A Dirt Head's JK

Nothing new on the Jeep, but I'm heading to Borrego this Sunday with nearly all my buddies from work. I'm leading them on a route that basically takes you from the end of the 78 (at the start of the S2) and goes all the way down, and then head back home on the 8. We plan on stopping in Pine Valley or Alpine for dinner.

We're piling into my Jeep, a lifted 91 F-150, and a stock 4Runner so picking out lines for them should be fun...

I'll be sure to post pics of the trip here 👍
 
Finally had a chance to throw on the new tie rod end on the drag link at the pitman arm. The install went pretty smoothly, just hammered it out with a ball joint separator.

Happy to report that did the trick, occasional steering shimmy is gone and the wheel turns much tighter. The stock one was beat to hell!

Out with the old...
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In with the new!
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Just in time for Borrego this weekend 👍
 
Finally had a chance to throw on the new tie rod end on the drag link at the pitman arm. The install went pretty smoothly, just hammered it out with a ball joint separator.

Happy to report that did the trick, occasional steering shimmy is gone and the wheel turns much tighter. The stock one was beat to hell!

Out with the old...
View attachment 385594

In with the new!
View attachment 385593

Just in time for Borrego this weekend 👍
Nice! Nothing like nice weather to do some driveway work. Glad to hear things are feeling better again (y)
 
Finally had a chance to throw on the new tie rod end on the drag link at the pitman arm. The install went pretty smoothly, just hammered it out with a ball joint separator.

Happy to report that did the trick, occasional steering shimmy is gone and the wheel turns much tighter. The stock one was beat to hell!

Out with the old...
View attachment 385594

In with the new!
View attachment 385593

Just in time for Borrego this weekend 👍
Nice... I'd say that rod end wears the fastest of all.
 
Over the weekend, me and all my buddies from work made a convoy out to Anza Borrego and explored the desert for a whole day and definitely plan to make this a new tradition. I've explored a lot of Borrego being that I live in San Diego but I learned this time around I've just barely scratched the surface.

Super happy with how my Jeep performed - this is its first time really offroad with new things like control arms and trackbars.

I led the group through a couple of my favorite parts of Borrego and we had my Jeep, a stock V8 4Runner, (Did well, minor damage) a lifted 1991 Ford F-150, (Pretty cool project, he's slowly building it up) and a stock Ford Ranger on some all terrain Goodyears that surprised all of us.

Here are some pics from the trip!

On the way up through Julian, we ran into some white stuff!
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Regrouped as I left them in the dust in the fast section lol
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Hunting for future camp sites!
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Getting tight and twisty in here, really fun.
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Overlooking Fish Creek and Borrego Springs
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Hopefully we can return sooner rather than later, had a ton of fun.
 
Very cool and great pics! Looks like a great day to be out there. (y)

That said, I thought you said it was nice down in socal. I swear I saw some snow! :rolleyes:🤪
 
Nothing new to the Jeep as of yet, but more to come soon. In the meantime I've been out and about in Anza Borrego with all my friends again before it gets too hot.

We all piled into my JK and my buddy's Tundra on 33" Mud Grapplers, and both performed great. I'm still happy with the current suspension setup, but have plans to upgrade the drag link and tie rod sooner rather than later.

This time we drove out Saturday night and camped that night, and ran a series of trails the following day. Here's a few pics of the trip:

Found a great secluded campsite along Fish Creek
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Went out and back through Sandstone Canyon
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It was definitely a dusty one this time around
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The height of the rock walls was wild
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By far my favorite shot, ascending a very steep and rutted out wash
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We also went through the well known mud caves, highly recommend checking them out if you're in the area. A good mile hike through the caves and out the other side into seemingly neverending singletrack that weaves through super high striated rock walls.
 
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nice!
I keep thinking about a camping trip but by the time I finish making the packing "list" I'm exhausted lol
Lol, I hear ya. It was super useful to have a buddy with a pickup truck to cope with the headache of packing into the 2 door for multiple people too.

Got me to solidify my decision on getting a Gladiator to add to my stable alongside the JK someday haha.
 
Every weekend, my dad and I take the TJ out for a drive to keep it going and well preserved. I really don't post enough of this beauty, so here are some proper shots of our 1997 TJ with just 55k on the odometer, 3k LESS than my JK now!

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Going for an old school CJ style look with the tubular bumpers and machined Eagle Alloy wheels.

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The interior is in MINT condition. Always wrapped in cloth and towels and garage kept. My dad really does baby this thing 😂

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It's running 33x12.50 BFGs on a 2.5" lift with practically ancient Pro Comp shocks 😅

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The ol' girl is in need of a new set of fender flares.

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And next up for my Jeep is touching up the flares with another coat of bedliner. While they're not totally faded necessarily, they've taken some abuse offroad and I just wanna freshen them up a bit.
 
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