Rather than heading straight for home after the awesome weekend of wheeling we had in Arizona last week, Cindy and I decided to make our drive back a bit more interesting and took side trip up through Sedona. I mean hey, it’s not everyday that you find yourself in a state with so much to see and do and wheel and we just felt that it would be a crime to pass up the opportunity… or, at least, that’s what we told ourselves. Fortunately for us, the weather was outstanding with the days being as long as they are right now, we were able to get in multiple trails including the famous Broken Arrow, short but interesting Soldier Pass and visiually stunning Schnebly Hill before ending our fun filled day in Flagstaff.

Sedona Arizona Photo Essay

Axle Alley is one of the most challenging trails in the Florence Junction area of Arizona and really, a trail that you typically only find buggies on. Over the weekend, Mel Wade of Off Road Evolution drove his 4-door Jeep JK Wrangler out to this trail from his home in Southern California, took it on and then drove it all the way back home. In this Project-JK RAW video clip, you’ll get to see EVO 1 conquering this near vertical dry waterfall that stands about 8 feet tall. Check it out.

Last weekend, our good friends Greg and Dave of Powerline Patrol invited Mel, Cindy and I out to Arizona to run a few of the trails out in the Florence Junction area. To be exact, we ended up running a total of 7 beautiful and epic trails including Box Canyon, the Martinez Mine Loop, Jack Handle, Orville’s Loop, the infamous Axel Alley, Upper Woodpecker and a better part of Highway to Hell before Mel’s steering pump quit on him and forced us to bail out. Now, we’ve always heard all kinds of stories about how tough the trails are out in this area and I gotta tell you, they’re all true. This area is surprisingly lush with vegetation, filled with all kinds of history and has some of the most challenging trails I’ve ever taken on and with razor sharp rocks to boot. If you would like to see pics from our epic trip, simply click on the link below:

Florence Junction Arizona Weekend of Wheeling

Over the weekend, we got a chance to hook up with some really old friends of ours, Matt and Heather (aka doojer & doojette) and do some camping out in the desert or, what some like to call, “overlanding”. Being that this was the first time they’ve had a chance to go wheeling in a couple of years, we decided to run a portion of the Old Mojave Road starting from Afton Canyon and then work our way over to the Kelso Sand Dunes where we intended to setup camp. As luck would have it, a lot of the old camping area had been fenced off with signs specifically stating NO camping was allowed and so, we headed up into the Providence Mountains and found a much nicer home for the night. Anyway, here are some pics from our weekend trip and reunion with old friends. I hope you enjoy.

Vulcan Mine Camping Trip Photo Essay

Day 5 of the JK-Experience Rocky Mountain Run took us up and over the most famous and terrifying trails in the state of Colorado, Black Bear Pass. After having some fun on what are certainly some of the most hair raising, narrow switchback roads you can find anywhere, we made our way west to our final destination of the week, Grand Junction. To end our trip with a bang, our 6th and final day would be spent on a short but technically challenging trail called, Billings Canyon. Rated a 9 out of a 10, this trail would put everyone and their rigs to the test and, as you can imagine, had a hell of a great time!

We hope that you’ve enjoyed all 4 episodes of KEEP IT TIGHT: The JK-Experience Rocky Mountain Run. If you’ve been inspired by what you’ve seen and would like to see more films like it, we’d be grateful if you could please contact the good folks at Chrysler® and let them know what you think. You can reach them at:

http://www.chryslergroupllc.com/footer/Pages/ContactUs.aspx

Thank you for your support!
Cindy & Eddie Oh

I always hear people talk about how much the factory skidplates suck, how inadequate they are and how important it is to install heavy and expensive aftermarket replacements. And, truth be told, I just don’t get it. I mean, I’m totally on board with protecting vital parts on your Jeep that come with little to no protection at all, such as the oil pan on all JK’s, the automatic transmisson sump pan on 2011-up JK’s and even a very exposed transmission cooler line on 2012-up, but I simply have not seen any need to replace what you already get for free from the factory. Sure, things like your gas tank, transfer case or automatic transmission skid plate may get beat to all hell and may not look real pretty after a lot of wheeling but, in the over 5 years we’ve been punishing the 4 JK’s we’ve owned, I have yet to see any of them fail. In fact, I have yet to see or hear of any factory skid fail on any of the JK’s that join us on our runs or, even online for that matter.

Having said all that, I’d like to take a moment and give some love to the under-appreciated factory skidplates. They are provided for FREE from the factory, do not add extra weight, do not hide leaks that you want to see, don’t trap in excessive amounts of heat like aftermarket skids do, are easy to remove and because of it, allow for easy access to service your transmission and transfer case. Again, I would be the first to recommend protection of vital parts on your Jeep such as your oil pan and transmission on newer JK but, only because they come with little to no protection at all.

I’m sure there will be people out there who will go on and on about how wrong I am but, I’m the kind of guy who prefers to go off of what I’ve seen and not what I imagine will happen.

I just wanted to post this up as a public service announcement as I get 2012 owners asking me this question all the time. If you lift your 2012 Jeep JK Wrangler more than 2.5″, you will have issues with your factory front drive shaft making contact with the exhaust cross over. However, rather than wasting your money on a Y-Pipe kit that can cost upwards of $300, please do yourself a favor, spend the extra $150 and just upgrade your front drive shaft to a 1310 drive shaft like the kind that J.E. Reel or even Coast makes.

So you know, an aftermarket 1310 drive shaft or even 1350 drive shaft will be narrower in diameter, will not have a slip shaft boot and will not make contact with your JK’s exhaust cross over as would be the case with a factory drive shaft. This is a shot of a factory drive shaft installed on a 2012 JK with 3.5″ of lift and at a full droop…

Now, this is a shot of our J.E. Reel 1350 front drive shaft installed on Rubicat with 12″ coil overs, no exhaust modifications and at a full droop…

As you can see, the shaft is not making any contact with the exhaust cross over and there is plenty of room to spare. Also, on the 2012 JK’s, the taller you go, the more of an angle you will have at your output shaft CV joint. At just 3.5″ of lift, this angle will be sever enough to cause the CV boot to fail prematurely and so, even if you were to install a Y-Pipe, you would still end up having to replace your front drive shaft sooner than later.

Need I say, do yourself a favor, spend just a little more cash and do things right the first time around.

NOTE: Results will be different on a 2012 JK with manual transmission as the transfer case will sit further back.

I know a lot of you have been waiting for this and, I’m happy to say that last night, we finally got a chance to do a side by side comparison test of the all NEW Truck-lite Complex Reflector Optics Design LED Headlights versus the original LED Headlights that they’ve had out for a while now. And, after doing the test, this is what I can tell you.

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Ken Offerbeck is not only one of the very first members of JK-Forum.com, he’s also a senior moderator and a personal good friend of mine. Known best by his screen name, HappyCurmudgeon, Ken has the hightest post count on the forum second only to me and, has been a tremendous help in making JK-Forum.com what it has become today. For those of you who’ve been following his “I don’t have good news to share” thread, you know that he had been fighting an uphill battle against an agressive form of cancer known as sarcoma and unfortunately, it was one that he lost back on December 27, 2011.

In a last ditch effort to provide for his daughter’s future, Ken decided to sell his beloved JK and put all the money into a 529 college savings account. After months of being on the market, a member of the forum contacted Ken to see if maybe some of the sponsors here could pick up his JK, build it up and then sell it with 100% of the proceeds going to he and his family. The build would be called “Curmudgeon’s Revenge” and it would be the ultimate 2-Door dream JK. Before Ken left us, Cindy and I decided to take on this challenge, buy Ken’s JK, bring it back to California and do our best to make this dream a reality.

While most everyone on JK-Forum may know that our big white JK is affectionately called “Moby Dick”, I think few actually know where that name came from. Fact of the the matter is, it was Ken who christened it with this befitting name after seeing it all built up and, we thought it would only appropriate to reciprocate. The dreadful disease known as cancer may have taken away Ken’s life but, it couldn’t take away the man he was, the life he lived or the people he touched. It is because of this that he can now take his revenge on cancer, a disease that tried to crush his family and do so by being able to keep on fighting for them now through the build of this Jeep.

“…to the last I grapple with thee; from hell’s heart I stab at thee; for hate’s sake I spit my last breath at thee.”
— Moby Dick, (1851) by Herman Melville

It is because of this, we have officially named this JK… “VENGEANCE!”

Today, I’m happy to announce that Vengeance has finally moved into Off Road Evolution where it will begin it’s transformation from mild to wild!! I am also happy to announce that they will be teaming up with Nitto Tire and together, will be putting Vengeance to the test on both the 2012 Ultimate Adventure and JK-Experience!!

Its great to be a part of this build and I’m looking forward to building up the “V” as if it were my own personal vehicle. As always, we will focus on PERFORMANCE ON and OFF ROAD.

We will be Building up this JK to accomodate Nitto’s New 40 inch trail Grappler for the Ultimate Adventure. One thing is for sure is that when it comes time to sell this JK for this Great Cause, it will be capable and proven on some of the toughest trails around.

Proud to be a part of this,
Mel

If you would like to follow Vengeance’s build, simply click on the JK-Forum link below:

Curmudgeon’s Revenge - Follow the Build of VENGEANCE from Mild to Wild!

A BIG Thank You needs to go out to the following manufacturers and vendors for their support of this build: Off Road Evolution, EVO MFG, ATX, PSC, Dynomax, Poison Spyder, WARN, Nitto Tire, 4WD.com, Superchips and Sparco.

With the economy still in the dumps and gas prices through the roof, I suppose it really shouldn’t come as any surprise that the 2012 Moab Easter Jeep Safari was by far one of the least crowded ones I’ve seen to date. And, it really is a shame too as this was really one of the nicest years to be out there. With the exception of only one day where we had a freak snow storm, every day during the week was a perfect doorless and topless day and, that’s not something I’ve seen in over 5 years. Anyway, here are a few pics highlighting our epic journey to the promised land.

2012 Moab Easter Jeep Safari Photo Essay

Episode 3 of KEEP IT TIGHT highlights our 3rd and 4th day of The JK Experience Rocky Mountain Run. In it, you’ll get to follow us on our long road day back west and see the fun detours that we made to places such as, the world famous Royal Gorge Bridge. After a long night spent working on Jeeps in the town of Montrose, we headed south to the San Juan Mountains and did a scenic run up the gorgeous Alpine Loop. Along the way, we covered trails such as Mineral Creek, Poughkeepsie Gulch, California Gulch and visited historic mining sites and ghost towns such as Animas Forks before ending our day in Silverton, Colorado. We hope you enjoy it.

Having a good CB Radio in your Jeep JK Wrangler is not only a lot of fun, it’s an important piece of equipment that a lot of clubs and organized trail events require you have. Unfortunately, one of the biggest reasons why so many are reluctant to install a good CB Radio is because most are pretty big and bluky and really, there are so few places if any, to install one and cleanly. This is especially true in 2011 and up JK’s and, why we chose to get a Tuffy Security Overhead CB Console.

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Day 2 of the JK-Experience Rocky Mountain Run would take us south toward the town of Buena Vista, Colorado, and to the trail that a majority in our group would run for the day, Chinaman Gulch. At the trailhead, the option of running the infamous Carnage Canyon BV trail was also given to those willing to risk substantial damage to their rigs and, of the 22 JK’s we had, 4 would choose to join EVO 1 in taking on the carnage including, Project-JK’s, Moby Dick! Episode 2 highlights our run up this short, “nasty ass” trail as Mel liked to call it, and then follows us as we made a mad dash east with the hopes of being able to climb to the top of Pikes Peak before they closed. We hope you enjoy our film.

Over the years, Jeep has come a long way in beefing up the Wrangler and with the new JK model, I was pleasantly surprised to see it come complete with skidplates protecting the automatic transmission, transfer case and gastank. Sure they get beat up pretty good but, to this day, they are all that we run and they’ve held up just fine. Having said that, there has always been one vital component that I could never figure out why Jeep would leave it so exposed and, that would be the oil pan. While I’m not a big fan of aftermarket skid plates that replace what you already have, I am a firm believer that any exposed part that can leave you high and dry if broken should be protected. Needless to say, that is the reason why we decided to install the all new 2007-11 EVO MFG ProTeK Oilpan Skidplate on our JK.
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Official Press Release from Jeep®

2012 marks the 50 year anniversary of one of the largest and longest running annual Jeep events in the country, the San Diego-based Tierra Del Sol 4 Wheel Drive Club’s Desert Safari. In celebration of this milestone, Jeep has donated a 2012 Jeep Wrangler Sport to the club, which it has accessorized with parts from Mopar®, Katzkin and Goodyear. For the next nine months, the up-fitted Wrangler will be transported to several locations and events throughout southern California, giving the club the opportunity to educate the public about land-use issues and sell raffle tickets for the vehicle’s eventual auction in December at the San Diego International Auto Show.

“We are honored to recognize Tierra Del Sol Four Wheel Drive Club and the 50th Anniversary of their Desert Safari event,” said Jason Stoicevich, Director, Chrysler Group LLC’s California Business Center. “For more than over 50 years, this club has been promoting the enjoyment and protection of our natural resources, family outdoor living and responsible trail use, values that the Jeep brand has also been supporting for more than 70 years.”

“Tierra Del Sol Four Wheel Drive Club of San Diego is honored to work with Jeep on this monumental project,” said Joseph Smith, Club President. “Funds raised will go to the club’s mission of “Keeping Public Lands Open” and the education of responsible off highway vehicle use.”

Mopar, Chrysler Group LLC’s service, parts and customer-care brand donated a significant amount of parts and accessories to the vehicle up-fit. All parts are available for consumers to purchase and have installed at local Jeep dealers.

Caster is the tilting of the uppermost point of the steering axis either forward or backward (when viewed from the side of the vehicle). A backward tilt is positive (+) and a forward tilt is negative (-). Caster influences directional control of the steering but does not affect the tire wear and without adjustable control arms, is not adjustable on this vehicle. With too little positive caster, steering may be touchy at high speed and wheel return-to-center may be diminished when coming out of a turn.

As you can see by the drawing, stock caster to pinion angle separation is 6*. This is represented as the pinion at 0* (zero rise) or 90* at the pinion flange face and the caster set at 96*. If we were to rotate the pinion up to stock JK position, the pinion would be tilted up 2* and caster angle now would be 94*. In alignment terms, this is known as 4* of caster. A stock JK has 4* caster and 2* of pinion up tilt for a total of 6* of separation.

Most lift kits (see note 1) change the caster and pinion angle when they are installed. This is to prevent drive shaft vibration and transfer case damage. Many kits feature adjustable control arms. When a lift kit is installed, the owner frequently complains of touchy steering. As mentioned above, this is due to too little caster. This is where adjustable control arms will help. With these you can remove a little of the added pinion up tilt to help get your caster and steering a bit closer to stock.

There are a number of proper, appropriate ways to measure caster angles. Only 2 can be done with a fully assembled front end housing. First, and most obvious, is with an alignment machine. Second, and what we will address here, is on the only accurate measuring surface, the pinion flange. It has been said that you can get a measurement off of the end forgings (or ‘C’) but this is incorrect. End forging are cast and then machined. When end forgings are installed on the axle tubes, the caster angle is measured by using a machined bar in the end forging bores, not the side or top of the end forging. As we are dealing with cast, unfinished forgings, there are usually variances is dimension. The bored surfaces are precisely measured and their relationship to the sides or top of the end forgings may vary.

On the JK, measuring the pinion angle is a simple exercise in deductive reasoning. We know there is 6* of separation. By using a simple angle finder, we can measure the pinion angle at the drive shaft flange (where the angle reads 0 on the above drawing). You’ll want to zero the angle finder first to compensate for ground that may not be level. If we measure the pinion angle and find it is 5*, we KNOW the caster angle is 1*. If the pinion angle reads 4*, we KNOW the caster is at 2*.

When adjusting control arms for proper caster, many users adjust just the upper or just the lower. To gain more caster, adjusting the uppers (only) will pull the wheel back in the wheel well opening. Adjusting the lowers (only) will push the wheel forward in the opening. Ideally, adjusting both upper and lower is the best option as the wheel is placed properly in the wheel well. When adjusting for better caster angle it is crucial to keep an eye on the pinion to driveshaft angle. Remember, the lift kit companies have changed the caster to keep proper (or close) driveshaft to pinion angles. Keeping these angles in their proper location prevents driveshaft vibration and potential catastrophic transfer case failure.

Any adjustment you make should be minimal. Installing a 4” lift and trying to get back to 4* of caster almost guarantees a quick failure of a driveshaft, transfer case bearing or the entire transfer case. Depending on your lift, getting back to 1 or 2* of caster may be a huge success and make a significant difference in the handling of your JK. Anytime you have adjusted control arms it is a good idea to get a 4 wheel alignment. Using control arms of equal length (side to side) is a very important to keeping the Jeep tracking straight. An alignment can make small corrections that will make a huge difference in tracking.

As was mentioned earlier, the stock JK caster angle is 4*. This is a very slight angle by most standards. Many builders use 6-7* as their standard caster. Having more caster than stock is not uncommon when using an aftermarket axle housing such as a ProRock 44 Unlimited. The ProRock 44 Unlimited is designed with 4* of extra caster. This allows users to dial in their pinion correctly and retain factory caster angles (or better). With this housing you will measure as done with the stock housing but use 10* of separation. If your pinion angle is 4* you have 6* of caster. If you have 5* of pinion angle, you have 5* of caster.

For more information about ProRock 44 specifications, click on the link below:
http://www.dynatrac.com/pdfs/ProRock%20FAQ_revK.pdf

To help understand the differences between the standard ProRock 44 and the Unlimited version, click on this link:
http://www.dynatrac.com/pdfs/Choosing_the_right_housing_revC.pdf

— Scott Frary, Dynatrac

For one week during the month of September, 22 Jeep JK Wranglers from around the country and from as far as Canada, gathered in the state of Colorado to traverse almost 1,000 miles though the breathtaking Rocky’s, explore famous historic mining towns and, take on some of the most challenging off-road trails that can be found anywhere. This is the Off Road Evolution JK Experience Rocky Mountain Run, presented by Falken Tire, and this is the story of the Jeepers who came looking for an adventure and found what it means to “KEEP IT TIGHT”.

Episode 1 of this 4 part series highlights our gathering in Glenwood Springs, Colorado, the starting point of our JK-Experience, and then heads high up into the White River National Forest where we got to run one the most famous and hardcore trails in the state, Holy Cross! Surrounded by Wilderness, Holy Cross is a gorgeous trail that takes you out to the old ghost town that gives this trail its name and features challenging obstacles such as French Creek. After a fun day of rock crawling over wet boulders, breaking out the winch a few times and seeing some amazing sites, we headed down to the historic town of Leadville which served as our home for the night. We hope you enjoy our film.

Pomona, CA – The new 3.6L Pentastar engine in the 2012 Jeep Wrangler JK is one of the most welcome changes to the popular JK since their introduction in 2007. However, the position of the new engine in the chassis creates some unique challenges when driveline angles are changed even slightly from stock, as with a lift kit. Only J.E. Reel offers durable must-have driveshaft solutions for lifted 2012 JKs.

The problem is three-fold. First, the ’12 JK uses Rezeppa-style driveshafts that are not serviceable and have much smaller operating angles than even a conventional U-joint-equipped driveshaft. Second, the downward angle of the new engine is much greater than the previous engine, placing the front driveshaft operating angle at the extreme limit of the factory driveshaft, even at stock ride height. Third, the new exhaust crossover tube is routed under the front driveshaft, so even a mild 2” lift will cause the driveshaft to make contact with the exhaust as the suspension droops. Thanks to the clearance, unserviceable joints and greater operating angles, lifted 2012 JKs can experience front driveshaft failure in just a few thousand miles. This can also result in the catastrophic failure of other expensive drivetrain components.

The J.E .Reel solutions address all of these issues with a complete line of replacement driveshaft systems. The J.E. Reel OE-replacement driveshafts eliminate the weak factory driveshaft entirely and feature a standard 1310 U-joint at the axle as well as a 1310 CV-joint at the transfer case. The factory yokes are retained by utilizing J.E. Reel’s exclusive adapter flanges for a simple, bolt-in installation. This configuration is suitable for up to 3” of lift and 33” tires. A heavy-duty 1310-series version that uses complete replacement yokes at both the transfer case and the axle is also available. This strength improvement is recommended for Jeeps with up to 6” of lift and 35” tall tires.

For extreme use and taller lift heights, J.E. Reel offers upgraded front and rear driveshafts with larger 1350-series joints and 1350 Canyon Crawler driveshafts. Constructed using heavy-gauge tubing (0.188-wall on 2-Door models, 0.134-wall on 4-Doors), Canyon Crawler driveshafts also feature larger joints for extra strength as well as a stronger spline and slip assembly. JE Reel can even build smaller diameter front driveshafts that address exhaust clearance issues in extreme applications.

All J.E. Reel driveshafts are serviceable for long life, and J.E. Reel highly recommends servicing them at regular intervals. Further, these driveshafts should be used in conjunction with adjustable control arms on all lifted applications. In addition to driveshaft solutions for all Jeep Wrangler JKs from 2007-present, J.E. Reel offers standard and heavy-duty driveshaft solutions for any application from mild to wild.

For more information, visit www.reeldriveline.com or call 909-629-9002.

With nothing but sky in front of you, climbing your way up the extremely steep ledges out of Carnage Canyon BV requires skill, throttle control, a good spotter, strong winch and, if you have manual transmission, the use of all your hands and feet. With our upcoming KEEP IT TIGHT : The JK-Experience Rocky Mountain Run series scheduled to be released this February 28, 2012, we thought it would be fun to put this short clip from the cutting room floor - just to get you juices flowing. In it, you will get to see Cindy (the person responsible for all the WAYALIFE films and normally the one behind the camera) doing an excellent job of taking on this formidable obstacle.