reson46 Posted May 12, 2014 Author Share Posted May 12, 2014 Ron came by to help me put the cage back on. Willy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reson46 Posted May 19, 2014 Author Share Posted May 19, 2014 Spent a beautiful weekend wheeling Sadie Creek and hanging out around Port Angeles. We had a very interesting start Friday Night. The water pump broke on our friend's motorhome. We found out just as we got to the campground around 8:30 PM. We quickly unloaded the Jeep and unhooked the trailer, ran into Port Angeles, and made it to O'Reilly just before they closed. Luckily they had a water pump in stock. He was able to find a nice gas station parking lot to change it out. We ended up back at the campground pretty late, but everybody made it. We stayed at the Elwha Dam RV Park. The gate keeper. This spot gave us some trouble. Three trees are placed perfectly for damage and it has become more rutted over the years leaving you with fewer options. We had to take the front passenger door off a JK to get it through. I even ended up with trailer damage on a trailer I wasn't using. :hmm: More pics here. Willy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reson46 Posted June 12, 2014 Author Share Posted June 12, 2014 The MJ got a new trailer partner. Willy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ComancheKid45 Posted June 13, 2014 Share Posted June 13, 2014 Awesome setup! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reson46 Posted June 17, 2014 Author Share Posted June 17, 2014 Spent a great weekend wheeling the Liberty area. I was solo so there are only a few MJ pics. More pics here. Willy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zackcj7 Posted June 19, 2014 Share Posted June 19, 2014 I'm trying to decide on tire size for my MJ. How well are the 35s working with the bobbed longbed? Do you get high centered often? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reson46 Posted June 19, 2014 Author Share Posted June 19, 2014 I'm trying to decide on tire size for my MJ. How well are the 35s working with the bobbed longbed? Do you get high centered often? I'm really enjoying the bobbed bed and 35s. No, I don't get high centered often. That is both because of the long arm kit I have and the terrain I wheel. I've got very little that hangs below the unirails and it is almost completely smooth. Willy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zackcj7 Posted June 19, 2014 Share Posted June 19, 2014 I'm trying to decide on tire size for my MJ. How well are the 35s working with the bobbed longbed? Do you get high centered often? I'm really enjoying the bobbed bed and 35s. No, I don't get high centered often. That is both because of the long arm kit I have and the terrain I wheel. I've got very little that hangs below the unirails and it is almost completely smooth. Willy Looking at your pictures the terrain you wheel looks similar to the North GA mountain area I wheel in. Aside from the GA red clay we have to content with. How is your doubler holding up? I'm trying to decide if I want to double NP231 to NP231 or NP231 to flipped Dana 300. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reson46 Posted June 19, 2014 Author Share Posted June 19, 2014 I'm trying to decide on tire size for my MJ. How well are the 35s working with the bobbed longbed? Do you get high centered often? I'm really enjoying the bobbed bed and 35s. No, I don't get high centered often. That is both because of the long arm kit I have and the terrain I wheel. I've got very little that hangs below the unirails and it is almost completely smooth. Willy Looking at your pictures the terrain you wheel looks similar to the North GA mountain area I wheel in. Aside from the GA red clay we have to content with. How is your doubler holding up? I'm trying to decide if I want to double NP231 to NP231 or NP231 to flipped Dana 300. I haven't had any problems with the doubler, but I also rarely use it. Willy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
89eliminator Posted June 20, 2014 Share Posted June 20, 2014 ya know, i see all your pics and your wife isnt driving in any of them that i have seen lol. maybe a thread title change is in order? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reson46 Posted June 20, 2014 Author Share Posted June 20, 2014 ya know, i see all your pics and your wife isnt driving in any of them that i have seen lol. maybe a thread title change is in order?Check out the third pic in post #1. ;) Willy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ronbo Posted June 26, 2014 Share Posted June 26, 2014 Willy, I think you need to admit it, when strangers are commenting on the fact that your wife never drives it, the truck is not hers anymore. Ron Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reson46 Posted June 26, 2014 Author Share Posted June 26, 2014 The title is in her name, but I get to drive it whenever I want so that is all that matters. :D Willy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reson46 Posted July 16, 2014 Author Share Posted July 16, 2014 Spent nine straight days wheeling over the 4th of July and last week for the PNW4WDA's 25th annual Trail Jamboree. We spent the first weekend staying at Squaw Rock Resort before moving to Jim Sprick Park for the jamboree. Ron and I spent the first day on Clover Springs and Mud Springs. Both trails we had never run before. Ron decided to slice a sidewall on his brand new tires. Willy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reson46 Posted July 16, 2014 Author Share Posted July 16, 2014 Ed showed up Friday evening and joined us for trail day 2, Saturday. We ran the Naches Pass trail Willy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reson46 Posted July 16, 2014 Author Share Posted July 16, 2014 On trail day 3, Sunday, we ran both lower and upper Kaner, crossed through the rock garden to Tripod Flats, then on to Manastash and Bald Mountain Road. Mt. Adams Shortly after lunch we reached the areas that were burned in last year's wildfires. Completely changed the trails and the wheeling experience. Willy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reson46 Posted July 16, 2014 Author Share Posted July 16, 2014 Monday morning we moved camp to Jim Sprick Park. By this point we all felt pretty worn out, so we decided to take a quick trip to Moon Rocks and Funny Rocks. The temperatures were really starting to climb too. Mt. Rainier Moon Rocks Willy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reson46 Posted July 16, 2014 Author Share Posted July 16, 2014 Dave showed up Monday night and joined us on the trail Tuesday, trail day 5. We also found a new route to the trails that is a much nicer drive than Bald Mountain Road and gets us to the trail quicker. We covered a lot of mileage. We went up 675 to Manastash, on to Tripod Flats to Shoestring, then up to Quartz Mountain, down the 31 road to Wells Meadow, back down the Quartz Mountain trail to Upper Kaner, then out the forest service roads from Lily Pond. Tripod Flats More fire damage on Shoestring. Finally found some snow on top of Quartz Mountain. Willy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reson46 Posted July 16, 2014 Author Share Posted July 16, 2014 On trail day 6 we pre-ran the Divide trail in preparation for the beginning of Trail Jam. This trail is quite a way from the campground, over 30 miles by rough dirt road and probably at least 20 miles by trail. We again ran up 675 to Manastash, through the entire Tripod Flats trail with a side trip to Lost Lake, then on to the Divide from Rider's Camp, returning by the 31 road, Barber Springs, Bald Mountain Road, then finally Rock Creek Road. We got a late start and with a delay right after lunch and didn't make it back until 8:30 PM. Lost Lake Right after lunch I noticed my steering felt very loose. Turns out I had sheered two out of three of the studs holding my high steer arm on.....and we were nowhere near anything - the campground or even a forest service road. After screwing around for 90 minutes trying to chain, zip tie, etc. the high steer arm to the lower arm enough to get me to the closest road, my father took a look at the hole in the passenger side tie rod end and asked why we couldn't connect the drag link to that. :doh: Twenty minutes later we had it back together and on our way. The bump steer was pretty bad, the steering wheel was almost upside down, and I didn't have complete steering to the left, but I was able to finish wheeling the rest of the week. After that we finally made it to the Divide trail. Willy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reson46 Posted July 16, 2014 Author Share Posted July 16, 2014 Thursday, trail day 7, was the first official run of Trail Jam. We led a group across the Divide trail and ran into an interesting site, a group of Mormon settler re-enacters. It was a youth group of several hundred 14 to 18 year olds. They were dragging hand carts up the Divide trail. As usual the forest service has their head up their butt and issued permits to both them and us for the same trail on the same day. Luckily we were able to bypass a short section of the trail on forest service roads. Here they are pulling a hand cart up the trail......and this is the easy section. Since I was leading and driving I didn't end up with many pictures that day. Willy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reson46 Posted July 16, 2014 Author Share Posted July 16, 2014 Friday, trail day 8, the second day of Trail Jam we led a group through the Manastash trail with stops at Funny Rocks and Moon Rocks. Just as we got to the trail we had a rig lose the u-joint straps holding the front driveshaft and transfer case yoke together. Luckily we had all the needed parts to put him back together and were only delayed about an hour. Moon Rocks Willy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reson46 Posted July 16, 2014 Author Share Posted July 16, 2014 Saturday, trail day 9, the last day of Trail Jam we led a group across Naches Pass. I brought up the rear and only took a few pictures. A lot more pics of the entire trip can be found here. Willy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reson46 Posted July 22, 2014 Author Share Posted July 22, 2014 A friend gave me a hand by removing the broken studs and machining a key into the steering arm and knuckle with his mill. Hopefully this will help take a lot of the side loads off the studs. Before with broken studs. Key machined into the high steer arm. Key way machined into the knuckle. Willy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reson46 Posted July 29, 2014 Author Share Posted July 29, 2014 Spent a great weekend working on trails in the Fortune Creek area over the weekend. There were a lot of downed trees and wash outs this year. We didn't make as much progress as we hoped, but overall I think we got a lot accomplished. Our camp site Friday night towards the end of 4W305. Yes, there is a road there. We cleared a lot of overgrown brush and trimmed a lot of tree limbs. A couple pics of the wash outs towards the end of 4W305. It is hard to tell from the pictures, but there was a lot of material that had washed down the mountain on to the trail. Winching a log into place to help build a wall for the road bed. After we moved tons of rock by hand it was time for a test drive. We were pretty wiped out after that, so we decided to pack up camp and move over to the Fortune Creek trail. Saturday night's camp site. Sunday morning we continued to the end of the Fortune Creek trail. This was a pretty cool find shortly up the mountain from the intersection of the Fortune Creek trail and Hawkins Mountain trail. It is an old dam for the Dolphin Mill that is still incredibly intact. It isn't so great at holding back water anymore, but somebody put a lot of work into it. Hawkins Mountain After lunch Sunday we planned to make it to the old Van Epps town site, but a lot of downed trees blocked the trail. After a couple of hours of chopping and moving the downed trees we were all exhausted. We didn't quite make it to Van Epps, but we made it a lot easier for the next group if they want to clear out the rest. The view on the way out. More pics here. Willy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Exxon Valdez Jeep Posted August 1, 2014 Share Posted August 1, 2014 makes me wanna go to washington! nice MJ and even better work on the trails! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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