theksmith 3,673 Posted August 14, 2009 and i grabbed a picture of my one other carnage item from that last Mud Springs trip: found that when i went to air up, couldn't believe it was holding air still! unfortunately, the valvestem is part of the TPMS and so i ordered a used replacment sensor/valvestem from ebay for $26 including shipping... waiting for it to get here. i'll only do that once though, the next time i slice off a valve stem, i'll probably remove all the TPMS and just put in regular valve stems. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
theksmith 3,673 Posted August 14, 2009 wooo hoo, headed out in a few hours for a great weekend i think.. camping all weekend near Mingus Mountian, AZ: http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=34+42.991,+-112+09.999&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=36.863178,78.75&ie=UTF8&ll=34.713502,-112.161913&spn=0.018697,0.038452&t=h&z=15 then saturday doing a trail run called Smiley Rock up in the same area: http://arizonatrailways.com/cs/blogs/trails/archive/2008/06/26/Smiley-Rock-Trail-and-Martin-Canyon-Trail-Jerome.aspx then on sunday, attending the Overland Expo in Prescott, AZ! http://www.ovexpo.com Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
theksmith 3,673 Posted August 14, 2009 so i've been neglecting my jeep lately because of a new on/off-road toy: plus the jeep was in the body shop for a couple weeks getting several things repaired.. but should have a couple minor mods coming soon... stay tuned! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
theksmith 3,673 Posted August 14, 2009 So i forgot to mention i won grand cherokee of the month over on http://www.jeepforum.com back in march! Ya! sometimes the best presents are ones you aren't expecting! got the mail saturday and was suprised with a package: thanks to the amsoil dude (forgot his screen-name) for sending my shirt from the March rig of the month contest... very nice! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
theksmith 3,673 Posted August 14, 2009 bumper is getting beat up pretty bad lately, lost one of the grille inserts for the fog light holes that i made, mangled another... definitely need a new bumper soon. however, in the mean-time, i trimmed it up to get rid of the worst parts and improve approach: looks pretty good, should have just done that a long time ago! i used a combination of a hook-end blade in a utility knife, a pair of metal snips, and then a Dremel with a sanding drum to clean things up and round the inside corner. took about 30 minutes including time to remove and replace the bumper. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
theksmith 3,673 Posted August 14, 2009 on my last real wheeling trim (mud springs) i managed to get mud and rocks embedded in my wheel bead area and couldn't get it out good enough on the trail to hold air... so i swapped to my spare. (yeah, same trip i broke a valve stem on, but different wheel). well i finally got off my *** and broke the bead and cleaned it out and put it all back together so i have a spare again.. woo hoo! you can kinda see down in there in this pic: breaking the bead: cleaning it out: Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
theksmith 3,673 Posted August 14, 2009 crappy cell phone pic, but it's always nice to compare to a stocker to appreciate all the work and money we put into these toys... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
theksmith 3,673 Posted August 14, 2009 went camping over the 4th of july up near Flagstaff. it rained pretty hard one time and consequently... MUD! little splash video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IJCWTgILvsA it was a healthy weekend the first bottle was nearly empty long before dark on the first day... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
theksmith 3,673 Posted August 14, 2009 OK, the build thread is up-to-date as of now, so no more copying an pasting from my old thread over on JeepForum... everything from here on out has accurate date/time stamps. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
