WILL E

Welcome! I am glad you joined! I was super happy to find this club when the virtual jeep site died. It's a great group of folks!

Thanks for putting this together! Currently I (yes me, not my Jeep) am out of commission with a sprained ankle. I am going to sign up for some of these runs. And I plan on putting together the classic 'Florence box canyon' run sometime soon. You can also count on me to hit Bull Dog Canyon a few times this season (once my foot heals), so watch for those posts as well. My stupid foot! I am missing all of the nice weather.

So this is pretty cool. Frank joined me and a friend on Bulldog Friday. Thanks Ryan! Your mention got my attention and I PM'd him. Anyways, we are hanging out at the entrance gate, airing down, setting up lunch, etc. A guy name Joel comes over and asks us how he gets a permit. We give him the info and tell him, if he wants, he can tag along with us. He does. We get to our the first stop. A beautiful spot with great views. Unfortunately some time ago some jerk dumped 6 old used worthless tires there. I mentioned next time my buddy shows up with his J10 we will haul them out. Without hesitation Joel said "No Problem I'll get rid of them". So our tag along friend had us toss them in the back of his pickup. What luck! Hopefully he will join the site. Super great guy. We had a nice time. Friday was a great day to be out wheeling. Temps were perfect and the rain the night before meant no dust on the trail.

I relate to this.

Okay, not a big deal but I don't normally 'work' on my Colorado. The windshield wiper fluid motor quit. Average price to fix is $130 to $170. I picked up a new OEM part for around $22 bucks and did it myself. That's a win.

That looks like a great idea! What kind of stuff can you store in them?

Excellent tip! The old ones, when I left them attached, didn't hit and with leaf springs my droop isn't all that droopy. There's more room than the picture indicates but I have to admit it wasn't something I thought of so I will check it out. This is part of the joys of running old iron but trying to make new stuff work with it.

Okay, a month later. After overthinking this, which is a core competency of mine. I finally got the APEX installed. The problem I ran into was (A) it wasn't made for my jeep so (B) the studs for the sway bar mounts were too long and when attached to my sway bar would hit the frame. I spend a lot of time looking for a wider sway bar. However, there isn't much info out there about how wide different sway bars are. I also came up with an over complicated use of tie rod ends but didn't end up implementing it because (A) the holes were too small and (B) I came up with a better idea. This is the old link. I grabbed the heim joint and came up with this idea The cap bolt attaches to the sway bar. The length of the heim joint pretty much puts the link back in line where the old one was. So overall it worked out okay. I didn't get to test drive it today but I don't see any issues with clearance. This is going to be a nice upgrade, sometimes I wouldn't bother reattaching the sway bar, now it's just a turn of the knob and I am good to go.

Hey! I had a great time today. Maybe a bit warm but we made it work with the shade. Thanks for helping get the Subaru thru the trail. He did a great job. And I am still full from the food, ice cream sandwiches and brownies!

I am going to bring some stuff for lunch: BBQ sliders Jalapeño poppers Mac and Cheese Cheese Crisps with Los Dos Salsa.

Excellent You've been added to the roster.

Cool! Which Trail Hawk? You mentioned Hemi so I assume Grand Cherokee?

He's on the list. I have a guy with a Subaru joining us but he should be okay for the short part of the trail. if we decide to go to Wolverine I'll escort him out to Bush first.

Does anyone know the width length for the JK/JL sway bars? I need a slightly wider sway bar for my old Cherokee. There is LOTS of info on diameters but can't find anything on the distance from eyelet to eyelet and how far back from the front to the eyelet hole. Thanks!

My over 40 year old jeep hasn't seen action in a while. I have a sway bar upgrade planned for this weekend and figure the following weekend is a good time for another one of my short Bulldog runs to see how everything is working out. We will head in 3554. With a couple of stops for scenery and chatting we will still make it to a lunch spot in less than 2 hours (and probably faster) If it's a bit too warm we will head out FS10 and be back on pavement in 20 minutes. Or we might head back the way we came. Or perhaps we will head out south on FS10 to the wolverine exit. A permit is required, it's $6, lasts 6 months and is specific to the Bulldog Canyon area: https://www.recreation.gov/vehiclepermits/3332401 Technical Rating: 2 (easy) if we don't go out Wolverine, 2.5 if we do. There is one hill going out to Wolverine with a bit of a tippy spot but overall it's just scenery. REQUIREMENTS: A stock clearance 4x4 with a low range transfer case option, suitable front OR rear recovery point (trailer hitch is fine), stock tires. Rigs & drivers must meet all the typical state/federal legal requirements for on-highway vehicles (license, insurance, registration, seat belts, lights, etc.) $6 permit per vehicle. Each OPERATOR must have a permit, families can share a permit This is a great trail for people with little to no experience. Everyone must stay on the designated trails Radios: Not required. Ham on 462.700/GMRS 21 CB or FRS all work for me. Trail finding is easy and we'll keep you in our mirrors. I have spare radios too. Itinerary: Meet up time will be 9:30am at fr3554 trail head off of Usery Pass. We'll air down (optional) and chat a bit. We'll stop at least twice to enjoy the view and chat. We will Lunch under some shade trees. Then we will decide if we head out, go back or go to Wolverine. We will make sure everyone gets to an exit if they decide they don't want to keep going. I'll make some cheese crisps for anyone interested in a snack when we stop for lunch. I have a couple of buddy's planning to go on this run. They are not on the the club site. Invite your friends to join us as well. 3554 trail head: https://www.google.com/maps/place/West+Gate+to+Bulldog+Canyon+OHV+Area/@33.5026963,-111.6133648,15.5z/data=!4m13!1m7!3m6!1s0x872bbb81761e8ac7:0xc24136abcb51c998!2sUsery+Pass+Rd,+Mesa,+AZ+85207!3b1!8m2!3d33.5240835!4d-111.61566!3m4!1s0x872bbba068b5c437:0xe103b51b92f8ed81!8m2!3d33.5047988!4d-111.6172384 Confirmed WILL E - 83 Cherokee Derek - J10 Mick - confirmed Ken - Confirmed Andrei - confirmed. Subaru Forrester Wilderness edition Alexis - Confirmed Donny from the mountain - tentative