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The Frog Blog

I finished the JCR Stage IV bumper installation last night so I went to Prairie City for some fun in the dirt. I met up with LodiJim and 100K XJ from NAXJA and we played around for a couple hours.

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This is my wife's first time behind the wheel in 4-wheel drive and I think she liked it. I may not get my Jeep back after this...

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Here's a shot of wife and kid playing while I got to hold the camera.

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Yeah! The kid got high centered on a rock!

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Here's a shot of Roberta having fun.

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[end]
 
see what i was saying about that lip hanging lower then the bumper? im grinding mine shoter to clean it up a bit. looks like you guys had fun.
 
SeansXJ said:
see what i was saying about that lip hanging lower then the bumper? im grinding mine shoter to clean it up a bit. looks like you guys had fun.
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Yep, I see that now. Maybe I'll paint some big white teeth on it, like a shark or something. Or a bunny. Yeah, big white rabbit teeth. Sweet.
 
Looks good. Much better than the naked OEM bumper! Now it's looking like a trail rig. So, do those lights work now that they're mounted on a real bumper? :laugh3:
 
fyrfytr1717 said:
Looks good. Much better than the naked OEM bumper! Now it's looking like a trail rig. So, do those lights work now that they're mounted on a real bumper? :laugh3:
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Yes, I finished wiring and mounting the lights today. I had to buy longer bolts and spacers to mount them lower so I could properly aim them, but they are now installed and functional.
 
rocknxj said:
Yeah! The kid got high centered on a rock!

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Why would you pull him with the front bumper backwards? I have seen Dana 30 RnP's go out on what seemed like very easy pulls. Reverse cut gears are great for going forward, but one small hop on a backwards pull and . . .

If you have room to turn around and pull forward just to be nice to your Dana 30 RnP it is more then worth it.

I dig the new look of the front bumper, but did you forget about the winch!?!
 
I should probably clarify what I wrote above ^. I do appreciate your question about why I pulled my kid from the front, since you made a very good point about gear strength in reverse. I read a good article a few issues back in Peterson's 4Wheel Offroad about that very thing and that is something I need to keep in mind when attempting to recover a stuck vehicle, especially sans winch.

I wanted to test out the recovery points on the new bumper and I figured this was an easy pull. What I did not know was my kid's front diff was hung up on a rock and I had no way of yanking him free. Ultimately, I had to grab my hi-lift and lift him up and over the rock, as he could not go forward, nor backward in that condition.

The good news is I did not destroy my gears and my bumper is still attached. Thanks again for the reminder.
 
Looking good! Thanks for that advice about pulling in reverse. Being a newbie, I had not considered that before!
 
american_zero said:
Looking good! Thanks for that advice about pulling in reverse. Being a newbie, I had not considered that before!
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That should be true with a HP Dana 30, but not necessarily for a LP Dana 30. For the high pinion diff, the gears run on the coast side with is stronger by as much as 30% (or so I have heard) than the drive side. Moving in reverse puts the force on the weaker side, which is like driving the LP Dana 30 in forward. Don't flame me if I got that wrong. :)

This is from "mrblaine" from JeepForum.com. I've seen similar posts on NAXJA:

The coast side of the gear is the side that's beveled relative to the base of the gear. The drive side is the other side and it's face is perpindicular to the base of the gear.

A low pinion in the front drives on the coast or beveled side of the gear and under higher loads, the pinion teeth are forced out of the contact area into the higher thinner edges of the teeth and that's what tends to destroy the gear teeth.

A high pinion on the other hand drives on the flat side of the tooth and the contact pattern tends to remain static regardless of the loads placed on it.

High pinion= driven on the drive side of the ring gear teeth.

Low pinion= driven on the coast side of the ring gear teeth.
 
american_zero said:
Looking good! Thanks for that advice about pulling in reverse. Being a newbie, I had not considered that before!
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i also did not know that. Looks like i really need to buy a rear hitch receiver. Your XJ looks great! i need to follow this website more closely, cause i would love to go play around at PC with you guys, especially since im only 15 min away.

(also how do you like the JCR bumper? and i cant really tell, but do you have the hoop slanted or flat?)
 
connor0770 said:
i also did not know that. Looks like i really need to buy a rear hitch receiver. Your XJ looks great! i need to follow this website more closely, cause i would love to go play around at PC with you guys, especially since im only 15 min away.

(also how do you like the JCR bumper? and i cant really tell, but do you have the hoop slanted or flat?)
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Thanks, dude. Yes, you should hang with us Sierra Chapter guys. This weekend we had some guys do a snow run and a three of us did Prairie City, so I guess you could take your pick..snow or mud.

I know we have some Strawberry Pass trips planned later this year as well, in addition to a dozen other events. Some guys are planning the Rubicon, and other's are doing more difficult trails. Either way, keep in touch, get your NAXJA membership, and get involved in the group runs. I'll head out to PC with you unless I already have wheeling, camping, or fishing plans. It is great fun and the more XJs the better (I'm starting my own fleet with a third XJ soon...).

As far as the JCR bumper, I like it very much. The welds are great and the approach angle is terrific. This is my second one (got one on Old Blue as well) but I went for a straight hoop on this Stage IV beast so I could hang some lights. If you buy one, make sure you get the uni-body tie-in brackets. Those are well worth the extra 44 bucks and are absolutely necessary if you plan to recover anyone, or be recovered yourself.

Hope to see you on the trail soon. Oh, and thanks for visiting the Frog Blog....
 
Crazy day. I spent most of it debating whether I should help my kid buy another XJ that happens to be for sale in this chapter. I'm heading out tomorrow to take a look at it and hope it is as good as it sounds. If so, we'll have three XJs parked in front of the house. We are well on our way to having a fleet of Cherokees.
 
Jealous! I've talked to my dad, and he says as soon as we pay off a vw jetta that is my sister"s, we want to buy a stock steel blue 2001 xj like old blue.

I plan on owning at least 3 xj's at some point. Mine, a beater, and something super super clean. :)
 
srmitchell said:
Jealous! I've talked to my dad, and he says as soon as we pay off a vw jetta that is my sister"s, we want to buy a stock steel blue 2001 xj like old blue.

I plan on owning at least 3 xj's at some point. Mine, a beater, and something super super clean. :)
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I took the day off and am heading to San Jose for a look at the Green Machine posted in the SC for sale forum. The pics look great, so I hope it turns out to be as good as it looks. If it works out, my kid will end up selling Old Blue and make the 2001 his new Jeep. We've had his '99 for 4 years and that has never let us down. I will hate to get rid of it.

I look forward to following your XJ purchases. Just make sure you keep the beater and the super super clean XJ separate. One wrong move will turn a clean Cherokee into a beater in a heartbeat. Ha ha.

Speaking of a steel blue XJ, a kid was driving one just like that at Prairie City last weekend. That sucker looked like it has been garaged for 10 years. He had a mild lift and Wrangler rims. Looked nice.
 
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