The Frog Blog

[rocknxj]

Prairie City was the virgin voyage of the Frog since lift/gears/SYE installation. I expected parts to fall off and axles to break, but the day was uneventful. My kid, some friends, and a couple members were there to enjoy the mud.

Everything worked out well except the ability to remain in 4-Lo. This must be a linkage issue and one I will need to play with before the snow run to Uncle Tom's cabin next weekend.

The Spartan locker gave me no troubles at all and 4-Hi worked flawlessly. Turning radius was perfect and I had more power than I could use.

Clearnance is also a slight concern. Here's a shot of wheel tucked into fender well.

Conversely, front flex seems to be good.

This is a great shot that illustrates near full articulation of the front suspension.

Here's a nice shot of the new TC skid I installed last week. Too bad there was nothing at PC to test it on.

This is my kid (100K_XJ) testing out Old Blue on the rocks.

And how about a little size comparison of the 3.5" and 5.5" lifts...

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[srmitchell]

Looks sweet.

are you really not rubbing too much up front?

Such a big difference between old blue and the frog. Im sure mine is just like the blue one.

31's are the suck.

 

[rocknxj]

Naw, 31's are good and I love that look, but there is a night and day difference between the two Jeeps. I can't imagine how different it would be on 35's or taller. Street driving is better on 31's and the bank account loves the smaller lift. On the trail, you just have to pick your lines more carefully, but you can have just as much fun.

 

[srmitchell]

Yeah, I guess.

I'm just sick of being the little guy on the trail.
I don't have the "I need a huge jeep" idea, I just want to keep up easier.

 

[rocknxj]

Yeah, I guess.

I'm just sick of being the little guy on the trail.
I don't have the "I need a huge jeep" idea, I just want to keep up easier.

My kid and I did the Jeeper's Jamboree in 2008 and we were the only ones with 31" tires out of 350 vehicles (at least as far as we could determine). There was enough anxiety before the event, but we did it anyway, not fully expecting to finish the trail. Well, at Rubicon Springs where all drivers camped for three days, we had so many people coming up to us and congratulating us and telling us how well we did. That was a great feeling, but we knew we had the rest of the trail and the famous Cadillac hill in front of us in the coming days.

Bottom line is, we made it through with just some good spotters. I think we dragged the Jeep over every rock on the Rubicon, but we did a great job with open/open and 31" tires. Not that I would EVER do that again, but we made it and the kid is sporting the Jamboree sticker on the windshield of Old Blue as a proud memory of that event.

Yeah, I did not like being the smallest member of my off-road club (Boonie Bouncers), and even with 33" tires, I think I still am. But, years of navigating with smaller rigs made me a better driver and I have tons of great memories. We did things that other vehicles could not. Maybe confidence, or fear, has a lot to do with accomplishment.

Stick with it and grow with your Jeep. I'd say enjoy the crap out of your rig the way it is, and change it to suit your needs. So what if you cannot navigate Hell Hole or do the Sierra Trek right now. Enjoy Deer Valley or other moderate trails and have a blast.

Later.

 

[knucklehead 61]

Yeah, I guess.

I'm just sick of being the little guy on the trail.
I don't have the "I need a huge jeep" idea, I just want to keep up easier.

sean, don't sell yourself short. i was amazed at what your rig could do at hollister. makes me rethink running 35's on my junk. mabey 33's are the way to go.

 

[rocknxj]

sean, don't sell yourself short. i was amazed at what your rig could do at hollister. makes me rethink running 35's on my junk. mabey 33's are the way to go.

Now THAT is exactly what I'm talking about.

 

[SharkXJ]

Yeah, I guess.

I'm just sick of being the little guy on the trail.
I don't have the "I need a huge jeep" idea, I just want to keep up easier.

Yo Bruddah - I am going back down to 33's. You can do a ton on 33's and your chances of breaking go down too

 

[srmitchell]

Haha, maybe I said that wrong...

I envy 33's, and I will have them, and stay with them soon.

 

[rocknxj]

Last night's 4x4 club meeting with the Boonie Bouncers was pretty good. That is my first meeting with the Bouncers with the improved Frog and it feels so much better to be a club member with 33's and not 31's. I'm not saying 33" tires is the ultimate shizzle, but after two and a half years as a club member on 31's, I finally feel like I am growing up. I'm just saying...

Last month I suggested a Moab run in May 2011 and there seems to be good interest by several members of the Boonie Bouncers club. I've wanted to go to Moab for an eternity and this trip might finally happen. I'll tow the trailer with the Frog and 100K_XJ will follow behind in Old Blue. That's the plan, anyway.

The club is also planning a trip to Prairie City March 20th. I am looking forward to taking the wife and little guy. This will be my wife's first taste of "wheeling" in about 15 years, back when I had a stock GMC Jimmy and we used to drive Eagle Lakes trail. (No wonder why she never wheels with me).

Speaking of 100K_XJ, he is seriously thinking of swapping over to a 4.5" lift and 32x11.50's in the next year or so. Moab may be the target completion date. I'll begin searching for used SYE and lift parts to build him up. Gotta love planning new builds...I'm thinking ACOS up front and longer shackle in rear will do it. He's set with shocks, JKS discos, and RE1600 trackbar.

Thus ends my Frog Blog entry for the day...

 

[rocknxj]

Saturday's snow run was pretty good. I'll have to post some pictures on the thread for the run. As for today (7 March 2010), I decided to do some much needed work on my trailer wiring harness.

This is a photo of the combo 7-pin/4-pin electrical connector in it's typical location. I have had problems in the past on another Jeep with bashing it on the rocks, so I decided to move it to a safer location.

The first step was to remove the bracket and find a suitable location away from the hazards of the trail. I chose to embed the harness in the bumper. I removed the harness and used the bracket as a template so I knew what metal to remove.

Next, I drilled small holes, then followed that up with larger bits and a metal grinder to remove all unwanted material.

After a few minutes with the grinder, the hole was large enough to accommodate the wiring connector.

I test fitted the harness, then marked the holes for the mounting hardware.

Satisfied with the location and fit, I attached the harness with self-tapping screws. A bit of thread locker will prevent the screws from loosening.

All that is left to do is to crimp the connectors to complete the job. I decided to leave the 4-pin connector accessible under the bumper when needed, instead of mounting it alongside the round 7-pin. I tow a trailer that uses the 7-pin connector, but the 4-pin is easy to reach if needed. I am now thinking of adding a 12-volt connector next to the harness for accessories.

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[rocknxj]

Kevin and me at the snow run on 3/6/10. Fun day.

 

[rocknxj]

Weekend recap: After cleaning up from the snow trip, I found a leak under the radiator. Turned out to be ATF fluid coming from a loose line at the radiator. Had the kid remove the air cleaner box and tranny line, then had him tighten the line with a socket. Replaced the tranny fluid line and tightened the 3/4" nut, taking care to not twist the line off the radiator (that would suck with a capital "F"). Reassembled the air box and topped off lost ATF. Also noted low coolant but I did not top off. I sort of forgot when I ran out of time and had to get the Weber cranking for a Sunday afternoon grill-fest. Twas a nice evening, with cocktails, grilled chicken, and a cool end-of-winter breeze. Trees and flowers are blooming like mad, as if nature is rushing to get Spring started. I'm with ya, Spring!

Monday's are tough. A new work week begins signifying five long days until the weekend. The good news is this Saturday is the beginning of Daylight Saving Time, which means more time in the evenings to work on the heap, and more daylight on the weekends for camping, fishing, and wheeling

Monday's are only good for Mall Crawling.

 

[rocknxj]

It's after lunch on Thursday and I'm on an downward slide to the weekend. No wheeling plans to speak of, but I do intend to work on the Frog a bit. I plan to install the engine skid that has been sitting in the courtyard since I did the RMS a month ago. I suppose I should either install it, sell it, or turn it into a skateboard ramp for my little kid. the wife is getting annoyed at all the Jeep parts I have laying around.

I also plan to help my kid bleed the brakes on Old Blue. His Jeep's brakes suck bad and he probably has air in the system. Now that I think of it, I think I have air in my system as well. Probably that crappy sandwich I ate for lunch...

 

[matttaylor1976]

If you dont have plans for Saturday, bring both Heeps to 4 wheel parts and play monster trucks with us. We're gonna eat their food and crush poor little cars.

 

[rocknxj]

If you dont have plans for Saturday, bring both Heeps to 4 wheel parts and play monster trucks with us. We're gonna eat their food and crush poor little cars.

That sounds good to me. Send me a PM and let me know what time you'll be there. 100K XJ and I will meet you at the El Camino Ave store. Anybody else going?

 

[rocknxj]

The family and I drove over to 4Wheel Parts Warehouse for their March Madness event today. Listened to some decent music, ate a burger, and browsed some of the vehicles out on display. I met up with Matt Taylor, 100K XJ, and No Hate from . I got a meager 5 dollar discount on some driving lights for the JCR Offroad Stage IV bumper that SHOULD be showing up any day now. I'll wire those babies up and add photos and commentary another day. Oh, the discount came from sinking one of three basket balls in their hoop. Yeah, I'm a stud.

For now, here are a few shots from the short trip up the RTI ramp that 4Wheel Parts had out.

Shot 1: Contemplating the line.

Shot 2: Wondering if I will roll this beast.

Shot 3: Feeling confident, despite the rubbing.

Shot 4: View from the front.

Shot 5: Showing some flex.

Shot 6: I'm not even sure what this is...

Shot 7: Getting a little higher on the ramp.

Shot 8: Close-up of the carnage.

Shot 9: Last look at the flexy part of my heep.

And not to outdone, here are a few shots of 100K XJ on his first trip up the ramp. Looking good, Kevin.

 

[rocknxj]

Today is Sunday, March 14, and it was sunny and warm, just the way it should be at the end of winter. Having nothing better do do, I decided to wire up the 5" 55-Watt Pro Comp driving lights that I bought at 4Wheel Parts in preparation for the JCR Stage IV bumper that will be arriving soon. Once I got them wired up, I went ahead and mounted them on the stock bumper so I can start using them right away. Here's what I did...

Photo 1 (below):

I started by mounting the lights in the factory holes in the OE bumper, just to get them installed quickly, but noticed they obscured the turn signals and headlights too much.

Photo 2:

I measured 13 1/2" from the end of the bumper and drilled the hole for the mounting bracket using a step bit. I've got to say, whoever designed those step bits is my new personal hero. I'm totally digging them. Anyway, I used some tape to mark the spot, then punched a starter hole with an steel punch to prevent the bit from walking on the slick painted surface. A bit of oil kept the bit cool. A bit of beer kept me cool.

Photo 3:

Next, I loosely installed the mounting bracket. I tightened them after the lights were installed so I could aim the lights correctly.

Photo 4:

Here's a shot of the hole I drilled through the driver's side, as well as the factory hole I started to use. Keep in mind, getting to the nuts on the inside of the bumper is somewhat of a pain on this side since clearance is not very good. If you do this, you will either need to remove the bumper completely, or remove one recovery hook bolt on the driver's side, loosen the other hook bolt, swing the hook out of the way, remove the two torx bolts holding the bumper to the bracket, and swing the bumper out to give enough clearance for a 9/16" deep socket. If your hands are small and girly, you may not need to do all of this.

Photo 5:

After you are satisfied with the bracket installation, the lights can then be installed and adjusted for desired beam direction. Personally, I like to shine them directly into the eyes of oncoming traffic, but that is not recommended.

Photo 6:

This is a shot with the lights installed. Looks good for a temporary solution. I wish I could show a picture with the lights ON, but I blew a fuse and I cannot seem to locate the trouble. I used the OE driving light circuit and each light tested good, but I blew the circuit when both lights were turned on at the same time. I will need to leave that for another day.

Photo 7:

This is the final shot with the covers installed. 100K XJ is in the background working on his heap, perhaps in an attempt to be like his dad. LOL. Actually, he is doing something pretty cool by wiring in an interrupt switch for his door beeper. He'll need to post that procedure on the forum when he has a chance.

[end]

 

[rocknxj]

As mentioned above in today's driving light installation, I no longer have power to my driving lights. I did some searching on this forum and learned a bit about the crappy OE wiring installed in these rigs and I discovered that I do not have fog light relays installed in my engine fuse box. That being said, I probably burned up my switch right after powering both lights, so it looks like I will be buying a relay (or two) and replacing the factory wiring with suitable gauge wire.

This was supposed to be a quick solution to providing a little better lights while using the factory switch and wiring. Turns out I will need to make a decision to kill the entire deal or spend some buck$ to get these cheap lights to work. In retrospect, I would have rather purchased a Hella light kit and had good lights and wiring, or stayed with 35 Watt replacement lights and kept the original crap to save some money. Instead, I have modest 55 Watt lights that look like they will last about two years.

I will wait for the new bumper to arrive before tearing into the wiring and replacing everything. For now, I will search and begin compiling info and parts for when my Stage IV bumper finally arrives. Camping and fishing season is nearly here. I need to get this done soon or I'll just have ornaments on my bumper.

Here is one link that I will be revisiting: http://www.rallylights.com/hella/Relays.aspx

 

[Letterman]

Shot 7: Getting a little higher on the ramp.

Tire off the ground!!! "NO RTI SCORE!!!!" :laugh3:

The old 4WheelPart's that closed down in San Jose would leave the ramp out all night so we would go play on it after our "Jeep Knight Meet n Greets." :eeks1:

Did they just let anyone drive on it, or did you have to ask or sign something?