Tracker

Quicker fix: A length of coathanger like you were going to use the threaded rod. It can go between the filter vanes high in the box. I used the wire heated up to make the holes too. This is if you don't get that good filter.

The Azusa Canyon ORV area is where I had to take my off road training and certification when I became a game warden. I had everyone thinking I was good or something until it got out that I grew up in the area. Ramsey Winch sponsored the class and getting stuck was OK because they got to show off their product. I've chased poachers off Rincon-Redbox Road (right near there) at night and watched them think they could get away from me by taking a short cut across the river. They later tell me that they assumed it was passable because of all the tracks on the ground. I still can't believe they pay me to do this job.

The lifing straps that crance operators use are pretty stout. The ones used to place fiberglass fuel tanks in the ground are about 30 feet long with leather eyes sewn and woven into both ends. No, I didn't find this one on the side of the road. My brother builds gas stations.

My tow stuff is all road kill. Those trucking straps work if they are the kind that have an eye woven into one end. They aren't hard to find on the side of the road if you look for them. (I know, what a cheap SOB) I have 80 feet of 1/2" chain with binding hooks on both ends that I use too. (also road kill) Chain can be safe as long as you don't use cheap stretchy chain or overload it with a big running start / take up the slack jerk. It won't store enough energy to travel it own length when the pull is brought on steady, and anchored to a secure point. In keeping with the cheap SOB theme I use a 1960's HandyMan jack with the end options for power when I have to pull myself out. (road, or should I say trail kill from Death Valley years ago) An all fabric strap will rip flesh when it unloads. One with metal hardware on the ends will do damage and kill.

Yeah, I just did this but for a different reason, (I'm making a trailer out of an MJ). The spot welds were really inconsistent. Some popped off with a short burst of an air chisel, some were just points where all metal in the area was fused. If I was to do it again I would not try to mess with the welds. I'd just cut off the raised portion of the bracket that was in the way and re-box the structure with a length of similar thickness plate or box; but in a way that gave me the required clearance. The un-body "frame" gets its strength from boxing structures and the CA brackets are bridging an area where the frame makes a major bend. For whatever it's worth, it is 4 layers thick right there too. You learn a lot about these trucks when you chop one into pieces. :eek:

There's nothing like the down time offered by long sea voyages to "learn the ropes". A working knowledge of a few key knots is darn good thing to know when hauling stuff in your truck, or when out wheeling on the trail.

Sir Baden-Powell only intended the program to go to "First Class". I think everyone that made it that far shoud pat themselves on the back. On a clear day I can see the mountain named after him from my home. I too had arguments over the way a bowline should be tied when I was assistant scoutmaster of our troop. I could tie one behind my back faster than most could do otherwise. The scoutmaster banned me from doing so because he asserted that I must be cheating- "the knot can't be tied that fast". I never did show him my method.

I used to use a place by my house in Long Beach, (Ca.) called "Long Beach Spring and Forge" for all my spring needs. I guess I took them for granted, assuming there were businesses like this in most major cities. I could pull in on a Saturday morning, tell the guys what I wanted, and watch them make my springs. It was kind of like getting a set of tires put on. They would cut the steel, wrap the eyes, give them arch, stick the leaves in the kiln, then pull them out cherry red and dunk them in a long tank of oil. It only took a couple of hours. If I found out later that something wasn't how I wanted I'd just go back and have a leaf added, changed, or removed until it was right. At the time I was working for a company that liked to use little trucks for big jobs so I gave them a lot of business. The old guys that owned the business and the property finally retired and sold the land when they were in their 60's and 70's. I can see how springs would be a science and a pain without a place like this. I must be getting old too.

I think it's safe to say the Mayan's were wrong. Their world ended thousands of years ago. :nuts:

This is a good train of thought to follow but there are exceptions. There are reciprical agreements between a lot of states to allow for different conditions. For example: Arizona and Nevada plated vehicles can drive into California with their tinted windows and there isn't a problem. However, don't ride your Arizona license plated quadrunner on a California street. Always best to ask with inter-state questions. It doesn't always make sense.

I'll snag the tank and see what the fittings look like. The dive shops aren't supposed to fill anything that isn't 100% stock and standard. And, if they are really following the rules, I'll need a dive card too. Maybe a restaurant service or welding supply can put a different gas in the tank? Living on the edge of the Mojave Desert means there are not many dive shops in my neighborhood either. Thanx all for the input and any more that may come. I'll post whatever I end up doing.

A friend of mine offered to give me a scuba set up to make an OBA system. It's a steel tank, recently inspected, and I think he said 3000 PSI / 60CF. Are scuba tanks practical to use for this? I'm curious about fittings, regulators, etc.

It's short bed

My troop broke up due to a scandal just after I bridged from Webelos. I did make AOL though. I gave back a little when my son joined up by taking the den through Webelos, and then staying on as Assistant SM 'til 1st class was done and Jeeps took over. My back was about finished with sleeping on the ground too. We live near the Silver Moccasin Trails merit badge route and I saw the top of Baden-Powell and Islip Saddle many times. I wish we could have afforded to do Philmont.

X2 to about everything mjeff87 said. My son and I are getting ready to do a complete rebuild on his 2.5. Partly because it needs it and part because doing so qualifies as a "Senior Project", (A high school requirement out here). We're also going to add a 9 pound inertia ring when it goes together. An old friend of mine competes in major rock crawling competition with a stock, ring-equipped 2.5. He does good.

Scouts at this ranch get their money's worth. A year or so ago one got shredded by a bear that came in a tent at night. :eek:

Long story short: It'll be a trailer.

Sawzalls are fun. 8) I fried the armature and had to use a wimpy jig saw for a couple days. No joy there.

I used to fantasize about what my next new rig / tow vehicle would be. I finally got tired of dreaming and was then forced to face reality. Winning the lottery didn't seem like it was going to happen so I went with an off-the-lot choice. In my job I have taken five 4WD trucks from zero to 100K+ miles and there has only been one that I couldn't break: my current Dodge. It has 142K on it right now and it has never broken down. Keep in mind- the State pays for gas and repairs so I do not baby it. So, I went Dodge. Anyway, I've been quite pleased with my choice of an '02 1500 for a tow rig It drags this loaded toyhauler wherever I want to go, and it has done so for 5 years now. Fully loaded the trailer is right at 8K pounds. I got the small (4.7L) engine but with low gears it doesn't have a problem. The trailer has OBA so airing down to drag the trailer out into the dunes is no problem..

In another thread I mentioned a MJ D44 for sale on the Modesto, Ca. craigslist. This guy actually bought a 44 for his TJ and was starting to do the swap when he discovered he already had one. :oops: Just to be safe I think I'll go out and look one more time.

A pretty good run of GM "X" body cars had single leaf fiberglass rear leafs. I forget the year(s) but I remember reading about them when they came out. I remember that they were reportedly more expensive than steel and made of epoxy resin, not polyester.

I can just imagine the first time cavemen inventors tried to tell their buds that metal was better for tools: "Hmmm.. No tanx.. I thump head just fine with rock". :wrench:

I wacked my hand pretty good on my current MJ project. Since I fried my weak little 4" Makita grinder I felt perfectly entitled to buy a new, bigger, more powerful Rigid model. I guess I was a little too used to the Makita's difficult little off / on switch and didn't notice that the Rigid's switch was the whole length of the body. Yup- As soon as I put the wrench on the spindle and went to push the locking button, I bumped the switch. It took several weeks for the hand to come back 100%.

No doubt it would be an interesting project. I can't tell from the pics of the white one how it's made. Did he make an XJ into a trailer or did he put half an XJ on a small trailer frame?

Now this one looks do-able. I think trying to keep the basic XJ up to the firewall would be extremely tough for any advantage it might have over this shorter one. I don't want to sound like I'm just speculating to be negative. I'm in the process of chopping up an MJ to make a trailer right now. Much, much simpler than an XJ chop, but I've had to work through similar some problems associated with the Uni-body construction, or should I say, destruction.