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I went with a handheld Cobra CB and while I won't say I regret it (it was dirt cheap on Amazon Warehouse Deals), it is definitely worth the time and money to do something like what Krakkles posted with an external antenna. In a 30-Jeep run through a slot canyon, I was in the middle and couldn't reliably hear people at the front or the back. I should probably just get another ham license. I had a Technician license as a kid but pretty much dropped it cold once I got my grubby paws on the internet. It expired something like 15 years ago.
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Apr 20, 2016 19:36
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IOwnCalculus posted:I went with a handheld Cobra CB and while I won't say I regret it (it was dirt cheap on Amazon Warehouse Deals), it is definitely worth the time and money to do something like what Krakkles posted with an external antenna. In a 30-Jeep run through a slot canyon, I was in the middle and couldn't reliably hear people at the front or the back.   'Sup, lost-interest-in-Radio-Greybeard buddy?
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Apr 20, 2016 20:36
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You need at least four CB antennas
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Apr 20, 2016 21:20
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Quit being a bitch. Chinese programmable RF radios with fake FCC stamps are the new hotness.
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Apr 20, 2016 21:43
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I should just take my CB out of the jeep, I use it so seldom. I wired it with some male and female spade connectors so I can remove it easily, but I've never done so. Just like the fog lights I just cut off - I completely forgot that I made them unpluggable.
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Apr 20, 2016 23:29
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gotta pick your guys brains, my old 1900 chevy 2500 had a starter issue, roughly one out of every 10 starts wouldn't reset the solenoid, so i would wack it with a hammer and it'd start. I replaced it and the starter itself a couple years ago but the issue persisted, i attributed it to lovely NAPA parts. i dont use the pickup very often so no biggie. Last weekend I decided to show it some love and throw some parts at it, bought a more expensive solenoid online and swapped it out, went camping, came back and again the solenoid didnt reset unless I wacked it with a hammer. Any ideas what's causing it?
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Apr 21, 2016 05:27
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Willfrey posted:gotta pick your guys brains, my old 1900 chevy 2500 had a starter issue, roughly one out of every 10 starts wouldn't reset the solenoid, so i would wack it with a hammer and it'd start. I replaced it and the starter itself a couple years ago but the issue persisted, i attributed it to lovely NAPA parts. i dont use the pickup very often so no biggie. Last weekend I decided to show it some love and throw some parts at it, bought a more expensive solenoid online and swapped it out, went camping, came back and again the solenoid didnt reset unless I wacked it with a hammer. Any ideas what's causing it? Do you mean that it isn't pulling off of the flywheel, or isn't hitting the contacts that trigger the starter motor? If it isn't pulling off of the flywheel, you may have some munched up teeth somewhere?
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Apr 21, 2016 06:53
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Astonishing Wang posted:I should just take my CB out of the jeep, I use it so seldom. I wired it with some male and female spade connectors so I can remove it easily, but I've never done so. Just like the fog lights I just cut off - I completely forgot that I made them unpluggable. I'm right there with you but I got one of those duplexer (?) boxes that lets me run both my FM and CB through the same antenna and it just looks so cool in the center of my YJ's dash. 
Sandbagger SA fucked around with this message at 13:31 on Apr 21, 2016 |
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Apr 21, 2016 13:11
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I can't imagine that's great for reception.
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Apr 21, 2016 13:50
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Krakkles posted:I can't imagine that's great for reception. It stands straight up when I untether it. It works fine on the FM side with it tied down.
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Apr 21, 2016 14:01
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Sandbagger SA posted:It stands straight up when I untether it. It works fine on the FM side with it tied down. That's what she said I'm so sorry
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Apr 21, 2016 14:04
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Willfrey posted:gotta pick your guys brains, my old 1900 chevy 2500 had a starter issue, roughly one out of every 10 starts wouldn't reset the solenoid, so i would wack it with a hammer and it'd start. I replaced it and the starter itself a couple years ago but the issue persisted, i attributed it to lovely NAPA parts. i dont use the pickup very often so no biggie. Last weekend I decided to show it some love and throw some parts at it, bought a more expensive solenoid online and swapped it out, went camping, came back and again the solenoid didnt reset unless I wacked it with a hammer. Any ideas what's causing it? Are you sure it's the solenoid not crummy brushes in the starter itself? Be careful with how hard you whack those things BTW, if you get too frisky with them it cracks the permanent magnets or they come unglued from the inside of the housing and immediately stick to the rotor, which doesn't really improve the starter's performance much.
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Apr 21, 2016 15:19
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I am not hitting the starter itself, just the solenoid case that hangs off the side of it and houses the bendix spring and has all the electricial leads. I am guessing the spring is not resetting? idk how it functions exactly but smacking it makes it work.
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Apr 21, 2016 23:59
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Parked my Jeep next to a bunch of Wranglers, a Tacoma, and a J10, next to some solar panels. At the top of a ~5600' mountain, of course.     It's ultimately a BLM-maintained "road" the whole way up and even has about 100 yards of concrete at one section, but it is steep. This picture does a decent job of showing that. 
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Apr 26, 2016 00:43
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Hit Uwharrie a couple weekends ago. Went with my local club. There were 2 buggies, a very built CJ7, 1 J truck, 1 very built Commando, 2 XJs, 1 SAS'd Sidekick, my SAS'd Trooper, and 14 JK/JKU's. I wheeled a lot more back in the early 2000s and back then the trails were teeming with TJ's. This day I saw 1 TJ the whole day on the trails. I guess you Jeep people just upgrade every 10 years. My kiddo (scooby doo hat in the corner) had fun on his first ride    my view most of the day:  Sweet J truck with super duty axles, hummer beadlocks and olde schoole goodyear m/t's  unfortunately he had the ol' 4.2 with a carb that doesn't enjoy hanging out at an incline for any period of time. When posing on Poser rock goes a little too far. Even $40k buggies aren't immune to getting stuck doing dumb poo poo.  FYI, if you have 23 rigs show up for a ride, maybe split them into 2-3 groups.
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Apr 26, 2016 15:59
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Paulie posted:
Gah, I can't imagine wheeling with a group that large! The largest our group ever got was 11 and it just wasn't a good time with that many people. There was more sitting around waiting for people than there was actual wheeling that day and we decided that 4-6 was the ideal number. When we did our Windrock trip last year there was 6 of us and that was the perfect number to keep things moving.
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Apr 26, 2016 16:11
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Paulie posted:Hit Uwharrie a couple weekends ago. Went with my local club. There were 2 buggies, a very built CJ7, 1 J truck, 1 very built Commando, 2 XJs, 1 SAS'd Sidekick, my SAS'd Trooper, and 14 JK/JKU's. I wheeled a lot more back in the early 2000s and back then the trails were teeming with TJ's. This day I saw 1 TJ the whole day on the trails. I guess you Jeep people just upgrade every 10 years. JKs have some nice electronic assists and basically outdo TJs if you have lots of money. I wasn't jeeping when TJs overtook YJs, but I think a similar thing happened, TJs were so much better that everyone upgraded. Seems that Jeeps get better every ten years. That, or after ten years of being wheeled, poo poo is falling apart.
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Apr 26, 2016 20:38
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EightBit posted:That, or after ten years of being wheeled, poo poo is falling apart. No doubt. I just kinda figured that the surviving TJ's would be more a more affordable starting point for a weekend warrior. Or maybe I'm just getting old and it seems weird to see so many "new" "expensive" Jeeps out on the trail. I do have to admit, for all the unoriginality snark I can toss out to the drivers, the JK's are pretty impressive on the trail. We had a middle aged mom driving her kids and husband around in a totally stock JKU. She smoked her clutch for the first hour, but after some coaching she was doing much better. No siginificant damage and nobody had to pull cable or strap up all day (aside from yanking the buggy off Poser Rock). With some good spotting, she made it through some pretty gnarly lines.
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Apr 26, 2016 21:22
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I get the feeling the JK is immensely popular for two reasons: There's a lot more JK Rubicons available than TJ Rubicons, and the fact that a four-door exists at all. There are a lot of people who want to "mod" their Jeep by slapping lightbars / big tires / low-effort lift kits on it, but when you start throwing out words like "axle swap" they get a bit nervous. The Rubis with their factory front/rear D44 axles can go further without an axle swap (in terms of tire size) than any other Wrangler. On top of that, there's the crowd that just wants to buy it and drive it, and for them a JKR is probably the single most off-road capable vehicle you can easily buy new off of a dealer lot. And then, of course, there's the fact that a proper four-door Wrangler didn't exist before. Even among the local crowd with heavily built up JKs, the "limos" outnumber the two-doors by a wide margin. I also have yet to ride in a JK, but if you told me they even ride a fraction better than a TJ going down the road, I'd believe you and put that as the third reason. Granted, the TJs I've been in have certainly been in varying degrees of "poo poo" condition, but they were awful just driving around town. Never been in a nice enough one to say it's just the nature of the beast instead of cheap owners with worn out suspension.
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Apr 26, 2016 21:46
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lovely ride quality is just a factor of the suspension style, lifting a coil-sprung Wrangler means that the control arms have a harsher angle and more of the vertical motion is going to go into the body instead of vertical axle travel. The axle comprising a huge amount of unsprung weight doesn't help with the ride, either. I don't have measurements to really compare, but from my time on trails, JKs have their control arms mounted lower than TJs that can fit the same size tires, meaning that they will definitely have better vertical travel when hitting bumps. This would mean a better street ride and an easier time going up ledges.
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Apr 26, 2016 21:57
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The jk control arms are also much longer. Angle wise a 4" lift on a jk is like a 2.5" lift on a tj. Combine that with the length of a 4 door and you have a pretty stable platform even with 37's and a lift. They're still gutless and really need a regear
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Apr 27, 2016 00:56
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It's like Jeep looked at the common fixes and lumped them in. Except for strong enough axles.
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Apr 27, 2016 04:05
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The one TJ I've actually driven was modified, but one of the ones I've ridden in was stock or very near it. The problem with them wasn't the harshness, it was the unpredictability. The one I drove (which was a raging piece of poo poo) drat near swapped ends going over railroad tracks in a straight line.jonathan posted:The jk control arms are also much longer. Angle wise a 4" lift on a jk is like a 2.5" lift on a tj. Combine that with the length of a 4 door and you have a pretty stable platform even with 37's and a lift. They're still gutless and really need a regear Thankfully the mindset that "must have 37s" is so pervasive that if/when I long-arm my WJ, there are scores of fresh JK 32" takeoffs on Craigslist for cheap.
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Apr 27, 2016 06:03
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Sounds like it had suspension issues beyond harsh control arm angles. When I went to a 4" lift, I used a tape measure to set the toe and a lovely magnetic angle finder to set the pinion angles (caster takes second fiddle here, as you can't adjust caster and pinion independently). The handling to the only alignment shop near me that knew the first thing about aligning 4x4s was drifty, and that was with the settings actually really close; the handling went from unsafe to straight when they were done. They barely have any return-to-center behavior as-is, lifting diminishes it, but you shouldn't have issues going over straight bumps like railroad crossings (except for getting bounced around).
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Apr 27, 2016 07:07
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You can adjust caster and pinion angle separately, but you have to cut the welds holding the inner Cs on, rotate them with a BFH, and reweld them to do it. Certainly not something I expect everyone to do. Saw this posted on a local facebook offroad parts for sale group, sadly just as a pic of the tires, which were for sale: 
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Apr 27, 2016 15:42
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kastein posted:You can adjust caster and pinion angle separately, but you have to cut the welds holding the inner Cs on, rotate them with a BFH, and reweld them to do it. Certainly not something I expect everyone to do. the last time I saw a sami built like that it visibly wobbled front/back when it came to a stop at a red light. It looked like the perfect combination of terrible fun and horrifying to drive.
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Apr 27, 2016 16:14
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Moving back to California next week. Time to bust out the H1 out of storage. I called to get new tag info and discovered that I should have probably filed a non operational permit instead of letting my registration lapse.  Not a big deal in most places but in California you just can't let the tags lapse, they'll still charge you for it so I got a pile of late fees to deal with at the DMV  Time to break in that new engine, probably going to hit Anza Borrego for memorial day weekend. And yes.. big groups can really suck. It's fine for easy trails as long as you don't stop every 5 minutes to take pictures. I was out to a Hummer Club run at Moab one year... and when we got to the Poison Spider start point [running Spider/Golden Spike/Gold Bar Rim] there was a huge lineup.  My partner saw the line up and decided to go shopping with his wife instead in Moab. He warned me I wouldn't get back for a long long time [20+ trucks]. And I would have heeded his advice except... I had to keep an eye on my friends Class 8 Baja H1 [the white one above] since the driver wasn't a mechanic/maintenance guy, and I had to be around in case there was any problems. There wasn't... but we didn't get off the trail until after 10... just after all the Bars stopped serving alcohol. I even got blamed by a few for slowing the group up since I was in the rear [complete horseshit, one guy broke down like 3 times and that sucked up 3 hours of people just sitting around]. I took the next day off and then stuck with all the small groups of 3-5 trucks instead and let the big monster groups go off on their own. I can't imagine the traffic jam that is the Easter Jeep Weekend.
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Apr 27, 2016 16:15
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Big K of Justice posted:I even got blamed by a few for slowing the group up since I was in the rear [complete horseshit, one guy broke down like 3 times and that sucked up 3 hours of people just sitting around]. See, for me this is the only time a big group sucks - when someone has the idea that a big group also needs to go fast and throws a fit about it. It's just not going to happen so enjoy the time outside / with friends. If you want to blast through a run in an hour or two, no matter how simple, keep the numbers low. If you want to take a bunch of Jeeps, especially if a few of them are Jeep-in-name-only Patriots, you might want to plan on going slower Why yes, I did get called out as being "the slowest" on a run where we spent 45 minutes waiting for someone in a Patriot to climb up a moderately steep hill!
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Apr 27, 2016 17:37
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Sandbagger SA posted:the last time I saw a sami built like that it visibly wobbled front/back when it came to a stop at a red light. It looked like the perfect combination of terrible fun and horrifying to drive. That's a great description of driving my Samurai. It doesn't have shocks on it right now. It's got a spring over axle lift with 31" tires. I'm pretty new to this so I've been doing modifications slowly, one thing at a time. I'm not even sure yet if I can get shocks off the shelf that will bolt right on or if I'll need new mounts welded on because of the lift. Current to do list... -I need to get a back seat for it so both of my kids can ride in it at the same time. -I need to change out the ignition switch. I really just need to swap out the key mechanism because the tumblers are trashed. Sometimes after I start it, it will randomly decide to engage and try to crank it even though it's already cranked and I have to fiddle with the key to make it stop. The tumblers got screwed up because the starter wasn't getting enough juice from the battery so I'd have to rapidly turn the key off and on several times because it would just click and it got worn out. I put a starter relay in this morning to fix that. It cranks every time I turn the key now. -I need shocks -For street driving I really need to reinstall blinkers. -I'd like to get a/c reinstalled. - I want to make the front more attractive and get a winch. Stock bumper doesn't fit anymore as it is now. I'm thinking about just getting a grill and mounting a winch to the existing supports and call it a day. I'm sure there's more stuff I need. I just don't know that I need/want it. 
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Apr 30, 2016 21:11
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Joshua Tree Old Dale Mine District/Brooklyn Mine Road and a stock Tacoma 4x4 TRD A friend of mine had been wanting to go drive the Old Dale/Gold Crown road north out of Joshua Tree ever since he got his pretty new 2015 Tacoma TRD 4x4. I studied a few topo maps and decided the route looked boring (if you can find blogs written by beer-gutted middle aged white dudes in $50,000 JKs it's probably dull) so I casually suggested we detour out through the Old Dale mine district/Brooklyn Mine road. Park maps don't show it connecting to the Gold Crown road but after a bit of Google Maps sat photo analysis it all tied together. I also just put a lunchbox Aussie locker in the front axle of my XJ and wanted to give it a try. Joshua Tree is a major destination this time of year what with moderate temperatures and all. You can avoid the $15 entrance fee by coming up Berdoo Canyon out of Indio on the south side of the park. It's a moderate road you could do in 2wd if you have some clearance and know how to pick your way around rocks. There's one obstacle where 4wd is nice but probably not totally necessary... it's not a difficult part per say and you could do it in 2wd with throttle and knowing what you're doing. There are lots of plastic undercarriage bits from people who didn't. My friend navigating the step   From there it's easy cruising up through Geology Tour Road and onto the highway through Joshua Tree. Take it to the East down into Pinto Basin and head North on Old Dale Road:  Once you're on Old Dale, take that first right onto the Brooklyn Mine Road and you're immediately up in a maze of rocky old roads leading every which way and dead-ending at places where turning around sucks - I usually ended up scouting the trails in my XJ to see if he could A) make it up with his clearance B) turn around at the end. I had pre-downloaded topo and satellite maps into GaiaGPS on my iPad and that poo poo was key in figuring out which roads went through etc. My XJ with the new locker was full cheatmode and cruised through everything - I was mostly concerned with his stock BFG Rugged Trail tires but since they were essentially new and we aired them down to 18psi they did fine. He hit his front skidplate several times, and scuffed his trans support crossmember and rear diff (mostly from taking downhill obstacles too fast/suspension compression). The Tacoma departure angle sucks and his trailer hitch scraped a bunch but I told him that would happen before we left. The whole area was scattered with deep vertical mineshafts... normal, simple reversing often needed a spotter just for those (spot the pit!)  Lots of treacherous old places for idiots like us to explore:  We tried but it wouldn't start  Oh god the bank still owns this truck  View to the north  Took this road up and ran across another XJ near the top  I don't trust my parking brake/road is steeper than it looks  We took a side road down into a canyon past an active mining claim, and finally found someplace with enough flat ground to set up camp (Huge panorama photo)  Climbed back out the next day   Overall it was a great road and I can't talk poo poo to my buddy anymore about his virgin Tacoma. Once he got all of his traction control gizmo buttons figured out the truck did very well climbing it's way up loose rocky hills. He definitely had to plan ahead and engage his 4lo & rear locker ahead of time/reverse ten feet/pull forward ten feet/repeat until all the proper lights were on, but with a bit more lift and good tires that truck will be fantastic. All I had to do was put the Jeep in neutral and yank it to 4lo, but he had full climate control and a far smoother ride so it evens out a bit. Final bonus photo showing how a Galaxy Nexus S5 camera chip freaks out when attempting to photograph a mine tunnel looking out towards the light - I was crouching in the entrance; definitely not hovering above. Interestingly we got the same effect in video mode... 
The Royal Nonesuch fucked around with this message at 08:21 on May 3, 2016 |
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May 3, 2016 08:15
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Goddman I'm jealous of all the scenery you folks have out West. I'm hoping that my impending midlife crisis will involve driving/wheeling through a lot of it.
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May 3, 2016 17:02
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I'm planning to drive my TJ from Chicago to Denver for a conference in July, and I thought I might take a few days to do some camping and offroading while I'm in Colorado / The West. Any suggestions on where to go? Anyone want to join me on a weekday for some offroading?
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May 18, 2016 15:42
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Holy gently caress WARN winches are mad expensive.
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May 20, 2016 07:52
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Safety Dance posted:I'm planning to drive my TJ from Chicago to Denver for a conference in July, and I thought I might take a few days to do some camping and offroading while I'm in Colorado / The West. Any suggestions on where to go? Anyone want to join me on a weekday for some offroading? How done up is your tj? There are a ton of places of different levels around an hour from Denver. I would go somewhere in my modestly lifted XJ.
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May 20, 2016 07:54
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31" Duratracs, and that's it. I was thinking I'd hit the Alpine Loop on the way there, do my conference thing, and then *maybe* something else offroady before I head home.
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May 20, 2016 17:13
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Saw this and thought of you guys https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0vpeyNig3xw
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May 20, 2016 17:51
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Previous owner of my Samurai made the exhaust really loud. Thought about putting a snorkel on it when I quiet it down. I wouldn't be afraid of 3 or 4 ft deep water with it. That thing is so light it seems like a good candidate for 100% amphibious (not going to do that).
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May 20, 2016 18:04
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Neo Mara posted:Saw this and thought of you guys drat, came here to post this exact video. That poo poo is bonkers!
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May 20, 2016 19:47
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So I picked up http://www.amazon.com/Sierra-Nevada-Byways-Nevadas-Backcountry/dp/0899974732?ie=UTF8&psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00. I was a little disapointed to see that there were really only 3 listed trails near me (Fresno) but today I head out to do the shortest of them. It was pretty spectacular and serves as a reminder of the infrastructure that PG&E and SOCAL Edison have in Central CA. http://imgur.com/a/BLxy5
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May 23, 2016 04:52
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A friend snapped these of my FJ last weekend at Lone Star Toyota Jamboree.    
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May 25, 2016 05:07
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