[midnight_f150]

I just read all 7 page of your build. Great job on the wirte ups. I was reading and hoping you did a wirte up on your parking brake fix my parking brake needs some help. Jeep looks great you are doing a great job on it.

[shortstax33]

I haven't actually messed with my parking brake yet. I need to, cus it's worthless. When I first brought it home, I parked with the e-brake. I just walked into the garage for 30 seconds and heard all sorts of crazy barking. Turns out the neighbors dog saw the jeep rolling down the driveway into the street. Smart dog. I gave him a peanut butter cookie as a reward.

Note: No live dogs were harmed in the creation of this vehicle.

[shortstax33]

Update time: So I got some new...I'll call it emergency equipment. Finally got a fire extinguisher from Harbor Freight, here's to great sales! ::

This was a sudden idea when I found it stashed in the back of the gun case. It's an old floating orange smoke marine signal. When it's set off it lets of 300000sq/ft of bright orange smoke, helpful if I end up going wheeling somewhere alone, something disastrous happens, and I need help in a hurry. Can't miss the bright orange smoke! If I can find the old college picture, I'll post what it looks like when you put one in a jac-o-lanter.


Anyways. So yesterday was Thanksgiving: side note, happy holidays to anyone reading! So first thing in the morning I look over at my old man, "Ya wanna go have some fun." So he grabs his camera, we hop in the jeep and head to the local industrial park by his house. We start by respooling my winch. Dad found it beyond hilarious that my winch switch broke so I have to touch the physical contacts to each other to spool and unspool

After that we moved on to a little bit of rock climbing. Emphasis on little.

And onto a slightly larger rock.


Really not a terrible bit of flex.

Now that was fine and great, but I decided I really wanted to flex things out. There was a retaining wall with a nice ramp on each end, so we headed for that next.


And then I got ambitious and thought...you know, I could swear I've seen pics of jeeps climbing strait up walls....I GOTTA TRY IT!!!





And that was the best part of MY thanksgiving

Well, I'm off to the Cliff's on Sunday morning. If anyone's interested in joining the fun, PM me and we'll coordinate. Otherwise, Happy Holidays Everyone!

[Bennettj13]

I've always thought gunmetal accents would look good with that top. I think it would look sharp with that blue too.

[shortstax33]

Yeah, I haven't decided what color scheme I want to go with, long term. I've always wanted an all black jeep, not gonna lie... we'll see what happens though, cus if I go that route, I need to repaint/replace a big chunk of my interior. :P

[shortstax33]

Ok, my current shopping list I'm saving for:
-JKS 1.25 body lift
-Brown Dog 1" MML w/ rubber inserts
-Rokmen tummy tuck skid
-Poison Spyder ricochet rockers

Anyone with a line on used but good condition of the first 3 items, drop me a line! I'm offering a finders fee of pizza and beer!

[Jeffro06]

Originally Posted by shortstax33

Ok, my current shopping list I'm saving for:
-JKS 1.25 body lift
-Brown Dog 1" MML w/ rubber inserts
-Rokmen tummy tuck skid
-Poison Spyder ricochet rockers

Anyone with a line on used but good condition of the first 3 items, drop me a line! I'm offering a finders fee of pizza and beer!

I was researching the TT parts list yesterday.....nothing's cheap, that's for sure.

And, you might want to add a SYE/CV and adjustable control arms to that list, since you'll be approaching 4" of lift on the drive train.

[shortstax33]

Yeah I read the thread on TTs a while back, and thought I remembered the basics of what I needed. Wow was I ever wrong. I just sifted through it real quick and I was short a few things. And by a few, I mean alot. The SYE I had a pretty good idea about, but I've been debating between a full SYE and a hack and tap. I think I could put the whole kit together by January...maybe. OK, updated list:

-JKS 1.25 body lift
-Brown Dog 1" MML w/ rubber inserts
-Rokmen tummy tuck skid
-Rokmen rear upper control arms
-SYE---unknown which yet
-possibly some relocation brackets...but possibly not as I'm still poking around for a Ford 8.8 and HP Dana 30 with 4.10s, and would wrather just do the brackets once.

Ok, here's a legit question. Work in the direction of the tummy tuck, or start hunting for new axles? I'm suddenly thinking axles is the way to go...

[shortstax33]

So made it to the Cliffs this past weekend on Sunday. AWESOME TRIP! It was short, cus unfortunately for me, the crew I went with are pansy's or whipped, lol, but it was a fun filled 4 hours never-the-less. I did make a few interesting discoveries. I re-discovered the evilness of mud. It was a day of 0 traction lol. I also pushed the limits of the TJ and got a better grasp on the capabilities of the old girl.

Got to the park earlier then my buddy, so to kill 45 minutes before he met up with us, me and my shot gunner, Devin, went and played on the bluffs. After 45 minutes playing in the driest part of the park.

Then my good buddy Drew and his GF arrived at the park.

And before you ask, yes, the GF in black is indeed wearing fuzzy boots. My kinda footwear for a giant mud whole. Shockingly, I never saw her outside the jeep after this picture,lol.

While he prepped his ride and lowered his tire pressure, I played on the flex ramp, or whatever it's actually called. I'm pretty happy with how much I can flex out the old girl.


Here's a nice rear end view of two fine vehicles....what can I say, I'm a butt man.

Here's our first real challenge. Sadly we didn't get any pictures from the bluffs when we went back. My shot gunner apparently doesn't know the purpose of a camera. By the way, I'm accepting applications for a photographer for wheeling trips . But anyways. It doesn't look horribly steep from this picture, but it was pretty sharp. And there wasn't any semblance of traction. Both Jeeps slid down it and nearly crashed off the path into the creek bed below. And if the picture isn't clear, Drew's TJ is sliding down the hill sideways at this point.

After that we worked our way to the creek crossing. Lots to play with around there. Got myself good and stuck and one point, and in my effort to escape, this was the outcome. A dented/scraped up tub and a broken fender flair. Actually, I'm kinda proud of it.

Stuck

One very dead TJ. He like splashing in puddles. Turns out he's never waterproofed his distributor. He wasn't getting spark, so he pulled the cap and I got to watch a flood of water poor out. Not a happy moment for him. Nothing like trail repairs.

Sadly that's all the photos I have on the trail. Overall it was a great day.
Once I got the old girl home.

Another shot of my dented tub. I'm not to worried about it. No real paint damage, no rust risk at this point. She can show off her war wounds for a while. I've always been told chicks dig scars.

I power washed her down some, cleaned up the frame as much as I could, same with all the bearings, steering gear, and wheels/brakes. I'm still going to go get a hillbilly car wash today sometime and let it run for a few hours...you know, when the air temp is above freezing.

[shortstax33]

Washed the jeep the other day. Let me tell you, the hillbilly car was works GREAT! When I get home I'll post a pic of it, pretty interesting. Of course, all the water that got in the engine bay finally did in my ailing battery. Got a shiny new Interstate so no more electrical issues for a while hopefully. That or time to get a dual battery setup Iffffff only.

[shortstax33]

So I found a HP Dana 30 on CL yesterday with an asking price of $100.00. Called the guy up, well it's been completely disassembled I guess and the shafts both need new U-joints. Right after he said that, he ALSO said, "I don't actually know what it's worth, I just said that number to get the ball rolling,I'm sure you could convince me to drop the price." If I can pick that thing up for $50.00 I think it'd be worth wile. Take all the time I want to get the new U's installed, and seeing as I have a couple laying around it wouldn't take long. That gives me spare shafts. And I can take as long as I want to get the axle geared however I want. Time to work towards 4:10s? I think so!

[shortstax33]

Quick update: Recently picked up a HP Dana 30 for $80. Annnnnd tomorrow I'm taking a look at an 8.8 so hopefully I'll have my axles all set aside waiting to be worked on. I've decided I'm going to re-gear them both myself, which is terrifying to say the lease. Soooo there may be a small shop press in my future. Regardless. Expect LOTS of pictures and documentation of the process. I'm still recovering from vacation last week, so as soon as I'm cought up, I'll post the pics from the Dana 30 as soon as I get a few minutes of down time. This thread might just get exciting.

[shortstax33]

Update time with pictures. Soooo I picked up a Dana 30 for $80.00, pretty much completely disassembled. Seriously, craigslist is an amazing tool for parts. Here she is.

The plan is to equip it with 4.88 gears in preparation for 35s. And before anyone wonders, I will be doing the gear change myself, documenting it heavily. Swearing even more so. In the meantime the 30 is going to sit on jack stands, probably get the rust scraped/grinded/brushed off, then painted with rustoleum hammered finish. I figure then it can sit until I get new bearing unit, gears, brakes, ya know, the works. it's gonna be a fun project.

It also came with some extra shafts...well, parts of anyways, lol.


And on to the next project. Weeks of hounding JF classifieds finally paid off and I found an 8.8 locally with 3.73s. I would have liked 4.10s, then I might just leave the carrier as is, change the fronts to 4.10s for a while and enjoy a properly geared jeep for a bit. Oh well, the price was great so I couldn't pass it up. Jeep prep was necessary, as I was concerned I wouldn't be able to fit an 8.8 in the back, and it was a good decision. Ignore the additional mess of tools and whatnot.


And once I got it home, I realized I've become entirely to used to working on this stuff solo. Yes, that is a soft cooler filled with water to counterbalance the axle.

Sitting pretty next to the 30.

Also, the kind fellow I purchased the 8.8 from, turned out to be a great guy. Also helped me out, and gave me a set of complete beefy axle shafts with bigger u-joints, and IROC almost alloy brackets. Or at least, that's what he called them.

On another note. I was reading the tags on the diff cover....if I didn't know better...I'd swear it says it's got 4.10s. My plans may have just changed.

As the projects progress, I'll keep it documented and photographed. Comment's/advice/criticisms welcome, so keep em coming.

[Sgt.Fuzz]

Originally Posted by shortstax33

I have SWAT school for the next week, so I won't be posting for a bit. Wish me luck folks!

I've been through two SWAT schools (basic and advanced) and spent 5 yrs. on my department's team. Congrats on becoming an Operator.

[shortstax33]

Originally Posted by DaFuzz

I've been through two SWAT schools (basic and advanced) and spent 5 yrs. on my department's team. Congrats on becoming an Operator.

Thanks! I've actually been an operator for ..... 3 yearsish. Most of my training initially was in house. We looked constantly but it still took 3 friggen years to find a basic SWAT. Oh well. It's still awesome and thanks again!