Trailhead Tire Deflators

August 20, 2010 By Leave a Comment

For the last ten years on my key ring, a set of the tried and true tire deflators from SUN performance. Screw them on and monitor there pressure in intervals until I am at the desired tire pressure. Did not think much of them other than: “How easier can you get?” Then I recently got a set of Trailhead Automatic Tire Deflators for a gift.

WOW! What have I been missing with the extra time all these years? These things are amazing and took me getting a gift to realize, DOH!

Before it would take 15 minutes on average to air down and monitor all four tires. This [Read more...]

Filed Under: Cherokee, Four Minute Review, Jeep, Wheel'in

Aussie Locker Part 3; Final testing and the real world experience.

May 20, 2009 By Leave a Comment

If you read my Part #1 and Part #2 of the Aussie Locker experience you will know I had recently installed this brand locker in my rear Dana 44 axle on my Jeep and was wanting some real world experience with them before I gave my final verdict.


To do that, I had waited to have [Read more...]

Filed Under: Jeep, Products, Wheel'in, Wrench'in Tagged With: ,

NAXJA | Colorado chapters first official run of the year

April 11, 2009 By Leave a Comment

When: Saturday April 18th 9:00am
Where: Chinamen Gulch (Buena Vista, Colorado Area)

The LUVMJP and TrailDriven Team will be hitting the trail with The Colorado Chapter that day.

Here is the TrailDamage Link for that trail.


View Larger Map

Filed Under: Cherokee, Event, Jeep, NAXJA, TrailDriven.com, Wheel'in Tagged With: , , , ,

Aussie Locker Part 1; Assembly

February 8, 2009 By 1 Comment

Okay so  I decided that trying to afford ARB lockers or any other selectable locker was not in the range of my budget and to keep the budget under control I was only going to lock the rear.

I also wanted something that was very simple. For example in my last Jeep I had a Detroit Locker in the rear and I loved the thing! Awesome offroad, the street driving took a while to get use to, definitely had its quirks but was pretty much indestructible. However a Detroit was even out of my budget range. This leaves me with  “Lunchbox” style lockers, which in general simply replace the spider gears, so they are pretty affordable.  Several brands on the market, pretty much all the same save construction and minor design differences.

I have been reading nothing but good things about Aussie Lockers for a couple years now. They are priced just right  at around [Read more...]

Filed Under: Cherokee, Jeep, Products, Wheel'in, Wrench'in Tagged With: , , ,

Bill Moore & Mill Creek, Co. 10/11/08 Wheeling Trip

October 17, 2008 By 3 Comments

While most of my fellow Jeepers went to Fall Fling as was mentioned in a previous post by JohnJohn. I was unable to attend, but did not want to stay home and do nothing. So to be one of my last trips of 2008, I hooked up with 3 other guys of the naxja.org board, and made a family wheeling event. We had wives, girlfriend, and kids all raring to go!  ………It was also going to be a snow run as 1-3 inches were predicted by noon, it didn’t happen, lying weathermen!

I really wanted to do something I haven’t done before, but two of the guys in the group voted against me and chose Mill Creek / Bill Moore combo.  We did decide not to run Red Elephant up, as it can be nasty in wet conditions. So starting Bill Moore from Empire, just after the beginning switchbacks to the top, one of us in the group started to get really sick, and ended up turning around on the trail.  (it sounded like altitude sickness.)

…..with three of us remaining we trekked on, but somehow missed our turn to Mill Creek, ending up going backwards on [Read more...]

Filed Under: Event, Jeep, video, Wheel'in Tagged With: ,

Poison Spider Mesa – Moab, UT

October 13, 2008 By Leave a Comment

Filed Under: Cherokee, Jeep, video, Wheel'in, Wrangler Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,

The Pickle Trail – Moab, UT

October 13, 2008 By 1 Comment

Filed Under: Cherokee, Jeep, video, Wheel'in, Wrangler Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

The now famous Mike, Rick & Jes Video

October 12, 2008 By 2 Comments

Filed Under: Cherokee, Event, video, Wheel'in Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

TRIP | Moab, UT

October 12, 2008 By 2 Comments

I got back from Moab about 4:30 today.  Boy I’m tired.  I have some video that needs editing and some photos to upload.  I should get around to that some time tomorrow.

Here’s a quick tease.  It’s a trail call “Pickle”.

Filed Under: Jeep, Wheel'in Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Road Show | Moab, UT

October 5, 2008 By 2 Comments

We’re taking this show on the road next week. Moab, UT for the annual NAXJA Fall Fling. This is the 25th anniversary of the XJ Cherokee. While I don’t own a Cherokee any longer I have had 4 or 5 of them in the past. Thanks to my old buddy Fred, I have been a NAXJA member since almost the beginning.

The Fling was started a few years ago, 99 I think. Some guys from the newly formed Colorado-XJ list were heading out to Moab. This happened around the same time some of our Rocky Mountain sharing Utah buddies where there. This was right around the time NAXJA was getting it’s feet wet. We didn’t call it fall fling then though. <If these details are wrong, please comment and set the story straight>

The event form then on was put together by the Intermountian NAXJA Chapter. Today the event has grown to 125+ XJs. This year the event will giveaway a XJ. I lifted, locked, highly modified rig.

I will posting video from our new Kodak Zi6 HD Camcorder. Kodak has given us a unit to test and will do just that. The Moab dust will be tossed around this new camera. We’ll see how it holds up.

Life moves fast. Grab it in HD.

- Take stunning HD videos (720p at 60 fps)
– Easy upload to YouTube™ with built-in USB
– Record hours of video—up to 32 GB worth
– View on any HDTV with the included cables
– Edit and share videos with the included software CD
- Rechargeable batteries and charger included

Filed Under: Cherokee, Event, Jeep, Products, Wheel'in Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Trxus M/T’s; a review 15 months in the making

September 29, 2008 By 4 Comments

My personal opinion here; I hate tire reviews written a month after they put them on. A review for a specific tire should be written after you done wore them out.  So here is mine……….

I am a long time BFG fan. In 10 years I ran two different vehicles and four different sets of BFG’s on them. (1) Set of BFG A/T’s which are great on everything besides mud. (3) Sets of BFG M/Ts which are an all around great tire which I managed to abuse quite regularly and still got 60,000+ miles on each set. They only sucked on the street on snow and ice until I had them siped which kind of helped, but there is no perfect tire for all terrains.

Last year I had an epiphany; “How do I know if there is anything better if I have never tried them?” So I decided to try Interco’s Trxus M/T’s. I read plenty of reviews of satisfied customers who ran them and I thought I will give them a try. I bought a set May ‘07 and it is now September ‘08. They have taken plenty of abuse as I have put 30,000+ miles on my XJ in almost a year and a half and they have also been on eight off-road trails in Colorado since putting them on. [Read more...]

Filed Under: GPS, Jeep, LUVMYJP Plate Tour, Mouth'in, non Jeep, Products, Rigs, Wheel'in, Wrangler Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

West Magnolia Trail, Colorado Sept. 27th, 2008

September 28, 2008 By 1 Comment

It was so beautiful up there, the family was in love!

The trail has changed a lot though since I have been up there, which has been about three years.

I guess more of the private property has been closed off and many of the areas and trails are not accessible as they once were.  Some of the trail I remember got deeper with ruts and mud holes. Since the trail is mostly spring run off areas it will eventually be rated a 7 instead of a 3, but overall still an easy trail system.

All the times I have been up there in the past I never knew there was a hiking trail to a placed called Champion Mill. I guess they do not advertise it and it is on private property but the owners are nice to let you hike to it as long as you are responsible. I found it on the internet by accident and this made me want to go see it!  ….the power of the internet…… [Read more...]

Filed Under: Jeep, Wheel'in Tagged With: , , ,

TRAIL: Jenny Creek

August 17, 2008 By 2 Comments

UPDATE: added some more pictures

Thanks to Chris and all the guys and gals with Edge Offroad.  I’ve known Chris for years and it was really nice to get out with him and his crew.

We all ran Jenny Creek backwards today.  I had never run it that way before.  Great change of scenery.  The JK did great, only used the lockers once. At the end of the day I got a little high centered on the exit/entrance.  I pushed the locker button and was off.

This was the first trip for me on rig with 17″ wheels.  I’m use to 15″ rims.  They get aired down to 15psi or so.  The BFGs on the JK worked very well at 22psi.

On the way back down Rollins Pass I developed a knocking noise…NOT FROM MY HEAD, from the Jeep.  I could not for the life of me figure out what it was.  It would only knock during suspension movement. After I got home I aired up and pulled out the “creeper” to try and find the knock.  It sounded like a rock had gotten in the frame and was bouncing around in there.  I looked everywhere, nothing.  I am chalking it up to the D-ring in in the rear receiver hitch.  i was probably getting more noise than i am use to out of it.  The knock  has a huge frame to reverberate the sound.  In my unibody XJ I never heard it.  I guess the fast speeds on the way down the dirt road loosened up the screw and allowed it bang.  I hope that was it.

All in all the JK performed excellent.  It is so nice to trail something that doesn’t creak, squeak and smell like diff oil.  The JK is very capable and comfortable.

More pictures

Forum Thread Discussion

Filed Under: GPS, Jeep, Mouth'in, Rigs, Wheel'in, Wrangler Tagged With: , , , , , ,

umm well a just watch

January 25, 2008 By Leave a Comment

Filed Under: Jeep, Wheel'in, Wrangler

Become a Contributor

December 11, 2007 By Leave a Comment

Fellow LUV MY JEEP’ers,

I am looking for tech writers & link posters. Topics include anything to do with Jeep, 4×4, Wheeling, new products, camping, etc. If you see a link and want to post it please use this forum area. I’ll do the work and post it on this front blog page.

Once you start posting a few ‘news’ articles I’ll give you a user ID to post your links, tech and news on the front page. Become a Contributor by post some sweet off the wall

links and products. The goal here is to make this a true user based Jeep Site where users decide the daily blog content. The first of it’s kind.

Filed Under: GPS, Jeep, Mouth'in, Products, Rigs, Wheel'in, Wrench'in

Tow compacity…that’s all I need to know

November 10, 2007 By Leave a Comment

…and of course how to pay for it.

[Read more...]

Filed Under: Wheel'in

Hummers can be fun…sorta

November 10, 2007 By Leave a Comment

Jay Charles has set up a live RC SUV and controls. So…you say. Did I mention that you can control the car via his website?

proto01_h2.jpg

You got it folks. This hummer has been equiped so you can see and control it’s action via the WWW. Jay and his family’s feet can also be seen trolling around the house. Run it in to the kitchen, living room, etc. No ads up on the site yet, come on Jay get with the times. You should really be making money at this.

 

The WWWRC is obviously not running 24 hours day, but when it is…it is so much fun.

rc_driver.png

Filed Under: Wheel'in

Heat things up with a little Vaseline

October 23, 2007 By Leave a Comment

pocket-flame.pngRub a couple of cotton balls in Vaseline, then store them in you glove box with some flint and steel. LifeHacker says this makes a great fire starter.

Popular Mechanics says that a cotton ball smeared with Vaseline or ChapStick is “a foolproof fire starter.” The Vaseline works as your fuel, and once you get the Vaseline-soaked cotton ball lit, the flame should continue to burn under pretty much any condition. The Popular Mechanics article is rather light on details, so I also found a post on the Survival and Equipment weblog detailing how to make single-use petroleum jelly candles using cotton balls, petroleum jelly, and aluminum foil. You will, of course, still need a flint or match to get the cotton ball started

Filed Under: Mouth'in, Wheel'in

Grand Cherokee not acting so GRAND

October 19, 2007 By Leave a Comment


via videosift.com

Filed Under: Rigs, Wheel'in

My GPS on eBay

October 12, 2007 By Leave a Comment

Pretty nice little GPS unit on eBay. I used it for a few years, marking way points and such. It’s in perfect working order. Comes in the box with everything it came with new. Check it out.

Filed Under: For Sale, Products, Wheel'in

Some good video…

October 8, 2007 By Leave a Comment

INSANE Russian offroad mudding trip! Truck sinks in 8′ of water!

Filed Under: Rigs, Wheel'in

Auto Blogs

October 7, 2007 By Leave a Comment

hemings_auto_blog.jpegOnce in a while I come across a great link. A ‘something for everyone’ kind of link. This is just such and occasion.

Most of the pictures are old school, but there is a photo of the Chrysler JT. It’s the DC version of the Brute from AEV. Nice link. give it a whirl.

[site link]

UPDATE: Here is a link to the JT in action. Looks like DC was in Moab a few months ago…

Filed Under: Rigs, Wheel'in

Lions Back via dashcam

October 7, 2007 By Leave a Comment

Filed Under: Wheel'in

I’ve heard Mall Crawling…but come on!

October 7, 2007 By 1 Comment

l_792b2bc8b424dd51b83be42f8e9a7be4.jpg

I have truly seen it all. Let’s all take a moment here. We all have a certain responsibility, a set of by-laws let’s call it. If you own Jeep PLEASE stop driving over the curbs at the mall.

Fuel can be added to this fire via the IH8MUD.com Forum. Go cautiously folks this is a Toyota forum. Solving things with more money is frequent occurrence, so offer solutions like…”should have paid $8500 for his lift”…things like that.

Filed Under: Rigs, Wheel'in, Wrangler

Saturday at Jenny Creek

July 23, 2006 By 1 Comment

The Family and I spent Saturday up in the mountains northwest of Golden. We left around 10:30 and headed up to Hwy 46 or Gold Gate Canyon Road. We stopped for lunch at Kriley Pond. The parking lot was almost full with cars, lots of folks fishing today.

When lunch was done we headed up to Rollinsvile. It was time to air the Cherokee down and remove the disconnects. A few minutes later we hooked up with Matt from Formatt Fabrications, Tony and his Mom Kay, and Aaron. All were quite equipped for Jenny Creek.

It took us a few extra minutes to actually get to the trailhead. I missed Rollins Pass Road and we ended up getting a good look at Moffit Tunnel, not too bad of an error, the kids enjoyed it. The other two mishaps were a little more costly in time. The first was a detour into a camping area, about 5.3miles up Rollin Pass Road. Next we took the right fork at the road 508 turn. I think I have done that time or two. Anyway, backtracking got us on the left turn at the fork and on to Jenny Creek.

It had been about 5 years since I had been on this run. This was Nicole and the boys first time to Jenny Creek. She is a budding photographer, so I knew she would enjoy the opportunities.

The trail was beautiful as usual. We had a few Jeep issues. Aaron busted a rear coil-over. We all think it was ready to crack from something else. It just reared its ugly head today. He got out without any issue. A few of us got a little close to a 4 foot drop into the creek. Everyone else motored out of the ledge. When I saw the loose soil falling out under the tire I decided I had better pull out some cable. Nicole and the boys felt a little safe with the winch out. I guess you could say I felt a little better too. :)

The rest of the day was great also. Not sure if we made a wrong turn or not, but the long hill climb out was nowhere to be found, we turned right and it took us right up to Yankee Doodle Lake. The lake was beautiful.

I have uploaded some pictures so check them out here.

Filed Under: Wheel'in

NAXJA CoFest

August 16, 2005 By Leave a Comment

I took on some cool trails last week at NAXJA CoFest. Here is a picture of me dropping in to Indy down in Penrose. We all ended up exiting via Liberty. Patriot was extra nasty and time of getting late. I plan on hitting Patriot later on this year with a few buddies, and some extra parts. :)

Here is a link to some of the pictures that were taken

Filed Under: Wheel'in