During the last eight years of time in this field I came up with an idea which started as a pet project, but turned in to a much bigger project.

I had several opportunities to combine my love of Traildriven Jeeps with my work in the human services field by taking people into the back country exploring the Colorado Outdoors. What I found is this demographic of individuals loved exploring the back country, but outside of what I did, there was not much opportunity for them. The programs I did see where very expensive and not everyone had the funds available either through there own very low income or through their services provided.

The idea for Walkabout Colorado was born!

However in this lame economy it is hard to start a project on the budget I got and not a lot of people are just giving away funds for projects.

Pepsi Refresh Project. Giving away grants to ideas and projects that better the community and people.

So at the end of all of this I need your help to win a grant. You must vote everyday on my project to move me up the ranking. I have to be in the top 10 to win a grant.You get 10 votes a day to vote on the 10 ideas you like the best including me of course.

Pepsi Refresh Grant help people with developmental disabilities experience the outdoors.

WOW! What have I been missing with the extra time? 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 typically takes place with talking with your fellow wheelers prepping for the trail. Can not go too far or lose your train of thought by getting distracted. If you did, you could air down too low and either match all the others or air back up a little.

It takes little to set the four to the desired air down level, which is my fav new number 14lbs. The only way you could screw that up is if you didn’t know how to count revolutions of the little plug. Did a test with all four deflators and got them all set perfect to each other. I looked a little silly testing them out airing down, then filling up, then repeat until all four were set. Hey who cares, it was in my driveway in my socks and shower shoes.

The good: Takes less then five minutes each tire and it does it while you have more time to socialize, prep other gear and make fun of the other guys with manual tire deflators.

The Bad: They will be the envy of the rest of your group and you will end up feeling obligated to lend them half of yours to air down in style! That in turn will take you longer to actually air down all four tires. Pretty, very pretty anodized look, Typically with enough man-handling that stuff will wear off to the natural look of aluminum. Time will tell though…….

The ulgy: You can air down while driving, uh, my luck they will catch something and rip out the valve stem. If they get too dirty or the little springs inside that set the pressure level concerns me with wear. Not a lot of info on that on the net but again I guess time will tell answer that question.

Then I went to the Rubicon Express Track bar, RE1600 that utilizes a Rod End. Worked much better and only replaced the Rod End once in a little over a year of owning it. Couple weeks ago I came across some noise from my front end only to discover my OE track bar bracket had cracked and the bolt wobbled out.

Alright time to try something different I say and started to look around at all the many setups available. I had a wish list: I wanted it beefy, would use poly bushings that would be cheaper to replace than Rod Ends, or flex joints, and of course included a new double sheer bracket for the frame end.

I came across this company, Iron Rock Off Road. A fairly new company to me, I had not heard a whole lot about them, other than me searching on the net finding posts on some forums criticizing them for being so new and different. However they had some pretty interesting products on their web page for many a Jeep model, including a HD track bar for $189 for my XJ.

“Interesting” as I thought to myself, every company had a starting point sometime in there development right?

So I called them with some questions and after receiving a gentleman on the other end that was eager to answer all my questions and pointing out the track bar itself is a 1.25 SOLID bar (apparently I can not read or I need glasses as it is in the body of the text describing the product), but I was now very interested. Specially telling me it was in stock and could get to my door for $200–so I ordered it.

This was Tuesday, I received on Saturday, four days later on a weekend with no extra charges.

Sunday comes around and I gather my tools and my new assistant wrencher;

Took about half an hour to pull off my old RE1600 and frame bracket. Then pulled out the new Iron Rock Track Bar all the way from the package. I got to say it looked good, very well put together with a very clean cut fabricated bracket and nice clean welds on both items. The track bar was beefy, felt a lot heavier than my old Rubicon Express track bar. The adjustable frame side bushing I was also impressed with the amount of thread they give you for adjusting.

Took another half hour to bolt up and set the track. SEXY!!!

The Good: The price at $200 delivered to my door, in four days and on a Saturday. Who can complain about that? Compared to other brands out there, this one is beefier than others at the same price range. The customer service at Iron Rock Off Road was very pleasurable and was part of my decision to go with them. They offer a great guarantee on their product…………..so should I go purposely break it to test out the guarantee?

The Bad: Unlike my Re1600 there is no outward bend from the axle and I worry I am going to smack the front differential cover upon compression of the driver’s side tire. Awe shucks, I guess I have to go wheeling to test that out, huh?

The Ugly: Hmmm nothing really, how about the fact I get his bad boy on and haven’t had a chance to go wheeling yet? I guess also my head when I came up from installing this thing smacked it on my front hook off my winch. Hurt a lot, in fact in writing of this I remember the sheer pain that I felt upon hitting it, it is a psychological thing……………. or how about mom’s face when she saw how dirty and greasy my assistant wrencher was after helping me and explaining to her it is a: “Jeep thing”, she didn’t understand……………..

There have been other companies who have made upper quarter panel armor and seeing them in person I found they looked good on the vehicle, but either very expensive, or the use of thin material and not quite the fit I was looking for.

JCR Off-road had started to make their own version for XJ’s a year or so ago and I waited a while to here some feedback on them.  Hearing some good feedback from fellow XJ owners about them I decided to move on them and ordered me up a set.  For $170 for a set with tail-light protectors plus $30+ shipping they were around $200. They also offer for another $110 full tail-lights as well, but I wanted to keep the electrical and lighting OE and simpler.

They have a couple weeks fabrication delay as they make them on the spot. Two weeks after I ordered them they arrived on my doorstep. Very impressed!

Looking at their pictures on there website they changed the top part of the guard by adding another 1″ of material bent in to match the curve of the XJ body. That is a BIG bonus as working with fabrication in the past this adds structural strength to the guard. Now why they do not update the pictures of their product on the web-page I do not know, because it is an improvement over other brands and a good selling point.

The Good: Reasonably priced for the quality you get. They fit perfect, they were a cinch to align to the vehicle, and they look good! Thick  material unlike others brands use of thin gauge metal.

The Bad: They are heavy and takes two people to install: one to hold the guards, while the other aligns it up and marks the holes. They are too pretty and like a new pair of shoes you cringe when you scratch them up but that is what they are there for. Go figure…….

The Ugly: The bolts JCR supplies are raw metal, If you forget to paint them they will instantly rust in the first week. Nothing to do with the guards, but getting to the bolts on the driver’s side guards is a PITA! Need a long armed person with child like hands to get to them as the gas filler and all the electrical on that side is like sticking your hand in a snake hole filled with glass shards sticking out of the sides. Ouch!

Having a blog sure does make it easy to track your vehicles maintenance.

Do you need magnetic badges for an event you have coming up?  —-> drop us a line

Have any of you seen TripCast by Jeep© yet?  I friend of mine, who knows I love to wheel, asked me on FaceBook this morning if I had seen it.  If you haven’t checked it out, you should.  Thanks Kim for the info.

Hit the road with the free iPhone app that tracks the progress of your driving adventures and lets your friends follow along and enjoy your photos, videos and notes in real time.

The user can also use it as a mapping software.  TripCast will put things on your map for you, like Beaches, Camping Areas, Hike and Bike Trails, Off-road trails, and many other points of interest.

Once you get your friends using the app there are some more great features.  It will even notify you when a friend is in your vicinity.  Great for a meet up and maybe even a last minute wheeling trip.

Enjoy your tunes while still mapping your trip.  The ipod overlay feature lets you listen and control music right inside the app.

Our user ID is TrailDriven, of course.  Friend us up.  We would love to see your wheeling trips.

This comes off the news that the site was redesigned also.  It now incorporates all old LUVMYJP.com content also.  Maintaining both with fresh content was a PITA.  Ok not really that much of a PITA.  I didn’t actually do it most of the time.

Welcome to TrailDriven.com

The plate was lost while on a trail in Moab Utah in 2004.  He’s been traveling the world since then.

Facebook page with all the pictures

The NAXJA Forum that started the whole thing

Direct link to pictures

UPDATE: Link to the Story

Here is a link to the pictures from Friday. In there you’ll find a video of a sweet sounding BMW. Another video that’ll tease you with a movie from my new car mounted camera. That’s gonna be a toy I’ll be using a lot.

I saw some more celebs, some more booth babes and some epic cars.

– “Very Steve McQueen” db

Other than being hung, Thursday was pretty awesome.  I spent the day with the guys from White Roof Radio.  We saw new products, Minis, old friends, new friends, and of course booth babes.  If you don’t know about White Roof Radio click on over to iTunes.  In the podcast catagory “Automobile”…their show is consistently top 10 in the US.  Todd and db(Don Burnside) are great down to earth dudes.

The three of us spent the day meandered our way through North Hall, Central Hall, and Wheels and Tires.  <placing tongue in cheek> The booth babes were clamoring Todd all day.  “Todd can I have a picture with you?”  Todd was a good guy about it, but I could tell by the end of the day it was wearing on him.  Folks, celebrity status is not all it cracked up to be.  db on the other hand did a nice job of “dressing himself down”.  A few recognized him, and he was gracious to those fans.

Seriously fellas thanks for hangin with me.  I feel like I made some life long friends yesterday.

I am uploading some more pictures now. Some of the photos are a buddy who has a podcast about Mini Coopers called “White Roof Radio”. Consistently in the top 10 in the Auto category in iTunes. He has a thing about pictures with the booth babes. You guys don’t mind, right?

I’ll be reviewing a new product just released this week called GoPro. Full 1080P resolution sport camera. LINK There are some pictures in my photo galleries. That thing is almost as cool as boobies.

I rolled out of Denver about 4:30 am and arrived in Las Vegas about 3:00 pm. Before checking in the hotel I stopped at the show. I wanted to get my Press Pass before the rush in the morning. Parking is a nightmare. While trying to get some information a nice, female, security guard said I could leave my car parked back by the dock area while I ran in and picked up my badge. She agreed to keep an eye on the Mini. I think she wanted me to leave her the keys so she could take it for a spin.

Weaving in about of shuttle buses I made my way to the Central Hall at the Las Vegas Convention Center. Suddenly my phone rings. It’s Matt Adir from Master-Pull. Matt and I spent a few days in Moab wheeling a few year ago. After that Matt and I have kept in touch via Facebook. It being my first SEMA I had a ton of questions and Matt agreed to help. We chatted while he showed me where to pick up my Press Pass. There is no way I would found it by myself. Hey thanks Matt. So with Press Pass in hand I got my car and headed to the hotel.

Another special thanks goes out to the Grandview at Las Vegas. This hotel is amazing. It’s very hard to find a non-casino hotel in Vegas these days. The Grandview hooked us up with three nights. You’ll need to be a member of a vacation club to get in. If you are, choose the Grandview at Las Vegas next time you’re here. The rooms have recently been remolded and are stunning. Here are a few photos.

Would the auto manufacturer that received a bailout from the government please stop with the capitalist advertising slogan?

During the beginning of 2009 General Motors was one of the largest recipients of the government auto bailout. This bailout saved GM from certain bankruptcy. They explained to us how an out of control, ever expanding dealer base was draining the car company. GM told us how many UAW workers would laid off if the company was left to fail. They worried us with the thought of an “American Icon” closing it doors.

The past few weeks have seen General Motors vehicles advertised on TV under the slogan “May the Best Car Win”™. How ironic? A slogan that asks for competition. It asks for a fair fight. The TV ads pit GM cars against imports from Toyota, Honda, even Mini. More ironic is the fact that these manufactures did not take or even need any of the bailout money. Why did they not need bail out money? They were already winning.

The key to capitalism is competition. The product that most people judge as the best will “win”. If we had let “the Best Car Win” eight months ago General Motors would have lost.

Tonight I’m prepping the blog and some photo galleries for next weeks SEMA show coverage. Many of you know, I was the owner of an internet based off road parts company. During those 8 years I could never find the time to make it to SEMA. This year is different. I want to make sure I save every memory.

Lucky for you I’ll be sharing my coverage with you right here on my blog. Before I leave for Las Vegas I am turning on the feed from my Twitter ID to post here. This will post everything I Tweet about right here on the blog. During the day I’ll be blogging and uploading pictures to these four main galleries. So bookmark them.

Tuesday November 3rd

Wednesday November 4th

Thursday November 5th

Friday November 6th

Strap yourselves in it’s going to be a great week. Special thanks goes out to Aaron Storms, Editor of The Weekly Register-Call. I should have a great article for publishing when I get back.

The one thing I failed to think of was the injectors which were probably the ones that they stuck in the motor when it was assembled in 1990, and if not they looked old. I decided considering what feels like I should get more out of my motor and that my fuel economy is for crap, is to replace the injectors.

So priced them out at auto stores at $60+ each, or $360+ for all six, ouch!

Looked around on the net and found these guys on ebay; PRECISION AUTO INJECTORS .

They recycle by rebuilding old injectors and flow matching them into sets for you at a great price!

I caught a sale for $107 for a set for my ’90 XJ and their service was super fast. USPS Priority mail, ordered on a Wednesday and received that Friday. Only two days shipping! The package was air formed for protection and had 1-6 marked on the caps on each injector. I received a slip with my invoice with these same corresponding numbers that showed what flow they were rated at.

They even included O-rings so I did not have to buy them from the auto store. Took all of an hour to install and started it up.

Wow! The Jeep started up faster, went to a smoother idle fast, and when took for a test drive! Yep the old injectors were dirty dirty and hurting my performance!

This is simple, those little injectors can make a huge difference in the way your 4×4 runs and these guys at Precision Injectors are awesome!

I am recycling, I got a matched set of injectors by flow rate for my vehicle at an incredible price, oh I forgot to mention they carry a life time guarantee!!!  ………..sorry I failed to mention that. (Big smiley)

To do that, I had waited to have some challenging terrain of different types to test it out on.

So three months later and five trail runs with this locker I have based it down to my “Good, bad, and the Ugly” categories.

Trails I ran in order since installation;

1. Slaughter House, Colorado
2. Left Hand Canyon (Momma Hill), Colorado
3. Illinois Gulch (MOAB Hill), Colorado
4. Yankee Hill (Lots of snow & Mud), Colorado
5. Spring Creek (3 of 4 obstacles, 4th snowed out), Colorado

The Good:

I ran my Jeep through a foot of snow, snow & mud, sticky wet clay, over loose shell rock , major off camber shelf road, over solid rock obstacles, up steep ascents, and all of the above at one time. Each time I made it no problems as this locker gave me the traction I needed to tackle the rough terrain. No holds barred performance!

I watched guys go up the same obstacle on Spring Creek I just did and saw what they were dealing with having no locker/open differentials, took them 20 minutes, where it took me less than 4 minutes, it was a night and day difference!

No locker pop experience, engagement banging, although I can probably contribute this to having an automatic now and not a stick.

The Bad:

Fish tailing through mud, snow, specifically on ascents and off camber terrain where gravity pulls you to an edge of a 100+ drop off which can cause a little raising of the heartbeat and get you white knuckling it.  Going through some deep snow on parts of the slight off camber trail Yankee Hill, the people behind me said my rear was off to the side slightly as I was driving.

This is a typical full traction locker trait though, not anything to do with this being an Aussie Locker brand, as any full traction auto locker will do this. You have to learn to drive it a little different than when you had open differentials.

The Ugly:

NOISY SON OF A B#&CH!!

Aussie Locker claims in their advertisement to be quieter than other Lunchbox style automatic full traction devices however I beg to differ. My DETROIT locker was no where near this noisy, as it sounds like a ratchet going around every corner, doesn’t matter if slow or fast.

I checked, and I double checked, and everything is 5 by 5 installed.  I have not ran any other automatic full traction locker to compare other than my experience with my DETROIT locker so I can not answer the question whether Lock Rite’s, Powertrax, NO-SLIP, or any other lunchbox style lockers are just as noisy. I would be interested in what Aussie Locker has to say about this?

Final Verdict;

The locker is one of thee most import upgrades to any trail driven vehicle out there. If you have never ran a locker you have no idea what you are missing and the difference it can make.

The Aussie Locker has been very pleasant from the time I opened the box. I am impressed other than the noise and that might be something I will just tune out and forget it even exists in time. The trade off for the ratcheting noise is advantage of having the extra traction and I would do this everytime I had a choice. Aussie Locker does claim to be stronger with materials and slight design changes, but it will take some time to really see the long term advantage over the other brands. Overall there is nothing revolutionary or evolutionary about this locker. Do not get me wrong about this Aussie Locker, I am very impressed with my purchase and what it is. For $250 I just increased my offroad prowess by 5 fold.  The final comment will be this;  If I was offered the Aussie Locker amongst all the other Lunchbox style lockers I would choose the Aussie Locker again.

I got the time and opportunity recently to use Ballistic’s Flex Joint in a set of custom fixed lower control arms I built for a fellow wheeler on a budget and was really impressed with their quality.  Similar to the Rubicon Express Flex Joint but with a machined housing eliminating the snap ring on one side, and $10 cheaper than the Rubicon Flex Joint. (this is a picture of Ballistic’s Heavy Duty Flex Joint I used in that project)

A little jealous after making those, I decided to do something for myself using some Ballistic products. I didn’t really need a new pair of control arms as I already had a nice pair of TOMKEN’s, but what the hey!

I was also going to go green and recycle. As you are now saying to yourself, what?

I am a pack rat and save stuff I probably could throw away, but end up storing it. However I always find a way to use it somehow, as for an example I had my old long arms off my Coil Over setup on my CJ-7 that has been on my garage floor for 2 1/2 years now, and I have been wondering what to do with them.

Perfect opportunity for this new project I say, and cheaper too!  These old arms had a weird poly bushing I could never find a replacement for and the original place I got them from went out of business. The Other end used 3/4″ rod ends and the arm itself was beefy as you can see in the pics below they are 1.5″ DOM .250 wall tube sleeved in 1 3/4″ .100 wall tube.

I was going to be scrapping the poly bushing side and then re-use the other end where the 3/4″ Left Hand Rod Ends were. I was also going to do these comp style were I use a Left and Right Hand joint on each side of the arm to do fine adjustments. You just loosen the jam nuts and turn in either direction to shorten or lengthen. Which is nice to have for the fact that 99% of the after market control arms you can buy you have to remove one end of the control arm entirely from the bracket just to adjust the length.

I had (1) Right Hand Tube insert for the other side so I only needed (1) more of those and then instead of the regular flex Joint I was going to use Ballistics’s Forged Flex Joint! These things are pretty beefy and I can get them with a 3/4″ shank to use in my recycled arms. (Read the specs on their website, the tensile strength listed is 8x the strength of a medium grade rod end, WOW!)

I decided I was going to go with (2) right hand Forged Flex Joints on one end, and then (2) of their new Forged Poly joints on the end. These are similar in many ways to the flex joint, but with a poly bushing to coincide with the flex joint in a control arm combination.

Having to wait a week and a half in anticipation for the parts to show up I was not disappointed when they arrived as I was drooling all over them. You can see the size difference when they are compared to a typical 3/4″ Rod End.

So to get started I first made myself a jig on my work bench to get the proper length. I needed to figure out how much of the actual tube I needed with the joints, jam nuts, and tube ends all put together. I matched the stock control arm length of 15.75″ that is on a XJ/TJ. These arms with the Ballistic Joints can be adjusted outward up to 18″ or more! The shank on these joints are really long compared to a regular Rod End. Once I got my measurement I then cut and drilled holes for the plug welds for the two new tube ends, but before welding them together I pre-assembled to make sure everything was correct.

Once I made sure everything was were it needed to be I welded it all up, then wire brushed, painted, and assembled. Check out the nice beauty shot to the right!

Now it was time to put these bad boys on my XJ! I removed my old TOMKEN Control Arms and you can see there is a little difference in the size of the flex joints. The Ballistic Forged Flex Joint is a little bigger than the Currie Johnny Joint used in the TOMKEN arms.

After I got them installed they definitely look better in my opinion than my TOMKEN arms. I was not particularly fond of the bend in the TOMKEN arms as the primary purpose for that is to help clear the back of the coil/shock bracket when the axle flexes downwards and I had already cut out the back part of my brackets, so I did not need that feature. The straight arm is cleaner looking, and stronger. FYI; yes when you bend tube it stretches one side weakening it in the process. (Go ask an engineer)

Definitely my taste, and I love the Ballistic Fabrication Skull! (Hey I have an obsession with skulls, Skully get it?)

I definitely like Ballistic’s Forged Flex and Poly joints. They are very high quality product in every way. I almost hated using them, they are so pretty. A minor thing I like is they use silver zinc coating, which is not that big a deal, but most products out there use the gold colored stuff, the silver looks a lot better in my opinion.

I have had some drive time on these new arms and I noticed they do not transfer as much of the road noise my TOMKEN control arms did. I think the poly material Ballistic uses in their poly busings is softer than the TOMKEN arms.

The only complaint I have is the position of the grease zerks. They are in a spot that I know will get broken off, but I had no alternatives for if I flip the joints to position the zerks to the topside, I would not be able to get a grease gun in the tight spot. Even if I replaced the zerks with 90 degree versions.

I would have liked to have gone with the overkill of the 1.25″ shank instead of 3/4″, but then that would defeat the purpose of recycling DOM material and also would have cost me more. Example for 2″ .250 wall DOM tube is running $15-$18 a foot, and tube ends for 1.25 are about $17 each. The project as is, recycling my old arms only cost me $150. If I would have went with the 1.25″ stuff; I am not recycling and it would have cost me about $240.

I am not too worried about the strength of the 3/4″ shank. I ran 35″ tires on my CJ-7 with locked axles front and rear for 6+ years with 3/4″ Rod Ends and never had a problem. Time wheeling with these arms will reveal any problems or defects. So look for an update in the future as I will get myself a season of wheeling in and do a 6 month review in the making of Ballistic’s Products!

Until then, Happy Wheeling!

One of the things I had not address yet was my upper control arms which the OE versions are not known for their incredible strength, but now the time had come to address their deficiency.

I had two options; build my own or buy something off the shelf.

Option one; Fabbing up my own would be cheaper, but my problem is this. It is very hard now a days to do any sort of fabbing work on a short time frame simply for the fact with a child under two and the wife half way along with our second child, almost impossible.

Option two; I found myself tied with which to choose, as there are many brands on the market that are all really the same just different style flex joints and if they are adjustable or not. Definitely wanted something adjustable even though “4.5 of lift according to many charts show the upper arms stay the same length as stock.  Then there was the cost, OUCH! (Your kidding right, you want that much for a set?)

I found a perfect moment, Rough Country recently re-designed their controls arms to use a Johny Joints style end instead of their old style which copy Tera Flex’s original design. This was simply 1/2 the arm was  male threaded and screwed into the other 1/2 of the arm that was female threaded. Creating the adjustability and a lot of unrestricted flex.

Now in my personal opinion I really like the idea behind the old style Tera Flex arms simple because you have no restrictions on the twisting of the arm unlike a flex joint’s limited 32-35 degrees. There is a drawback with the design. You have to keep grease packed nice and tight in the arm threads or they will eventually wobble and become loose creating a popping clank sound.

I called Rough Country and since they are a big supporting vendor on NAXJA board they give you a great discount as well. Called the main contact person through the board and asked him since they are releasing the new designed X-flex arms if they have any of the old design laying around and to my joy they did. Got a set shipped to my door for around $115, which is a killer deal! (even cheaper than fabbing my own.)

Took me all of a couple hours to install them and the biggest issue  was while I was replacing the arms I figure I would replace my bushings in the axle end as well. That was a nightmare! Suggestion for anyone planning on doing that just take apart the front axle, coils, trackbar, etc.  Will save you cuss words and a lot of headaches ahead of time.

I did find a quirk that didn’t really effect me in the end though. Screwing the arms down to the recommended length of “15 for the height I found the arms had bottomed out. In other words making the twisting flex useless for one direction. So backing them back out a 1/4 of an inch would fix that but now my upper arms are at “15 1/4 instead of “15.  I really didn’t have a choice in the matter as I would like to use the full potential of the twisting flex the arms were designed to do.

Since installing them three months ago I have managed to get several hundred miles on them and I have noticed that my street ride seemed to improve including responsiveness to turning the wheel as everything felt really tight and smooth. The 1/4 more in length has not affected anything that I can feel.

Now to the wheeling to which I managed to get a couple trips in as well. I have had no issues and now my axle definitely likes to twist and flex but created a minor problem as now I get an increase in noise on the coils as they drop farther down the upper stem and bump stop. I also have lifted a wheel now, as I bottomed out my shock.  I will have to look into  a fix for that and also make sure I follow my monthly routine of packing grease in the arms along with all my other grease able parts.

Overall I am very pleased with them and the fact I got such a killer deal  made it a definite BIG BANG for my buck!

Current Jeep: 2008 Jeep Wrangler JK

• MOPAR: Red Rock, Unlimited, Rubicon, Hard Top, Soft Top
• TeraFlex 2.5” Standard Kit
• TeraFlex 1” Spacer
• Fabtech PreRunner Bumper
• SmittyBuilt 8000lb Winch
• SmittyBuilt Synthetic Winch Cable
• (5) BFG MT KM2 35×12.50R17
• AEV ProCal Module
• ForMatt Fab CO2 Tank
• Warn Winch Plate
• BullDog Tow Strap
• PowerTank Roll Tube Mounts
• (2) Riddler Dif Covers
• Best Top Hard Top Cart
• AEM Silver Air Intake System
• DayStar JK Dash Panel
• Entry Handles
• Fire Extinguisher Holder

[Link]

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

The kit is the first of its kind.  A 2.5″ Budget Boost?  I remember back when BBs were 2″ and really measured 1.75″ of lift.  These pucks are actually 2.5″.

You will gain enough to clear 35″ tire on your JK Wrangler.  1.25″ spacer are needed to complete the steering clearance.  What Jeep and BB has offered that combination in the past.  35 ” tires? great!

The kit comes very complete.

AEV’s ProCal Module is a hand-held powerhouse! This essential tool provides JK owners an easy, low-cost way to make a variety of useful changes not offered by the dealer or any other re-programmer.

The ProCal Module allows the user to reprogram several factory parameters including:
• Tire size
• Gear Ratio
• One Touch Lane Change
• Daytime Running Lamps
• Low Tire Pressure Indicator
• Smart Bar Indicator Disable (after Smart Bar removal)
• Clear Diagnostic Trouble Codes

While the module is plugged into the OBD port, the ProCal Module can also:
• Set a Temporary Extended Idle
• Provide a Dead Center Steering Wheel Indication
• Clear Diagnostic Trouble Codes (DTCs) / Turn of the Check Engine Lamp

For AEV HEMI Builders Kit customers, The ProCal Module will:
• Program the Vehicle’s VIN into the new PCM Controller
• Program the Pedal Calibration and Tolerance

Full Info Here

So it sucker punched me when my current winch remote failed on me with such little use. My wonderfully reliable Mile Marker 9500si came with a remote that was made of a soft rubber material and looked like it could be really abused……….WRONG!

Here is what Mile Marker’s Remote looks like. (Excuse the crappy pics, my 7 seven month old Kodak is out for repair, and that is another article.)

In the last three years I have used this Mile Marker in some tough spots and it has worked flawlessly each until the end of the last pull. I was re-spooling the line when it cut out on me for a brief second and I had to press the remote a little harder.

Hmmmmm, that is interesting?

Get home and I yank the line a little and go to double check that little quirk and low and behold I find the winch is not working at all. Pull out the electrical tester and check the power to the remote connection and it is getting power. So I used some wire to the cross the connections at the winch itself and it works perfectly, some more troubleshooting and find the winch remote is not so tough after all. I never abused it, as it was always on top of everything in my recovery bag and I never crushed it, what gives here?

So I look around the net and local stores and I find a nice fancier winch remote from Mile Marker for around $70 but I did see my model winch listed that it will work for. A lot of the newer winches have MOSFET power supplies and electronic control stuff. So I call Mile Marker directly trying to clarify the part numbers of the remotes and what I can get for a replacement only to be told there is only two that will work with my model. A direct replacement of the one that came with it for $45 from them or a few places on the net for $35. Do not really trust that remote anymore and the second was the wireless setup for $100+ which was a little on the high side for me. So what do I do?  I do not want to use a screw driver crossing the connections while on the trail, I need something right?

Then it hit me, the remote is very simple. For the non MOSFET or electronic controlled winches out there which is a lot of them, all I need is momentary directional switch(s) and a box to fit them in. On mine and many others there is three wires. (1) is low voltage power and the other (2) represent the direction of the motor. Give the low voltage to one of the direction wires and it closes the solenoid it is connected to and the winch goes in or out. So I went to the local radio shack for momentary switches and then to home depot for an electrical box. I thought about the 3 way directional switch, but I decided I want (2) single momentary switches, one for each direction. So instead of moving the switch up or down I just push one of the two switches to go in either direction.

Here is what I got; (1) 90 degree LB electrical box $6. (2) single pull momentary switches $3 each, and some misc. connectors and plugs. Essentially after tax $15.00

After cutting off the old remote from the cord and testing to see which of the three wires was the power and which direction the remaining two wires represent I marked them. Them ran them into the LB box and took the low voltage power wire and put a connector on it with a jumper with another connector so I can connect to both switches. Then put connectors on the other (2) wires and attached each of them to a corresponding switch. Drilled out the holes in the LB cover plate, put them together, taped them up and screwed everything down. Total time about thirty minutes to work it all out and wire it up.

Here is what it looks like;

It ended up being about the same size as the factory remote control as you can see in the pick. Plugged it in and tested out. Work flawlessly!

So instead of spending $40-$50 on a new remote I do not exactly trust I saved some pennies!

You could use this same example and mount in-cab controls as well. You could do it two ways; get another remote and sacrifice it for the winch side connector and cord running it to your cab which would be the less time consuming way or take the solenoid apart and find the control wires, splice them in and run standard wire to the switch(s) in your cab. There is several articles on running in-cab controls for your winch on the net. Same principle as I mentioned above.

The only thing I have for concern is the (2) seperate momentary switches I used. I could stall the motor by giving power to both both solenoids at the same time accidentally, but do not know if this would even damage the winch. I will have to be carefull about how I use it.

“The brackets mount in the door hinge and maintain a stock location for the mirrors when the doors are removed. I had a prototype set last year for a little bit before it got cold. The image of my Jeep is with the prototype. The notable difference is the pin design which supports the stock hinge screw bolt for a complete factory look.”

[Info Link] [Retail Link]

So far my experience with the Aussie Locker has been pleasant, everything has been as expected and experienced no issues. This continued with swapping out the carriers as I found a local Denver guy that does Ring & Pinion work out of his garage and comes highly recommended by many. He goes by the online persona 87xjco and you can find him on NAXJA.org or on the colorado4X4.org boards.  He cut me a pretty good deal to reset the Ring Gear as it turned out my luck was with me again. I will explain here soon but first you might ask why didn’t I try it myself? 1.) I do not have the experience or time to learn this and gears setups can go really wrong if not done right. I did not want to take a chance on my daily driver. 2.) to make the job easy on yourself having the special tools is a must, and they are expensive and I am broke.

So here is how it went down; Arrived at 11am at his garage. Break free the lug nuts on the rear wheels and jacked up the back end with blocks in front of the Jeep, putting the transfercase in neutral. Pulled the wheels, then the drums, and then yanked shafts partially out only to free up the carrier. Yanked the cover drained the fluid, once done 87xjco slapped on a case spreader and checked the current setup. Everything was nice and tight and no apparent excessive wear. He pulled the carrier and started to remove the bearings and the Ring Gear.

While he was messing with the Ring Gear I cleaned up my nice Crane Cover and the surface of the axle waiting for him to get everything to go back in. He set the new carrier with my Aussie Locker into the axle and put on the yellow marker paste and ran it through, PERFECT! he said. Which translated into meaning everything lined up beautifully and he did not have to play with it any more.

So he battened down the carrier and the cover while I reassembled the axle shafts, drums, and tires. We finished around 12:30 so it took only 1  hour and 30 minutes and I was expecting 3 hours worth of work. Woohoo!

I had previous experience with a full locker with my old CJ-7 as it had a Detroit Locker in the rear axle. So I am very familiar with all the quirks they have to offer; clanking, clicking and the infamous “Locker pop” which is when you go around a corner and power it out and the rear end makes a loud BANG causing your rear to jerk around. So driving away and putting 60+ miles on it I was surprized in many ways. Aussie Locker claims that with an auto tranny the banging backlash noise and “Locker pop” are not as severe as with a manual tranny and so far this is true as my CJ-7 was a manual and my XJ is an automatic and I have yet to experience any backlash noise or “Locker pop”.  The Aussie Locker from what I have read also claims to be quieter than most full traction lockers, but I definitely hear the Aussie Locker a lot more than with my Detroit Locker. It could be after 8+ years with my CJ-7 I got so use to the noise I tuned it out and don’t remember really hearing it and I have not had a vehicle with a locker in it for over a year now, so this might be the case. Aussie Locker stated there is a break in period of 200 miles then it will quiet down. I will reach that pinnacle soon so we will see. However in the mean time Part 3 will be the most important, but it will be awhile before I can get to it as the sole purpose for buying the Aussie Locker in the first place is for wheeling. So stay tuned in the near future when I can get some trail time in with this locker. (There is an obstacle on a trail that really isn’t that hard but I got hung up last year because my Trac Lok failed to deliver. I want to go back and beat it into submission for the simple fact of retribution.) More to come!

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 $250 to your door straight from the manufacture.  The reviews I have read say they are pretty tough, and people are using them with 33-35 tires with no problems. So I picked one up as my Christmas present ’08, but since I have a factory Trak Loc in my Dana 44, I now needed an open carrier 3.73 down as the Aussie will not install in a factory Trak Loc.  Crawler Tech 4×4 hooked me up with a carrier for a great deal as he has stacks of them from doing gear upgrades. (If you are in the Denver area and you want any custom work done, you cannot go wrong with them!)

So this weekend I decided to play around and install the Aussie into the carrier. From everything I have read lunchbox lockers are really easy to install and with the carrier on the bench 30 minutes tops. Decided to thoroughly read over the instructions first and that was a lot of  reading, very thick instructions. This doesn’t mean it was complicated. Aussie did a wonderful job of having very detailed but easy to understand instructions. I give them props for such detail as it really helped me out putting this thing together and understanding what I was doing.

First I took apart the carrier with the internals and lay out the Aussie Locker ready for install.

Started to assemble everything and the one thing about this Aussie Locker is the manufacture’s emphasis on the tolerance levels between everything. As I was assembling I had to take gap measurements and record them in the registry log at the back of the instruction manual for warranty use. First measurement was the spacers and cross shaft and according to their guide I was very tight at the limit they recommend for it. Apparently this carrier has rarely been used as the opposite too much gap means it is worn out. Second measurement as after you get the pins and springs in you check for gap between the cam gears.

Here it is assembled and ready for gap check and then the right picture cross shaft and roll pin put back;

It took me about 30 minutes overall but I had some double checking breaks just for what I mention above about it being at such tight tolerances and close to Aussie’s recommended numbers. Over all very easy to assemble and I like how simplistic the whole thing is. So more to come in PART 2 as a buddy will help me re-set  the ring gear when I swap out the factory Trak Loc and I get to do the initial tests before driving it on the street. I didn’t really do a huge install tech article as this was more of “Impressions” of the overall Aussie Locker experience. If you want a good installation article, there are plenty out there on the net. The one I found very usefull is this guy’s who put together a very simple and detailed write up with lots-o-pics, check it out;  INSTALLATION ARTICLE

At first, I was blamed for just wanting another Jeep in the household.  After a couple days though she actually told me she likes it and wanted to know if we could lift it a little and put bigger, more aggressive tires on it. WOOHOO! ……I luv my wife.

Not the best pics, but to show it off;

I started looking into after market stuff. Wow! Not a lot yet, and Mopar accessories are ridiculously over priced. Looks like I am going to have to make some stuff.

I did find that for a measly $400-$500 (including install and alignment) you can lift it 2-2 1/2 inches, keep the factory ride, and put on 265′s which is like a 31 1/2 tire, so not too bad. There is a 4″ kit with a lot of work that has to be done, including altering your Electronic stability Control system. Those kits are around $2000+ not including the install and alignment. Ouch!

So for now I am going to work on the 2 1/2 inch lift kit, 265/70/17 BFG A/T, rocker guards, roof rack, rear receiver, skid plates, front tow hooks, and a simple brush guard. (Not really going to wheel it where my XJ goes, but there are plenty of places to go Off Road safely with it that won’t freak out the wife by scratching the paint.) Did find a good looking front winch bumper. Get Lost 4×4

More to come…………….

The new forum will be under the TrailDriven.com name and badged as such.  This will new format will encompass all things “trail driven”.  The team has been working hard on this concept for over a year now.  We are sure it will be a winning combination.

This blog will continue to live under the plate URL which I have personally come to know and love.  This was my first URL, even before BIGoffroad.  I still own the Colorado plate and my new JK wears it with pride.

For me it was the Grand Wagoneer.  I have never owned one, but boy I have always wanted to.  When I was in High School a would have given my left nut for a Grand Wagoneer.  Any color would have worked…just as long as it had the faux wood paneling.  Dang I love that.

Now that you know some history here is a good link.  Check out these incredibly restored units.  God gosh, if I had cash.

What was your first Jeep love?

[site link]

I was search around a few weeks ago for my brother in law.  I was looking for an inexpensive XJ for my Niece.  I came across a great little site.  The site shows eBay auctions for salvage title and other wrecked automobiles.  What a great place to find a new Trail Builder.  I will be searching there if I ever feel the need to build a Trailer Queen

[site link]

This may have been around a while but it’s still worth posting.  Above is just one photo showing Jeep’s 2007 advertising campain in Denmark.  Click the jump link to see the rest of the photos.  Great idea.

I’m not sure it would fly here in the US.  Too many people would be upset about it.  The above image alone would leave the left front tire in a flower bed.  Inranging the tree hugging community.  What do you think?

[site link]

If you have the 6 disc/DVD radio from Mopar your now in luck.  I have access to the cable you see below.  No more soldering that left over Christmas video cable.  Just buy this production unit. Connect this cable to the back side of your radio.  PIN 6 and PIN 7 slots allow video to be seen via an LCD. It’s that easy.

SPECS:

• 36 inches in length
• semi flush mounting
• mounting screws

They sell for $49.95 and will be shipped free via USPS.  I will have some in stock after the first of the year.

(The later production units will only have a two prong, flat, radio end.  Current unit has a blank third slot.  Only two of the current prongs are live.)

Check out the Craigslist link

]]> http://www.traildriven.com/2008/12/365/feed/ 3 http://www.traildriven.com/2008/12/forum-update/ http://www.traildriven.com/2008/12/forum-update/#comments Mon, 15 Dec 2008 16:16:52 +0000 JohnJohn http://www.luvmyjp.com/?p=356 I updated the forum to the new release.  I have also removed the banning of certain email addresses.  The new registration process should help curb spammers getting in.

Hopefully this new update will spark some interest and allow some users in.  The forum software has some great tools.  I don’t even run banner ads on it, yet.

Thanks and enjoy the forums.

The bumper came in plain back powder coating.  I was tossing around the idea of coating it in the Jeep’s Red Rock color.  The plan right now is to install it and see how it looks in black.

The other thing I was confused about was the factory fog lamps.  I was not sure what to do with them.  Then I found the picture below.  This guy used some 3″ PVC to make “cans” to hold the factory lights.  Awesome idea!  I sure wish I could find a picture of how he closed off the back of the light.  I will mount my lights a little closer to the front, but I sure love the idea.

EDIT: I found some more links to his build

For owners of any 4 wheel Drive the secret is to get as big of a tire as possible with the amount of lift you can afford. For XJ owners it can be a pain to figure out how to get the big tires under your vehicle as most lift kit makers state for XJ’s 4.5″ of lift you can run 32″ tires. Problem I find that not so accurate. I have 4.5″ of lift with 31′s and still rub in the front and rear.  The front of an XJ you can cut to yours hearts content to give yourself room. The rear of an XJ is a little more complicated being it is a Unibody and the pinch seam and lower quarter panel gets in the way. Even with minor to major cutting most still do some form of Bump stop extensions, this is also to stop from damaging your rear shocks compressing farther than your shocks can. Some refer to bump stops as “axle snubbers”, but for this article I will refer to them as bump stops.

On the market there are several options that are cheap to the expensive. First you can get extended bump stops $20-$30, but you still need to extend out your ubolt plates to catch them. As with the way a XJ rear leaf spring suspension is designed, when you lift it the bump stop originally would hit the axle, but with a lifted XJ flexing one wheel upwards the spring/ubolt plate comes up and side swipes the bump stop not making it very effective. So ubolt plates that you can buy that are extended out are usually designed to be the extension themselves with adding plates or spacers to adjust. These I see run from various manufactures $55 to $100. If you spend that much money just to extend the ubolt plate out to catch the bump stop, why buy longer bump stops?

I wanted to keep this project as inexpensive as possible and figure out the amount of extension needed built in as I really do not need to have all the adjustment ability at this time. (I am keeping this XJ where it is at for awhile.)

So here is what I started with, $20 for a set of used XJ ubolt plates from “Cherokee Parts Source” a local Denver metro guy that finds, buys, and parts out XJ’s and sells the parts to us lazy guys not wanting to go to the pick and pull places. (If you want his contact info give me your email addy and I can send it to you.) Some Scrap steel from the local metal supply house that charges .50 cents a pound. I figured I needed about 2″ of extension to stop before my shocks bottomed out and the tires would catch the inner fender. I cut the vertical pieces 2″ and the extended out 3″ with corners cut to avoid the shocks. After cutting the peices for all of this , I started to assemble and weld them up.

Didn’t take long to put them all together, clean up the welds, and paint them. Once dry I installed them and took measurements to make sure I had everything where I wanted it. If I need further adjustment I can either buy those extended bump stops or cut off the stock ones.

For the future I might take my old ubolt plates that I took off to put these on and do this project again, but not build in the extension and instead use hockey pucks for 1″ adjustments, but that is another time. Overall this project cost me about $25 and about 2 hours of time with installation, not including cooling or painting time. For those naysayers I might still have to add a top side gusset for strength, but I did beat the crap out of them before cleaning and painting with a 3lb sledge while they were clamped down and they seemed pretty strong………time will tell.

Here is what they look like all cleaned up, painted, and installed;

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 Red Elephant. By the time we realized it, our point man had already started down a  part that was kind of scary.  Imagine trying to back up on 10% grade, with good sized rocks / ruts which is wet and muddy. On top of that, several hundred feet of steep downhill on one side of the trail, which is only big enough for one vehicle. Two of us backed up far enough to turn around, but the point man managed to slip to the left, got hung up in the loose shoulder, and started to teeter side to side.  I got my XJ as close as I felt comfortable and hooked him up by winch. Now it starts to snow heavy, wonderful timing as we were cursing. A tree was right behind him stopping me from a direct pull, but with a little ingenuity I managed to get him past it, and up to the turn around. Unfortunately no one got pictures as we had other things on our mind. So as they say; “No pics, didn’t happen.” We had some carnage in the effort to rescue him. One I used a Hi-Lift to try to lift his front end up and over, but with his stock bumper it slipped and mangled it. (See bumper in one of the pics below) Second was the bumper end cap, the tree behind him ripped it off as he was pulled up.

Once on track, making our proper turn on to Mill Creek, the ladies took over driving. It continued to snow very lightly, but not enough to stop us from pausing at Empire Hilton for a breather.  We arrived back into civilization around 4:30, and the snow turned back into rain at the lower elevation. Overall everyone had a blast as these trails offer a little of everything!

Panoramic Meeting at the coffee shop

Panoramic Empire Hilton

MORE PICTURES OF THE TRIP HERE.

Videos; (excuse the raw filming, still learning how to walk and film at the same time.)

Skully Rocks! (Thats me!), Jawa2021 Rocks! (Thats not me!), Girls Rock 1!, Girls Rock 2!, Poser Video

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

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

This was kinda tricky. The rear safety bar has a mount for the softop on it. The seat belt roller is also sort of in the way. Here is what I did. Post your questions by clicking “Add Comments” at the bottom of this post.

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.

The good; I have beat them, bashed them, ground them against rocks, trees, curbs…….and they still have integrity to the sidewall and never punctured them. They were great in the snow and ice last winter and other than frozen icy streets, they still got me traction. They look cool; I get lots of compliments on their design. Plus the first 6 months they were quieter than my BFG M/T’s

The Bad; Referencing above; eight wheeling trips since mounting them and I have slashed and missing chucks of tread. The rubber they use is really soft; I believe that is what has led to this chewed up effect as I never had this bad of a problem with my BFG’s. The Trxus M/T’s only come in 31×10.50×15’s and then jump to 33×12.50×15, I would like to run a 32×11.50×15 next……….

The Ugly; I repeat only 15 months of being on the Jeep and they only have 25% tread left, I think that I will have to replace them by end of the year, so no where near the mileage I got out of my BFG’s. Oh and now, they are LOUD, louder than my BFG M/T’s, sounds like I am running paddle tires on the street!

Overall I enjoyed these tires; they have done me more good than bad. However even being one of the cheapest aggressive M/T’s out there, the price to purchase them every 1 ½ years will cost me more in the long run than getting some good high mileage set of BFG M/T’s again……………… although I heard Cooper STT’s are a great tire and they have a 32×11.50×15’s?

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……

You can get turned around real easy on this trail and plenty of off shoot trails to get lost on. We ended up not finding the Champion Mill Hiking trail right away, but we did take a nice 1 1/2 hour hike with the family.

Finally got to use my boys little Jeep……….brand child carrier harness that is.

Once we finally found our way on the trail system with all the changes we eventually found the entrance to the Champion Mill hiking trail, but with our bad luck around it started to rain and thunder/lightening so we didn’t get to go.

I would like to go back up just for that …………………..so be on the lookout for a report on that later.

West Magnolia Scenic video

Panoramic Picture Link

MORE PICTURES OF THE TRIP HERE

Storing your Jeep’s hard top can at times be challenging.  In the past I have tried everything.

The pulley systems that pull the hard top off the Jeep and then suspend it in the rafters was ok.  However it never seemed to pull it high enough.  It was still “in the way”.  This method lead to some sleepless night wondering if I tightened everything.  I was afraid it was going to fall.

More recently I have it sitting on some cinder blocks at one end of the garage.  While this was the easiest and cheapest method it was not free of worry, and was still taking up a ton of space.

A few days ago I ordered what has turned out to be a great solution.  BIGoffroad mailed me out a HOSS™ Hardtop Cart for my JK Unlimited.  Here is link to the installation guide.

It’s pretty straight forward.  Putting it together was simple.  The top now just rolls around the garage when I need it out of the way.

It’s painted blue in these photos, but comes in Black normally.  I’m digging it.

Any thoughts from you fellas?  Thanks.

pics from [4wd]

A whole forum dedicated to this?

Does lifting a lawn mower defeat the purpose of the device?  I’m just asking.  Please no ill will intended here.

[ATLMA]

Vilnus, Lithuania

Here are a few more photos form that visit.

Mount Gerlach, Slovakia

Looks like the plate is in Slovakia.  To bring some of you up to speed, my plate was “lost” and has been traveling around the world for the past four years.  On it’s journey it has seen international places of interests like the Leaning Tower of Piza, Chitsunitza in Peru, skied the Alps in Austria, Norway, China, Australia, South Korea, even supported the troops in Afghanistan.  As for it’s American locations…it’s been almost everywhere.  The plate has traveled on the famous Route 66 highway, visited historic Boston.

The infamous XJ group NAXJA is responsible for this little trek.  Enjoy the full set up pictures here.

JKS Manufacturing Eliminates Track Bar Failures on JK

JKS Manufacturing has just released a highly effective and economical solution to a problem that has plagued many owners of the current Jeep Wrangler. The problem involves the factory track bar mount on the rear axle housing. Vehicle owners and industry specialists have reported an alarming number of rear track bar failures due to insufficient bracing of the factory mount. Most failures occur after the vehicle has been lifted, especially when aftermarket extension brackets are involved. However, some have even experienced failure on stock applications.

For the complete press release, click here >

I don’t ask for much from any of you. I’m not asking to support me, maybe a click on a google ad from time time. Maybe a request to order some stuff through my Amazon link.

Now I ask for a small favor. My boys are selling Boy Scout Popcorn this year. 33% of the money you spend goes directly to their Pack. 33% goes to popcorn costs. The rest is used to buy prizes and promo stuff used to get the boys excited about selling.

By the way, the popcorn is pretty tasty too.

Jacob = last name A-L Use Code: TEMD2TZ

Trevor = last name M-Z Use Code: TEMD2SU

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

Daystar came out with a replacement center dash.  I got one with delivered with a CAI from BIGoffroad.

More pictures

Forum Thread Discussion

If you need anything for your rig call Troy. Great prices and even better service.

More pictures

Forum Thread Discussion

Last night I picked up my 9th Jeep.  Let’s recap.

1. 1997 TJ Red
2. 1999 XJ White
3. 1988 XJ Red
4. 1998 XJ Green
5. 2001 TJ Rubicon Silver
6. 1971 Comando
7. 1989 XJ Tan
8. 2006 Jeep Commander
9. 2008 JK 4dr Rubicon

Red Rock Chrystal Pearl, Black Hard & Soft Top, Tan interior, 4dr, Auto, Rubicon, 3.8L V6, PW, PL, Tow Package, Cruise Control, Air Conditioning, 6 Disc, Remote Start, Clear Bra, Tire Cover, Deep Tint Windows

NAXJA Link to get the whole story

This years design does not offer the extra side posts. I was using those connections for my headlight harness, air compressor, and winch. I guess those will be red-neck on to the main battery terminals now.

So she’s powered up and ready for the Spring and Summer.

Every year the girls in my family get together to walk in Denver’s “Race for the Cure”. I think it’s high time the men of the Paulsen family back something just as worthwhile.

Chris is a Jeepin buddy of mine. While I don’t know his background with this disease I think it a pretty worth while cause. He has dedicated his time to race. Let’s back him up.

Click the image or the link is here.

All of you with “Trailer Queens” have daily drivers. Your “Queens” probably have cages, would your homebrew cage hold up this well?

When SmartCars were first released I thought they were a great idea. I’m not really all that “green”. I liked them because they looked easy to park and the gas mileage would save me money.

I saw probably more TV coverage than the average person did on these things. FoxNews had them on one of there morning shows, probably about 8-10 months ago. They asked a lot of questions about the frame, tube cage, etc. Some very good safety questions. I was fairly satisfied with the answers. Since I have never seen one in person I was a little hesitant at defending them when someone started bashing them from a angle of them being dangerous.

After seeing this video… I would drive one; and if I was in the market for a car right now I would seriously consider buying one.

This is an amazing video.

Show that Motor Head in your family just how much they mean to you. Nothing says Merry Christmas like Chevy block Orange. Pick these ornaments up here.

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.

Check out this way cool sleeping bag concept from Lippi.
It’s ideal for summer festivals, a comfortable option for couch potatoes and a fantastic choice for everyday camping.

Lippi Selk’Bag1 Characteristics:

Total Weight: 1950 GSM.
Filling: Polyester Hollow Fibre Bonded, 1X200g/sqm, Good Performance, Elastic.
Shel / Lining: Nylon 210T / 70 Deniers, Soft Touch.
Extreme Temp: -8.4 Degrees Celcius*
Limit Temp: +5.5 Degrees Celcius*
Comfort Temp: +9.7 Degrees Celcius*
Sizes: Small / Medium
Large / Extra Large

* As tested by European EN 13537 standard (EU NORM)

Extreme: Lower extreme temperature where the risk of health damage by hypothermia occurs not feeling cold (related to standard man and in standard conditions of use).

Limit: Lower limit of which a sleeping bag user with a rolled-up body posture is globally in thermal equilibrium and just not feeling cold (related to standard man and in standard conditions of use).

Comfort: Lower limit of the comfort range down to which a sleeping bag user with a relaxed posture such as lying on the back is globally in equilibrium an just not feeling cold (related to standard woman and in standard condition of use).
[site link]

This week at the Consumer Elctronics Show in Las Vegas(CES), Jeep is releasing consumer electronics? Huh?

According to AutoBlog it sports a 3.5″ Touch Screen LCD. It’s going to be packed with features.

• a GPS (hopefully with some actual offroad maps)
• built-in MP3 player
• a video player
• an eBook reader

[site link]

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.

This concept is called the Hilux. By Toyota and tricked out with the help of Arctic Trucks.

When TopGear star Jeremy Clarkson decided to go to the North Pole by car, he chose a Toyota Hilux that was modified by Arctic Trucks for this very special task. It was much harder than originally planned, but they did it – they managed to get to the North Pole in a Toyota Hilux. The model is an extraordinary piece of engineering – it kept going through the harsh conditions, even after suffering damage.

I would probably drive it if someone gave it to me, but it’s no Jeep.  How about you would you drive it?

[site link]

Now this prototype is very appealing. The engine and transmission were adopted from the Unimog. The OM 352, a six-cylinder diesel engine with a capacity of 5,675 cc, was given a prominent and clearly visible position on the front axle. It delivers 84 bhp – an impressive figure for the smart forfun2. The diesel version of the production car has a 41 bhp engine.

More pictures after the click.

More info at the link. [site link]

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

[Site Link]

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…

Print it off nd leave on top of the toilet.  It’s an entertaining read.  I got a chuckle or two.  The writing is top notch, to bad they didn’t have a better rig to review.

My neighbor down the street bought a new H3 about a year ago.  It’s been in the shop quit a few times.  Not a very scientific evaluation from me I know, but i think we all agree here…

[site link]

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.

Time to Wheel. This thing is too cool. Check out some more pictures after the jump. Who knows the axles and drive train, but from the pictures it has decent clearance. Would you drive it? It might look good with and old school ”Grave Digger” paint job.

“Nowadays SUV’s are very popular all over the world, all major car makes started production of their own all-road luxury cars. The concept behind the SUV is to get comfort of the luxury car but have four wheel drive on big rims so that you can go off the road with the same feeling.

But it seems that in Soviet Russia they had already this ideal car – you can see here a luxury Soviet “Pobeda” (”Victory”) car on the high wheels, and people say it is not a self-made thing but was in production in limited edition at the car factory, so it can be probably not only the first Russian SUV but first SUV ever.”

[site link]

Today I’ll be doing some updates to the front page so bare with me until it’s done. So some of the link may not be working. to get to the forum click the image to the left if you can’t find the link during the updates.

The BIGoffroad site is also getting some updates over the next few weeks. I hope these updates will make each site easier to update therefore make more updates possible.

Enjoy, JohnJohn

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.

New Mexico is my guess.

Who knows were it will stop next. Check out the NAXJA thread.

Arggh. I hate it when I spend 90 minutes figuring out how to take something off, then when I replace the new one, I figure out the way I should have taken it off. The reinstall only took 90 seconds.

I picked up the part from Advance Auto Parts, they are on sale this week.

I have a serious dilemma. I really need to increase the reliability of my beads. While on Indy last week I popped 2 beads. I like the look of these steel rims, but they only come in a 4.5″ backspace. I guess without my spacer on the rear I am sitting at about the same in the rear, but the front will stick out another 3/4″. I love the look on my TJ Canyons, heck I even drilled them out to except my hub conversion. Oh well they should bring some decent $$s on eBay.

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

The story of the day is my drive home from their place. Well all I have to do is say it was frick’in cold. It’s good thing I packed some heavy clothes for the drive back. It was raining and about 34 degrees, I must mention the snow started about 2 miles from my house. The driving rain was so bad it was whipping back into the XJ. I needed wipers on the inside of the windshield and the back glass. I had to stop and towel down both just to see. My rear view mirror was dripping at one point. I must say it was a very interesting and painful drive.

I can’t stop without mentioning the quality of these doors. Opening and shutting them is easy and smooth. The doors do add a bit of security for those of you without doors that think you might fall out.

I will be adding a few coats of paint in the next few days. I will post of some pictures up in the FormattFab part of my forum.

A few weeks ago the pinon gear got tore up; missing 2 1/2 teeth. I’m not sure how it happened. At first I thought it was the front driveshafts double cardon joint. I had some trouble with that while in Moab back in October. After turning off the hubs I relized it was in the rear. I first went to the thre rear driveshafts double cardon. I has it checked out and re-balanced. It turned out the balance was slightly off, but nothing was worng with the joints.

Advice on NAXJA said to pull the cover. I did and found the teeth missing. I friend of mine has a contact who does a tremendous job putting in gears. After a few phone calls he was nice enough to come up from Colorado Springs to help me out. Last nigh I put the first 15 minutes on the gears, and then let them sit overnight. The installer said that is the best way to break in a new set.

Why he was working on the gears I was busy with my own project, removing the front and rear doors. The guy at FormattFab are hooking up with a set of their tube doors. I really wish I had removed them a long time ago. The felling of cruising doen the highway without doors in ir trulley very “Jeep Like”. I did save the hinges and plan on atl east getting everything all lined up to put them back on if need be.

The next step is to finish the fender trimming and add a cage.

Air System Install: I spent a ton of time getting all the fittings I need, the local ACE Hardware has been very helpful. I even found a pressure regulator with gauge and valve at Walmart! Who would of thought? I drilled two 1 1/4″ holes in my floor board under the storage area in the center console. This hole will let the main air line in and the other is to let the four air lines out to the lockers. I also ran the switch for the relay. I need to find some firewall rubber inserts to seal up the holes I drilled.

Compressor Mounting: I have decided to try and go a cheap route and not have anything built to hold the compressor. I decided to try cutting down the stock air box and attaching a hinged lid to the top of it; then attached the compressor to that lid. I’ll let you know how that works out.

Tranny Temp Gauge: Since my last XJ was parted out due a bad tranny, I want to make sure this tranny is well maintained and watched closely. I decided to add a tranny temp gauge. I used a simple 2″ AutoMeter unit. Bought the fittings from a local race shop and started the install. I loosely used Jason’s write-up on Jeepin.com. I mounted the gauge in the center console just in front of the t-case shifter on the angled piece(97+). I will post some pitchers soon on the LUVMYJP.com site. I am also thinking about pulling the tranny lines off the stock cooler and just using the aftermarket cooler. When the tranny cooler was installed it was installed so that the cool fluid runs throughout the stock cooler them back to the tranny. This could be heating the tranny fluid before sending it to the tranny. It’s running at 200-210 tops.

Tomken Gas Tank Skid: Pretty easy install. My custom exhaust needed some adjustment. I had to remove the tube past the hanger. I then installed the tank and had a new pipe shaped and welded in place.

Before the weekend I plan on running the air lines run, installing the compressor, JKS SuperNerfs, JKS boomerang shackles,