OP
Daily Driver, Go Where I Want To Build
- Thread starter jjvw
- Start date
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Today was our April Fool's day season opener at Chinaman Gulch. This is also the first time the Jeep has been off pavement since last summer!
This is also my first time out with the automatic transmission, new wheels and beadlocks, and the Savvy sliders and corners!
This is also my first time out with the automatic transmission, new wheels and beadlocks, and the Savvy sliders and corners!
How was the auto? I haven’t rock crawled with mine yet, but I do like it the little bit I’ve been out in the woods two tracking.
Looks great. I can't wait to see some rocks again.
I drove by the exit of the rubicon today to see this.
OP
The automatic is really wonderful! This trail is just difficult enough where you can test things out and track changes over time. I spent a lot of time today seeing how slowly I could move up and over the rocks and ledges. The fun thing about the auto is that there is a significant increase in control and modulation compared to the manual. This is despite my old manual having the lower crawl ratio on paper.
I now have the ability to nose up to an obstacle and give exactly enough throttle to move forward. And I can control the speed and force that the Jeep moves with a significant amount of precision, including being able to stop and hold a position with only the throttle. Small corrections in which I would back up and change direction were much more controlled, where the extra motion from working the clutch disappeared.
For the last few years, I have been working on driving more smoothly. One way I was doing so was to stay in 1st gear and run through an obstacle at a higher engine rpm. But even with the 4:1, I often found that the gearing was not low enough. The automatic changes all of this. Driving with the auto is much more fluid with far fewer full stops. And accidently killing the engine might be near impossible now.
All in all, this was a very interesting day. The way I drive is going to change and it will take some time to retrain and relearn many things I have been doing on the more difficult trails.
I now have the ability to nose up to an obstacle and give exactly enough throttle to move forward. And I can control the speed and force that the Jeep moves with a significant amount of precision, including being able to stop and hold a position with only the throttle. Small corrections in which I would back up and change direction were much more controlled, where the extra motion from working the clutch disappeared.
For the last few years, I have been working on driving more smoothly. One way I was doing so was to stay in 1st gear and run through an obstacle at a higher engine rpm. But even with the 4:1, I often found that the gearing was not low enough. The automatic changes all of this. Driving with the auto is much more fluid with far fewer full stops. And accidently killing the engine might be near impossible now.
All in all, this was a very interesting day. The way I drive is going to change and it will take some time to retrain and relearn many things I have been doing on the more difficult trails.
OP
Regarding tires, wheels and beadlocks...
The 17" wheel with 35" MTRs felt no different while aired down to my normal 8psi compared to my old 15" wheels.
The Coyote internal beadlocks were (almost) completely invisible. I have never lost a bead on this trail, so there is no clearly evident change here.
Where the wheels, tires, and beadlocks might be different from my prior setup is that with the shorter sidewall and the internal beadlock providing some internal support to the tire, this new arrangement seemed less squirrelly and more stable than before. This is something I have noticed most in Moab on past trips. So I will be paying close attention to how stable the tires are in situations with heavy side loading. Especially where turning is involved.
The 17" wheel with 35" MTRs felt no different while aired down to my normal 8psi compared to my old 15" wheels.
The Coyote internal beadlocks were (almost) completely invisible. I have never lost a bead on this trail, so there is no clearly evident change here.
Where the wheels, tires, and beadlocks might be different from my prior setup is that with the shorter sidewall and the internal beadlock providing some internal support to the tire, this new arrangement seemed less squirrelly and more stable than before. This is something I have noticed most in Moab on past trips. So I will be paying close attention to how stable the tires are in situations with heavy side loading. Especially where turning is involved.
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OP
And the sliders and corners are very nice to have finally! Both got used today and not having to think as much about avoiding body damage is very freeing and will be very useful in the future. I like having a smooth round rear end again!
I told you all those diet tips you asked me for would work. I just didn't think you would tell everyone.
OP
Going back a couple years to my crunched corners after I put on the crossmember plate, the Savvy corners let me do a more substantial and better looking repair than the field of pop rivets. As a refresher, the rear body quarter panels are connected only to the torque box and those connections are only attached with a scattering of spot welds. I broke all of them after eliminating the big rear bumper protection.
At the urging of Blaine, I added three additional nutserts and bolts to the rear torque box on either side of the rear gate.
These put nutserts into the four corners of the torque box where they extend into the quarter panels and sandwich all three layers of body material and armor together into a much stronger structure.
At the urging of Blaine, I added three additional nutserts and bolts to the rear torque box on either side of the rear gate.
These put nutserts into the four corners of the torque box where they extend into the quarter panels and sandwich all three layers of body material and armor together into a much stronger structure.
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That video is great. I know the armor can take much more heavy hits, but seeing it take that hit and come out as if nothing happened is just <chef's kiss>.
OP
If the armor of going to be taking hits with that being more on the minor end of the spectrum, it makes sense that I just put in about 70 fasteners between the sliders and corners into the body.
There is no doubt to this. It's a game changer for sure. I was telling Josh how my "new" Jeep is way different than the old even though I swapped most everything over. Before I could feather the clutch easily whereas now it bites and is either go out no go. I bent the shit out of my rear bumper because if it. I hope I can get it like the other but even then, the auto will always be superior for the tough stuff.
What little driving I did with your jeep was a lot of fun and I can see the advantage of an auto immediately. Except I had a hard time trying to find a clutch to feather
OP
Everytime I jump in the driver's seat, I still reach over to a shifter that isn't there to give it a bump to check if the transmission is in neutral.