TRAIL FIX TIP: Replacing a Damaged Valve Stem

If you have a 2008 or newer Jeep, your wheels will have come with TPMS or, valve stems that have a Tire Pressure Monitoring System. These sensors provide your Jeep's computer with real-time tire-pressure information and will alert you if one or more tires are running low on air.

Busted Brakeline Trail Fix Tip

You can do what you can to help keep your brakelines out of harms way but, rocks, logs and other obstacles will still have a way of reaching up and snagging them when you least expect. Unfortuantely, it doesn't take much to sever a line or to even tear one out and when that happens, you had better hope you're in a position where braking isn't required.

Jeep JK Wrangler Front Axle Shaft
Removal & Replacement

Whether you're installing a new set of front axle shafts or, are in need of pulling a busted one on the trail, this write-up will help explain the steps needed to do just that.

Front Axle Shafts : C-Clips vs. Full Circle Clips

I know it's all the rage to beef up a factory axle housing when planning to run bigger tires but, I can assure you that well before you'll ever come close to breaking a housing, you're almost certainly break a factory front axle shaft.

Giving Some Love to JK Factory Skidplates!!

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.

Planning to Lift Your 2012 Jeep JK Wrangler?
Skip the Y-Pipe & Just Get a 1310 Front Driveshaft

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.

Jeep JK & Caster: What is it? How do I measure it
and how does it affect my Jeep?

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.

DEATH WOBBLE : What it is, What it isn’t
and What You Can Do to Fix it

There are few things more terrifying than experiencing "death wobble" in your Jeep for the very first time. More times than not, it'll happen out of the blue soon after hitting a bump in the road or a pot hole, driving over a rough set of rail road tracks or even after driving over rhythmic sections of expansion joints in a concrete laid highway. The sensation is unbelievably violent and so much so that it can feels as if your whole Jeep is about to tear itself apart. You literally feel as if you're about to die and the only way to get it to stop is to bring your Jeep to a stop. Unfortunately, some people become so traumatized by death wobble that they become reluctant to drive their Jeep again and others go so far as to sell it.

VIDEO TIP: #1 Cause of Death Wobble

I can't count how many times we've come off the trail and heard someone on the CB yell out that they've got death wobble. After pulling over and giving things a quick look to make sure nothing is broken, I have the driver help me perform this simple test.

Dynatrac Presents - Lockers 101

One of the most confusing and controversial subjects in the JK world is ‘Which locker should I use?’ So, rather than tell you which locker is best, I’ll give you the choices and a brief overview so you can decide what is best for your application and budget.

The In’s and Out’s of Offset and Backspace
How do They Relate?

Offset and backspace are essentially two different ways of looking at the same thing. They determine the location of the wheel and tire assembly when bolted to the vehicles hub.

Building a Dynatrac Pro Rock 60 Front Axle

When you need to have absolute confidence in the quality of your axles and performance you expect them to deliver on the trail, no other company can give you this assurance other than Dynatrac and with their Pro Rock 60. Made 100% here in the United States, the Pro Rock 60 has been engineered entirely with new off the shelf components that are designed to work flawlessly together and without the need to use recycled, refurbished or salvaged parts from older used axles. Of course, the Pro Rock 60 is also the only axle with a profiled differential that offers well over an inch of ground clearance. And, to top it off, Dynatrac is the only company that I know of that offers a ”no-fault” warranty so long as you properly service and maintain your axles.

Jeep JK Wrangler Torque Settings

As a part of routine maintenance or anytime that you work on your Jeep JK Wrangler, it is important that you tighten any bolt and/or nut that gets removed back to the appropriate torque settings as is outlined by the Factory Service Manual. Obviously, failure to get a bolt and/or nut tightened enough can result in them eventually coming loose and while that can be a real problem, tightening them too much can also be a problem as you can run the risk of breaking them. Needless to say, knowing the proper torque setting for each bolt and nut on your JK is important to know and the list below should help you to know just how much you should be tightening them to.

Walker Evans Beadlock Wheels

Reducing the amount of pressure you have in your tires or, as Jeepers like to call it, "airing down", is one of the easiest things you can do to improve the quality of your ride and significantly improve the amount of traction you'll have on the trail. With your tires sitting at about 8-12 PSI, your tires will do a wonderfull job of smoothing out your ride as you make your way over small rocks and ruts and on bigger obstacles, the tread of your tires will be able to wrap itself around jagged rock faces and boulders. Of course, the more surface area the tread of your tires can make contact with, the more traction you will have. Needless to say, airing down your tires is so effective that it, along with disconnecting your front sway bar links, has become standard practice before hitting the trails.

Project-JK & Off Road Evolution
JK Ramp Day Meet-n-Greet & RTI Scores

How much flex does my Jeep have and how do I find out? That was the question a lot of the people in the SoCal area were asking me and thanks to the generosity of Off Road Evolution for letting us use their RTI ramp, about two dozen members from JK-Forum.com got to find out last Sunday at our first ever JK Ramp Day Meet-n-Greet.

Myths About Steering Stabilizers

Recently, I have been reading a lot of posts over on JK-Forum.com regarding steering stabilizers and I have to say that I find all the misinformation regarding them or the need for them to be quite troubling.

Jeep JK Wrangler Axle Basics

With more and more people building up their Jeep JK Wranglers and getting them to sit on 37" tires or larger, it's no wonder that so many members of JK-Forum.com have made axles and the components that make them what they are, one of the hottest topics of conversation. Whether it be in regards to installing new gears, upgrading axle shafts or replacing them altogether, people are looking for answers and in more cases than not, I have found that they don't even know what questions to ask. Of course, a lot of this is because the subject of axles is completely Greek to them.

Pro Comp Xtreme Mud Terrain Tires
& Pro Comp Series 8179 Black Powder Coat Wheels

So, how have the Pro Comp Xtreme Mud Terrains been performing? Well, I can tell you that since I got them about a month ago, I have racked up about 3,000 miles on the odometer with a good 1,500 miles of that being put on driving out to Moab, Utah and wheeling the hell of the them there. And, I'd have to say that I'm pleasantly surprised as to how much I really like these tires!