natander2ksometime Posted December 14, 2020 Author Share Posted December 14, 2020 To continue on with the terrible 2020 year in the Comanche, I ordered a new, fully assembled head from Clearwater Cylinder Heads. Because the same exhaust valve had broken twice, I didn't want to take any chances. My girlfriend and I slapped it on in a weekend, and ended up having to carpool across Denver for a week in it because our other cars were out of commission. It was running so well that we decided to attend the 2020 MJ Takeover (we considered it impossible after the St. George incident). Once again, it ran super well, maybe better than ever, from Denver to Moab. We averaged 16-17 mpgs with all of the wheeling and camping equipment in the back. Here's pictures from our first campsite. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
natander2ksometime Posted December 14, 2020 Author Share Posted December 14, 2020 On the first full day of Moab this year, we met up with the mild half of the group to run Gemini Bridges again (the big guys were doing Pritchett Canyon). There were a lot more attendee's this year, which is awesome! Photo credits to Ruben Campos. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jesse J Posted December 14, 2020 Share Posted December 14, 2020 Uggh can't wait to go down to moab and participate in the takeover next year. hopefully I have my lift installed and am regeared by then. your rig is so clean Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
natander2ksometime Posted December 14, 2020 Author Share Posted December 14, 2020 The next day was the classic Hells Revenge run. Always a good time with all of the MJ's. Photo credits to Ruben Campos and Robyn Livermore. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
natander2ksometime Posted December 14, 2020 Author Share Posted December 14, 2020 On the last wheeling day of Moab, a small group of us decided to run Poison Spider. I was a little worried about the difficulty of it, but my Jeep killed it! Honestly, peak performance. Photo credits to Ruben Campos. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
natander2ksometime Posted December 14, 2020 Author Share Posted December 14, 2020 10 minutes ago, Jesse J said: Uggh can't wait to go down to moab and participate in the takeover next year. hopefully I have my lift installed and am regeared by then. your rig is so clean It's definitely the best time I've ever had wheeling. There's enough rigs that you don't have to do the difficult trails, and there's enough wheeling and wrenching experience that you don't really have to worry about much. Thank you for the compliment! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
natander2ksometime Posted December 14, 2020 Author Share Posted December 14, 2020 When we got back from Moab, the Jeep sat for about a week. When I drove it the next time, it had a misfire in cylinder 6 (disappointing considering the work we had just completed). A compression test showed that cylinder 6 had about half the compression of the rest of the cylinders. I broke down and took it to a shop, which is where it currently sits as of December. It didn't get driven from September on. Huge disappointment, but hopefully it gets fixed proper this time. Here's a side bar. Because every vehicle I own had a major issue at one point this year, I had to pull my 1976 Dodge Power Wagon out of storage to daily drive. At the beginning of 2020, I had done a one ton swap on it, along with floor pans (which is something I hope I never have to do again). So here's Bessie. It was my first vehicle, cost $500 back in 2010-ish, and has been the most reliable vehicle I've ever owned. Over the last two months, I've been daily driving this across Denver every day, even with a non-existent clutch. 1976 Dodge W100 318ci , NP435 manual, NP203 full time 4x4 Kingpin Dana 60, 14 Bolt, 4.10 gears, open/open for now 315/70/17 BFG KO2's Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete M Posted December 15, 2020 Share Posted December 15, 2020 that's is one fine lookin' dodge Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
natander2ksometime Posted December 17, 2020 Author Share Posted December 17, 2020 On 12/15/2020 at 10:43 AM, Pete M said: that's is one fine lookin' dodge Thanks Pete! It's a good old truck, that's for sure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
natander2ksometime Posted February 3, 2022 Author Share Posted February 3, 2022 Well, I guess it's time for my once-a-year build thread update? So, at the beginning of 2021, I got the rebuilt engine back from the shop. I got it installed by myself, and everything was working super well! We took it on a few camping trips, and tried to drive it as much as possible to break the engine in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
natander2ksometime Posted February 3, 2022 Author Share Posted February 3, 2022 On 4th of July weekend, my girlfriend and I met up with some friends to do Red Cone Pass, which is one of my favorite Colorado trails. The views and reasonable difficulty are unmatched by any other trail near Denver. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
natander2ksometime Posted February 3, 2022 Author Share Posted February 3, 2022 And then things started to go south with the new motor... It developed a misfire in cylinder 1. Took it back to the shop, and they determined that the valves had a carbon build up on them. We tried a couple things, but ultimately couldn't really fix it. Like always, it started to fall apart right before the 2021 Moab MJ Takeover... We decided to go for it anyways. Here's me test driving it up in Frisco to make sure we could make it to Moab and back. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
natander2ksometime Posted February 3, 2022 Author Share Posted February 3, 2022 We ended up making it just fine. My girlfriend followed with her car in case of emergency, and to carry stuff because we pulled the topper off for the trip. On the first day, we ran Poison Spider. Definitely an amazing trail! We got to meet a lot of great people for the first time, including my fender flare brother Tim! Photo credits: Me, Ruben C., Tim H. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
natander2ksometime Posted February 3, 2022 Author Share Posted February 3, 2022 On the next day, a small group of us ran Top of the World. I'll be honest, I don't need to run that trail again. It's super long, really far away from town, and it was pretty rough on everyone. We had a couple flats, among a few other issues. I will say, it's defintely worth doing once. My buddy Ruben got some amazing pictures for me on this run though! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smokeyyank Posted February 3, 2022 Share Posted February 3, 2022 Ha funny I saw your rig a few months ago when I was driving with my wife. Tried to convince her we should go say hi....she didn't want to flip around. What part of Littleton you in? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
natander2ksometime Posted February 3, 2022 Author Share Posted February 3, 2022 Later that night, we did the hardest trail I've ever done, The Pickle. Honestly, I was terrified the entire time. It's a different animal when you have a super clean Jeep and have to drive 350 miles home. Despite my worries, the Jeep nailed every obstacle! My good friend Andy's monster MJ Another good friend Joe came out and brought friends to get wild We had major carnage on the first obstacle. This guy drove his XJ out from Washington, and blew up his rear driveshaft and tie rod. Luckily I had a spare tie rod assembly to give him! We all worked together to get him off the trail, and ultimately, he was able to drive it back to Washington! Poor Slamche broke a radiator halfway through the trail. Ultimately, he had to yeet his way through the rest of it while constantly filling it up with water. He made it back to the trailhead, and on to Cody's trailer for a ride back to town. Photo credits: Ruben C., Cody T., Jessika Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
natander2ksometime Posted February 3, 2022 Author Share Posted February 3, 2022 11 minutes ago, Smokeyyank said: Ha funny I saw your rig a few months ago when I was driving with my wife. Tried to convince her we should go say hi....she didn't want to flip around. What part of Littleton you in? Hey! I'm pretty sure I've seen you around too! I'm around the Wadsworth and Belleview area. Next time you see me, wave me down! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
natander2ksometime Posted February 3, 2022 Author Share Posted February 3, 2022 On the last wheeling day, we volunteered to lead a group up Fins and Things. We ended up bailing early because Robert in the big MJ broke his steering mount off the knuckle! We ended up using the stock tie rod location on the Dana 60 to get him back to town. Our old friend Jeremy in his shlong bed. He had done a lot of upgrades in the last year! Robert's MJ on SD axles Laine and his son, who drove out from Kansas! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
natander2ksometime Posted February 3, 2022 Author Share Posted February 3, 2022 Carnage report: -Somehow the windshield ended up getting a huge crack -Slightly dented rear driveshaft -Roasted the drag link, swapped with spare for the drive home -Stripped some teeth off the gearbox -Loosened the steering shaft -Tail light scratch (and exposure of bondo??). On this obstacle on The Pickle, 3+ people broke MJ tail lights. I'm thankful for 3/16" steel! The Washington boys using an oscilloscope to ensure my injectors weren't the cause of the misfire. Thanks again guys! Tim drove back with us to make sure everyone made it home. 20210919_155624.mp4 I ended up averaging 15.6 mpgs on 5 cylinders, which is insane! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
natander2ksometime Posted February 3, 2022 Author Share Posted February 3, 2022 So, after strong recommendations from my girlfriend and some friends, I decided to order a new head for the engine. Of course, this would be the best time for an upgrade, right? I ordered it on the first of October, and received it right before Christmas. I was pretty pissed while waiting, but I should consider myself lucky that I could get it at all. This past weekend, I went to a friends house with a heated garage to swap it out. The help was greatly appreciated! Here are the cylinder walls. I was worried that the bottom end would be shot from running with a misfire. I guess I lucked out. With the help of some friends, we also discovered that the #1 injector was stuck open. After taking the injectors apart, we believe that it had literally been cooked. It was a significantly different color than the other 5. I'm super disappointed in Clearwater Cylinder Heads. That head only had 8k miles put on it, and its complete trash. It was $200 more expensive than a parts store head. So much for trying to buy the best stuff! It's crazy that the Jeep only had 6k miles put on it last year. It sat for most of the year. Honestly there were plenty of times when I just wanted to sell it. However, it's running better than ever, so I've fallen back in love. And one more thing. Last summer, I sold the Dana 44 / Ford 9 Inch because I realized I didn't want to use them. I figured they would be too much for what I wanted to do. I did find a key part for the future axle swap at the beginning of the year however. This is a stock JK Rubicon 44. I think this will be exactly what I need... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete M Posted February 3, 2022 Share Posted February 3, 2022 livin' the Jeep life Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
natander2ksometime Posted February 3, 2022 Author Share Posted February 3, 2022 37 minutes ago, Pete M said: livin' the Jeep life To the fullest!! Unfortunately haha Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smokeyyank Posted February 3, 2022 Share Posted February 3, 2022 3 hours ago, natander2ksometime said: I'm around the Wadsworth and Belleview area. Nice! I'm off simms and Belleview. I'll definitely have to say what's up next time. Maybe try to do a trail run this summer. WJ can do some things. Not much but some. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
natander2ksometime Posted February 3, 2022 Author Share Posted February 3, 2022 8 minutes ago, Smokeyyank said: Nice! I'm off simms and Belleview. I'll definitely have to say what's up next time. Maybe try to do a trail run this summer. WJ can do some things. Not much but some. I'd be down! Even if it's something scenic. It doesn't always have to be hardcore. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
natander2ksometime Posted November 4, 2022 Author Share Posted November 4, 2022 Well, like always, it's been a while. After all the engine work, the truck was finally running like it was new again! I tried to drive it every chance I got to break the engine in. In doing that, I got rear ended on the way to work one April morning. I don't think I've ever been so pissed. Carbon mountain bike, brand new bike rack, and it got my tailgate... Unfortunately I was never able to find someone who was willing to work on it. This was the day I decided not to drive the MJ to work across Denver any more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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