Hey guys, down in Moab right now and have had an eventful trip so far. We got here on the afternoon of the 28th. I decided we must go wheeling immediately, so we headed to the rim for a little run to the top. I kept hearing this rotational drivetrain noise, that only happened under "accel". We finished the trail and headed back to the condo we are staying at. I put the Jeep up on jackstands and was able to reproduce the noise in 4 low, with my foot on the brake and pushing the gas down. I then pulled the skid plate. First, I noticed that my tcase front output had been hitting the crossmember. I thought, maybe it was the front t-case output had loosened. In walking back to the front of my rig, I glanced at the skidplate and saw some shiney flakes... Aluminum. The only large pieces of aluminum above the skid are the tranny, and the adapter. I crawled back under there to find that my adapter had sheered off at the mount point. I guess the stuff was hitting because of the open movement of the drivetrain. Spent most of the morning yesterday trying to find someone that could weld it back together and add some bracing. Ended up at Moab Outpost, working with the owner, my buddy Steve Nantz, we welded it up and remade my crossmember. It is together now, and I hope it can last. I can definately tell that it did not brake on this trip, so who knows how long it has been like that. I know last time I was on indy, I heard what I thought was a front axle shaft breaking, but nothing was wrong with the axle.
Anyway, yesterday I rented a JK and we ran Hell's Revenge. It was cool to be able to wheel with my whole family in the Jeep. I also got to remember what it is like to wheel with music! Amazing... The guys that run Moab Outlaws, the rental place, are really cool. I ended up shooting the shit with them, and they asked me to come back in the middle of summer (!) and we would get together with Nantz to hit the "hidden" shit that is pretty extreme. Not sure if that will happen, but we may need to play a little trip out here for those that are interested.
Today we plan to hit Rusty Nail /end of Spike. Dorrica Brewe, the lady that owns the UTV rental place, is joining us with one of their 4 seater Razers. We are meeting at 9 at the rental place and I decided to tow my fuel efficent vehicle to the trail head, so it is sitting on the trailer. Hopefully I can get some pics to post, but I do have some of me driving the rental.... as you might imagine, not too eventfull.
The town is kind of in the "calm before the storm" stage right now. Lots of adds for local places on the radio that mention the safari. Lots of temporary signs all over the place welcoming safari people. There is a Dynatrac big rig parked next to our trailer, and I have seen multiple other big name places bringing their stuff into town. Apparently it starts tomorrow, so we will see how busy it is at the very begining of the safari. I havent been at the safari since 99, when I decided that I was sick of all the huge groups and traffic jams on the trail. Have to admit though, lots of cool shit going on.
I hope to see the new concept FC that Jeep is bringing...Looks like the put some portals under it.
http://wheels.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/03 ... ry-lesson/
