Round 2: Keepin' up with the Joneses, Mud Devils and Tony Woody

@woodrow still has more motor than you.
Just sayin.....
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Sometimes there is a little something on a build that drives you crazy. Something that you know is just fine, but you don't like it. My front upper control arm was said item on my build.
I originally needed an upper that would fit a 1.25" joint on one end and a 7/8" hiem on the other. I don't have a way to drill and tap a 1.25" hole, so I did the ol' plug n slug. I welded a tube adapter into a 2" x .250" piece of DOM that I then drilled a few holes in. Then I pressed in a section of 1.5" x .250" DOM, welded it to the 2" as well as plug welded it. Welded a 7/8" tube adapter on the other end and called it done. Effective yes, but rather ugly.
Enter @IronManAndy. One call to Ironman4x4 and they whipped me up a 1.75" chunk of aluminum drilled and tapped to my specs. Some replacement joints from Brad at @Barnes 4wd and I'm back in business. More importantly, I look good doing it.
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I like those professional grade zip ties too :p
 
I had an opportunity to take the ol' girl out for a little fun this weekend. I had some buddies camping at The Flats and I decided to tag along. Interestingly enough, there was a dude present with credentials and a really good camera (or 3). It just so happened that he needed some pics and video of a rig on Nittos :huggy:. Funny how a series of events mysteriously came together...stay tuned! <sarcasm>

The tires did quite well and I think will only improve as I get them broken in. I ran 10 psi in them but feel as if I could drop down around 6 and they would hook even better. I'm going to try to sneak off to Windrock one day next month and run the same trails I run on my Treps and so a more accurate comparison between the two.

Like a construction worker in Carhartts wearing clean drawers. I cleaned the undercarriage but kept the business end looking appropriate.
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The pause in the action was spent readjusting the passenger's harness.
 
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I need some of that good Karma in my life.....
 
I may need to change the thread title to "Keeping up with Mars Fab, Jimmy Smith, Essentially Offroad and Wide Open designs...
Went to Windrock this weekend with @Oliver's, @Stuntman Autoworks, @frankenyoter and some of @Oliver's buddies. Upon arrival at camp it became abundantly clear that one of the rigs in our group was not like the others...
Surrounding my truck was 4 buggies built by some of the most acclaimed builders around. Never one to be the "fun police" I jumped in with them and away we went on an epic day of wheeling. I am loving these Nittos. I had a chance to see how they compared to sticky SXs and 42 Treps that were also in our group. I can say they held their own. My truck performed flawlessly and really couldn't be happier with it. @frankenyoter got to experience how I use my doors as rocksliders first hand.

It ain't a buggy, but it wasn't supposed to be one!
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Truggies are way cooler anyway. Junkyards are full of nearly new body panels.
 
During my post trip inspection after Windrock, I noticed a couple of things that were concerning.
One was a badly dented tube under my radiator. I had meant to add some plate in that area before and finally got around to it today.
The other thing (and a big deal if not caught when it was) I found was some gear oil seeping through the plug welds on my long side front axle tube. That means my axle tube has moved just a little bit in the center section. Having a 3 link put tremendous stress on whichever tube the axle side is mounted to. Sure enough, mine is on the long side.
I had welded both tubes to the center in the past and only the long side had a cracked weld. I needed a way to tie to center to the tubes more securely, so a truss was in the plans.
I looked all over for a truss that tied into the diff cover as I don't have room for a conventional full length truss as it would get in the way of multiple items on my front end and engine oil pan. My search yielded just what I was looking for from Undercover Fab.
www.undercoverfab.com
Matthew sent me his kit in just a few days and it looked great. I did have to trim the truss to fit around my exhaust crossover pipe but aside from that, it fit like a glove. The cover, cover to truss tie in and the truss itself were well made and most importantly, made right here in the USA. I'll be ordering from Matthew and his crew again for sure.
On to the pics. Nothing fancy, but now I have complete confidence that I won't spin a tube in my front housing. For the radiator skid, I simply welded pieces of 6" wide x .120" plate between existing tube work and added some paint.
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I did and I also welded the truss to the center wherever feasible
Gonna add a leg and some tabs on an adjacent side of the cover too far good measure
 
We'll, my last trip out ended somewhat abruptly when my steering went out. It was weird the way it happened.
Whenever I was in low range and on the gas, the power steering pump would whine badly and I lost any assist. It happened a few times and I thought is was some dumb glitch as it was fine 90% of the time. Then I decided to give it a good bump on the exit of Lower Damnation and the fluid started to pour. Quickly.
I had broken a motor mount. When I was on the gas the engine raised up enough to kink the hose from the PS reservoir to the pump. Eventually the -12AN fitting failed and the fluid leaked out.
Easy enough fix luckily. I made a new supply hose and swapped out the motor mounts.
Went ahead and added a Jones Exhaust resonator to quieten down the engine a bit too.
I took it to The Flats today for a post-repair shakedown run. We head to Choccolocco in Alabama shortly for the Hardline/ Jody turns 40 ride and she's ret to go!
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Bring it to Harlan in July I'll try and follow you........
 
Jody Treadway said:
I'll be there in either this truck or my wife's ZJ on 32s. The fact the ZJ has ice cold AC is kinda blurring my decision making currently.
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I've been every July since we moved the Crawl and Harlan isn't near as bad as it is down here.....
 
Choccolocco was a blast! Rode around with a bunch of Hardline members as well as @GONOVRIT and his crew.
After watching all the different rigs all weekend, I made a decision to change my current tires. Pics to follow in a few days :)


I also have an aluminum radiator to swap in and some hood louvers. It's not running hot or anything, but this is more of a maintenance move than anything.

Pics from Chocco
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