The Frog Blog

[rocknxj]

Thanks for all the input on the Currie steering and OTK upgrades. I'm running some extended sway bar brackets and wonder if they will interferre with the Currie setup, as well. I'll take a look after I pick up the Currie steering early next week. My wife and kids will be in Seattle for a week and I have plenty of time to play.


The kid and I are leaving for the 59th Annual Jeeper's Jamboree in about 4 hours. I'm sure it will suck and I'd be better off at work.

arty:

 

[srmitchell]

my currie steering was a bolt up deal.
i have installed a few others while doing the goferit insert flip at the same time & can bang them out quick. you loose your driver side sway bar mount when you flip it though.
if you guys want to do a group buy on inserts i can host an install party at my fun factory in san jose. i know it's a fair distance for you but the welding will be free. :wave1:

Stop soliciting crappy labor!

uke:

 

[knucklehead 61]

Stop soliciting crappy labor!

uke:

in the shop i can weld fairly ok.
on the trail with a battery flux core welder i concede suckage.
but the price is right. just bring taco bell goodness & i am good to go.

 

[blondejoncherokee]

hmm. i wouldnt mind moving the tie rod up top. i beat the crap outta the currie and it seems that the bends work themself out sometimes. put the bend facing down and it gets bent straight after the next trail run sorta thing. mine used to be bent up and bent in, but after a few runs and rotating it , the tie rod actualyl seems straighter than it has been in a long time.

 

[EricsXJ]

Thanks for all the input on the Currie steering and OTK upgrades. I'm running some extended sway bar brackets and wonder if they will interferre with the Currie setup, as well. I'll take a look after I pick up the Currie steering early next week.

Kelly, I have JKS swaybar mounts that I had welded on prior to getting the Currie steering. Height-wise they are just fine but I had to notch the face of the mount for clearance when turning. Not a big problem whatsoever.

As far as strength and longevety, the Currie setup has done me well for several years and I also have the go-ferit insert.

 

[rocknxj]

The kid and I got back from the Jeeper's Jamboree yesterday afternoon and I'm here to report minimal carnage to the XJ. Sorry for you Frog haters, but the red Jeep is still intact with only minor scrapes from the trail . We met a ton of great people and ate more food than a human should be allowed. Weather was perfect and the trail was excellent. Those of you heading to the Rubicon for the Sierra Fest next week, you are in for spectacular trail conditions. There are still a few snow drifts on the side of the trail beyond Cadillac Hill, but nothing on the trail itself. So odd for late July.

As we registered the vehicle for the Jambo in Georgetown on Wednesday, we met up with a hoard of Rubicon Express guys. The RE semi was loaded with their signature YJ, TJ, and JK Jeeps and a bunch of giveaways. I talked to the owner of the old XJ and he said he sold it a while back, so there was no Cherokee presence at this Jamboree. The guys explained that they were at the Jeepers Jamboree as a "re-opening ceremony" and will be back in business Monday (today), 1 August. While speaking to them, I had about 5 of them look at my front suspension. I have been having issues with the passenger spring and explained that I was advised by RE in the past to rotate it 180 degrees to keep it alinged on the perch. This is common with the taller coils and one option is to run shorter springs and an ACOS.

I also took advantage of the situation and thanked them for returning, but I explained that many of us were concerned about their quality and sustained reputation, especially after partnering with another vendor with questionable product quality. They gave each other a knowing glance, and responded with promises of 100% customer satisfaction and money-back guarantees. I asked them how they would advertise this and they said it would be on their web page. It was a pretty interesting conversation and having them look at my rig and provide advice was pretty cool.

On a related note, RE gave away a gizzie bag on Thursday at the Loon Lake entrance of the trail. The bag contained an RE shirt, compact emergency shovel, and nice three-way Smittybilt LED light with red laser pointer. I like free stuff. Especially when you pay 700 bucks for a couple of JJ tickets.

I'll post up more information and pics on the Frog Blog when I return home today. There was also a surprise visitor to the Jambo, and she was as hot in person as on TV.

More later....

 

[Mike1331]

There was also a surprise visitor to the Jambo, and she was as hot in person as on TV.

More later....

JC? I just want pics of her please.

 

[rocknxj]

JC? I just want pics of her please.

I've got pics. I even got to pull tickets out of her box.

 

[Mike1331]

oh my

 

[rocknxj]

Jambo pics coming soon. Took me a few hours to upload them to Photobucket last night and tonight I may have time to pick a few for the blogosphere.

On the other hand...my Currie CE-9701 arrived! Woohoo! I might play with my hardware instead...

The wife and kids drove to the Seattle area yesterday so I've got a week alone to play with my junk. Ahem. Last night I tore the rear fenders off and discovered that I like the fenderless look, especially with narrow 10.5" tires. The Frog will look much better once it is trimmed and equipped with better steering.

 

[FlexdXJ]

I've got pics. I even got to pull tickets out of her box.

Giggity.......

 

[rocknxj]

Here are some pics from the 2011 Jeeper's Jamboree, 28-31 July 2011, on the Rubicon Trail.

My kid and I met up with the Rubicon Express guys and had a good conversation. They were using the Jamboree as a kickoff for their reopening on Monday, 1 August. They brought their semi full of Rubicon rigs and a ton of giveaways. Everyone got Rubicon shirts, flashlights, shovels, and other cool crap.

The registration and gathering at Georgetown is always a blast.

The Amsoil XJ was looking good too.

We spent Wednesday night near Loon Lake so we could get an early start on the trail.

Of course, we took the opportunity to set up Piper, the winch wench before hitting the trail.

We left the campground about 6 am and rolled up at the Loon Lake dam about 6:30. See anybody you know? There were 209 vehicles for the Thursday run, and an additional 87 on the Friday run, not including vendors and spotters. Good turnout.

In total, we counted a couple of ZJs and about 12 XJs. There were only a few Toyotas, but all of them were beater POS vehicles.

Gatekeeper through the granite slab was cake. I've done this part of the trail several times and this was by far the easiest.

 

[rocknxj]

Poser shots ahead....

This is a great place to test out the suspension flex. The passenger rear wheel is just off the ground.

One of the XJs we found on the trail was driven by one of the vendors. This one looked a lot like our first XJ, Old Blue.

The kid and I took turns driving. He's heading for the AF Reserves next month so this will be one of the last wheeling trips we'll do together. He's planning to drive his own XJ during Sierra Fest next week.

...just to prove that I was there...

Stream crossing approaching Walker Hill.

The pic below shows a mystery dent that neither one of us can remember getting. I was driving but I have no memory of smacking a tree. There is sap above the window and a dent below, so we figure a tree jumped out and got me when I was not looking.

This ZJ did well on its maiden voyage. The driver just added axles and lift and finished up the rig a day before the jamboree. Later I noticed the bumper and body panels damaged and pulled off. So sad.

 

[XJensen]

Sweet pics. More, more, more...

 

[rocknxj]

Lately, I've been contemplating buying a TJ for my next build project. I thought long and hard about this during the jamboree and started thinking twice about that decision after I saw every Wrangler loaded down with camping gear and crap piled high on top of every rack available. Later, the Wranglers had to be covered with tarps to keep out the dust, rain, and squirrels. Not needed on the XJ. I barely even had to use my rack.

There was even a left-hand drive mail truck on the trail. This was pretty cool and well built.

You learn to love the checkpoints on the trail.

 

[rocknxj]

Plenty of mud along the trail too. Usually, the mud came just before steep downgrades and it screwed with my brakes.

Another poser shot. I seem to take a lot of those but there is plenty of downtime while you wait for the broken JKs in front of you to be hauled away.

Like the mud, there was plenty of spotters where needed. Thankfully we never had to have any rocks rolled for us, and we were never high centered or stuck on any part of the trail.

There aren't many other trails as cool as the Rubicon.

This is why I am going to trim my fenders. So tired of the rubbing, even with meager 33's.

 

[rocknxj]

Here's the Buck Island repair site. I've yet to spend time there.

There's plenty of action to watch when not driving.

Yet another XJ.

Entering Rubicon Springs...

The last obstacle to RS can be tricky if you don't know what you're doing. Yeah, like this guy. We watched him for about 20 minutes before somebody strapped him.

This was a sweet JK but the driver was a douche.

 

[rocknxj]

These guys (twins) bought this Willies for 700 bucks and had more fun than anyone on the trail.

Feeling happy we made it to Rubicon Springs without much damage.

Fun on the springs.

This was Sunday morning on Cadillac Hill. Sun just came up and I was looking a bit tired from 4 days without much sleep.

This is where the helicopter parks Sunday morning, but since we got a very early start we beat it and was able to get some decent poser shots.

On the way out towards Tahoe. Just a pic to prove there was still some snow on July 31.

The pictures I posted were from my crappy digital camera. Although I posted a ton of pics, I will need to put a few more up after my kid returns from the Seattle area next week. His photos with his high dollar digital SLR with the laser-guided optics and turbo enhanced mode will blow my pictures away.

[end]

 

[sdspearo]

Cool photos, thanks for posting! That's alot of time uploading all those pics! Does the JJ route take you through soup bowl and the more knarly obstacles like little sluice?

I take it a gas can isn't required to make it to Tahoe...what was your gas gauge level when you got to Tahoe?

(I'll be doin' the Con for the first time at Sierra Fest)

 

[zachndorsett]

Looks like an awesome trip with a great turn out! I cant wait to do some more work and get mine back on the trails