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That's what I like to call some good articulation! Out here, articulation does more good then ground clearance. I stay away from all the rock gardens though.
Yea that is true! Have you gone up to Hungry Valley with your Jeep yet? Mostly a quad off road and dune buggy park but I used to go up there with toy hauler and quads all the time. I think too far out of your way to do that though unless you go there for a weekend trip since it is north of LA.
Can't say I have been out that way before. Like you said it is far away, far enough that an overnight trip would be best. I try to stay away from any area to the west of me. Haha
Yea I agree I lived much closer while I was living in seal beach so my son and I would just take off for the weekend and go up. Sometimes we would do a full day trip on the road by 5am and there by 7am and then rode until about 3-4pm and drove home. That got tough though it was a long drive then riding all day as well. I miss California for at least the sunny warm weather
Looks like it has been about 4 months since an update! Thats a good thing since it means I havent had to fix anything. That is until 2 days ago. I started getting a mean clunk when letting the clutch out from a dead stop. Sure enough, I pop the hood and find a blown in half motor mount. I havent changed them so it didnt surprise me at all. Originally, I was going to go with the upgraded aftermarket mounts but everyone says that there is a decent increase in feeling engine vibrations. I didnt want that. I also didnt want to put back in a factory rubber style mount. So what other options are there? A urethane insert! Slightly stiffer then stock and wont deteriorate with oils. On to the fun. At least it was a nice cloudy, hot and humid day.
After I got the one side installed, I gave the Jeep a good underside look over. Good thing I did. I had 2 track bar bolts that were loose and both leaf to body bolts were loose. It drives much better now. Even by just doing the one motor mount, it made a huge difference. No more clunk and the clutch is nice and smooth when releasing it. I will get to the other mount sometime. Hopefully sooner then later. BTW - the new inserts really suck to get in the mounts. Was not a fun task.
I did what no sane person would do.... took my locker out and went open diff.
I'm trying to turn this thing into a DD again. It's sad that I prefer to drive it over my stock one. But that's what's happening. So open diff is in, should help save my tires and make it a bit more driveable. A selectable locker is in the near future though. Test drive is to work tomorrow. RTV is setting right now, fluid will go in soon. Let's hope it doesnt grenade on me tomorrow haha.
Morning drive went amazing. Its like a completely different Jeep now. No more chirping tires when turning, No more lurching to one side when shifting. No more clicking. Its nice. Now to see what it doesnt do in the dirt....
04-09-2018, 10:37 PM
