A Dirt Head's JK

OverlanderJK said:
My two door did that. I think the cable is too short when lifted even slightly. Mine was way worse than yours and I didn't do anything to it. Its not a big deal since its not a wire. But you could get a four door cable and have the extra length to reroute it.
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Huh, thanks for the input! I suppose I’ll leave it alone for a while and do that if need be.
 
DirtHeadDavis said:
Also took it for a drive and all I can say is... wow. Can't believe I hadn't replaced these sooner. Been fighting a slowly worsening shimmy and loose feeling at the wheel, as well as death wobble symptoms when braking on top of horrid bump steer. All gone just like that. Should've done this months ago.

Drives super solid again and the steering is TIGHT. Finally time to get back on the trail. Oh, I also reserved a spot at Jeep Bash next month 😎
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How many miles did you have on them? Original OEM? Machined (y)
 
Seahawkfan said:
How many miles did you have on them? Original OEM? Machined (y)
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I had 63k miles on the original ball joints. Pretty short compared to others I’ve seen get on their ball joints but to be fair I tend to drive through the desert like I’m on coilovers at times… Lol

See the 25:00 minute mark for an example 🤣
 
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DirtHeadDavis said:
I had 63k miles on the original ball joints. Pretty short compared to others I’ve seen get on their ball joints but to be fair I tend to drive through the desert like I’m on coilovers at times… Lol
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Thanks. I'm at 56k and starting to feel some weird shit. I started with 35's when new and 37's for probably the last 35k. Had that little death wobble incident. 1/16 of toe fixed that. Feels a little flighty sometimes. My tires are well used and getting really close to replacement time. So, I'm torn between is it my tires, ball joints or upper control arm bushings?
 
Seahawkfan said:
Thanks. I'm at 56k and starting to feel some weird shit. I started with 35's when new and 37's for probably the last 35k. Had that little death wobble incident. 1/16 of toe fixed that. Feels a little flighty sometimes. My tires are well used and getting really close to replacement time. So, I'm torn between is it my tires, ball joints or upper control arm bushings?
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When are you feeling the wobble? When braking? At speed?
 
Hoping to get back on the trails regularly soon now that the front end is in order. Planning a trip to Big Bear next month to run everything up there, and hitting Valley of the Moons very soon. Anyone in SoCal run that trail before?

Up next in upgrades is probably a Synergy drag link and the Wayalife ACC Bar paired to a hard mounted GMRS/Race radio. Any input there? Looking at ICOM, Midland, Rugged, etc. Leaning towards 2-way GMRS for the price point, and since I use my handy little Baofeng quite often already for both frequencies - want a hard mounted solution or alternative. No harm in keeping both in the Jeep.
 
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DirtHeadDavis said:
... and hitting Valley of the Moons very soon. Anyone in SoCal run that trail before?
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You mean down by Jacumba? Yeah, I've been there. You can get in and out with a regular 4wd / awd vehicle. Lots of little loop trails and various extra credit lines. Probably pretty rutted right now after last weekends storm. A lot of smuggling & coyote activity there so it ought to get filled in pretty quickly.
 
rubiDave said:
You mean down by Jacumba? Yeah, I've been there. You can get in and out with a regular 4wd / awd vehicle. Lots of little loop trails and various extra credit lines. Probably pretty rutted right now after last weekends storm. A lot of smuggling & coyote activity there so it ought to get filled in pretty quickly.
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Yes! I heard it's great fun. We'll be sure to bring rifles. Lol.
 
Spent my days off at Big Bear this week!

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Ready to head out from home in Del Mar

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About a 2.5 hour drive, after grabbing some breakfast at the the Grizzly Manor Cafe, we hit the easy but beautiful Gold Fever Trail!

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Went with my buddy and his stock 4Runner he plans to build up

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Overlooking this beautiful clearing in Holcomb Valley

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Thanks to the rain there were many fun water crossings!

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This trail was stunning visually. Crossing a creek and deeper into the wilderness

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Wilbur’s grave. Didn’t know him.

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Belleville cabin - the last standing building of what once was in the gold mining settlement of Holcomb valley. There were also multiple mines accessible along this trail.

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Another gorgeous clearing of where the town of Holcomb Valley stood in 1860

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There were MANY water crossings. It turned out to be a lot of fun! Luckily the mud didn’t really stick.
 
IMG_8219.jpegThis one was the deepest of them all, up to my rocker guards and I was running no doors!

IMG_8232.jpegNext up, we went down Holcomb Creek! Obviously leaving the 4Runner and it’s 32s behind haha

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Got to really stretch the Jeep’s legs throughout this trail. This was my favorite bit of the trail.

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Another shot, probably still had an inch or two of travel too! Was happy with the Jeep’s performance.

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This rock garden tested the limits of my open diff and 35s for sure. Kissed my control arm mount, shock mount and rear diff a touch on a few of the boulders but most of all…

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Busted yet ANOTHER steering stabilizer lol. First the stock one now the Rancho. Even punched a whole in the shaft and it’s leaking oil now.

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As luck would have it, the Jeep dealer down the street from my work had 1 JK stabilizer left in stock! Excited to go back to the stock stabilizer like I should have in the first place. Still running the Rancho shocks though, no complaints there.
 
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