A Boy and his Jeep &#187; Red Jeep

Getting ready for SoCal Fest 2010 – Part 2

GSequoia — Thu, 29 Apr 2010 07:26:50 +0000

Since I worked late last night I snuck in a bit of time today to take care of my red Jeep’s suspension issues in preparation for SoCal Fest 2010. As I was inspecting the front end I noticed the right coil spring was sitting differently than the left so I measured my wheelbase. It seems I screwed up during my buildup for the Rockin’ XJ Jamoboree 2006. I was running 101.5″ wheelbase on the left side (my planned amount) and 102.5″ on the right. Oops! So the first order of business was to adjust my TNT Y-Link radius arm out to get them wheels closer to where they ought to be.

After that I adjusted the tow in back to zero and the Jeep was happy again. Clawhammer did punish my tie rod a bit, I was probably about 0.25″ toed in and my tie rod has a wobble now, oh well… After taking care of the front end I started getting my gear together, now I’m about 80% packed and ready for the event, I just need to pack clothes, food, and some other small items and correct my intermittent charging problem and I’ll be set.

Sequoia

Getting ready for SoCal Fest 2010 – Part 1

GSequoia — Mon, 26 Apr 2010 06:23:18 +0000

The event is just two weeks away and I’ve got a lot of work to do!

Click to read more:With just two weeks to spare it’s time to get the Jeep out of the back yard and ready to drive up to Big Bear. My list of stuff to repair is rather small but the process of getting it through the garage is not easy, all this is in the way:

So the first step is to remove all that crap and pull the Jeep out.

Since I don’t have a whole lot of room at the front of the house I need to put the old truck in the back, this is easier said than done. First I have to fold the large towing mirrors in then it’s a real tight fit pulling through and even tighter fit once it’s back there. Backing it out is going to suck.

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The only mechanical work for the day I managed to do was clean up my wiring mess at the power distribution area. Unfortunately this did not correct my intermittent charging issue like I hoped, it’s either the alternator or Mobi-Arc (acts at voltage regulator) causing that.

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But the important part was getting the Jeep in the driveway.

Click to enlarge.

Sequoia

Jeniko Laptop Mount

GSequoia — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 03:20:02 +0000

I installed a universal laptop mount today.

See more below.I ordered a universal laptop mount from Jeniko, I’ve been wanting to figure out a laptop mount for my Jeeps for awhile so that I can run my navigation software while on the go. Instead of going through the trouble to build one I purchased a well-built and economical mount from Jeniko. The mount is a very good basic mount although I did have to modify it slightly in order to install it.

I started out by using the base as a template to mark the mounting holes so I could pre-drill them. Since I was going through carpet I wanted to make sure I had the holes exactly where I wanted as carpet and insulation has a tendency to grab self-drilling screws and throw them off course in the blink of an eye.

The only issue I’ve noticed with the mount was they painted the mount after cutting and tapping, because of this I had to run a tap through one piece so that the set screw would run in smoothly. This was important because this is the screw you remove in order to take the entire mount out of the vehicle, I will be doing this a lot for theft prevention and because I’ll be using this mount in multiple vehicles.

Here is the base installed, this is what remains of the mount when you remove it from the vehicle.

Because the Cherokee interior is a rater small space I wanted the mount to take as little room as possible so I cut about five inches off the main boom and then drilled an additional mount hole so I could tuck it in closer.

Once I did that everything is done. In the future I plan to modify the laptop table so that it holds the computer more securely. I might also make a brace for the vertical arm if the table shakes too much while on the road.

Sequoia

Pulling the ’96 Out

GSequoia — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 00:07:29 +0000

Just a couple of pointless videos here. Me bringing the ’96 out of my work area and then pulling the red Jeep into it for storage.

[See post to watch Flash video] [See post to watch Flash video]

Tip: Go into full screen mode to see it better.

That’s it.

Finally there! Click to see it bigger.

2009 Rockin’ XJ Jamboree

GSequoia — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 01:48:17 +0000

November is here so that means it’s time to head to Johnson Valley again for the Rockin’ XJ Jamboree!

Read more below!Every year I head out to Johnson Valley in November to play in the rock and spend some time with good friends around a campfire, we call this the Rockin’ XJ Jamboree and it’s more fun than a barrel of demented monkeys! I got my Jeep together and started the 140 mile trek on Friday night, I arrived at the lakebed at 1230a.

This means the it’s time to have fun.

Saturday morning I was slated to lead the Clawhammer run, this is the moderate-hard run by NAXJA’s standards. I had a group of nine rigs with me and we left the lakebed at about 930a to go play.

We stopped along the way to let Critter get some dune play out of his system while Terry looked at a minor mechanical issue on his XJ.

After that we continued on to Clawhammer. Once we got into the rocks that start the trail the fun started and the participants started dropping like flies! Right away one of the two Samaris that came along was having a slipping clutch issue so wisely decided to head back to camp. I pulled forward a little ways and started spotting people through the more tricky spots while Josh and Critter helped by spotting others. Here is Anthony’s driveshaft making love to a rock.

Shortly after this we had our first bit of carnage. Seems Paul’s rear axle yoke had been missing a U-Joint cap locator pin for awhile and it decided to give up right here on Claw. Luckily there was no secondary damage so Paul and Critter were able to make quick work of the repair using Paul’s spare parts.

While they were repairing Paul’s XJ I was spotting Julio up a small obstical that he was having a hard time getting traction on. Just as he was starting to make it his Jeep slipped and a rock took out his rear driveline. We pulled him back with Josh’s winch and Julio grabbed his trail spare only to find it was the wrong driveshaft. Once again Josh came to the rescue with the perfect size water bottle to cover the Julio’s stock 231 tailcone and Terry supplied some hose clamps and duct tape, after a couple of minutes work Julio was free to drive back to camp in front wheel drive. While this was going on I advised Anthony to turn back due to his dented driveshaft and one of Terry’s front brake hardlines broke while he was trying to secure it to the body so at least Julio had good company!

As we were getting this straightened out this YJ got himself a bit stuck and had to use his brand new winch to free himself.

After he freed himself he got hung up again, this time on his oil pan causing it to leak! We backed him off and Josh got him patched up by using a tire plug wrapped around his drain plug. Then he ended up hitting it again and putting an even larger hole in the pan! WE had to stop everything to capture the rapidly leaking oil until his pan was dry. Then we had him coat the damaged section in JB Kwik and ate lunch while it cured.

At this point we had the YJ going back because of the pan, Paul wanted to go back since his yoke wasn’t in great shape and Critter was going to escort them, all that remained was Josh and I so we decided to turn back as well. We got a total of 0.2 miles into Clawhammer, we didn’t even get to the first real obstacle (my front tires were touching it as I had pulled up expecting people to line up behind me). After this we went back to camp and decompressed for the dinner and raffle ahead.

On Sunday I decided to take it a little bit easier. As you may know I’m working on a new Maps and Trails section of this website, a big part of this section is Johnson Valley and I wanted to check out this long loop to Emerson Lake that I had plotted. Since this was a stocker type run I took James along with me in his freshly converted to 4×4 stock XJ. The only real tricky part of this run was one slightly steep very soft sandy hill. After ten or so tries James was still having trouble with it so I offered him my winch line and pulled him up so his clutch could cool down a bit.

My double locked XJ on 35″ Maxxis Bighorns and my dad’s spooled rear XJ on 33″ Bighorns made quick work on the softer right hand line.

After that it was mostly just a relaxing drive over to Emerson lake at the edge of the USMC base (The line runs through the center of the lakebed) with a lot of scenery.

Since James was new to the whole off roading experience I tried to teach him some important lessons. I showed him what a difference lower pressure makes, that you should carefully study your lines, how to play around in rocks, and, most importantly, that you must always park creatively.

All told it was a great weekend and I can’t wait to do it again! You can go through the rest of my photos here.

Sequoia

Not cool man!

GSequoia — Sun, 24 May 2009 01:13:24 +0000

A short lesson on why you want your fan clutch to stay in one piece.

While driving on the freeway I heard a horrible sound and then smelled coolant. I quickly pulled to the side and took a peek under the hood and saw that the fan had contacted the radiator. It turns out that my fan clutch was so hosed that it separated into two pieces.

Once I got it home I took it apart and found the above. In total it took out the radiator, fan shroud, cooling clutch, fan blade, and, of course, the fan clutch. If you’re curious what a rogue fan will do to a radiator wonder no more.

The best deal I could find on a radiator was for this all aluminum radiator. It is a cheap Chinese radiator but appears to be well built with only a few minor fit and finish issues.

I also replaced the fan clutch with a larger one from a ZJ, I asked for a 1998 Jeep Grand Cherokee cooling fan for a 4.0 without the Max Cooling option. I ended up with this clutch, it pulls a lot more if you trust the new “whoosh” sound it makes while the engine is running (New one on the right, old on left).

The downside is that the clearance is tight, while I haven’t had a problem with it other than the fan rubbing on the new fan shroud under high load conditions (something that will happen with an OEM setup as well) I would advise you to make sure your engine and transmission mounts are healthy and check them regularly if you decide to use this clutch.

While I had the cooling system apart I took my old radiator filter out and found that it was a bit filthy. This stuff must have been circulating around in the system for awhile because I’m pretty sure I used black RTV the last time I did a water pump job.

After I was done I replaced it with the far superior Tefba cooling system filter. With the Tefba filter you can easily check and clean it without losing coolant.

For more images simply click here.

Now that everything is buttoned back up the Jeep runs much cooler than before. I’m eagerly awaiting the next time I drive it up the Grape Vine or 18 to Big Bear to see how much the temperature gauge climbs, too bad I don’t have any free time in the foreseeable future.

Sequoia

How do you fit a full size Jeep in a half size garage?

GSequoia — Sun, 11 May 2008 04:50:20 +0000

Answer: Very carefully.

Click for a larger view.

Do that and it’ll fit… But just barely!

Click for a larger view.

See, that was easy, wasn’t it?

Sequoia

Click for full size view.

In the Garage!

GSequoia — Mon, 05 May 2008 00:50:22 +0000

The red Jeep is in the garage right now. With the shape my garage used to be in that’s major progress!

Sequoia

Click on image for larger view.

Ash on the Jeep

GSequoia — Thu, 25 Oct 2007 16:45:38 +0000

I haven’t driven the red Jeep in a couple of weeks since the Chief is cheaper to drive. Since it’s been sitting there it has collected a good amount of ash from the fires. It would probably have twice as much if it weren’t for the tree it’s parked under.

Just so you know the nearest fire is probably around thirty miles away, that is the Malibu fire, and this ash isn’t from it.. This is mostly from the Arrowhead and Irvine fires.

Sequoia