fubar XJ
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- Bothell, WA
So here's my tale of potential woe:
I'm driving the XJ home from work yesterday along 35th ave SE, doing the speed limit and otherwise being a model citizen, when I notice a black and white parked in a driveway on the left facing the street. As I pass by him, I notice it's a Snohomo County Sheriff, notorious for messing with law-abiding citizens. I'm thinking to myself, okay, no sweat, middle of the afternoon, doing the speed limit, no problem.
He pulls out behind me as I pass. He follows me to the stoplight at 132nd, and pulls half a lane to my left right behind me at the light. I'm waiting for the green light, anticipating where I'll be pulling over once I'm through the intersection. Sure enough, about fifty feet through the now green light, his light bar flashes on. I pull off on Silver Crest Drive, pull to the shoulder and shut 'er down. He walks up to my open driver's window, "License, registration, and proof of insurance." "Okay, sure. Hang on a sec." I pull out my license, sift through the glove box for the registration, am digging through my wallet for the insurance card, and ask: "Was there a problem with the way I was driving, officer" "We'll get to that in a minute."
I hand him the documents, and he proceeds to tell me what the problem is: "The last digit of your license plate is obscured by your tire carrier. I had to pull over to the left to verify what it was. You also have too much tire exposed on the sides of your vehicle and you have no mud flaps." "May I get out and take a look at what you're seeing?" "Okay".
So I get out and walk behind the XJ, I had moved the license plate to the driver's side lower corner of the hatch so it would be visible with the tire carrier on. Apparently, he "couldn't see" the last digit, which is an "F". The very bottom R/H edge of the plate is slightly covered, but because it's an "F", it doesn't cover any of the actual letter. "Yeah, I had to move the plate when I mounted the carrier, but you can still see the actual letter. I can move it over another 3/4 inch or so to rectify that." "You'll need mud flaps to the centerline of the axle and fender flares to cover the edges of those tires too." "Okay, I wasn't 100% sure of that law. I believe I can get a set of flares off of a Jeep Wrangler to take care of that and make some mud flaps up too." "Yeah, you do that. This is my route, I'm here every day, so I'll expect to see these issues addressed the next time I see you." He did let me off with a warning, which was the right thing to do.
So I get home, call Olympic 4x4, they have several TJ's with rear flares still on them in the yard. I go down and pick out 4 of the cleanest undamaged ones and help the yard mechanic remove them, take them in and pay for them. $35 each, PNW discount knocks it down to $130 out the door for all four. Head straight home and spend the rest of the evening cutting them up with a jig-saw and getting them on the XJ. I got the fronts done, and the rear half of the rears. You have to cut them in half and mount the front section to the rear doors, not enough meat on trimmed wheelwells to make it work on the little lip left there.
So tonight I'm gonna finish the rear flares, take them all back off and paint them flat black, reinstall them with silicone in the screw holes, and dig out the pair of universal mud flaps I picked up awhile back and figure out a way to fit them up that's easily removable for the trail. I'll slot the license plate holes and slide it over as well, that'll take care of Officer Friendly's to-do list, which leaves me minimal time for Wheeler Doug's list, which includes fabbing and mounting a skid-plate to protect the T-case, re-checking/re-tightening all of my suspension bolts, changing out both diff fluids now that they're broken-in, and giving the rest of the rig a once-over before my previously planned Saturday shakedown run to Reiter.
As it stands, I'll likely push the shakedown run back a week to next Saturday and spend this weekend squaring away the rest of my business on the rig.
The thing that kills me about this is that there are numerous rigs on the road with mud flap issues. Pretty much every fullsize pickup I see legally needs mud flaps and usually fender flares, but I doubt they get pulled over and called on it.
The burdens we bear in pursuit of our hobby.....
I'm driving the XJ home from work yesterday along 35th ave SE, doing the speed limit and otherwise being a model citizen, when I notice a black and white parked in a driveway on the left facing the street. As I pass by him, I notice it's a Snohomo County Sheriff, notorious for messing with law-abiding citizens. I'm thinking to myself, okay, no sweat, middle of the afternoon, doing the speed limit, no problem.
He pulls out behind me as I pass. He follows me to the stoplight at 132nd, and pulls half a lane to my left right behind me at the light. I'm waiting for the green light, anticipating where I'll be pulling over once I'm through the intersection. Sure enough, about fifty feet through the now green light, his light bar flashes on. I pull off on Silver Crest Drive, pull to the shoulder and shut 'er down. He walks up to my open driver's window, "License, registration, and proof of insurance." "Okay, sure. Hang on a sec." I pull out my license, sift through the glove box for the registration, am digging through my wallet for the insurance card, and ask: "Was there a problem with the way I was driving, officer" "We'll get to that in a minute."
I hand him the documents, and he proceeds to tell me what the problem is: "The last digit of your license plate is obscured by your tire carrier. I had to pull over to the left to verify what it was. You also have too much tire exposed on the sides of your vehicle and you have no mud flaps." "May I get out and take a look at what you're seeing?" "Okay".
So I get out and walk behind the XJ, I had moved the license plate to the driver's side lower corner of the hatch so it would be visible with the tire carrier on. Apparently, he "couldn't see" the last digit, which is an "F". The very bottom R/H edge of the plate is slightly covered, but because it's an "F", it doesn't cover any of the actual letter. "Yeah, I had to move the plate when I mounted the carrier, but you can still see the actual letter. I can move it over another 3/4 inch or so to rectify that." "You'll need mud flaps to the centerline of the axle and fender flares to cover the edges of those tires too." "Okay, I wasn't 100% sure of that law. I believe I can get a set of flares off of a Jeep Wrangler to take care of that and make some mud flaps up too." "Yeah, you do that. This is my route, I'm here every day, so I'll expect to see these issues addressed the next time I see you." He did let me off with a warning, which was the right thing to do.
So I get home, call Olympic 4x4, they have several TJ's with rear flares still on them in the yard. I go down and pick out 4 of the cleanest undamaged ones and help the yard mechanic remove them, take them in and pay for them. $35 each, PNW discount knocks it down to $130 out the door for all four. Head straight home and spend the rest of the evening cutting them up with a jig-saw and getting them on the XJ. I got the fronts done, and the rear half of the rears. You have to cut them in half and mount the front section to the rear doors, not enough meat on trimmed wheelwells to make it work on the little lip left there.
So tonight I'm gonna finish the rear flares, take them all back off and paint them flat black, reinstall them with silicone in the screw holes, and dig out the pair of universal mud flaps I picked up awhile back and figure out a way to fit them up that's easily removable for the trail. I'll slot the license plate holes and slide it over as well, that'll take care of Officer Friendly's to-do list, which leaves me minimal time for Wheeler Doug's list, which includes fabbing and mounting a skid-plate to protect the T-case, re-checking/re-tightening all of my suspension bolts, changing out both diff fluids now that they're broken-in, and giving the rest of the rig a once-over before my previously planned Saturday shakedown run to Reiter.
As it stands, I'll likely push the shakedown run back a week to next Saturday and spend this weekend squaring away the rest of my business on the rig.
The thing that kills me about this is that there are numerous rigs on the road with mud flap issues. Pretty much every fullsize pickup I see legally needs mud flaps and usually fender flares, but I doubt they get pulled over and called on it.
The burdens we bear in pursuit of our hobby.....
