OP
Road trip! April Phoolz and Moab, here I come...
Mvigo's '04 Rubicon
- Thread starter mvigo
- Start date
OP
Finished the 1st leg of my trip after Jeeping with the Colorado Phoolz. @rasband, @jjvw, @tworley, @strumble8 and @hosejockey61 are all what you would expect them to be and more. Top notch, great hosts and a fun group of guys. If you ever have the opportunity to join them on one of their runs, you will not be disappointed. Did I mention the Colorado landscape? Breathtaking! Pictures are in the April Phoolz thread found here:
April Phoolz 2021
Just arrived to 80 degree weather in Moab, gonna be a nice week...
April Phoolz 2021
Just arrived to 80 degree weather in Moab, gonna be a nice week...
You didn't mention driving 2 hrs topless and doorless in 30 degrees
OP
that is 38% of the fun, although I couldn't feel my fingertips for awhile...You didn't mention driving 2 hrs topless and doorless in 30 degrees
OP
I am back from an epic road trip, y'all going to have fun in Moab...and, no joke, it was windy, dry and relatively warm, the best tool in the box is laying on my hood...I will post up a full report with some video later tonight...
OP
Moab is sheer beauty!
We started our 1st day on Steel Bender. A nice trail with just a few moderately hard obstacles. The hardest one to me is once you go thru the cattle guard there is a drop off that seemed taller then my TJ, I took the bypass which was steep and off camber. I hate that uneasy feeling:
Steel Bender
Once thru this section, there is a series of ledges to crawl up and I made the mistake of following my pal on 42" tires. Got the front tires up and over but the rear yoke tab that holds the u-joint in place got caught up on that ledge and sheared off, causing the strap bolt to shear off, with one bolt still left in the yoke. Stopped, took the rear driveline out completely and was towed out from there. Same thing happened to a pal last summer. I opted to replace that yoke with an upgraded version which has half circles on the yoke instead of a tab and went with u-bolt straps to hold in the u-joint. Parts Mike in Auburn overnighted me the yoke. I know there is much debate about straps vs. u-bolts but I like the fact that now the bolts are less likely to get ruined by rocks due to them now being behind the yoke and I was cognizant about torquing the bolts down carefully and using blue Loctite to hold them in place.
Wednesday I was the passenger, we ran Fins and Things and Hell's Revenge. At least I have run Hell's Gate a couple of years ago but I was looking forward to attempting the Escalator. Next time. The replacement yoke showed up Wednesday afternoon and after dinner I put the new yoke in to be back in business.
Thursday took us to Poison Spyder, Gold Bar Rim and Rusty Nail. I thoroughly enjoyed this day. Top of Gold Bar Rim:
Here is my run thru the Golden Crack. I carried too much speed but you get an idea of the mid-arm flex with the extra travel of the outboard shocks:
Golden Crack
At the top of Gold Bar Rim is the entrance/exit of Rusty Nail. We went in thru the backdoor. With the most technical spot being "No Left Turn", or, in our case no right turn!
Off camber, cliff on the right, very unnerving but I also felt very stable. Again, the beauty of the mid-arm is apparent:
Front view:
No Left Turn
Rear view:
No Left Turn
Friday rolls around and we are off to Pritchett. We hoped to leave by 8am but instead got to the trailhead at 10am due to the fact we needed to replace a tie rod end on a pal's LJ. Unfortunately, we caught up to 12 Jeeps ahead of us contemplating Chewy Hill. All 4 door JK's. By the time the first 2 JK's of the first group winched up all the way an hour and a half passed by. Then the 3rd JK tried to race up full throttle and BANG! snapped the rear axle. OK, they moved aside whilst assessing what to do and let the 2nd group make a run at Chewy. !st Jk made it up no problem, 2nd JK you ask? Welp, too much throttle and BANG! a 2nd axle snapped!. Now we are in business. They let us through. My pal walks his JK up no problem. My turn. Keep in mind 2 years ago I didn't make it up on my own without my winch. This go around had better results. Grab 2nd gear, do my best to match wheel speed to terrain, you see the purple and orange JK's behind me with the broken rear axles:
Chewy Hill
Maybe the driver but probably the outboard shocks that @mrblaine installed for me last summer. I am convinced it is the reason. My Jeep feels so much more balanced, the shock tune is spot on. The rest of our group makes it up via winch and now the 3rd group to Chewy (my group) has the rest of the canyon to ourselves.
I couldn't get up Rocker Knocker without the help of my winch, the ledges seem taller and more undercut then what I remember but prolly the driver. Made it half way up axle hill, used winch to get rest of way up, and the rest of the obstacles weren't a problem for me. The canyon is absolutely gorgeous and I highly recommend running the trail. The challenge and pucker factor is definitely up there. Take your time, have good spotters and be safe.
I hope these videos help those who run these trails. Learn from my lines and improve upon them. If you have suggestions on how I could do better, lay it on me.
I look forward to hearing how the Moab TJfest goes in a couple of weeks...oh, and don't forget your lip balm!
We started our 1st day on Steel Bender. A nice trail with just a few moderately hard obstacles. The hardest one to me is once you go thru the cattle guard there is a drop off that seemed taller then my TJ, I took the bypass which was steep and off camber. I hate that uneasy feeling:
Steel Bender
Once thru this section, there is a series of ledges to crawl up and I made the mistake of following my pal on 42" tires. Got the front tires up and over but the rear yoke tab that holds the u-joint in place got caught up on that ledge and sheared off, causing the strap bolt to shear off, with one bolt still left in the yoke. Stopped, took the rear driveline out completely and was towed out from there. Same thing happened to a pal last summer. I opted to replace that yoke with an upgraded version which has half circles on the yoke instead of a tab and went with u-bolt straps to hold in the u-joint. Parts Mike in Auburn overnighted me the yoke. I know there is much debate about straps vs. u-bolts but I like the fact that now the bolts are less likely to get ruined by rocks due to them now being behind the yoke and I was cognizant about torquing the bolts down carefully and using blue Loctite to hold them in place.
Wednesday I was the passenger, we ran Fins and Things and Hell's Revenge. At least I have run Hell's Gate a couple of years ago but I was looking forward to attempting the Escalator. Next time. The replacement yoke showed up Wednesday afternoon and after dinner I put the new yoke in to be back in business.
Thursday took us to Poison Spyder, Gold Bar Rim and Rusty Nail. I thoroughly enjoyed this day. Top of Gold Bar Rim:
Here is my run thru the Golden Crack. I carried too much speed but you get an idea of the mid-arm flex with the extra travel of the outboard shocks:
Golden Crack
At the top of Gold Bar Rim is the entrance/exit of Rusty Nail. We went in thru the backdoor. With the most technical spot being "No Left Turn", or, in our case no right turn!
Off camber, cliff on the right, very unnerving but I also felt very stable. Again, the beauty of the mid-arm is apparent:
Front view:
No Left Turn
Rear view:
No Left Turn
Friday rolls around and we are off to Pritchett. We hoped to leave by 8am but instead got to the trailhead at 10am due to the fact we needed to replace a tie rod end on a pal's LJ. Unfortunately, we caught up to 12 Jeeps ahead of us contemplating Chewy Hill. All 4 door JK's. By the time the first 2 JK's of the first group winched up all the way an hour and a half passed by. Then the 3rd JK tried to race up full throttle and BANG! snapped the rear axle. OK, they moved aside whilst assessing what to do and let the 2nd group make a run at Chewy. !st Jk made it up no problem, 2nd JK you ask? Welp, too much throttle and BANG! a 2nd axle snapped!. Now we are in business. They let us through. My pal walks his JK up no problem. My turn. Keep in mind 2 years ago I didn't make it up on my own without my winch. This go around had better results. Grab 2nd gear, do my best to match wheel speed to terrain, you see the purple and orange JK's behind me with the broken rear axles:
Chewy Hill
Maybe the driver but probably the outboard shocks that @mrblaine installed for me last summer. I am convinced it is the reason. My Jeep feels so much more balanced, the shock tune is spot on. The rest of our group makes it up via winch and now the 3rd group to Chewy (my group) has the rest of the canyon to ourselves.
I couldn't get up Rocker Knocker without the help of my winch, the ledges seem taller and more undercut then what I remember but prolly the driver. Made it half way up axle hill, used winch to get rest of way up, and the rest of the obstacles weren't a problem for me. The canyon is absolutely gorgeous and I highly recommend running the trail. The challenge and pucker factor is definitely up there. Take your time, have good spotters and be safe.
I hope these videos help those who run these trails. Learn from my lines and improve upon them. If you have suggestions on how I could do better, lay it on me.
I look forward to hearing how the Moab TJfest goes in a couple of weeks...oh, and don't forget your lip balm!
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OP
had some time to go over/under my TJ today after the epic road trip I had a couple of weeks ago now. Although my lockers worked, the dash indicator locker lights never went solid, I suspect this is the reason why:
the black wire in the rear locker harness at the diff was severed. This is what the connector looks like:
My question is, to rebuild it, is this the correct female connector?
locker harness connector?
I also noticed the passenger side sway bar link is bent pretty good, I don't think it should be like this:
I am considering doing the tie rod flip so I would get the re-location bracket kit from @mrblaine anyway. If not, I trust the BFH will knock it back into place.
the black wire in the rear locker harness at the diff was severed. This is what the connector looks like:
My question is, to rebuild it, is this the correct female connector?
locker harness connector?
I also noticed the passenger side sway bar link is bent pretty good, I don't think it should be like this:
I am considering doing the tie rod flip so I would get the re-location bracket kit from @mrblaine anyway. If not, I trust the BFH will knock it back into place.
Mine right side was tweaked too, I put a big crescent wrench on it and pulled it back close to where it belonged
I've seen others bent on the R/S I can't figure out why
I've seen others bent on the R/S I can't figure out why
OP
I'm in the process of flipping my tie rod and am almost finished. It has been documented plenty but I will add a few more notes. Since I had the time, I sent my steering knuckle to @mrblaine and had him press/tig fusion weld in the insert. Top side knuckle:
bottom side of knuckle:
I also purchased his sway bar relocation brackets. The installation is fairly easy, if you have any questions, @hosejockey61 did a nice video on the installation process in this thread: Tie Rod flip with BMB Sway Bar Link brackets
I elected to remove the upper ball joint in the knuckles to avoid damaging them from the heat when welding on the brackets.
Once the relocation brackets were on, I started cycling the suspension to see if I had any components interfering with one another. I should say too, I run the Savvy Ultimate 1.5" aluminum tie rod. I had 2 places of interference. One, was in the driver side spring perch area which I knocked down with a cut off wheel and flap disk. Problem solved.
The 2nd area of interference happens when the passenger tire starts stuffing up into the wheel well and the steering wheel is turning to the right. The jam nut on the tie rod hits the bolt of the steering stabilizer on the axle side mount before I am fully cranked to the right:
A quick call to @mrblaine set me right, so today, I am off to a pal's place to take the drag link off and add more bend using his hydraulic press. I figure bending the drag link about 1/2-3/4" will take care of this problem. I also hope I am successful...
Lastly, I added this mod whilst in the middle of flipping the tie rod:
bottom side of knuckle:
I also purchased his sway bar relocation brackets. The installation is fairly easy, if you have any questions, @hosejockey61 did a nice video on the installation process in this thread: Tie Rod flip with BMB Sway Bar Link brackets
I elected to remove the upper ball joint in the knuckles to avoid damaging them from the heat when welding on the brackets.
Once the relocation brackets were on, I started cycling the suspension to see if I had any components interfering with one another. I should say too, I run the Savvy Ultimate 1.5" aluminum tie rod. I had 2 places of interference. One, was in the driver side spring perch area which I knocked down with a cut off wheel and flap disk. Problem solved.
The 2nd area of interference happens when the passenger tire starts stuffing up into the wheel well and the steering wheel is turning to the right. The jam nut on the tie rod hits the bolt of the steering stabilizer on the axle side mount before I am fully cranked to the right:
A quick call to @mrblaine set me right, so today, I am off to a pal's place to take the drag link off and add more bend using his hydraulic press. I figure bending the drag link about 1/2-3/4" will take care of this problem. I also hope I am successful...
Lastly, I added this mod whilst in the middle of flipping the tie rod:
To clarify some, the fusion weld is just to make me happy. There is enough press fit interference on the reamed hole with the shoulder that it would likely never dislocate or work loose. Also with the shoulder being opposite the taper, the nut will keep it in the hole going that direction and the shoulder stops it the other direction.
I know a few of us had to bend our drag links around a full 3" to get it to not interfere. Easy to do and well worth it.
OP
Success! I ended up bending the drag link about 3/4". Before I messed around with that, I thought I might get lucky by replacing the steering stabilizer bolt with a 1/2" carriage bolt. Still no luck, so I did have to turn to the hydraulic press. I ended up leaving the carriage bolt in. All good now, and hope to hit the Rubicon trail this weekend. Any NorCal folks care to join me?
One last note, since my old age has caught up with me, I can't see squat up close. Pay particular attention to how you want to insert the cotter pins into the various castle nuts associated with the tie rod and drag link. Especially the cotter pin that is used where the tie rod connects to the drag link on the Currie Currectlync...
OP
Spent Memorial Day weekend camping on the Rubicon. Good news was there was very little traffic out there, not busy at all, no snow whatsoever. Camped at a nice spot in the Springs Friday night, camped at Ellis Creek Bridge Saturday night. The weather was perfect minus a 40 minute hail/rainstorm late afternoon Saturday. Thankfully, we were set up at camp already with cocktails in hand and not on the trail when the hail hit.
Just after Soup Bowl, I started hearing a clunk coming from the rear diff. Ugh. Drove easy the rest of the way, when trying to replicate clunk, it seemed to show up making turns, so I drove as straight as I could. Made it to Loon Lake staging area, aired up, shifted to 2WD and clunk, clunk, clunk trying to drive out. So, parked it in the shade under the dam, hopped in my buddies '04, he drove me home, and I drove back same day with my truck and trailer to pick it up. I dropped it off at my pal's shop in Auburn at 9:30pm Sunday night. I got home at 1am. I am guessing the LSD finally gave up. I will find out soon enough the damage incurred. Gears/lockers are not something I am equipped to change out currently. Hopefully, whatever parts are in need of replacing will be easy to source and not back ordered to the point that my summer trips are in jeapordy.
I typically rely on others to take pics so I really don't have any good action shots. We ate well, and, Friday night, watched Elon Musk's satellites cross the sky for, what seemed like 5 minutes...was kinda cool.
Just after Soup Bowl, I started hearing a clunk coming from the rear diff. Ugh. Drove easy the rest of the way, when trying to replicate clunk, it seemed to show up making turns, so I drove as straight as I could. Made it to Loon Lake staging area, aired up, shifted to 2WD and clunk, clunk, clunk trying to drive out. So, parked it in the shade under the dam, hopped in my buddies '04, he drove me home, and I drove back same day with my truck and trailer to pick it up. I dropped it off at my pal's shop in Auburn at 9:30pm Sunday night. I got home at 1am. I am guessing the LSD finally gave up. I will find out soon enough the damage incurred. Gears/lockers are not something I am equipped to change out currently. Hopefully, whatever parts are in need of replacing will be easy to source and not back ordered to the point that my summer trips are in jeapordy.
I typically rely on others to take pics so I really don't have any good action shots. We ate well, and, Friday night, watched Elon Musk's satellites cross the sky for, what seemed like 5 minutes...was kinda cool.
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If the Rubicon LSD died, you are looking at a new rear diff. When mine started breaking apart, I drove 150 miles home and a week to/from work until the new ARB arrived.
It was mostly fine going straight. But during turns, the rear would lock up and make really loud cracking and snapping sounds. It was really unpleasant, but nothing that isn't already ruined is going to get ruined. Stick some big magnets to the diff cover to protect the ring and pinion if you need to drive it.
It was mostly fine going straight. But during turns, the rear would lock up and make really loud cracking and snapping sounds. It was really unpleasant, but nothing that isn't already ruined is going to get ruined. Stick some big magnets to the diff cover to protect the ring and pinion if you need to drive it.
OP
I was thinking of your story the whole time...I should know by mañana but early indications are LSD failure...
Very cool trip. Definitely on my bucket list.