ZMotorsports Shop Projects 2.0

[XJSuperman]

Not to keep beating the filter topic but........ I grabbed a filter for the truck yesterday from NAPA, and it shows MH with the NC address, but the filter is made in Mexico, not USA. Good that its Wix, but certainly not American made regardless, if that's what we're looking for. I'm now also curious what a Wix box says at Oreillys.

 

[Graham08]

Not to keep beating the filter topic but........ I grabbed a filter for the truck yesterday from NAPA, and it shows MH with the NC address, but the filter is made in Mexico, not USA. Good that its Wix, but certainly not American made regardless, if that's what we're looking for. I'm now also curious what a Wix box says at Oreillys.

My experience with buying Wix at O'Reilly's has been that it depends on the specific filter. Some are still made in USA, but I have also gotten ones that are made in Mexico.

 

[XJSuperman]

My experience with buying Wix at O'Reilly's has been that it depends on the specific filter. Some are still made in USA, but I have also gotten ones that are made in Mexico.

Good timing. I stopped yesterday to drop off some wmo, and looked at the filters. Random grabs off the shelf revealed USA (more than expected actually), china, and mexico.

 

[zmotorsports]

Well, I didn't realize my comments about the NAPA Gold vs. Wix filters would drum up quite that much conversation. I guess I should have assumed because of how quality minded I think most of my fellow forum members are.

However, this video popped up on my feed this morning so I thought I'd share it. I have no affiliation with this channel but what is being mentioned parallels the conversation that I had with my local NAPA rep., especially the part about Wix being unable to support the demand to NAPA. This was evident even last year when I replaced the air filter in our coach. I opened the NAPA Gold box and I always check to make sure the screen mesh is on the correct side of the media for the coach's air filter and noticed the mesh was on both sides AND the filter was a Donaldson rather than a Wix.

I found that interesting so I reached out to my local NAPA rep. and inquired and was told Wix was having issues meeting demands in some applications so they were buying other manufacturer's filters to meet the demands.

 

[zmotorsports]

The wife and I just returned from a much needed vacation.

We have never been to Sedona and I've heard they had some great off-roading so we decided to give it a try.

It has been about 8 years since we've been to the Grand Canyon and I had forgotten just how terrible Highway 89 is between Page and Flagstaff. The road was **** last time I drove it and it has gotten significantly worse since then. We bottomed out the coach's suspension against the bumpstops on three separate occasions. Holy **** that road *****. If I never drive that section of highway again it will be just fine with me.

Although the scenery around Sedona and the surrounding areas was beautiful, I was disappointed in the off-roading options. On the second day in the area we ran Schnebly Hill in the morning and into early afternoon then Broken Arrow later in the afternoon as the trailheads for both trails were relatively close to one another. Schnebly Hill provided beautiful views but the trail was rough as hell. And not fun rough, just rocky and rough which dragged the trail out more so that it needed to be.

I did however, enjoy Broken Arrow trail. It was scenic with some fun obstacles and being relatively short, it can easily be done in conjunction with another trail. Be aware however, there are Pink Jeeps everywhere as this is their home town. We were warned about them taking over the trails and some people I talked with said they acted like they owned the trails and made for a long day. We went into the trip with the impression that these people were there to make a living and had a schedule to keep to so if we came across them, we'd let them pass as quickly as possible. To be honest, we had absolutely no issues with the Jeep tour people as they were very friendly and we never felt rushed at all. We did travel a bit slower most of the time so we simply pulled over and allowed them to pass. No big deal.

Funny story, we were on Broken Arrow trail and stopped to walk out onto Submarine Rock, which is a landmark stop. There were two Pink Jeep tour Jeeps there unloading/loading people to allow them to take pictures. One of the guides walked over and was checking out our Jeep and asked where we were from. When we told him Northern Utah, he said we don't get many Utahns here. We get a lot of people from Texas, New Mexico and Southern California but not Utah. I asked why and he said "because you guys have Utah. What the hell would you come here for?" I thought that was rather comical.

Bottom line, we enjoyed the Sedona area but now that we've been there, done that, it is doubtful we'll go back. At least not anytime soon, although I was really hoping to add another area into our Jeeping repertoire of places to visit.

Now for the pictures. Warning, we took a LOT of pictures.

We spent the first night in Kanab, UT to break up the 625-mile drive to Camp Verde, AZ. It was just a stopping over point, but we got in early enough to have a nice dinner then drive around for a bit enjoying several of the beautiful canyons just north of Kanab.

On Sunday we headed to Camp Verde and fought wind the entire day. We pulled out near the Glen Canyon Dam and fixed a sandwich and walked around a bit. Had to snap a couple pictures of the rig.


And the dam.


View out the window as we were driving across the bridge over the canyon.


Another shot of our rig with the bridge in the background.


Our campsite at Camp Verde, AZ. We lucked out and had a very nice campsite, although the RV Park was quite beautiful no matter the site.


Early morning coffee just outside the door of our coach and enjoying the view. Our neighbor was a retired VET and was an interesting fellow. Whenever he saw me sitting outside he made sure to come out and join me.


Did I mention the horrific wind we had??? Well, upon arriving at camp, we got set up and then went to have dinner. Our son recommended a Mexican restaurant that he heard about, so we set off to locate it and give it a try. The wind was still blowing hard as hell and when I opened my door at the restaurant, the wind ripped the door from my hand and the door strap broke causing the door to slam the mirror into the cowl of the Jeep and put a nice sized dent in it. GREAT!!! Like I didn't have enough to do, now I have to fix that when I have some time.


Monday morning the weather was spectacular and absolutely no wind. We headed north towards Sedona and aired down at the trailhead for Schnebly Hill. The trailhead was bustling with people, either hiking or Jeeping. Just while airing down we had about a half dozen Pink Jeeps pass us and we thought, "here we go". But it wasn't bad at all. Once we got about a quarter mile from the parking area, we were pretty much on our own the entire morning and into early afternoon.


Beautiful scenery all around.





Stay tuned for many more pictures.

 

[zmotorsports]

Continuing on with our trip.

Traveling up Schnebly Hill trail.


Random shots of the scenery.






Our lunch spot at the top of Schnebly Hill. Amazingly, the Pink Jeeps must turn around before reaching this vista as we didn't see a sole the entire time we stopped to enjoy our lunch. As we were beginning the descent, we did pass a mid-2000's Duramax with a built in camper coming up the trail. Did I mention this trail was rough as ****??? Well, the Duramax was extremely slow going due to the rocks and terrain so we sat at a wide spot and waited for him to pass. As he approached I noticed that he had a solid axle swap performed on the truck and once we got to us I noticed there were many more mods to make it into a real overlanding machine. Quite impressive actually.


Folding chairs set out for lunch enjoying the view.


Once down from the Schnebly Hill trail, I held off airing back up as it was only a few miles through town to Morgan Road where Broken Arrow trailhead began. This was Submarine Rock near the beginning of Broken Arrow trail.


Broken Arrow also had some spectacular views and was actually quite a fun trail with some nice obstacles or "extra-credits" in the mix.


The next day we headed northwest to a little called Jerome on our way out to the Honanki Ruins by way of Outlaw Trail. Jerome has a rich mining history and we stumbled across this mine while sightseeing.





Stay tuned for more.

 

[zmotorsports]

Continuing on.


This post is all of the Little Daisy Mine and Audrey Headframe. We spent about a half hour walking around this site exploring and reading about the mine.



















More pictures to come.

 

[zmotorsports]

Continuing on.

We continued from Jerome, AZ working our way nearer to the eastern side of Sedona and about 10 miles west of Sedona we took forest service road 525 towards the Honanki Ruins by way of Outlaw Trail.

At the end of the trail we came up to the parking area for the ruins. As we walked along the path we could start to see the cliff dwellings.






The dwelling were quite remarkable and elaborate. Even though they were fairly deteriorated, it was easy to make out how they looked in their prime.


There were also many pictographs along the trail leading up to the cliff dwellings.




As we were walking along the trail we were cautious of snakes as we were in their country. To make it clear, I HATE snakes so I was probably even more cautious. I made sure to make plenty of noise as I walked down the trail and stayed centered in the narrow 3' wide trail. Sure enough just as we were looking at some small rooms below the cliff dwellings this guy was sensing us nearby. The trail was NOT wide enough for the two of us.


Once safely back to the Jeep and heading back towards the highway we stopped to take a picture of the sign outside the parking area for the ruins.


Outlaw Trail also had some nice scenery to offer.



Stay tuned for yet more pictures.

 

[zmotorsports]

Continuing on.

For the last day in the Camp Verde/Sedona area we stuck to the pavement and did some sightseeing. Just down the road from our campground in Camp Verde was Montezuma's Castle National Monument so we stopped by to give it a look. Another very interesting site.








While we were at the Castle, we read about a nearby community called Montezuma's Well. Not realizing this was two separate communities we set out to find it and take a walk around the accompanying trail. Another very interesting site. It was easy to see why people settled here as the well continues to produce something like a million gallons of water a day, even in times of drought. The well also has some scientists stumped as to the depth and divers have discovered "false bottoms" upon several dives. The water also stays a constant 74 degrees year round.


There were some dwelling just above the well along one wall.


And several other dwellings just outside the well. They had quite an intricate irrigation system capturing some of the water from the well before it hit the river below. They detoured the water along a series of small ditches to irrigate their crops.


As we were driving through Sedona, my wife mentioned that she had read about a church that was built into the rocks in the area so we set out to find it. Here is the Chapel of the Holy Cross, located just a few miles to the south of Sedona on Highway 179.





More to follow.

 

[zmotorsports]

Continuing on.

As we left Camp Verde/Sedona area, we headed towards Monument Valley for a couple of days on our way back towards home.


As we made our way north from Kayenta, AZ on Highway 163 we neared the southern side of Monument Valley.


We stayed at Goulding's RV Park in Oljata, just over the Arizona/Utah state line. The next day we took a drive north and west of Mexican Hat to check out Moki Dugway.


Moki Dugway is a series of switchbacks working their way up about 1200' elevation climb above the valley floor below. The pavement ends just as the switchbacks begin at the base of the canyon wall.


Near the top we pulled out for a few pictures.


Another great lunch spot on top of the canyon wall looking down into the valley below.




As we descended the Moki Dugway there was a sign to Valley of the Gods, so we took the 20+ mile dirt road out through the large monuments spread throughout the valley as we worked out way back towards the highway and Mexican Hat.




The famous section of highway called Forest Gump hill that seems to captures everyone's interest.


And what's a trip to Monument Valley without a picture of the east and west mittons.


That concludes our trip report to Sedona and Monument Valley areas last week.

Thanks for looking.

 

[OutlawDrifter]

Looks like a great trip Mike! I've always been fond of the Sedona area, it has really changed in the last few decades.

Bummer on the cowl, is it something that can be PDR'd?

 

[zmotorsports]

Almost forgot. I know how much my fellow garagejournal members like food so I thought I'd share some of our wonderful meals that we enjoyed on the trip.


We ate quite well as we partook of some of the local cuisine in the areas, so I thought I'd share a few pictures of the food.


The Mexican restaurant that my son recommended was very good.


The next night it was getting late when we arrived back to camp after being on the trails all day so we googled pizza and found high reviews from a place not far from our campground in Camp Verde. They did not disappoint and were very generous with the toppings.


My wife read that there was a Johnny Rockets in the casino across the street from our campground, so we tried them the next night. Great shakes.


My Route 66 burger was amazing and the onion rings were heavenly.


We went back to the Mexican restaurant the final night in the area.


Monument Valley food was also good as usual, although they no longer have their green chile stew that I loved so much when we've visited in the past. I had the green chili chicken burrito and it was tasty, but not the green chile stew I remembered. The waitress told me that they quite serving the stew about 4 years ago.


The last night we went back and had Navajo tacos on fry bread. Goulding's has the best fry bread we've had.



Thanks for looking.

 

[zmotorsports]

Looks like a great trip Mike! I've always been fond of the Sedona area, it has really changed in the last few decades.

Bummer on the cowl, is it something that can be PDR'd?

Thanks Marc. It was a scenic area but I was disappointed in the off-roading trails. Doubt we'll be back. The wife said "been there, done that, no need to go back" and I agreed.

Not sure what you mean by PDR'd? I'm not familiar with the term.

I think I can access the underside enough to pop the dent out but it will need to be primed, sanded and painted. I may tackle that while working on my grandson's pedal car as I will have the paint supplies out.

 

[Seagoon]

PDR.......Paintless Dent Removal

 

[OutlawDrifter]

Paint-less Dent Removal.

You answered my question later in your post.

 

[zmotorsports]

On Saturday we drove the 425 miles home from Monument Valley and encountered all forms of weather throughout the day.

Started with a sprinkle as we were breaking camp and hooking the Jeep up to the coach, then it quit. As we hit Bluff, UT the rain started and continued to get worse and heavier. Between Blanding and Moab we actually had snow as the temperature dropped to just below 40-degrees.

Just south of Moab the clouds parted and we had relatively nice weather until Utah County along I-15 when we hit rain again and heavy Salt Lake City traffic with intermittent stopping.

We arrived home around 5:30pm, unhooked the Jeep, parked the coach and unloaded it. I took the Jeep to the local car wash and pressure washed all of the road grime off as it was filthy.

Yesterday I tackled the coach. I pulled the radiator grille and pressure washed the entire undercarriage, generator compartment, wheelwells and then turned the pressure way down and thoroughly cleaned the cooling stack as I knew all of that road grime packed the radiator, trans. cooler and CAC so it needed to be cleaned extremely well.


Engine bay cleaned as well as the towbar setup and Roadmaster Tow Defender netting.


Then my attention turned to the cooling stack and undercarriage. All of that road grime on the concrete came out of the cooling stack.


With the pressure turned way, way down I continued washing until the water running out the bottom was clear.


Then the other side around the battery compartment and wheelwells were tackled.




As I was hand washing the coach I found multiple spots of road tar or grease from the construction we hit north of Kanab on the drive down. This could only be removed with some Wax & Grease Remover but it wiped right off.


More here. Seemed to just be on the passenger side of the coach as the driver's side didn't have any spots.


Washed, chamois'd and cleaned from road tar.


Backed into the shop until the next trip.





Thanks for looking.

 

[gearhead1960]

Mike,

Great write-up and pictures from your trip. We visited Montezuma's Castle and Monument Valley among all the other stops we did when we did our tour of the Arizona area several years ago. Monument Valley has to be one of my favorite places. The vistas and mesas are just incredible. Kept me thinking about John Wayne when they filmed the Searchers years ago. BTW, I'll be out in Utah in June hiking in the Mighty 5 Parks. While I'm not doing the RV thing, we are driving from park to park. Wherever possible, we are staying in the park at the NPS facility. I would be all ears if you have any restaurant recommendations. While I know you do the RV thing as far as accomodations, we've had very good luck staying at NPS properties. My favorite has to be El Tovar on the south rim of the Grand Canyon. It is literally on the rim of the Grand Canyon. We walked out the back door to observe the sunrise, which was spectacular!

 

[zmotorsports]

Mike,

Great write-up and pictures from your trip. We visited Montezuma's Castle and Monument Valley among all the other stops we did when we did our tour of the Arizona area several years ago. Monument Valley has to be one of my favorite places. The vistas and mesas are just incredible. Kept me thinking about John Wayne when they filmed the Searchers years ago. BTW, I'll be out in Utah in June hiking in the Mighty 5 Parks. While I'm not doing the RV thing, we are driving from park to park. Wherever possible, we are staying in the park at the NPS facility. I would be all ears if you have any restaurant recommendations. While I know you do the RV thing as far as accomodations, we've had very good luck staying at NPS properties. My favorite has to be El Tovar on the south rim of the Grand Canyon. It is literally on the rim of the Grand Canyon. We walked out the back door to observe the sunrise, which was spectacular!

Mark, sounds like a fun trip.

Sorry, don't really have many recommendations around Bryce NP or Zion NP. We generally find ourselves eating at the coach at those two locations.

As for Capital Reef NP, there are a few places in Torrey and Boulder that we like. Torrey there is a Mexican restaurant that looks like a converted mobile home that has good food. Not much to look at from the outside but the food is excellent. Small place though.

There is also the Broken Spur in Torrey which is very good.

Boulder is a nice drive and the Burr Trail Grille has excellent food for a small out of the way place. Rumor has it the owner is a retired chef from somewhere back east to moved out here to take up residence and although they have a small and limited menu with only a few items each year, the food is second to none. The menu isn't the same two years in a row and they stick to that menu pretty much all season long. Their handpies are delicious for dessert.

As for Moab area around Arches NP, the restaurants there aren't really the same the past few years. The politics in Moab have gotten out of hand and businesses have taken sides sort of speak. There is a hard line drawn in the sand on whether certain businesses support OHV or bicyclists. Not much middle ground these days which is really sad.

We do like Zax Pizza in Moab and won't go back to the Moab Brewery. The brewery used to have excellent food, burgers were great as well as their fish tacos but they are under new ownership and it is very evident that the new owners to not want to serve the OHV crowd.

It used to be hard to find a parking spot at the brewery any time of day but the last few times we've been through Moab there were hardly any cars in the parking lot.

Not sure if that helps or not.

 

[zmotorsports]

Yesterday after finishing up the coach cleaning duties and after spending some time with my son, DIL and grandson I headed back out to the shop to perform some routine service on the wife's Acura TL. It is near a service and the lift will be ******* for a bit so I thought I had better service it while I had the opportunity.






It felt good to be working in the shop again rather than on the garage. Glad that job is done and I can get back to what I enjoy.

As much as I love going on vacation and traveling in the coach with the wife, I sure love being home. Saturday night after we arrived home from vacation the wife and I sat out on the deck and enjoyed the evening. Then again having our morning coffee yesterday on the deck. I LOVE being home. I look forward to one day leaving my full-time job behind me and being able to spend much more time at home, enjoying the yard and especially working in the shop.

 

[Dodge]

I too have a detached garage that I used to tinker with body work in. Heated, air conditioned, internet and TV and has a bathroom. Not as big as yours, 26X26, but I think i have it finished nice and enjoy time spent out there. I have often wondered what do guys do that don't have their own space like a garage? Sometimes I go out there and just sit!!!!

 

[gearhead1960]

Mike,
Thanks for the recommendations. Appreciate the suggestions...I'll definitely check into them.

 

[LXCam]

Well damn Mike, for the first time ever I’m a bit miffed at ya. You weren’t 40 minutes from me at camps verde / Jerome and I’d have happily shot over to take you guys out for a kickass Mexican dinner in verde. But noooooo, you’d didn’t let me know youse was close to my hood

Btw was that plaza Bonita you went too? If it was ya their food is pretty decent but if you kept going north n east and just past old town on Main Street is Adriana’s. Now we’re talking great Mexican food.

Btw, since you didn’t mention it you two missed out on the most kickass Indian Fry bread in all of Arizona. When you got off the freeway to go to Montezuma’s castle, where you turned north there was that shanty set up on the north west corner. Ya it looks like a prime candidate for food poisoning, but it isn’t


Glad you all had a great trip except for traveling 89. That road definitely ***** a huge set north of the 40.

 

[ntsqd]

I've been buying Wix fuel filters from Summit. Shipping is a non-issue if I order a bunch of stuff. Gets here just as fast as amazon, but I'd rather be buying Summit parts than amazon parts.

When I worked in Vintage Racing & Touring cars we used CR Laurence's aerosol glass cleaner to clean the race cars while at the races. It will even remove the rubber streaks from the scrubbed tire marbles. I've since learned that the CR Laurence product is a rebadged product from Sprayway.

We've stayed at the Broken Spur in Torrey twice and would do so again. Rooms are basic, but clean and tidy. They were just finishing up an extensive remodel when we stayed there the last time. I couldn't get my wife to go for staying one of the "Wagons." That might have been due to the freezing rain that we drove thru over the pass between Escalante and Torrey.

 

[ajohno]

Thanks for sharing your photos of your trip Mike. Looks like a beautiful place.

 

[bugnut]

Mike, thanks for the pictures and travelogue, looked like a good time. I have a great appreciation for that part of America.

 

[zmotorsports]

Well damn Mike, for the first time ever I’m a bit miffed at ya. You weren’t 40 minutes from me at camps verde / Jerome and I’d have happily shot over to take you guys out for a kickass Mexican dinner in verde. But noooooo, you’d didn’t let me know youse was close to my hood

Btw was that plaza Bonita you went too? If it was ya their food is pretty decent but if you kept going north n east and just past old town on Main Street is Adriana’s. Now we’re talking great Mexican food.

Btw, since you didn’t mention it you two missed out on the most kickass Indian Fry bread in all of Arizona. When you got off the freeway to go to Montezuma’s castle, where you turned north there was that shanty set up on the north west corner. Ya it looks like a prime candidate for food poisoning, but it isn’t


Glad you all had a great trip except for traveling 89. That road definitely ***** a huge set north of the 40.

Sorry Cam. I didn't realize we were so close. I hate to advertise when we're not home, so I don't ever post until we return from a trip.

The Mexican restaurant was actually La Casita just over off of Finnie Flat in Camp Verde. Same with the pizza place (Crusty's Pizza) just off Finnie Flat road.

I've never had fry bread in Arizona so I will stick with my experience that Goulding's in Oljato (Monument Valley) has the best.

 

[zmotorsports]

Last night after mowing the lawns I charged the sprinkler system for the season and ran through all of the zones to ensure the valves and everything were functioning properly.





I had just started charging the sprinkler system when the wife called and informed me she had a rock hit here windshield and chipped it. I had her pull the car into the shop upon arriving home and I hurried and repaired the chip.

I then realized I don't think I have ever documented a chip repair so I shot a few pictures to demonstrate the process.

Here is the bridge over the chip with my mirror under it. The mirror aids tremendously to not only align the bridge with the opening of the chip but to ensure the resin flows into the chip thoroughly enough.


With the resin inserted into the plunger and pressure applied, I noted that it was not flowing into the chip very well. A little heat aids a great deal to get the resin to flow into the chip. I just simply use a cheap lighter and bathe the flame under the ship on the inside. You have to be careful however, that you don't apply too much heat as the windshield can become delaminated from the heat. Just enough to get the resin to flow and bathe the flame across it in small increments.


The heat worked as is flowed in nicely.


Overview of the bridge assembly before removal.


Next a bit of pit resin applied over the chip.....


...then the sacrificial plastic sheet applied over the chip sandwiching the pit resin.


Then the UV light can be applied for a few minutes.



Stay tuned for a few more pictures of the repair.....

 

[LXCam]

Well if anything it looks like we have two new foodie places to try.

 

[zmotorsports]

Continuing on with the windshield chip repair.

Once the UV has cured the resin a razor blade can be used to remove the plastic sheet and thin resin film layer.


Then a small amount of pit polish can be used to try and blend the repair into the surrounding glass. This is hit and miss in my opinion. Sometimes it works great and other times I don't feel it does much. However, I still apply it to each repair in hopes that it makes the chip less visible.


Using a soft paper towel to polish out the chip area using the pit polish.


Then some Sprayway glass cleaner applied and the windshield cleaned.


Another successful chip repair and one that I hope buys us some more time.



I hate to say this but it seems like I am doing many more chip repairs over the last few years than I ever had to in the previous several of decades I've been wrenching on cars. Seems like I'm fixing almost one or more a month lately.

 

[Jgaz]

Great tip on using the mirror on the inside to help align things.
Thanks for posting this.

 

[Bigblue&Goldie]

Mike, like Cam said, you should've hit up some of your AZ internet buddies!

I remember when my dad bought his last Rubicon it had a few of the "Badge of Honor" emblems stuck to the inside of the tailgate. We had no idea what that was all about, so we looked it up......I about fell out of my chair when I saw Schnebly Hill was one of the trails! For those who have never heard of Schnebly Hill, it's essentially a fire road adorned with random utility manhole covers and nothing but "baby's head" rocks. In all the thousands of off road miles I've done in my life, it's literally the road I hate the most. To put it in perspective, my buddy went down it to get to some Sedona bike trails in his Dodge Mega Cab with Carli suspension on 37" tires. His carbon fiber framed mountain bike was secured on a Fox tailgate pad and it literally cracked up his frame! The road is kinda scenic, but not worth it. You could literally do it in any car; but no matter what vehicle you are driving you will find it to be just obnoxious.

Broken Arrow is very scenic, and kind of fun, but it's also very short. It's one of those trails you do when you're in the area, but it's not worth driving out of your way to go to. Like Mike said, I definitely wouldn't drive out of Southern UT to go to it. Sedona is definitely not a good 4x4 town, but has excellent mountain biking.

 

[zmotorsports]

Mike, like Cam said, you should've hit up some of your AZ internet buddies!

I remember when my dad bought his last Rubicon it had a few of the "Badge of Honor" emblems stuck to the inside of the tailgate. We had no idea what that was all about, so we looked it up......I about fell out of my chair when I saw Schnebly Hill was one of the trails! For those who have never heard of Schnebly Hill, it's essentially a fire road adorned with random utility manhole covers and nothing but "baby's head" rocks. In all the thousands of off road miles I've done in my life, it's literally the road I hate the most. To put it in perspective, my buddy went down it to get to some Sedona bike trails in his Dodge Mega Cab with Carli suspension on 37" tires. His carbon fiber framed mountain bike was secured on a Fox tailgate pad and it literally cracked up his frame! The road is kinda scenic, but not worth it. You could literally do it in any car; but no matter what vehicle you are driving you will find it to be just obnoxious.

Broken Arrow is very scenic, and kind of fun, but it's also very short. It's one of those trails you do when you're in the area, but it's not worth driving out of your way to go to. Like Mike said, I definitely wouldn't drive out of Southern UT to go to it. Sedona is definitely not a good 4x4 town, but has excellent mountain biking.

Sorry Ryan, I see the error in my ways now. I should have reached out, but I hate to be a bother and inconvenience people. I know when people come to local areas, not everyone is anxious to jump up and go meet them, so I try to be cognitive of that and don't want to be a bother.

I found it funny when the tour guide from Pink Jeeps asked why we came to Sedona being from Utah. His exact words were "why the hell would you come here when you have Utah?"

 

[PugetDude]

Mike, I think it's safe to say that many of the PHX area GJers would have been happy to just bask in your aura when you were in the area, myself included.
Scott

 

[zmotorsports]

Mike, I think it's safe to say that many of the PHX area GJers would have been happy to just bask in your aura when you were in the area, myself included.
Scott

Oh trust me Scott, five minutes in you'd all be thinking "okay, it's time for him to leave now."

 

[LXCam]

Oh trust me Scott, five minutes in you'd all be thinking "okay, it's time for him to leave now."

Naaawwwww, we’d have finished lunch first

 

[PugetDude]

Naaawwwww, we’d have finished lunch first

Eat faster, Cam.

 

[ntsqd]

If Schnebly Hill heads sort of East out of Sedona kind of, sort of in the direction of 17 (seem to recall a section that ran more North than East), then I drove it in a VW Caddy diesel in about '95. Description sounds like the road that we left the Sedona area on anyway. We took some kind of back roads route over to Mormon Lake.

I'll add one to the list of roads that just isn't worth it. South Pass Rd in Saline Valley, CA; it is rough at 10 mph and you can't get on top of it to smooth it out. North Pass Rd, when not closed due to snow, is a much more scenic and smoother drive. Steele Pass is a little bit of a challenge without being something in Johnson Valley.

 

[gearhead1960]

...you have paved roads out west?

 

[zmotorsports]

...you have paved roads out west?

Yeah Mark, we even have indoor plumbing.

 

[gearhead1960]

Yeah Mark, we even have indoor plumbing.

Mike,
I'm definitely looking forward to my trip to Utah next month, indoor plumbing and paved roads!