Alaska Extreme 4X4 Baldy Challenge take rigs to the breaking point
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- Опубліковано 4 лют 2025
- Come along on my first ride through the famous Baldy Challenge. This trail is a rig buster. Mud, Snow (in June), Hills, Rocks...and more. We take Joe's modified Humvee to the breaking point multiple times - all in the hopes of brining home the title of winner. Just finishing all the check points is a feat worthy of a prize - if your rig can survive.
The vehicle community is second to none when it comes to diving in to help a fellow stranded or broke down gearhead it doesn't matter from 100 year old vehicles to modern modified vehicles at any event help is all around even from the competition
You are 100% correct!
Hands Down!
No one left behind period
I was skeptical at first the conrent but glad i watched till the end. What a great vid! Glad everyone was safe and unharmed.
We are going to retry it in about two weeks. Stay tuned.
Really enjoyed the content, what a day guys 😁. I'm tired out an I was setting in my recliner 😴. Thanks for sharing,glad you all made it out safely 😀.
@@bobtucker8875 thank you for watching. We will attempt it again in July. Not for the prize, but just redemption. I’m going to take my Humvee as well. After a few mods including new ball joints and a 2” lift to clear the rock gardens better.
When I saw them tires I knew they would kill everything from the CV shafts out. I really figured the portals would die first.
Got lucky. Weakest link was the ball joint.
Yeah, that's a tiny CV pushing those tires
It wasnt the tires it was the wheel offset.
@@TheChaztor nope..the offset was required because of the giant/ heavy tires ..nothing in the front of a hummer is gonna hold up to 250 lb wheel/tire
@@bullittdog4352 Improved but still not quite there.
Been in the exact same situation with my m998, had to put the ball back in the socket, wrap it with a peice of seat belt and a soft shackle and cinched it down with the winch to drive out. Then got home and fixed it with a new ball joint and then sold the pile.
The strap would have been awesome to hold it tighter going out but we didn’t have one that would ratchet down. I can exactly understand what you went through. I don’t think Joe is ready to sell it yet.
I’m shocked it made it that far without breaking, running over everything LOL,,that was impressive!
Me too
Northern wheeling man, Love it!! But very unforgiving but so beautiful 🤙 awesome vid thanks for the share, dream to join something of the sorts one day, hit that arctic circle 🙌 ever kool
We would love to have you wheeling with us. There are some unbelievable trails around here.
@McSpeedAlaskanAdventures I can Just imagine! Ine day I'll break trail that way
Awesome vid. I cant believe Joe wanted to keep going at first. My towel woulda been thrown immediately.
Joe is a competitive spirit. I feel like if the axle wasn’t broken we could have powered on after the ball joint and tie rod adjustment.
The smart play would've been to turn around after the first afro-engineering. Make it back to the trailer and fix it properly! Discretion is the better part of valor!..from Wyoming USA 🇺🇸 👋🤠
@@billallen4793 he has vowed to fix it and go back for a redemption run. I may bring mine on the stock 37” tires. See how far I can get in.
Going off road without tools is crazy spare parts on your list to take.
Next time Joe will be better prepared. Especially the jack!
Spare ball joints for those H1’s should be kept in the vehicle all the time. I have a buddy who runs an off-road tour service and he’s always breaking them.
Lesson learned here. I haven’t broken one yet in my rig but I also have stock sized tires.
@McSpeedAlaskanAdventures Tire size and the wheel offset is multiplying the stresses on the ball joints that were undersized from the factory. Add in the oversized rubbers, and rim offset, it's a recipe for disaster!...from Wyoming USA 🇺🇸 👋🤠
Those super wide rims are going to multiply the load on the front end big time?
@@ronladuke7235 you are correct. Much more force is being applied. More likely to fail.
@ronladuke7235 The wide wheels aren't the problem. It's the location of the back spacing of the wheel center. It's completely backwards of the regular Hummer wheel that has the wheel face located in the exact opposite location, it's towards to outside of the wheel edge vs the inside location like this wheel center!
Dam that's a cool trail looks like so much fun!!
This trail is hardcore. I wish I could have shared it all as it is really amazing all the way to the river.
If not the winner the Willys is the star of the show.Great work to get it back to the trailer.
That Willy’s is an amazing machine. It is Chevy LS power and overdrive auto transmission. Very well built. Fun to see it out. And Jen drives it a lot of the time too.
Seeing your situation.
Remember we have been in short trip offroading on jeep.... due to break down we left 1 jeep for a week then came fir rescue.
Watching your video from North East India.❤❤
@@bpaliardiaries4324Offroaders awesome!!!!! Maybe one day I’ll make it to India. I imagine you have some amazing off road adventures!!!!!
@@McSpeedAlaskanAdventuresYes, most are from the south India..
We are from North East India Khasi Hills Shillong.
We are not up to your level of Offroading like in the USA, but there were many in our region. Few videos on my channel
ua-cam.com/video/NXdzaClJNFs/v-deo.htmlsi=WsBUrDk7Em53KLUx
Lesson learned. Great video guys!
@@evsales yes and thank you.
Call the Hummer “Major Pain”
That’s awesome!!!
General Hymdoid ???
On that same trail thanks for tearing it up
Yikes! Yep those big buggies rut it up pretty bad.
This video was so awesome, wish I was there !!!
@@reapersrcperformance8835 thank you!!!
I cannot believe how small those ball joints are. How long did the ball joints in the up-armored Humvees last I'm wondering. Great video with beautiful scenery!
I agree with you. Joe thinks that right one might have been compromised before this trip. But we don’t know for sure. I ordered all new ones for my Humvee and will be changing soon and keeping the old as trail spares.
Awesome job man!
Was great to see you there.
I laughed when the jeeps and Toyotas driving around Hummer 😂😂😂👍🏻
I know. I figured they were laughing at us after we had passed them like a time warp and I’m sure they were saying “don’t worry, at that rate they will grenade it before the finish line!”
@@McSpeedAlaskanAdventures 😂😂😂😂👍🏻
Thank God the guy in the Jeep stopped to help 😮.
He saved the day!
That’s part of the fun of off road racing. Teams in Baja and in KOH will literally spring into action like a renegade pit-crew for broken down competitors… Giving out their own shit to rival teams that broke.. etc. It’s an awesome mentality to cultivate. Makes for incredible races and incredible friendships, often times with people you never expected to befriend.
@@JohnnyChimpo907 absolutely!!!
I think that fan clutch on the Hummer is controlled hydraulically through the power steering pump oil pressure and hydraulic temperature switches in the coolant. I have a couple of those fan setups.
@@onestopfabshop3224 100% correct.
At least now you know where the weak points are in the hummer. Upgrade time!
Exactly! At least a good learning opportunity
What kind of off roader does a trail like that with out a jack?
What were they thinking ? Were they going to get a bag of groceries from the store?
Yep. Mistakes were made for sure.
But I'll betcha there was so much fun, nobody can take the fun memories from them.
God Bless ya'll, have a great day ya'll. 🇺🇸 👍🏼
Unbelievably ill prepared and equipped for a breakdown in such extreme conditions. Can't decide if it's a case of ignorance, arrogance or an unfortunate mix of both.... Thankfully good samaritans provided much needed get-out-of-jail cards.
@@DAVIDWilliams-gr9lx Hey David - you are not wrong. The Baldy is no joke and to succeed and to stay safe luck certainly favors the prepared. I learned HUGE lessons about this and already made substantial changes to what I carry in my Humvee. The good news is that outside of the competitive spirit the other wheelers were super helpful to each other and we all got out together. Joe's Humvee is back on the trail and after catching fire a few weeks ago as well is functional. He has plans to beef it up. I don't think my stock Humvee would have made it even that far due to the size of the rocks and lack of rocker/floor clearance.
I foresee a complete upper and lower ball joint design is in the works. Those big tires are reeking Havok on the little ball joints. Just think if you were in the outback 50 miles and this thing reared its problems. Extremely hard rig to move over terrain with that malfunction. Dam thing is so wide you basically have to make your own path.
You are correct
I got the great value radiator coolant as well 😅. Big thing to remember if you're going to be in freezing temps or below to remember to change it out for coolant or it could crack your block or radiator.
You got it! We have had some freeze ups before!
Just found your channel --- keep up the good work.
Thanks for watching!!!
Hello from Tennessee, ❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤
@@DarrylwaynephippsPhipps thanks for watching! Never lived in Tennessee but have visited many times.
Tullahoma
@@BrianSmith-ql5nj any good wheeling in Tullahoma?
@@McSpeedAlaskanAdventuresI don't think there is much anywhere around here other than the privately owned off-road parks. There are probably a few if you really know where to look, and some of those parks have good trails from the videos I've seen, but there's nothing like out west where you can pretty much pick an area and find something good between the National Forest, BLM, and whatever other lands.
I'm from north of Chattanooga, but I've only ever done trails in Colorado and Utah.
@@Stephens_offroad_and when I lived in the Midwest it was the same. Mostly you had to have a rich farmer buddy with a lot of land or an ORV park. The ORV parks are nice but don’t compare to the freedoms of actually running and exploring like we can do here.
The size and offset of those giant tires put very much more stress on the suspension parts ,ie ball joints, that it's not surprising that they fail.
@@williambailey5405 that and we slammed a rock at the top of that hill hard with the right front. Truck is getting fully reworked with giant solid axles and way larger tires. It will by an animal next time you see it.
Wheel/tire specs, pleeease!!!
By the way: cool Humvee, nice crowd, awesome trip. Thanks for posting.
Cheers
Gus.
They are AG tires. Specs. 18.4x16.1 44” about 43” tall. We took ours out today with the stock 37”. I’ll post a video up likely tomorrow. Summer wheeling in Alaska is wild.
Actually They measure 18” wide 44” tall 16.1” rims
Thank you! Looking forward to the next vid.
Cheers
Gus.
GL getting Matt to show up
It would be a long long ride for him and a massive tow bill!!!!
@@McSpeedAlaskanAdventures he lives for that stuff. :D
Off to cali just to get noticed ect.
Would be neat to see his relative noob arse out in that real mud.
Extreme heavy duty truck with Toyota Camry ball joints. If you had some Can-Am X3’s. It would’ve been a breeze to cruise through all that terrain.
I didn’t know the Camry had a heavier joint than the truck. That’s interesting
Excellent adventure
Yes!
Hi hope you got it fixed but how is the webasto heater plumbing h Hooked up under your hmmwv. What water ports is it using
That one is no longer hooked up. It was set up to pre-heat the engine. I will get another look at it in the next few days and will update you if I can see where it is all hooked up.
That's one big ass beast. You could fit 4 people and still have room to stretch out. To big for most trails and once stuck need an army to get unstuck.
Agreed. 👍
Danh this makes me miss Alaska. I need to get back up there.
Yes!!!
Humvee and jeep, don't take it off the asphalt. Call wrecker if you do, tell everyone you no where your going, you will break down
@@Mot52823 yep!!!! That’s funny!!!
Thanks for the video! I watched your videos nonstop while waiting for my HMMWV to show up. Now that it's here, I want to do some off-road trips here in WA. I don't have a winch set up yet so obviously won't be doing anything insane. I'm sure you have gone over it in a video, but what are the necessities I should bring aside from a ball joint? haha
Thank you. Congrats on getting your truck. I have not made a video about trail essentials as I’m still learning as I go. Seems no matter how prepared things still go wrong. I’ve decided to put a 2” lift on mine and I’m replacing all the ball joints and then keeping the old ones as trail spares.
-How wide will you make the humvee?
-Yes
Joe is going to install new Rockwell solid axles in this number very soon.
Heavy foots an heavy feet did it
Truth!
You need some ball joint deletes ! You can tell the front suspension is not beefy enough by the way the tires wobble around ! Tires are two big for it. On humvee. But it sure was getting it!!!
@@conquistador1425 he talked about doing that. He said those wheels are not 100% centered on the custom hubs for the wheels. He got new wheels for it and they look better.
I am confused, you kept saying we are fighting the ball joint trying to get it back together and other similar things, but I only see one person take it apart and repair it. Is his name really "We?" Other than that, it looked like fun. Personally, I like rock climbing and you guys can have all the mud.
I tore my shoulder up and have a limited “we” in me but we put our heads together and made it happen.
I can't believe you guys put those Big-Ass tires on a stock Hummer and expect it to last very long, o-wait, it didn't.. I though four-wheeler's always carried a high-lift jack...Other than that, you guys made a great video....
As one other commenter said “calamity of errors!” My Humvee has the stock 37” sized tires. I don’t think it would have made it in that far without a lot of winching. We are planning on going back with my rig, Joe’s rig and a legendary Jeep known as Black Betty. We might see how it holds up under some different conditions. Stay tuned!
@@McSpeedAlaskanAdventuresCall the diesel brothers they’ll build it stronger and make a video out of it!
Hip boots! Perfect for the unknown!
Yes!!!!!
That old jeep though ❤😮
That Jeep is awesome 😎
lol learned the hard way about the required upgrades needed to use the bigger tires n stuff... XD
true
Really enjoyed your adventure.
Your 4x4 amigos from Deep South
My wrangler nor dodge would have survived 1/4 of that
I love my 4x4 brothers and sisters from the South. Uploading a video right now from yesterday. A solid 4x4 with maybe 33” tires and lift could make the trails we ran yesterday. Thanks for watching!!
Who is it that makes heavy duty rebuild able balls ???
Midwest military equipment has a heavyweight unit. Hard to say what is tougher about it. Larger mounting bolts at least
I live in Fairbanks,where were you guys wheeling.
Wasilla area on Baldy way off church road.
The rims n tires on the hummer are putting some serious loads on the probly standard size components beef em up hard so they take it brov
@@TheBlackstag1 you are correct. It is getting beefier parts soon.
@@McSpeedAlaskanAdventures love it such a really cool machine you rock ,would have won amazing video too
@@TheBlackstag1 thank you!!!
Lower control arm ball joint Tie rod and transmission all must check and replace
Yep. All those but the transmission were damaged including the upper control arm.
Thank you!
You're welcome!
1:09:23 - Perhaps he should have tested his car on routes near the road first. And stock up on ball joints next time🤔
100% correct.
Only people that can afford a hummer thinks they are the best machine on the planet. I seen those big tires on the hummer and was like well that's going to break. The suspension is only made for what it was built around and just barely that.
Time will tell - it is being rebuilt for a redemption run on 7/20/24. This is actually an old Military Hummer - I think he bought it for around $5,000 - the wheels were borrowed - he is a fabricator professionally so not much hard cash in the winch mount and mods.
I'd like to know the location of this venture
This is wasilla off church road up off the connector trail. Does that help?
This video is epicness
Thank you! We are returning on 7/20 for a redemption run. Joe is collecting rebuild parts and I'm pretty sure I'll take my Humvee. There will be some other serious buggies and Toyota/Jeeps - we will see! Maybe this time Low & Slow will prevail????
That fan blade looks like it is on backwards, the cup of the fan, not the round part, should be pulling air through the radiator.... or is just a video thing....
I think just a video thing because it ran perfectly cool after forcing the valve to stay closed and keep the fan clutch engaged.
why the chains on the tires?
Chains don’t just work in snow. They can be incredible in mud and slippery dirt.
Same reason transports use chains on snowy mountain passes... traction
@@dwynepen7626 yes. 100% correct
@@dwynepen7626 ohh okay. didn’t kno transports use chains either lol. ya learn sum new everyday 💡
That sound at 12:17 isnt actually from the drone, it's just an average Alaskan Mosquito flying by.
@@suislidesullivan 100% truth!!!! Lol
Clearance is a big thing
Agreed!
You never leave home with a Humvee with out a pair of ball joints
@@edkincaid9347 100% truth. I bought an extra set after this happened!
Where is this?
Out of church road starts at the connector trail head.
That's what you get for running them big tires on that. And I rated for that.
@@toddbertrand-q9b you are not wrong. Working to beef it up with non ball joint control arms. Still working out the details. It since caught fire on another adventurous day but is back running right now.
I wouldn't cut too many of us short on not knowing what angles feel like when you were 4x4 because we definitely can tell even when it's on a camera of your angle and how steep things are
Good point - it is amazing how much the camera takes away from the angles of these climbs.
So what DOES he have in those two big boxes in the back of the truck? The front and rear suspension on those rigs are all the exact same. You'd think he would've brought SOME of the most commonly broken parts with him. But not even a tub of grease. I guess y'all will have one hell of a dinner though. Or at least I'm guessing that's what's in the boxes.
We had food, tools, clothes, radios and more in the totes. He just got this truck mostly together right before the challenge and ran out of time for some things. He usually rolls with more spare parts. But first time on a real trail with this rig. It taught me some lessons. I don’t carry spare bal joints, axles, or tie rods. Most the trails I run are not as rough as this one. But I have started ordering those spare parts this week. Good lesson learned and at least he did roll out.
Jealous.. I wanna go. Amazing
It is an awesome off road trip. One of the most difficult trails in the area. I wish we had made it further to show how challenging this run really is. Don’t be jealous, come give it a shot. Just bring some spare parts and a jack and you might have some more luck than we did.
Too costly to bring my rig from Ohio … haha. However I’ll ride shotgun.. wrench cook whatever. Always wanted to wheel in Alaska
Well that was alot of wasted whatever 😮. I had a 6.5L in an HD brings back memories on the torque they have . That vehicle is to wide for most of the narrow spots so its no wonder it grenaded.
This one is a unicorn - I don't know how but it is shown as a 2007 model - but has the 6.2 and the 3 speed trans. I thought they were all 6.5 by then and four speeds. Yes - SUPER wide - hard to get down some trails. I think he said it is 8 foot 6 inches or so in this set up. These are borrowed wheels. The wheels he has for it will be better. The big buggies are over 9 foot wide.
Been years since I went up Baldy, but man o man the camera does not show how steep some of those hills really are lol.
@@AlaskanCharlie true!!!!
Will the real General Mayhem please stand up.
Redemption run coming 7/20. And…I’m preparing my Humvee to go as well. Not a race this time. Just going to attempt to finish the course.
The 3 Legged General 😊
I love it
The axle popped out when the ball joint broke
The first time it didn’t. It stayed on the boot but broke at the trunion where is goes up into the diff. The second time the ball joint broke it pulled it all the way out. We were able to stuff it back in to get it back to the trail head.
The old military Humvee should be called Sergeant Mudd
That’s awesome!
What style winch is Joe running ?
It is a giglpen at 24 volts.
ARE YOU IN 4X4DRIVE YET?
The right axle broke so we lost full 4x4 and it made it super tough to crawl back.
You could have used the wintch to straighten out the tire rod.
Tried to but they are on the back of the axle and the winch won’t go down and around. We even tried to use a snatch block but no good.
What about going up back wards
@@garyorth4419 with the right wheel broken it was like a boat anchor and it wouldn’t go. But after getting it back on that might have been an option we didn’t think about.
Most of the trail looks like my driveway
I hope you have a 4x4 to come and go then. That would be rough especially after a lot of rain.
I really want to own an off-road machine like this
@@Oceanfis do
It!!!!
Better call Matt's Off Road Recovery Or Trail Mater 😂
Yes!!!!
Tires need to come off for towing or otherwise.
We improvised in the moment. Joe found a lot more damage when he tore it down yesterday. Upper control arm and more.
normal gm issues there with the ball joint
True.
Guys, why don't you deflate your tires off the road at all? The ride would be more aesy this way. And fewer breakdowns
@@putrefied_russian yes. Most if not all of these were deflated. I think he was running 8 psi in the military truck.
Con gomme così enormi era scontato rompere un attacco.
True. The wide tire puts more load on the suspension and they stick out wider on the trail and more likely to hit things with them.
Härligt safari❤
Thank you! It is a beautiful area! I should have posted it in 4K to help see the real beauty out there!
I thought it would be portals going first
I agree. But those extra wide tires put so much stress on the ball joints too.
Отдых для души) Шаровые оказались слабым местом?
Yes. Broke the bottom one, twisted the upper control arm and bent the tie rod as well as the idler arm.
Ok awesome that would be a help I'm trying to hook one up on my hmmwv
So he has the truck running again but we didn’t make the revenge run. He did start a UA-cam channel and just posted his first run. You can reach out to him on his channel. @Ruggedalaskan
I’m running hummer wheels on my ranger got 60s with old gumbos 44 she is low and light
Are you running trail worthy fab bead locks or stock hummer run flat locks?
They had to much confidence in the hummer bravado tires are to big I think even though this is a automobile our military has to depend on 😢 God bless them
Yep. It is being rebuilt and will be back soon. Should have different tires next time.
typical hummer ball joint
Yep!
With the big willies lmao.
Big Willy to the rescue!
Have you ever heard STAY THE TRAIL? Apparently not
Well, I guess Joe’s competitive spirit overcame in the moment!!!🤪
Blows my mind that a machine built for the battle field runs ball joints. And tiny ones at that.
Ball joints are incredibly weak compared to trunion bearings, such as what I suspect that the pop-top 4-runner on chains is running (if he's solid front axle). Even modern Jeeps run ball joints and I can't tell you how many times I've heard a Jeeper whine about having to deal with them.
My #80series solid front axle uses trunions and I've never had a problem with them. Even after replacing them as a baseline item when I bought the rig to give them a born-on date.
Admittedly I don't treat my rig like you have to treat yours in this competition. But if I did, a trunion failure would be the last thing I'd be worried about. (Check yur nuts! lol - an 80series thing)
And too those ag tires really leverage against ball joints, making their failure even more likely. Tho i'll admit the tires are a big advantage in that terrain.
Awesome video.
First time viewer and hadn't heard of this "race". Really enjoyable and can appreciate the toll on the machine that it presents.
Great effort regardless.
Thank you and I agree 100%!!!!!
No wonder I can't get to. My hunting grounds I've packed whole moose out in a Datsun buggy
Yep. I think the bottom fell out when slow and low was changed to fast and furious! If we were packing out a moose I suspect it would have been more careful…unless it was a race to see who could get the moose back first! 😂
Anyone have a ball joint ???
I ordered new uppers and lowers for my Humvee after this adventure gone wrong. Will replace them all and keep the old ones as trail spares.
If he would have put a log in between the two bumpers of the trucks when he winched it up to the back of that willies it would of pushed it out as it went up for clearance. Just a thought
That’s a great idea. We had access to logs and a chainsaw
Typical day in the mud ...
Breaking N Fixen breaking N Fixen...
Yes! Exactly!!!
Call that rig "Colonial Calamity".
That’s awesome!
I was also thinking Captain Crunch
It's not going to break like that but something else will break !!!
Truth!!!!
Joe has a cool rig. Needs to take it to eska fall for a shakedown first !
Yep. He went for the big trail right off the bat. The truck was working amazingly right until it broke.