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Great news and......well..

Crunch

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Englewood, CO
Hey everyone,

I just wanted to thank everybody involved with this whole event. It was an amazing week in every way imaginable. Winning the raffle XJ (Duke) is still sinking in. I wheeled Moab Rim with him Saturday and plenty of pictures were taken by Motorman to put on the forum. With all the fun that has happened, I'm not even disappointed about the only down thing that happened. I was on I-70 for about 10-15 miles, pulling a long grade at about 70 mph when Duke had a hiccup. I thought I had heard a rod type knock in the motor when I was driving around Moab and on the trail but was assured the Renix engines were just more noisy than my '00. Well, while on that long grade it started losing momentum and right about the time I was going to pull it out of overdrive I heard a loud pop and felt massive vibrations . I didn't even have time to shut it down, it was already dead. I instantly checked the guages and temp was good. The oil light was on, but that was because the engine wasn't running. I pulled some plugs finding nothing there and was fearing the worse. I had Steph try to start it while I listened and it started slowly with a loud clanking from the block. I'm reasonably sure it broke a rod. I had it towed to Grand Junction and YELLAHEEP and I are going back over there to pick it up today. I have full pictures of it getting loaded onto the flatbed to keep documenting the life of Duke.

All in all, I have no complaints. I feel like this was my Moab event. I had an awesome time, ran trails with some of my favorite wheelin' friends and made some new ones as well. After talking with a couple of people about what happened with Duke, they commented how much that sucks. All I can think is that I'm the luckiest guy around. Its just a small blip on a really bright screen ;) .

Thanks again to everyone who made this the best Fall Fling yet.

Crunch
 
dude, that really sucks! woulda gave you a ride, had i of seen yah!

:(

and that kind of crap was happening to me too, it kept downshifiting and stuff, even down hill once, so i just got it out of overdrive (shifted to 3rd)

hope im not ready to lose a rod! UGH!
 
Bummer!

Well I guess that answers my question in the other thread.

Too bad the other comp XJ's are gone already.

mark

Congrats on the win. There's lots of good parts still. :D
 
Hey Crunch if ya need a place to crash or anything out here in junction drop me a line, 970-331-9043.


Wally
 
Just got home from picking up Duke. He is still on the trailer at YELLAHEEP'S house and there are dents in the oil pan. Not good. It is still a good win and the motor will be replaced and Duke will still be my trail rig that will be driven to the trails. I kinda have a line on a 30k mile Renix motor, just waiting to hear back from the guy.

Life is awesome,
Crunch
 
It's the Colorado Crews new motto at work:

"We came, we saw, we broke."

CRASH
 
Is that sour grapes Crash????

Let me remember now.
Rusty nail breakage:
Cali Crew- 2 broken driveshafts, 1 spun axle tube, 1 flopped XJ.
Colorado Crew- ??????? No breakage and yes, we were there;)

Hopefully we can continue this at Rubicon.

Crunch
 
Crunch said:
Let me remember now.
Rusty nail breakage:
Cali Crew- 2 broken driveshafts, 1 spun axle tube, 1 flopped XJ.
Colorado Crew- ??????? No breakage and yes, we were there;)

Hopefully we can continue this at Rubicon.

Crunch

Oh, the Co crew must have not of been "Getting it"!

Maybe we can find some fire roads for you guys when you come to Ca to wheel. :D

mark
 
Mark Hinkley said:
Oh, the Co crew must have not of been "Getting it"!

Maybe we can find some fire roads for you guys when you come to Ca to wheel. :D

mark

I did all the same obstacles where they broke. I hate to make it sound like I'm patting myself on the back, but at Rockpile, only two rigs made it up unassisted. Both were from Colorado, one trailerig and one streeter. There was a full California contingent there to witness it.

As one Cali regular put it, "We do well when we show up" :D

Crunch
 
Strange thing is ...... The Midwest Crew was in Grand Junction Sunday night because we towed my junk down there to get a CPS....after getting the CPS and getting it up and running we went to a Chilis for dinner......we look over and see the raffle Jeep in a tow yard......

We all looked and got worried, maybe it got stolen or towed? So we snapped a few pics and got the addy of the joint...figuring there was a good reason for it being there.....sorry to hear the motor let go.....

Regards
Chewy
 
Yeah, Mike and I saw Chewy and Scott Mac headded down the mountain just east of Vail when we were headed back up to Grand Junction to get it outta the tow yard!

That's kinda funny that you guys saw the Raffle Jeep in the yard when you went to dinner!

I'm sure Mike will get "Duke" up and runnin' again soon! I didn't figure I'd be getting any wrench time in on a jeep so soon - much less someone else's jeep! :D

Oh, and you California guys.... :moon:

Richard said it best.... "Those Colorado guys do quite well when they show up"...... If we always showed up, you Cali guys wouldn't have much to say...... :D
 
Crunch,

Glad to see you keeping a positive outlook on things, then again I wouldn't expect anything else from you. A used 4.0 won't cost too much so it's not that big a deal. What about doing a stroker??? Now is a good time for some motor upgrades.

I really wanted to "get" Rock pile after watching you make it look easy. I think your spotter made all the difference. :D

Wish I was in CO to help you mod that motor.

B-loose
 
Hey B-Loose,
Thanks for the nice words. I considered the stroker thing but quickly dispatched those thoughts. I've heard nothing good about people trying to get thier strokers dialed in and running right. I also like the ability to run low octane fuel. AND I don't think its that necesary for this low speed crawling type stuff.
My luck continues though as yesterday I picked up a set of 5, 35x12.50 15 MT/Rs on AR Bajas with the road hazard warranty. Tires and wheels are in nearly new condition and I should be able to sell Dukes tire and wheels for at least the same $$. Wish you were here as well, forget about that PA stuff and hold out for a CO job:D :D .
Fun fun,
Crunch
 
Loose and Crunch,

You guys need a Room?

Crunch, just remember to drive that rig like you won it!

Let me know if you need help with the motor I think we have a 91 HO out here for cheap.

mark
 
Mark,
Thanks, I'll keep that in mind. The guy with the freshy Renix hasn't decided if he is willing to part with his yet so I'm looking around a little.
Crunch
 
ChEwBaCcA said:
Strange thing is ...... The Midwest Crew was in Grand Junction Sunday night because we towed my junk down there to get a CPS....after getting the CPS and getting it up and running we went to a Chilis for dinner......we look over and see the raffle Jeep in a tow yard......

We all looked and got worried, maybe it got stolen or towed? So we snapped a few pics and got the addy of the joint...figuring there was a good reason for it being there.....sorry to hear the motor let go.....

Regards
Chewy


Yea we cased the joint in thinking we may have to sneak in and steal it back for you.:D
 
If you need to borrow an engine hoist to swap that motor, I have one. Its in Loveland, but it might be worth the drive. The guys are finishing with it this weekend.

Don't feel bad. I trashed two axles and a track bar.

Tom Houston
Another Colorado Guy
 
Hey Tom,

Thanks for the offer, but the guy with the engine has a cherry picker and the whole works at his place. Once we get this thing going again, we'll have to get a small group run for a tester.

Thanks again,
Crunch
 
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