2024 Daily Series: Talkin' Tech

This is the first in a series of posts detailing our 2024 Rebelle Rally experience, day by grueling, incredible, hilarious day. Below is a transcript of a conversation we had about Pre-Tech + Tech Inspection, which turned out to be equal parts shit show and awesome. (Sort of like us?)

Rochelle Bovee: So, the 2024 Rebel Rally Tech Inspection was at Mammoth Lakes, California. We got there a few days early…to have coffee and eat muffins apparently.

Melissa Vander Wilt: Pretty much. And we didn't have any issues getting to Mammoth!

RB: No, we didn’t. It was a great almost-500 mile drive…like, we didn't have any issues. And the Bronco was set to relearn, and was doing great with all the elevation changes.

MVW: I feel like historically getting to the rally we've always had at least one issue, no? Nope, that was on the way to training, yeah? No? [audible confusion]

RB: No, I don't think so… On the way to training we had stopped to adjust the front sway bar, that’s it. And during training we had issues with the hubs locking. So we remedied that old shit with new Yukon Gear & Axle locking hubs. Those things are beefy and beautiful. But it was fun taking the old hubs apart on the trail during training and getting one side fixed. But that other side? No good.

I do remember at one of the rest stops on the way to the rally that I was looking at something, but it was nothing. See, I can't even remember what it was, it was nothing.

MVW: Yeah. Okay.

RB: But yeah, it was a fine drive and we got there with plenty of time early to do everything we needed and be ready for Pre-Tech.

MVW: And we were feeling really good!

RB: Yeah, we looked everything over, made sure everything was awesome. And then…as soon as we pulled into our spot for our Pre-Tech Inspection they’re like, “You're leaking.” And I'm like, “What?!”

MVW: “No, we're not. No, we're not.”  No. Not possible.

RB: AM NOT.

MVW: What was leaking? I don't even remember.

RB: It was the thermostat housing hose clamp. It had just loosened just enough that it was leaking. So, like, obviously an easy fix…tighten that biatch and that was fine. But we couldn't pass Pre-Tech because they’d need to make sure the next day that everything was dry and the problem was solved.  So clean it up and it’d be good.

And that was fine.

MVW: We had a talking-to with the Bronco. We were like, “Why do you always have to embarrass us?”

RB: “Why do you hate us?” But for reals, it couldn't have done it 30 minutes earlier?

MVW: Why in that moment? Why was it that moment?

RB: When we're making sure everything was great, it couldn't have given us any drip notifications? No. As soon as we parked it at Pre-Tech.  So that was a great start.

MVW: And that was enough to make them sort of question everything, wasn't it?

RB: Well, they always do a thorough inspection, looking at everything anyway, every time.

Even in 2022 when they're like, “This fuel line says ‘not for fuel’." And there was no way we had an improper hose. To clarify, the line read, “not for fuel injection” but the line was cut in such a way that the word injection was cut off, so actually it was fine. But those moments are so scary!

But this year, I misunderstood when he told us that the rear main seal was leaking just a bit – I took that as we needed to fix that to pass the following day, and that was going to be impossible. So the rest of the evening I was freaking out that I would have to magically fix a rear main seal, which would be impossible (for me anyway), and while not at home. LOL.

But, it was clarified that it was just him basically saying, “Hey, look into that in the future.”

MVW: Yeah.

RB: So we continued with the rest of Tech and went through all the other stations just fine. We picked up our swag (including the adorable and extremely thoughtful name bracelets from Meli) and we even got to park the Bronco on display with some of the other vehicles on the patio for the evening social!  

MVW: That was so awesome.

RB: So that was really cool, but also nerve-wracking because you're like, are you done leaking? Don't embarrass us more.

MVW: Yeah, are you going to behave?

RB: It was fine, but every time we walked by, we're looking underneath like, Are you fine?  Don't leak on this nice patio.

MVW: What is she trying to tell us? She's trying to tell us something. She's like, “Garage me, bitches. I'm tired. Why are you still driving me?”

RB: “I need a nap.”

RB: On Pre-Tech day we also did the Anderson Overland Podcast. (Listen to us [24:26] along with teams Mtn. Subi and Headings United!)

MVW: That was a pretty cool interview.  It was what, like 20 minutes? 

RB: Yeah. I would say it was maybe our best interview, maybe just getting more of the hang of it.

MVW: Yeah.

RB: It's only taken doing a handful of them to be more comfortable. He made it chill. I actually ran into him like a month later at a Land Cruiser event in Vegas. Small world. Joe and I had a nice chat with him and his family there as well.

MVW: Yeah. I didn't feel awkward.

RB: I always feel awkward. 

MVW: And it was funny because people, like our people, would walk by and try to make us laugh. In fact, didn't someone (not with the rally) walk up during it and ask if we knew what that restaurant behind us was for or something? Do you remember that? They're like, do you know what the food is here? Is this place open? And we're like, “Uh, we’re being interviewed right now. But sure, we heard it's tacos.”

RB: I think so.

MVW: We did kind of look like a concierge desk, I suppose.

RB: That's funny. Ask us your questions!

Oh! On Pre-Tech when we got our swag, we got our 4030 designation (bragging rights) special swag! This year Emily gave us a huge...I don't know the capacity…

MVW: ...I don't either. It's growler-sized.

RB: It’s a Yeti Rambler and the thing is badass. That worked so well for us on the rally. Any chance that there was an approved fuel stop, we would go in and…

MVW: ...ICE!

RB: ...fill that thing with ice so we could have cold water throughout the next day. That was awesome. 

MVW: It's a half gallon.

RB: Big mamma jamma that was full of lovely ice.

MVW: The whole time.

RB: A win, especially with our fridge going warm here and there.

MVW: Yeah, that thing saved our lives. Multiple times. And it was nice that we had two of them so we could fill them both with ice and it lasted such a long time.

RB: Yeah. It kept ice forever. Five stars - will be bringing them back.

MVW: For sure.

RB: That would be funny if we brought both of ours back and then we got new Ramblers and we just had all of these big heavy metal things in the Bronco that could knock you out.

MVW: We'll have to strap them down. No, we've got helmets on.

RB: I'm done strapping [Bulldog Winch drawer system!]. We'll be fine. LOL

MVW: Yeah. Also, what a way to go out. Like, oh no, what happened to Melissa? Oh, she was killed by a flying Yeti.

RB: Full of ice.

MVW: Full of ice. She went out happy, though. She was like, “It's so cold!”

RB: So that's Pre-Tech.  The next day was an early start. We got everything packed and loaded that we hadn't already the night before. Drove up to McCoy Station at Mammoth Ski resort. They said that 4WD was required to get up.

Since we don't have a 4WD button, we got in 4WD at the bottom of the hill before going onto the access road. And usually the Bronco is moody, a little bitchy, to let you, you know, use the transfer case.

But do you remember my finger? When I put it in, I used such force....

MVW: It got stuck, yeah? 

RB: No, no, it didn't get stuck. It went forward so easily that I smashed my finger in between the shift knob and the stereo knob.

MVW: Oh right, it slammed.

RB: Which is weird because it never shifted so easily.  And it’s never been so close to the dash. So we're like, okay, well, that was great, we're in. We don't even have to try again.  Good to go. And we had gotten there early just to have more time to do that. But being early is fine; less stress!

They eventually let us on the access road and all the teams got to go up and park and do all of Tech. This time we passed!

MVW: Yes, we made it through. That was fine. It took forever. I remember that it took forever.

RB: Yeah, it really did. It’s wonderful that there’s a Pre-Tech day now [or it would have taken even longer]. Then…more fun awaited us.

So Tech is done, everybody's done, we're leaving for Base Camp 1. But when we get to the bottom of the access road, I go to get it out of 4WD, and it moves smoothly out and is where it should be back in 2WD...but it wasn’t engaged.

I don't even know how to explain it other than it just wouldn't go in gear because it couldn't. 

Well, let's backtrack. So we're having an issue at the bottom of the access road. All the teams are coming off the mountain, passing, passing. And we're just sitting here. I'm like, yes, we’re fine, waving on all the nice teams who stopped to check. Go, go, go. And we’re going forward and backwards, back and forth on this little shoulder.

And now all teams are on their way to Base Camp 1, and it still won’t engage.

MVW: HaSiNg ErRoR! 

RB: We’re so late now that staff is now coming off the mountain. The mechanics team are passing and they stop to see what’s up, which is a horrible feeling. That's a horrible way to start rallying like, oh, we're already with the mechanics. But wonderful at the same time. We think the world of the whole rally staff.

So they're all trying to help us figure out WTF. And I'm like, it's just not going. It's hitting the custom wood console that surrounds the sticks, but we've never had this problem. 

MVW: Correct.

RB: I could tell that neutral was farther back than it usually is. So the Front stick was more forward than normal, and now the Rear stick was farther back? How? So like the whole assembly/gears had shifted, and I still can’t wrap my head around that.

At this point I was pretty sure the console was in the way of where the shifter needs to go…  So I took our emergency hammer and I beat the shit out of that wood console, breaking a big, sharp, splintered hole in it.

And it worked! It went into gear just fine. That was the problem. But like, why?

Too bad we don't have video of me just hammering the shit out of that. “We gotta GTFO of here!”

MVW: Oh, my God. LOL So was it that the transfer case shifted somehow or was it because we had done new interior work? Like, did we not put the console back in the same spot as it was before?

RB: No, it was in the same spot and, you know, things had already been used and tested.

Um. So yeah, another rough start, but it was fixed and we didn't have any problem shifting when we needed to from then on.

MVW: Yeah.

RB: We just need a new console and to obviously figure out what's going on there.

MVW: Next console, we should just make sure there's more vertical space than is absolutely necessary for shifting in case it happens again. So you don't have to destroy it again.

RB: Just in cases. 

MVW: Just in cases. It was a really beautiful console, too. Everyone commented on that console all the time.

RB: You know what? Maybe the new one, top of it, just doesn't even go around the twin sticks. It has the rear portion so our REDARC battery gauge can be there still, with our USB charging and that kind of stuff. And then it goes down the side where our cup holders are, but it just doesn't even encompass the sticks. I can do that.

MVW: Oh, yeah. Yeah, I like that. Then it's not even a potential issue.

RB: Yep, I like that idea.

MVW: You know what was awesome -- the only awesome thing about this experience (well other than watching you beat the shit out of the console, that was pretty cool) -- was that our friends wanted to stay with us and we had to force them to finally leave. We're like, we could be here for a while....you guys have got to get to Base Camp! And they didn't want to leave us. They wanted to stay even though there was nothing really they could do.  And we love them for it.

RB: I'm pretty sure Liza was in tears that she had to go.

MVW: Yep. Sounds about right.

RB: I love that woman. She was like ready to jump in and fix whatever was up with the Bronco when we started leaking at Pre-Tech.

MVW: Yeah, she's always ready to help fix. Those ladies are ride or die, ride or die.

RB: Mm-hmm. I don't think we left too long after they left, though.

MVW: We caught up with them eventually when there was that construction slowdown. I can't remember exactly where it was.

RB: We all met up at fueling in Tonopah, because there was construction on that long stretch right before Tonopah.

MVW: Exactly.  So then we caravanned the rest of the way.

RB: Yep. Made it with no issues.

MVW: Which was nice.

RB: Getting to Base Camp and I'm just fine.

MVW: Yep.

RB: Yeah. And that was Tech. That's the Tech experience, for us anyway. 

MVW: One never knows how it's going to go. Tech is a mystery every time. Even when you feel like, “We're so solid, we're good to go this year.”  We rolled up and she's like “Psych! LEAK!” Thanks.

RB: Yeah. “Bleh.” The day ended with us getting to BC1 with that magnificent sunset. Do you remember?

MVW: Oh, that's right. Yes, I do.

RB: And we had a delicious Drew Deckman meal to top off the sunset on our Prologue eve.

Up next: Day 0, Prologue! The un-scored practice day before the rally officially starts, wherein Melissa sullied her maps with salsa right out of the gate and battled her arch nemesis (math) all day. Coming soon!