theksmith

our fearless leaders and the winner of the fuzzy bunny marshmallow eating contest is a Sunday side trail exploring the back side of the cinders on Sunday afternoon headed into the national park to see the Wupatki ruins before leaving on Monday morning ruins all alone in the park and just a few minutes delay for some construction, and i was back on the 89 and headed home

Brady was pretty excited to be headed to camping and "bumpy roads" the lava flow area just past where we camped (inside the sunset crater national park area) brady and i went for an early run in the cinders on friday before everyone else showed up, we came across some wildlife the first night's group we be eatin meat tonight having not rained lately, the Cinders were quite dusty this time group shot! the first good climb view from the top the big bowl

this is the craziest hike i've ever seen: check out the part at 1:30! more info on what and where: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caminito_del_Rey

for the map challenged: http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&source=s_d&saddr=phoenix,+az&daddr=Oleary+Group+Site+(AZ)+%4035.361667,-111.533056&geocode=%3BFYOTGwIdACRa-Q&hl=en&mra=ls&sll=35.361826,-111.547966&sspn=0.134392,0.307274&ie=UTF8&ll=35.277016,-111.474152&spn=0.538133,1.229095&z=10

i love that it actually has "alabama" on it! but i'm really suprised it doesn't have coolers for your beer... that must be only on the luxury model.

me too, they are impressive fires, saw this one last year on the way up to payson area to cut down a christmass tree... you could feel the heat quite strong even with 4 lanes between us:

welcome to the site! thanks for checking us out! post up some pictures of your rigs when you have a chance... or if you already have a build thread somewhere else, feel free to post the link! and you are welcome to lead a trip anytime! just post any run you want in the trip & events forum... or if you have some run on another forum and it's not filling up, please come post it here as well, we certainly aren't adverse to joint club events anytime!

great report guys, makes me jealous that i missed this one for sure!

thank you Virgil, much appreciated.

glad you made it to the site, and yeah, come to the cinders!

well, i'm in!

the o'leary group site has 3 "loops", which one are we staying at this time? weather looks perfect (forecast is for 45-50 for lows and 75-80 for highs) but, there's always a chance of rain this time of year, so bring your Jeep's top i'll probably have to wait till friday morning to pack, so i'll most likely get on the road around noon. can't wait!

great shots again D!

thanks, it's the same font as in our logo, and it is supposed to look like a "stamp" - it's called "Respess Capitals Medium" - photoshop - that bumper damage... hmmm... i think it was from the time you did woodpecker with us!

i totally agree with supporting local business, if they are competitive. if i have to pick up a phone, then you've already lost my business. i do everything on the net and i like it that way. hell, i don't even have to pick up a phone to order chinese food or pizza anymore. if 2 different companies both offer nice websites that take orders, accept multiple forms of payment, and are easy to use and navigate, then i'll give preference to the local one every time, even at the cost of a couple bucks... but if you aren't on the net, you lost me. at least i ordered from a small business in Tennessee, not a sweatshop in china

The Offroad Passport web site and community forum officially went live today! The site as you see it now is just the start! Tons of feature and usability upgrades are already in the works, so stick with us as we grow. We've already seen a quite a few new registrations today and want to welcome all the new members. If you haven't already, please stop by the "Introduce Yourself" forum and say hello. And if you know of anyone that's not on the forum, please send them our way. Remember, this is a community for nearly anything offroad, not just Jeepers and 4x4's... people you camp with in RV's, that group you ride quads with, even those guys that just take their street-bikes down a forest rode once in a while, everyone is welcome!

Hey Brian, you still have that crazy looking XJ?

So you may be shocked (as most of you know I remove every decal, including the Jeep ones, from all my vehicles), however, I've actually added a sticker now! I used http://www.signspecialist.com to get the custom lettering done, and here's what I can say about them Pros Website lets you upload a custom font. Website shows you exactly what dimensions everything will come out to be and gives you a preview of the final product as well. Website has pricing plain as day (nearly everywhere else I looked wanted you to email them or fill out a form for a custom quote... lame!) Pricing seemed very fair. Shipping was fast (ordered on a Friday afternoon and received Tuesday). Excellent install instructions. Cons Website looks like it was designed in the 80's and doesn't inspire confidence that they are a modern internet aware shop that is going to get your order done correctly and quickly (fortunately, this proved to just be a perception and not the reality). There's no way to adjust the tracking (spacing between letters) when ordering... all you can do is stretch the letters wider if you want things to come out wider or narrower (which would cause ugly distortions IMO). I would have preferred to add just a bit of tracking to mine to increase legibility from afar. We'll just have to see how the overall product lasts, and I'll keep you posted on that. But so far, happy with my purchase.

ok, aimee is going to be able to make this, so put me down for 2 adults now and one Brady, thanks! also, i'll be bringing a giant pack of hotlinks and some buns for the BBQ and not sure yet what side-dish. oh, and aimee is making some salsa for the contest!!!!

welcome back kids, that's quite a teaser shot, let's see some more!

glad you didn't get stranded....sounds like a few maintenance items and she'll be just fine! on the overheating you might try a new radiator cap before you spend too much money on things like water pumps and thermostats and such. oh and here's the key trick for getting your OBD1 codes yourself, and what they all are: http://xjjeep.com/2007/09/24/obd-codes/

Show off all your other current or past rides... on or off-road! my current 2: then heading back in time... 2001 Jeep Cherokee Limited: Dodge Dakota Quad Cab: Yamaha Warrior: 1998 Honda Magna VF750: Nissan Hardbody Extended Cab: 1988 Honda Magna: VW Jetta GLS: first car i ever had was this Isuzu I-Mark sedan that i paid $1100 for back in high-school: first powered thing i ever had was a Honda TRX200 quad (seen here in a failed river crossing) : i also had a black/blue motorcyle just like the silver/black one above, but never got around to customizing it because it got hit from behind at a stop light after a few months... also had a white Nissan truck like the charcoal one above but got t-boned a week after getting that one... and that's everything! so let's see all your rides!

another old mod... check out the not-quite-factory-looking slide switch in the center of the climate controls: so the Jeep came with "Dual Zone Climate Controls" which means you can adjust the temperature for the passenger side and driver side seperately. neat idea, except 90% of the time, I'm riding solo, and therefore want the entire interior "Climate" to be the same temperature... why would i want my side fighting the other side to keep me cool, while a non-existant passenger stays warm? add to that, i'm a fiddler... i can't ever get the temperature just right and leave it alone, i have to fiddle with it constantly during those in-between spring and fall months where you don't have everything on full blast heat or cold. this means i have to constantly fiddle with 2 knobs to keep the entire inside where i want it. i know, welcome to my insanity... anyway, i added the slider switch seen above... - when it's in the right position, dual climate controls function just as from the factory - when it's in the left position, both climate zones stay in sync... either knob will adjust both side's termperature at the same time. now i only fiddle with one knob too much! some pics from working on it: