The Frog Blog

[the_weirdo]

Ya'll gots a real purty mouth.

 

[rocknxj]

2010 is nearly over and it is time for me to upload my favorite photos of the year. I wanted to keep the list down to 10 photos, but after a great year of trail rides, a decent build-up, and some other family trips, I found that to be impossible. Here's Part I.

Photo 1 - February 2010: This photo was taken the day I lifted the Frog, and arguably, the best it has ever looked. The lift followed an SYE installation, and some protection including AJ's super rails.

Photo 2 - February 2010 Prairie City: My kid talked me into going to PC to play in the mud. Mission accomplished.

Photo 3 - March 2010 Prairie City: I selected this photo for one of the top shots in 2010 for a couple of reasons. First, this photo is one of the last times I saw my beloved Old Blue in action. More importantly, this picture shows my wife behind the wheel of the Jeep, with my kid in the background, fully illustrating the family spirit of the sport of wheeling.

Photo 4 - March 2010 snow run: My kid and I enjoying a little snow.

Photo 5 - March 2010: I chose this photo because it shows a turning point for us. Old Blue was replaced by the Green Machine and for about a month, we had three modified XJs in front of the house. Neighbors thought we were nuts. On a side note, the blue XJ was sold, but I eventually bought a 2006 Grand Cherokee, so we still have three Jeeps out front. Yeah, we are nuts.

Photo 6 - May 2010 Prairie City: The weather was beginning to warm up and it was time for another trip to PC. Here's my little guy (future wheeler) showing his spirit in his first poser shot. This shot also showcases the new JCR front bumper.

Photo 7 - May 2010 Camp Far West: Poser shot during a fishing trip.

Photo 8 - May 2010 Camp Far West: I love this picture because it embodies the true nature of the off-road vehicle.

Photo 9 - June 2010 Prairie City: This was a test run to PC with family and friends for the purpose of testing out the rigs prior to the Poker Run on the Rubicon later in the month. I discovered a TC linkage problem that I later fixed.

Photo 10 - June 2010 Rubicon Trail: I have literally hundreds of photos from the Poker Run and the day on the Rubicon prior to that trip. I selected this one because it shows my wife and kid enjoying the trail. Man, it just does not get any better than this.

Photo 11 - June 2010 Rubicon Trail, Poker Run: Early morning on the granite slab. This was one of the best runs of the year.

Photo 12 - July 4 Lake Tahoe: This is clearly not my favorite photo, but it does show one of the more expensive "fixes" after a ride. I learned that I absolutely cannot tow my behemoth of a trailer with my XJ, especially when loaded down with a week's worth of camping gear. After overheating repeatedly, I was determined to buy a better tow vehicle for family vacations. I ended up with a 2006 Jeep Grand Cherokee with the 5.7L Hemi. Not surprisingly, that beast tows like a dream.

<End of Part I>

 

[rocknxj]

<Part II>

Photo 13 - July 2010 Strawberry Pass, Sierra Fest: Participation in my first Sierra Fest was an absolute blast, and I hope to make it an annual event. Although Strawberry is an easy trail, it is stunning with it's beauty.

Photo 14 - July 2010 On the way to Sierra Fest: After the Strawberry Pass leg of the 2010 Sierra Chapter SF event, I had to drive back home and work the following day. When I returned for the Deer Valley and Slick Rock trails on Saturday and Sunday, I stopped and took this shot along Hwy 4. As it turned out, it is one of my favorite shots of the year.

Photo 15 - July 2010 Deer Valley, Sierra Fest: I ended up with hundreds of great photos from Strawberry Pass, Deer Valley, and Slick Rock during the 2010 SF, and I found it difficult to narrow down the list. I picked this one for a few personal reasons.

Photo 16 - July 2010 Deer Valley, Sierra Fest: A good spot by someone like Shark Mark is all part of the sport of wheeling.

Photo 17 - July 2010 Deer Valley, Sierra Fest: I use this photo as my wall paper for my work computer. I had to include it in the list.

Photo 18 - October 2010 Strawberry Pass: A few of us members fought the driving rain in early October for one of the last runs of the season. This shot shows Rocknxj, Frontman, and 100K XJ lined up in what looks to be an Italian celebration.

Photo 19 - November 2010 Prairie City Toy Run: A gathering of Cherokees spreading goodwill...and a little mud.

Photo 20 - December 2010 Hi Lander's Toy Run: Caught in the act of spreading lies and trading wheeling stories with my fellow Boonie Bouncers club members. Photo courtesy of Gary's Facebook profile.

<End of Part II>

 

[connor0770]

Photo 6 Should be replaced with:

other than that you have an awesome Jeep and the Frog Blog was a genius idea!!

 

[SeansXJ]

CFW is my spot!!!! never knew you were a fisherman

 

[rocknxj]

Photo 6 Should be replaced with:

other than that you have an awesome Jeep and the Frog Blog was a genius idea!!

Actually, I would have posted that pic but that falls under my list of blunders, which is coming soon. Thanks for posting that up and reminding me of how I got stuck 18 seconds after entering PC. Ha, still a fun day.

 

[srmitchell]

Awesome shots man.

 

[connor0770]

I like this picture a lot, so i played around with it.

 

[connor0770]

heres with photoshop (just got it. Still trying to figure out how to use everything.)

 

[rocknxj]

Yeah, that's ^^ a good shot. I am surprised my stock tie rod stayed intact during that week of wheeling. I eventually replaced it with a ZJ rod. Anyway, thanks for the photo mod. Looks good.

 

[rocknxj]

Mistakes. We’ve all made them and I certainly have had my share. Now that I have posted my favorite pictures of 2010, I need to add my top 10 XJ-related goofs of the year.

Number 10: Crazy mud wheeling at Prairie City (February). The kid talked me into doing donuts in the sticky mud. That crap will never come out.

Number 9: Allowing Big-O to balance my KM2’s (August). This may seem as mild as the misplaced mud described above, but I don't like people screwing with my stuff and they did a number on me. On the positive side, I won’t be going back to Big-O again.

Number 8: Questionable Rear Main Seal replacement (February). This job took me 10 hours to complete, only to find out that the leak became worse directly afterwards. The source of the leak was determined to be the Oil Filter Adapter, which may suggest the RMS was never bad. Ugh. Epic fail. Really fun day under the Jeep, though.

Number 7: Getting hard stuck in the deep mud 18 seconds after entering Prairie City (May). Sure, good for a laugh, but bad for the ego. Thanks for the tug, Connor.

Number 6: Reversed LCAs (February). Seemingly impossible to do, I somehow misread the lift directions and installed my lower control arms backwards. This was revealed to me only through casual comments on a picture I posted on the Frog Blog.

Number 5: Driving for two months on a bent tie rod (May-June). That’s just stupid, man. BTW, the stock tie rod was replaced with a ZJ unit and I now carry an additional one as a spare.

Number 4: Faulty TC linkage installation (January). After 2 months without 4-lo following SYE installation, I figured out that I suck at installing (not adjusting) the transfer case shift linkage assy.

Number 3: Passing up the Green Machine that my kid bought (April). Illustrated XJ built one fine rig, and although it is perfect for my kid, it would have saved me countless time and money if I bought it and sold the stock Frog to my son.

Number 2: APN header installation woes. Inadequate research and a rushed job resulted in two sets of gaskets, hours wasted at an incompetent exhaust shop, an abundance of modified tools, a new ’99 intake manifold (to replace the one I busted during the second installation), a melted Brown Dog poly bushing, and unanticipated wisdom gained through unnecessary trial and error. I will be re-engaging this in early 2011 to eliminate the last of my wheezing intake leak.

And my worst XJ-related mistake of 2010 is….

Number 1: Towing too much weight with the XJ in June, then again in July resulted in repeated overheating, a mandatory tranny flush, loss of confidence in the XJ, and a new 5-year bank loan on a 2006 WK. On top of that, the new Grand Cherokee required me to sell my 2008 Civic commuter-scooter and use my XJ as a daily driver. Have you seen gas prices these days? Very ouch, baby.

[end]

 

[srmitchell]

Haha awesome.

I would have gone wj over the wk! My dads is sweet, and it was cheap.

 

[poomero]

hahaha. I have mad a few of my own but i dont have any pics of them .

 

[rocknxj]

Haha awesome.

I would have gone wj over the wk! My dads is sweet, and it was cheap.

I wanted a 2004 Grand Cherokee Overland and I was going to lift it (as were my plans for my 2000 WJ). Time was getting short for our big Yosemite trip, and the WK I found was in sweet shape, so I decided to do it. About a week later, I found a lifted WJ in the color, condition, and price I wanted. I'm still pissed about that.

 

[srmitchell]

That's a bummer. If you ever get sick of the xj, check out the 4.7L wj. My dads has 2x the power of mine, same size tires on STOCK gears, and better mpg. Jealous.

 

[rocknxj]

That's a bummer. If you ever get sick of the xj, check out the 4.7L wj. My dads has 2x the power of mine, same size tires on STOCK gears, and better mpg. Jealous.

My 2000 WJ had the 4.7 V8 Loredo and it had plenty of power for towing. I regularly got 18-20 mpg (as per over-head trip computer) and I was able to sleep in the back during scout camp outs. Scouts would set up their tents, and I'd just sleep in the back of my Jeep. Can't do that with the XJ.

I will probably never get "sick" of the XJ, but I will eventually outgrow it, and since the XJ's are a dying breed, I'll need to let go one day. Maybe by then, gas will be $10 a gallon and that will force me into a pair of quads instead of the trailer. I saw a commercial the other day and thought, "Oooh, me like. I could do that..."

 

[rocknxj]

Tomorrow is the official/unofficial snow run near Sly Park, so I decided to finally wire up my temporary winch. Here's what I did to prepare for this run.

First, I did a quick mid-winter repaint of my front bumper. It was looking sad, and I figured it was time for some Krylon.

After the paint dried, I installed my Smittybilt XRC8 winch in the front 2" receiver and cut the 4-gauge wires to length. One side will be wired directly to the battery, and the other side feeds the winch.

I previously purchased a set of Warn quick disconnects for ease of installation when I want to use my winch. I stripped the insulation from the end of the wires, coated the bare wire and inside of the silver-coated pins with flux, and heated the pins with my propane torch. In this photo, you'll notice that I used my winch as a workbench of sorts, taping down my vice grips and using a sand bag for extra security.

Since the terminals were coated in silver, I used some silver solder that I had from sweating copper pipes in my Master Bath remodel project. I did not have a crimper large enough to handle this job, so soldering was the best choice. A few pieces of solder inside the terminal end made the job simple enough. Once the terminals were heated and the solder melted, I carefully plunged the cable into the terminal and allowed it to cool.

In this photo, you may notice the wooden blocks I used in the jaws of the vice grips. I did this to prevent heat transfer to the vice grips, and to the winch, when I was heating the terminals with the torch. I'm not sure this was necessary, but I figured I'd do it anyway.

Taping the ends of the terminals was not really necessary, as the cables are pushed a good distance into the Warn quick disconnects, but I wrapped them just to be sure. I also cleaned all flux reside with electrical cleaner.

With all four cables soldered, the rest of the job was easy. I routed my cables, connected them to the battery, and secured them with zip ties. When I'm back home from the snow run, I can easily remove my winch and have it ready for the next adventure.

This was a pretty easy job and I'm happy with the results. A quick ops check proved that I did not screw anything up, and I'm now prepared to winch out a stuck TJ in the snow tomorrow.

 

[FlexdXJ]

Hey I figured I would pop in and show off my newest addition to the MWC.

My new mutt:

Her name is Rubi, as in Rubicon and she is a Dachshund. Since the Rubicon is in your chapter and you have a Dachshund, I figured this was relevant to the frog blog.

 

[rocknxj]

Hey I figured I would pop in and show off my newest addition to the MWC.

My new mutt:

Her name is Rubi, as in Rubicon and she is a Dachshund. Since the Rubicon is in your chapter and you have a Dachshund, I figured this was relevant to the frog blog.

Great name, and a great dog. Rubi looks like my long-haired doxi. Good job on picking a Dachshund, Flex.

 

[rocknxj]

Here are a few shots from the 1/1/11 snow run.