Utah KILLED Our FAVORITE Rig!!

UTV Driver
UTV Driver
  • last year
We pitted our mega-mile Can-Am Defender HD8 and the Dirty Defender HD10 against Hog Canyon OHV just outside of Kanab, Utah! Did we make it out?

We’d spent months building up both rigs for the trip. Our ancient HD8 got a raft of ThumperFab parts that we put to the test last year, as well as 32-inch tires and KMC wheels. Hoyer, meanwhile, threw the SuperATV book at his HD10, bolting on doors, a windshield, front and rear bumpers, and a BFT suspension kit that allowed him to run a set of 32-inch Kenda tires. The real trick kit was a modified Maverick X3 clutch from KWI. The two rigs ate up everything we threw at them until a navigational miscalculation put us on a black diamond route and gravity took over.
How bad was the damage? Did we have to call Matt’s Offroad Recovery to get it out? You’ll have to watch the video to see. Trust us, it’s a good one. And don’t worry, there’s a part two coming, full of more adventures in America’s playground.

Check out the story at https://www.utvdriver.com/utv-videos/our-utah-trip-was-wild/

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Transcript
00:00 (engine revving)
00:02 Holy Jesus!
00:05 (crashing)
00:07 (upbeat music)
00:10 We are in Hog Canyon, Utah this week
00:14 testing two Can-Am Defenders.
00:16 We've got a 2019 HD8 with 16,000 miles on it.
00:20 And we've got a 2016 HD10 that lived in a yard
00:25 for like eight years.
00:27 And it's been running for a week.
00:29 And we're gonna see what these two things can do
00:31 against Hog Canyon.
00:32 Now, we brought these from California and Virginia
00:36 because we knew the hardest trails in the country
00:38 were right here in Utah.
00:39 And we wanted to see what three dudes,
00:42 a bunch of mods and two old rigs could do.
00:44 Zach, what went into these things?
00:45 - We bought this thing almost on a lark.
00:48 You know, what does a 16,000 mile Can-Am Defender feel like?
00:51 We expected garbage and it's not that.
00:53 It just kept working.
00:55 So we called up our friends at Thumper Fab.
00:56 They helped us out with a bunch of fun parts,
00:58 bumper, roof rack, sliders, all sorts of nonsense.
01:00 We put a big lift on it.
01:01 We put 32 inch tires on it.
01:03 This is one of the most fun rigs we have in the shop.
01:06 And it's because it feels like old school wheeling.
01:09 So we're gonna come out here.
01:09 We're gonna find out exactly what these things can
01:12 and cannot do out here in the hills of Utah.
01:14 And to make this trip more entertaining,
01:16 Zach and I brought our boss in his Can-Am Defender HD10.
01:20 Mark, why don't you tell us what this thing's all about?
01:23 - This is the dirtiest Defender that's ever been.
01:25 It came out of a yard in Arizona.
01:27 It was abandoned for at least five years.
01:29 It did not run.
01:30 It was sun roached.
01:31 We started from scratch.
01:32 We got it running.
01:33 It runs great.
01:34 We called up Super ATV and we kind of
01:36 threw the mod catalog at it.
01:37 We wanted to get big tires.
01:38 We got 32 inch tires.
01:39 We got the BFT.
01:40 That's the B, a big, the tire kit.
01:44 Let's see, we got heavy duty axles.
01:45 We got a windshield, bumpers with recovery points,
01:48 front and rear.
01:49 We're using a factory winch.
01:50 Yeah, this is like the first test.
01:53 It's gone like 15 miles since, you know, 2018 or something.
01:57 So short of a lift kit, he's loaded it down
01:59 with everything you would want to do
02:00 to make your Defender less of a hay hauler
02:03 and more of a butt hauler.
02:05 - Of course, it would have been insane
02:06 to drag two unknown rigs halfway across the country
02:09 without a little help.
02:10 So we brought along a new general for support.
02:12 Around 60 miles of trail total in Hog Canyon.
02:15 All of it's right outside of Kanab, Utah.
02:17 And it is absolutely beautiful.
02:19 Whatever type of wheeling you like to do,
02:21 Hog Canyon has you covered.
02:22 There's easy to track, sand washes,
02:25 gnarly climbs and views like you would not believe.
02:28 From the top of the trail,
02:29 you can see all the way to Zion National Park.
02:32 This place is perfect for these two Defenders.
02:35 And it wasn't long before we found some obstacles
02:37 to play around on.
02:37 - All right, so we've got a couple
02:38 of little fun little steps here.
02:40 One of the biggest differences between the two rigs
02:42 is that does not have a lift.
02:43 That has a two and a half inch lift.
02:45 So we're gonna see how the dirty Defender does
02:48 over these little steps.
02:49 Talk Mark through it.
02:50 Mark, you ready?
02:51 Let's hit it.
02:52 - Just look at her.
02:53 - Just look at her.
02:53 - Just look at that thing.
02:54 - It's majestic.
02:55 - Oh, he's got his locker on.
02:57 So we're off to a good start.
02:59 - Watch your locker.
03:00 Nice and slow, nice and slow.
03:02 All right, watch your front right here
03:04 as you come over the step.
03:06 And come straight to me.
03:06 Nice and slow.
03:07 Nice and slow.
03:10 Little drop.
03:10 Good.
03:13 Now you're gonna be doing two at a time.
03:15 Yeah.
03:22 - Oh, she's like butter.
03:24 - Oh, you got clearance for days.
03:26 What are you worried about?
03:27 - Come on.
03:28 - Come on.
03:28 - 32s, buddy.
03:30 - 32s.
03:30 - Them 32s working.
03:32 - Woo, big lift.
03:34 - Oh, that rock step's not new anymore.
03:37 Broke her in nicely.
03:38 - Just a little touch.
03:39 - Just a kiss.
03:40 Just a little.
03:41 - Just a little.
03:42 - Just a little.
03:43 - That's why we've got the bar work.
03:44 - That's what it's for.
03:45 Yeah, that's what it's for.
03:46 - All right, we've come about halfway down
03:48 Hog Canyon Trail here in Utah.
03:50 And gotta say, the dirty Defender's gotten a workout.
03:53 Mark, what do you think?
03:54 Did your mods do the thing?
03:55 - I totally did the thing.
03:56 You know, it's not really a lift.
03:58 It's a two inch forward to fit the big tires.
04:00 There's a lift that's supposed to be on the back,
04:02 but I left it off because I like the trophy truck stance.
04:06 So it's kind of a little bit low in the back.
04:07 And I thought that was cool.
04:08 And it was cool until I started rubbing the tires.
04:11 So I think we're gonna put those blocks in
04:12 and lift that back up.
04:13 But overall, you know what?
04:14 I did this whole thing without the rear locker on at all.
04:16 Like I was just one wheel drive as occasionally.
04:19 So very capable.
04:20 We've done some pretty hard stuff.
04:22 Just chug, chug, chug right up, man.
04:24 Love it.
04:25 - You came up all that in one wheel drive?
04:27 - Well, three, 'cause it's sort of like
04:29 with the Visco lock, you never know how many are driving.
04:31 - So you're in one and a half wheel drive, we'll call it.
04:33 - One to three, one to 2.5.
04:35 - All right, all right.
04:36 So what didn't work?
04:38 - What didn't work?
04:39 Well, I think, you know, not lifting the back was a thing.
04:42 I love the adjustable windscreen.
04:44 Like we have the vent setting right here.
04:45 I love popping it wide open, but what you gotta watch
04:48 is that it's a little bit up.
04:50 And so when you're going through trees,
04:52 you just gotta mind that.
04:53 You don't wanna catch that.
04:54 But overall, man, it's working really good.
04:56 - Right on.
04:57 Well, we've got a lot more hard stuff coming up
04:59 and a long way to go and a short time to get there.
05:01 So why don't you just take a look at that view
05:03 and we'll catch you on the flip side.
05:05 After a quick breather, we got back to riding.
05:08 Our plan was to stick to easy and moderate routes
05:10 throughout the day, so we didn't break anything.
05:12 But Hog Canyon had other plans
05:14 and it wasn't too long before one of the rigs
05:16 started showing a little bit of fatigue.
05:18 We're leaking something?
05:20 - Yeah, buddy.
05:21 - Is it coolant?
05:22 - No, it's not coolant.
05:24 It'd be good if it was.
05:25 This, touch my finger.
05:28 - Oh boy.
05:30 (humming)
05:31 - Oh, that's diff fluid.
05:32 - Yeah, that's diff oil, baby.
05:34 - Well, let's check the plug.
05:37 - Think we just overfilled it or made the plugs loose?
05:40 - I torqued everything to factory, but.
05:41 - Well, that was your mistake.
05:42 You didn't hug of the dugger?
05:44 - Yeah.
05:44 - Hey, well, come down here and let's take a little look
05:46 at what we got going on.
05:48 So, I noticed a little wet spot on a rock
05:51 about, I don't know, a couple hundred yards ago.
05:54 And it looked like it was coming
05:55 from the bottom of Hoyer's rig.
05:56 And here it is, all down there.
05:58 All the way down the back of the skid plate there.
06:01 That is a solid drip.
06:02 Now.
06:04 - That's just sweat from all that horsepower, boys.
06:06 - Yep, it was vaguely the color of coolant,
06:08 but unfortunately it's diff oil.
06:10 So, we're gonna check the drain plug
06:12 and hopefully that's all it is.
06:14 All right, well.
06:16 - And if it's not the drain bolt.
06:18 - Then, well.
06:20 Yeah, that's a different problem.
06:21 Let's just work with what we got.
06:24 Oh, yeah.
06:24 - You just got some nice comfy sand.
06:27 - Oh, yeah, it is soft as heck.
06:30 - It really is.
06:31 - Soft as heck.
06:32 Too big.
06:33 - I mean, it's a small bolt.
06:35 - They are, I was surprised how dainty they were,
06:38 to be honest.
06:39 - Well, that's why at first I wasn't sure
06:41 it was the drain bolt.
06:42 I was like, that looks little.
06:44 - I don't know, but.
06:45 - Yeah, I think it was just the drain plug.
06:50 - Well, this hot dang.
06:52 - So, I'm just, you know,
06:54 the torque values from the manual are very light.
06:57 - Yeah.
06:58 - You know, and you'd think,
06:59 but, you know, I don't remember if I put the,
07:01 you know what, this one has an O-ring on it.
07:03 So, I'm just holding the head of the wrench
07:06 so I don't put a lot of torque.
07:07 You see how long this thing is, right?
07:08 So, I think we're good, man.
07:09 - No need to brag, man.
07:10 - Yeah, I think we're good.
07:11 - Thank heaven for small mercies.
07:13 - All right.
07:14 - Cool.
07:15 - So, it's at the right level, I'm sure of it.
07:17 - All right, let's break the next thing.
07:19 One of the things we love about wheeling a utility rig
07:21 is that there is plenty of room for spares,
07:24 fluids, tools, fuel, water,
07:27 whatever you want to bring along.
07:28 So, fortunately, Hoyer had the correct diff fluid
07:31 ready to go.
07:32 We topped off the front diff and got back to wheeling.
07:35 Hug Canyon continued to give us exactly what we came for.
07:38 Lots of fun, just technical enough trails.
07:41 And our goal for the day was to head to a really cool panel
07:45 of petroglyphs at the end of the trail.
07:47 Unfortunately, Utah, once again,
07:49 had other things in store for it.
07:51 After this little climb, the trail turned proper gnarly,
07:54 loose, scramble, crazy amount of elevation
07:57 all the way to this insane step up.
08:00 The thing about Utah, right?
08:01 You literally never know what the trail's gonna do.
08:03 This is technically rated as a moderate trail.
08:05 (laughing)
08:07 We got a little bit of a step up here,
08:10 which might be a little bit of a challenge.
08:12 We're gonna give that a go.
08:13 But yeah, we've climbed some elevation.
08:15 (exhaling)
08:16 - Yeah, ain't we?
08:18 This is a proper obstacle.
08:20 You've got really loose, soft dirt at the bottom,
08:22 a big step, lots of elevation.
08:25 Now remember, neither of these rigs
08:27 have true locking differentials up front.
08:28 They have Visco-lock front ends,
08:30 which means at best, most of the time,
08:31 you're in three-wheel drive.
08:33 It's also worth noting this is only Hoyer's second time
08:36 driving a UTV and the first time that he's ever driven
08:39 this Can-Am Defender.
08:41 Let's watch him go.
08:42 (engine revving)
08:45 (shouting)
08:48 - You let off?
08:54 - I did.
08:54 - Why'd you let off?
08:55 (laughing)
08:56 - 'Cause, you know.
08:58 (laughing)
09:00 - Oh man, that was so close.
09:02 I think a slightly different line and he would've had it.
09:04 - Mucho gusto.
09:05 - Mucho gusto, you ready?
09:07 - Yep.
09:07 - All right, let's hit it.
09:09 Go dirty Defender!
09:10 (engine revving)
09:13 - Stop, stop.
09:20 (laughing)
09:22 - All right, we're gonna winch it.
09:26 - Sounds good!
09:27 (clapping)
09:28 - All right!
09:28 (laughing)
09:30 It was a good go, let's get a winch on it.
09:32 - Oh buddy.
09:34 (laughing)
09:36 You know, it felt really good until it didn't.
09:37 (laughing)
09:39 - Yeah, that combination of a super short wheelbase
09:42 and a super steep climb, it's just too much.
09:44 So, to be safe, we're gonna put a line on a tree,
09:46 get this thing to the top,
09:47 and then it'll be the tuk-tuk's turn.
09:48 (engine revving)
09:51 - Stop.
10:06 - Winch it and throttle.
10:08 - Whoop.
10:09 - Good.
10:10 - All right, hope.
10:18 - Hey!
10:19 - Hey, so funny thing about that, you guys.
10:22 - What's that?
10:23 - I got that far without the rear diff locked.
10:27 (laughing)
10:28 I got all the way to here on that trail
10:30 without the rear diff locked.
10:32 I took it off 'cause I was doing like tight turns.
10:34 (laughing)
10:35 - In case you were wondering what you can do
10:36 in three-wheel drive, that's it.
10:38 - No.
10:39 - Love it.
10:41 If a lawyer can make it up that sucker in two-wheel drive,
10:43 I'm almost positive I can get the tuk-tuk up
10:45 with everything locked up.
10:47 Or at least that's what I thought.
10:51 - Hey, Zach?
10:51 - Hey, man.
10:53 - What do you say we leave the winch gear out?
10:55 - What for?
10:56 - I don't know, just, you know, seems wise.
10:58 (engine revving)
11:02 (tires screeching)
11:05 - Oh, (beep)
11:08 (beep)
11:10 - Yeah, that's not great.
11:13 I did two endos, end over end twice,
11:16 and then one barrel roll off the trail
11:20 only to get stopped by one pine tree.
11:23 You're gonna have to forgive the cameraman here.
11:24 It was a little dramatic.
11:26 - Yeah, that was sketchy.
11:28 - Yeah, a little step there that just was too much.
11:31 So that was close.
11:34 It's never a good spot to roll something,
11:37 but this is a particularly dicey spot.
11:41 We are a long way from the truck and trailer,
11:44 and we gotta get out of here.
11:46 So I guess we should get started on that.
11:50 Wheeling day has turned into recovery day,
11:52 so we gotta get a plan to get this machine out of here.
11:54 And the first step, before we worry about whether it runs
11:57 or what the damage is or any of that
11:59 is getting it out of this situation.
12:01 We decided to try and recover it
12:03 by bringing it back up the way it went.
12:05 That seems the safest way to go.
12:07 So we've been using a general as a support vehicle.
12:10 We're gonna get it up here, turned around, back down,
12:13 so we can get a proper line pull on it
12:15 and reevaluate from there.
12:17 This was gonna take every bit of recovery gear we had.
12:20 We had three winches total, one on the tuck tuck,
12:23 one on the general, one on the dirty defender.
12:25 We had all sorts of recovery gear from Rhino USA,
12:29 including tree straps, snatch straps, all that fun stuff.
12:32 First job here is actually get the tuck tuck
12:36 back on all four wheels.
12:37 So we've got a tree strap over onto one of the B pillars,
12:42 and the general's gonna winch it back up on its feet.
12:46 Obviously the general's on a pretty gnarly incline there,
12:49 and it's still pretty loose.
12:51 So we need to make sure it doesn't also join me down
12:53 at the bottom of the hill.
12:54 So we're using the dirty defender as an anchor point,
12:57 using a couple soft shackles, winching to the back.
13:01 The defender should keep everything in place,
13:03 along with a couple of chocks.
13:05 The goal here is to go nice and slow, nothing dramatic.
13:12 Don't try to do it all at once.
13:14 Here we've managed to get the tuck tuck back on its side,
13:17 and we're just gonna keep rolling it over nice and slow,
13:20 using the general, and get it back on its wheels.
13:23 (engine rumbling)
13:26, (indistinct)
13:31 (indistinct)
13:33, (indistinct)
13:38, (indistinct)
13:43, (indistinct)
14:11 We're still a long way from being back up on the trail,
14:14 but just seeing the thing back up on all four
14:16 is a huge for morale.
14:17 After a quick reset,
14:21 we've got the lines where we need them to be,
14:23 and we can actually use tuck tuck's winch
14:24 to help get it up onto the trail.
14:26 (engine rumbling)
14:29 (wind whooshing)
14:32 At this point, it's clear the rig really doesn't want to roll
14:53 and I can't quite figure out why.
14:55 It turns out it was no big deal.
14:56 The rear bumper was just hitting the rear tires
14:58 and keeping the drive train from rolling.
15:01 (engine rumbling)
15:03 Once we got the bed closed and the bumper off the rear tires
15:09 the rig was rolling just fine,
15:10 right back up onto the trail.
15:12 Well, plan A worked, plan A worked.
15:16 Between Mr. Hoyer's experience as a firefighter
15:19 and our experience as professional idiots,
15:22 the tuck tuck's back up on the trail.
15:25 You know, damage is not great.
15:27 Cage seems to have done okay
15:29 to have gone end over end a couple times.
15:31 - It did its job.
15:32 - Did its job. - Cage did its job.
15:33 And I'll tell you what,
15:35 that thumper fab rack did its job.
15:37 - Yeah, you know, our photographer here
15:40 made a pretty good point that the cage absorbing
15:44 a lot of the energy of the thing going over backwards
15:46 probably kept it from going worse.
15:49 - Yep. - So, and you know,
15:50 I know on video it's hard to get a grasp
15:53 of just how steep this is,
15:54 but this is proper steep.
15:56 This is proper gnarly.
15:57 - 20 some odd percent, I would say.
15:59 And we're not out of the woods yet, though.
16:01 - We're not out of the woods yet.
16:02 So there's a little tabletop up here
16:04 that we're gonna try and winch this thing up onto
16:07 so it's nice and flat and secure
16:08 so we can try and get a better grasp
16:12 of what kind of damage we've done.
16:14 You know, if it starts and runs, great.
16:17 That makes our lives easier getting out of here.
16:19 And if it doesn't, well, it's gonna be a long day.
16:21 - Yep.
16:22 - But we got water, we got gas, we got food.
16:25 We're okay.
16:26 - We're about to do it. - We're about to do it.
16:27 - Amen.
16:27 Okay, so we've got a double line pull going on here,
16:38 but these are still only 5,500 and 4,500 pound winches,
16:41 so it's a lot of work.
16:43 And we don't have enough winch line for a double pull
16:46 to double that pulling power.
16:47 So ideally, we would get the tuk-tuk up to the top
16:51 and see if it'll start then.
16:53 I think we've gotta try and start it here
16:56 and hope that it runs
16:59 so that we can use a little help to get it up.
17:02 That's what she said.
17:04 So let's see what happens.
17:05 Are you ready?
17:06 Fuel pump's working.
17:10 Yeah, bud.
17:15 Yeah, baby, all right.
17:17 With the engine running again,
17:18 that meant we could get the general out of the way,
17:20 reset our line, and actually drive the tuk-tuk
17:23 back up onto the tabletop.
17:25 (engine rumbling)
17:28 (wind whooshing)
17:31 Just that easy.
17:56 I don't understand what the problem was.
17:57 (man laughing)
17:58 - What you guys were worried about, and then...
18:00 - That recovery took us the better part of two hours.
18:03 And while the rig was up and running
18:05 and we'd completely drive it out at the end of the day,
18:07 it did take a beating.
18:09 The rear rack was completely trashed.
18:12 We'd broken off parts of the bed.
18:14 You could see exactly where the thing
18:16 had touched the ground multiple times.
18:18 The roof was punched in.
18:20 The miracle is almost everything still worked.
18:23 That includes the cell phone charger.
18:26 My cell phone was still in place.
18:28 Yeah, the bumper was punched in in a couple places.
18:31 Yeah, there were more scratches,
18:32 but the light bar, the radio,
18:34 all of that stuff was still 100% functional.
18:37 - Ever been so glad to be at the top of a hill?
18:39 - No, never in my life, especially not one this pretty.
18:42 Good God.
18:43 Full send.
18:44 - Full send, bud.
18:45 - Zach Bowman, full send.
18:47 Welcome to the club.
18:48 - Yeah, yeah, yeah, I've been saving 'em up.
18:50 - Yeah, mm-hmm.
18:51 - Saving 'em up.
18:52 - Hopefully that takes care of a bunch of 'em.
18:54 - Well, I appreciate y'all's help,
18:55 and beer's on me, I guess.
18:57 - Oh, that sounds so good.
18:59 - All right, let's get to the van.
19:00 - Hell yeah.
19:01 (laughing)
19:02 - You think we're done?
19:03 Not yet.
19:04 Next time on UTV Driver, we keep exploring Utah.
19:07 We check out a super cool trail full of river crossings
19:10 and a massive, massive sand climb.
19:13 You won't wanna miss it.
19:14 (upbeat music)
19:16 - Oh man, scratched my plastics.
19:19 - Well, you know, it's almost halfway through the year.
19:24 I think we should talk about your half year review.
19:27 - Mm-hmm.
19:27 - Talk about your job a little bit.
19:29 - Yeah, that seems fair.
19:31 - But what do you think your skills are,
19:32 your high points, the good stuff?
19:34 - You know, I think, you know,
19:37 nobody likes to toot their own horn,
19:38 but I like to think I give 110% at everything.
19:43 - I feel like that was 120.
19:46 - Yeah.
19:47 - I'm just gonna throw that out there.
19:48 - That was 120% throw, buddy.
19:50 - I think that was 360%.
19:52 - Yeah, it was.
19:53 It was 720.
19:54 - Yeah, it was 720, yeah.
19:55 - I don't think if you count the side roll too,
19:57 that's like a 720 McTwist.
19:59 - Bonus, you know.
20:00 - A Misty, you did a Misty.
20:01 - Yeah, so I guess beer's on me.
20:06 - Yeah.
20:07 Full send, baby.