10 years and still kickin'

[phines]

10 years ago the windshield wiper on my 1990 Geo Prizm fell off and that was the straw that broke the camel's back. That little car was pushing 200k miles, it was literally falling apart and I just needed something new. I spent the next couple days researching every vehicle I could find on the internet. The two that really stuck out were the Vehicross (obviously) and a Subaru STX, which was just a concept at that time. I guess I filled out a survey online because I got a call from one of the local dealers who told me he had one 1999 Vehicross left and that I should come check it out. I think I test drove it a total of 2 miles before going right back to the dealership to sign the papers. I didn't even bother haggling over the price. The obsession was instant!

My poor VX has really been put through hell, but I've had way more fun with this vehicle than I ever thought possible. This vehicle has been all over the country to various VX meets and Isuzu off-roading adventures. It's been airborne more times than I can count and somehow she's still running. My fun hasn't been cheap though. Here's a brief list of the things I've had to replace over the years:
-front differential
-radiator
-AC compressor (twice)
-catalytic converter
-exhaust (twice)
-both CV joint assemblies
-intake manifold gasket (twice)
-busted head gasket bolt which took forever (and lots of $$$) to track down
-all 4 rotors (twice)
-2 calipers

And those are just the important things! Regardless, I'd do it all over again. I love this vehicle!
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Yamaha cs-80

[tom4bren]

SWEET!!!

That's an inspiration to us NOOBs. I've only got 2 VX years under my belt.

[tomdietrying]

Glad to hear about your decade old friendship. My VX will turn 10 next year, but I've only known her 7 so far.
Peace.
Tom

p.s.
Love the icon........where was that taken?

[deermagnet]

Good job, Paul. How many miles do ya have now?

For those that weren't around then, Paul was one of our original moderators back when we first went live in June '02.
His member number here is 10! How ironic is that?

Mark Griffin

[phines]

Thanks guys. I just hit 144,000 last night. I haven't been racking up the miles like I used to. About 80,000 of those miles were in the first 3 years!
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Infants prilosec

[driver3]

Mr. Hines... I see you are 371 miles from my zip code, much different than Virginia. We'll have to do Moab again some time, or possibly meet in the middle. I no longer have my VehiCross, but my H3 is going strong. I'm actually headed to Moab May 5th for some mtn biking for 4 days. NM seems like a better state for you! Hope things are going well.... I still check the site every few months just to see what's going on!

[phines]

Andrew, looks like I'll be missing you at Moab by a few hours. I should be getting there late in the afternoon on Sunday. Are you sure you can't stay a few extra days?

I'll always be up for Moab now that I live this close... I get a lot of 3-day weekends at this job so weekends will be easy.
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Prison Break Forums

[phines]

p.s.
Love the icon........where was that taken?

Sorry Tom, didn't see this earlier. Zu4two snapped a picture of me getting some air at a mini rallycross race we had in Moab (2002).
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Andalucia cooking

[driver3]

Sorry Tom, didn't see this earlier. Zu4two snapped a picture of me getting some air at a mini rallycross race we had in Moab (2002).

I was there, and that was sweet. I have not been able to find that area since, not looking too hard though. Any gps coordinates on that? I believe Tone set that up. Phines buddy won it with a 4cyl tacoma...

Phines...
Sorry, I can't stay any other days, I have friends flying in from out of town for the trip, their return flights from Colorado Springs are on Monday. Had I checked here first a few months ago, I could have done that weekend.. next time. I still go at least twice a year for mountainbiking... we throw a rest day or rest afternoon of off-roading in every time.

[phines]

I was there, and that was sweet. I have not been able to find that area since, not looking too hard though. Any gps coordinates on that? I believe Tone set that up. Phines buddy won it with a 4cyl tacoma...

I seem to remember we had to drive south and it was off to the right. Rick (Baxman) set it up for us, so he might know.

I just did a quick look on GoogleMaps and coordinates 38.449417,-109.438596 looks familiar. Maybe you can do a drive-by while you're out there.
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Vaporite Oils

[E-ZooZoo One]

Paul's VehiCROSS was the very first one that I ever saw in-person (Uwharrie, July 2001), and the main motivation behind getting one of my own

I've never seen it go Airborne Ranger before, but I do recall it coming pretty damned close to rolling once (Uwharrie, Oct. 2008)...



* a WHOLE LOT steeper and tipsy-er than it looks!


Is there still a crease in the passenger seat from Zach's ride-along that day??


Cheers!
Smiley