Black Bear Road-C.W.Mcall

[Torxhead]

Black Bear Road - A Jeep Adventure with CW McCall - YouTube

This is an early video about a song wrote by C.W. in the mid 70s. I got it from another forum and will pass it on. Turn on the volume.

 

[PaRenegade]

I remember a story about him in an old Four Wheeler mag, where he bought 2 Jeeps to make this run, which gave him much inspiration for song writing. They then ended up on an album cover. Red and black I believe. He has a couple Jeep songs iirc.

 

[BusaDave9]

Black Bear Pass is not far from my home in Durango. It is rated as a difficult trail but the worst part is it is a very scary trail. If you go off the trail you die.
Here is a trail report I did of the trail:
http://www.jeep-cj.com/forums/f63/black-bear-imogene-passes-6540/


If you are interested in riding Black Bear Pass join us for the 2nd Annual Colorado Jeep-CJ.com Trail ride
http://www.jeep-cj.com/forums/f100/2nd-annual-colorado-jeep-cj-com-trail-ride-12496/

 

[tarry99]

Black Bear Pass is not far from my home in Durango. It is rated as a difficult trail but the worst part is it is a very scary trail. If you go off the trail you die.
Here is a trail report I did of the trail:
http://www.jeep-cj.com/forums/f63/black-bear-imogene-passes-6540/


Nothing like a Colorado High! That's an interesting trail & trip, How long does it take to go through Black Bear Pass?
Hunted many times North of there up off of 70 & 50 around Rangely ,Rifle, Meeker & Gunnison. Nice country! That was years back when you could drive into town and buy a non-res license.
Was just doing the math on your crawl ratio WOW!97:1 How do you like that?
What kind of speed to you see with the 35's and 4.88s?

 

[BusaDave9]

Nothing like a Colorado High! That's an interesting trail & trip, How long does it take to go through Black Bear Pass?
Hunted many times North of there up off of 70 & 50 around Rangely ,Rifle, Meeker & Gunnison. Nice country! That was years back when you could drive into town and buy a non-res license.
Was just doing the math on your crawl ratio WOW!97:1 How do you like that?
What kind of speed to you see with the 35's and 4.88s?

It takes a few hours to do Black Bear Pass. I usually come back over Imogene Pass. The round trip takes most the day.
Yes the crawl ratio is nice off road when I am in granny low and with my TerraLow. But on the highway the 4.88 gears work out just right. With my tires I would prefer lower gears for off-roading.

 

[tarry99]

It takes a few hours to do Black Bear Pass. I usually come back over Imogene Pass. The round trip takes most the day.
Yes the crawl ratio is nice off road when I am in granny low and with my TerraLow. But on the highway the 4.88 gears work out just right. With my tires I would prefer lower gears for off-roading.

Wow, so with the 36" tires and 4.88's you would still like a lower gear?
I'm running 4.27:1 with a 6.32:1 low gear
I have a Dana 20 large Bore case with the Dana 18 gear set inside @2.46:1
Off set
I put the large bore case in there just in case I ever wanted to go to the 3.15:1 Terra gears. What I do like about this setup is the Warn Overdrive and having the option to change any gear by 25%. Like having 8 speeds in low range.

 

[BusaDave9]

Wow, so with the 36" tires and 4.88's you would still like a lower gear?

Definitely!
I have my jeep for off-road but I want it street legal to get to the trails.
On the highway I can go faster than I need. I would like to go with D60s and 5.38 gears.

 

[tarry99]

Definitely!
I have my jeep for off-road but I want it street legal to get to the trails.
On the highway I can go faster than I need. I would like to go with D60s and 5.38 gears.

I like to also have that option within reason to drive it on the highway. Its really a compromise at best.
So with the 36's & 4.88s what kind of speed on the highway? And whats the engine RPM? I have a gear calculator here and just want to play with the numbers. Any Idea what the roll out or circumference is on those tires?
I had 5:38's before but with 31's and it was way to low for any highway driving.

 

[IOPort51]

WOW 5:38s with 31s and a T-18 ??

you could outrun that on foot in first gear could you not??

I would think that could darned near climb a tree!

I like to also have that option within reason to drive it on the highway. Its really a compromise at best.
So with the 36's & 4.88s what kind of speed on the highway? And whats the engine RPM? I have a gear calculator here and just want to play with the numbers. Any Idea what the roll out or circumference is on those tires?
I had 5:38's before but with 31's and it was way to low for any highway driving.

 

[tarry99]

WOW 5:38s with 31s and a T-18 ??

you could outrun that on foot in first gear could you not??

I would think that could darned near climb a tree!

IO
Your right they were very low gears w/ the 5.38 that had a 84:1 crawl ratio. But in comparision "BUSA" has 97:1 gears and looking to go lower but also has 36" tires.I've scaled mine back a little by putting the 4.27 gears in it so now the ratio is 66:1 in low. Nice part about the low gears is you very seldom use the clutch pedal except to shift. Tons of torque and no speed.

The reality is there will always be a perfect gear & speed for every trail or rock but having that gear / speed available in your Jeep is always the big compromise. Having the Warn OD in there helps as I can split each gear. I went back to the 4:27 just to pick up speed in high gear cause I like to drive it on the highway. This gear will get me a cruising speed of about 60 mph in direct. As far as the ultra low gears if I trailered my Jeep everywhere then it would be fine.
I Just have to leave the more technical big rock trails to the guys with the "low screws"

 

[PaRenegade]

You ain't a kiddin' BusaDave. I've watched several video's of the trip down into Telluride and I'm shakin' just watching! One slip of the pedal or popin' outta gear on those switchbacks and death isn't an option.... it's a guarantee!
It's beautiful country though, awesome scenery.