DrMike
Ballistician
- Nov 8, 2006
- 37,334
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I hear that. Even the drive can leave me exhausted on occasion. You're doing it, however, and that will help keep you rolling.
Jeep Wrangler hunting vehicle
- Thread starter Guy Miner
- Start date
- Thread starter
- #222
Guy Miner
Master Loader
- Apr 6, 2006
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Jeep needed some maintenance. The front wheel bearings and u-joints were well-worn at 70,000 miles.
Took that opportunity to upgrade the axle shafts to stronger units by Nitro, also upgraded to Rubicon size u-joints on the axles, 1350's. Much larger and stronger than the stock units on the Dana 30. And some new Timken wheel bearings.
I think I'm going to change out the rear springs soon too. Seem to be carrying some pretty heavy loads most of the time anymore, so heavier duty springs will be needed.
Guy
Took that opportunity to upgrade the axle shafts to stronger units by Nitro, also upgraded to Rubicon size u-joints on the axles, 1350's. Much larger and stronger than the stock units on the Dana 30. And some new Timken wheel bearings.
I think I'm going to change out the rear springs soon too. Seem to be carrying some pretty heavy loads most of the time anymore, so heavier duty springs will be needed.
Guy
- Thread starter
- #224
Guy Miner
Master Loader
- Apr 6, 2006
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Made a mistake by not replacing the stock front driveshaft earlier. Headed out on a 3-week, 3600 mile trip and yup, about 50 miles from pavement, the stock driveshaft started to fail.. Limped the Jeep out of the canyon by using 4wd as little as possible. Had a shop in Flagstaff build a real nice replacement, better than new! Happy Jeeper here, but should have done that before the trip!
Great trip by the way, 9 Mile Canyon, White Rim Road/Canyonlands National Park, Moab, Flagstaff & surroundings, Sedona (wonderful place for desert hiking), Walnut Canyon ancient ruins, Wupatki, Cameron Trading Post, a bit of the Nevada desert around Searchlight, Death Valley via Titus Canyon, and back north along the east side of the Sierras, then home. Whew!
Starting to think I'll never get all the red dirt of Moab off the Jeep!
Guy
Limped the Jeep out of the canyon by using 4wd as little as possible. Had a shop in Flagstaff build a real nice replacement, better than new! Happy Jeeper here, but should have done that before the trip! Great trip by the way, 9 Mile Canyon, White Rim Road/Canyonlands National Park, Moab, Flagstaff & surroundings, Sedona (wonderful place for desert hiking), Walnut Canyon ancient ruins, Wupatki, Cameron Trading Post, a bit of the Nevada desert around Searchlight, Death Valley via Titus Canyon, and back north along the east side of the Sierras, then home. Whew!
Starting to think I'll never get all the red dirt of Moab off the Jeep!
Guy
DrMike
Ballistician
- Nov 8, 2006
- 37,334
- 6,030
Stunning scenery, that's for certain. You did a great job displaying the beauty of the canyons. Glad you were able to get the repair needed in timely fashion.
nvbroncrider
Handloader
- Aug 20, 2011
- 3,085
- 4
9 mile Canyon in Utah? Just outside of Price?
- Thread starter
- #228
Guy Miner
Master Loader
- Apr 6, 2006
- 17,757
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nvbroncrider":13lz6gp8 said:
Yup. Pretty neat place. I thoroughly enjoyed.
Guy
nvbroncrider
Handloader
- Aug 20, 2011
- 3,085
- 4
Ask Brian about that place!! We have some fond memories about it. Starting off with the elk hunting sucked!!!
- Thread starter
- #230
Guy Miner
Master Loader
- Apr 6, 2006
- 17,757
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It's been nearly two years since I updated this thread!
The Jeep is almost 8 years old and has almost 100,000 miles on it. Motor is running great. Transmission, clutch, and transfer case working perfectly as one would expect.
Removed the aftermarket 16x9 wheels and 285/75R16 tires I'd been using. Finally got tired of them sticking out just enough from the fenders to throw rather a lot of muck up on the sides of the Jeep, sometimes clogging up the keyhole in the door (manual locks on this one). Went to a set of 17" stock aluminum rims and some Cooper ST Maxx tires - these too are E-rated tires but have a pretty danged nice ride! They're sized 255/80R17, or about a 33" tall, 10" wide tire, a fair bit more narrow than I'd been running. The tires are nicely tucked inside the fenders, which I appreciate! They're also an interesting tread pattern, an aggressive all-terrain. So far, so good on mud, snow, dirt, and my goodness, even on pavement!
I also swapped to a Teraflex hinge-replacement kit and tire carrier. The original was making some odd noises - I think the heavy spare tire and frequent off-pavement use had damaged it. The new setup is solid and quiet. Also moved the rear license plate to the center of the spare tire. The original location was vulnerable, and I'd managed to bang the plate around quite a bit. It's much more protected now. Hmmm. It's a nice setup, and the way Jeep likely should have done it in the first place.
There ya go, a bit of an update on the little Jeep. It's still working out real well as a hunting rig & for general poking around the hills & canyons as well. The last big trip for it was September, about 600 miles and a week of camping our way through the Idaho panhandle. That was a terrific trip!
Guy
The Jeep is almost 8 years old and has almost 100,000 miles on it. Motor is running great. Transmission, clutch, and transfer case working perfectly as one would expect.
Removed the aftermarket 16x9 wheels and 285/75R16 tires I'd been using. Finally got tired of them sticking out just enough from the fenders to throw rather a lot of muck up on the sides of the Jeep, sometimes clogging up the keyhole in the door (manual locks on this one). Went to a set of 17" stock aluminum rims and some Cooper ST Maxx tires - these too are E-rated tires but have a pretty danged nice ride! They're sized 255/80R17, or about a 33" tall, 10" wide tire, a fair bit more narrow than I'd been running. The tires are nicely tucked inside the fenders, which I appreciate! They're also an interesting tread pattern, an aggressive all-terrain. So far, so good on mud, snow, dirt, and my goodness, even on pavement!
I also swapped to a Teraflex hinge-replacement kit and tire carrier. The original was making some odd noises - I think the heavy spare tire and frequent off-pavement use had damaged it. The new setup is solid and quiet. Also moved the rear license plate to the center of the spare tire. The original location was vulnerable, and I'd managed to bang the plate around quite a bit. It's much more protected now. Hmmm. It's a nice setup, and the way Jeep likely should have done it in the first place.
There ya go, a bit of an update on the little Jeep. It's still working out real well as a hunting rig & for general poking around the hills & canyons as well. The last big trip for it was September, about 600 miles and a week of camping our way through the Idaho panhandle. That was a terrific trip!
Guy
DrMike
Ballistician
- Nov 8, 2006
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Spooky clean Jeep. Always fascinating to see the countryside. So, is the snow about gone from the hills?
- Thread starter
- #232
Guy Miner
Master Loader
- Apr 6, 2006
- 17,757
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DrMike":2js2zrly said:
Ya, have to get up in elevation to find snow. Of course it lingers on the north facing slopes well into summer. Took this photo today, walking along the Columbia River. The river is at only about 650 ft or so. We're looking south towards town. Then some hills about 1,000' above town, and finally the big ridge tops out between 6,000 and 7,000' depending.
- Thread starter
- #233
Guy Miner
Master Loader
- Apr 6, 2006
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Took the top off for the first time this year today. Maverick approved.
Guy
Guy
Cleveland48
Handloader
- Jul 28, 2015
- 1,972
- 165
That's beautiful country you live in Guy!
Sent from my SM-N960U using Tapatalk
Sent from my SM-N960U using Tapatalk
- Thread starter
- #235
Guy Miner
Master Loader
- Apr 6, 2006
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A bit short of nine years with the Jeep now. No changes this past year, just routine maintenance.
Up in the hills above town yesterday:
Last fall it took me on a 2500+ mile round trip from central Washington to eastern Wyoming for the mule deer & antelope hunt. On the way I camped at Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks to do some wildlife photography. The Jeep was of course a good traveler and kept me safe.
And back home in Washington, my son and I used it for some of our local hunting for deer and birds both:
I remain impressed with what a handy little rig this thing is. Do I miss my pickup still? Yes. But... Each of my sons have pickups. I can call in a favor anytime I need to borrow one.
Guy
No changes this past year, just routine maintenance. Up in the hills above town yesterday:
Last fall it took me on a 2500+ mile round trip from central Washington to eastern Wyoming for the mule deer & antelope hunt. On the way I camped at Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks to do some wildlife photography. The Jeep was of course a good traveler and kept me safe.
And back home in Washington, my son and I used it for some of our local hunting for deer and birds both:
I remain impressed with what a handy little rig this thing is. Do I miss my pickup still? Yes. But... Each of my sons have pickups. I can call in a favor anytime I need to borrow one.
Guy
DrMike
Ballistician
- Nov 8, 2006
- 37,334
- 6,030
Delightful photo essay. I would think that Jeep should pay you for promoting the vehicle! Great wildlife/nature photo collection.
cloverleaf
Handloader
- Sep 10, 2006
- 4,382
- 1,017
Nice to see that your Jeep is still "getting you out". They can do nothing better. CL
- Thread starter
- #238
Guy Miner
Master Loader
- Apr 6, 2006
- 17,757
- 5,855
It's proven to be a good rig. Have a buddy with 279,000 miles on his, and he does a LOT of off-pavement driving. The motor and transmission are still going strong.
Other stuff has been replaced & rebuilt.
Guy
Other stuff has been replaced & rebuilt.
Guy
1100 Remington Man
Handloader
- May 1, 2007
- 1,164
- 323
Like your Pictures as always Guy. 100,000 just broke in and I always like the looks of a Jeep. I think you will like those tires I like tall skinny tires on snow but not on soft sand. TC
lefty315
Handloader
- Sep 29, 2004
- 938
- 446
Guy, last September my youngest daughter and I went back to Wisconsin for two weeks. I had rented a luxury car because it was cheaper than anything else at the time. At the counter the rental car rep offered me some options and then she said “Gladiator” when I asked about an SUV. My brain wasn’t working right because I was trying to picture what a Gladiator SUV was and didn’t dawn on me it was the Jeep, until my daughter said “let’s take it Dad”, so we did. While I wouldn’t buy one if you were looking for a full size pickup truck, that thing grew on me. It was nimble, powerful enough, decent fuel mileage with stock tires, and very utilitarian. We popped the roof panels off for a drive with Dad one day, threw it in 4 wheel drive to get into a buddies cabin up North, hauled some smaller items, and ended up putting on over 1700 miles in those two weeks.
In short…I really liked it. Compared to your Jeep, it’s definitely longer. But I think it would be a great all around hunting, fishing, mountain, desert, get groceries, and have a little fun rig.
In short…I really liked it. Compared to your Jeep, it’s definitely longer. But I think it would be a great all around hunting, fishing, mountain, desert, get groceries, and have a little fun rig.
