beater!

[PacificEd]

GWNF??

looks like fun.

George Washington National Forest

 

[Wayne Sihler]

Where ? Peters Mill or at Harrisonburg ? Either way you went by my house.

 

[ehall]

Taskers Gap and Peters Mill

 

[ehall]

A Delaware XJ club wanted to go to Rausch so I went to show them around. Lot of ice. Slid off the mountain, winched myself up, then winched up a couple behind me from the top. Lot of fun

Seat heater stopped working so I gotta fix that before anymore trips.

 

[Rob Mayercik]

Lot of ice there. That Power Line (the primary, steep climb out from the West/South)?

 

[ehall]

Lot of ice there. That Power Line (the primary, steep climb out from the West/South)?

Yes it is. We came down H and found a lot of ice patches so thought we would go back out on Power Line and found that one large patch. Once we were past it and on the big climb it was no problem. There are some cutovers from H to Power Line further where we were, would have been best to come up H until ice then cutover to Power Line for the climb.

 

[Rock2pus]

Cool! Rausch is a completely different place in snow and ice. Being out in bitter cold all day isn't always the greatest, especially if someone breaks, but it's an experience for sure!

 

[ehall]

build thread is 10 years old today!

arty: arty1:

 

[Rock2pus]

Congrats! If I ever bothered with a build thread mine will probably be a decade old too the way my 98 is going.! By the time I'm finished it I MIGHT be retired, SHOULD be doing something else, and WILL be broke....ah, the jeep life. ��

 

[ehall]

Everything is running top-notch EXCEPT the transmission is not acting as I expect on the highway. For one, fuel mileage is down to ~10 MPG when it should be closer to ~14. Also the transmission has not been running as cool as I would like--I installed the new coolers which addressed the symptoms (runs much cooler), but thinking about it I should not have to put 15,000 BTU cooler on the trans to make it run in spec. Both symptoms point to torque converter clutch engagement issues, however the TCC lockup seems to work just fine--I can feel it shift and RPMs drop as expected. My working theory at the moment is that the old solenoids have damaged o-rings and are not sealing the hydraulic circuit for the TCC fully, allowing some fluid loss and therefore some slippage. I am going to swap in the set of aftermarket solenoids again, and see if they work better.

I was flipping through the TransGo shift kit manual and saw a call-out about the AW4 / Type-1 A340 having a lockup relay valve that tended to wear and allow loss of fluid pressure (less fluid through the cooler circuit, and inconsistent behavior with the lockup solenoid). The PDF gave the Toyota P/N (35215-30020) but looking around I found a Sonnax part that appeared to be better made (https://www.sonnax.com/parts/2747-lockup-relay-valve-sleeve-kit). I had the local trans shop install that and reinstall the Rostra solenoids that I had pulled out when I had some other issues. Highway temps last night were about 110F, whereas it used to be about 135 at similar ambient temps, so pretty good drop. Shifts much better as well. Interestingly the Rostra lockup solenoid failed during post-install testing at the shop, so it has the same Jeep lockup solenoid that I brought it in with, meaning the lockup performance is purely related to the relay.

 

[ehall]

Phone clip finished. The dash panel is a dummy panel that was used on base models without the clock (don't need a clock with a phone there). The phone holder is a ProClip 521866 that I had to modify (Dremel work) to fit with my Encased rubber phone case. The ProClip comes with a backing mount but it is too shallow to clear the upper dash pad, so I also bought a pair of 1" RAM size B balls and an arm. Phone is in there nice and secure, can rotate portrait or landscape.

Next head unit I will wire it in directly

 

[ehall]

Guided a group of locals up to the Snow Ride at AOAA last weekend. Good fun running green trails in the snow with a bunch of first-timers.

We are having the NAC Winter Ride at AOAA on Feb 24th and 25th, running blue and black groups. PM if you need more details.

 

[ehall]

Forgot to include summary pic from the NAC snow ride two weeks back

 

[ehall]

I've been messing around with some trail recording software, so I went out to the Flagpole Knob region in GWNF. Found a couple of spots on Union Springs Trail to flex out

Also went up on Reddish Knob--clear day we could see forever

I also got all my parts together for the next round of suspension mods, but I won't have time to work on it for a while.

 

[ehall]

Headlight switch burned out a few weeks ago. Had to rig up an emergency fix, then finally got the replacement parts and made a real repair. Not worth talking about except I kind of like the emergency repair.

30-amp toggle switch with male spades terminals. The supply side of the switch plugs into the hot supply terminal of the connector, and the switched side plugs into the (a) headlight, (b) parking light, and (c) instrument light terminals. Turn it on and they all come on. The only thing that was lost was dimmer control and dome light control.

The switch went right into the hole too, no need to modify the dash at all

Spent some time trying to find replacement parts, unfortunately hard to find since it is 84-91 XJ/MJ only. Standard sells a replacement switch that works perfectly, however nobody makes a connector block (mine is melted in the middle). I found a writeup that said the connector for 92-01 XJ would work if you cut the extra two terminals off the block, and it does. However I was not able to get my hands on the old terminal wiring very well, so I will wait to replace it. New switch is installed and working however.

 

[ehall]

Ordered and installed custom brake lines for the rear from Crown Performance -- 16" with 3/8" flare end and 90-degree banjo end, long enough to go over the leaf packs

Could be a little shorter, and probably work better with 45-degree banjo end to clear the bleeder screw, otherwise fit nice and should keep them out of the rocks

 

[ehall]

Went wheeling on some forest roads in WV over the weekend, light snow the morning of

A couple of projects in process, nothing to report

 

[ehall]

went to Wheelin' for Hope, a cancer fundraising event at Oak Ridge Estates in VA

Smashed the passenger mirror at the base, peeled the lip up on two wheels, and tore one of the rocker rails off the unibody pinch seam. Good time!

Still working a couple of small projects on the side, hope to have something done soon

 

[ehall]

Bearwallow in Logan, WV

Couple of projects still in work, not finished yet

 

[ehall]

Chaos ORP, west of Winchester VA

All the recent wheeling, I have broken both outside mirrors, four Napier flare pieces, and one of the exhaust hangars. Need to take a break for repairs!

Also still trying to wrap up a project over the holiday weekend