Hunt's Debadged RME TJ

Greg · Jul 1, 2010

Hunt said:
My biggest complaint about the jeep has been the steering. The tractor ram is just not cutting it. It does an ok job on the trails but if you get in the slightest jam, on the sticky rocks or concert it flat out does not steer. Today I hope to have started to remedy that by ordering a PSC 2.5” single ended 8” stroke ram. I’ll have to modify the attachment point to work with the heims. Not really that big of a deal. Right now the tractor ram has clevises on the ends. The clevises have gotten oblong/wallowed out. At higher speeds its gets a little hard to handle. The heims on the PSC ram should tighten up the steering considerably.

Yeah, I cheaped out on the tractor ram. After all the money that was spent gathering parts a double ended ram just didn't fit into the budget and the tractor parts were inexpensive. The tractor ram did the job and that job was to steer a trail rig. Hopefully the single-ended PSC ram fixes the steering issues you've been having!

Hunt · Jul 9, 2010

Anyone want to take a guess what happened on Tuesday?

Greg · Jul 9, 2010

Hunt said:
Anyone want to take a guess what happened on Tuesday?

What happened?

Grim · Jul 9, 2010

Hunt said:
Anyone want to take a guess what happened on Tuesday?

you got a flat tire

Badbuggy · Jul 9, 2010

Hunt said:
Anyone want to take a guess what happened on Tuesday?

You parked on the edge of a cliff and left us all hanging?

Hunt · Jul 10, 2010

I got a special one day pass as a "local" to come play with Rick Pewe, Fred Williams and the rest of the gang on this year's Ultimate Adventure!

As is wraps up I'll share more details.

Greg · Jul 10, 2010

Hunt said:
I got a special one day pass as a "local" to come play with Rick Pewe, Fred Williams and the rest of the gang on this year's Ultimate Adventure! As is wraps up I'll share more details.

Congrats! You lucky bastard...

Smells like a potential vehicle feature in Petersons! That would be pretty damn neat.

Hunt · Jul 11, 2010

Time to update the info page

Engine-
2003 5.3L LM7 from a truck,
LS1 Oil Pan,
ECU dyno tuned by Jannetty Racing in Waterbury, CT,
Magnacharger Radix intercooled supercharger system reworked by Classic Automotive Restoration in Belows Creek, NC
Sanderson Headers with 2.5” collectors and 3” exhaust
Magnaflow muffler,
Aluminum radiator with 2 speed Taurus electric fan,
K&N air filter

Transmission-
TH 350 built be Grant's Transmission in Willcox, AZ
Full manual valve body & engine brake,
Summit Racing 12” 2000 RPM stall converter,
Art Carr shifter,
Spal transmission cool,
Advanced Adaptors deep extra capacity aluminum transmission pan,

T-Case-
Advanced AdaptorsAtlas II with 4.3 to 1 ratio,
32 spline outputs front and rear,
Roark Fab Atlas mount

Axles-
Rear-
Mark Williams Dana 60
40 spline Mark Williams 1.75” shafts,
5.13 gears, Custom 40 spline ARB by Tim Lund at Wild West Offraod
Disc brakes,
Tera HD diff. cover,
Width=62”, 1.5” spacers at both wheels,
TeraFlex axle bridge truss,

Front-
Tera CRD60,
Dodge Kingpin Knuckles
Chromo inner shafts,
Disk brakes,
5.13 gears, ARB locker,
35 spline outers(not chromo)
Warn Premium hubs,
crane diff cover
Width=64”,
Full hydraulic steering with single-ended ram,
PCS pump
Appleton power steering cooler/reservoir/filter,
83” wide from the outside of the tire to the outside of the tire,

Suspension-
TeraFlex longarm LCG for an Unlimited Wrangler,
Rear coil buckets have been moved back 11”,
wheel base is 104”, 3” of suspension lift,
1” body lift under the tub but not under the radiator shell,
TeraFlex Dual Rate S/T swaybar,
BTF coil mounting kit,
Custom from 3 link with the upper link built using lower components, TeraFlex Belly-Up 1/4” t-case skid plate,
Fox remote revisor shocks with adjustable rebound controls,
Fox nitrogen bump stops,

Wheels and Tires-
Custom Trail Ready double beadlocks,
17x9
6 on 5.5 lug pattern,
39.5" BFG Red Label Krawler
8 PSI front, 7 PSI rear

Winch-
Warn M8000
Blue Amsteel synthetic winch line
A to Z Fab aluminum fairlead

Body Modifications and Protection-
BTF Crusher Corner Comp Cut rear quarter panels with LED rear brake lights,
BTF Rocker Protection,
Highline hood,
Ben Hank’s Racing custom front fender raised for more tire clearance, Custom Ben Hank’s Racing roll cage tied to the frame in 6 places,
BTF front bumper,
BTF winch plate,
Custom radiator and head light hoops
UHMW plastic skid plate over full engine/transmission/transfercase steel skids,
Liquid Iron Industries side mirrors,
Liquid Iron Industries quick disconnect fire extinguisher mounts (x3),

Other-
Orbial battery,
Corbeau Ultra SS seats tied to the roll cage,
RCI seat harnesses,
Custom 15 gallon fuel cell behind the rear seat built by Ben at Alliance Metal Works in SLC
MSD 2225 fuel pump,
Bestop Super Top with soft doors,
Bestop Bikini Top,
AutoMeter white face Hotrod style gauges,
Full aluminum roof tabbed to the roll cage,
CNC cutting brakes,
Rear line lock,
DJ safety AFFF fire suppression system,

Did I forget anything???

Hunt · Jul 11, 2010

Here are the videos of the other two courses from the June 19th RCrocs. The second video has the roll over in it.

[youtube]B5Jo8Yps83c[/youtube]

[youtube]8fMVcG2_7fw[/youtube]

Hunt · Jul 22, 2010

The steering fairy stopped by the house today.
New PSC single ended 8" stroke with mounts and heims and a new TC series extreme duty pump.

Hunt · Aug 23, 2010

I have been kind of looking around for a deal on an enclosed trailer. New is way out of my price range and I really didn't NEED a enclosed so it was a matter of if the right deal came along I would seriously consider it. Well a deal fell into my lap.

Its an 2004 Shadow 36' gooseneck. Fully finished interior with the painted white panels. Checkered board floor. Nice cabinets in the front. Carrier AC/heater on the roof. A brand new(17 hours) 7500 watt electric start, propane(w/ 2 30 lb bottles), Generac RV generator, Warn M8000 winch hidden in the floor, and interior lights. The guy had to get rid of it. It was stickered but since been removed. The road grim stuck to the the adhesive and looks kind of bad right now. I used a little rubbing compound on a small area and it will buff up nice. I still need to set the neck height a little better, go through it, service the bearings, and do some general work on it but it is going to be awesome.

The jeep JUST fits in the height wise.

After hauling the jeep on an open deck for a while now and seeing just how messed up it gets, especially in the winter with the salt and sand I knew I would be buying and enclosed at some point.

I've made a couple of really big purchases very recently so I am done for a while. I need to catch up on some maintenance things on the jeep anyway. That should keep me plenty busy. So no new additions anytime soon.

Hunt · Aug 30, 2010

Maintenance is underway.

Oil change done. I have got to remember its the filter for the '06 Vette Napa 7060 not the older Camaro. Screwed that up twice now.

Motor mounts done. What a total nightmare. The bolts where installed from rear to front and then the header were installed. Making it imposable to remove them So rather than take the headers and exhaust off I plasma torched the bolt about 3/4" at a time until is came out. Took about 5 cuts on each bolt. I got the mounts off and measured for the new bushings. No one local had them so mail order was it. I wondered why the mounts had so much slack in them. It turns out the mounts where installed with 1/2" hardware and the steel sleeve through the center of the bushings was NOT installed. There was a ton of slack inside there. The bushings need 9/16" hardware and the steel sleeve. So I drilled out the chassis mounts to 9/16" and reinstalled everything with new hardware and bushings properly.

The new PSC 1200 psi pump steering pump is installed. The old Howe was only 1000 psi. I have cut off all the old tabs for the tractor ram in prep for the PSC ram. The new one is mocked into place and tacked. Whet to start welding and the spool in the welded was empty.

Pulled the rear bumps to put the 2" kits in them. 4"ers where installed and they are way to long. I am always riding the bumps. I have the kits for the fronts as well just have not messed with them yet.

Greased the chassis components.

Adjusted the cutting brakes.

Need to put new tighter fitting hoses on the rear shock remote reservoirs.

I have a 1.5 quart oil accumulator and a rear suck down winch to go in. Wire the winches for in cab controls and build a pedestal for the shifter. Maybe once I get the Torchmate table up and going.

Still have a ton to do. I'm trying to dedicate every night this week to it. Hopefully work cooperates.

LT. · Aug 31, 2010

Man, have you been busy. Good to see.

LT.

Greg · Aug 31, 2010

Hunt said:
Maintenance is underway.

Oil change done. I have got to remember its the filter for the '06 Vette Napa 0706 not the older Camaro. Screwed that up twice now.

Motor mounts done. What a total nightmare. The bolts where installed from rear to front and then the header were installed. Making it imposable to remove them So rather than take the headers and exhaust off I plasma torched the bolt about 3/4" at a time until is came out. Took about 5 cuts on each bolt. I got the mounts off and measured for the new bushings. No one local had them so mail order was it. I wondered why the mounts had so much slack in them. It turns out the mounts where installed with 1/2" hardware and the steel sleeve through the center of the bushings was NOT installed. There was a ton of slack inside there. The bushings need 9/16" hardware and the steel sleeve. So I drilled out the chassis mounts to 9/16" and reinstalled everything with new hardware and bushings properly.

The part # for the proper oil filter was written on the oil pan with permanent marker, right next to the filter. I take it that wore off?

Sorry to hear about the motor mount trouble, obviously when the engine went in, the mounts got bolted up before the headers were ever put in place. I didn't realize the wrong sized bolts were used, I just put together the parts that Advanced Adapters included in their LSx engine mount kit. Odd that they weren't the right sizes.

Hunt · Aug 31, 2010

LT. said:
Man, have you been busy. Good to see.

LT.

Thanks. Work keeps me on the road, a lot of the time out of the country. I don't get a lot of opportunities to spend a considerable amount of time on the jeep. I am trying to make the most of this week.

Greg said:
The part # for the proper oil filter was written on the oil pan with permanent marker, right next to the filter. I take it that wore off?

Sorry to hear about the motor mount trouble, obviously when the engine went in, the mounts got bolted up before the headers were ever put in place. I didn't realize the wrong sized bolts were used, I just put together the parts that Advanced Adapters included in their LSx engine mount kit. Odd that they weren't the right sizes.

The oil filter number has long since vanished. Its just something I need to remember or better yet write down in a web thread.

Don't worry about the motor mounts. I was just trying to illustrate how what should be a simple and quick thing snowballs horribly into a major undertaking. I didn't mean to have it reflect on you any way.

The motor sure is tight in there now. Not the slightest amount of movement.

Here are a few picture updates. My buddies welder throws a little spatter but its the only thing I had available that was hot enough to burn the ram mounts in. Steering is done. Works with the truck on jack stands. Have not tried it on the ground yet. Started doing the rear suck down winch. I can't seem to get the bump cans apart to do the conversion on them better luck tomorrow.

Hunt · Sep 1, 2010

Tonight I got the rear winch fully mounted and the control wires run. Still waiting on the switch for the in cab controls. I did get the front winch cab controls done. One of the bumps is done and managed to destroy the seal in another. More parts on order.
Zip tied all the hydro lines up and the wires for the winches.

Oh and work called. Seem I have a 5am flight to Louisiana to catch in a couple of hours. So the jeep goes back on the back burner.

Hunt · Sep 7, 2010

All packed up and ready for Big Dogs Offroad Main Jamboree down in Gore, VA. Should be a good time. I am sharing a camp with Bill "Billavista" Ansell and his gaggle of canucks, Doug "Big n' Slow" Bigelow, and Charlie "The Mouth" Melchner. Should be a completely sober and uneventful weekend.

LWB SCOTTY · Sep 7, 2010

That is one sweet setup you have there. You need a murphy bed in the trailor now. Maybe a 40" LCD of some sort. Possibly one of those glade motion sensor air fresheners. Might give it that homey feel.

Hunt · Sep 14, 2010

Big Dogs is AWESOME! The area is beautiful, the people are great and lets just say there is some VERY ADULT partying at night. It was the first time I have done night wheeling and boy does that change the game. The holes and big stuff jumps right in front of you.

[youtube]UBr1QDcLZLw[/youtube]

4:48
[youtube]mYE6kEYD_i8[/youtube]

Damage report:
One broken drivers side sway bar mount. Weld repaired back in camp.
One broken rear shock.
One dead transmission cooler relay. Replaced with spare on the trail. A little disheartening smelling a VERY hot tranny in the middle of a trail.
I have not gotten it out of the trailer yet to give it a real good look over. Probably some other things.
A lot of scarps, dents and dings, nothing horrible.

I am NOT buying another rear shock. Its getting the air shock that have been sitting in the barn for months now. Time to cut it up again!

Hunt · Oct 25, 2010

Once again I got invited back to the Clayton Offroad Drop the Hammer event and once again it was a blast.

Here is a little video by Will at Heavy Metal Concepts. Will is a great young guy from here on the east coast. He will be doing the video production for this years KOH.

The 609 car with the smiley face on it in the video is the car I co-drive for. We won the Badlands KOH Qualifier and concreted our spot for KOH 2011. My buddy Charlie's aluminum Willys buggy with all the Light Force lights on the top is the one I helped build last year for KOH.

Look for mine at 1:24

http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=574089278746

I managed to finally blow up a hub on the passengers side. I am astonished they lasted as long as they have. Time for drive flanges and the winter tear down. Oh, and the air shocks are going in.

Hunt's Debadged RME TJ

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