04 LJK Repair, Redo, Recycle - The 3 R's of a First Build

Nooooooo! Trip delayed. I am blowing fuses for "trailer tow battery charge" in f250 can fuse box....
 
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Couple small setbacks on the way over, got something blowing fuses in my trailer charging system which I need to figure out and need to fix up the intercooler hose and tube situation on the truck and steering gear on the truck is sloppy too which is not so fun with trailer.

Anyhow made camp on top of ridge so we literally wheeled out of camp, it was AMAZING!! But you know that meme with the two girls side by side .... Well I showed up thinking my jeep is dialed and the 2/3 of the camp is buggies on portals. This guy diff clearance is higher than my belly skid and his top of cage is shorter then seat shoulder. Wow!! But he can't take his family out for a Sunday drive either so not exactly what I would want.

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The jeep did soooooo good. The roads up there are seriously rough, tons of rock, some extremely loose stuff and then some sticky sandy rock too. Loved having full 6" uptravel which I used 100% of many times. Back end is absolutely cush. The Currie bumps and soft foxes are doing great. I ran one road at street pressure 30psi and the fronts are valves pretty rough but at 10 psi the front felt much better.

Traction was incredible, even when I slipped. I had to bump a few times and the rear climbs so well night and day over short arms in rear.




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Did you just play there at Funny Rocks or hit some of the other trails also? Yes the Forest Service roads up there have some great speed bumps.
I'll agree buggies are great for some things but as you said they aren't street legal so their use is limited.

You rig looks great climbing the crack. Walked right up it too.
 
Did you just play there at Funny Rocks or hit some of the other trails also? Yes the Forest Service roads up there have some great speed bumps.
I'll agree buggies are great for some things but as you said they aren't street legal so their use is limited.

You rig looks great climbing the crack. Walked right up it too.
We went down moonrocks also and dang got into so stuff that was above my comfort level for sure, sidehill rock crawling. I got tipsy once and was able to throttle out. Had to climb a tree to put a winch rope up 12 feet to get up that step in middle of right side on moonrocks on way back up. The buggies made it look like a curb. I didn't get to do hardly any exploring of the trails. This group was mainly into rock only.
 
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We went down moonrocks also and dang got into so stuff that was above my comfort level for sure, sidehill rock crawling. I got tipsy once and was able to throttle out. Had to climb a tree to put a winch rope up 12 feet to get up that step in middle of right side on moonrocks on way back up. The buggies made it look like a curb. I didn't get to do hardly any exploring of the trails. This group was mainly into rock only.

Pictures don't do that area justice. There are some AWESOME trails to explore over there. I can't wait to start playing on them again.

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The washboard on the roads is brutal. It's one area where the AiRock really shines. Yes you can get way past your comfort level REALLY fast if you aren't careful in that area.
 
The jeep did soooooo good. The roads up there are seriously rough, tons of rock, some extremely loose stuff and then some sticky sandy rock too. Loved having full 6" uptravel which I used 100% of many times. Back end is absolutely cush. The Currie bumps and soft foxes are doing great. I ran one road at street pressure 30psi and the fronts are valves pretty rough but at 10 psi the front felt much better.

Traction was incredible, even when I slipped. I had to bump a few times and the rear climbs so well night and day over short arms in rear.




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Who’s tune are you running in your rear shocks?
 
Pictures don't do that area justice. There are some AWESOME trails to explore over there. I can't wait to start playing on them again.

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The washboard on the roads is brutal. It's one area where the AiRock really shines. Yes you can get way past your comfort level REALLY fast if you aren't careful in that area.
I think that last pic is the one we sketchily winched over. There's a lot of exposure to bump over that face, you really do not want to go backwards there and it's quite a step now. How long since you've been?

The road wasn't washboard so much as all the dirt has been washed from between the rocks so it's just hard softball sized rocks. Looks like a wet season did some damages. The washboard on the way in made for some serious trailer clanking.
 
Who’s tune are you running in your rear shocks?
Fullstack did my rears. Initial tune was too much damping. Second tune he added the LSC clicker and softened up. I am at the min setting on the clicker and it's riding pretty nice.
 
Fullstack did my rears. Initial tune was too much damping. Second tune he added the LSC clicker and softened up. I am at the min setting on the clicker and it's riding pretty nice.
Do you know what your initial tune was? I see several people mention a medium tune.
 
I hooked up my winchline for safety but ended up not needing it. I haven't been up in that area to play since 2013. My ex had a CJ-5 that we used after my TJ went down but then we got separated.

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Ah you ran your winch line to the right, there was a closer tree but it was really at a sharp angle.

No we put a Jeep up at the top of where I wanted to go and used it as an anchor. Ended up not needing it but it was a fun crawl just to see if I could do it. I like Rock crawling to a point but enjoy technical trails more so.

There are a ton of trails. If you have ever looked at the PNW4WDA Trail Jamboree there is a list of the more popular trails up there to hit. Once my Jeep is running I am going to have to refamiliarize myself with the trails. I'm sure some of it will come back once I start driving some of them. Plus now most are routed with GPS.

These are sold as UTV guides but the trails are legal for Jeeps also.

https://utvadventuresllc.com/produc...oCHEU3aqWKhB8LlqAgmpPcRI4JReVZo4QWqIQ3i6PfbIs
 
Do you know what your initial tune was? I see several people mention a medium tune.
Not sure it was probably just his standard tune. I didn't give a lot of info to him so i don't think it would be anything but the average tune. Plus at the time of initial order i was on short arms with OME's in front so a lot has changed since then.
 
No we put a Jeep up at the top of where I wanted to go and used it as an anchor. Ended up not needing it but it was a fun crawl just to see if I could do it. I like Rock crawling to a point but enjoy technical trails more so.

There are a ton of trails. If you have ever looked at the PNW4WDA Trail Jamboree there is a list of the more popular trails up there to hit. Once my Jeep is running I am going to have to refamiliarize myself with the trails. I'm sure some of it will come back once I start driving some of them. Plus now most are routed with GPS.

These are sold as UTV guides but the trails are legal for Jeeps also.

https://utvadventuresllc.com/produc...oCHEU3aqWKhB8LlqAgmpPcRI4JReVZo4QWqIQ3i6PfbIs
Hey thanks Wildman, i ordered that book. we didn't have any maps at all just tribal knowledge stuff which was awesome, but having maps to explore would be fun too. I was thinking of a hunt trip over to republic area this year and that'd be cool to explore / hike / jeep around. Lot more options to have fun with at trailer for sure.

I don't know exactly what I like yet because i haven't sampled everything. I very quickly jumped from newbie trails to decent difficultly level due to i got obsessed with building and wheeling. I have been gathered into groups with very experienced people but I'm not confident enough yet to be aggressive with wheeling so I don't like trails or rock with big exposure. Right now I prefer just kind of honing my craft on medium trails, learning to wheel at Walker which is low exposure rocks to crawl with the elevation change of a pseudo trail system but not much off-camber stuff. I can definitely foresee a future where i get bored of the easy rock crawling but for now it's perfect. I don't want to trash my rig that I'm trying to constantly improve.

What i enjoy about rock crawling is like looking at the terrain and trying to understand how its going to give or cost traction, how it's going to push the jeep. Some of the buggy guys have a deep understanding of how every nook and cranny can be used for leverage, like an expert rock climber only needs a small divot to hang from. Whats nice about west side spots is theres about always a place to winch from if you need to get out.
 
They are good books and will help you out a lot.

Get yourself a copy of this also as it covers the whole state. I have one for WA, OR & ID.

https://www.amazon.com/Washington-A...933329X&tag=wranglerorg-20?tag=wranglerorg-20

Also helpful to stop at the Ranger station and pick up the latest version of their maps. I'm of course going to have to acquire updated copies of all the maps I use to carry.

I'm hoping my skills haven't completely been forgotten but it will have been 8+ years for me since I have been wheelin so I am sure it will take a while for me to get back in the groove. Just running some of the trails up there can be a blast. I'm not one to hang out all day crawling over the same rocks.
Get over to Reiter also as they have been working on the trails there a lot.
 
Wow book already arrived! Man just goes to show we have few ORV options around. I'm grateful for what we have but like there's nothing in Whatcom Co
 
Wow book already arrived! Man just goes to show we have few ORV options around. I'm grateful for what we have but like there's nothing in Whatcom Co
If you want to know what it’s like to not have any ORV spots move to Ga. We have one open to 4x4 and it has 6 trails that total to 10 miles. There’s a couple of private parks in the state but most of the good parks are in Alabama and Tennessee.
 
If you want to know what it’s like to not have any ORV spots move to Ga. We have one open to 4x4 and it has 6 trails that total to 10 miles. There’s a couple of private parks in the state but most of the good parks are in Alabama and Tennessee.
Ok we are better than that, but not a lot, especially on the west side.

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If you want to know what it’s like to not have any ORV spots move to Ga. We have one open to 4x4 and it has 6 trails that total to 10 miles. There’s a couple of private parks in the state but most of the good parks are in Alabama and Tennessee.

Yes I'll agree wheelin back on the east coast is WAY different than out west. It is why all the different national 4WD org's fight so hard to keep the areas out west open as much as we can. I remember when I was station in MD a lot of our wheelin was done in farmers fields or on private property.

Ok we are better than that, but not a lot, especially on the west side.

You can thank all the stupid Eco-Natzy idiots from Seattle that got all the spots closed down. When I was a kid or even in the early 80's when I was stationed at Ft Lewis there were a lot more spots. And not to start a bitch fest but because they closed down all the wheelin spots on the westside now everyone comes to central WA. The trails in the Naches area use to open up on 1 April but due to the huge influx of people coming over it has all changed.

You do also have Evans Creek and Elbe Hills if you want to drive a little, Unfortunately with traffic it is about the same amount of travel time as it is to make it to the Naches area.