Third Time's the Charm LJ

Thanks Mark. I appreciate the heads up for sure.

The rock rails are preliminarily fit.



When I have some time I will pull them back off and:
-Install the 2 nutserts
-Paint all of the drilled holes
-Touch up any other painted areas that could rust
-Touch up the spots on the rock rails that were nicked during install

All in all the install was very straightforward. By the time I got to the second one I knew exactly what to do.

Great job! they look awesome.

Metalcloaks look good on an LJ

Thanks guys. It was nice having somewhere to put my foot today while cruising on the highway.

Shaun,,Do they attach under the body mounts or do you have to drill and bolt them to the floor?

They do not mount to the floor at all. They attach soley to the rocker panels.

Yesterday's Jeeping:

I decided to get a little work done while I could. I masked up the tailgate to hit it with some Rustoleum automotive enamel. I wasn't going for a show quality finish. I was just looking to protect the body from rust this winter.





Not a perfect match but better than rust IMHO.



I also took the rock rails off and painted the body for protection and installed the nutserts. Two things to note.

Don't bother painting this area unless you are going to give it at least 24 hours to cure and then use some sort of body gasket.

Secondly, don't be a pansie about nutserts. Make sure they are nice and tight. I was nervous on the first one and it wound up spinning during reinstallation. It was not fun having to drill out the bad nutsert and reinstall another. Lesson learned.

The only good that came of that was knowing the aforementioned lesson on painting. I ordered a set of tough stuff body gaskets and will take everything back apart before winter. I will repaint and allow a full cure. Then I will install the gaskets and rock rails.

Real close match!

Especially after a month or two and it gets a little dirt on it, I'll be you'll have to be closer than 3 feet to tell the difference.

You coming to MaBell or OFR?

I wish. I want to do both, but have prior engagements.

Doing things right this time.  Everything has been touched up and will have 2 full days to cure before I put it back together with the gaskets. I refuse to let my rockers rust out!

Done


And done

Nice! Definitely need to do rocker guards myself at some point..

Thank. Rock rails are a mandatory mod on LJs.

It's looking the ba!!s, good work.  

dongalonga wrote: Rock rails are a mandatory mod on LJs.

 

So aren't big tires,lockers,lift,and all the other stuff that make a great trail rig, It's just a matter of time as it happens to all of us sooner or later, lol, ( IT'S AN EPIDEMIC!!)

Thanks man. You know me, I don't waste any time building a rig. Front locker and winch on on the build list for next year.

Today's Jeeping:

Engine Oil/Filter Change
Front/Rear Differential Fluid Change
TCase Fluid Change
Power Steering Fluid Change (it was milky)
Poor Man's Brake/Clutch Fluid Change
Topped Off Washer Fluid
Re-Aimed Headlights

All ready for OBX.

Solid day! I'm off to change the rear brakes on the 8.8 today... It's getting down to bare metal!

Yikes. Hopefully they come off easier this time.

The rig is all packed up for departure to OBX tomorrow

-Trip synopsis-

What Worked:

-MC Suspension-
UNBELIEVABLE!!!  Not only did my rig ride like a dream on the worst highways (NY and NJ), it did equally well at significantly higher than legal speeds around corners. If you have ever driven on a NY/CT parkway you know what I'm talking about when I say the roads are rough and extremely curvy. The Jeep simply felt planted at speeds up to 85mph. 

On the beach, at speeds slightly higher than the posted limit, the rig did exceptionally well. I tried my best to get some air on the whoops but was unable to. The tires were glued to the sand even as I watched Sundowner leave the ground. I was never nervous as the rig stayed very stable even in the loose stuff. 

-Duratrac Tires-
I know I'm beating a dead horse, but there is a reason I love these things so much. They were excellent on the highway at speed and in the corners. Aired up to about 28psi they even netted decent gas mileage. The sand is where I was truly impressed though. Aired down to 10-12psi they were magical. They we're essentially glued to the sand and I was able to whip the Jeep around as I wished. Very predictable and stable characteristic with matching grip. 


What Didn't Work:

-Seats-
The stock seats have to go. It's that simple. They are somewhere between medieval torture device and someone kicking you in the junk repeatedly for 1600+ miles. This is a must before the next long trip. 

-MV89G Compressor-
This is a tough one because it technically worked flawlessly. It filled my tires as designed with no hiccups. However, I watched a certain someone fill slightly more tires in the time it took me to fill 2 1/2. He graciously filled the last one for me just to prove the point further. Co2 setup is now in the cards for sure. 

-Lighting-
It was a nasty ride to the hotel Saturday night. The headlights worked as desired as did the LED floods. However, a certain opossum wished I had mounted my windshield lights before this trip. I also realized I aimed my headlights a hair low, which may have saved that little guy's life had I not made said mistake. On truly dark southern roads at midnight more lighting is good. 

I still need to go through the rig to make sure everything is in good shape. Judging by the extremely stable and tight ride on the way home, I am not too concerned. This trip helped get some priorities straightened out for the rig if nothing else.

As promised

Jeep Pics






Other Stuff

Looks like you had a great weekend Shaun! Great pics!

It was amazing. I learned that I enjoy flat out runs in the whoops more than any other off-roading I have done. I see how people get addicted to rally style racing.