Don’t be giving my kids any ideas, that’s looking way too nice.
Tennessee Red
- Thread starter gasiorv
- Start date
Don’t be giving my kids any ideas, that’s looking way too nice.
OP
Yes. I cut off the rear hoop of my cage in prep for this modification and I liked the accessibility to my tools and cooler with the comp cut so I am planning on running it comp cut when there is no rear seat installed (90% of time).
When I bought the original roll cage kit I talked to 2 people ( one being owner of company and one being a customer with cafe already installed) and they both said that his design allowed for factory soft top and adequate headroom for rear passenger. That is why I bought it. After installing it, I quickly realized that was false and it did not allow for adequate headroom for adult rear passenger but since my son was still short it was going to be OK. Now that he has s grown, it was not OK. I don't believe there is anyway to have a rear hoop that provides headroom and also run a factory style top, that is why Jeep designed the factory roll cage the way they did (with high sides and no rear cross bar).
Since I typically do NOT have a rear passenger, I decided to come up with a solution that allowed me to have the comp cut for ease of access during normal operation and also allow for rear passenger that 1 or 2 times per year. My biggest problem is going to be finding a place to store the rear roll bar hoop when it is not in use, not only is my shed full but so is the area behind the shed where I store items out of wife's sight.
OP
OP
This jeep is good for wheeling and getting a beer on Sunday.
OP
June 10-19 2023 Moab trip recap for my future reference.
Took the south route (I-40 to ABQ Day 1 and then up to Moab Day 2 with stop in Cortez, CO) and it was much better than the I-70 route. On way home, we did Moab to Elk City, OK on day 1 and then Elk City to home on Day 2. Just watch fuel stops because they come few and far in between in sections (even on I40 through OK, TX, and NM).
2023 was an El Nino Weather year and the weather was awesome at the beginning of June. 50's at night and low 80's during the day, it actually rained on us twice.
Bill and his GF Kristi drove out with us in his Tacoma.
Departed Memphis on Sat June 10 at 5am. Drove to ABQ (approx 17 hours with stops). Sun June 11 we drove to Cortez CO and MTB Phil's world. Finished drive to Moab arrived before dark. Trailer started to vibrate after about 2 hours of driving Sat morning and it vibrated worse and worse until we got to Moab. The two RH tires were starting to fail and were out of round causing the vibration. I replaced them both in Moab (I should have replaced all 4 because the other two started to fail and go out of round on way home). The vibration on the out and back trips actually shook the passenger side mirror loose on my truck!
Ryan - LJ on 35's
Ben - TJ on 35's
Trevor - TJ on 33's (front locker only)
Mike - TJ on 33's (front and rear locker)
Mon - Fins and Things and Hell's Revenge with Ryan, Ben, Trevor, and Mike. Great day on the trail, I actually picked a bad line on Hell's Gate and had to reset to get up, everyone else walked up with no issues. I made escalator with no real issues, it is much easier with the hole being dry rather than full of water like it was in 2021. Ryan also walked up Escalator with no issues.
Tues - Pritchett Canyon with Ryan and Ben. Great day on trail!! Lost tire bead on Pax Rear tire on one obstacle but it reset pretty quickly with no issues (amazing how easy to reset a bead when tire/rim isn't full of mud
). Sliced Drivers Front tire later on and could not get plugs or Glue Tread to work (after supergluing for about an hour). Used Ben's spare from Rocker Knocker to end of trail. Thanks Ben!! Cleared all obstacles, no winch required.
Wed - Gold Bar Rim and Rusty Nail with Ryan, Trevor, and Mike. Another Great day on the trail!! Rusty Nail Riff Raff - Ryan took the actual Riff Raff line and made the "Riff" but the "Raff" proved to be too undercut for the smaller tires. He walked right up the Wall with no issues, pretty awesome to see. I decided to take the "alternate" line to the right of Riff Raff and made it, but the undercut was too much for the two jeeps on 33's and we winched them up. I gave the wall a try but I just couldn't get the back tires to climb the bottom undercut, so had to winch up the Wall. We winched the two jeeps on 33's as well. The next big obstacle was "No left turn" and Ryan, Trevor, and Mike walked it easily. I fell off the wall at the very end and sliced the Pax Front tire, plugs sealed it up with no issues. When we finished Rusty Nail, we ate lunch at the Golden Spike Crack and decided that in lieu of heading out Golden Spike and Poison Spider to go back on GB Rim to hit those obstacles. Good decision, it was fun.
Thurs - Top of the World with Ryan, Trevor, Mike (in Rental JLU), and Bill in his Tacoma. Getting the Tacoma up and down made for a longer day than normal, but it was well worth it. Bill was stressed during the day, but that night he was all giggles and so happy that he made it up. Freak wind and rain storm on the way back into Moab actually made the drive back into town pretty scary. Happy it didn't hit when we were on the trail.
Fri - Mt biked the raptor trails with Bill, Christian, Mike, and Mike's friend Robin. Great time on the trail!!
I had planned on doing more mt biking, but we had some long days on the trails and had to work on the jeeps in the evening. Wouldn't have it any other way!
My Jeep -
-Throw Out bearing is starting to squeak. It has squeaked since I installed it in 2021 (when clutch was replaced) but it was only when depressing clutch, it is now squeaking when clutch is released completely out. I am not sure if it is the bearing itself or the fork/bearing connection, or possibly the fork/ball connection. Will need to change it (and maybe clutch since I will have it all dropped again) this summer.
-Rear Drivers Side Brakes will make "grunting" noises when driving dusty/sandy roads. Once on the trails or out on the pavement the noise goes away. I took it apart after Pritchett and everything looked fine, not sure why.
-Passenger side parking brake is squeaking after release for some time, I adjusted after pritchett and it seemed to take care of it on Wed, but noise came back on Thurs.
-Drivers Side Tie Rod End nut came loose. I have a nylon locking nut on it due to the flip bushing, need to put a new locking nut on there with loctite.
I have a 10lb CO2 tank, when I left Memphis the tank was half full with 5 lb of CO2. I used all 5 lbs of CO2 on Pritchett with my bead reseat and also the sliced tire that we could never get fixed. I carried a compressor on Wed and Thurs and used it both days. Need to have full 10 lbs of CO2 when planning on wheeling for a week in the future. (Also need to bring compressor as backup).
To do:
-Need to get new tires mounted and installed before June 30th SMORR trip.
-Need to get CO2 tank tested and filled (it is out of date and needs static tested) before SMORR trip
-Need to get two trailer tires before SMORR Trip.
-Need new lock nut and loctite TRE nut before SMORR Trip.
-Need to buy more tire plugs before SMORR Trip.
-Need to replace throw out bearing and possibly Clutch (since Tranny will be down) this summer.
-Need more glue for glue tread.
Took the south route (I-40 to ABQ Day 1 and then up to Moab Day 2 with stop in Cortez, CO) and it was much better than the I-70 route. On way home, we did Moab to Elk City, OK on day 1 and then Elk City to home on Day 2. Just watch fuel stops because they come few and far in between in sections (even on I40 through OK, TX, and NM).
2023 was an El Nino Weather year and the weather was awesome at the beginning of June. 50's at night and low 80's during the day, it actually rained on us twice.
Bill and his GF Kristi drove out with us in his Tacoma.
Departed Memphis on Sat June 10 at 5am. Drove to ABQ (approx 17 hours with stops). Sun June 11 we drove to Cortez CO and MTB Phil's world. Finished drive to Moab arrived before dark. Trailer started to vibrate after about 2 hours of driving Sat morning and it vibrated worse and worse until we got to Moab. The two RH tires were starting to fail and were out of round causing the vibration. I replaced them both in Moab (I should have replaced all 4 because the other two started to fail and go out of round on way home). The vibration on the out and back trips actually shook the passenger side mirror loose on my truck!
Ryan - LJ on 35's
Ben - TJ on 35's
Trevor - TJ on 33's (front locker only)
Mike - TJ on 33's (front and rear locker)
Mon - Fins and Things and Hell's Revenge with Ryan, Ben, Trevor, and Mike. Great day on the trail, I actually picked a bad line on Hell's Gate and had to reset to get up, everyone else walked up with no issues. I made escalator with no real issues, it is much easier with the hole being dry rather than full of water like it was in 2021. Ryan also walked up Escalator with no issues.
Tues - Pritchett Canyon with Ryan and Ben. Great day on trail!! Lost tire bead on Pax Rear tire on one obstacle but it reset pretty quickly with no issues (amazing how easy to reset a bead when tire/rim isn't full of mud
). Sliced Drivers Front tire later on and could not get plugs or Glue Tread to work (after supergluing for about an hour). Used Ben's spare from Rocker Knocker to end of trail. Thanks Ben!! Cleared all obstacles, no winch required.Wed - Gold Bar Rim and Rusty Nail with Ryan, Trevor, and Mike. Another Great day on the trail!! Rusty Nail Riff Raff - Ryan took the actual Riff Raff line and made the "Riff" but the "Raff" proved to be too undercut for the smaller tires. He walked right up the Wall with no issues, pretty awesome to see. I decided to take the "alternate" line to the right of Riff Raff and made it, but the undercut was too much for the two jeeps on 33's and we winched them up. I gave the wall a try but I just couldn't get the back tires to climb the bottom undercut, so had to winch up the Wall. We winched the two jeeps on 33's as well. The next big obstacle was "No left turn" and Ryan, Trevor, and Mike walked it easily. I fell off the wall at the very end and sliced the Pax Front tire, plugs sealed it up with no issues. When we finished Rusty Nail, we ate lunch at the Golden Spike Crack and decided that in lieu of heading out Golden Spike and Poison Spider to go back on GB Rim to hit those obstacles. Good decision, it was fun.
Thurs - Top of the World with Ryan, Trevor, Mike (in Rental JLU), and Bill in his Tacoma. Getting the Tacoma up and down made for a longer day than normal, but it was well worth it. Bill was stressed during the day, but that night he was all giggles and so happy that he made it up. Freak wind and rain storm on the way back into Moab actually made the drive back into town pretty scary. Happy it didn't hit when we were on the trail.
Fri - Mt biked the raptor trails with Bill, Christian, Mike, and Mike's friend Robin. Great time on the trail!!
I had planned on doing more mt biking, but we had some long days on the trails and had to work on the jeeps in the evening. Wouldn't have it any other way!
My Jeep -
-Throw Out bearing is starting to squeak. It has squeaked since I installed it in 2021 (when clutch was replaced) but it was only when depressing clutch, it is now squeaking when clutch is released completely out. I am not sure if it is the bearing itself or the fork/bearing connection, or possibly the fork/ball connection. Will need to change it (and maybe clutch since I will have it all dropped again) this summer.
-Rear Drivers Side Brakes will make "grunting" noises when driving dusty/sandy roads. Once on the trails or out on the pavement the noise goes away. I took it apart after Pritchett and everything looked fine, not sure why.
-Passenger side parking brake is squeaking after release for some time, I adjusted after pritchett and it seemed to take care of it on Wed, but noise came back on Thurs.
-Drivers Side Tie Rod End nut came loose. I have a nylon locking nut on it due to the flip bushing, need to put a new locking nut on there with loctite.
I have a 10lb CO2 tank, when I left Memphis the tank was half full with 5 lb of CO2. I used all 5 lbs of CO2 on Pritchett with my bead reseat and also the sliced tire that we could never get fixed. I carried a compressor on Wed and Thurs and used it both days. Need to have full 10 lbs of CO2 when planning on wheeling for a week in the future. (Also need to bring compressor as backup).
To do:
-Need to get new tires mounted and installed before June 30th SMORR trip.
-Need to get CO2 tank tested and filled (it is out of date and needs static tested) before SMORR trip
-Need to get two trailer tires before SMORR Trip.
-Need new lock nut and loctite TRE nut before SMORR Trip.
-Need to buy more tire plugs before SMORR Trip.
-Need to replace throw out bearing and possibly Clutch (since Tranny will be down) this summer.
-Need more glue for glue tread.
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OP
Trailer tires had 15K miles on them when they started to fail. I will just replace them (even if they look good) at 12K in the future. I am also going from M speed rating to N speed rating because I commonly run 75-80MPH which puts me right at the edge of the M rating (81MPH).
Jeep tires - I never had an issue with the GY MTR/K but my driving style and the sidewalls of the Cooper STT Pro's do not get along. I don't think I am giong to change my driving (hard to teach old dogs), so I am going to change tires.
Jeep tires - I never had an issue with the GY MTR/K but my driving style and the sidewalls of the Cooper STT Pro's do not get along. I don't think I am giong to change my driving (hard to teach old dogs), so I am going to change tires.
OP
Supposed to arrive today! I have two weeks to get them mounted and do a clearance check. Heading to SMORR to wheel with AMS417 the weekend before 4th of July.
OP
17x8.5 Raceline Avenger beadlocks with 36x12.5x17 E rated TSL SX. Hopefully that will take care of my tore issues. I really didn't want E rated tires but the sidewalls of the C rated tires were not agreeing with my driving style.
I am still waiting on my high lines and got to wheel next week so I had to do some Pennsylvania redneck engineering to get the front wheels to clear.
I got a tire groover and I was going to groove and sipe the tires but my neighbor (who is an old Jeep guy) came over and told me that I should hold off to see how they perform before I sipe them. So, I am waiting to see how they do next weekend.
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OP
A little girl was walking by the driveway with her mom and she said this while walking past my jeep : "what is that thing, it is messed up but it is cool". Her mom said that it must be one of the teenagers jeeps.
Win-win!
Win-win!
Well, we all say the exact same thing, Vic…
Have a good trip this weekend - sorry I won’t make it. Nina and I will be traveling.
OP
I successfully scratched up those wheels this past weekend at SMORR.
I had a whole weekend of no tire issues! The new trailer tires rode great and I had no sidewall tear or losing beads with the new wheels and tires on the Jeep. I do have a slight clearance problem with the tire and fender on the front passenger side but I already have the solution (Highlines sitting in my garage waiting to be installed. Great weekend of wheeling at SMORR with AMS417, wheeled to close Friday night, all day Saturday, and wheeled until they started the fireworks display on Sunday. As normal, I didn't take a single picture. I did have the gopro but it was giving me SD Card error issues and I eventually just tossed it on the glove box with a few curse words.
June 30 - July 2 SMORR Trip
Me - TJ on 36’s (first time I can say 36’s)
Eddie - Sami buggy on 43’s
Scott - TJ on 42’s
Andrew - LJ on 43’s
Tim - LJ on 43’s
Note: I did have some wheelbase and tire size envy all weekend!!
Friday Night Trails ran:
Peewee’s (down and up)
Curly Wolf (up)
Black Mamba (down)
Trigger (down)
Puppylicker (up)
Bronco Buster (down)
V-Notch (up the v-notch section)
Rocky Road (up)
LogJam (down)
Saturday Trails ran:
Guard Rail
Rumble Bee
Snow Trail
Largo (up bottom only)
Why Not (up)
Wishbone (down)
V-notch waterfall (down)
Bronco Buster (down)
Curly Wolf (Up)
Black Mamba/Trigger (down)
Log Jam (up)
Buck Rub
Holy Cow (up)
Cheap Trick (down and up)
Brixley Hill (down)
Larry’s Hill
Rocker Knocker (from bottom up to wagoneer hill, from top we came down to rattler)
Rattler (up)
Wagoneer hill (up)
Michael Stark (down)
Dixie Trail (down)
Bang Up (up)
Sunday Trails Ran:
Copperhead and Mardi Craw which were attempted by some but I did not attempt them.
Dixie Trail (down)
Michael Stark (up)
Stampede (up)
Largo to Disturbed (up)
Colt 45 4 (up)
Red Bull (up both halves)
Honky tonk (down)
Iron Horse (up)
Top of Double Whammie (down)
Top of Copperhead (up)
Log Jam (down)
High mtn Pass (up)
Bottom of Rocky Road (down)
Get ya some (up)
Deadbeat (down)
Upper part of Doe Skid (up)
Vnotch (actual vnotch down, waterfall up)
Wishbone (up)
I had a whole weekend of no tire issues! The new trailer tires rode great and I had no sidewall tear or losing beads with the new wheels and tires on the Jeep. I do have a slight clearance problem with the tire and fender on the front passenger side but I already have the solution (Highlines sitting in my garage waiting to be installed. Great weekend of wheeling at SMORR with AMS417, wheeled to close Friday night, all day Saturday, and wheeled until they started the fireworks display on Sunday. As normal, I didn't take a single picture. I did have the gopro but it was giving me SD Card error issues and I eventually just tossed it on the glove box with a few curse words.
June 30 - July 2 SMORR Trip
Me - TJ on 36’s (first time I can say 36’s)
Eddie - Sami buggy on 43’s
Scott - TJ on 42’s
Andrew - LJ on 43’s
Tim - LJ on 43’s
Note: I did have some wheelbase and tire size envy all weekend!!
Friday Night Trails ran:
Peewee’s (down and up)
Curly Wolf (up)
Black Mamba (down)
Trigger (down)
Puppylicker (up)
Bronco Buster (down)
V-Notch (up the v-notch section)
Rocky Road (up)
LogJam (down)
Saturday Trails ran:
Guard Rail
Rumble Bee
Snow Trail
Largo (up bottom only)
Why Not (up)
Wishbone (down)
V-notch waterfall (down)
Bronco Buster (down)
Curly Wolf (Up)
Black Mamba/Trigger (down)
Log Jam (up)
Buck Rub
Holy Cow (up)
Cheap Trick (down and up)
Brixley Hill (down)
Larry’s Hill
Rocker Knocker (from bottom up to wagoneer hill, from top we came down to rattler)
Rattler (up)
Wagoneer hill (up)
Michael Stark (down)
Dixie Trail (down)
Bang Up (up)
Sunday Trails Ran:
Copperhead and Mardi Craw which were attempted by some but I did not attempt them.
Dixie Trail (down)
Michael Stark (up)
Stampede (up)
Largo to Disturbed (up)
Colt 45 4 (up)
Red Bull (up both halves)
Honky tonk (down)
Iron Horse (up)
Top of Double Whammie (down)
Top of Copperhead (up)
Log Jam (down)
High mtn Pass (up)
Bottom of Rocky Road (down)
Get ya some (up)
Deadbeat (down)
Upper part of Doe Skid (up)
Vnotch (actual vnotch down, waterfall up)
Wishbone (up)
OP
I took a few bypasses and winched a few more times than the rest, but I still had just as much fun. So it could go either way.
It's a need vs want conversation, and I currently don't need bigger tires to have a good time and don't want to spend the money.