Deep in the heart of Comanche County

[knever3]

Got a new CB! It also has 240 Ham and all CB channels and is MARScap capable. 100 outgoing watts. :brows:

 

I got commo fever and bought it. But then after researching this radio, I found a couple of forums where lots of trucker CB snobs don't like it, saying a modded Cobra LTD29 can be better. But when I got it, the shop tech did a side by side test with several radios and this was much clearer than a couple of peaked and tuned Cobras. Especially the bluetooth Cobra 29 I was running.

 

Anyway, its all part of my "prepping" plan. Its a lot better than what I had. Eventually I'll turn the truck into a complete commo platform capable of communicating with law enforcement, with UHF, VHF and ready for anything the zombie apocalypse throws at me.

 

 

 

 

I never heard of Raptor, looks sweet!! I loved those CB days, too easy with cell phones now and so personal.

[Comanche County]

Pics from the Savannah Christmas parade.

 

 

 

[Comanche County]

I never heard of Raptor, looks sweet!! I loved those CB days, too easy with cell phones now and so personal.

 

Raptor is the model, its made by Magnum.

[Comanche County]

My neighbor right down the street is the original owner of this 89' Pioneer. Its an auto 2wd, but really clean underneath and the engine has been rebuilt.

 

He got in a fender bender and the reward was a new front RT fender. I just repaired the gas tank for him.....hopefully I can buy it from him one day when/if I ever have some extra cash.

 

[Backdraft]

My God dude! You found Reds long lost little brother. Yes sir, you NEED to be the next owner of that truck.

[Comanche County]

Pics from a trail ride this weekend. Of course I had the only MJ present. This was at Durhamtown Plantation. http://www.durhamtow...m/4x4_park1.htm

 

Right before I left, I finished my dual battery and inverter install. Grabbed a single post solenoid from a JY 2000ish Explorer and an ANL fuse for the front primary battery. Pay no attention to the dirt and muck under my hood. Its my fire risk after all, not yours. :brows:

 

Out back the secondary battery is another red top, with an ANL fuse and a Cole-Hersee dual battery switch. The 1200w HF inverter runs off the common lug from the switch. I can turn the switch to the "off" position for normal operation to just use Battery 1, but when winching I'll turn them to "both" which is 12v but double the capacity. To run the inverter, I can turn the switch to battery #2 or both if I need to run it for an extended period of time.

 

This doesn't show the tie down straps I put on afterward.....which paid off greatly. This is an in progress pic, I know I didn't really tidy up the cables. Its kind of a rat's nest in the pic, but the final result is all electrically contained and protected.

 

First night, I got there late, so I started a fire and drank some beer.

 

Lined up the next morning.

 

Before we went out, I had to weld up a guy's buggy. He broke a 4 link mount. I brought my MJ trailer with the welder, tent, and tools. Almost my whole garage.

 

 

Ugly and very unsexy, but he wheeled it hard and it held up for two days.

 

 

The owner is an active duty Marine, good dude,,,,, but the 44" boggers had my MJ feeling "small".

 

But the MJ went everywhere I pointed it. The terrain here varied from rocky outcroppings to slick red clay hill climbs. I can say the front and rear lockers made all the difference. I'm sorry I don't have more pictures of the MJ while wheeling, I'm too poor to drive and hire an outside photographer.

 

The driver of this YJ was fearless and the dents in tub reflected his Jeep cred, and he didn't care if I parked on top of him.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This was the best spot. They call it "The Grand Canyon".

 

 

The owner took us to a new part of the property that needed some clearing. I took the lead on any tree smaller than 6" in diameter.

 

 

Honorable mention to a Toyota....hard for me to say that but he did winch me up when I was stuck on the side of a 50' red clay hillside. If you've never been in Georgia red clay....don't, don't ever do it. One day of fun in Georgia clay equals 5 years of red dirt falling in your eyes every time you crawl under your Jeep.

 

To cap off the night, I put the MJ on its side. Only carnage was the paint on the rock rail was rubbed off and both wheels collected about 20 lbs of mud each on the drivers side.

 

I had the MJ just a bit less than a straight 90 degrees and lost about 1/4 tank of gas leaking out too. I had the MJ stuck with the driver's side wheels stuck in a deep rut and the right wheels on a hill side. I was trying to be a suave driver,,,,it didn't quite work like I planned.

 

 

 

I didn't even spill anything out of the bed.

 

Anyway, it took about 10 bucks to get 70% of the mud off the truck the next morning.

 

All cleaned up.

 

I made it the 4 hours home without a problem then stopped at a TA near the house to weigh the MJ. The truck and trailer weighed out at 6,740 lbs, the truck by itself weighed 4,740 lbs which is lighter than normal since I moved most of my spare parts and tools to the trailer.

[89eliminator]

good to see it being used! and i also see you have the normal rear corner of the bed dents too haha.

[codymanche]

Do you have a thread on the dual batteries.

[shelbyluvv]

Great pics and I miss wheeling in Georgia. That clay and wet rocks makes for a whole different driving style!

[Comanche County]

Great pics and I miss wheeling in Georgia. That clay and wet rocks makes for a whole different driving style!

 

True. The first obstacle was a 100' very steep wet clay hill climb. I didn't make it up on the first time in 4hi, but on the second try in 4lo and second gear, I spun all the way up the hill at around 3-4K rpm. Then I went back down and did it again. Lockers and torque are everything.

[Comanche County]

good to see it being used! and i also see you have the normal rear corner of the bed dents too haha.

 

That big dent behind the right rear tire is solely the fault of my little brother when he tried to pull me out of a tight spot a year ago. Wasn't my fault and I'm still trying to find an assassin to take him out for damaging my MJ but hitmen are kinda pricey nowadays. So I guess my lil bro can live for now.

[Comanche County]

Do you have a thread on the dual batteries.

 

Just made a ppt of my wiring diagram. Please keep in mind that I am certified by the shade tree only. I did hack my own pics from the web. But the listed forum post was my guide.

 

[Comanche County]

The expedition forum post uses 80 amp ANL fuses. I used 200 amp fuses because that's what I had.

 

I don't know what the factory amperage rating of the solenoid from the Exploder is, but I imagine you should use lower amperage fuses in front of each battery that is lower than the amperage max of the solenoid, or the solenoid becomes the "fuse" in the link as opposed to the fuses.

 

Anyway, I used the Cole-Hersee switch as a bit of extra piece of mind. Its not needed for a basic dual battery install.

 

I put 8 hours of offroad driving time on this set up, using lights, the winch and I never had an arc or fuse blow. Everything worked fine while wheeling and also on the highway drive back to the house.

[Comanche County]

Finally fixed my loose and wobbly steering wheel....that's here: http://comancheclub.com/topic/37167-loose-steering-wheel-fix/

 

Also, my Harmonic Balancer became harmonically unbalanced and decided to rub elbows with the timing cover. So it got a new HB and some new pulleys.

 

 

 

New motor mounts too. But the stock brackets were thicker than the Indian made replacements so I just swapped the bushings.

[ComancheKid45]

Awesome progress and adventure pics! Keep it up!

[Comanche County]

Just some wheeling pics.

 

Here's a video of the MJ going up a creek.  its at the 3:40 mark.

https://www.facebook.com/video/embed?video_id=10151456537662260

 

Going down an obstacle called the "Slippery Nipple".

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My fiance's 10 year old daughter, she loved wheeling!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My MJ trailer at the cabin...

 

 

Airing up for the ride home.  Trail damage total:  Broken track bar mount x3, mirror, rear 1310 U-joint, water pump and the passenger drip rail.

[Comanche County]

 

 

 

 

[Comanche County]

Finished swapping in Dakota seats. 

 

[shipp_m]

Can we get some close ups and specs on your trailer?

[Guanaco.13]

sick build keep it up  :rock on:

[Comanche County]

Thanks guys, I appreciate it. My truck isn't anything special. It's just a junkyard scrounged one eyed coon dog of a jeep, but it wheels pretty good.

 

Ill get a few pics of my junky trailer up soon as requested....just got three projects in front of it right now.

[SW86]

It's just a junkyard scrounged one eyed coon dog of a jeep, but it wheels pretty good.

 

 

could you ask for anything more.... :thumbsup:

[JT31]

more pics of the dakota seats?

[Comanche County]

The truck now has full widths from a 78' F250.  HP44 front and a 30 spline 60 rear.  Its almost a downgrade in capability since I sold the ARBs but its full floating now, and I've got a spare 60 that gives me a spare carrier and two more axle shafts.  Plus the brakes are much better than the WJ brakes I was running. These are the big two piston Ford calipers, they'll lock up the 35s pretty easy.  I'll ditch the rear proportioning valve and probably add rear discs and some sort of front and rear selectable lockers whenever the bank account lets me, but I've also been thinking about selling the rig.  

 

TNT trusses front and rear, Sky offroad high steer arms and one ton chevy TREs.  Tie Rod and drag link are 1.5" .250 wall DOM.  No more sway bar. 

 

 

It has DW bigger than Dallas.  I used a Rusty's adjustable track bar I got off of a JY WJ (I shortened it), anyways I tried several different poly bushings but no joy.  I don't think having bushings at both ends is any good.  I've got some DOM and heims on the way from RuffStuff.  I think that'll take care of it.

 

I wish I could make the track bar longer but its not happening with the high steer and coils being in the way.  The TB/DL angles are pretty close, I may modify my Rock Krawler track bar brace to get it exact.

 

Some random work pics in no particular order....excuse my mess btw.

 

The front 44 needed a new inner pinion bearing, here's a few set up pics.  My trusty iphone crapped out and I lost most of the pics I took while getting the axles together.  This one shows the depth a little deep.  I got it pulled out some but setting up these used gears was a little tricky.  I couldn't get it perfect, but with locking hubs it won't matter much.  Plus, it only has 4.10 gears which will get swapped out as soon as I can anyways.

 

 

Threw a spartan locker in the rear for now.

 

 

Both my 60s had sheared cross pins...I guess someone was doing too many one wheel peels....The rear 60 I used had perfect gears, backlash was .006 - right on.

 

 

 

There's another MJ and an XJ back here now,,,my own little JY... :yes:

 

 

 

[Comanche County]

Because of the DW, I towed it down to the Savannah Lighted Christmas parade to roll with our club....something fun for the kids every year.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here's a video...I'm not sure how to embed it.  https://flic.kr/p/pq3jsx