A friend borrowed his brother's Jeep to take to Moab. Lasted 10 minutes. His ball joint exploded. Big lift, didn't upgrade them. We had to jack it up, winch it off the rock, jack it up again, straighten the wheel, roll it back, get parts, come back the second day, remove the right front drive shaft, replace the ball joint, and drive it to the trailer to return to his brother. Was on one of the loops around Klondike Buffs heading to the overlook. The first time I've used ALL of my recovery gear on a single situation: Winch, shovel, jack, straps, boards, and most of my tools.
Funny, posting this in "memes and funnies."
There should be signs on trails:
"Know your limits!
(and your vehicle's limits, too).
Average cost of off-road recovery: $2,500"
....or something like that.
I commend you ,
@COCycleGuy , for looking after that misguided fool to the end.
I was on a run where a guy's ball and pinion snapped--his 2nd breakdown of the day. After dragging his 4-Runner to the side of the trail, they talked about next steps. As it was the end of the day, I said, "I have nothing to do tomorrow. I can hang out, drive him to a parts store, then come back with him and help with the repair."*
One of his friends took me aside and said, "We like him, but this happens on every other run he joins. We've decided to give him a lift to town, and let him deal with situation all by himself. He's got to learn the hard way, he's not the mechanic he thinks he is. But thanks for the offer."
*My "help with the repair" would be little more than handing him tools.