Feature > Events/Trail Rides
Hummers Hit Deadwood
by Jim Allen
photos by Jim Allen and Denis Snow
Once upon a time, a pistol came in handy to safely walk the streets of Deadwood, South Dakota. Those days are long gone, but some of the four-wheeling terrain nearby requires you to be as well-heeled as necessary in the wild old west — though the weaponry is different. The Hummer Club descended on Deadwood this past August to try its skills in this hostile country. They say the Hummer is the modern four-wheeling equivalent of a Colt .45. God created four-wheelers; Hummers make ‘em equal.
Steve Alexander was the only Hummer to brave the waterfall near the end of the Camp 5 trail. With the back end dug in hard and wheelbase working against him, it was strap time for his “Red-Legs” pickup. When other folks realized this built rig couldn’t do it, it just about ended anyone else’s hopes.
While H2s were a big part of the overall crowd, this one was the token H2 on the difficult Camp 5 run. Oddly enough, it was a dealer vehicle from Hummer of Sioux Falls, and the sales person gave new owners the checkout ride of their lives. When asked if they had plans for taking their own brand-new rig on trails like this, the answer was, “I don’t think so!”
The Hummer Club is a national organization of 1675 active members that hold several national events in different parts of the country every year. The 2004 schedule included nine of them — as far east as Pennsylvania and as far west as Washington state. These national events include factory technicians and parts support from AM General and GM/Hummer. The Hummer Club even has its own quarterly, full-color magazine.
The “Airborne Ranger” routine demonstrated by Steve Alexander. With independent suspension all around, Hummers don’t articulate in the manner familiar to drivers of solid-axle rigs. You get used to these lifted-tire moments. The width of the vehicle makes these maneuvers feel less dramatic from the driver’s seat than they look from outside.
Count on the Hummer’s ability to tolerate side angles. That isn’t to say they don’t ever roll, but being wide and having a low center of gravity gives them solid, sidehill abilities. Josh Newton’s four-door soft-top was a pleasant ride in the cool woods in the creek bed.
A nice stepping-off point for “Fearless Farrand,” our trail leader (otherwise known as Keith Farrand). This drop-off led to an interesting couple of hours for the group in a creek bed full of boulders on the Squawk Creek trail.
In most ways, Hummer owners are typical 4x4 enthusiasts. Yeah, their bottom-line incomes might be higher than average, but they still like rinsing the grit out of their teeth at the end of the day, showing off newly acquired battle scars and telling tall tales around the campfire, just like every other wheeler.
The Hummer four-door wagon is one of the most popular models, and this 2004 squeezes by a narrow spot. You get good at squeezing by things when you own a Hummer.
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If you had to use one word to describe a Hummer Club member, it would be “well-equipped.” The Hummer aftermarket parts array is smaller than those of other brands, but the array of goodies mounted on a typical Hummer is still awesome to behold. Hummer owners will argue that not much mechanical buildup stuff is needed for a Hummer, and it would be hard to dispute that, but the average die-hard Hummer owner has a navigation system that rivals the space shuttle and a communications system that can reach Alpha Centauri.
The Slantback setup mimics the military version and was only available for the year 2000. This one belongs to Keith Farrand.
This is one way to get a Hummer stuck, albeit temporarily. Fortunately, the skidplates and underbody protection option (the gridlike tubes) saves the vital parts from harm in most cases.
It was tight on the Squawk Creek trail as it meandered in and out of the water. Considering it had just rained a few days before, Jimmy Benton and the rest of the Hummer group felt lucky not to be fighting a raging torrent.
Steve Alexander’s pickup was the most mechanically built rig on this run. It features a custom-built three-inch body lift to fit 40-inch Super Swamper IROKs on military HUMVEE rims with runflats. Steve took his rig to Cumming Fabworks in Mesa, Arizona, for the buildup. What you see is stage one. The initial goal was to add features and lighten up. A 5,700 fighting weight was obtained by stripping every unnecessary item and adding only the essentials. That may seem monstrously heavy to a Jeeper, but it’s a featherweight in the Hummer world, where the lightest production Hummer is over 6,500 pounds. Other custom items built by Cumming are tubular rocker guards and a full roll-cage. The engine is a stock 6.5L NA diesel, and a turbo 400 trans is used.
August 2004 brought a passel of H1 and H2 owners to Deadwood for a week of running trails. The event was headquartered at the Best Western Hickok House, and several trails-ranging from almost one-hand-on-the-wheel easy (for a Hummer anyway) to a white-knuckle, skidplate-bashing rock garden, where progress was measured in hours per mile-ran each day. If you’ve checked the price of a new Hummer lately, you’ll know it’s a sit-down or fall-down moment when you see the bottom line. That doesn’t stop Hummer owners from using their vehicles the way they were supposed to be used — hard and with vigor. Check out the photos for the rest of the story and decide for yourself if Hummers live a pampered life.
The Hummer pickup was an uncommon variant and hasn’t been offered since 2001. Depending on the year and options, it could carry a payload of up to 4,300 pounds. Only a couple were on this run, including David Hinnant’s. These rigs are considerably lighter than the other variants (about 1,000 pounds less than the wagon). Hinnant’s rig also features military-style rims, and it’s no stranger to the tough stuff.
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Wedgie-Hummer-style. Texan Jimmy Benton found tight quarters in the creek but managed to maneuver up and out.
 Carnage! Every good trail story has to have at least one carnage shot. We began to worry about getting one on this trip when, finally, a Hummer owner obliged by popping a front outer CV joint (note the ripped-up boot). The CV axles are easy to change, roughly a half hour's work. This is the weakest drivetrain link for a Hummer. Note the reduction hub -- it contains a gearing reduction of 1.92:1. |
 Well, that's what they're there for! |
Would you? Could you? Take any bone-stock rig into terrain like this and drive out in one piece? Not many manufacturers or vehicle owners can do that.
Source:
- The Hummer Club, Inc.
- 105 South 18th Street, Ste. 217
- Yakima, WA 98901-2149
- www.thehummerclubinc.com
Hubris or simple fact? We’ll let you decide.
Yellow is an uncommon color in the Hummer line, but Travis DePew is one of the few and the proud. All eyes turned toward his four-door soft-top as it used the skidplates to full effect.
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