"Man do I know how to turn a small project into a big one..."
You only have yourself and the Hemi to blame!
You only have yourself and the Hemi to blame!
Nashville TJ's Build - Continued
- Thread starter NashvilleTJ
- Start date
OP
A buddy of mine over on JeepForum.com sent me a link to this article on the 2022 Ultimate Adventure. I was interviewed as part of the Dirty Dozen back in July, but I did not make the final cut. Cool to be considered though.
https://www.motortrend.com/events/dirty-dozen-ultimate-adventure-2022/amp/
https://www.motortrend.com/events/dirty-dozen-ultimate-adventure-2022/amp/
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Man that was always a dream of mine to be able to do UA.
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OP
Would have been fun.
Very cool. I'd like to do it someday...Maybe someday they'll do a "small tire" UA.
I’ve seen a few YouTubers talking about getting ready for UA. You could have been out wheeling with Dirtlifestyle Nate and his Toyota.
OP
I’ve met and wheeled with Ian Johnson a few times, but it would have been cool to meet Dave Chapelle. Meeting Nate would have been cool too.
Although as I said it was cool to be considered and interviewed, I knew from the get go that I would not make it because the reader‘s rides they select are always very unique and cool. My rig? not so much. When I saw this article showing the others in the dirty dozen it confirmed my belief. But, seeing my rig considered among the rest of those rigs was very cool.
You going to keep trying? Says it may take multiple years to get in.
OP
What’s funny is that I did not apply for this year’s UA, I applied for last year’s. During the interview I asked Christian Hazel about that and he said he keeps a file of interesting rigs that he looks at across the years. But yeah, I’ll probably try again. Although I may have to swap on an old J10 body…
OP
IMO yours is KEWL and unique and would fit right into the UA theme but I might be biased too.
I've got just the ticket for you. I hear everyone loves bedliner these days...
I know where there is a decent Willis wagon body. Comes standard with the patina that’s so cool now a days, too!
OP
Thursday night I had the great pleasure of having @Brianj5600 buy me dinner here at a local steak house. Brian wanted to talk about some future big plans he has for his rig. It was a great discussion - thanks again Brian! I enjoyed the meal, the conversation, and the company.
Anyway, after dinner we were in the parking lot - and Brian was going over my rig with a fine-tooth comb. I could tell he was just looking to find something wrong. And damn if he didn't!
"Hey, ahhhhh, Jeff", Brian said with a smug smile, "do you know you have a broken exhaust bracket?"
Well, after crushing my ego, Brian asks "How is it driving with hydro-assist? Is it squirrelly on the street?"
"If it's set up correctly, you don't even know it's there. Would you like to drive the rig?"
After a few seconds of thought, Brian says "Ahhhh, I dunno - that exhaust could fall off at any second....."
But he took his chances.
Thanks again Brian. We need to wheel again soon.
Anyway, after dinner we were in the parking lot - and Brian was going over my rig with a fine-tooth comb. I could tell he was just looking to find something wrong. And damn if he didn't!
"Hey, ahhhhh, Jeff", Brian said with a smug smile, "do you know you have a broken exhaust bracket?"
Well, after crushing my ego, Brian asks "How is it driving with hydro-assist? Is it squirrelly on the street?"
"If it's set up correctly, you don't even know it's there. Would you like to drive the rig?"
After a few seconds of thought, Brian says "Ahhhh, I dunno - that exhaust could fall off at any second....."
But he took his chances.
Thanks again Brian. We need to wheel again soon.
OP
If you follow my build you know that a few weeks ago I replaced my 12 year old PSC Saginaw steering gear with a new, PSC Big Bore Saginaw steering gear. You may recall that it took a little effort to get it in there.
Well, I've not been happy with the thing. It takes noticeably more effort to turn the wheel when compared to the old gear. Also, it does not return to center - coming off of a turn it starts to do so, but I have to turn the wheel the last half turn to get back to center. It's like the thing is dragging.
I recall that when I installed it and began to bleed the system, it took a good bit of effort to turn the wheel back and forth lock to lock - even with the front wheels off the ground.
I spoke to PSC about this when I first installed it, but they had no explanation. So, I figured I'd run it for a few weeks to see how it goes.
It was irritating to drive the thing - especially around town. So I got frustrated and reinstalled the original "non-big bore" gear and it is back to steering well.
Anyway, now I have this thing sitting on the bench:
I'll give PSC a call next week to see what we can do. I think there is something wrong with the gear, but I'm not sure.
Any insight from anyone?
Edit: and oh yeah - this sucker was $1100.
Well, I've not been happy with the thing. It takes noticeably more effort to turn the wheel when compared to the old gear. Also, it does not return to center - coming off of a turn it starts to do so, but I have to turn the wheel the last half turn to get back to center. It's like the thing is dragging.
I recall that when I installed it and began to bleed the system, it took a good bit of effort to turn the wheel back and forth lock to lock - even with the front wheels off the ground.
I spoke to PSC about this when I first installed it, but they had no explanation. So, I figured I'd run it for a few weeks to see how it goes.
It was irritating to drive the thing - especially around town. So I got frustrated and reinstalled the original "non-big bore" gear and it is back to steering well.
Anyway, now I have this thing sitting on the bench:
I'll give PSC a call next week to see what we can do. I think there is something wrong with the gear, but I'm not sure.
Any insight from anyone?
Edit: and oh yeah - this sucker was $1100.
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OP
When I reinstalled the old gear, I took some time to take care of a small nit. When last I built this steering, I wound up with my pitman arm being a little off center when driving straight. I don't think it caused any problems and did not limit the steering travel in any way, but like many little things it just irritated me. It was off by a tooth or two.
So, I centered the arm and shortened my drag link just a bit to accommodate. It required breaking out my very expensive 7/8x18 Left Hand Tap to sink the threads just a bit further - well at least now I've gotten to use the thing twice....
And back in it went:
Although the TRE's on the drag link were fine, the last time I smoked the one on the pitman arm side I installed my spare. This effort reminded me of that fact, so I ordered a spare to carry on the trailer.
The Moog part number I've used for this TRE is ES3096L. It's actually the stock TRE for this location. However, when I put them side by side, I see this:
The TRE I'm currently running (the one on the right) is noticeably thicker at the joint than the new one. Does anyone know if there is a heavy-duty version of this TRE, or perhaps Moog has changed the design? Or maybe the one I'm running now is an OEM part and is actually thicker?
Any insight is appreciated as always.
So, I centered the arm and shortened my drag link just a bit to accommodate. It required breaking out my very expensive 7/8x18 Left Hand Tap to sink the threads just a bit further - well at least now I've gotten to use the thing twice....
And back in it went:
Although the TRE's on the drag link were fine, the last time I smoked the one on the pitman arm side I installed my spare. This effort reminded me of that fact, so I ordered a spare to carry on the trailer.
The Moog part number I've used for this TRE is ES3096L. It's actually the stock TRE for this location. However, when I put them side by side, I see this:
The TRE I'm currently running (the one on the right) is noticeably thicker at the joint than the new one. Does anyone know if there is a heavy-duty version of this TRE, or perhaps Moog has changed the design? Or maybe the one I'm running now is an OEM part and is actually thicker?
Any insight is appreciated as always.
Thursday night I had the great pleasure of having @Brianj5600 buy me dinner here at a local steak house. Brian wanted to talk about some future big plans he has for his rig. It was a great discussion - thanks again Brian! I enjoyed the meal, the conversation, and the company.
Anyway, after dinner we were in the parking lot - and Brian was going over my rig with a fine-tooth comb. I could tell he was just looking to find something wrong. And damn if he didn't!
"Hey, ahhhhh, Jeff", Brian said with a smug smile, "do you know you have a broken exhaust bracket?"
View attachment 361681
Well, after crushing my ego, Brian asks "How is it driving with hydro-assist? Is it squirrelly on the street?"
"If it's set up correctly, you don't even know it's there. Would you like to drive the rig?"
After a few seconds of thought, Brian says "Ahhhh, I dunno - that exhaust could fall off at any second....."
But he took his chances.
Thanks again Brian. We need to wheel again soon.
@Brianj5600 don’t use Jeff’s rig for ideas. It can get really expensive.