A non-Jeep persons 98 TJ build

[CMBD]

Headed up again 9-8 after dropping kids off at school. Didn't really have a plan. Headed into West Lake to see if last weekends firewood was still there and grab it incase I ended up somewhere with none.

Found a spot up from where I camped last weekend that I didn't know was there. It was a sweet spot, had a bunch of good firewood, and was close to the lake, so I made it home for two nights. Cool and breezy and no mosquitos Thunder, lightning, wind, and rain early Saturday am, but over all really nice for the most part.

The new Kelty Waypoint shelter, good food, good beer, and good bourbon made the rain a non issue

 

[CMBD]

The green arrow is about where I was at. The green meadow pics are that sort of wetland looking area to the left on the map.

 

[Mike_H]

beautiful!

 

[CMBD]

The trails here close 11/1, so I got one more trip in to Strawberry lake last weekend. Weather forecast at the beginning of the week had a low of 12 and 40% chance or rain/snow. None of my friends were down with that so I went solo. By the end of the week it was lows in the 20s and no rain/snow.

 

[CMBD]

Always bring the splitting axe, but the Sawzall with a 3tpi blade was amazing

 

[CMBD]

People have been wheeling and camping up here since the 50s. Finding old camp sites and vintage trash brings me joy so I make it a point to search when I can.

Sunday before I left I hiked around but a ways out from the lake. Ended up way east of the lake up in the rocks. Found a few simple rock fire rings with old tin cans. But then I came across this...

Under cut rock with a small rock fire ring with a metal grate in it. Had what was left of a roof and the rest of it had fallen in. And there was a saw cut chair from a log. Structure was too short to stand in. And there was a similar one close by. Found some old tin cans, and a straw broom handle up in a crack in the granite

Both camps were up on this ridge.

 

[CMBD]

Until next season

 

[CMBD]

Have been running the straight JKS track bar bracket that came with the 3" kit and the stock rear track bar. The rear axle wasn't perfectly centered, but it was close. After the SYE that setup just wasn't right.

Switched to a JKS angled bracket and adjustable rear track bar. The rear axle is perfectly centered now and everything is happy out back again.

Unexpected, but the ride quality is better. Better because there was a quirk I didn't notice till it was gone. Always had a little wiggle in the rear after the lift over bumps and on moderate acceleration. Doesn't have the wiggle anymore.

 

[CMBD]

Working on getting the ARB twin install finished up. Have 6ga cable and all the components. Working on getting power from the battery to inside the firewall. Going to get it inside through the clutch master block off.

I did my best to match the gray, but not even close

 

[Rickyd]

Have been running the straight JKS track bar bracket that came with the 3" kit and the stock rear track bar. The rear axle wasn't perfectly centered, but it was close. After the SYE that setup just wasn't right.

Switched to a JKS angled bracket and adjustable rear track bar. The rear axle is perfectly centered now and everything is happy out back again.

Unexpected, but the ride quality is better. Better because there was a quirk I didn't notice till it was gone. Always had a little wiggle in the rear after the lift over bumps and on moderate acceleration. Doesn't have the wiggle anymore.

View attachment 508444

View attachment 508445

Mine has the same little wiggle. Good to know a jks or maybe a currie will solve that

 

[CMBD]

I think now that the track bar is the correct length and not bound up is the reason for the win.

Did a 40 mile trip right after and was like "MAN THIS IS GREAT"

 

[CMBD]

Finished up the compressor install finally

Went direct to the battery with 6ga. cable. Installed a waterproof cable gland in the clutch master block off to get the cables inside and attached the cables to two junction posts. Pressure release quick coupler on the air line. Will plumb it different later when I have more time.

This compressor is almost CO2 fast. Went from 10-28psi in under 30 seconds on one of my 33-12.5s.

 

[CMBD]

Planning on hitting the Rubicon in July with some WTF peeps.

Some of them were saying you should have and engine skid for this trail. And I'm thinking "I do way bigger rocks than I should with a 3" lift and 33s, and I have not touched the oil pan yet."

So as not to jinx myself...

More UCF stuff

 

[CMBD]

I had Warren from Reds Radios add some frequencies to the VX2200 in my RZR at KOH. He is a self proclaimed radio nerd, and a lot of our conversation was waaay over my head.

Got to talking about cheap handhelds like the 5w Baofengs and how to make the most out of them if that was all you had. His answer was more antenna. Either a longer whip or mag mount/ vehicle mounted.

One of my 5w Baofengs with a 15" whip works surprisingly well. Don't know how to measure any gains with an 8w (that I thought was a 5w) and a real antenna.

I had everything but the SMA to 239 adapter so it can be a pretty low cost experiment. And 15' of coax was perfect with nothing extra to deal with.

 

[Rickyd]

I had Warren from Reds Radios add some frequencies to the VX2200 in my RZR at KOH. He is a self proclaimed radio nerd, and a lot of our conversation was waaay over my head.

Got to talking about cheap handhelds like the 5w Baofengs and how to make the most out of them if that was all you had. His answer was more antenna. Either a longer whip or mag mount/ vehicle mounted.

One of my 5w Baofengs with a 15" whip works surprisingly well. Don't know how to measure any gains with an 8w (that I thought was a 5w) and a real antenna.

I had everything but the SMA to 239 adapter so it can be a pretty low cost experiment. And 15' of coax was perfect with nothing extra to deal with.

View attachment 511914

View attachment 511916

View attachment 511919

View attachment 511922

How long does the battery last with light traffic like on a trail? There are a few guys on my dept that loaded our frequencies and repeater codes on baofengs for the hell of it to play with at home. I've been eyeing those radios for a couple years

 

[Mike_H]

How long does the battery last with light traffic like on a trail? There are a few guys on my dept that loaded our frequencies and repeater codes on baofengs for the hell of it to play with at home. I've been eyeing those radios for a couple years

I can get a full 8 hour day out of mine on the trail with the std battery. You can pick up the extended battery pretty inexpensively and that is good for two or three days.

Plus, you can get (but I haven't pruchased yet) a charger for the vehicle, so the only time you're on battery is when you're outside the car.

 

[CMBD]

How long does the battery last with light traffic like on a trail? There are a few guys on my dept that loaded our frequencies and repeater codes on baofengs for the hell of it to play with at home. I've been eyeing those radios for a couple years

Yea, what Mike said.

I have extra batteries and a cigarette lighter adapter. But I can go a 2 day trip on one battery. And that's with listening to FM radio during the day.

That's another cool thing about them. If you know radio stations where you at you can dial them up and get music or whatever.