Steel Bender
Steel Bender was the first trail of the Moab trip in 2023. We first drove out to Moab, and everyone checked in at hotels and the campground. After getting all checked in, we started Steel Bender backwards, the way we had been running the trail in the past. We had planned it to be the only trail that evening so we could try out some new rock and off-road lights. Our lights worked out great.
The first creek crossing was deep. The water went over Jason's hood. But none of us had any issues with the deep water in the creek, only fun.
Most of Steel Bender starting from the end to the start is downhill which made it not too hard.
When we came to The Wall, it looked very big to us. Matt tried a few different lines and could not go more than just over halfway up. The last of his attempts, his Jeep bounced a few times and his right rear upper control arm bracket on his axle failed.
After the control arm bracket broke, Matt just winched up the Wall. He kept going on Steel Bender and made it to the end on his own. He got the Jeep fixed the next day -- luckily, he was able to find a shop that had time to weld it on short notice.
Sean was the next one to go up the wall by winching his Jeep up. As Sean backed up, he did not see that his tail gate was open and he ran into Jason’s Jeep. Sean almost took off Jason’s left rear fender flare and put a dent in the body above the fender flare, but he didn’t have any trouble winching up the obstacle.
After winching Jason up the Wall, the sun was setting and it started to get dark. It was time for the off-road lights and to finish the trail.
We did not have any issues with the rest of the trail. But all the ledges looked bigger at night, so it was slow going.
The last few creek crossings at the end of Steel Bender were deeper than the first creek crossing. At some spots, the water was halfway up Jason’s doors. It was an eventful start to our Moab trip!
Reports from Other Days: 6
Use the arrows or dots to flip through the previews of the other reports for Steel Bender. Click one of them to read more and see all of the photos from that day.
