The Frog Blog

[rocknxj]

Drum brakes suck monkey ass.

Towed the XJ behind the White Whale today for the first time and it went well. In fact, I hardly knew it was back there, and the motor home brakes are more than adequate for the extra 4k lbs. I'll be dragging the Jeep to Airport Flats campground tomorrow morning, so unless it falls off the tow hitch and careens down a canyon on Hwy 49, it should go well. I'll likely post pics of the Poker Run when I get back Sunday.

 

[blondejoncherokee]

quarter panel guards make me jelly

 

[Mike1331]

is the poker run off hwy 49 on poker flat trail right next to downieville? I love that place.

 

[rocknxj]

Hi Lander's Poker Run info: http://www.hi-landers.com/Poker/Poker.html (yeah, it's too late to register for Saturday's run).

Directions to the Hi Lander's base camp (courtesy of their web site):

Directions to our base camp from Sacramento, CA:
Take Highway 50 east out of Sacramento, 8.4 miles from the Pollock Pines/Sly Park Exit you will come upon a left turn lane that turns onto Ice House Road (Crystal Basin). Turn left onto Ice House Road, travel 22.5 miles down Ice House Road. You will come to a major intersection called Wentworth springs road, do not turn onto that road but proceed past it about 200 feet and then take that left it is the road to our base camp located at the South Fork Group Camp Ground. The South Fork Campground is 0.8 miles down this road on your right. There are limited number of camping sights at our base camp. Fortunately there are numerous other Forest Service and private camp grounds nearby. Due to slow traveling on the winding Ice House Road it will take you approximately one hour to reach our base camp once you turn off of highway 50 onto Ice House Road, take it easy and enjoy the scenery.​

Map of South Fork camp ground:

Trail map:

I may not make this next year as I'll be in SoCal, but it would be worth the drive if I can. Next to the Jamboree and Sierra Fest, this is the best event of the year.

 

[NorCalChris]

Got my ORF quarters installed.

These are on my list of things to get. Very cool idea I think.

 

[rocknxj]

Had a good trip on the Rubicon and Wentworth Springs trail this weekend. Flat towed the XJ to Airport Flat and back with no problems. Tested the new ORF quarter panels against a large rock and they held up well, but it will need some touch up paint. Also bent my new Currie tie rod like everyone here said I would. I'll adjust the toe tomorrow. Pics later as time permits. The Jeep continues to perform flawlessly.

 

[knucklehead 61]

Had a good trip on the Rubicon and Wentworth Springs trail this weekend. Flat towed the XJ to Airport Flat and back with no problems. Tested the new ORF quarter panels against a large rock and they held up well, but it will need some touch up paint. Also bent my new Currie tie rod like everyone here said I would. I'll adjust the toe tomorrow. Pics later as time permits. The Jeep continues to perform flawlessly.

did you install the steering over the knuckle? that helps a bunch.

 

[rocknxj]

did you install the steering over the knuckle? that helps a bunch.

I haven not done the OTT upgrade yet. Wish I had.

My front locker grenaded and I'm now looking for a shop to rebuild my D30 and install an Eaton or something equivalent. I'm supposed to drive be in SoCal next week...not much time here. IH Only moved to Grass Valley, and that might be my closes shop. Crap.

 

[knucklehead 61]

i like arb's even though i grenaded the one in my d30.
but people (usually the_weirdo) tell me i am tough on parts.

 

[blondejoncherokee]

I've done the OTK on the driver side, that 17$ gofer it insert is worth it, but you'll need to cut off driver side axle sway bar link mount, its a good excuse to not run sway bars, or relocate the mount.
my rig is extremely stable after going OTK and pulling the sway bars off. didn't even notice a difference, but i also run decent shocks.
plus you get decreased steering angles, and increased tie rod clearance, i still hit the tie rod sometimes, but it has to be 3" taller of a rock to do so, "which is nice" ("....on your death bed, you will receive total consciousness , so i got that going for me, which is nice"

 

[#S194]

X 2 on the ARB. So far so good on mine.

("....on your death bed, you will receive total consciousness , so i got that going for me, which is nice"

Nice Carl the Groundskeeper reference...best movie ever.

 

[blondejoncherokee]

hahaha oh yes.

 

[connor0770]

Had a good trip on the Rubicon and Wentworth Springs trail this weekend. Flat towed the XJ to Airport Flat and back with no problems. Tested the new ORF quarter panels against a large rock and they held up well, but it will need some touch up paint. Also bent my new Currie tie rod like everyone here said I would. I'll adjust the toe tomorrow. Pics later as time permits. The Jeep continues to perform flawlessly.

weird i bent my currier tie rod too first trip out in my XJ..

The Jeep is looking good Kelly. Hopefully I will see you on one of these runs this year! :cheers:

 

[rocknxj]

I just got s call from Chad at IH Only-North, who is working on my front diff issue. He said the front end is fine, and the problem is with the front driveshaft. I visually inspected the ds and thought it looked fine. It also rotated freely 1/2 turn which made me believe I had a fragged diff. Live and learn. I was hoping for a selectable locker but I will settle for a beefy long travel driveshaft instead.

After I get settled in SoCal next week, I'll start looking for long arm upgrades and perhaps stronger axles and lockers to go with my other build plans.

 

[rocknxj]

Update from IH Only...

One unit bearing and one axle shaft is bad, but the ring, pinion, and locker is fine. I'm going with lockout hubs, chromo shafts, new unit bearings, and the drive shaft upgrade. Wish I had the time to do this myself...I hate having other peeps work on my chit.

 

[#S194]

Are you going with the Warn kit?

 

[knucklehead 61]

why spend the money on lockouts for a d30?
that is a total waste of money.
what is the gain?
are you going to 30 spline shafts & carrier?
if not, i would spend the money there long before the lockouts.
but that's my opinion & it's your money...

 

[rocknxj]

A few pics from the Poker Run...

Hauling the Heep behind the White Whale. The cheap tow bar held up well, but a huge pain to hook up.

A quick photo op with the kid at Loon Lake.

A few shots from Friday afternoon, prior to the Saturday run.

Saturday morning...The first group for the Poker Run.

 

[rocknxj]

Poker Run continued...

 

[the_weirdo]

We didn't see you guys at the run but it looks like you had as much fun as we did. We ran in group 3 and camped at Wench Creek. Other than the 102* weather cruising through Sacramento on Friday afternoon it was a great time.