What Did You Do with Your 80 This Weekend? (19 Viewers)

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Before n after

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Ok, here we go. Was with a group of Jeeps out in Big Bear last weekend. While climbing the 1st obstacle at Dishpan, i heard some rubbing noise coming from the front of the engine bay...the noise was far too familiar, and as i get to top of the obstacle, i pop the hood and immediately noticed coolant all over the engine bay and dumping down from the bottom. The top of the fan shroud was missing a large chunk and the fan blades were damaged. The fan caught the top of the shroud, chewed off a large chunk of the plastic and put a large gouge between the top tank and the fins along the top....removed the fan clutch and broken shroud and the damage became apparent. the tubes were separated from the top tank all across the top middle portion and it was leaking out as fast as the water was poured in. I completed the rest of the trail pretty much with a dry engine, dumping water in every chance i get, and called AAA at the nearest gas station in town. Long story short, a cheap piece of plastic took out my Ron Davis Radiator. So lesson learned, replace the fan shroud if it is cracked or damaged. I have yet to confirm if it was a broken engine mount causing the engine to move up, but i had just replaced both of my front engine mounts and tranny mount not long ago prior to my trip to the Rubicon back in Aug. This is a costly $1500 repair that could have been avoided.....I will confirm if i have a loose engine mount or broken mount once i gathered enough courage to look at the rig again and start the repair process while waiting for the new Ron Davis to be delivered with a 8-10 weeks lead time...

@baldilocks..there.... i post it on MUD.:frown:
Admitting defeat isn’t the end. :flipoff2:
 
Flushed the cooling system and replaced green sludge with OEM red coolant by following guide here: Radiator Flush - https://forum.ih8mud.com/posts/78486/ in preparation for camping trip this weekend down in the TX Hill Country.

Pretty easy, but tedious waiting for everything to drain. Downed a couple beers and grilled some chicken while waiting, lol.

Hated having to cut the inlet hose to fit the Prestone flush kit tee fitting, but figured I'll just order a replacement hose and have this fitting I can swap in annually when flushing.

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Speaking of upcoming camping, hoping to also visit Hidden Falls Adventure Park near Marble Falls, TX. Anyone familiar? I am new to off-roading, so I plan to just do some of the easier trails and avoid the crawling. Also this rig is my DD and I have zero armor, sooooo... Anyway, would appreciate any feedback on the park from those who have visited.
 
Marble falls is all granite mounds / limestone. Not sure how lifted your rig is but I would be extra careful of your rocker panels. Bend one and it is very difficult to get your door to seal right again even if the body shop gets it straight (a very expensive repair). Afterwards, every water crossing will result in a wet carpet. This is the reason everyone puts sliders on their rig....to protect the rocker panels. I would get sliders on your rig before you do any type of rock crawling where you could drop off and bang the underside of your vehicle. Adventure Park has plenty of those opportunities. When people ask for the order in which they should outfit their rig, I always recommend they start with sliders for this reason. Might want to consider a skid plate after your sliders.
 
Ok, here we go. Was with a group of Jeeps out in Big Bear last weekend. While climbing the 1st obstacle at Dishpan, i heard some rubbing noise coming from the front of the engine bay...the noise was far too familiar, and as i get to top of the obstacle, i pop the hood and immediately noticed coolant all over the engine bay and dumping down from the bottom. The top of the fan shroud was missing a large chunk and the fan blades were damaged. The fan caught the top of the shroud, chewed off a large chunk of the plastic and put a large gouge between the top tank and the fins along the top....removed the fan clutch and broken shroud and the damage became apparent. the tubes were separated from the top tank all across the top middle portion and it was leaking out as fast as the water was poured in. I completed the rest of the trail pretty much with a dry engine, dumping water in every chance i get, and called AAA at the nearest gas station in town. Long story short, a cheap piece of plastic took out my Ron Davis Radiator. So lesson learned, replace the fan shroud if it is cracked or damaged. I have yet to confirm if it was a broken engine mount causing the engine to move up, but i had just replaced both of my front engine mounts and tranny mount not long ago prior to my trip to the Rubicon back in Aug. This is a costly $1500 repair that could have been avoided.....I will confirm if i have a loose engine mount or broken mount once i gathered enough courage to look at the rig again and start the repair process while waiting for the new Ron Davis to be delivered with a 8-10 weeks lead time...

@baldilocks..there.... i post it on MUD.:frown:
If I could "dislike" this I would. That sucks!
 
Speaking of upcoming camping, hoping to also visit Hidden Falls Adventure Park near Marble Falls, TX. Anyone familiar? I am new to off-roading, so I plan to just do some of the easier trails and avoid the crawling. Also this rig is my DD and I have zero armor, sooooo... Anyway, would appreciate any feedback on the park from those who have visited.
There are plenty of easy roads around the park so a stock 80 will be fine to run around in. IIRC most of the moderate stuff has places to bail out around some of the more challenging obstacles. Use your best judgement and you should be fine.
 
You can dislike it. I just disliked your post for not knowing how to dislike :flipoff2:
Well sumb1tch! I never paid attention to it. I disliked yours for disliking mine for not knowing how to dislike! 🙈 :rofl:
 
Installed the TOYOCOM OBD1 reader. Cut the cable and lengthen it so the electronic side would not sit in the heat of the engine bay.
Use an aviation plug so I can disconnect the cable and run it through the firewall. Using an old android phone, permanently installed in the car, to show the data.
I carefully removed the hot glue from the electronic panel and soldered the new cable. Only 10 wires are used in the OBD plug.
Then just match the colors from the original cable to the new one, while placing the plug in the middle.
After checking everything is working, hot glue the electronic and closed back the box. used a 1-meter cable.
 
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Finally installed the Cali Raised lightbar that’s been sitting in its box since Father’s Day.

Single row amber designed to fit in the Prinzu rack cutout. Took me a bit to realize I had to move the first rack crossbar back so the lightbar would fit. Super easy after that.

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Giant box!
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Shipping protection
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Angels singing
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Quick picture before bed
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I really like the boxed braces on those but I'm having a hard time swallowing the silver step plates. Not sure, may need more pictures :hmm:

Edit: I will say, the stamped plate design does allow for needed traction and using stainless negates any corrosion concerns from a coating wearing off of the high traffic area. Smart. Not sure it's my cup of tea but it's nice to see a vendor who really puts thought into the product.
 

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