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We need more Steel Soldiers rallies in 2007!

OPCOM

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I'd go for somewhere a day's drive from Texas.. OK is OK. I know where there is a 10 acre cow pasture in Gainesville..
 

OPCOM

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Hi jasonjc, I'm in!

May I make suggestions?

If, instead of 'occupy by force', this becomes a special event as defined by the park rules, would you please configure the event allow ATVs, it will make it easer for me to get around once parked.

I ask this because I won't be taking my top-heavy and tall commo truck on trails, but will prefer to park it in the canonement area, yet I would like to take pictures and videos of whatever shennannigans occur offroad. It's however not my intention to enter the line of trucks during offroad excursions, just tag along with them to help record the events.

If anyone has a RT524/RT246/PRC-77/PRC-25 etc.. -type radio, we can run a bit of commo as well. It might be fun in the evening to try a military-type net. I'd volunteer to help with commo and have a PRC-77 mounted on the ATV as well as the VRC rigs in the truck. Just a suggestion.

In any case, great idea, let's do it. Thank you for being the coordinator/event master on this!
 
WillWagner said:
I said it b-4, the few of us out west should have a get together. We gotta wait for Gary and big Mike to get their stuff up and running though!
Hi Will,
There is the Tower Park event 2X a year in Lodi, Ca.

As for my truck - Mine is up and doing quite nicely. I just have to fine tune that axle seal nut as the hub is a little warm still after a 1/2 hour drive and .........change the oil. :roll:

I am driving it in a tribute caravan Monday morning from the mortuary to the cemetary for a local Marine Lance Cpl. that lost his life serving our country in Iraq on the 27th January. He was only 20 years young.

On a lighter note, I will be hauling members of the American Legion in the Veterans Day Parade in Riverside this year. Anyone else local want to join in?
 
262
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Location
coshocton Ohio
I would love to have one here in Wilkesboro North Carolina i will see if the local armory will let us use there grounds and felcility are will get with the town to see if they have a place i can rent just need a date when everyone can come and i will get more info this week or asap may take awhile dont know alot about town! Please pmme with any ideas Thanks Kenneth
 

bcmideuce1

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Anything in michigan sounds good i have a few guys that would atend, haspin not to far ether we would have 3 , m35a2 's an a m185a3 as well an a m105 for camping stuff .
 

KaiserM109

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SE Aurora, CO
I'm about to take ownership of an M109 shop van, as soon as the EUC is awarded and I can get it hauled to Denver, CO. Next I will have to pull an 'S' service on it to make sure that it is roadworthy. That will probably take 'til the snow flies, so maybe we can talk about a Colorado rally in '08.

I'm a Western Slope native (western half of Colorado, the mountainous side) and there are a lot of great places to rally, especially for 6x6s!!
For those coming from the east, which I will be, there are a lot of primitive passes to go over that would be fun. It could be a tour/rally. I can see the parking lot at the Wendy's in Glenwood Springs now!!
 

WillWagner

The Person You Were Warned About As A Child
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KaiserM109,
It worked!. We are working on a "rally" for the Nov. time frame. It would be sweet if it would happen at a place where we, as a group could start getting together once or twice a year. The West coast "Haspin" if you will. Looks like we will start small this year...10 or so people, who knows, it might get bigger. It's still 3 1/2 months out.
 

KaiserM109

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WillWagner,
A rally in Colorado in Nov. could be a problem unless it was in the plains in the east (what we call the Kansas laplands where Kansas laps into Colorado) or the desert in the Utah laplands to the west. The mountains start catching heavy snows in early Sept. and if you drive in, you might walk out. Years ago a friend bought a Jeep in October from a Texas hunter where it was stuck for 10 cents on the dollar. He went back the next spring and drove it out. Besides I won't have my truck ready soon enough to plan out a rally. You know, Moab, Utah might be fun after all the rock crawling nuts have left for the winter.

There are a couple of places about 50 mi. east of Grand Junction that would be great, even for as many as 50 big vehicles. It is in the National Forest so we'd have to pull a permit and provide sanitation, but that's not a problem. We could bask in the shade of some Balm of Gilead trees that some pilgrims left behind in the late 1800's. For civilian tag-alongs, the first camp is a spot I've gotten a Dodge mini-van into.

I see from your signature that you have a deuce very similar to the M109 that I haven't taken delivery on yet because of the EUC. Can you take a wild guess and tell me what I can expect? It is Kaiser-Jeep so that makes it from 66 to 69; I don't actually know. It has 22,000 mi., clean sheet metal, good tires and all its glass. I was considering roading it the 500 mi. from Ft. Riley to Denver, but I kept having nightmares about broken U joints, seized bearings, dry differentials, blown hoses, bad brakes, etc, so I am planning to have it hauled. The problem with an M109 is that it is 11 ft. tall and 15,000 lb. and requires a lowboy trailer ($$).

Would you believe that I got a speeding ticket in a truck exactly like this one in a combat zone in Vietnam in 1968? I wish I had kept the ticket! When the MP got down off the running board I walked it right back up through the gears (no governor). My CO just laughed. That was the biggest target I ever drove over there and the one that never got hit. I guess it was my lucky machine.

We’ll have to talk more about a rally in 2008.

A. Whit.
 

gimpyrobb

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Kaiser109, what you should expect is fun. I love my 109. My plates say its a Kaiser but its a 72, Iguess AMG had a stack of plates that needed to be used up. I might be out to visit in 08. The M715zone is having their national rally out there, and I have a 725. If you could ask more specific questions on what to expect, I can better answer. :driver:
 

KaiserM109

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gimpyrobb, I like your little emoticon! By '08 I should have my Jeep J20 (formerly known as the Gladiator) reassembled. It is the origin of the M715 but has a better engine and a warmer cab. Can I join you M7xx guys?

What to ask was getting a bit off topic for rallies, so I started a thread under 'Requirements for new menbers' forum and put my questions there.

I am absolutely serious about a mountain rally in Colorado in 2008. It would have to be from June through August to guarantee that we don't get snowed on, or through Sept. if you are willing to deal with an early storm. We could accomodate non-4x4's (or non 6x6's) and could offer some off-roading, as long as people were willing to follow a few rules and limitations. A deuce on some trails could be a bit much. Your M7xx's would be okay almost anywhere.

A. Whit.
 

NB1944

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I am new to your club, but the MVCC (Colorado) has several events planned for the summer. We accept all types of MVs to our club, so we're not too picky. We will be hosting a Meet & Greet at GI Jodis on April 19, 2008 and will also participate in the RMRFI airshow in late June. Both events are wonderful opportunities for anyone with a love for OD paint! This gives both 'parties' a change to see what its all about and to see if this is a 'good fit' for a prospective member. Many of our members are also members of Steel Soldiers, as we have much in common. The SS site is a great place to ask questions, network, find parts, etc and our club is where the action is (at least here in CO). You guys have a great site and there are all types of photos. Great stuff!
 

NB1944

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For those chatting about a mountain rally in CO...

Years ago, the MVCC used to host such an event in Sedalia. While not 'in the mountains,' it was in Sedalia and was close enough to town that no one could use the "it's too far away" excuse! We would cook breakfast, take a trail ride, have an outdoor flea market, do some more driving, and then hang out for a BBQ (for three days)! It was great.

Then we lost our site, the following year we were smoked out due to all the forest fires; we then tried moving the location but we never found just the right spot. If any of you guys can help us find the right spot (centrally located and not too far away), the MVCC would certain support such an event. We would like to have this a family outing and be able to set up a small camp, but still have a place to do a trail ride and hopefully do some shooting. The trails need to be large enough to accomodate some larger MVs, but not so technical as to beat up our equipment or end up getting stuck every 5 min! Having water (stream or something) nearby would also be useful. I am open to suggestions from anyone who is familiar with a good spot!
 

KaiserM109

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I’m all for a Colorado rally and my son might be able to help with locating a site. He runs a paintball business and is presently scouting sites for his club. I’ll tap him for help. I am planning to visit the next MVCC meeting but my truck probably won’t be legal ‘til late May because of the SF97 thing. I was expecting it to take a couple of weeks and I was delaying ‘til there was more room in the budget. I sent it in yesterday.

As soon as the EUC comes through on a trailer I won on 3-12 I will be going to Utah to pick up an MKT-85 kitchen trailer. If we have a rally that trailer as well as an M1948 kitchen tent will be available for facilities. My wife and daughter have a background in catering, so a crowd of hungry people would not be a problem. You should taste Su’s beer-boiled brats!! It would be great to have others share their recipes. I know some of you out there have some good barbeque and some Louisiana cooking in a dutch oven would be awfully tasty!

What I would really like to do is set up a rally in the high country near my granddad’s homestead. One of several places I have in mind is at 9000 ft, is 65 mi. from the Utah border and can see another 65 mi. to the Uintah Mountains. You know that commercial about ‘seeing the curvature of the earth’? It could have been filmed there except not many people know how to get there.

One thing that you need to keep in mind about Colorado is that it isn’t like offroading in Calif. or in the Appalachians. We are at the headwaters of a lot of rivers like the Arkansas, the Rio Grand and the Colorado and there really isn’t much water in them yet. Our tundra is delicate and offroading is limited to existing paths. You can’t go mudding like I have seen in some videos and photos and there aren’t really any deep, wide streams to ford. We can see how well your non-turbo deuce does at 11,000 ft., though.

No excuses! For folks who don’t have camping gear, we will take care of you; just bring your own socks and underwear. For you guys who would like to test your orienteering skills, I will challenge you to trek through Hells Hole without a GPS. We’ll drop you off at Holy Terror Reservoir and pick you up in 2 days where my dad used to catch 12” trout in his hat. For those who are really adventurous, you can race the Hell’s Hole crew by using a different route on old Indian trails. You might have an advantage because there are no trails through Hell’s Hole.

One camp site used to be called Balm of Gilead Basin because some pilgrims in the 19th century going west got snowed in and wintered over there. They left some Balm of Gilead trees behind and now there is a large grove of them at the base of Chalk Mtn.

Give me some feedback. Some of this takes permits because it is in National Forest property.
 
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