Kids Games for Christmas., Mario Kart Wii

I need to say I love the Christmas Holiday season. Maybe a bit too much, what I mean is each year I get caught up in the video game craze, I talk to all the kids in the neighbor hood and the guys at work, and find out what is hot and what is not. Then I have to have it. This year is Mario Kart for the Nintendo Wii I just have to have it, from me, and no one else. I have searched high and low and I was able to find a copy at a local store tonight. Lucky for me, but if you are not so lucky there is still hope if you want to pay a bit more. Amazon has sellers that still have it available and you can still get it for Christmas, or you can turn to ebay, and pay your money and take your chances.



And if you get this game I think you need an extra wheel or two.

The Wii is still one of the best game system around, our family loves it and the kids get a work out when they turn it on and try to compete at an Olympic level. The Wii game console is available this year so if you don't have one you should consider it. I even saw one at a store tonight, sitting behind the counter ready for sale, unlike last year, but that's another story. You guessed it last year I had it have it ended up with two and lost 100 bucks selling the extra one. Oh well live and love.

Jeeping Trip pictures, finally added to the website.

Last June The Wasatch Outlaw Wheelers went to the Rubicon Trail and most all the group can now say they are "Trail Rated". Unfortunately I can not, I was smacked down hard by the Rubicon, my self esteem and self worth were so Shattered, that is has taken until now to face the challenge of writing about my trip and posting my pictures. (how's that excuse vs. I am to lame and busy to do it.)

To recap, we broke 4 rigs on the first set of serious rocks, me a front ring and pinion, two Dana 35 c clip axles, and a ring and pinion in a Samari. One D 35 got fixed the rest of us limped home.

Here are my pictures and some more witty banter:

http://redjeepclub.com/trails/rubicon2008/rubicon2008.php

Here is another FANTASTIC write up by Todd Adams:

http://wasatchoutlawwheelers.com/events/rubicon08/rubicon08.php




The Wasatch Outlaw Wheeler Invaded Moab Utah a couple of weeks ago. Here are some pictures to satisfy your deep inner web wheeler feelings.

http://www.wasatchoutlawwheelers.com/events/moab08/moab08.php

Or Check out the rest of the Wasatch Outlaw Wheelers website here:

http://www.wasatchoutlawwheelers.com/

New Pictures Of the Summer Rubicon Trail Adventure.

I got some time and put picture on my website of my past, attempt to run the Rubicon Trail, in June of 2008. I say attempt because I was a victim of the Rubicon, I got smacked down my the trail and did make the full trip.

This trip was the first trail test of the off road trailer I built. It did very well, it was my Jeep that suffered a front ring and pinion explosion.

Check out the Red Jeep Clubs adventure on the Rubicon Trail

JD2 Model 3 Manual Bender Hydralic Conversion

I have a JD2 Model 3 Manual Bender with Degree Ring, with a manual push bar. I have pumped a lot of iron and am now ready to convert it to an automatic machine. For my reference I searched and found these links. I wanted to add them here so I can easily get back to them as I find the parts. I will be building the conversion parts and stand once I collect a ram and pump.

http://www.mindspring.com/~jayk5/bender/

http://reference.toolandfab.com/writeups/hydrobender_webpage/index.htm

Jeep Wrangler TJ Lift and Tire questions

I just got this question from a fellow Jeeper and I thought I would post it and answer it here.


I have some questions and your help would be greatly appreciated. I want to run 35 inch tires on my Jeep Wrangler TJ. I know this is tough to do but that is my ultimate goal. Here is how i was thinking about doing it. I am going to buy Skyjacker 2.5in coils because i already have shocks that will work for a 3 inch lift. I will also buy some track bar brackets. On top of the front coil i was going to do a 1 inch coil spacer to level it. Then i will throw on a JKS 1.25 inch body lift. Then make a TC (Transfer case skid plate) drop with bolts and washers. I already have quick discos for the front sway bar. What what about my rear sway bar do i need to worry about that. Any help would be appreciated. I am doing this as money allows and eventually i will get a SYE and CV drive line and a D44 rear and 4.88 gears with a Detroit in back and maybe an Aussie for my front D30 what do you think about this?

thanks, Will

PS. as you can tell i am on a budget lol :)

I forgot to add that I do not off road much just some small stuff no rocks or anything crazy like that. With the lift that i mentioned i think i will get about 4.5 total inches maybe a little more how will that look and function? Like i said i don't do anything crazy.

Thanks again

Ok Will, go for it, from my experience you will need 4 inches of lift on a Wrangler TJ to clear 35 inch tires. Even more if you plan to really stuff the tires and Rock Crawl with the big boys. You mentioned your jeeping style is more mellow, so I think the lift you have planned may accommodate 35 inch tires. You shocks may still be too short, if you add 3.5 inches of suspension lift to the front end. The worry if your shocks are too short is they will limit your wheel travel versus the full extension of the suspension limiting it. I wouldn't worry about the shocks, you will probably be ok.

Another thing you will need to think about is the possibility of getting some adjustable control arms. These are needed to control the front caster if you experience any "Death Wobble" or front end wobble after the lift. You may be fine you may not, it's kind of lift and see what happens issues. The control arms can also reposition the rear pinion to point up to the transfer case. This eliminates the rear drive line vibration that you may get.

Track bars brackets are good and will solve the issues of axle alignment. The rear sway bar should be fine with only 2.5 inches of lift, you can look at it before an after the lift and notice the difference, the angles won't change that much.

The other thing you have planned sound good, if you don't get vibrations you can hold off on the SYE, a Dana 44 rear end is a very nice thing to have, When a Dana 35 clip breaks it can make for an adventure getting the Jeep home. I run 4.56 gears in my TJ with a 5.5 inch suspension lift and 33 inch tires. I may go to 35's but I currently own 33 and am afraid of breaking more axles if I upgrade to 35's.

With 35's you may also need to change out you speedometer gear. This is very easy to do, it is mounted in a window on the transfer case. A new speedometer gears about 10 bucks at your Jeep dealer.

Jeep Parking only sign.

I was stumbling around on Amazon today, as if you couldn't tell. I found this sign and had to have and had to share.


https://amzn.to/4a89a4R

Jeep Wrangler TJ Service Manual

Do you have a good service manual for your Jeep? I have a couple but really wish I had a factory service manual. I have a Haynes manual for a Jeep YJ, and Chiltons manual for a YJ as well.




I don't own a YJ anymore, so I started looking for a good Wrangle TJ manual.

Here a cool way to find all kinds of great stuff for your Jeep on Amazon.com. Everyone needs a new shop manual or a Jeep parts. I am amazed at all the stuff you can find for you jeep from Amazon, It is certainly not just a book store anymore. One other things I noticed is that prices can jump around on Amazon, so great deals are certainly available.

4x4 Trailer build two, that's right the second off road trailer for me.

I know I have some work to do on the trailer write up for the first trailer I built. But I like working in the shop more than writing about what I am working on. So any way I started a second off road trailer build and I also started writing it up. I'll fix the links and add them soon.

I wanted to point out this site I found from the Australian government about building trailers. It confirms the size and style on tongue I am using on my 4x4 trailers are fully strong enough. I have tested my trailer fully loaded and did not have any issues, it's just kinda nice to see a technical write up of the mechanical engineering perspective.

http://www.angib.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/teardrop/tear84.htm

My Red Jeep Club 4x4 Trailer Build

The clock is ticking, Rubicon here we come.

I forgot to mention in the last post, I am headed to the "Rubicon Trail" in two weeks. I actually feel pretty good about my progress and schedule. I have two weeks and all this weekend to play in the garage. Before most trips I have the wheels off Jeep the axles out and all parts scattered all around the night before.

But for this trip, I am doing the upgrades in small steps. I could just put the new springs in and go. All I would need is to just change the front pinion angle with the existing arms. But I want more long arms here I come.

My new Jeep TJ suspension and Lift kit.

Yup, Once again I find myself in way over my head. I have a low, flat, squished Jeep with crappy squashed springs, and a mix of control arms that are loose and not adjustable. So I am going to fix it. Here are the steps I have taken so far to upgrade the lift.

Step 1) 650+ bucks at Tera-Flex for a belly up skid plate and the brackets for the Tera-Flex long arm kit. I shall be building my own arms outta some really expensive DOM tube and Johny Joints, and old RE control arms.

Step 2) A 6 mintue job, take off the 6 bolts holding the stock belly pan, and the 4 little nuts holding the transfer case. This simple job turns into at least 6-10 hours. The front two bolts, spin inside the frame. I spent hours cutting all nice with 6 sawzall blades, the next side wasn't so lucky the Plamsa cutter was call into action. So now the plate is off, I built 2 new nuts, welded to washers, plasma cut a big hole in the frame and welded these back in. Did I ever tell you how much I hate welding and cutting upside down under a jeep on my back. I told Brett I am sure of this.

Step 3) Put on new brackets, and skid plate. This was easy enough, then the next day I lined it all up and welded the long arm brackets in place.

Step 4) New springs. I collected a couple of sets of hand me down springs and attacked the front. I got the old springs out Tera 4 inch, and compared them to the RE 4.5 and the Other RE 4.5 I wanted to put in. Something didn't mix, I had two different 4.5 inch spring one set being at least 2 inches longer than the Tera 4 inch and 1.5 in longer than the other RE 4.5. I oped for the Taller spring and spent the last two night installing them. I should have bought new springs all around but, I am outta cash.

Step 5) Drive Jeep to work tis AM. WHOOO!!!, Death wobble, Serious passenger lean. The thing was leaning low on the passenger side, but these new front springs made it way worse. I will be putting on new rear springs this week and hopefully I will get the jeep to stop listing to the starboard side.

Step 6) Enjoy the death wobble. Yup got the front end pinion pointing way down and the front wheels did not want me to get on the freeway. Nope no way, keep her under 40.

Step 7) New rear springs. Gotta see how the set I have lines up vs. the old ones I will be taking out. This will consume the rest of this weeks nights.

Step 8) Build my new control Arms, cut of factory mounts and see what happens.

Step 9) Maybe replace the front track bar. With the extra lift I think the axle it not aligned correctly.

Step 10) Go on the Rubicon Trail. 16 Days and counting them down.

My Custom Jeep 4x4 off road trailer.

So I haven't been adding much here as of late. Sorry about that all ya all. But I have been keeping busy in the Red Jeep side of life. I went Jeeping and camping two weekends in a row. I have almost finished up my 4x4 off road jeeping trailer and I am getting over a terrible cold and flu. I know spring colds are the worst, I want to be outside playing and I am stuck in bed with a fever and the chills.

This is a picture of my Red Jeep all loaded with my new Trailer in tow.



Well anyway check out my new Jeep Trailer.

4x4 Off Road Jeeping Trailer

The first tank of gas goes through "The King"

I bought a new used 2006 Road King a few weeks ago. I have now dodged the weather enough days in the past 2 weeks to ride it 300 full miles. It's raining again today in case anyone is wondering. So back to the first tank of gas in the 2006 Harley Davidson Road King. I filled it up on Wednesday morning 4-23-2008 when it was cool, and like I said Wednesday. The reason I mention this is I read these tips on any one of the 100 how to save gas articles floating around right now. When it's cold out you get more gas than when it is warm and mid week gas is cheaper as gas prices tend to rise in cost over the weekend. Well anyway the gas was $3.29 a gallon in Draper Utah, and I needed 4.3 gallons to top of "The King". The trip odometer read 161 miles and the fuel gauge was just entering the red marks near E. These miles were a combination of one long freeway trip of 60 miles and the rest around town stop and go and my 3 mile freeway sprint down the on ramp each morning. Do the math 161/4.3 = 37.44 MPGs. This is not too bad, I was hoping or expecting it to be about 45-50 miles per gallon but this was the first tank and my first 300 miles to really test out the bike so I was riding it hard most of the time. When you have a new bike you have to goose it at most all stops signs. Well more to come on this great gas debate.

Harley pays the big guy big.

MILWAUKEE WI Harley town USA. Harley-Davidson says it paid, gave cash and food stamps to its CEO of about $4 million last year. Chump change for a big guy.

A government mandatory regulatory filing shows that's a four percent decline from the previous year. a 4 percent decline, sorry pal I lost 70 percent on the Harley Stock I bought.

James Ziemer's compensation included a salary of more than $875,000, Plus a free lunch once a week plus stock and options awards.

The Harley Davidson Motorcycle maker's proxy statement filed with the SEC the Stock Police or Securities and Exchange Commission shows that's an increase from the base salary of nearly $825,000 he received in 2006, when his total compensation was valued at about $4.25 million. But wait the guy did get a 50,000 dollar raise, WOW, I think I got a 50 cent per hour raise.

The company's filing says no executives received bonuses because they didn't meet performance incentive targets. NO BONUSES that's really kinda sad when you think about it.

The company's profit fell about 10% in 2007. Well maybe they can lower prices a bit to spur new sales.

Tera Flex Lift Kits 4 vs. 3

Here is some information about Teraflex lifts for a Jeep Wrangler TJ. A 4 inch lift gets more complicated than a 3 inch lift but does allow 35 inch tires. A 3 inch lift will allow 33x12.5 tires if you get new rims with additional backspacing. For 33x10.5 tire you need to check into backspacing issues. With a 3 inch lift you can use the stock control arms but should get new shocks. The work involved installing the kit is basically replacing the track bar connection in the back with a new bracket and adding length to the rear sway bar linkage. Install new shocks and new springs. Up front you add the springs, relocate the position of the track bar, and install new shocks. Then you need to install a new pitman arm. If you are doing the work yourself, the things to watch out for are: The removal of the stock pitman arm requires a big strong pitman
arm puller. This part is pressed on at the factory and can be very difficult to remove. I have heard of guys that have broken a rental pitman arm puller. It also require a transfer case lowering kit. This is pretty easy to install.
When it's all said and done the ride and look is great. I have been very happy with mine, very low vibration until I bent the rear drive shaft, which force the purchase of new drive line and slip yoke eliminator. When I get my server backup check out more details.

The Red Jeep Club
My Custom Chopper Build

Here is some serious Buggy Action In Johnson Valley CA.

Here is some serious Buggy Action from one of my friend on a recent trip to Johnson Valley California. It is amazing to watch the super buggies crawl over what is almost impossible terrain. I guess the obstacles are called Bender Alley and Chocolate Thunder. I will need to put these on my list of trails to run. They do seem way too serious for my modified Stock TJ. I may need to move up to the buggy for accomplish this level of trail.

The One and Only Off-Road Vehicle Deserves The Best Parts

by Al Harris

When we speak of 4-wheeling or offroading one brand quickly comes to mind, Jeep. This iconoclastic auto currently built by the Daimler-Chrysler has an outstanding reputation of being a tough, dependable and terrain chomping machine. Jeeps reputation was first earned during World War II where the US Army and its allies used it as a small general transport vehicle. Jeep didn’t sit on its already lofty laurels. The brand has continued to build and develop its off-road reputation over the years following the war. Today the Jeep name is synonymous with off-road performance. For such a durable and reliable vehicle to withstand the dangers and punishment of offroad driving, extremely dependable and strong parts are needed. Many aftermarket Jeep part manufacturers such as Warn, ARB, Bestop, Tuffy, SkyJacker, and Rough Country carry the very same reputation for toughness and dependability, and they should. After all, they’ve been used and abused by Jeep 4x4 aficionados over the past 20 years and they’ve stood up to the punishment! For those of us dedicated to 4x4 adventure, it is a necessary requirement for our Jeeps to have only the best replacement auto parts and aftermarket accessories made today to maximize the already impressive offroad capabilities of our vehicles. Understanding that our Jeeps deserve the best replacement Jeep parts and accessories, Xtreme Terrain Concepts offers only the most reliable performance auto parts, replacement aftermarket auto parts, and accessories for all of the Jeep models, including the Willys, Jeep CJ, Jeep Cherokee, Jeep Grand Cherokee, Jeep Wrangler, and Jeep Liberty. Among the best quality Jeep parts offered at Xtreme Terrain Concepts (XTC) are high quality /www.xtremeterrain.com/kch-light-items.htm">offroad Jeep lights by KC KiLites. They offer fog lights, driving lights, and long-range driving lights. All built to take the pounding out on the trails. XTC also carries reliable aftermarket replacement Jeep Wrangler headlights, /www.xtremeterrain.com/wrangler-sidemarkers.htm”>Jeep Wrangler side lights, and Jeep Wrangler taillights. These products will ensure that you have the lighting you need out in the wilderness where visibility is low and your chances of having an accident are higher. We all know it is important to be equipped with the proper auto lights when driving off-road, but having the basic headlights and taillights is not enough when you’re out on the trails pounding through the mud, rocks, dirt and snow. Especially when the weather is not cooperating. High performance Jeep driving lights and fog lights will cut through the fog, rain and whatever else you’ll run into so you’ll be able to see where you’re going. Even though the coldest months are behind us, you still need to maintain your Jeep by getting top quality replacement parts when you find your existing parts not in top-notch working order. Doing the best job to maintain your Jeep will help reduce the risk of costly damage by part malfunction or even worse, an accident. Let Xtreme Terrain Concepts help you to maintain your Jeep with quality aftermarket replacement parts and aftermarket accessories. We carry a lot more than just lights. We also offer top quality /www.xtremeterrain.com/mean-green-alternators.htm”>Jeep alternators, Jeep Wrangler radiators, /www.xtremeterrain.com/mean-green-starters.htm”>Jeep starters, Jeep mirrors, /www.xtremeterrain.com/jeep-soft-tops.htm”>Jeep soft tops, Jeep lift kits and much, much more! Click through the links and you’ll find out what other auto parts we carry for your 4x4 Jeep.">

Article source: ArticlePros.com

About the author About The Author: In his spare time, Al likes to learn more about one of the true American Automotive Legends, The Jeep. When he is working, Al is a marketing manager for one of the leading on-line retailers of aftermarket Jeep accessories and Jeep parts, Xtreme Terrain Concepts. They can be found at http://www.xtremeterrain.com http://www.xtremeterrain.com

My Jeeping Off Road Trailer Build.

Here is a link to My Jeep site, I know it's a bit off topic if you are looking for hard core Harley Davidson Motorcycle custom building kinda stuff. But it's interesting all by it's self. You may get some ideas if you ever plan to build a small trailer to pull behind your Harley.

So check it out. I am basically fabricating for the ground up a small trailer with big wheels to pull behind my Jeep.

http://www.redjeepclub.com/tech/offroadtrailer/offroadtrailer.php