted of our leader Wonder Boy (Dimitri) followed by Warren, me, my dad (Mark), Glen, John (Glens brother in law), Matt and the Cooler, John Acconi. Three other guys from our club were there, Bill with the XJ, his son, and their friend (sorry I don't know your name) with a ZJ, but they went with the second group. The ride was great, and although it was pissing freezing rain we had a great time. We had to winch a couple of times, but as a whole the group did great. The trail is so good that even Wonder Boy with his unlocked JK had to winch (Dimitri). The rain and tough obstacles seemed to scare the uncool Silverman (Warren) because he bailed early.

The only damage during the trail ride was Dimitri's left rear corner got crushed, other than that we were trouble free until the last 15 feet of the trail. We were going to catch the 4:00 ferry but of course fate or a maybe a higher power was not ready to let us leave. First my father gets caught between a rock and tree and in order not to destroy his soft top we had to set up a winch and snatch block and pull him side ways. Then Matt's CJ or should I say his wife's CJ that Matt was wheeling started leaking fuel from the fuel tank about a 1/4 of the way up. He siphoned the extra gas into a jerry can to stop the leak. Then Glen broke his tie rod sleeve. Luckily he had a spare but with no ends (he was too cheap to buy extra ends) so me and Glen repaired it in the mud and rain. Thankfully we were provided with a large piece of cardboard by the church. "Thank God". Needless to say we missed the 4:00 ferry but caught the 5:00. After the ferry, we had to stop to add some fuel to Matt's CJ. Matt gets the hard luck award for the trip. He ruptured the fuel tank, bent the quarters, ripped off a shock and lost his brakes on the way home with his right rear tire doing most of the braking.

Behind the Church is great in the rain, I can only imagine how phenomenal it would be on a warm sunny day. We can be thankful that there are people who get pleasure out of seeing their land being used for simple pleasures like 4 Wheeling. I would like to thank them very much. We had a great time.

Link to Rocket (from JT4x4) pics: webshots