CLUB FLAGS!! Follow the link to Devil Woman Flags... Most any color combinations available. Only $20!!
06/18-06/21/09- LAW ON THE ROCKS! Lakes area wheelers hit the rocks at Gilbert for the first time this season. The weather was fantastic, the food was awesome and the wheelin was pretty good too. Okay, what's the real headline you ask? Craig didn't break any parts! Can ya believe it? As a matter of fact, nobody broke anything beyond repair. Mike Lyons did some welding for a couple guys during our lunch break on Saturday, but no parts were replaced. All in all, a great weekend with a great group of "guys" huh Kelly? Click on image to view slideshow.
06/17/09 WAS A SLINKY HIS FAVORITE TOY? Must have been. Mike Lyons does away with the leaf springs on the front of his YJ and does it up right with coils and a three link.
07/07/09 TEE SHIRTS HAVE BEEN ORDERED! We still may be able to add names of those that make donations for a few more days while Minnesota T's finalizes the artwork, so keep workin' on those donations!
06/14/09 A WELL ORCHESTRATED ENDEAVOR. Six trucks with trailers, three skid steers, one fork lift and too many chains and straps to count. Lakes Area Wheelers, and a few others got together and hauled litterally tons of rock from the Pine River area to Brainerd. It worked like a well oiled machine. Craig's rock crawl should nearly double in size with all the rocks we hauled. Now all we have to do is set a day to get 'em all put in place. Many thanks go out to Seth's buddy Lon, not sure if I'm spelling that right, he's quite the skid steer driver. It was a lot of work, but like so many other events with this group, it turned out to be a fun day too. Thanks everybody!!
06/14/09 "THAT GUY" IS BACK!! Nate makes a suprise appearance at our rock hauling event after recently returning from Iraq. Great to have you back Nate!! Welcome home!
06/04/09 CONGRATULATIONS GRADUATES!! Two of our families have graduates in the Brainerd High School class of 2009. Tyler Lyons and Tyler Spencer. Best of luck to you guys as you head off into the world. We're proud of you!
06/01/09 WRENCHFEST WOES. What should have taken a few hours ends up taking six or so hours. But on the bright side, Darrell's Jeep is lifted and he's running 33" Mud King tires!! Alright Darrell!! Our cameras were able to catch this sneak preview.
06/01/09 A FUN WEEKEND IN THE BORG'S WOODS! A few of us got together out at the Borg's on Saturday for a fun little trip through the woods.
Some of the obstacles proved to be too much for Mike S' Jeep.
Getting lifted out of a hole by a backhoe is one sure way to keep a guys ego in check. At least I wasn't the only one with carnage, Craig broke his rear driveshaft again...twice.
05/29/09 ROCK HAULIN' PARTY!! More rocks have been donated to Craig's playground, we just need to haul them from Pine River. We'll need strong backs and weak minds.(that shouldn't be a problem for this crowd) If you've got a truck and trailer, or a truck that'll tow a trailer or a trailer and no truck that somebody with a truck that can tow a trailer can tow that'd be great! What'd he say? Meet at Craig's on Sunday June 14th at 8am.
05/23/09 Stroker Ace? Craig breaks out his new 383 stroker in a big way. All kidding about broken parts aside, that thing is bada$$. If it hadn't been for a couple of shock mounts welded in haste there probably wouldn't have been any trouble at all. But, well, there were these shock mounts ya see, and they broke off. As you may know, running with no rear shocks tends to put a little extra strain on the rear drivetrain... he exploded his rear driveshaft. Luckily it was at the end of the day. Unfortunately, when you break your shocks off and explode your driveshaft it puts a little extra strain on the front drivetrain. The word I got was he dismantled his Detroit Locker in the front differential. I think the worst thing hurt was his pride when he got towed out by a Tracker. But all in all, a pretty good shakedown run for the new, improved beast.
02/15/09 LOTS OF PROJECTS. It seems as though this year we've taken a tip from the Vikings. It's a building year. Of course the Vikes have been "building" for, what's it been now? Ten years? Anyway, hopefully our projects won't take as long. Of course owning a Jeep or other off roader is a never ending project but this year is a little different. This year there are more technical projects going on than the standard bumpers, suspensions etc. The never ending kind of stuff. No, this year has taken on a whole new meaning to the term "build." We're talkin' horsepower!! We can blame Mike Lyons for starting this trend with his recent 350TBI swap. Now it seems everybody is following suit. Seth is dropping in a 350, Mike B. is crankin it up with a 327, Craig is dropping the hammer with a 383 stroker and Mike S. has a 5.2 waiting in the wings. But of course with all this horsepower some upgrades to the drivetrain are in order. Mike B picked up Craig's old (I say old, he just built these axles two years ago) narrowed dana 44s, Craig and Seth are going full width axles in various forms. Dana 44s, 60s and I think there's a 14bolt in the mix somewhere. This coming wheelin season should be interesting, to say the least.
DARRELL SPOTTED DRIVING A JEEP! Following the meeting on Sunday most of us went over to Craigs to play a little bit on the rocks. For some crazy reason Craig offered to let Darrell drive his Wrangler. Did you check for any new dents Craig? Darrell loved it, I don't think he'll ever like driving his Yota again...Good!
07/02/08 WEBSITE GETS A FACELIFT. I got tired of the old look. Let me know what you guys think of the new look. Hey it worked!! Did you notice the little Jeep next to the website address in your browser?
07/05/08 LAKES AREA WHEELERS WINS SECOND PLACE. All it took was a few tire crawls and some revving of those V8s to wow the judges into a second place decision in the Non-profit catagory. We were a pretty good hit especially with the crowd. Throughout the course of the parade whenever we had enough room we'd crawl up onto Erics tires and pose for a few seconds. Each time we received applaus and hoots and hollers. Thanks to all those that participated; Jeff & Sam, Rick & BJ, Mike & Kelly, Mike & Sue and of course our jungle jim on wheels Eric! Thanks guys!! If anybody out there has any pictures of our tire crawls during the parade please contact us...we'd really like to have one.
07/22/08 "JEEPGIRL" KELLY GETS HER OWN JEEP! Kelly has been telling Mike how to drive for years. Recently she has started showing him how to drive, in his Jeep. Now Kelly has her own Jeep, she'll be showing us all how it's done before too long.
07/26/08 LAKES AREA WHEELERS HOSTS 3RD ANNUAL KINSHIP PARTNERS TRAIL DAY. Other than the four vehicles that broke down either going to or coming from Spider Lake recreation area the day was once again a success. Many thanks go out to Mike and Kelly Lyons for all their hard work organizing this event year after year. Your fellow club members really appreciate it as I'm sure the kids and their sponsors do. The BBQed pork sandwiches were fantastic!! Lakes Area Wheelers would also like to send out a special thanks to Owen, Jeremy and Joel from Grizzly Off Roaders for driving down from Grand Rapids to help us out with this.
WEATHER FORCAST FOR GILBERT 10/10/08-10/12/08 The Weather Channel is calling for some rainy weather this weekend. Friday rain with highs in the upper 40s! Saturday warms up a bit with rain and highs in the mid 50s. Sunday, still rainy but we'll see highs in the upper 50s. Lower Money could be a sloppy mess. SWEET!!
06/29/08 THREE NEW MEMBERS VOTED IN! This may have been a foregone conclusion, these guys are all great individuals. But we went ahead and voted anyway. Congratulations go out to Mike B., (that guy)Nathan, and Eric. On behalf of all the Lakes Area Wheelers, welcome to the club guys.
06/22/08 SPONTANEITY IS THE SPICE OF LIFE. Lakes Area Wheelers makes a spur of the moment trip up to Spider Lake on Sunday. All it took was a few phone calls and it was on. It was, for the mostpart, a leisurely drive through the woods with a few rocks, mud and hill climbs thrown in for good measure. Jeff did a surprisingly nice job on the rock pile with his open/open Cherokee. While two other rigs that are locked on both ends take the strap on the same rocks. Sometimes it's better to be lucky then good. The only misfortune befelled "That Guy" Nathan. It appears as though one of the spider gears in his rear differential tried to come through the diff cover. On the last trail of the day no less. Check out the "Wheelin Pics" section for a slideshow of the days activities.
06/17/08 HIGHS AND LOWS AT GILBERT. Highs: Craig conquers a demon from the past. Some of you may remember Craig's first attempt at Peterson's U.A. Alley. He ended up being winched up one of the side hills backwords with two broken rear springs. Well, he got back on that bike so to speak. His most recent attempt was impressive to say the least. With Eric spotting him he crawled the entire length. Way to go Craig! Speaking of Eric, he was the first in our group to attempt the new Quartz Crawl. Another impressive feat. With Darrell and Jeremy spotting Eric made it through. Along with a few others Mike L and Dan made up the log climb at the end of High Voltage. Mike drove up it like it was the I 94 freeway. Dan had to work a little harder. It's amazing what a little jeep will do when the driver wont take no for an answer. Not to mention a huge right foot. So that's what rev limiters are for?
And finally, the biggest news of the weekend. Darrell upgrades to a Jeep. Well sort of... He was video taped saying he was going to get a Wrangler though so things are looking up.
Lows: Jeremy breaks a u-joint on the access trail between Sherwood Forest and the off road park. Mike S takes the strap more times than he cares to talk about. Maybe now he'll be able to talk momma into getting him some new tires. And rain. The days were beautiful but the nights were cold and rainy.
06/13/08 FINAL WEATHER FORECAST FOR GILBERT 06/14 It's not looking too good for us. Friday there's 40% chance of rain with a windy high of 64. Saturday highs around 72 with a 40% chance of thunder storms. Sunday highs near 70 and 40% chance of precip. Looks like the tops will be on this trip... BUMMER!
06/02/08 LAKES AREA WHEELERS WELCOMES TWO NEW MEMBERS!(rigs)Welcome Rick and BJ and your little Barbie Jeep!! Rick and BJ have been out with us more than their required two trips, they've been tagging along for quite a while now. I guess we were waiting for them to let us know they were interested in joining the club...they woulda been voted in a long time ago. Welcome to the club guys!! I've got three words for ya...lift, lockers and lugs. ;-) Your Jeep's just barely better than a Toyota.
SPEAKING OF TOYOTAS Lakes Area Wheelers would also like to welcome Jeremy and his Yota to the club. It was a tight vote. The votes were re-counted three times. There was an appeal filed, a re-vote called for... Naw, it was unanimous... Welcome to the club!!
05/26/08 JEREMY'S YOTA FLOPS AT MDR-08. Jeremy was negotiating the steep drop at the top of "I made it down" on Saturday. When his front end reached the bottom the rearend decided it wanted to get there first. He went end over end and then flopped onto his side. Jeremy popped out of the truck with nothing more than a variety of fluids covering him and a bloody elbow. The Yota didn't fair so well.
The roof is caved in, at least to the roll bar, the windshield is junk, one of the rear control arms pretzeled which put a bind on the driveshaft that broke after getting back to the top. Thankfully nobody was hurt but Jeremy's pride.
05/21/08 WEEKEND WEATHER FORECAST FOR GRAND RAPIDS. Friday evening lows could reach 40°. Mostly cloudy skies on Saturday with highs in the upper 60s, lows in the 50s. Scattered thunderstorms on Sunday with highs in the mid 70s. Chance of precip. on Sunday around 40%.
05/18/08 LAKES AREA WHEELERS WELCOMES ITS NEWEST MEMBER. While Mike B. has not officially been voted in, anybody that's willing to pitch in on the highway cleanup in okay with me. Thank you Mike for your help! All we need now is a picture of your "junk" for the members page to make it official. Wait, that didn't come out right at all...just a picture of your rig will do...
05/18/08 ADOPT-A-HIGHWAY '08 The ditch cleanup went well today. We had a pretty good turnout! Still a little dissapointed in those that haven't made it out yet, it's your turn next year!! Pictured from left to right we have Dan, Isaac, Tyler, Leah, Mike L, Kelly, Sue, Mike B., Craig, and I'm behind the camera, Mike S. Thank you all for your participation!! Just think guys, as little trash as there was this year compared to last, next year there won't be much at all.
05/13/08 JEFF'S JEEP GETS NEW SKINS. Could it be Jeff put his Jeep on Enzyte? We'll have to call him "Smilin' Bob" from now on. Yep, those are 35's stuffed into those Cherokee fender openings. Can you say sawzall?
05/04/08 CARNAGE ON CRAIG'S ROCKS. For one reason or another the rocks seemed to be extra hungry for Jeep parts today. Could it be they're just as ready for spring as we are? Craig of course got the worst of it. They are afterall his rocks... He blew his drivers side lockout and he wasn't even on one of the hard lines. He pulled his Jeep into the shop and after a quick run to the parts store he had it repaired. He then proceeded to shell out a u-joint on his rear driveshaft on his very next run. Mike L. didn't get out of there unscathed either. He ended up trying to follow Mike S' line and snapped a short shaft. That'll teach him... The pleasant suprise of the day was our newest recruit, Nathan in his 99 TJ. He really showed us how it's done, especially on the log climb. CLICK HERE to watch a video. If he gets a locker in the front and some armour he'll really be a force to be reckoned with. I have no doubt he'll be a nice addition to the club.
04/25/08 SNOW FORCES THE CANCELLATION OF GILBERT TRIP. What was originally scheduled as our first camping / wheeling trip of the year gets cancelled due to snow. Who would have thought the forecast for late April would call for six to twelve inches of snow? Somebody should punch that Al Gore charactor right in the mouth...global warming my eye.
04/19/08 CRAIG LOSES BET! It's hard to believe I know, but Craig bet that my TJ wouldn't flex very well with the new control arms with poly bushings. We flexed my Jeep out with a forklift and found it to flex just fine. As a matter of fact, his Jeep only beat my Jeeps flex by one measly little inch in the front. I guess you could say I found a chink in his armour...he can be beat ladies and gentlemen! Just being able to say I won the bet is payment enough, but the dollar that was on the line will be proudly displayed on my garage wall for all posterity.
Lakes Area Wheelers is ever evolving. Here you'll see some of the rigs we started out with.
Only four of these rigs are still part of the club...
Mike S. used to run an 87 Zuk. This baby was locked front and rear, 4:1 transfer case gears and super flexy missing links up front...
Darrel updated his Yota a bit. He's still running a Forerunner but is black, and has more dents than this one.
Russ has been sidelined with a blown engine... Hopefully he'll be able to rejoin our ranks soon!
CLUB FLAGS!! Follow the link to Devil Woman Flags... Most any color combinations available. Only $20!!
06/17/09 WAS A SLINKY HIS FAVORITE TOY? Must have been. Mike Lyons does away with the leaf springs on the front of his YJ and does it up right with coils and a three link.
06/01/09 WRENCHFEST WOES. What should have taken a few hours ends up taking six or so hours. But on the bright side, Darrell's Jeep is lifted and he's running 33" Mud King tires!! Alright Darrell!! Our cameras were able to catch this sneak preview.
06/01/09 A FUN WEEKEND IN THE BORG'S WOODS! A few of us got together out at the Borg's on Saturday for a fun little trip through the woods.
Some of the obstacles proved to be too much for Mike S' Jeep.
Getting lifted out of a hole by a backhoe is one sure way to keep a guys ego in check. At least I wasn't the only one with carnage, Craig broke his rear driveshaft again...twice.
05/23/09 Stroker Ace? Craig breaks out his new 383 stroker in a big way. All kidding about broken parts aside, that thing is bada$$. If it hadn't been for a couple of shock mounts welded in haste there probably wouldn't have been any trouble at all. But, well, there were these shock mounts ya see, and they broke off. As you may know, running with no rear shocks tends to put a little extra strain on the rear drivetrain... he exploded his rear driveshaft. Luckily it was at the end of the day. Unfortunately, when you break your shocks off and explode your driveshaft it puts a little extra strain on the front drivetrain. The word I got was he dismantled his Detroit Locker in the front differential. I think the worst thing hurt was his pride when he got towed out by a Tracker. But all in all, a pretty good shakedown run for the new, improved beast. 
DARRELL SPOTTED DRIVING A JEEP! Following the meeting on Sunday most of us went over to Craigs to play a little bit on the rocks. For some crazy reason Craig offered to let Darrell drive his Wrangler. Did you check for any new dents Craig? Darrell loved it, I don't think he'll ever like driving his Yota again...Good!
07/02/08 WEBSITE GETS A FACELIFT. I got tired of the old look. Let me know what you guys think of the new look. Hey it worked!! Did you notice the little Jeep next to the website address in your browser?
07/05/08 LAKES AREA WHEELERS WINS SECOND PLACE. All it took was a few tire crawls and some revving of those V8s to wow the judges into a second place decision in the Non-profit catagory. We were a pretty good hit especially with the crowd. Throughout the course of the parade whenever we had enough room we'd crawl up onto Erics tires and pose for a few seconds. Each time we received applaus and hoots and hollers. Thanks to all those that participated; Jeff & Sam, Rick & BJ, Mike & Kelly, Mike & Sue and of course our jungle jim on wheels Eric! Thanks guys!! If anybody out there has any pictures of our tire crawls during the parade please contact us...we'd really like to have one.
07/22/08 "JEEPGIRL" KELLY GETS HER OWN JEEP! Kelly has been telling Mike how to drive for years. Recently she has started showing him how to drive, in his Jeep. Now Kelly has her own Jeep, she'll be showing us all how it's done before too long.
And finally, the biggest news of the weekend. Darrell upgrades to a Jeep. Well sort of... He was video taped saying he was going to get a Wrangler though so things are looking up. 
05/26/08 JEREMY'S YOTA FLOPS AT MDR-08. Jeremy was negotiating the steep drop at the top of "I made it down" on Saturday. When his front end reached the bottom the rearend decided it wanted to get there first. He went end over end and then flopped onto his side. Jeremy popped out of the truck with nothing more than a variety of fluids covering him and a bloody elbow. The Yota didn't fair so well.
05/18/08 ADOPT-A-HIGHWAY '08 The ditch cleanup went well today. We had a pretty good turnout! Still a little dissapointed in those that haven't made it out yet, it's your turn next year!! Pictured from left to right we have Dan, Isaac, Tyler, Leah, Mike L, Kelly, Sue, Mike B., Craig, and I'm behind the camera, Mike S. Thank you all for your participation!! Just think guys, as little trash as there was this year compared to last, next year there won't be much at all.
05/13/08 JEFF'S JEEP GETS NEW SKINS. Could it be Jeff put his Jeep on Enzyte? We'll have to call him "Smilin' Bob" from now on. Yep, those are 35's stuffed into those Cherokee fender openings. Can you say sawzall?
Only four of these rigs are still part of the club...
Mike S. used to run an 87 Zuk. This baby was locked front and rear, 4:1 transfer case gears and super flexy missing links up front...
Darrel updated his Yota a bit. He's still running a Forerunner but is black, and has more dents than this one.
Russ has been sidelined with a blown engine... Hopefully he'll be able to rejoin our ranks soon!