The Official Publication of the Toyota Land Cruiser Association. Since 1976 and Still Going Strong.

NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2006

East Coast Pig Run 2006

by Jeffrey Dozier

The following feature is an excerpt from Toyota Trails, the official publication of TLCA. To read the entire article, join TLCA now!

Making things happen in life is a  concept which leads to fun, excitement, and long road trips for Cruiserheads. So fear not the open road, my friends, because at the end of the long road trip is the salvation of having fun wheeling. Such was the case for many people (including myself) at the fourth annual East Coast Pig Run, held at the Rausch Creek Off Road Park near Joliette, Pennsylvania. This year proved to be remarkable for FJ55s, as a new record was set for the number of Iron Pigs in attendance at this event. Eleven FJ55s and many other Toyota 4X4s, including 40s, minitrucks, and even an FJ Cruiser, ranging from beautifully stock to functionally modified, participated in a day of socializing, wheeling, and reverence to the almighty Iron Pig.

This was my third year of attendance at the Pig Run in my 1973 FJ55. My Pig is built for drivability and trailability, which allows me to walk the line of driving to the trail, on the trail and then home (idealism, I know!). My 55 served me well in 2004 when I drove the twenty-two hours round trip from my then home in Kentucky to Pennsylvania. The TBI 350, SM 465, spring over suspension, disc brakes all around, lockers and 36" Super Swampers were newly added before that trip. This year differed in that my 55 was already in Pennsylvania, roughly an hour from the park at my new residence, but was similar because I was coming from Kentucky. My wife and I recently had our first child and were on a trip to northern Kentucky for the purpose of introducing our beautiful daughter, Eva June, to our family. Two scheduled family events required us be in Kentucky for a few days after the Pig Run so I was destined to make the twenty two-hour round trip again. This time I drove our new to us 2004 4Runner and my friend Matt, making his second East Coast Pig Run, joined my cousin and me on the journey in his 85 4Runner.

Matt’s 4Runner is nicknamed “The Flying Raisin” due to its dimpled body panels, and is set up much like my 55 was in 2004. He completed a 4.3 TBI V6 swap quite recently and the remaining setup includes a Marlin Crawler dual transfer case, lockers, 35" mud terrains and a handful of cool modifications resulting in a quite capable rock crawler. The Flying Raisin is not pretty but appropriately (in the theme of the Iron Pig) function prevails over form. How it would handle the many hours at highway speeds was yet to be determined but with some Toyota karma we would manage to overcome sheared mounting bolts on the main pulley bracket of his engine. To say it was lucky to have a full-service automotive shop at the end of an exit ramp off I-71 in Ohio is a major understatement. Upon examination, the entire bracket assembly for the power steering pump and alternator was lying freely in the engine without damaging the belt, radiator, fan or anything else—even though the bolts sheared at 65 mph! Two hours of repair time and some bolts from the automotive supply shop and we were back on our way.

The Flying Raisin cruised faithfully to my house with time enough for us to drink a few frosty beverages, which were fully appreciated after the twelve hour trip. My 55 was prepped and ready with 33" MTR’s mounted for the road portion of the hour-long trip over four mountains, and my small trailer was loaded with my newly acquired 38.5" Super Swampers. Yes, I planned to tow my trail tires to the trail and mount them for wheeling. I was to complete this task manually because I have yet to install onboard air but this was my safest bet. I am one of those Cruiserheads that wants to make full use of my Cruiser but I do not have a tow rig and trailer. The Pennsylvania rules are extremely strict when it comes to vehicle safety, including a yearly safety inspection by a licensed mechanic, going so far as to measure a rotor, tire tread depth, bumper height and even test drive the vehicle! Running my 38’s on the road is fine with me but not with each municipality through which I would travel—and the last thing I needed was a ticket. So off we went to the Pig Run with the Flying Raisin and my 55 with big meats in tow. I was scheduled to lead a pre-run Friday morning and the group in attendance was quite capable of the black rated course I had planned through Rausch Creek.

Rausch Creek is a unique, private off road park in that it is nonprofit and makes use of reclaimed coal mining lands in the beautiful Appalachian region of eastern Pennsylvania. The tall ridges comprising this area are heavily forested, as is typical of the diverse eastern deciduous forest—and under the top layers of soil covering the ridges and valleys are what makes many Cruisehead’s hearts leap—rocks! Hundreds of millions of years of water and wind degradation of one of the oldest mountain chains in the world exposes rocks like no other place on earth. The Appalachians once stood over thirty thousand feet tall, but subsequent water and wind erosion left a natural playground for Iron Pigs and other built 4X4s at Rausch Creek. The physiographic region known as the Appalachian Mountain section of the ridge and valley province includes a spectacular natural phenomenon due to the glacial boundary within the park, known as the Rock Creek. It consists of a monstrous glacial deposit of quartzite conglomerate rocks strewn down the side of a ridge on a gentle slope. The sea of rocks ranging from shoe box to coffin size stretch over one hundred feet wide and over eighteen hundred feet in length, creating a rock playground to challenge anyone who dares to attempt it. Differential clearance, articulation and gearing can make or literally break you on this gem of an obstacle. The Rock Creek was certainly on my agenda for the pre-run Friday, as were some other fun trails.

The group came together early Friday morning with many people ready to wheel. My FJ55 was accompanied by fellow East Coast Pig Run organizer Gary Schmauch’s SOA, FJ62-axled, orange and white Pig, along with four FJ40s and Matt’s Flying Raisin. We began our day from the staging area, cruising along some mild trail until reaching the first black rated trail of the day, an optional rock garden. Rausch Creek contains many difficult trails looping off of mild trails, thus serving 4X4 clubs well because a varied group can wheel together. I headed into the rock garden on my new tires and readily appreciated the extra tire height on the rock. Previous runs through this hairy little rock field resulted in slider crashing landings and differential scraping moves, but this time I was able to finesse the big Pig through unscathed. Others in the group picked their lines through with little trouble until Steve Kravchuck’s FJ40 hung itself on the fin of a rock too close to a tree. Fortunately, we were able to rescue him with a high lift jack and some old fashioned pushing. Next we spotted Dan Freidlander’s nimble FJ40 on 33’s with an Orion T-case through the obstacle. It is amazing what gearing can accomplish when coupled with the inherent capability of a Land Cruiser. We then moved along the rock garden and onto the west end of the property and the infamous Rock Creek.

As we pushed along a newly cut black rated trail, the rocks became pointier and more numerous. Less was the amount of soil and trees, and in the distance one could see the open sea of rocks we sought. I moved from the remaining eroded dirt trail out to the entrance of the Rock Creek as the suspension tucked and stretched the new meats over the rising and falling rocks, some of which teeter from end to end. Before me lay the glacial deposit of rocks, seemingly poured down the ridge from a giant’s gravel bucket. Out in the rocks, there is no room for error as winch recovery is extremely difficult and breakage could be an all day affair. I picked my lines slowly and methodically. Since I run Rock Creek frequently, I made short work of the first five hundred feet and stopped to assist the others coming into the creek. Some decided to bypass on the lower trail (which is still quite difficult) but others came out to experience the thrill of rock crawling this phenomenon. Slowly but surely we made it through our chosen stretch of rocky trail. To describe the wheeling as technical and tedious is an understatement. We continued on our black rated course for the remainder of the day without issue. Everyone’s vehicles performed great and back at camp, the cold beer flowed as Pig Run participants continued to arrive...