What was done to your rig this week?

Well, that makes sense. It's been 2 years, right? Trying to get any grease in those JJ's is damn near impossible.
Yep, two years since we did the lift install. Good memories!!!!
Whatever I did yesterday helped tremendously. The noise is practically gone
I am thinking to redo all the joints. Press the bushings out, clean and grease everything back and reinstall. Pain but worth it.
 
Noticed my driver's side KC Gravity Pro was dim. After contacting KC about a warranty claim they suggested checking the connector as they are damaged easily during installation. I pulled it apart and reconnected it and now it's good as new.

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The factory connections suck. I've been dealing with my passenger side going out - light is totally fine - for over a year at least. Every time it happens I simply shake around the harness and it pops back on. If it happens daily I completely unplug and plug it back in and then it's fine for a few weeks until it happens again.
 
The factory connections suck. I've been dealing with my passenger side going out - light is totally fine - for over a year at least. Every time it happens I simply shake around the harness and it pops back on. If it happens daily I completely unplug and plug it back in and then it's fine for a few weeks until it happens again.
Yeah that's what it seems. KC even has a while section dedicated to this on their site, including pics of the breaks.
 
Finally got around to putting on my spiderweb shade and new foam seal kit. Learned a few things the hard way.

The hard top is damn heavy. I had it until I didn't so now I have a spot to touch up
Before putting the top all the way back on ensure to take the Velcro covers off where the bolts go through the sound bar and make sure the holes are lined up also
The old foam seals were trashed or just missing so that took a long while

But hey I got to play with the Jeep
 

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What’s the story?
SWAMBO and I went up Poison Spider solo to Golden Spike. The goal was to run Golden Spike going north until connecting to the trail that drops down from the rim to Highway 191, then head home. Part way up GS, we met with a family from Colorado in a real nice orange JLUR and we decided to team up.

After a harrowing recovery of the JLUR from a precarious situation, the driver was pretty shaken up. I don't blame him, his Jeep was on the verge of an ugly roll over. After taking an hour to pull him back to safety, we decided it was best to turn around and head back. In retrospect, our plan to run the length of GS in the time we had was over ambitious.

The beginning of the Poison Spider trail head switchbacks up the mountain. At one tight switch back there’s a riffraff bump that's a near vertical rock garden almost as tall as a lifted Wrangler. Going up isn't so bad because the approach is head on and you can clearly see each line from the driver's seat. I say “not so bad” comparison to coming down. Going up is a challenge and the chance of dragging the under carriage is almost certain. It’s best to do it in one shot without backing and filling and too much throttle can bounce your Jeep off your chosen line and toss it sideways into a really ugly situation. It's best crawled at slow speed without spinning your tires and good luck with that!

Coming down is worse.

When you approach the obstacle coming down, it's on your left and when you look at it, the rock garden looks even steeper and more treacherous. Your first thought is "Holy crap! How did I get my Jeep up that in one piece?" Just to make things interesting, you have to make a hard left to start down, then quickly straighten out the Jeep so it doesn’t tip. Or, you can do the prudent thing, back & fill until you're facing it head on. While the orange JLUR was getting it's Austin Powers on, guess what I decided to do? You guessed it. I eeny meeny miney moed a line, spun the wheel hard to the left and went down. I pumped the brakes to roll off the rocks as gently as possible, but the left rear tire fell into a hole I didn't see and the Jeep rocked left, then right, then left again, picking up momentum with each swing. There was a jarring thump. I thought the Jeep dropped on its bumper again and didn't think anything about it.

When we got to the staging area to air up, I hopped out to get my air hose from the back of the Jeep and saw the damage.

I'm bummed about the sheetmetal damage (small as it is) but I'm in awe that I was able to drop over a rock step tall enough to smack the tail light.

I did find out that the new BFG KM3 grip better at 6 psi than they do at 12.

To further complicate things, Highway 6 between Soldier Summit and Helper was closed by a mud slide. We are having to take the long way home and have to spend the night on the road. Good thing Monday is Labor Day. Our cat isn’t gonna be when breakfast times rolls around and nobody is there to feed her.

It was a good weekend. Hell's Revenge on Saturday. Poison Spider, part of Golden Spike and a successful recovery on Sunday. Tonight, I'm gonna sleep good with a smile on my face.
 
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