Carnage on the 'con.

[Jes]

Well it was fun and we met some new people. Sorry we didn't hook up with some of you that may have been up there. Brian caught up with us at the top of Big Sluice(?) and wheeled with us the rest of the way out.
We had some pretty good carnage up there. Mine includes some more dents to complement the one I got on Judgement day(right rear quarter), a totally FUBAR front bumper, and a tow hook bracket that is really tweaked(impressive bendage). I just looked under my Jeep and discovered that I sheared off a center pin and lost a degree shim. I think it must have happened on Cadillac Hill somewhere.
Andy had issues at the top of Walker Hill. He stopped for a cut MT/R(AZ, JV damage that finally went) and I noticed diff fluid spewing out of his 8.8. Seems his welding is up to snuff because his traction bar ripped open his axle tube and didn't break the welds! After removing the traction bar he cleaned the area with gasoline and RTVed the rip shut. Later he did somemore damage to the right rear corner and popped the tail light off again.
So all in all a good trip, I'll post some pictures tomorrow.

Jes

[Jes]

Okay I lied, here's a few of pics...

[img:464eb6b640]http://home.earthlink.net/~jdrios/Andy[/img:464eb6b640]

[img:464eb6b640]http://home.earthlink.net/~jdrios/AA_7861_024.jpg[/img:464eb6b640]

[img:464eb6b640]http://home.earthlink.net/~jdrios/AA_7861_023.jpg[/img:464eb6b640]

I have somemore on another roll I'll develope soon.

Jes

[JC]

Hey all,
Jeff and I made it up to the spillway on Friday, but almost before we started the axle crade on the (NOT)RockReady kit broke, btw that was cradle#2. Seems like we were offroad or something and the junk(aka axle cradle) just broke :shock: . At least somebody got to go wheel'n this weekend.

-Jerry

[Jes]

Why does that crappy (UN-)RockReady axle truss keep breaking?

I just changed my rear diff fluid and it was a milkey grey. The thing really took on a lot of water, I hope I didn't fry it.

Here's Andy's leaking diff...

[img:074a73fe8e]http://home.earthlink.net/~jdrios/Axle%20carnage[/img:074a73fe8e]

...we cleaned up all the fluid by the way.


Jes

[FarmerMatt]

Now that's what I call good penetration. That one wasn't welded by Mr. Goatman. :D Looks like fun To me. Time for some corner protection & an axle truss me thinks. Why do you think the brackets ripped Andy? Do you think it was too ridgid with the heims back there? It's probably a stick thing. :shock:

Matt

i missed another good trip. i am starting to hate that damn Trail
Ready Company. jack :evil: :evil: :evil

[Goatman]

Sounds like you guys had a good time. Matt may be on to something, that traction bar bracket shouldn't have broken off unless something is binding somewhere. Or maybe it's just Andy dumping the clutch with that NV4500..... :lol:

I'm still paying for that hurry-up weld job before heading to JV, Matt won't let me forget about it (maybe pay backs for some nice long arm pics? :D ) But, nothing on mine broke on the whole B of the W trip.

I'm tired of unpacking......I want to go wheeling!!!!

Richard G

Hey guys!

Well I am sorry that I missed you. I swear I heard Jes and Andy talking on Ch22 at 5PM Sat. Was I halluecinating? Well, my dutchman shafts didn't arrive until 5:30PM friday. My buds left Sacto at 3PM. Dutchman ground the shafts wrong and I had to spend some time with the angle grinder getting them right. Finally I said F88K it and decided there was no way I was driving in Friday night. Sat AM brought more issues, but I finally disconnected the sway bar mount at the Loon spillway at about 5PM. My friends were on the wentworth portion of the trail and wheeled in to Ellis Creek to meet up with me. I didn't even get to see the Little Sluice, but that's ok by me as it gets to be too much of a zoo on the weekends anymore.

My headgasket is leaking coolant at the rear of the head, so that is coming off this week and I will get my head re-done while it is off (54K miles, mind you). I am pretty sure that there is a problem in the casting that is keeping coolant from flowing properly, and hence the long history of cooling issues. I also have a malfuncitoning ARB. When it is engaged it is bleeding out air inside of the ARB (I can feel it thru the breather). Apparantly it is the U-seal and easily fixed. I think I might sue the guy who installed the ARB (ahem, Fecko).

So, I continue with the record number of mechanicals in one season.

SeanP

[Jes]

Sean you probably heard us. We were heading up Cadillac Hill at about 5 on Saturday and stopped to help a guy in a YJ that ripped off his(you guessed it) traction bar.
Did you go all the way through? There was one pretty nasty water hole after Rubicon Springs, my Jeep sounded like a motor boat!

Jes

[CRASH]

Jes: Got your message, too bad about the axle shim. Was it steel?

Matt: Rear corners are going on this week. Can't figure the traction bar breakage out. The tube is not too thick, which could be one issue. I've got the fix all figured out, just need to sleeve the axle tube with a clamshell tube and then weld the traction bar to that.

Goatman: I don't think it was bindage, I thought about it a lot. There is no lateral stress on the bar at all. Maybe it was weakened by hitting obstacles , and it finally let loose under load. And yes, I was "on it" up Walker. I was trying to run Open/Open up a little ledge at the top and was bouncing it pretty hard.

SeanP: Whatever. :roll: Web Wheeler. :lol:

Jack: Web wheeler. Web Wheeler. :P :P

Jes again: Glad everyone had a good time. Britt and I had a great time giving the nickel tour to the Con newbies. Hope Rob checks in with his experience's. You got a spot to fix your axle?

CRASH

[Jes]

Update:

Maybe have a place to fix the axle. My friend with the K5 has 6 degree axle shims on his new leaf pacs and he doesn't need the shims. They look like they will work. The axle shims were steel, the center pin sheared off and spit the shim out. It must have been axle wrap that caused it, I had even retorqued the u-bolts before the run.
Unfortunately I think I fried the gears in the rear axle. It's howling under load now even though I changed the fluid, I don't care about the other damage but I'm really bummed about that. The fluid that came out was grey in color and there was a lot of it, way more than the diff is supposed to hold. There must have been a lot of water in there.

Jes

[CRASH]

Are you sure it's not cause the axle shim is not in place? The pinion angle has GOT to be f-ed up, maybe that's the howl? Is the t-case howling?

I can change the gears out for you, not a big deal. Did any metal come out when you drained the fluids? Was it glittery? Any shavings on the magnetic drain plug?

A couple of hundred miles shouldn't kill a gear set.

Carnage. :(

CRASH

[Jes]

Definately from the rear end, the howl gets worse when I'm on the gas. Yes, some metal came out with the fluid. I'm wondering if a bearing got toasted?


Jes

[Lupine]

If a bearing went, it was one of the two pinion bearings, and most likely, the upper one. Not hard to change those out, and we can inspect the gear set at the same time.

Maybe Drivetrain Direct will warranty it. :wink:


CRASH

[Jes]

Okay, I put a new axle shim in. Thanks goes to Jack for the use of his garage. The center pin sheared where it went through the axle shim, the top part was still in place and the bottom nub was still in the axle locating hole. The remainder of the center pin was "stepped" all along its' length where each individual leaf was located. I'm wondering if I should drill out my leafs to accept a 3/8" center for better strength. The 5/16th" pins seem really wimpy.
I know what I'll be keeping in my trail spares box from now on. This is a really freaky breakage, I had heard of it happening before but had never seen it. Users beware!


Jes

Hey everyone! Been pretty nuts since the return from the trip but wanted to stop by and say thanks for everything. The tour was great and dinner wasn't too shabby either! Steve and I had a hell of a good time and were really glad to run into you. Appreciate the hospitality. We even took home some of the casino 's money from the Horizon. Perfect end to our first Rubicon trip. Jes I checked my front axle and there was NO lube at all, but a gallon of water came out. Haven't checked the rear yet but it will be a pain since there is no drain. Looks like I have some metal trimming and fine tuning to do, but that was a neat shakedown run. At least the wheels didn't fall off...I'll make some adjustments and am really looking forward to another one. We'll be in touch and see what's happening. Thanks again for everything! Robb

[CRASH]

Oh ya, you betcha.

We were glad to run into you, too. Couldn't of asked for a nicer couple of guys to hang out with and drink margaritas.

Next time, I'll bring extra rounds for the pistola, and we'll do a little hike up into the woods for some bang-bang fun.

Lucky you had those hubs for the ride home, huh?

See ya at swamp, is your wifey coming?


CRASH

[CRASH]

Ditto what Crash said-it was an absolute pleasure running into you and Steve, and glad to see that the damage to your vehicle was-ahem. Minor. :wink: We'd love to see you and your SO at Swamp Lake-should be an absolute blast, there are people who are gonna be there who I've been dying to meet. :farmer: + :wife:. All in all, we had a great time-can't wait to see you again!

LOL
Lu

[Lupine]

What happened? :oops:

Lu

[Jes]

Hey Robb I had a great time too. I especially had a good time on Friday, Buck Island lake was a great place to camp and hang out.
I've got a ton of stuff to fix but it was worth it. I guess we'll be seeing you on Swamp?

Jes

Oh, can you see about getting me a fan clutch?
With my discount the dealer wants $95 and Kragen wants $45 for some el cheapo brand. I'd like to get a OEM part.

Jes, I'll check into your fan Mon. or Tues. & drop you a line here. Ruth and I are looking forward to the Swamp lake run. Getting some odds &ends done to the jeep before then hopefully. Been busy as sh*t lately. Andy, how's that area for doing some plunking? Would like to do a few rounds if we can. (I also adjusted the emergency brake cables Andy so you won't have to dodge the rearward inbound flak this time, says Robb looking very sheepishly...) Take care all, speak with you soon.

[Lupine]

Ya, there should be plenty of opportunities for plinkin. I guess that area is supposed to provide some excellent deer hunting opportunities. Lemme do some research on the topic!

Lu

Hey Lupy! I was just going to shoot some old cans but hey, if Bambi is game, so am I! Love those fuzzy little targets! Maybe after a jug or two of Franzia we might just drag a little venison into camp? I was planning on tossing a couple inflatable kayaks in the jeep, maybe some water skiing after we thin out the forest of anything edible. Can't wait for the games to begin! Booze, guns and boats, gotta be a good time!

[Lupine]

...but I'm always up fer some plinkin! What's that you say about canoeing? We need to catch some fish this time, and I mean it-NO EXCUSES. :wink: Dude, Ruth's comin!??! RIGHT ON. The sooner she's initiated into wheelin', tha better. If it makes her feel any better, I was totally against it at the beginning...nuthin sounded worse than spending all day watchin Crash drive ever. So. Slowly. Down the trail...but now? Shore is fun watchin him bend sheet metal. Really helps that he doesn't care one whit what he does to his XJ, so long as it makes it outta tha trail.

well then a fishin' we will go. These are inflatable kayaks so becareful with da' hooks or u be swimmin' in. Yes "goofy ruthy" is saddlin' up this time. Told her it was a paved 2 lane with no ruts or hills. All smooth sailin. No flippy over. We are really looking forward to it. I've been chompin' at the bit to get back to the Rubicon, and Swamp lake sounds like our kinda scenery as well. Hey Mr. Crashomatic, called Warn today and got some #'s for the axle seal. Appreciate the info. Surprised there were no fish in it when we got back though. Sounds like I better get my feeshin' license for the trip. Can't wait. Jes I should have some info on your fan clutch tuesday. See ya.

[Jes]

A few more pics...
[img:c602e34f07]http://home.earthlink.net/~jdrios/AA_7984_003.jpg[/img:c602e34f07]
[img:c602e34f07]http://home.earthlink.net/~jdrios/AA_7984_004.jpg[/img:c602e34f07]
[img:c602e34f07]http://home.earthlink.net/~jdrios/AA_7984_005.jpg[/img:c602e34f07]

Jes

[CRASH]

Nice.....Is your junk ready for more carnage?

CRASH

[Jes]

Oh you betcha! 8)


Jes




________________
Censored...

censored? :cry:

[Lupine]

K9-

Ya, the Rubicon really does a number on ya, don't it? You *know* you're addicted when you start dreaming about it....ZZZzzz....box....ZZZzzz...sluice...Zzzzz.... soup bowl... :shock: Lemme know when you and Ruthie can make a trip, looks like Crash and I plan to head up the hill the weekend of the 9th, I still wanna see how the fishin is off that center island, and I'm not real keen on trying to make it with one hand in the air gripping my pole....uhhh...or whatever. So kayaks sound good. I'm hitting the lovely state of Ohio for a week or so (they like thar fireworks) so the 9th will be the earliest I can head out there.

Lu

howdy ho, hey Jes your fan clutch is $70 at my cost. That's for a 95'. Was that the correct year? Crasher guy, I just found out Warn's seal is only for their shaft and won't fit the stock inners I have. My $8 seal fix just jumped to $250 to get their inner axle so the seal will fit. What a stinker. I've got several things to get ironed out yet, and we are moving this weekend, so getting bumpers, skidplates, axles, cb install. etc....is going to be tight time wise. Plus no 220 to run the welder in the new shop, jeep repairs will be slow. We may show up at Swamp lake with a rental Yugo, and just air WAY down and drink many, many margargitas! Lupy, have a good time in Ohio. Just remember to not get too close the Roman candles with the flammable adult beverages! Jes drop a line here and let me know if you want the fan clutch, if that's the right one. OK, time to get packing. Later all.

[Jes]

...the "el-cheapo" brand fan clutch is looking more tempting.
You gotta make Swamp, you don't want to be known as a flake like someone I know do you. :wink: :D


Jes

We'll absolutely make swamp. Just be a little squeezed to get everything done by then, but we'll certainly be better prepared then when Steve and I hit the Rubicon. Did your rear axle quit making noise? Fortunately the water in the front didn't seem to hurt it for mine. Let me know if ya need the fan thingy. Later.