- Location
- West Sacramento, CA
Didn't read but BOGGERS!
The Frog Blog
- Thread starter rocknxj
- Start date
rocknxj
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- Clinton, Utah (SLC area)
Ran the Cleghorn trail with the SoCal chapter for their annual toy run last Saturday. Here are a few Frog-centric pics from the run. Since I knocked off both front fender flares again (despite an additional 3/4"), I decided to finally start cutting and prepping for my larger tires. Pics on that later this weekend.
rocknxj
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- Clinton, Utah (SLC area)
So....along with a ton of planned upgrades for the XJ, I'm looking for a different off road vehicle and want either, 1) another 1999-01 XJ, 2) a 2003-04 WJ Limited or Overland, or 3) a 2004-06 LJ Rubicon.
I prefer the LJ and found this today. The Jeep is in good condition and has 75k miles and a nasty RMS leak. The dealer does not want to invest in the fix but won't come down lower than $17k. I offered 15K cash and am waiting to see if he calls me back. Otherwise, I'll find something else on my short list. It could be fun...
I prefer the LJ and found this today. The Jeep is in good condition and has 75k miles and a nasty RMS leak. The dealer does not want to invest in the fix but won't come down lower than $17k. I offered 15K cash and am waiting to see if he calls me back. Otherwise, I'll find something else on my short list. It could be fun...
rocknxj
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- Clinton, Utah (SLC area)
Red Frog Ale...who knew?
Forceful Llama
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- MOdesto
Any good? I've become pretty fond of one called Pranqster.
rocknxj
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- Clinton, Utah (SLC area)
Never had it. My kid sent me the pic yesterday. I guess he was picking out beer and wine for his work party and came across that.
rocknxj
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- Clinton, Utah (SLC area)
I called a guy in Bakersfield with a '98 XJ Sport today with 42k actual miles. He claims it is in mind condition, manual tranny, and in perfect mechanical condition, but is asking more than I think it is worth. He couldn't tell me about axles, transfer case, ABS, or even if it had a tow package. Meh. He then said he was on his way to take it to the dealer who offered him 8500 for it. Good luck with that. Hated to pass that one up but I'll keep looking for the perfect companion to the Frog. Hell, maybe he'll call me back after the dealer offers him 3k.
trailmaster6536
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- Dallas, Texas
42K?
That is what you call neglect and abandonment. Good Lord, the seals and gaskets must be on the verge of dry rot.
I found the sweet spot between value and mileage to be between 120K and 160K. I can see and hear all of the problems and if it was driven to a meeting point, I don't really need to drive it; it got there. What about handling you says? I will be tearing into the front end anyway so how it handles is not that important. They either wander all over the lane or vibrate. That is certainly to be expected and is fine. It is a jeep. Not a Lincoln town car.
The Anti-Frog is coming along nicely. Put on new front bearings and I won't go deaf. Spliced/soldered in new gage cluster terminals, Dumped the aftermarket IAC and have a nice running motor at the right idle and no stubling on acceleration. AND NO MORE CODES. Changed out the shocks; broke off all but one upper bolt (gave me and excuse to buy the air chisel) and snapped off one of the lower mounting bolts on the shock mounting stud on the axle. Grind and drill. Grind and drill. All great fun!
That is what you call neglect and abandonment. Good Lord, the seals and gaskets must be on the verge of dry rot.
I found the sweet spot between value and mileage to be between 120K and 160K. I can see and hear all of the problems and if it was driven to a meeting point, I don't really need to drive it; it got there. What about handling you says? I will be tearing into the front end anyway so how it handles is not that important. They either wander all over the lane or vibrate. That is certainly to be expected and is fine. It is a jeep. Not a Lincoln town car.
The Anti-Frog is coming along nicely. Put on new front bearings and I won't go deaf. Spliced/soldered in new gage cluster terminals, Dumped the aftermarket IAC and have a nice running motor at the right idle and no stubling on acceleration. AND NO MORE CODES. Changed out the shocks; broke off all but one upper bolt (gave me and excuse to buy the air chisel) and snapped off one of the lower mounting bolts on the shock mounting stud on the axle. Grind and drill. Grind and drill. All great fun!
rocknxj
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- Clinton, Utah (SLC area)
Hey there Bill, glad to know your anti-frog campaign is still rolling ha ha. Just to make you cringe a bit, I will start cutting my front fenders today. I'm tired of knocking off my fenders even on my lowly 33's. They got to go. My plan for the year is to upgrade to long arm list but that depends on my companion rig. I'm looking at a TJ on a 6" LA lift this morning so if that works out I will keep the frog as is for a season.
Also, the guy with the XJ with 42K never called me back so that deal is dead. I considered the problems with seals as you mentioned but I would have taken that risk with a pristine XJ. The TJ has 54K and a perfect rig for my long term project.
Also, the guy with the XJ with 42K never called me back so that deal is dead. I considered the problems with seals as you mentioned but I would have taken that risk with a pristine XJ. The TJ has 54K and a perfect rig for my long term project.
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rocknxj
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- Clinton, Utah (SLC area)
I thought this was cool and wanted to share. After looking for old junk to throw away, I stumbled upon an old advertisement for the new Jeep Cherokee Limited in a February, 1988 Newsweek magazine. It seems I never liked throwing old magazines away.
The Jeep ad was centered in the middle of the issue and is a beautiful, high gloss, two-page piece of a larger, 20-page campaign by Lee Iacocca for Chrysler Corp. Other (not so magnificent) vehicles advertised were the Dodge Caravan (with wood trim), the Chrysler LeBaron (need hood louvers, anyone?), Eagle Premier (wtf?), Plymouth Sundance, Dodge Dakota 4x4 (actually pretty cool), Chrysler New Yorker, and a few other long forgotten (Omni and Reliant) oddities.
This ad is a good look at what was when times were simpler. Beautiful rig, and the ad is frame-worthy for the garage. If only I had a time machine...
The Jeep ad was centered in the middle of the issue and is a beautiful, high gloss, two-page piece of a larger, 20-page campaign by Lee Iacocca for Chrysler Corp. Other (not so magnificent) vehicles advertised were the Dodge Caravan (with wood trim), the Chrysler LeBaron (need hood louvers, anyone?), Eagle Premier (wtf?), Plymouth Sundance, Dodge Dakota 4x4 (actually pretty cool), Chrysler New Yorker, and a few other long forgotten (Omni and Reliant) oddities.
This ad is a good look at what was when times were simpler. Beautiful rig, and the ad is frame-worthy for the garage. If only I had a time machine...
kndrewa
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- Vancouver British Columbia
thanks for sharing!
rocknxj
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- Clinton, Utah (SLC area)
I had a few days off for Christmas and found time to cut my front fenders. This was in preparation for my tires and rims that I ordered last week.
Thanks, in part, to my last trail run, I was not sporting my stock fender flares. After knocking both flares off at Cleghorn despite gaining .75" in the front after my ACOS installation, I decided to never run those factory flares again on this rig. They are now in my garage and waiting on my next XJ purchase. Anyway, I chose to cut just above the mounting holes and followed the natural contour of the fender.
My cutoff wheel allowed me to follow my blue tape and cut through the sheet metal easily.
A grinding wheel and flat file finished the job.
Kevin (100kXJ) was visiting from Travis AFB and helped me with the install. He had the fun job of installing the edge trim.
The final look is clean and the overall job was easy. It takes about as long to mark and cut the fenders as it does to actually remove the flares. The driver's side would be a pain with the washer bottle if you cut higher than I did, but I took that into consideration and kept the trimming to a minimum for now.
Today (28 Dec) I was able to pick up my 33x2.50x15 Goodyear MT/R Kevlars and 15x10" steel rims from America's Tires. The Goodyear's did not qualify for the $80 rebate, but AT reduced the overall price of tires and rims to match the rebate. This was after they reduced the price of tires and wheels when I initially ordered the parts. Here is the first shot during the test fit at the shop. Looked encouraging and I like the way the Warn hubs are better protected by the deep dish of the rims.
These next few shots show the profile of the 12.50's on 10" rims. I wanted to save a few bucks and know I could have used my existing 8" rims, but I wanted to keep my KM2's and Soft 8's intact for my next rig.
Can anyone say fixit ticket?
VV Ooooh look, I'm still advertising the City of Rocklin on my plates. I guess that allows me to continue posting in the NorCal chapter....
VV
Hmmmm, enough space?
At full turn, I'm a tad close for comfort and will do some additional trimming tomorrow. I'm wheeling the Last Chance trail on Sunday and need to get this done. I'm also interested in seeing how much mud I can fling with the exposed tread.
Side note: I experienced a mild case of death wobble on the way home from AT and will need to figure this one out. My caster angle needs to be adjusted a bit due to the ACOS installation and I have bad control arm bushings again, so I'll mess with that first before digging deeper. Fun.
Thanks, in part, to my last trail run, I was not sporting my stock fender flares. After knocking both flares off at Cleghorn despite gaining .75" in the front after my ACOS installation, I decided to never run those factory flares again on this rig. They are now in my garage and waiting on my next XJ purchase. Anyway, I chose to cut just above the mounting holes and followed the natural contour of the fender.
My cutoff wheel allowed me to follow my blue tape and cut through the sheet metal easily.
A grinding wheel and flat file finished the job.
Kevin (100kXJ) was visiting from Travis AFB and helped me with the install. He had the fun job of installing the edge trim.
The final look is clean and the overall job was easy. It takes about as long to mark and cut the fenders as it does to actually remove the flares. The driver's side would be a pain with the washer bottle if you cut higher than I did, but I took that into consideration and kept the trimming to a minimum for now.
Today (28 Dec) I was able to pick up my 33x2.50x15 Goodyear MT/R Kevlars and 15x10" steel rims from America's Tires. The Goodyear's did not qualify for the $80 rebate, but AT reduced the overall price of tires and rims to match the rebate. This was after they reduced the price of tires and wheels when I initially ordered the parts. Here is the first shot during the test fit at the shop. Looked encouraging and I like the way the Warn hubs are better protected by the deep dish of the rims.
These next few shots show the profile of the 12.50's on 10" rims. I wanted to save a few bucks and know I could have used my existing 8" rims, but I wanted to keep my KM2's and Soft 8's intact for my next rig.
Can anyone say fixit ticket?
VV Ooooh look, I'm still advertising the City of Rocklin on my plates. I guess that allows me to continue posting in the NorCal chapter....
VV
Hmmmm, enough space?
At full turn, I'm a tad close for comfort and will do some additional trimming tomorrow. I'm wheeling the Last Chance trail on Sunday and need to get this done. I'm also interested in seeing how much mud I can fling with the exposed tread.
Side note: I experienced a mild case of death wobble on the way home from AT and will need to figure this one out. My caster angle needs to be adjusted a bit due to the ACOS installation and I have bad control arm bushings again, so I'll mess with that first before digging deeper. Fun.
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rocknxj
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- Clinton, Utah (SLC area)
Did a bit more trimming on the back edge of the front fenders in preparation for the Johnson Valley wheeling trip. I decided to cut an additional 2" for clearance during full turns.
I like the outcome.
After the JV trip, I noticed that I will need a bit more trimming at the front of the fender and a few turns on the ACOS collar. I'll work on the rear fenders this weekend.
Here is a "full stuff" shot as I'm winching a YJ with a broken front driveshaft out of a nasty hole.
I like the outcome.
After the JV trip, I noticed that I will need a bit more trimming at the front of the fender and a few turns on the ACOS collar. I'll work on the rear fenders this weekend.
Here is a "full stuff" shot as I'm winching a YJ with a broken front driveshaft out of a nasty hole.
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rocknxj
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- Clinton, Utah (SLC area)
Here's a few shots from the Johnson Valley run on 30 Dec 12 with guys from the High Desert 4WDC. Cool place to camp and wheel Jeeps, bikes, quads, and side-by-sides. The Goodyear MT/R's did great on the sticky granite and the XJ performed flawlessly.
Plenty of v-notches and canyons to challenge your articulation and sidewalls.
Here's Josh and his '01 XJ with open/open diffs. He did great but is looking forward to his locker installs.
Plenty of v-notches and canyons to challenge your articulation and sidewalls.
Here's Josh and his '01 XJ with open/open diffs. He did great but is looking forward to his locker installs.
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rocknxj
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- Clinton, Utah (SLC area)
Mike1331
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- Folsom, CA
interesteing trim job up front, i think i like it. Why did you go with a 10" rim on 33's? I love that your winch is on a reciever.
rocknxj
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- Clinton, Utah (SLC area)
I went with 10" rims for two reasons. First, I wanted my KM2's on 8" rims intact for my next XJ project and needed rims anyway. 10" rims for 12.50 wide tires give a better fit and widen my stance a bit. Many say 12.50's on 8" rims are ok, but 10" is better for tread wear since it prevents the tire from crowning. I found about 50% of the people swear by 8" rims for 12.50's, and 50% swear by 10" rims. Losing a bead when aired down was a concern so 10" rims was the choice. A side benefit is how the deeper dish protects my hubs.
By the way, the front and rear JCR bumpers will likely go on my next XJ as well. I'm looking for a front winch bumper and will fab a short rear bumper out of rectangular stock, then will remove the lower JCR quarters and cut and fold the rear. Many plans for the Frog....
By the way, the front and rear JCR bumpers will likely go on my next XJ as well. I'm looking for a front winch bumper and will fab a short rear bumper out of rectangular stock, then will remove the lower JCR quarters and cut and fold the rear. Many plans for the Frog....
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- Location
- Columbus, In
Is it October yet? The Frog and Betsy need to be wheeling together! Love following your thread and looking at your badass pics. Now, I have a camera girl to get more pics so I hope to get some good ones this year!
rocknxj
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- Clinton, Utah (SLC area)
Hey, Flexd! I'm counting the days to Moab and that epic event. You may need to loan out your camera girl, as i anticipate some amazing shots. If I can find parts in time, the Frog will undergo a few good improvements by October. As good as she is now, I can do better.
- Location
- Columbus, In
She won't be making The Moab trip. She will be graduating from Nursing school around then so she'll be hanging back. I had this planned before she came around and she knows this may be the only time I can make it out there in the near future, Hoping the timing works right so I can still make her graduation!
