wheelers syndrome

stone

Well-Known Member
Joined
Mar 21, 2005
Location
charleston
u know the one where u have to work on your rig all week in order to get it ready for a weekend trip? i hate this. does anyone ever just have to load it up and go with out having to work on it? what allows you to do this if u do? is it like this for other automotive people? or wheelers only?
 
Been there, done that, moved on... I was in this perpetual building state, not sure what i wanted, building just to build. Zukipuke was the last straw... That's what prompted my "where do i want to be in 5 years" plan that started over a year ago... I like the wrenching but just not the day in day out stuff, i enjoy my free time... Maybe its just me getting older..

My solution was 2 parts,
1. overbuild, upgrade parts. (mainly the D60/14b path)
2. underdrive, downgrade myself :) create some praticle expectations for what i consider fun. And more importantly what I can do with the ammount of time I want to spend on things.

I finally admited its ok to watch :) Im 'ok' watching you big dawgs tackle the unconqurable in your buggys. Ill happily pull cable should I go that path.
 
it doesn't matter what i'm doing, i always have a super wrench fest to get ready. it's generally an all night thing. you know, kind of like doing a SAS, gears, and rear leaf conversion a couple days before going to tellico? :flipoff2: whether i'm goin wheeling or going to the track it always goes that way for me.
 
Well for the last 4 years I have had to do that.. but not this year :)

I finally got it to the point where I can just load the tools in and load on trailer and leave :)

man itis great feeling
 
I read a great article in a circle track magizine on the weekend warrior. It went on to tell how you race on Saturday night and blow an engine. Spend all day Sunday removing engine and dissassembling. Take the day off work Monday to take it to the machine shop and buy up parts. Work Tuesday and Wednesday. Call in on Thurday and Friday to get ready to back Saturday night to do it all again.

Kinda sounds familliar :lol: I believe we have all been there done that...
 
stone said:
u know the one where u have to work on your rig all week in order to get it ready for a weekend trip? i hate this. does anyone ever just have to load it up and go with out having to work on it? what allows you to do this if u do? is it like this for other automotive people? or wheelers only?
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what do you mean "load it up"? :D

some of us wheel on the weekend...drive it to work (with tools, spare parts, and fluids, in the back)...and wheel it again the next weekend...

I'll drive mine to Tellico...wheel a couple days...drive it home and park it...drive the company truck for a week or two...then decide to just crank the TJ back up and head to Uwharrie...

I don't "need" to always work on it...but I could find something to do if I even thought about it...

Greg
 
i hardly ever wrench on mine, i am starting to think that maybe simple and sensible is the way to go when i read about guys who can't make a weekend trip because they had to completely rework their rearend. i know i probably won't be able to tackle as much with a smaller setup but it seems to me like it just makes it more fun when you aren't always working on your rig....
 
wheeling

Once you get "it" right you should be able to wheel more than you wrench. Yager is right, build it to stand your driving style, then properly maintain it. You will then be able to enjoy it a lot more. I just returned from Trailfest, rode Rail Trail (much tougher than Rattle Rock), Rattle Rock, 39 and several more I cannot remeber. I have to wash, lube and fill the tank before leaving for Memorial Weekend.
 
Doesnt really get to me much. Its all worth that one moment on the trail right before you crest that obstacle, or the feeling i get when i can squeeze through a spot a guy with a much more built rig couldnt......but maybe wheeling just gives me that fuzzy feeling to an unhealthy point...... ;)



Josh
 
BUCKETOBOLTS said:
I read a great article in a circle track magizine on the weekend warrior. It went on to tell how you race on Saturday night and blow an engine. Spend all day Sunday removing engine and dissassembling. Take the day off work Monday to take it to the machine shop and buy up parts. Work Tuesday and Wednesday. Call in on Thurday and Friday to get ready to back Saturday night to do it all again.

Kinda sounds familliar :lol: I believe we have all been there done that...
Click to expand...

man, i got that beat. blow the motor friday night at wayne county, come home, pull it, spend saturday rebuilding it with whatever we have laying around the shop, put it in about 5pm saturday, crank it, load it, race at county line. and there are a bunch of us that have done it. as far as wrenching before wheeling, yeah, i always do that. either changing the oil or wiring up lights or changing tires, there is always something to do before i go.

Duane
 
Paragon

I'm not going to make it this year Rob. I will ride closer to home.
 
i go a few months without breaking, then i will break a few times in a row. never seems to fail.

i think my driving style has gotten rougher and breaking parts is pretty normal now.
 
Last year, though I didn't get to wheel much (finances), I didn't have to do much between trips.. Like Larry said... "it".

Everything I'm doing is to improve performance, but also improve reliability.

Shit, 5 hours wrenching at home is better than 1 hour wrenching on the trail, and few things piss me off faster than getting held up by some jackass who shoulda fixed his POS at home, riding with known bad parts, etc... Unfortunately, I'm probably going to be "that guy" while I find the little things I've overlooked while doing the buggy work...
 
Rich said:
Unfortunately, I'm probably going to be "that guy" while I find the little things I've overlooked while doing the buggy work...
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yeah but that comes with a complete overhaul.

the shakedown run is always dreaded.

i know ive got my fingers crossed for whenever mine sees its first trail again...
 
i hope to be like larry and wheel alot with minimal downtime and actually enjoy more trips/more often. If this means i lower my level of difficulty to maintain that, im at a point where im ok doing that...

rich - when youve been off the trails for over a year, you will be happy to be on the trail at any price. I may break my first outting, but ill happily pull my junk to the side and let you pass as i wrench 5 hours with a smile on my face... At some point you need to say screw it and stop sweating the details... (again all within reason)

shakedown runs- ya i agree, ive found a good cul-de-sac flogging is a good indication of things... that and bring lots of fluids, zip ties and duck tape... (and a trailer)
 
difficulty level

I don't think you have to lower you level. I ride all the hard stuff, I just try to keep a handle on the urge to make it come hell or high water, throwing caution to the wind. Most trail breakage happens to very well set up rigs, and it is the drivers fault, not the equipment. Rather than a little finnesse(?), they try to power their way over an obstacle, stuff breaks. I'm talking about chromoloy 60's, ect. We have all seen the well built rigs spitting drive shafts and all sorts of other parts out on Slick Rock, next vehicle is a 4 cyl Jeep on 33's walk right up.

I make it a lot more than not.
 
Right before I decided to junk the XJ ..I had reached that magical point where I could load it up, beat the shit out of it, bring it home and only do routine stuff. The one thing I have realized after building a few and watching others build their stuff...there seems to be a nasty pattern of "the more it's built, the more it breaks". Doesn't seem like it should be that way, but what happens (to me anyway) I'll put good stuff in it, the rig is more capable and I'll push it harder than the last time. Amongst my club members I'm sorta famous for saying "I'm really not going to beat it quite so hard this time" it never really works out,I'll try the finesse method and if that doesn't work out my next statement to whoever is riding with me is "hang on, we're getting up this shit". I get caught up in the moment and if there is no one behind me, I'll beat and beat and beat...till it makes it or something flies apart. Yes, I fully realize this isn't the most cost effective way to wheel, but it does find the weak points quickly and I'm able to make improvements. I've been happy so far with my lastest rig, aside from ripping a knuckle in half (now improved per Dedenbear) and rolling it (bound to happen sooner or later). I've been pretty happy. So if you don't want to fix it so much a few things are key : don't half ass repair something, if it needs rewiring, don't patch it...rewire it. If something works but you always sorta worry about it ...fix it right. If you get tired of working on it, overbuild it and under wheel it....but hell what's the fun in that?
 
I used to have the same envy as far as show cars went. I was always wrenching and cleaning at the show, while some of the guys at the show were just sitting in a chair, having a drink and checking out the sights.
I spoke with one of the guys who always seemed to be this way and he said he always made believe the show was the weekend before it actually was and set the truck up for that. Then he would load it up and head to the show. Wipe it down and he was ready.

Now, for me, I am always trying to do last minute things. I am determined to have the Commando ready early for the Jeepster Jam this year in Tn.
All I have left is to paint it, do a power steering conversion, finish my sliders, wire my lights, hook up my on board air, and get my soft top resewn. :D
 
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