Trip to Table Mesa Rd. on the 24th

[ArizonaXJ]

Hello,
I'm new to this website and somewhat new to the "Jeep" thing.
Myself and some friends are thinking of going to Table Mesa Rd. on Saturday the 24th. We know how to get there but are not sure where any of the good trails are. Right now the rigs going are a 2007 JK (stock), a 1997 ZJ with 6.5" longarm, lockd front and rear, 1992 XJ with 4.5" lift, open diffs. We want for everyone to hav fun in their respective rigs so some easy stuff and also some serious stuff would be nice. Can anyone please help me out with recomendations and suggestions and maybe even some directions? I do not have a GPS....it is still iin transit returning from Iraq!
Thanks in advance for any help that you may be able to provide.

[Billy 4 hp]

Welcome to the club, it's not a common practice to tell you were the good trails are as to protect there condition and from over use... Table Mesa is a large area and there are many side roads to explore...

If your fairly new it all including your vehicle, it would be advisable just to go out and have a good time...

You will see many references to Charles Wells book Arizona 4x4 Trails (or something like that), it's a fine read that includes GPS coordinates as well as mileage points to navigate trails... You can find it at many large book stores, 4 Wheeler's Supply, etc...

A good, get your feet wet run is the back way to Crown King which is accessed through Lake Pleasant... It has a destination (town of Crown King) and takes about a full day...

Other than that look at the Trips section of the forum and chime in on the next trip to Table Mesa...

And again welcome...:D

[ArizonaXJ]

Thanks for the welcome to the club. I have made the trip to Crown King a couple of weeks ago. Had a blast!
My brother-in-law is the one all "locked up" in his ZJ. I have the XJ and have pretty much figured out my limitations and those of my Jeep. We both hear about trails here and there and are trying catch as many as we can. He was the one who really wanted to go to Table Mesa road. I now have him talked into going back out to White Tanks by Watson Rd. where we went last weekend. There ae several trails out there that we did't get to explore bcause his driver side front short shaft grenaded on him......he was tryng to pull off of the trail in a rough area so that some ther guys could get by. We'll just go out there and "wonder" around and see if we can find the other trails.
Probably be there around 10 am or so.

[Billy 4 hp]

Well the long and the short of it at the Table Mesa trails (the ones the masses know about that is), you pick the wrong line and you will almost guarantee body damage...

So I recommend going out and find a play area so you can find out how much twist you get (articulation wise) and what you can crawl over slowly.... If you have a manual trans, what happens when the clutch gets hot... When will your engine stall, etc...

If you like after you get a couple of weekends of playing, send me a PM and I can run you through a few trails at Table Mesa or another locale, I live in North Phoenix... I haven't been around here (this website) all that long but I have been around 4x4 vehicles for a few years....;)

Billy

[Billy 4 hp]

Well the long and the short of it at the Table Mesa trails (the ones the masses know about and frequent often that is), you pick the wrong line and you will almost guarantee body damage...

So I recommend going out and find a play area so you can find out how much twist you get (articulation wise) and what you can crawl over slowly.... If you have a manual trans, what happens when the clutch gets hot... When will your engine stall, etc...

If you like after you get a couple of weekends of playing, send me a PM and I can run you through a few trails at Table Mesa or another locale, I live in North Phoenix... I haven't been around here (this website) all that long but I have been around 4x4 vehicles for a few years....;)

Billy

[jbjarko]

I wouldn't say any of the trails at Table Mesa are one's to keep to ourselves. Is the JK a rubi, and is the driver ready for body damage? Rather, are any of you willing to get some damage? If not, the only trail I recommend is Raw Deal. Anything more and there is serious potential for damage like Billy said, wrong line, and you could slide right into a rock. Or worse, a lil floppity flop.

[Billy 4 hp]

Please don't think I am trying to horde the Table Mesa trails or any other trails by not posting them up on the General discussion area... If you really want to find them, all you need to do is quiz someone at the air-down area...

As I have been visiting the Table Mesa area since I was 9 years old on dirt bikes / trials bikes and I am 36 now, I know of a ton more trails that are not used nearly as frequent as three most common trails that almost get congested on a busy weekend...

Raw Deal
Terminator Upper and Lower
Predator

All three of these trails are passable by mildy modified vehicles with the possibility of body damage.. But if you are new and have limited experience with vehicle recovery and such I would wait until you can get at least one experienced person to show you the way and help with stuck vehicles and other issues....(broken axles, steering boxes, etc)

For instance my first major trip out with my CJ7 was Lower Terminator on a rainy day with 32 inch AT tires and one locker... Due to the All Terrain tires and one locker and my lack of seat time as I have not hit the harder stuff in a few years, I had to winch once and got tugged twice... After this fairly short trail I was beat... Mind you this was one month ago, the last time I ran Terminator (wasn't called Terminator back then) was in 1996... I reran Lower Terminator last weekend this time with 33 inch Mud Terrains and a front locker, it was a breeze... But even the most seasoned driver and vehicle occasionally needs a helping hand...

Damage tally of my reintroduction to aggressive four wheeling on Lower Terminator was:

1 Bent tire rod tube
1 Bent front driveshaft
3 Scuffs on my rock sliders
1 Tweaked fender flare
1 Gouge in a sidewall
1 Leaking diff cover due to rock contact

I consider Lower Terminator to be fairly easy compared to some of the other trails out there...

Morale of my story, learn your vehicle on the easy stuff before you tackle the harder stuff, it will save you a lot of accidental repairs and damage. If a particular route is easy, run it in reverse and try a harder line just so you know what your rig(s) can do... And it's a lot of fun to learn...

A good learning run that has some play areas would be taking the East Side of Table Mesa (go through the gate) through New River Canyon and coming out at Seven Springs campgrounds, I would not call this a top secret trail and depending on errosion, this can be a tougher trail than the back way to Crown King... Be careful on rainy days as New River can turn from a trickle to a full blown raging river quickly and you have to cross it several times on this trail...

Also remember some of the land at Table Mesa is on State Trust Land, so to be legal you need to get a permit...