A day with the Saigon Jeep Club

[rickf]

That's the type of driving that Eric aka Mutt Vet likes to do

Ah yes, Eric. Anyone ever here from him?

Rick

[csmith]

John, hope you hook up with the fellows in the SJG, hope to see you all and go for a ride in the fall

[ducreddoor]

already hook up

[ducreddoor]

new arrival




guy investigate the body..

[csmith]

Okay let me guess, John must be the guy with the gray hair Just like me Glad you guys got togethter, looking forward to seeing everyone again in the fall. John, nice horn, Mutt looking good! Thanks to Aberdeen Be well bros, Clell

[rickf]

Man, Those guys eat well! Something to keep in mind for our get together's.

[ducreddoor]

John,
The group you have seen with sidecars is the group that We, the people you met,( me, Vulcan, Juanle and the gang,...)did not want to get involve with one of the guy there his name is Tuandang. We dont want to be with him any more. Now we leave the name Saigon jeep for him and we move to vietnamjeep.net.

So now you have found the mechanic that you want who is repairing jeeps for us.

[johnfal]

Thanks for posting the photo's Duc, and thanks to Clell for getting me the horn. It is jury rigged at the moment as the original wiring seems to be for two horns, I think someone has modified the harness. I was in a hurry to get the horn installed so it got a quick tape job, but this weekend I will tidy it up and do a proper job.

Just for the rest of you guy's out there the guys in vietnemjeep.com are a good bunch of guys and like to enjoy themselves and like to eat and drink well. They are also a bit crazy with their jeeps, being happy to get them dirty or immerse them in water they also have a tendency to throw their jeeps at what I consider impassable objects until they either batter there way through them or over them.

This Sunday I had my first taste of off roading Vietnam style when some of the guys invited me to join them for a little testing as they called it so it was with some trepidation that I went up what to me, was a mountain but to these guys, a little bump, thoughts of what am I doing up here without a ROPS went through my head when the front wheels got a little light. But hell it was a good feeling. By the way the jeep went up that hill nice and steady with little or no wheel spin.

[csmith]

Looks like a great day John, thanks for sharing!

[platoonboss]

What a great story, thanks. Interesting that they were all A2's.

[johnfal]

On the day there were two Mutts a Jeep Wrangler and a Russian Jeep what its correct title is I dont know. However I can say that the two A2's held their own agaisnt the others when it came to climbing even though the Wrangler and the Russian jeep are bigger vehicles. I have off roaded in a Landrover many years ago but this was the first time I have driven an A2 over rough terrain and I was impressed by what it could do and how well it climbs. The photo does not do the hill justice, it was a struggle for some of the vehicles to go up especially the lower part which is much steeper than the main slope. On the way down the A2 owned by Juanle was in front of me and he accessed the slope from the side part way down and I watched as he tried to turn into the slope but it was that steep that his vehicle kept sliding sideways , he eventually managed it but from where I was sitting right behind him it looked scary. My instincts told me that was not for me so I backtracked and came down from the top, I just put the jeep in 1st gear and let her come down under her own power keeping my feet off the pedals and she came down nice an steady.

I will post a couple more photo's later of the other jeeps involved for you to see .

[platoonboss]

Great. I look forward to seeing them.

[johnfal]

Photo's as promised:-

The russian Jeep in Action


The Jeep Wrangler in action


The two Mutts, Juanle's in front


Sometimes it goes wrong and recovery is needed


It took a Mutt to do it.


Me coming down the hill, you can see how deep some of the ruts were

[platoonboss]

Great pics! It must have been a wonderful trip.

[moose53]

Rickf should be happy, plenty of the red dirt & mud he loves in these pics! lol

Jim