It Crossed the Line...

[MELKORsXJ]

so... let me start of by saying, i absolutely love my Cherokee!
it all began when i went searching on autotrader and cars.com to find a more practical vehicle for a teenage highschool guy... i ended up finding my current XJ: in this condition -

...i drove it for awhile stock. blew a headgasket, and began doing research...
and stumbled across !!!
...it wasn't long before i had a budget 3" lift on it, and some 30" BFG A/Ts. Then came some armor... and wheeling trips.

keeping up with the big dogs...

learning how to feather the throttle to maximize two open differentials...

after following the bigger jeeps, i realized i needed to be bigger!
so... after some more wheeling, i realized a low COG is good to have. so i stuck with my 3" lift, trimmed fenders, and went with some 32"s...

absolutely loved the way it looked... low and big tires!
...it stayed looking "Mall Crawler" for awhile, because my parents would rather me wheel the Willys, and DD the XJ...
so i mall crawled a little bit...

...but the curbs and walls weren't enough for me!
the XJ has been wanting to flex in the dirt for awhile... and dangit i've wanted to too!

so i took the "mall crawler" XJ up to windrock and hit 22 with JeepAddict... and had an absolute blast!
the 32's made a huge difference!

 

[MELKORsXJ]

well... the XJ has been asking for some more dirt action for some time; so sorta spur of the moment, Tyler, Jarrad, and I took our Daily Drivers to Aetna at 8:30pm Tuesday...
ready for some night wheelin' on the mountain...

just getting up the main road to the top was quite a challenge, and quite messy! this was gonna be a heck of a ride...

a little night flexin'...

just a little muddy... leaving the peanut butter hole

 

[MELKORsXJ]

made our way to 5 hills...
i had a little trouble on one of the "bypass" trails in the woods to the left...
asked tyler to give me a tug with the strap...













AND THE XJ CROSSED THE LINE!
_________________________________________________________________________________

as soon as i made sure my passengers were safe, i passed the camera out to tyler and jarrad
(would you expect anything less of me) :dunno:

 

[MELKORsXJ]

...the jeep was very stable, somehow lol... so we got everyone out, and decided on the best way to go about getting the XJ on all 4 again.
fortunately i grabbed a tow/ratchet strap (they've come in handy before, and sure did this time) and we secured the lower slider to a tree on the passenger side. i had to dig out the dirt away from the body...

then i finally got to use my snatchblock!!! i think they are so cool... we set tyler up to face me, and pull me from the driver side slider...

...not pictured, but we stuck a HUGE rock under the rear tire, to fill in the rut, and keep the passenger side from sliding down further, and allowing the driver side to be all that moved when we started winching.
we took our time, planned everything carefully... 10 seconds with tyler's M8000 and the XJ was on all 4 again... with minimal damage, thankfully.

...a FREAKING tree root broke my glass!

ratchet strap that kept passenger side from moving...

...something that could have led to the Flop was i ended up climbing up the driver side of the rut, and then about 2.5' up a tree!... and i was being pulled to the driver side due to trees in the woods limiting tyler's path...

definetly left a mark on that tree with my Rigid Co bumper!!!
...on all 4, then checked interior, rearranged all mis-lodged parts and tools (90% were strapped down)

with everyone safe, jeep running, on all 4 tires, we decided to call it a night (about 1:00am)
...had to do something to keep mud and cold air out on the way off the mountain

without breaking tradition, we stopped by waffle house for some food and a recap of our adventures

 

[MELKORsXJ]

CARNAGE!!!
-broken glass in passenger rear door (both, and center divider bar)
-cracked front passenger marker light
-slightly bent passenger fender in front (near marker)
-slightly tweaked drip rail on passenger side
-decent dent between hatch and rear glass
-cracked driver taillight
-bent receiver hitch "tabs"
-slightly bent lip on LF wheel
-leaking LF tire at bead (cleaned and reseated at work)
-lots of undercariage scrapes
-a few more scratches in the paint

...dangling from your seatbelt: PRICELESS

 

[Team Willys]

Yep, definitely a night to remember. Its always important to stay calm in situations like that. Keep on you head on straight and think about ways to resolve the problem safetly and effectively without doing more damage.

We did a good recovery job and Im sure the Cherokar is grateful for it!

 

[LiL Timmy]

It was a full day of wheeling and a good show at the end to top it all off! Me and Tyler wheeled at the cove and had many intresting adventures there also before going to Aetna. Dan im pumped about us building your XJ now!

 

[beraad44]

Welcome to the club. I remember when i flopped mine on its side. Man i wish i was wearing a seat belt then.

 

[stumpXJ]

Nice job on the recovery guys. I have seen more damage caused by trying to halfass recover a vehicle than the actual flop. I have used my snatch blocks twice in the past 4 years. But they are one of those things where when you need it, you NEED it. It stays with me along with all of my recovery stuff no matter what im doing.

Dan, sorry bought the flop, but considering how good it came out you should be thankful! Not lik eyou gotta chop the roof off and turn it into a buggy or anything...unless you are looking for that excuse?

~James

 

[MrMom]

just left aetna sunday and it was messy coming out can't imagine after the rain sun
where was it you flopped and where is this five hills ? last weekend was the first time I have been to aetna and would like to go back and explore a little more

 

[mbogosia]

That's awesome you guys went at night. Glad your okay and the jeep is too.

 

[MELKORsXJ]

...thanks guys! and thanks a bunch to those that helped me last night...

...i'm very thankful for how everything turned out. should have everything back to normal by the end of the weekend, other than a few beauty marks of course
- tyler and jarrad will be going down to the PAP and picking me up an entire door for ~$40 arty:

...when i was packing the jeep for our "quick run" i was half tempted to pack "light"... but ended up basically emptying the Willys toolbox into the XJ; and i'm dang glad i did! had everything we needed...


...so by crossing the Line, i forsee the XJ seeing the trails more frequently and it will get a little lovin' over at RSOR before long...
The XJ is a different animal compared to the Willys... its more "tame": roof, windows, HEAT... they are each different, and much fun. i enjoy wheeling it open/open too... although i'll be coerced into lockers before long, lol.

oh by the way... my parents just got home from a 3 week mission trip in Uganda, Africa. one of the first things my mom says, "why is your black jeep all muddy?" i reply, "cause i took it offroading." ..."what are you gonna do when it breaks?" ..."fix it, like i do for the Willys"
...luckily for me, i always back my jeep in the driveway, and that hid the broken glass from them, and it was dark outside. I'm also housesitting for a fellow offroader for the holidays, so i should be able to keep my "flop" on the quiet side and get it fixed before all "heck" breaks loose...

...but if they see it, and ask, "how'd your window get busted?"
- "a part of a tree hit it, that's all" (forgetting to mention it was the ROOT!)

...although if they prod me more about it, i won't have a problem telling them. my jeep, i paid for it, and pay the insurance... i can take responsibility for my own decisions i'd say...


anyways... anyone got an M8000 layin' around? it'll be high on my list of things for the XJ, as i'll have to do some modifications to the bumper and fit the winch before i can proceed with the "XJ build"...

 

[Team Willys]

Heres your new sig:

'00 XJ Sport - DD/comfort trail rig, 3" Rustys, 32" BFG M/Ts, skids, sliders, bumpers, custom root beauty marks...
'53 CJ3B - Trail Rig, D44s locked F/R, 37" iRocks, 4.3L/SM420/Dana 18 twinstick, stretched... 8274

I cant wait to add the RSOR touch, its gonna be super nice to have a capable rig that can still be daily driven.

 

[High2by]

That is awsome Dan!!! Glad you guys are ok. The right equipment can make or break a recovery. Way to go! No more added damage from getting in a hurry and rushing things. I can't wait to get to go to Aetna. Tyler, we need to make a run there after I'm back going.

 

[Team Willys]

10-4 Good buddy! sounds like a plan to me!

 

[~Spanky~]

Yep, definitely a night to remember. Its always important to stay calm in situations like that. Keep on you head on straight and think about ways to resolve the problem safetly and effectively without doing more damage.

We did a good recovery job and Im sure the Cherokar is grateful for it!

Stop by the house and I give her a bath...:wave:

 

[LiL Timmy]

Hey Dano call me tomorow and let me know about your parents trip! I get off at 2 o clock

 

[256offroad]

welcome to the club! looks like yall had fun. i enjoy driving the tj as a capible dd its well worth being able to just go wheel and not have to load up a truck and trailer.

as for the winch. get the smitty built. just took the warn of the xj and put it on the tj and installed a brand new smittybuilt 8klbs winch. $286 shipped to the door!

 

[JeepAddict85]

dang dan! glad you are ok...sucks about the damage but im sure you will build it up even better than before. we should start a 'Black Jeep Former Mall Crawler Club'

 

[kf_chris]

Good everyone was ok. I don't know how I'd handle a flop in mine...I'd probably freak. Can't wait to get teh CJ running because with the stroker I don't know how much mine will see the fun stuff...time will tell.