Uploaded December 2018 | Updated September 2026, 3 weeks ago
In this episode we explore up canyon from the School Buses of School Bus Canyon Nevada.
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#allterrainfamily #nevada #fourwheeling
Continuing up the canyon from the school busses things get rustic pretty quickly. Most traffic through this area stops and heads back at the bus site so the road is obviously less well traveled from that point and I knew that something interesting was in store based on this post from Ericsxj.com. ericsxj.com/schoolbus/schoolbus.htm
While there is a road that switches back to the north, we went south through the bottom of the canyon. This road is mapped on the USGS map you can see in Gaia GPS. It winds through the bottom of the canyon and is rutted and close at times. Nate and family were following us in their 2nd Gen Tundra + 4 Wheel Camper, by far the biggest vehicle on this trip. I stopped a couple times to see if they were going to proceed. Those were no problem for them and they blazed on, though such a big vehicle with IFS did lift wheels here and there.
We soon came to a rutted turn through the wash that apparently had posed some challenge to someone up ahead of us, but we didn’t witness that. What we found turned out to be a perfect natural experiment for the functionality of locking differentials, traction control and open differentials. I immediately lost traction due to the cross axle and engaged my factory e-locker at which point I crawled right through.
Ron came through next in his Jeep JK Unlimited Rubicon and had the same experience. Cross axle, then locker, then smooth sailing.
Next came Nate in the Tundra, and he had some difficulty getting the traction control to engage. He had to add throttle to make it work, but then it was catapulting the truck through a whee- lift situation and he kept backing off. A little finesse and patience was what it took to crawl through.
Then came David in his 3rd Gen 4Runner. It’s basically just like mine with no locker and an automatic. The key to getting through a situation like this with open differentials is to apply a little brake while under power. This adds resistance to the lifted wheels and that resistance is translated into power for the wheels on the ground. This can work, but if it doesn’t, the next best thing is to re-align the vehicle and try again with a more level approach. A combination of these strategies worked for David.
We’ll do a more detailed discussion of this particular situation in the future.
Not much farther up the canyon from there we reached the end of the road as mapped on Gaia GPS. Here we found a rocky narrow that not everyone had an interest in attempting. Most everyone was interested in watching it though.
Shawn and the Power Wagon had little trouble with the obstacle that some repositioning and backing couldn’t solve. Brent and Billy in the JKs cruised up it with little trouble as well. My Dad was along with his 2001 Silverado and managed to cruise through with some spotting. We discovered that the auto locker in his rear differential was clearly not working and he subsequently had it replaced with an Auburn Locker.
I was the only 4Runner to make the passage and cruised through with little effort due to the small footprint of the vehicle. One thing you can see as I was going through this was that with the rear locker on, the vehicle is hard to steer and you can see it push straight with the wheels cranked to driver. So toggling the lockers on and off is often the best strategy.
From there we turned around and headed back down canyon and up valley arriving back as the start point well after dark, though it was barely 5:00 PM.
Everyone aired up their tires, said goodbyes and moved on back to Reno in the dark bringing the first ever All-Terrain Family group tour to a close. We’re very happy to have met you all on this trip and had a great time exploring Nevada with you. Thanks for joining the adventure! We can’t wait until next time, which will be the New Years Day Family Portrait outing to Como Ghost Town!
Happy Trails,
-Mike
In this episode we explore up canyon from the School Buses of School Bus Canyon Nevada.
Our Patreon Page: patreon.com/posts/20207465
Trip Report Blog: allterrainfam.com
Stickers and SWAG: allterrainfam.com/shop
Instagram Profile: instagram.com/allterrainfamily
Facebook Page: facebook.com/AllTerrainFamily
#allterrainfamily #nevada #fourwheeling
Continuing up the canyon from the school busses things get rustic pretty quickly. Most traffic through this area stops and heads back at the bus site so the road is obviously less well traveled from that point and I knew that something interesting was in store based on this post from Ericsxj.com. ericsxj.com/schoolbus/schoolbus.htm
While there is a road that switches back to the north, we went south through the bottom of the canyon. This road is mapped on the USGS map you can see in Gaia GPS. It winds through the bottom of the canyon and is rutted and close at times. Nate and family were following us in their 2nd Gen Tundra + 4 Wheel Camper, by far the biggest vehicle on this trip. I stopped a couple times to see if they were going to proceed. Those were no problem for them and they blazed on, though such a big vehicle with IFS did lift wheels here and there.
We soon came to a rutted turn through the wash that apparently had posed some challenge to someone up ahead of us, but we didn’t witness that. What we found turned out to be a perfect natural experiment for the functionality of locking differentials, traction control and open differentials. I immediately lost traction due to the cross axle and engaged my factory e-locker at which point I crawled right through.
Ron came through next in his Jeep JK Unlimited Rubicon and had the same experience. Cross axle, then locker, then smooth sailing.
Next came Nate in the Tundra, and he had some difficulty getting the traction control to engage. He had to add throttle to make it work, but then it was catapulting the truck through a whee- lift situation and he kept backing off. A little finesse and patience was what it took to crawl through.
Then came David in his 3rd Gen 4Runner. It’s basically just like mine with no locker and an automatic. The key to getting through a situation like this with open differentials is to apply a little brake while under power. This adds resistance to the lifted wheels and that resistance is translated into power for the wheels on the ground. This can work, but if it doesn’t, the next best thing is to re-align the vehicle and try again with a more level approach. A combination of these strategies worked for David.
We’ll do a more detailed discussion of this particular situation in the future.
Not much farther up the canyon from there we reached the end of the road as mapped on Gaia GPS. Here we found a rocky narrow that not everyone had an interest in attempting. Most everyone was interested in watching it though.
Shawn and the Power Wagon had little trouble with the obstacle that some repositioning and backing couldn’t solve. Brent and Billy in the JKs cruised up it with little trouble as well. My Dad was along with his 2001 Silverado and managed to cruise through with some spotting. We discovered that the auto locker in his rear differential was clearly not working and he subsequently had it replaced with an Auburn Locker.
I was the only 4Runner to make the passage and cruised through with little effort due to the small footprint of the vehicle. One thing you can see as I was going through this was that with the rear locker on, the vehicle is hard to steer and you can see it push straight with the wheels cranked to driver. So toggling the lockers on and off is often the best strategy.
From there we turned around and headed back down canyon and up valley arriving back as the start point well after dark, though it was barely 5:00 PM.
Everyone aired up their tires, said goodbyes and moved on back to Reno in the dark bringing the first ever All-Terrain Family group tour to a close. We’re very happy to have met you all on this trip and had a great time exploring Nevada with you. Thanks for joining the adventure! We can’t wait until next time, which will be the New Years Day Family Portrait outing to Como Ghost Town!
Happy Trails,
-Mike
