Builds Shipwreck (7 Viewers)

[SuperBuickGuy]

time to get back to this

void every warranty

changed my mind, again, on the lever

basically waiting for help this weekend to tighten it up

 

[SuperBuickGuy]

it works but this isn't the end of it

 

[SuperBuickGuy]

final task... replace the steering joint

easy access.. or not

as you can clearly see... this is a cat

changing it wasn't terrible. I put a collapsible shaft on the steering shaft - thus, just slide it back, pull the old off, put the new in place... take picture, remove cat, take picture....

at some point I'll cut the old joint apart - I have no idea why it failed and it's important to me to figure that out.... might even take it with me to SEMA and ask Borgeson (quietly).

 

[SuperBuickGuy]

now the steering box has a hitch in it. for the life of me, I can't figure out why - at least I have 2 weeks before i have to leave for my 4 wheeling trip.... geesh.
since I have to pull it apart anyway, I'm going to put the AN fittings in the box for hydro assist... to be continued.

and just for the record, if I had time, I'd swap in an 80 box....

 

[SuperBuickGuy]

fixed

 

[SuperBuickGuy]

oh good grief.... so I tightened up the steering and now have death wobble.... turns out one of the panhard heims is worn.... so next day some parts... I wish I could trailer to/from trail but there will be road driving back from the run and I do not want to drive it like this...

 

[SuperBuickGuy]

just a fyi.... to Barnes 4wd, 2 day shipping means you get it in a week. Looks like I'm going to have to get creative to fix this before I leave in 4 days.

 

[SuperBuickGuy]

it's like I have every heim EXCEPT the one I need... Fudge Barnes 4wd

It doesn't rattle but I know it's loose so need to wait for the right heim

I've been meaning to make the gas cans held with more then hopes and dreams

and to answer the question, that large, red thing is what's goin on if the parts don't arrive.. that said, I'm hitting farm stores tomorrow.

 

[SuperBuickGuy]

finally got the parts

it drives fantastic, runs better then it ever did.... sure, there's a transmission noise but it's not all the time so it's fine... F I N E.... I'm going to send it. I have a spare
before I moved, I replaced 2 trailer tires - one of the old ones was losing air so I simply got 2 new tires and now have a decent spare

worth the peace of mind.... anyway, Thursday I head out

really excited to run the Rubicon again... dang it's been awhile... last time was 91/92.

 

[peesalot]

theres alot less dirt , have fun

 

[SuperBuickGuy]

go down the picture of me winching... I did remove the little that was left trying to dig my way out...

1400 miles, 3 days, 1 day on the Rubicon.... and I broke it. There, the tl;dr.
home

much fresher when I left. I put the top on, mostly because it was supposed to rain - which it didn't at South Lake Tahoe, but pretty much the Oregon border and north... wet.

met up with my friends in California... if the Jeep looks familiar - look back, I wheeled in the snow with him pretty often.

but he moved to California - so here we are.
while I haven't convinced him to get a FJ40 (he'd love one) he does have a sweet ZR2 diesel Colorado - which is the unrecognized hero of all of this... 100k miles so far, 13 mpg average and I think the slowest I pulled a hill was 45 mph....
Got there Friday afternoon, died on their couch for a couple hours, went to BBQ in downtown Folsom. Outside of the Johnny Cash song - I had no idea where it was... cool little berg.

...
Unloaded at the parking lot at Ice house dam.... really wish I didn't park below.... because it's like a mini-Rubicon getting your tow rig and trailer out of the lot....

met up with John's soon-to-be son-in-law... really really cool SAS Colorado

onto the trail

just before things started going pear shaped

think the SIL is going to fit in just fine (more on that in a bit because the story there isn't over)

got some nice shots of me trying to stand it on its front bumper

it does look good

and flex

Luigi is a good lab, but I think he was trying to find a new owner after bouncing on the trail

 

[SuperBuickGuy]

mind you, this is before the tough stuff starts.... and he's at 99% to get through this

random pics

John standing his TJ on its bumper

more pictures in a bit of the damage, but in a stupid simple spot the need for a welder and a mistake I made in assembly ended my run in... 2 miles... that's what I did.... took 5 hours

this is fix one, later pictures will show with Gorilla tape

so I turned around and another guy from another group was going out and offered to help if needed... he's there in the front... this is me trying to pull at tree over because I had to winch off a rock

I couldn't have hit this rock and more wrong

the trail fix

with gorilla tape

the problem

as it was, it almost came apart again
so... high lift handle to brace the cross shaft, zip ties to hold it to the shafts, then a ratchet strap to hold it all together.... what was really cool and a shout out to all the people out there, I basically got to stand and watch in my "we are welders" (irony, love it) shirt. the guy said he'd done it before and I believe him.... neat people, nice weather.

the broken parts - the weld literally pulled apart

what I did wrong was I should have drilled and plug welded the adapters in place

why didn't I? simple, some bungs you cannot do that with

if you weld the one on the right, it'll foul the threads.... not just that but it will almost instantly rust then fusing the threads together and ending any adjustability you expect
but still, I didn't plug weld, and I should have. whoops.
with that said, the fixes, also the steering column started moving in the shaft - so I need to resolve that issue for once and for all (read, weld that bastard)

and there's a hitch in the steering - so figure that out (thought I'd fixed it)

what's to come is an onboard welder (which is kind of dumb since I've never needed one and have wheeled for 40 years).... ah well, whoever buys it from my estate sale can take it out of its box
so it's fixed... this time, it'll break something else

I'm also going to complete the hydro-assist steering. I know how, need to order the ram - and that will help with this as well because it'll put less stress on the cross shaft/box/frame.


and the last bit.... their phone is still going to voice mail.... they may still be on the trail.... to be continued

 

[Firemedic831]

You hardly got past gate keeper . That sucks

 

[SuperBuickGuy]

You hardly got past gate keeper . That sucks

Yep. 1.1 miles from the truck. But I also made a half dozen new friends...
Friend did make it home last night, lots of damage but none was a catastrophic failure.
And correction, not Son in Law, family friend and his dad.

 

[peesalot]

Why not just tap the right size tube and not have any weld to break ?

 

[peesalot]

The Colorado towed that pretty good huh ? it's a diesel ? Its alot of effort to load, tow & go, A+ for effort, bummer you didnt get more trail time, look slike you had weather on your side.

 

[SuperBuickGuy]

Why not just tap the right size tube and not have any weld to break ?

This was more then 7 years ago (when I built it) and if I remember correctly, I took the 'easy' button because I didn't have the taps... after all, the inserts cost less then the tap... and the rub on all of that, I think I did have the taps... correction, I know I had those taps but where they went in the 20 or so years since I used them before is something only God could inform about. That said, if I break it now... it'll be one hell of a story.

 

[SuperBuickGuy]

The Colorado towed that pretty good huh ? it's a diesel ? Its alot of effort to load, tow & go, A+ for effort, bummer you didnt get more trail time, look slike you had weather on your side.

it is a 4 cyl. diesel I'd love a full size, this thing weighs 5800 lbs dry, which puts it at about the same weight as a squarebody truck - but with more power and about twice the torque.... Other then rain and snow when I went through Burns Oregon, it was good travel weather*... I was concerned - but, if fuel economy is any indicator, pulling my Corvette in my enclosed trailer is a harder pull. What really impresses me with it is the 25-30 mpg that it does without the trailer.

*and feathers on that. I raced at Thunderhill in March of last year (thus enclosed trailer with my Corvette), the 76 miles from Madras Oregon to Biggs Junction Oregon (goes over a mountain) took 5 hours because there was ice on the ground and freezing fog in the air... yesterday, barely 1 1/2 hours - and that was with a 15 minute Luigi-ball-chase break in Shaniko. That was 'bad'

 

[SuperBuickGuy]

but wait, there's more

first, they made it back late last night

however,
wait, you'll say, that joint was brand freaking new when you left. How many miles did you put on it before it failed?
1

Summit came through and replaced it - and I'll void the warranty by tacking the caps on... this is BS. I was under the impression (obviously wrong) that going to u-joints was the stronger option....

yeah, the caps just fell off

and for the record... this is who to avoid

the old joint
note the screws holding the caps in place?

lasted 4000 miles v. 1 mile
in other news, panduit ties are not what they used tobe

and in yet other news.... occasionally the rear signals would stay on dimly. Couldn't figure out why - obviously a ground issue but from where?
the steering column. Over time there wore a bare spot so it ended the problem - but moving the column around and suddenly the light issue was back.....

 

[SuperBuickGuy]

coming soon, a CS130 rebuild and upgrade to 200 amp