You bought what?? 88 Eagle Wagon - Overlander Build

[RallyEagle]

Awesome read.  Similar to what my buddy and I were going to do in CO next year.

[amarshall]

Been a while but the "Eagle Knievel" is still going strong.  I have it stored in Salt Lake City, getting ready for two trips this year that should have us at the Pacific.  In July we will go from Salt Lake to Boise, then come back in August and go from Boise to a beach in Port Orford, Oregon.  This is all on dirt, following the Trans-America Trail with two motorcycles.  I had no idea when we started that it would take 3 years to finish, hah!

I needed to do some repairs and maintenance, so I snuck out to Salt Lake recently.  Felt good to get ready for the trip this year well in advance - seems like I am always last minute.  No big upgrades this year - yet!  I did find a local UT shop to run a new exhaust.  Mine was sagging down after I had the CAT replaced last year, they hacked it together.  Now I have a high and tight exhaust, and it's very shiny!  For now anyway, the shop couldn't believe the mud under the Eagle from last year's trail ride.

While I was in UT, one of my motorcycle buddies (Dan) joined.  We went down to Moab and had some fun there.  He rented a RZR side-by-side and we ran a couple trails together with the Eagle.  We ran Fins and Things and also He-l-l's Revenge.  The Eagle did great, but the trails were really pretty technical.  I think I have that worked out of my system - the Eagle is more of an Overlander than a rock crawler.  One more thing I learned about the Eagle - once you are heading down a 45 degree incline, the oil light will come on until you level out again!

We got tons of attention in Moab, everybody was grinning at the Eagle and lots of thumbs up.  Most couldn't believe we were on the trails without 35 inch tires and a huge rig.

Pictures!

This is me picking up my buddy at the airport - better than Uber!



We headed to Moab and the scenery was amazing.



This is inside Arches National Park


We found some trails inside Arches Park.



Rented one of these...made a funny pair with the Eagle!



Lots of steep stuff, but traction wasn't a problem.



On top of the world!  This is on H-e-l-l's Revenge trail.



Up and over!

[eaglefreek]

Awesome. I think everyone should visit Moab at least once. It's truly breath taking.

[vangremlin]

Awesome. I think everyone should visit Moab at least once. It's truly breath taking.

I agree, you see scenery there you won't see anyplace else on earth.  I've done some of the trails on the area on a two-wheeled, pedal powered vehicle and had a whole lot of fun!  Even if you never get off the main roads there is so much to see.

[eaglefreek]

I've been there in my old 86 Eagle, on a dirt bike and with my Isuzu Trooper. Dirt bike was definitely the most fun, but all were a great experience.

[amarshall]

We went though Moab last year, and I am glad I took the chance to sneak back down there while the Eagle was stored fairly nearby in Salt Lake City.  Last year we didn’t do any of the trails, just passed through.  I had been wondering how the Eagle would do at the more technical stuff.  I can honestly say I have it worked out of my system, hah!  The trails were amazing and the Eagle did well enough, but I’d have been much less worried in a big Jeep with 35” tires.  It was a little nerve wracking at times!

We start the next leg of our Trans America Trail journey on July 6.  It will be good to get back to the “safety” of the dirt roads again.  The distances are much longer and it’s still tough on the vehicles, but there is very little that is a real challenge for the Eagle.