A peak at what a certain traitor has been up to

[eflores]

I was a bit drunk but ........

So do u remember any thing of that " my 2 door is better than your yj" conversation the other night? Ah shit maybe I was the drunk one.....but seriously how is yours better now? I have a trunk a full size back seat and all the shit you're swapping in now....aw4 etc

 

[DutchVDub]

So yours has 1 ton axles, 40" tires, a twin stick t-case, a full cage, a removable windshield, removable doors, removable top, selctable lockers, can do front digs, has 12" plus of wheel travel, a stand alone manual controller for your AW4, boat sides, and whatever else I might have missed? But even with all that Ellison, mine is still better no matter what. Why? Because it wasn't put together by a midget mexican.

HaHaHaa...... I kid, I kid.

The removable top, doors, and windshield are actually very important to me because it means I can dress it up and take the family out no matter the weather but take it all off and have bassically a 2 seater buggy for running trails like 21 Road and Penrose. Now a 4 door XJ would be a bit nicer for the family side because of the extra room and the bettter access to the rear seat. A 2dr XJ though offers no better rear seat access for the kid. Also, the storage isn't that major of an issue as I tow it everywhere so I can carry most everything I need on the truck or trailer. Minus a spare (and I've never really bothered to carryone anyways) I can fit what I actually need on the trail on or in the Jeep. Spare front and rear axle shafts, fluids, basic tools, U-Joints, nuts/bolts, my propane grill, and my beer ..... I mean water and food ...... cooler all fit thanks to some careful packaging. And actually there is an advantage to not having a ton of space in the Jeep too. When I had my XJ all my tools were very accessible and organized, that meant that I was the guy everybody went to for tools because they didn't want to dig through their tool bags. Thats no longer the case. Also, since there was room my wife always wanted to take the dog with us. I personally hate taking the dog wheeling and now I simply don't have the room. So in the end it really works out well for me. Its definitely not perfect, but its about the best I can manage for having 2 rigs in 1. If I had the money or patience I would have a clean 4dr XJ on 35's for the family wheeling and camping trips and a MJ truggy on 42's for when I get a hair up my arse and decide to go run the hard trails.

 

[DutchVDub]

Got some goodies in the mail today.

Novak clocking ring/adapter kit for putting my D300 behind my new to me AW4:

The first of my 17" steelies also arrived. 17x9 w/ 5" of backspacing. That'll push my tires out another inch from what I've got now, plus roughly another inch after I can get some DIY Beadlocks ordered up and welded on. I'll be contacting DIY Beadlock guy over on Pirate for those.

And Summit sent me all of my stuff for the AW4. Trans temp gauge, gauge pod that attaches to my 1.75" OD tube from the cage, trans cooler, and adapterd for the cooler lones so I can run regular 3/8" trans hose.

I'd be all excited about it and start putting shite together tonight but unfortunately I had a very horribly experiance at work. The doctors think I ruptured a disc and unless I'm magically all better by Monday will be doing an MRI to find out which one. I'm hobbling around worse than Jim right now. I've had back issues/pain before, but never anything serious. Normally just pop a few Motrins, stretch out real well, and get to work. Not this time, I was getting up off of my mechanic's stool when suddenly I saw starts and was crounched on the floor unable to move. It took me a good 20 minutes just to get up and hobble over to my toolbox where I was able to rest a bit before being taken to the hospital. Oh the joys of getting old I guess.

 

[YELLAHEEP]

Damn Dutch, hope it's not as serious as a ruptured disc....... At least it happened at work huh? Work Comp.... :thumbup:

 

[riverfever]

No kidding. Sorry to hear Dutch. Not much trumps back/neck pain.

 

[DutchVDub]

Thanks guys, I'm pretty hopeful its nothing too serious (at least as far as back injuries go)




So thankfully I was able to get a tiny bit done on the Jeep. My buddy Jim canme over and I used some Jack Daniels to coerce him into man-handling the D300 for me. Its now installed and suspended so that maybe tomorrow I can get the wife to help me weld up the crossmember. As long as she can put it in my bench vice for me so I don't have to bend over at all I'll be able to get it all welded up. I'll probably tak the oppurtunity to finally teach her how to work the plasma cutter and maybe even teach her some welding like she's been asking for.

 

[Hypoid]

Hopefully, you sit long enough to cramp, and the cramped muscles pull a vertibra out of line. At least that's what I tell myself. :eyes:

Laugh at Jim all you like, getting old ain't for wussies.

 

[DutchVDub]

Why would I want a vertebrae pulled out of line? Wouldn't that make it worse?

I only make fun of Jim because I like the old bastard. He keeps on doing the things he enjoys doing, oxygen bottle and all.



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[xj-grin]

that sucks, Rich. Ya know a 42" tire weighs like 70lbs?

 

[DutchVDub]

Thanks to some help with the loading and unloading I managed to get some used 42" tall Iroks.

5th one is still in the truck

Look at all those little hairs, these things are pretty much brand spanking new.

I also got the other 4 rims in so now I just need to scrape together the cash for the DIY Beadlock's kit. I also need to think of the custom design I'll have him cut into it. I was thinking this one but with a simplistic punk skull instead of the punisher skulls.

Here is one I drew up real quick on Paint

 

[xj-grin]

:thumbup: Thanks, Ricdh -- hope you didn't jack your back (more) getting those off the trailer!

 

[DutchVDub]

Got a neighbor and my wife to help me. All I did was roll them from the trailer to the garage, they did all the actual lifting.

 

[in4aride]

Shoulda gave me a buzz i woulda come help.

Those things are VERY new. Still has the cosmolene (sp?) feel to em.. Good score

 

[DutchVDub]

Convinced a buddy of mine to mount my tires for me. I decided that since i'm not sure exactly when I'll be able afford my beadlock kits it would be better to just mount them. That way, jeep is mobile. Besides, they take up less space this way.

The rims are 9" wide and have 5" of backspacing. I think I'm ging to get longer studs so I can run the 3/4" spacers I have, either that or look into finding some 1" spacers.

 

[xj-grin]

:thumbup: How's the back feeling?

 

[DutchVDub]

Back is slowly getting better, I've started my physical therapy and should be returning to work (on light duty) Thursday pending my doctor's visit on Wed.

 

[xj-grin]

sorry to hear it, man, that's really going to screw with your TV schedule

 

[Gotlift01]

Looks good on the 42's!

 

[DutchVDub]

Thanks Nick

Just measured my new width, 83" outside of tire to outside of tire (rear). I was at about 79" (rear) before so with the 5" offset compared to the 6" or more of offset and the 14" wide tire compared to the 13.5" wide tire I managed an extra 2" per side. I'm also just measured 80.5" to the top of my windhsield frame, before I was around 77 or 78" so the tires raised me up a good 2.5-3" too. Once I can get some longer wheel studs and add in my 3/4" spacers I should be sitting at about 84.5" wide at the rear axle. That'll put me 4" wider than tall, combine that with all the steel I'm adding to the bottom of the jeep in the form of boatsides and belly pan and my center of gravity should be fairly low. I'm also going to see about maybe finding some 1" spacers to use instead but I think the 3/4" ones will be plenty.

 

[eflores]

Why only 36's? That'll change by the time your done. Looks good.

Quoted for truf