ob1jeeper

What Diane said... I will add, that the links appear to be missing the lower bushings. Any shop selling Offroad suspension parts, should have them in stock.

Ryan, Sorry to hear of your issue that kept you from running this trail. 🤒 Tried to send you a message via ORP messages, but I'm blocked from sending you a message.

You've been a pretty busy beaver Ryan... ;) Looking good...

SOLD

Handy list for sure Kris... Well done & Thanks for the reminder to do the same for my own traveling tool bag... ;)

Ladybug & I are in... M-home and 1 Jeep. Looking forward to it... ;)

I failed to add in my comment above, that the KPI angle (KPIA) is typically set in production vehicles (independent suspensions AND "live" (or solid) axles, such that the scrub radius is as close to zero as practical. When larger tires are installed in our solid frt axle in attempts to improve off-road capability, the result is, higher scrub radius due to the deeper offsets, Since the kingpin angle hasn't changed, the scrub radius is increased making the vehicle more sensitive to road crown, and just as importantly, creates a higher probability for axle tramp, commonly know as the feared "Death Wobble". KPIA can be adjusted to a minor degree, on the typical "live" frt axles such as is in your JK, using offset balljoint cams. You may be able to adjust the KPA enough to balance out the road crown using some offset cams, and trying to offset the KPIA, side-to-side sufficiently enough to get a more stable "less drift/pulling to one side" vehicle while retaining your larger tires & wheels. With that said, as the tires grow larger and scrub radius grows along with it, it becomes more difficult to obtain sufficiently low enough scrub radius, with out modification to what is commonly referred to as the axles "C" brackets that have the ball joints in them, as well as modifying the knuckle to obtain a better KPIA, and lower scrub radius. To that end, most of the "custom axle builders" take that into account, and by pairing custom "C" brackets and knuckles, to set the KPIA's to obtain a lower scrub radius and more closely match the intended tire/wheel combinations. I will see if I can find some better information with some schematics that might explain this better than I am doing at the moment...

I'm going to throw out a possible for your consideration. Kingpin inclination angle... IE, the kingpin is no longer pointing to the center of the tire contact patch, thereby causing the vehicle to be more sensitive to road camber...

IF you are in the mood to remove the skid again, I'd suggest removing the patch piece you installed, then put/hold the skid in place (maybe with a jack?), and see just how much more you are able to remove from the skid in that area, without making it fit tight against the tank, to get back the clearance you once had. Then you could replace your patch with one that still clears your D-shaft joint. As for the lack of weld penetration, I'm of the opinion that these welds are not critical to the integrity of the skid, so I would not be afraid to place a half dozen (or so) 1/2-1 inch welds, which should suffice to keep the patch in place, as opposed to trying to completely weld it in place. Should you choose to remove it for re-do's, I'd recommend adding a few (half dozen?) holes in the lower portion of the plate, to allow any loose gravel/sand/etc. to escape, so that it doesn't get lodged and cause abrasion of the tank by becoming lodged between the two. Just my $.02...

Woody, From your description of the failure, there is almost no way the welds failed as a result of the splash-down.. IMHO, and experience, the axle welds failed long before the dunk into the water. The only way a dip in cool/cold water could create catastrophic failure would be for the welds to have been crystalized by sudden quenching of cold water while still VERY fresh from the welding and the weld joints still at VERY NEAR metal fusing/(melting) temperatures.

This is one of THE slickest mounts for extra fuel storage that I've ever seen... Well done... ;)

There is an entire science dedicated to the study of corregated road surfaces. The bulk of my career was focussed on vehicle durability, and determining how to accelerate the damaging inputs in a shortened time-frame, that would match (as close as practical) the damage that a customers vehicle would see over it's "service life", so that durability/reliability could be assessed as quickly as practical. I learned that wavelength of the washboard is primarily determined by the "spring rate" of the vehicles using the road. Larger vehicles (think dump trucks, etc.) have a lower frequency suspension than the typical passenger vehicle, thus on roads primarily used by trucks, will have a longer wavelength washboard, than a road which is primarily used by passenger sized vehicles. I also learned that amplitude of the correlations are directly linked to the material being used as a base. The largest action/mechanical reason for initiating washboard on unpaved roads used by "wheel driven" vehicles (as opposed to trailers as shown in the attached video where the wheel is being towed over the surface) is because a driven wheel slips/spins slightly with each rotation, as it is used to push the vehicle forward. When this occurs, it displaces a slight amount of material that forms the initial "bump", which over time devolves into washboard. This is most easily seen and demonstrated where the most severe washboard is located... If you pay attention the next time you are on a gravel road that is washboarded, you will note that the larger levels are found on a hill or in a curve. Let's talk about the hill first; The uphill lane will have significantly worse (higher amplitude) corrugations/washboard than the downhill lane. SO... If you see me climbing a grade on a non-paved surface... Driving up the grade, in the "wrong lane", you will know what I do this... It's less damaging to the vehicle. A similar material displacement action takes place in a curve, where the tire slips slightly sideways moving material such that the worst washboard in the curve, will be on the outside of the curve. FWIW: washboard surfaces are some of THE most "accelerated damaging" surfaces most vehicles are driven on. To make this worse... Washboards damaging forces are nearly doubled or more when the tires remain at or near "recommended pavement use" tire pressures. We all know from experience how much smoother the car feels when tires are "aired down"... and you can bet the vehicle knows this too. Finally, on the way home from our recent trip took to NM, driving on US64 from Shiprock, NM -to- AZ, we came across a several mile section of PAVED road surface that was washboarded. 🤯 This was a first for me... I had never before seen a paved road surface, whose sub-base had deformed sufficiently to allow the asphalt surface to become washboarded. It appears to be a real-world example of washboard formation without the initial surface disruption caused by tire slip, as shown in the above shared video. I thought it was pretty cool to witness... Especially for a road surface geek 😇 .

Hello from Chaco Canyon....

Kris, The odor you are experiencing from the black water tank is typically evidence of a "gas leak" either at the fluid tube, or the vent tube connection, as opposed to a liquid leak. A liquid leakage is rarely not noticeable. I've experienced both... More often than I'd have hoped for, but have come to the conclusion is one of the "lesser desired joys" of RV ownership. :( On a less fragrant note, are you using any type of black tank treatment? They DO help minimize the odors... Some better than others. The red dyed stuff from Walmart (I'll have to go check, but I think it's a Walmart brand??) seems to do a decent job, but nearly all of them help... After each dump (luckily we have a dump station @ our home), I do a flush by filling approximately 1/3 tank, then dumping again, followed by adding about a gallon of water, and a fresh dose of tank treatment, in preparation for storage, and the next outing. Tips about the black water tank - from my experience: 1- Dump immediately after a drive of sufficient distance to ensure the break down of the solids, and NEVER let them sit with solid waste long enough to "cake up" on the bottom, as they can be difficult to clean if that occurs. 2- IF you suspect it's not getting broken up by movement, adding a 5 lb bag of ice cubes and driving around for enough time to allow the cubes to help break up the solids is helpful... 3- Keeping the dump valves lubricated is important as well. Both for smooth ease of operation, (which can prolong the life of the valve seals), and to help with breaking down the contents and helping with odors. Most of the odor helpers do some of that, but I like to ad a spoonful of liquid laundry detergent for this purpose to the one gallon I add before putting into storage. Hopefully you will find these tips help your situation as well... 🤞

We have ALL been guilty of this... LOL...