New Hummer Ads. Why?

[MartyNeilan]

This was a VERY cool guy and his ride circa 1993. Frame-off resto completely done by the owner; part 81 and part 83 CJ7 with a 258 I6 bored .030 over, 3 angle valve job, coated headers, and dual synchronized Weber carbs under a fiberglass hood. 4 speed tranny, the original 5 speed couldn't handle the torque and was swapped out. And, yes, it spent plenty of time off road and even a little time in the air.

[trseaman]

We always had a Jeep growing up. My dad did buy a '74? Bronco. It was THE ****! Bought another CJ5 in 1978, but kept the Bronco in the family until 1980 or so. I was terribly sad to see the Bronco leave. The Jeep hung around until 1986 when 4wd trucks were really becoming popular (available) down here. He got one and sold the CJ5 to my oldest brother. It was a jewel. Basic vehicle, no frills. Not meant to be driven over 50mph either. A real tool. Wish he still had it. One of these days....

Mine was an 81' CJ-7 and I wasn't really into hard core wheelin' since it was also my transportation to work! At the time, we lived near Portland, OR and for about 7 years and it was my main rig. Took me to every fishing hole, hunting spot and back to work... It was great! I got married and had a couple kids, since then nothings been the same!!!

Tim

Had to dig a while to find this old picture! Looks like this could become a Jeep thread!

[Rick Denney]

And, yes, it spent plenty of time off road and even a little time in the air.

Where's the winch?

Air time? What kind of four-wheeler is he? Air time is a sign of mistakes. Out in the Utah desert, air time can mean a broken axle or worse, and on many of those roads it might be several days (or weeks) before someone else comes along.

Somewhere, I have a picture of winching my Cherokee down the 45-degree pitch of the Rock Pile on Pritchett Canyon Road, in the Behind the Rocks region just west of Moab. It was steep enough while winching such that my windshield washer tank emptied itself from the rear window washer nozzle--by gravity. Almost lost the jeep when it started to drag the boulder my winch strap was tied to. It took 8 hours of careful crawling to go four miles, not including the 6 hours of sleep caused by running out of daylight and losing the "road."

Here's the Rock Pile being ascended by someone who wrote a web story about it. Tain't no air here!



And then there was the trek to the Maze Overlook, which sounds all touristy, but which requires 8 hours of determined four-wheeling to reach from the ranger station (which is three hours on paved and graded dirt roads to the next nearest building), going over muddy and rocky trails in a notch at the top of a thousand-foot vertical cliff. "Air time" there takes on a whole new meaning. If you've been to the Maze Overlook, and seen the Chocolate Drops at sunset, then you've been somewhere.

By comparison, the 75 miles of the White Rim Trail was a walk in the park. And the Needles District of Canyonlands NP. And the Burr Trail. And Long Canyon Trail. And...

No, my bone-stock 4-liter Cherokee with Warn winch wasn't intended for showing off. It was intended to get me and my camera to places few others could reach, even in their hopped up CJ's, if they didn't know how.

Rick "needing another trip to the Colorado Plateau but probably taking a motorhome next time" Denney

[MartyNeilan]

Where's the winch?
Air time? What kind of four-wheeler is he? Air time is a sign of mistakes.

I used a portable winch (aka commercial grade come-along.) You're not four wheeling unless you eventually get stuck! A permanently attached winch of sufficient power puts way too much weight past the front axle and adversely affects highway steering on a short wheelbase vehicle.

I agree, when rock crawling or even bogging all the wheels must be on the ground.
BUT, one of the nice things in New Jersey was when it snows, the plows and front end loaders pile up huge mounds of snow in mall and other parking lots. Within a couple of days they freeze near solid, forming these small white mountains. You can either crawl up them and crawl down, or hit em full throttle and hang on for dear life! Heavy duty triangular shaped shackles courtesy of Tomkin Machine kept the suspension from collapsing. The third sleeved grade 5 bolt in the shackle kept the shackle and leaf spring from folding under the frame, unlike the weaker stock 2 bolt shackles. Plus, for added stability the Jeep was never lifted but used wide fiberglass flares instead cut out to fit the modest 31x10.5" tires - achieving virtually the same effect as a body lift but keeping a lower center of gravity. Brand new ball joints helped reduce the chance of a Hummer-esque wheel loss.

[SRanney]

...
2. Saw a Ford GT-40 this morning. A real one from the old days--the Daytona Coupe with the 427 SCJ side-oiler. That guy also got on it, never broke loose, and affected the rotation of the planet with his transfer of power. I envied him. Deeply.
...

Rick "form follows function" Denney

Can't you also affect the rotation of the planet just by jumping up and down? I'd have to dig up my physics notes to relay the calculations, but I'm pretty certain that's what happens. Of course, energy would be conserved...

I love my non-frufru, 5sp, 4x4 Cherokee and will be using the 4x4 feature much more this winter when I move to SD for grad school.

By the way Rick, great website. I especially like the articles from Triathlete magazines past. Lots of good information on your site - I've spent some time checking it out.

Take care all -

SR