Miller carnage run 3/28...

[blkTJ]

trail report??? pics??? anyone??? anyone??? bueller???

[scubatch]

How many spares should one carry anyway????:confused: :confused:

[blkTJ]

spare whats??? tires??? wheels??? diffs??? clutches??? exhaust??? fan shrouds???

[jmbrowning]

Beautiful day for a Jeep/Landy run. No clouds in the sky, but not too hot with plenty of westerly breezes.

Attendee: Three Landys, one ZJ, one XJ, one Zuk Kick, six(?) Wranglers

Not too crowded. The usual dozen bikers riding up the same direction, four vehicles coming down the other way, and an XJ/ZJ duo that caught up with us from behind.

Trail itself was gorgeous with plenty of views and water in the creeks.

One clutch pedal took a dump and blew a pin that allowed it swing all the way forward into the lower part of the dash. Fixed with a bit of bailing wire that restrained it at the usual angle.

Took a side trip to Yellowjacket with lots of fun trying to get over a ledge/waterfall. Jeff blew a bead. Time to get the spare off the roof.


Then, one of the Disco's mufflers started dragging. The previously jury-rigged hanger needed a bit of coat-hanger reinforcement.


Just as we settled into the creek where the Miller trail starts, Jeff's other front tire sustained a sidewall puncture. Deja vu: get the dented rim off the roof, bang that dent back into place, air up and tire change.


Up the Miller trail we went. Merrily along negotiating fairly deep ruts and large boulders. Win graciously offered a tug from the rear with his 'Kick but soon after the CB was crackling with Win's voice "We've got a...big problem..."

Win's Kick had cracked its aluminum front differential at the frame mounting points.


The repair was to disengage the front driveshaft, however with a slip yoke, the transfer case promptly emptied itself. Win bravely made the trip up in 2 Hi (dry transfer case at this point) with quite a bit of help from Jeff tugging him along. It was pretty easy to tell where Win was along the trail as you could smell his clutch from about four car lengths away.

Afterward, there was the relatively minor incident of a Range Rover fan shroud that dropped into the fan. This had been a problem before the ride and was soon fixed with zipties.

After that fairly uneventful, except when airing up, we discovered that Jeff had lost one of the hitchpins for his disconnects. Gave him one of ours off of the mudflaps.

Very exciting ride. The XJ did fine, but there are gonna be a lot of vehicles spending time in the garage for this, that, and the other this week.

[tjTerry]

Great recap on the run. I had alot of fun, LONG day though. I was very happy with the way my jeep preformed. ( I only had to Winch Joe once too)
The "Missus" kicked some BFR 's butts in her Cherokee also.

[JeepGal]

Right on...Weve been missing the good stuff recently.

Great write-up, we heard through the grapevine that it was to say the least, and interesting run. Thanks for the update.

Pics?

Tam

[NAILER341]

wow! miller must have gotten harder sounds like all kinds of broken stuff on this run. glad everyone made it out ok.
when you say "kick" is that a suzuki sidekick? that looks like some rough breakage

[Dukes69]

Originally posted by NAILER341

when you say "kick" is that a suzuki sidekick? that looks like some rough breakage

I believe so.

Looks like fun, depending on your definition!

[igofshn]

That top picture also has a bent tie rod.

[jmbrowning]

Zuk Kick = Suzuki Sidekick

Win's truck had a Calmini lift, 31" tires, and lockers fore and aft. I guess it's the perfect time for that live axle conversion.

Analysis:
1) always have bailing wire available
2) one spare tire may not be enough
3) bring a pan in which to catch transfer case oil
4) fix known broken stuff before heading out on the trail (muffler hanger and radiator fan shroud, in this particular case)
5) bring a base to put the hydraulic/OEM bottle jacks on when jacking up the axle on a rig with 33's. the bright orange Hi-Lift base was very handy for this although a couple of 2x4' could have sufficed also

I wonder if it would have been possible to chain or strap the front differential to the Sidekick so that the front driveshaft would not slip out of the transfer case and then unlock the front hubs to enable a drive-out in rear wheel drive low? I guess the front differential flopping around could cause the front driveshaft to seize even if the hubs were unlocked.

Also, how do you keep the oil from pouring out of the transfer case if there is a slip yoke? Would a lot of plastic bags crumpled up form an adequate plug?

Finally, did Win make it back to Ojai OK and how is the Zuki doing?

[Dukes69]

Originally posted by jmbrowning

Also, how do you keep the oil from pouring out of the transfer case if there is a slip yoke? Would a lot of plastic bags crumpled up form an adequate plug?

Ziplock bags and duct tape!