theksmith 3,590 Posted November 6, 2022 went out for a bit in that little storm we had earlier this week... 5 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
theksmith 3,590 Posted November 29, 2022 thanks @4x4tographer for this great shot of Gadget with @WILL E's classic beast! 2 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
theksmith 3,590 Posted December 5, 2022 picked up some Thai and had lunch in the desert yesterday... 6 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
theksmith 3,590 Posted December 14, 2022 (edited) i'm excited to have gotten a bunch of Teraflex boxes, even though i can't use what's in them yet... i took advantage of a sale around black friday and picked up the Teraflex Front Locking Hubs & Big Brakes and Rear Full Floating Hub & Big Rotor kits. i have to buy new 8 lug wheels to go with them though, and since i need to space out the big purchases, i can't install any of it for a while! the most important feature to me is the lockout hubs will let me finally run some decent caster without any front driveshaft vibes on the highway from the corresponding pinion angle. i've also really wanted to improve Gadget's braking since putting on the 37's. there are plenty of other benefits to the kit as well, check out this Teraflex video if you're curious. i saw that i could assemble the majority of the front hubs on the bench, so i at least got to go ahead with that step. i bought a jar of Red Line CV-2 grease for assembly and also needed a Dana 60 style hub socket. i'm currently planning to go with the Vision OJos wheels in satin black. i'll be changing out the chrome bolts for black ones though. they are some of the least expensive 8 on 6.5" wheels with the right offset that i really like the look of. a nice touch is the fake beadlock ring extends out at the valve stems which should help prevent shearing them off in the rocks. Teraflex also sells an 8 x 6.5" version of their spare tire mount. however, rather than buy it, i ordered a raw plate with that bolt pattern which i'll use to adapt my existing carrier. Edited December 15, 2022 by theksmith 4 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
theksmith 3,590 Posted December 15, 2022 (edited) photos from our Bradshaw Trail trip... some from @Bradywgn71: and a few from @4x4tographer: Edited December 15, 2022 by theksmith 5 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
theksmith 3,590 Posted December 16, 2022 (edited) this last adventure was my 2nd time out with the new lithium house battery setup. i posted an update on that project here... also, my fridge has been acting up lately, not wanting to hold temperature - but only some of the time. i've ordered a new thermistor from AllVolts since that's one of the most common failures and easily replaceable. i've used this Dometic CFX65DZ a ton over the past 6 years, so i can't complain too much. Edited December 16, 2022 by theksmith 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
theksmith 3,590 Posted December 19, 2022 (edited) i recently added a cheap amber light bar to act as a fog light. nope, AZ doesn't have a lot of fog - but i have been caught in snowstorms several times in Northern AZ and had the headlights reflecting back from heavy snow so much that i could barely see the road. i wanted a bar with actual amber LEDs instead of a colored lens. i thought an orange section of plastic would look out of place with everything else clear or smoked on the front of my rig. this one actually has dual white and amber LEDs, but i only hooked up the amber. i was able to mount it directly to my winch with minimal effort. it's small enough to blend in to the front of the Jeep well (photo by @4x4tographer). the light's pigtail has a female 3-pin Deutsch DT style connector, but didn't include a matching harness. i picked up this connector set from Amazon for $10 just for the male side. of course i had to get a corresponding rocker switch actuator from OTR. i was happy that it turned out to be a nice amber color instead of plain yellow, and it's brighter than i expected. i should be able to use this with the headlights completely off on low-speed night runs so as to not blind whoever is in front of me. the bar also has a wide pattern and isn't just a total flood light. i am slightly disappointed the top cut-off isn't better defined like a projector lens would be. i haven't gotten a nighttime photo with it on yet (i'll update this post when i do). i did look at the big name companies (Rigid, Vision-X, Baja Designs, KC Hilites) before buying a cheap light. however, only one of them had an amber light with a clear lens. Vision-X's dual white/amber 12" Shocker bar looks awesome, but i couldn't bring myself to spend $650 on it right now. maybe one day! EDIT: night time beamshots click here... Edited December 22, 2022 by theksmith Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
HeyOK 8 Posted December 19, 2022 I like your new light. Do I see some sort of cover to keep the sun off of your winch line? And since I am being nosey, is that a toggle switch located above and to the left of the new light? Maybe it controls a water pump for what looks like a water nozzle? Maybe I see another toggle switch on the far right side on the winch controller. What does it do? 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
