I've seen that thing. I think maybe Tox tried it at one time? Can't recall how it worked for him.
Nashville TJ's Build - Continued
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I've seen that thing. I think maybe Tox tried it at one time? Can't recall how it worked for him.
Tox and boomboom have posted about how well they work.
Post in thread '04 LJK Repair, Redo, Recycle - The 3 R's of a First Build'
https://wranglertjforum.com/threads...e-the-3-rs-of-a-first-build.30419/post-846630
Post in thread 'Beadlocks are a PITA'
https://wranglertjforum.com/threads/beadlocks-are-a-pita.8955/post-169479
So, I often find that I am not nearly as smart as I think I am...
Since I run beadlocks, I mount my own tires. The toughest thing about changing a tire on a beadlock is breaking the inner bead - which is tough on a big tire.
A few years ago, I build this contraption to break the beads. It bolts top the floor and works fairly well:
View attachment 541464
But it's still a lot of work - and even with the leverage of that 6' tube it takes a good bit of effort to break the inner bead.
You may recall that I cut a sidewall out in Moab a few weeks ago. I ordered a replacement tire (gotta love Discount's road hazard warranty) which came in this week. Now both Nina and I have been pretty sick after getting back from Mexico (Covid, which has really been kicking my ass), and I've not felt anywhere near up to fooling with the tire. But for the last couple of days, I've been on the upswing.
Now I still did not feel up to getting out the bead breaker and going at it, but I wanted to get back out into the shop and do something.
So on a whim, I did this:
View attachment 541465
And man, was that crazy easy! Much, much easier than the old setup, and no need to haul that heavy thing out, bolt it to the floor, and then wrestle the big tire up and onto it. Say what you want about the high lift....
Anyway, got the new tire installed:
View attachment 541466
This week I'll take it in to get balanced, and call it good.
The tough part is now I have to find a place to carry the Hi-Lift on the rig again....
I've used the highlift method for years. One set of tires I had to use the hitch on my 3/4 ton diesel because I kept lifting the Jeep off the ground. Kind of makes a specialty tool designed to break beads down an unwarranted expense when you don't use it very often.
Still fighting Covid, now into it two weeks. But I'm on the upswing and feeling well enough to do a little project in the shop.
Plus, it's my birthday - and being in the shop is my happy place...
When I wheel, I run a 5-point harness. The shoulder straps attach to a removeable harness bar behind the seats. Currently, the straps wrap around the bar, and are then secured by a series of loops in and out of a flat piece of plate steel with two slots. Like so:
It works well, but it is a pain to get the straps in and out, and it takes a few minutes for each of the four straps. Also, when the straps are in, I have to remove all that if I want to tilt the seats to get into the back. Not usually an issue - unless I'm wheelin' with the top on as I did in Moab a few weeks ago.
I've been thinking of doing this for a while, and Moab gave me a final push. I picked up these race-legal harness quick-connects from Summit:
After some quick measurements and a few whacks with a center punch, I drilled a set of holes in the cross bar to receive the mounting bolts:
Like so:
After cleaning up the paint around the holes, I put the pins in for welding. The bolts were just long enough to get a few threads into the nut to hold them tightly in place for welding:
And then a few welds:
On the bottom side of the bar, after beveling the holes with a countersink bit, I welded the back side of each bolt in place:
And flattened out those welds:
And after a little paint, the mounts are complete and ready to fit the straps. But, that's for another day.
Plus, it's my birthday - and being in the shop is my happy place...
When I wheel, I run a 5-point harness. The shoulder straps attach to a removeable harness bar behind the seats. Currently, the straps wrap around the bar, and are then secured by a series of loops in and out of a flat piece of plate steel with two slots. Like so:
It works well, but it is a pain to get the straps in and out, and it takes a few minutes for each of the four straps. Also, when the straps are in, I have to remove all that if I want to tilt the seats to get into the back. Not usually an issue - unless I'm wheelin' with the top on as I did in Moab a few weeks ago.
I've been thinking of doing this for a while, and Moab gave me a final push. I picked up these race-legal harness quick-connects from Summit:
After some quick measurements and a few whacks with a center punch, I drilled a set of holes in the cross bar to receive the mounting bolts:
Like so:
After cleaning up the paint around the holes, I put the pins in for welding. The bolts were just long enough to get a few threads into the nut to hold them tightly in place for welding:
And then a few welds:
On the bottom side of the bar, after beveling the holes with a countersink bit, I welded the back side of each bolt in place:
And flattened out those welds:
And after a little paint, the mounts are complete and ready to fit the straps. But, that's for another day.
So, I often find that I am not nearly as smart as I think I am...
Since I run beadlocks, I mount my own tires. The toughest thing about changing a tire on a beadlock is breaking the inner bead - which is tough on a big tire.
A few years ago, I build this contraption to break the beads. It bolts top the floor and works fairly well:
View attachment 541464
But it's still a lot of work - and even with the leverage of that 6' tube it takes a good bit of effort to break the inner bead.
You may recall that I cut a sidewall out in Moab a few weeks ago. I ordered a replacement tire (gotta love Discount's road hazard warranty) which came in this week. Now both Nina and I have been pretty sick after getting back from Mexico (Covid, which has really been kicking my ass), and I've not felt anywhere near up to fooling with the tire. But for the last couple of days, I've been on the upswing.
Now I still did not feel up to getting out the bead breaker and going at it, but I wanted to get back out into the shop and do something.
So on a whim, I did this:
View attachment 541465
And man, was that crazy easy! Much, much easier than the old setup, and no need to haul that heavy thing out, bolt it to the floor, and then wrestle the big tire up and onto it. Say what you want about the high lift....
Anyway, got the new tire installed:
View attachment 541466
This week I'll take it in to get balanced, and call it good.
The tough part is now I have to find a place to carry the Hi-Lift on the rig again....
I like this way
Happy Birthday! 
<--Hurry up and blow the candles out - there's an awful lot of them on there! 
<--Hurry up and blow the candles out - there's an awful lot of them on there! 
I knew I liked you. My birthday was yesterday.
Happy Birthday!
Happy Birthday!
I missed the birthday part earlier. Happy Birthday Jeff!
I’ve got about 10k miles on a Glue Tred patch without leakage. It peeled up on an edge one time and I glued it back down. Some chamfering of the edges can theoretically help avoid the peeling back.
Last edited:
Today I bolted the harness bar back into the rig to set up the straps.
As I noted, one of my goals here was to make it easier to install and remove the shoulder harnesses. Previously, the shoulder harnesses attached to the bar like this:
If I used the same approach to attach the harnesses to the clip, it became impossible to slip the harness through the slot in the seat with everything threaded up - and therefore the only way to install it was to slide the strap through the slot, and then rethread it through the fixture and the clip. The opposite of easy.
So after some thought I decided to cut the harnesses to length and sew in the clip. That way it would pass easily through the slot in the seat, and therefore be simple to install and remove. I'm giving up a little in terms of adjustability, but in all the years I've used these harnesses with many different people in the rig, I've never once had to change the lengths. So I'll take the tradeoff.
So I measured and marked the strap, held it in place with some basting tape...
...and broke out the big machine:
Here it is completed...
...and how it works in the rig:
Happy with how it turned out, I completed the other three harnesses.
And for those of you chuckling and giggling about me using the sewing machine, just remember:
As I noted, one of my goals here was to make it easier to install and remove the shoulder harnesses. Previously, the shoulder harnesses attached to the bar like this:
If I used the same approach to attach the harnesses to the clip, it became impossible to slip the harness through the slot in the seat with everything threaded up - and therefore the only way to install it was to slide the strap through the slot, and then rethread it through the fixture and the clip. The opposite of easy.
So after some thought I decided to cut the harnesses to length and sew in the clip. That way it would pass easily through the slot in the seat, and therefore be simple to install and remove. I'm giving up a little in terms of adjustability, but in all the years I've used these harnesses with many different people in the rig, I've never once had to change the lengths. So I'll take the tradeoff.
So I measured and marked the strap, held it in place with some basting tape...
...and broke out the big machine:
Here it is completed...
...and how it works in the rig:
Happy with how it turned out, I completed the other three harnesses.
And for those of you chuckling and giggling about me using the sewing machine, just remember:
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