Scramblin_Jim

OMG Mike, I will I every locate you without the squeek?

move it to the southern border and use instead of a fence. .

I have two 2-gallon ones; one water, one gas. Never a bit of a problem. Had them about a year now. Taken them on several trips. Mounted using the adapter for the stock spare tire; max weight is 4-gallons worth for this carrier. I actually like them very much as they are much easier to handle than 5 gallon Jerry cans which I had before. No need to siphon out the gas with one of those gas siphon hose that rattles, just use the included spout that comes with each can. That way ya get ever drop of gas out of the container. I have a bike cable lock around them to prevent them from walking off. Only negative about them is no way to prevent someone siphoning out the gas as the cap is not locking. When not carrying the water one on the tire carrier, I just put it in the back of the Jeep. Never worry about how it is sitting back there as the cap has held without leaking in all positions. I'm thinking about getting one more of each; placing the gas containers outside and the water inside the Jeep.

At the Thanksgiving I went down to the car show at the Civic Plaza and drove several cars. I did drive both the 2014 Cherokee Limited and the 2014 Grand Cherokee Limited one right after the other around the downtown Phoenix streets. Both vehicles were the 2 wheel drive versions clearly aimed at the families not offroaders. I liked the ride quality and size of the new Cherokee much better than the Grand for a seat of the pants approach to vehicle testing. Price of the two vehicles tested were in the $30's with the Grand approaching $40K! Inside the show they had a Sport version of the Cherokee that started in the mid $20's. Again I was not there to consider buying either vehicle as I am more than happy with my Rubicon and would get another Rubicon before either of these vehicles because of where I drive my Jeep. Like others have said, if you lived in the ice and snow states, then this is where the marketing is aimed at. And of course around here there are thousands of the older Grand Cherokees just commuting never to see the trails as we all do. That is the reality of the market place. If I wanted a Jeep product for my wife to drive back 'n forth to work then I would look at the new Cherokee over the Grand. . . but then again her Avalon is such a nice big reliable car that gets 24mpg in town and 38 mpg (driving sensible) when we take it on road trips. Why would I make the switch?

me too, but I'm not cutting mine off. Its a badge of honor.

Sadly to say I have never considered taking advantage of my 2010 Wranglers Bluetooth capabilities and tried to set something up with my phone the other day. The phone could not find my Jeep in search mode even when I press every button I could find on my Jeep's radio. Is there a code to enable the Jeep's radio to "talk" with the cell phone? If so, how is it found and done?

Yep stock Rubicon with 32" tires.

got home about 3:30. I drive slower than Roy Karen this was a great trip. I really enjoyed it. An area I always wanted to explore but just never got around to it. Loved the Dutch Oven cooking and the cookies. Thanks for putting it together and leading. Great job!

OK I'm standing down on the breakfast. I will bring the onion I was planning on using. I also have ham/cheese hours-doers. I will have 2 gallons of extra gasoline and wood. that ought to heat things up just kidding.

Wellllllll, it is really breakfast food but I like breakfast anytime. Scrambled eggs with shreaded hashbrowns and sausage, onion, green chiles (mild), and shreadded cheese on top. Takes about 50 minutes to cook. I'm using a 6 qt Dutch oven. I was not planning on feeding the whole troop on this dish, just one of the pot luck items. Probably feeds 4 very hungry people, maybe 8 little old ladies Will need other dishes to provide more food for all. Not into breakfast at night, I could do something else.

I'm game for either one. Dutch Oven Mt. Man Breakfast can be served for either dinner or breakfast.

yummmmmmmmmmm

sign me up please

Yep you are correct about it not happening. Been in my house 7 years now and not a day goes by that I don't think about having the garage floor coated. Its a 3-car garage and one side is full of "junk". I recently got a storage shed and plan on this winter moving the stuff out and trying to get the third car into the garage. With all the junk in the way, it should be relative clean and free of vehicle oils and tire marks. I'm thinking of trying the U-Coat-It product and coat the one stall. http://www.ucoatit.com/2011web/main.htm Which product did you use?

I find this thread most interesting as I am now starting to research out if using a iPad gen 4 would be a good solution to replacing my Toughbook. I like the idea of using the Carolina Metal Masters JK grab handle, which has a rammount connector. Looks like this is a good solution for getting the computer off the passenger seat and more at eye level. How does this setup work with a passenger in the seat? Does the location of the iPad on the mount cause the passenger a danger being too close to their knees, face, etc.? How do you keep tracking/plotting your GPS location when you do not have cell towers or internet connect? Is this where the lightening connection on the back of the iPad can be used to feed in a GPS signal like I do with my USB connection to the Toughbook? I use a Garmin GPSmap 60CSx as my GPS receiver.

Yesterday I went to a shop in central Phoenix area called Trail Concepts. They take new vehicles and put mostly AEV equipment on them and ship them to wealthy clients outside AZ. They have turnkey modification packages from ~ $5K to ~ $18K. They are working on a Jeep JK getting it ready for the SEMA show and had another JK all done except for a roof rack install there for me to look at. This really helped to talk and see the lift/tire/wheel/bumper combos installed. The JK waiting for the rack was basically how I was thinking of doing my rig. It sure answered a lot of questions and now I have a path forward on what I want to do. So if any of you would now like to donate to the "Scramblin_Jim Jeep Fund" I will be glad to provide instructions on where to send your donations to my charity! Thanks to all who responded to this thread and the discussions posted. They did help. (no flat fenders for me . . .)

OH NO you too!

Well I can't make up my mind what to do. Limited budget is causing me to do my upgrades in a piecemeal fashion. 1. I need new tires. I have about 8/32's left on the stock BFG KM mud terrains. I don't want to put on the same size but go bigger. The questions is can I go with 33" or 35" MTR's with my stock Rubicon rims. (I got 10 of them - that's another story - don't want to go into it now). That is why I was looking at the Metal Cloak flat fenders to gain clearance for the bigger tires. But I'm told I will still rub due to the rim offsets. So is flat fender a waste of money and I should just go with new tires and rims? 2. If so, then how big a tire rim combo can I go without doing a lift? 3. With bigger tires come rubbing and loss in articulation (assuming) if I keep the same ride height and stock rims. But just how big a tire can you put under the stock 2010 JKU Rubicon before your tearing up tires? 4. I figure on going with MTR's but others seem to do just fine with AT's. AT's seem to have less rubber on them but last longer, are lighter and therefore would provide in theory better MPG. For argument sake, I am only considering BFG's. Is this a no factor in the equation, e.g. whatever the tire measures out to in inches, it don't matter if it is a MTR or AT. 5. I want to get a lift, but not too tall. My wife has trouble getting in now with the stock height. I like the idea of smallest lift possible and largest tire possible to keep CG low. Therefore I am leaning toward the AEV 2.5" lift and 35" tires. 6. To get bigger tires I guess I really need new rims due to the offset needs to be correct. Is that true? People aren't just upgrading rims because they don't like the looks of the stock rims? 7. With bigger tires come the problem of where to store the spare. I think any thing bigger than 33" will not fit the stock spare tire mount. That means $$$ for a tire carrier. Or do you deflate the 35" tire and wedge it onto the stock mount. Another possibility is to get the AEV rear tire mount but without their bumper. I'm told the tire mount will install onto the stock bumper. OH MY HEAD IS HURTING!!! I know you all have struggled with these same set a problems. How did you solve it without taking out a second loan on your home? Go ahead tell me the truth, I think I can take it. ANALYSIS PARALYSIS - AKA Scramblin Jim

Wow. I've been want'n to explore that area. Every time I head to Vegas I see the dirt roads off to the east and wonder what is out there but just never get around to doing it. Now that there are GUNS out there, I feel the call.

I'm considering going with the the JK Metal Cloak fenders to gain enough room for running 37" tires without a lift. Haven't done a lot of research yet on them or if I need to get different rims for the 37" tires. I do have a SuperChip programmer to readjust for the bigger tires. Wonder if I will need to regear so I'm not loosing power. The Rubicon has 4:10's. Anyone have any experience with them? Or other insight to this approach? Here is the link to their web site: http://www.metalcloak.com/JK-JKU-Wrangler-Bumpers-Fenders-Lifts-s/139.htm

I would be interested in seeing one up close and driving it. I would not have any interest in anything less than the Trailhawk though. Is $30K+ worth it or would I be more happy with a JK Rubicon starting in that price range? The odd front end is starting to appeal to me but seeing it in person will satisfy that. I would wait to the second or third year of production before I would consider buying just to let others work the bugs out and prove the concept that this is really an off road Jeep. By then if it has any staying power in the market place the aftermarket crowd will have started to offer upgrades and add to the appeal of having one with various beyond MOPAR offerings. Until then, I hope they will have it at the Jeep test track at the next Phoenix car show in late November so we can at least ride in it.

So $25 per analysis times 27 samples = a lot of money (over $650) for what? So you can sleep better at night? I find sex works better since I'm already paying for that! And I sure don't care about the environment and the extra oil I am consuming since I'm not stretching out the change interval. I'm sorry I just can't get into this over analysis. I have prepaid oil changes from the dealer and just take it in every 3K and not worry about it. On all my other cars I do the same (no prepaid oil changes though) and with the wife's car at 186k and no problems. I've run several Volvo over the years well into the 250K range before they were totaled out in a wreck (no engine problems causing the wreck ) and use the same 3K oil change intervals. Never a problem with engine failures. Never worried about which brand of oil, just as long as it met the specifications for the engine. I doubt I will keep my vehicles beyond 500K miles and willing to take the risk between 250K to when I get rid of the vehicles so oil analysis will not impact that decision. I will admit you all have a fun hobby of supporting the oil analysis business.

I've done one. Eat dust most of the trip to keep close enough to not get lost. Without lights, they use canes and feel for the edge of the road!

I don't see the attraction to driving around in the dark trying not to use your headlights. I'd rather stay home and eat bacon!

No load range is the same. They are the exact same tire, just made at different dates! I did find ONE tire with slight cupping by doing just as you suggested, running my hand in both directions across the tire tread. So that must be it. Thanks, Jim