Death Valley Adventure

[Jack L]

On the way back north from a wonderful time in Quartzite to the cold and wet of Washington State we had a wonderful stop at Death Valley NP. It was 87 in Death Valley and 19 and snowing at home. Death Valley was beautiful except for one event.

We went to "The Racetrack" to see the moving rocks. After about two hours of driving (actually bouncing would be a better description) on the 27 miles of narrow very bumpy dusty road to The Racetrack we arrived safely and enjoyed a pleasant late afternoon. We headed back to the campground and I was prepared to do most of the 27 mile return trip in the dark. About 2 miles into the return trip on the aforementioned narrow very bumpy dusty road there was a loud noise almost like an explosion and lots of grey smoke coming from the back of my Toyota Tacoma. I said "oh poop" or something like that and stopped to take a look at the situation. Now it's almost dark, 25 bumpy miles to a paved road, another 35 miles on the paved road to a telephone, (no cell service) and then about 70 miles to the nearest repair shop in Pahrump, Utah. I smell burning oil and have oil spray all over the side of the truck. I'm thinking broken oil cooler line or transmission cooler line or a busted oil pan or transmission pan and a long expensive tow. I'm also thinking a night sleeping in the truck before help arrives. I was a wee bit stressed. Kathi was even more stressed. It turns out that one of the expensive Bilstein heavy duty, off road shocks had exploded and they have oil in them that hit the exhaust and smelled bad. Everything else was OK and I carefully made it back to civilization and had a few beers and everything was fine. I thought Bilstein shocks were lifetime guaranteed but since they are original equipment from Toyota, Bilstein does not warranty them and the Toyota PLATINUM warranty does not cover shocks. I'm out of luck, but I had visions of a much more expensive repair. It sure could have been worse.
Other than the one issue with the shock, it was a great trip. Death Valley has some very beautiful areas and the trip was well worth it. Excitement, beautiful weather and incredible scenery all made for a great experience.

Photos are of: Badwater, the lowest point in North America, Scotty's Castle, Titus Canyon, the moving rocks of The Racetrack, glass bottle house in the ghost town of Rhyolite, Leadville in Titus Canyon, and a view of Artist's Palette.

[Lora]

Good story and pictures. Glad the bad was not quite so ugly. Thank you for sharing.

[Carol H]

Sorry to hear you had a problem but glad it wasn't anything more serious. Had a similar experience while heading down to the Northern Oregon Meet last spring. One of my axle boot covers broke open shooting oil out onto the engine.... with all the smoke coming from the engine area I thought I had blown a head gasket or worse. Luck to be only a few miles from a dealer - 4.5 hours later was back on the road.

[stevebaz]

I've been down that road with our 4-wd club and it is a work-out on your truck. Any weak links will show up on that drive. I 'm glad we didn't run in and out on that same road. We came in from the back side up the Lippencott mine road and then past the race track and on out through Ubehebe Crater. What no picture of tea kettle junction? I really liked the drive through Titus Canyon. Was there snow in Titus when you went through?
Sounds like you had a great trip.

[keekers]

Jack,
Glad problem was not too serious. I would have been stressing too and maybe would have had more than a few beers.
Just another adventure!
Patti

[Jack L]

Keekers, The trip was a great adventure.

Steve, There was no snow anywhere, and there were very few teakettles at teakettle junction. The ones that were there were new and shiny. I did not see it as a great photo opportunity.

[stevebaz]

When I was there 2 years ago there must have been over a hundred tea kettles.

[Jack L]

Originally Posted by stevebaz

When I was there 2 years ago there must have been over a hundred tea kettles.

I did not count them but there were no more than 7.

[ThomasE]

I was there with my son several years ago, we camped overnight at the end of the road that led out to the racetrack. The vibrations were intense, and my truck almost went sideways a couple times from the washboard. For those contemplating this adventure, the road is pretty much all washboard or fist sized rocks. Decent ground clearance and tires (i.e. no low profile tires) are needed as well as a full sized spare. My truck is 2wd, and I had no problems, so I would say 4wd isn't a requirement.

[Jack L]

Good tires and ground clearance are a must. I had 4WD but never used it. I also had 10 ply tires and was glad I did. After my adventure I stopped at the Jeep rental place in Death Valley to see if I could get a lead on a repair shop for shocks. He said the road to the racetrack is unusually bad this year and he showed me a pile of blown shock absorbers over 3 feet high.

The Jeep rental guy is a really nice guy and he rents in Death Valley in the winter then he rents in Moab the remainder of the year.

I actually saw a Toyota Corolla and a small Chevrolet sedan at the Racetrack. . They may still be back there.

[Carol H]

When I did that road a couple of years ago with my Outback there was a Jeep ahead of me and it spare tire came bouncing off - the guy didn't even notice. I retrieved it and then eventually caught up with them to return it.

[stevebaz]

Here's what it use to look like.