Rubicon Sept 9th-11th

On sat we just hung out and swam. Did a little hike. Met an xj from martinez who is on naxja. His name is slipping me right now. The weather was awesome. Highs of mid seventies and lows in the mid fifties. We camped on the water with no tent.

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There was deffinately some drama on saturday evening as many large groups of all varieties came through. We had a guy roll his exocaget 4runner. He had a pup inside that was ok but he did not want to get back in that thing.

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Then later we had two hammered guys shear the rear output shaft on there tacoma at the damn. They turned around and headed back to loon in front wheel drive. Didnt get any pics of that. We hear them beatting on that thing for three more hours from buck. Over all a good day of relaxing and hanging out.

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Sunday we hit it early and got out at about 7:30. I shortly there after broke a few teeth on my front ring gear. Just outside of buck. Kinda bummed about that but i blame ther installer. Haha.

We continued on slowly banging about. Just before we hit big sluice we caught up to a two vehicle group, from the bay area, that were slowly moving along. A four door jk and a land cruiser.

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I decided to tag with them just in case. We clucked and clanged along and did some really cool lines. Then we caught up to a very large group of tacomas that had passed through buck the day before. These guys looked very inexperienced and alot were barely over stock height and unlocked. There was alot of winching going on. A few other groups caught up to us while we were waiting.

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We limped along to rubicon springs and had lunch.

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Then headed up cadilac hill. Fairly drama free we waited behind a group towing a dead 70s land cruiser up the hill. A three rig train going around those switchbacks was a sight to see. Unfortunately i didnt get any pics of that.

Made it up to the top and decided to find a flat piece of granite to work on the rig. I pulled the inner shafts and front drive shaft and we were good to go on the way out.

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Made it to the airup site at 6. That was a long day. But the rig drove better on the way home than it did on the way there so it was all good. Over all a great trip. Dad said he had a blast. There were many sections he said "we have to go through that?!" Haha. We could not have asked for better weather or better company. Now onto the next round of repairs.
 
the question you have to ask yourself now - are you sure you want to stick to a dana 30 after chipping a tooth ?

One thing to consider, try to add a load bolt to the JK d30 like Jantz engineering does.
 
It was definately a bad install on my part. It had about 2/3 rotation on the pinion before the teeth contacted. Was hoping it would last till i got the jk up and running. The 8.8 setup was much smoother this last go around. I feel much more confident setting up another set of gears in that 30. I rushed through that setup and didnt have the right tools.

This 30 is also not built. Im still using a stock carrier with a lockrite and the cheapest cover i could find. It will be an entirely different animal with the one that gets swapped in.
 
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It was definately a bad install on my part. It had about 2/3 rotation on the pinion before the teeth contacted. Was hoping it would last till i got the jk up and running. The 8.8 setup was much smoother this last go around. I feel much more confident setting up another set of gears in that 30. I rushed through that setup and didnt have the right tools.

This 30 is also not built. Im still using a stock carrier with a lockrite and the cheapest cover i could find. It will be an entirely different animal with the one that gets swapped in.

ah that makes sense. dial in those JK 30 gears nice and tight, truss, etc, it wont happen again.
 
Thanks pat. Yeah ive had the mtrs for a while. Got them mounted for reno. Ive had the beadlocks for a while as well. Just waiting to get them fixed. The previous owners friend was a little drunk and it them with an impact and ripped the inner ring loose on a few of them. Trailready still warrantied them for the cost of shipping. Really happy with them. They are exactly what i wanted and they just fell into my lap. Ill have about $250 in the whole set.
 
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Gordo great pics and great trail report! So cool you were able to get your Dad out there. I am sure by the end he trusted you and your rigs ability! So fun when passengers ask, " we got to drive thru that?" After a while they figure out that jeeps are awesome!
 
Dude so cool you brought your pops man!
 
Everytime i head up there it feels like im going home. Its a weird feeling everytime i head out.


It was very cool. I wasnt sure how he would take it. He was a very good sport about the bouncing around. His only recomendation for the jeep would be 5point harnesses and seats. Haha

Here are a few small videos my dad took
A cool optional line coming down big sluice. Towards the end you can hear a loud bang. That would be my front gears.
http://youtu.be/HH4ZEBZLTbs

Another section on big sluice. You can again hear the front gears skipping at one point in the middle of the section
http://youtu.be/xTEciJNjDas

The 4runner roll over recovery. The two rigs in the shot are the guys i rolled out with.
http://youtu.be/zPoHAdFbYMM

A section heading down into buck on friday.
http://youtu.be/DERtLAuwkl0
 
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Great videos dude ! Thanks !
 
Gordo you did a great job of chronicling your trip. I loved the videos.
 
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