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tuna posted:You learned all of the right lessons. Yeah the park itself was amazing - we came in right after an early AM rain and everything was damned gorgeous. Definitely lives up to it's reputation in many ways. The main highway was empty and we had a blast driving around - the camping situation was absurd, but I thrive on the ridiculousness of humanity so it was all hilarious to me. My friend was a little more aggravated but he's also a hopeless idealist. I purposely chose to exit out Berdoo to see how tough it was, but next time I'm definitely entering that way too. I'm sure I could make it with the rig as-is, with a bit more gas - my open diffs and small tires would hurt but are next on the $$$$ list. The Ranger at the gate on the way in explicitly stated "We only ask to see your pass on entrance and exit" so there's that. Not that $15 is a killer expense, but I have scruples.... Yea, though I drive through the Valley of the Shadow of Death, I shall fear no Germans.... kastein posted:That kind of shooting area is the kind I really try to stay the hell away from... and their behavior is what gives 4x4 owners a bad rap. It's disgusting - I grew up camping and shooting at the same two sites for the first 24 years of my life and if you went to one today, you'd be hard pressed to find a .22 casing much less shattered glass or household appliances. I remember being not much more than toddler size, and my dad giving me a cup to walk around camp and pick up any bits of foil or wrapper before leaving. I went from learning on .22 bolt action to bringing friends and going hog wild with all sorts of stuff, but we always cleaned up the brass. The family land changed hands eventually to some cattle ranchers - our carefully kept campsite was literally bulldozed so RVs could turn around. I remember my dad sadly walking through kicking aside dip cans/budweiser empties/etc, and muttering "Cowboy trash..." That's when I realized you could love offroading/guns/hunting and the middle of nowhere without being an idiot redneck.
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Dec 31, 2014 03:35
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at that whole situation you described. JT is wonderful but you only have to drive through once to realize how busy it is. You did really get unlucky with the camping though.
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Last weekend I went on an Adopt-a-Trail run with a local Jeep club on Pilot Rock 2N33. We spent the day covering graffiti, picking up trash, and cleaning out culverts like this:  After cleaning:  Most of my pictures look the same, so here's a couple from the day. The group:  Me stroking my ego:   Pics from other people: That's me on the far left in the black hoodie.  And another from the trail:   Of course it wasn't ALL boring work:  
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Dec 31, 2014 06:47
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The Royal Nonesuch posted:That's when I realized you could love offroading/guns/hunting and the middle of nowhere without being an idiot redneck.
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Dec 31, 2014 12:48
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InitialDave posted:I'll always bang the drum about this, because of what happened to us in the UK - the perception of 4x4 and bike users as destroying the countryside, however unjustly applied to everyone thanks to the actions of a few retards, will see you lose access rights unless you push back as hard as you can. I see this all the time around here. Between dick land owners that barely tolerate hikers let alone 4x4s and govt agencies that don't consider ORVs to be a legitimate use of land, it's become harder and harder to find places to wheel.
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Dec 31, 2014 14:59
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Sandbagger SA posted:I see this all the time around here. Between dick land owners that barely tolerate hikers let alone 4x4s and govt agencies that don't consider ORVs to be a legitimate use of land, it's become harder and harder to find places to wheel. They are the stereotype of arrogant townies who think the entire countryside should be some kind of loving theme park for them to bobble-hat their way around, seeing nothing but fluffy baa-baa lambs and jolly farmers on primary-coloured tractors, regardless of other people's rights, up to and including selfishly ignoring voluntary abstentions from use to prevent the spread of foot and mouth etc. They have no interest in anyone but themselves and their own narrow view of what "proper" use is, and even now don't appear to correlate the degredation of certain routes' access due to overgrowth etc with the fact that the 4x4 and trail bike groups who were keeping tracks relatively open and manageable have now been turfed out wholesale.
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Dec 31, 2014 20:45
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It's the dirtiest I've managed to get it so far, does that count? Granted I don't drive in the snow much (today makes maybe the third or fourth time ever) but drat was it nice having Quadradrive + snow-rated all-terrains. At one recreation area where the parking lot was long full and they were making people turn around on a two-lane road with shoulders that had turned to a soup of mud and snow, I watched a few cars and an Escalade spin their wheels for ages sliding around before they got anywhere. I flipped that U like it was on dry pavement.  Despite snow and slush and even some ice everywhere all day, the biggest problem I had by far was the lines for the washer fluid freezing up.Going to have to wash it tomorrow since I don't want whatever Flagstaff uses for deicer to stick around on it any longer than needed. But then I'm going to actually get some practice driving off-road next weekend.
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Jan 2, 2015 04:29
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IOwnCalculus posted:snow-rated all-terrains That's cute. But it also makes you the king of the road in your climate, so hell yeah. IOwnCalculus posted:the biggest problem I had by far was the lines for the washer fluid freezing up. You probably can't even buy the right stuff there. Ours is mostly alcohol. And drat does the high proof stuff cut through frost well. The whole experience must have been crazy. Even in you are personally used to snow.
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Jan 2, 2015 04:35
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BoostCreep posted:The group: Awesome. How did that white new Cherokee do?
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Jan 2, 2015 06:16
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Motronic posted:That's cute. But it also makes you the king of the road in your climate, so hell yeah. They've got the snowflake symbol on them, and they're the only tires I've ever bought with them. Every other time I've driven on snow its been with regular all seasons (thanks, rental minivan) or an E320 on summer tires (thanks Dad) and suffice it to say it didn't go so well. I have at least ridden shotgun a few times in a properly equipped vehicle on snow (V70XC on proper snow tires), so I at least have some understanding of how much traction there can be on snow - this was just the first time I've ever had anywhere near that while driving. They do sell the winter washer fluid here too, but they don't stock much, and this trip was a last minute change of plans. Not like I would be able to flush it all out easily without just spraying until the reservoir is empty. At least any time I parked it the heat of the engine was enough to remelt the lines and get it flowing again. IOwnCalculus fucked around with this message at 14:56 on Jan 2, 2015 |
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Jan 2, 2015 14:53
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I usually just pull the hoses off the pumps and let it self drain, the pumps are typically flow-through and there are rarely hoseclamps on them since the pressure is basically nonexistent. Last time I had to do this was because I borrowed a car that had either coolant/washer fluid mix or dish soap and water in it, not sure which, and it was like 10 degrees. Glad I discovered that half a block from a gas station not on the highway because the sludgy ice smear it made on the windshield was AMAZING.
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Jan 2, 2015 16:47
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IOwnCalculus posted:They do sell the winter washer fluid here too, but they don't stock much, and this trip was a last minute change of plans. Not like I would be able to flush it all out easily without just spraying until the reservoir is empty. At least any time I parked it the heat of the engine was enough to remelt the lines and get it flowing again. If its not too cold, even starting to mix winter stuff in usually helps. My truck had all summer bug-removing crap, and it snapped cold here real quick 2 weeks ago. Only had half a reservoir left or so, so I just dumped in some -40 rated, and its mostly better. After my lovely drive through a blizzard this last weekend, its probably down to under 1/2 again, so I can top it up and be mostly-winterized hahah.
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Jan 2, 2015 18:40
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I could probably do that but it would take forever - my washer fluid capacity is reduced a bit due to a crack or something. I haven't tracked it down yet but if I ever try to fill it full it just starts leaking out as fast as I can put it in. Might do it anyway, it managed to get to 30 overnight and froze the lines again.
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Jan 3, 2015 05:39
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CharlieWhiskey posted:Awesome. How did that white new Cherokee do? It did great. I talked to the guy for a while and he said he never even needed to engage the rear locker or 4LO. Granted he didn't do any difficult obstacles (and neither did I), but he said he had no banging or dragging on anything under the Jeep. I was behind him the entire time and did get to see quite a lot of 3 wheeling action. I also uploaded a video of me driving through a deceptively deep puddle on the trail. That white Cherokee that was in front of me had water up to the bottom of its frame when it went through. It was exciting for a wheeling noob like myself, especially in the middle of a crazy drought. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kr7NAVt1U08 <- Click for extremely mild puddle crossing.
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Jan 3, 2015 12:13
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IOwnCalculus posted:I could probably do that but it would take forever - my washer fluid capacity is reduced a bit due to a crack or something. I haven't tracked it down yet but if I ever try to fill it full it just starts leaking out as fast as I can put it in. I tend to have a jug of denatured alcohol in the garage for various thing. If you do too, dump some in there. And by some I mean like 1/3 to 1/2 of the volume of the non-winter poo poo you've already got in the reservoir. Drive to mix and then run it enough to get it through the lines. Done.
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Jan 3, 2015 18:10
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Checking in to say that -40 washer fluid still works when its colder than -40. Ask me how I found out last night.
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Jan 5, 2015 10:29
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jonathan posted:Checking in to say that -40 washer fluid still works when its colder than -40. Ask me how I found out last night. It's fun when you get to drive down the street out here and find the minimum reportable temperature on the thermosensors on all the bank signs. A lot of them stop at -32 which is odd to me.
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Jan 5, 2015 16:44
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Seat Safety Switch posted:It's fun when you get to drive down the street out here and find the minimum reportable temperature on the thermosensors on all the bank signs. A lot of them stop at -32 which is odd to me. How many of them were reading temperatures over 127 degrees?
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Jan 5, 2015 16:46
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kastein posted:How many of them were reading temperatures over 127 degrees? Not cold enough for underflow I hope. One of them just said "Err"
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Jan 5, 2015 16:46
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jonathan posted:Checking in to say that -40 washer fluid still works when its colder than -40. Ask me how I found out last night. Same way I found out that 1/2 -40 and 1/2 summer bug remover is still good at -35? :P loving cold snaps. I don't even want to start the truck - thank christ I work from home, and the wife isn't driving this week, so I can take the garaged car if I have to go anywhere. This weather is absolute murder on vehicles. Already watched 3 get hauled away by tow-truck today, and I'm on a quiet street.
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Jan 5, 2015 17:46
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Jeep 3.8L serpentine belt sounds like a cat in a microwave. My ram2500 apparently is stalling randomly. Not sure if its the cold or the 11000 dollar collision it had back in October. Just got out of body shop.
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Jan 5, 2015 19:37
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jonathan posted:Jeep 3.8L serpentine belt sounds like a cat in a microwave. My ram2500 apparently is stalling randomly. Not sure if its the cold or the 11000 dollar collision it had back in October. Just got out of body shop. Ouch on the truck  And someone on my street has a serpentine belt that...I can't describe it. Every time they start their vehicle, I hear these horrible wails, increasing in pitch until the offending ride has driven away. Unfortunately they seem to drive away from me, so I never see what's doing it. I hate that sound
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Jan 5, 2015 20:08
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Siochain posted:Ouch on the truck No biggie. It was all cosmetic. Now all the rock chips are gone. Not sure why it was stalling and didn't witness it myself. I suspect it cold weather/fuel related. Its showing a couple odd codes like ambient air temp out of range and something about fuel injector #5
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Jan 6, 2015 11:41
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Ambient air temp out of range is probably because Chrysler typically installs the sensor in the front grille or on the front frame crossmember behind the bumper. I bet the wires got smashed. IIRC the color codes are black with a light blue stripe and... purple with a brown stripe? Or green? I forget. It's two wires going to a temp sensor somewhere up front, should be pretty obvious when you see it.
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Jan 6, 2015 15:40
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I offroaded a Jeep today! (or, the case of the mysterious moving brush bar)    Probably just rotated it on its mounts, but the bumper itself seems to be mostly unscathed. A shitload of fun even if I did spend a lot of time with my stomach roughly in my throat. Even stock and going slow to avoid simply smacking from one nerf bar to the other when rocking side-to-side, this Jeep is more capable than I am.
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Jan 11, 2015 01:16
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Looks like fun! Time to ditch the chrome and give yourself a few inches of lift 
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Jan 11, 2015 02:29
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A budget boost is definitely tempting. Got another run in two weeks which thankfully won't require nearly three loving hours round trip to get there and back (today was a long, long day). I should probably clear out the backlog of projects for the GMC before I start non-maintenance items on the Jeep, though.
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Jan 11, 2015 03:17
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I would have unbolted my lovely nerf bars long ago, except that climbing into my TJ would be pretty tricky now that it has a 4" lift. They are decently scratched up on the bottom, but any real impact would probably mangle them.
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Jan 11, 2015 03:27
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IOwnCalculus posted:A budget boost is definitely tempting... *six months later* IOC: "so I've got the 4.5" lift on, debating between 33" BFG MT or Mickey MTZs" And yeah, I'd plastidip the bullbar/rails black - cheap and easy. That or leave it and blast narcocorridos on the trail 
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Jan 11, 2015 03:31
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The Royal Nonesuch posted:And yeah, I'd plastidip the bullbar/rails black - cheap and easy. That or leave it and blast narcocorridos on the trail That brush bar is only going to cause more damage to the truck (like it almost already did) if it is ever used for anything other than shoving weeds out of the way. They are purely cosmetic, and if you're going to go out on the trail they are best left at home.
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Jan 11, 2015 04:30
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I'll whip up video from the dashcam of the ditch that I think caused most of the pushback - honestly it was just steep enough and just short enough that I was going to get hung up on it either way and I think in this case it might've saved the bumper from getting ripped off. It did definitely push back into the bumper a bit, there's some cracking in the paint.The Royal Nonesuch posted:*six months later* Maybe the paint damage is what ends up justifying a full steel bumper
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Jan 11, 2015 04:41
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IOwnCalculus posted:I'll whip up video from the dashcam of the ditch that I think caused most of the pushback - honestly it was just steep enough and just short enough that I was going to get hung up on it either way and I think in this case it might've saved the bumper from getting ripped off. It did definitely push back into the bumper a bit, there's some cracking in the paint. It may have done some good, but I've seen them do a lot of damage more often than not. At least yours isn't tall enough to reach the grill or hood when it rotates and/or bends. Those do some NICE bodywork. IOwnCalculus posted:Maybe the paint damage is what ends up justifying a full steel bumper This is the correct answer.
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Jan 11, 2015 05:03
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IOwnCalculus posted:Maybe the paint damage is what ends up justifying a full steel bumper One of us, one of us!
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Jan 11, 2015 05:04
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Here is a video from last weekend's Jeep run through the Mojave. A ton of Jeeps! http://youtu.be/jEV7gLSkrmE     
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Jan 11, 2015 05:38
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I'll be perfectly honest, that's the kind of offroading that appeals to me more than crawling over rocky roads. Not a huge amount of it here, though.
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Jan 11, 2015 06:02
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Yeah exploring the deserts is one of the best things about the west. I do also love rock crawling though.
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Jan 11, 2015 06:21
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Man that looks like fun. Today I'm meeting up with a group of FJ guys to drive about 50 miles of cold, rainy beach 
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Jan 11, 2015 14:44
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Motronic posted:That brush bar is only going to cause more damage to the truck (like it almost already did) if it is ever used for anything other than shoving weeds out of the way. They are purely cosmetic, and if you're going to go out on the trail they are best left at home. If you see a WJ with the factory rock rails (such as an Overland) in a junkyard, they'd offer you some protection to the sills without having to spend on aftermarket kit.
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Jan 11, 2015 15:44
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InitialDave posted:I'd agree with this. I'd also say the same for the sidesteps. Every WJ I've seen in a junkyard here has been heavily picked through, they don't last long in yards here. Closer up photo today of the 'carnage':  Yep, definitely bent the mounting ears. The bar itself seems unscathed, but both ears have a nice twist in them. Seems like if they'd just have put some form of triangulation on them, it might've survived.  Looks like it did push it back on the slotted mount holes on the subframe, though. Loosened them (they weren't terribly tight), pushed the bracket as far forward as possible (impacting the sway-bar bushing), torqued them down. Now I have at least a sliver of daylight between the bar and bumper again, though I may just undo the bar before I go on another trail in two weeks  Diffs and transfer case look clean, looks like the hits I took along the center were all on that crossmember.  One of the LCAs has a dent now, and all four points where the nerf bars bolt to the subframe look roughly equally gouged up. The bars themselves seem to still be reasonably straight (haven't inspected them closely without mud on them) but the ears might be a bit tweaked.  Backend. Looks like the HF D-ring hitch I threw in the receiver took the worst of it, the skid plate for the gas tank has a few new marks but is otherwise fine.  Decided to clean the air filter while I was at it.   If it looks like that after the run in two weeks, I might pitch the K&N after all. Lastly - snapped this of the label on the fuel tank skid. I can't seem to get any hits on google for any of these numbers - does anyone know whether this is the thinner brush guard, or the thicker skid plate? 
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Jan 11, 2015 22:25
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tuna posted:Yeah exploring the deserts is one of the best things about the west. I do also love rock crawling though. Especially desert running in a vehicle that can take the bumps at higher speed.
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Jan 11, 2015 22:57
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| # ? May 24, 2024 20:15 |
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IOC, that chrome stuff is just a liability, it won't offer any protection at all, and could cause you to suffer damage where not having it might mean you just clear something. Edit - the tank guard, though, looks thick enough to be useful, unless you do somethign really silly with what is your "nice" car.
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Jan 11, 2015 23:01
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