bobbysjeep
Legacy Registered User
- City
- Charlotte
- State
- NC
Thanks for the update. We will need lots of pics!
Another Scrambler Purchase/Road Trip - UPDATE- BODY ON FRAME AGAIN
- Thread starter spankrjs
- Start date
Major Jack
Legacy Registered User
- City
- Zillah
- State
- Wa
Raymond,
Over 68,000 views and just broke 1,000 posts for this thread. Nice to see it going so strong.
Over 68,000 views and just broke 1,000 posts for this thread. Nice to see it going so strong.
- City
- Dillsboro
- State
- IN
- City
- Biloxi
- State
- MS
Made it home safe and sound about an hour ago, the adventure of a lifetime ;-)
Will post up pics and commentary later on this week once I decompress. Made it through 9 major trails, and roughly 3,300 road miles cross country. One trail/age related breakdown, was able to get it fixed up, no problem ;-)
Will post up pics and commentary later on this week once I decompress. Made it through 9 major trails, and roughly 3,300 road miles cross country. One trail/age related breakdown, was able to get it fixed up, no problem ;-)
kryptoniteCJ8
Legacy Registered User
- City
- Houston
- State
- Tx
I can't wait to see what kind of adventure you had!
bobbysjeep
Legacy Registered User
- City
- Charlotte
- State
- NC
- City
- Biloxi
- State
- MS
This will be a brief update, I will post pictures and more details when I get more time.
I left Biloxi, MS on the morning of April 19. I took I10/I12 to Baton Rouge, LA. From Baton Rouge, I took I49 north to Shreveport, LA. At Shreveport, took I20 west through Dallas, TX. From Dallas, headed North West through Amarillo. Stopped for the night in Wildorado, TX, just west of Amarillo. It was late and raining.
Woke up Friday, drove north through TX, cut across New Mexico and entered Colorado. We took Highway 160 through the mountains. Lots of high elevation, steep climbs, long up and down grades, snow on the side of the road etc. Highway 160 is definitely worth the drive, if you are not pulling a trailer. A hard drive, but very scenic and challenging. On some of the super steep long grades, by the time I got to the top I would be in 3rd gear, 3500 RPM, maintaining 45 mph. Finally entered Utah near Monticello, and drove north to Moab on Highway 191.
The Scrambler performed flawlessly on the cross country drive to Moab. I lost about 1/2 quart of engine oil from a slightly leaking oil fill cap, which I replaced when I got to Moab. Other than that, no problems. I averaged around 18 MPG at 70 MPH. Funny enough, in the hilly mountains of Colorado, I got a high of 20 MPG. The 1/2 soft top is kind of noisy, unless you leave the windows barely opened.
On Saturday, we hit two trails. The first is called "Pickle". It has a series of steep ledges to climb. A challenging trail. I had to winch out in one part. The trail narrows to very tight squeeze at one point. I could not fit through the squeeze, attempted to climb a ledge at a 45 degree angle, and got hung up on the transfer case skid plate/driver side rock slider. I winched out. After "Pickle", we hit another trail called "Mashed Potato". A very fun challenging trail, I drug my back bumper a bunch here.
On Sunday, we went to some Dead Horse Park. All paved road scenery. Very nice State Park, lots of scenic views.
On Monday, we went to "Sevenmile Rim". Pretty fun/tough trail. This trail is where I had my one and only break down. I was attempting to climb a rock face, my rear driveshaft spit out. At first, I thought I just broke the U-joint/straps on the rear axle pinion. Nope, not that easy. I spun the passenger side axle tube in the center section, causing the pinion to rotate upward, busting the u-joint, and crushing the rear axle spring perches. I took out the rear driveshaft, unlocked the rear hubs, and made it off the trail and back to town/camp. In town, I bought a new U-joint, strap kit, and two HD spring perches. My buddy brought his wire welder, we borrowed a bottle of gas, and basically cut off the old spring perches, welded on new ones, and then stitch welded the axle tubes to the center section. We also rewelded the factory "plug welds". We had it repaired that night, ready to hit the trails the next day.
On Tuesday, we hit "Hells Revenge" and "Finns and Things". These are both very fun challenging trails. After spinning an axle tube the day before, I was a little nervous at first. But, after driving awhile, I regained my confidence. But, during our previous day’s repairs, we managed to bind up the rear Ox Locker Cable. So, I had no locking rear diff for these two trails, but I did complete them without winching, including the "Devils Escalator" obstacle. I fixed the Ox cable the next morning, though.
Wednesday was the longest day. We hit "Poisen Spider Mesa", "Golden Spike", and "Gold Bar Rim". We left camp at 9am, made it back at midnight. These are some challenging, long trails. I had no issues. But, the CJ5 in our group broke a front chrome molly front axle stub shaft clean in half before lunch. He limped the rest of the day in 3 wheel drive. The broke axle caused some maneuvering problems for him, and he put his jeep on its side. No injuries, just a bent windshield frame, smashed mirror, and a wrinkle cowl. We got him back up, and finished up. I will say this, if wheeling in the day at Moab is challenging, night wheeling makes it much more difficult/fun.
On Thursday, we hit Pritchett. This is a very challenging trail. All the other trails we hit were level "4" on a "1-4" scale. Pritchett is a "5". I used the winch points at "Chewy", "Axle Hill", and winched up "Rock Pile". I was able to drive the rest of the trail, but even the "By Passes" are tough. Pritchett is scary. The big obstacle did not scare me, but the narrow, cliff side trails, with sever off camber obstacles that want to tip your jeep over the edge, down to the cliff floor below, make for some white knuckle driving. If you roll here, your jeep will be destroyed. It is a very tough trail, not for those with weak nerves. I don't want to make it sound too bad, because it was fun, but it is TOUGH/SCARY. On the day we hit Pritchett, it rained, which made it that much more challenging. So, basically, I can brag that I did Pritchett, in the rain!!!
On Friday, easy day. We toured Arches National Park. One day is not enough to see everything in this park. We also did some shopping in town, and viewed some of the many antique cars that were in town for a huge car show. Lots of good restaurants/bars/microbreweries in town, I might add.
I reluctantly left Moab on Saturday. Drove south on 191, crossed into New Mexico, went through Farmington, Albuquerque, and crossed into west TX near Amarillo. Stopped in Childress TX for the night due to rain/hail. Got up Sunday, and made it home. I have a slightly bent/compressed rear passenger side spring, causing my Scrambler to lean to the left. I rearranged my cargo, put all the heavy stuff on the driver side, and my Scrambler would sit level and handle great again. Before I rearranged the cargo, when you hit bumpy sections of curvy concrete interstate at speed (Albuquerque/Dallas) it would feel a little "weird" in the back. The rearranged cargo cured this. Made it back to Biloxi around 9 pm.
Lots of driving, lots of trails, and lots more driving back home. I had a blast, and the Scrambler performed great. Truly, an adventure that I would gladly repeat. The only repair I need to make: replace my rear springs, maybe get some slightly stiffer rear springs. Hopefully, Rubicon Express will warranty my springs???
As for my modifications and their performance characteristics:
1) MPI Fuel Injection - performed flawlessly. I could not imagine driving a carb from sea level, to elevation, and back again, without some issues. Off road, it was beautiful. MPG was good, too.
2) Selectable Lockers Front and Rear - besides me twisting the rear shifter cable during repair work, worked perfectly. After driving all the curvy, high altitude highways with open diffs, no way would I do it with auto lockers. Off road, I drove with the diffs open 90% of the time. I would engage them before I needed. The ability to unlock the diffs allowed for great maneuverability, plus a lot less strain on the power train/axles while driving on the high traction slick rock.
3) 4:1 Dana 300 gears - Loved them. Absolute control. With an auto transmission, maybe not necessary, but with a standard, I believe necessary. The lower low range allowed me to drive more gracefully, and the downhill compression breaking was phenomenal.
4) 20 Gallon gas tank - Loved it. On the highway, I had a 300 mile range, or about 4 hours of driving. On the trail, I would burn 8-9 gallons a day, leaving me with plenty of reserve fuel. Just remember, at Moab, you are in the desert. The trails are long and hard, and there are no gas stations in the wilderness. The CJ5 in our group had an LT1 V8 and a 15 gallon fuel cell, He ran out of gas on 3 of the 5 days. Good thing I carried an extra 5 gallon fuel can in my bed!!
5) Tires and Suspension _ Tires worked great. I had good traction, comfort, and no excessive tire "fold over" running 20 psi. I also ran on the paved roads back to camp at 20 psi, and it still handled good. The suspension worked great, flexed well, and handled the highways excellent. I might need to upgrade to slightly stiffer rear springs, due to my passenger side rear spring sagging/stuck an inch lower than the driver side. Either the weight, traction, torque multiplication of the 4:1 Dana 300, or a combination of the above, is a little too much for the rear springs.
All in all, I am very pleased with the Scrambler. It has performed its "dual" role flawlessly. That is, it drove on road to Moab safely and comfortably, it drove off road on some of Moab's toughest trails for a week, and made it back home in one piece. Yes, it did spin an axle tube, but in hind sight, I should have welded the tubes when I had the axle out. That, and the rear axle is almost 30 years old. So, I am not going to moan about that too much. The wheel base of the Scrambler allowed for a comfortable on road ride. Off road, on the steep climbs and descents, the vehicle felt planted. The front never felt "light" during climbs, the back never felt "light" during descents. I did hit the Dana 300 skid plate some, but that is what it is there for. The rear bed space easily held all my gear. Now, the rear overhang did live up to its "*** dragger" nick name, but my rear bumper handled all the hits just fine. I would in no way considering "bobbing" the bed and losing the cargo space just to keep from scraping the bottom of the rear bumper. I did hold me up once, but that’s why I have a winch on the front.
In conclusion, sorry for the long rambling post, I am very happy with the Scrambler, and just had the wheeling experience of a lifetime. I will post pics and video later on this week.
I left Biloxi, MS on the morning of April 19. I took I10/I12 to Baton Rouge, LA. From Baton Rouge, I took I49 north to Shreveport, LA. At Shreveport, took I20 west through Dallas, TX. From Dallas, headed North West through Amarillo. Stopped for the night in Wildorado, TX, just west of Amarillo. It was late and raining.
Woke up Friday, drove north through TX, cut across New Mexico and entered Colorado. We took Highway 160 through the mountains. Lots of high elevation, steep climbs, long up and down grades, snow on the side of the road etc. Highway 160 is definitely worth the drive, if you are not pulling a trailer. A hard drive, but very scenic and challenging. On some of the super steep long grades, by the time I got to the top I would be in 3rd gear, 3500 RPM, maintaining 45 mph. Finally entered Utah near Monticello, and drove north to Moab on Highway 191.
The Scrambler performed flawlessly on the cross country drive to Moab. I lost about 1/2 quart of engine oil from a slightly leaking oil fill cap, which I replaced when I got to Moab. Other than that, no problems. I averaged around 18 MPG at 70 MPH. Funny enough, in the hilly mountains of Colorado, I got a high of 20 MPG. The 1/2 soft top is kind of noisy, unless you leave the windows barely opened.
On Saturday, we hit two trails. The first is called "Pickle". It has a series of steep ledges to climb. A challenging trail. I had to winch out in one part. The trail narrows to very tight squeeze at one point. I could not fit through the squeeze, attempted to climb a ledge at a 45 degree angle, and got hung up on the transfer case skid plate/driver side rock slider. I winched out. After "Pickle", we hit another trail called "Mashed Potato". A very fun challenging trail, I drug my back bumper a bunch here.
On Sunday, we went to some Dead Horse Park. All paved road scenery. Very nice State Park, lots of scenic views.
On Monday, we went to "Sevenmile Rim". Pretty fun/tough trail. This trail is where I had my one and only break down. I was attempting to climb a rock face, my rear driveshaft spit out. At first, I thought I just broke the U-joint/straps on the rear axle pinion. Nope, not that easy. I spun the passenger side axle tube in the center section, causing the pinion to rotate upward, busting the u-joint, and crushing the rear axle spring perches. I took out the rear driveshaft, unlocked the rear hubs, and made it off the trail and back to town/camp. In town, I bought a new U-joint, strap kit, and two HD spring perches. My buddy brought his wire welder, we borrowed a bottle of gas, and basically cut off the old spring perches, welded on new ones, and then stitch welded the axle tubes to the center section. We also rewelded the factory "plug welds". We had it repaired that night, ready to hit the trails the next day.
On Tuesday, we hit "Hells Revenge" and "Finns and Things". These are both very fun challenging trails. After spinning an axle tube the day before, I was a little nervous at first. But, after driving awhile, I regained my confidence. But, during our previous day’s repairs, we managed to bind up the rear Ox Locker Cable. So, I had no locking rear diff for these two trails, but I did complete them without winching, including the "Devils Escalator" obstacle. I fixed the Ox cable the next morning, though.
Wednesday was the longest day. We hit "Poisen Spider Mesa", "Golden Spike", and "Gold Bar Rim". We left camp at 9am, made it back at midnight. These are some challenging, long trails. I had no issues. But, the CJ5 in our group broke a front chrome molly front axle stub shaft clean in half before lunch. He limped the rest of the day in 3 wheel drive. The broke axle caused some maneuvering problems for him, and he put his jeep on its side. No injuries, just a bent windshield frame, smashed mirror, and a wrinkle cowl. We got him back up, and finished up. I will say this, if wheeling in the day at Moab is challenging, night wheeling makes it much more difficult/fun.
On Thursday, we hit Pritchett. This is a very challenging trail. All the other trails we hit were level "4" on a "1-4" scale. Pritchett is a "5". I used the winch points at "Chewy", "Axle Hill", and winched up "Rock Pile". I was able to drive the rest of the trail, but even the "By Passes" are tough. Pritchett is scary. The big obstacle did not scare me, but the narrow, cliff side trails, with sever off camber obstacles that want to tip your jeep over the edge, down to the cliff floor below, make for some white knuckle driving. If you roll here, your jeep will be destroyed. It is a very tough trail, not for those with weak nerves. I don't want to make it sound too bad, because it was fun, but it is TOUGH/SCARY. On the day we hit Pritchett, it rained, which made it that much more challenging. So, basically, I can brag that I did Pritchett, in the rain!!!
On Friday, easy day. We toured Arches National Park. One day is not enough to see everything in this park. We also did some shopping in town, and viewed some of the many antique cars that were in town for a huge car show. Lots of good restaurants/bars/microbreweries in town, I might add.
I reluctantly left Moab on Saturday. Drove south on 191, crossed into New Mexico, went through Farmington, Albuquerque, and crossed into west TX near Amarillo. Stopped in Childress TX for the night due to rain/hail. Got up Sunday, and made it home. I have a slightly bent/compressed rear passenger side spring, causing my Scrambler to lean to the left. I rearranged my cargo, put all the heavy stuff on the driver side, and my Scrambler would sit level and handle great again. Before I rearranged the cargo, when you hit bumpy sections of curvy concrete interstate at speed (Albuquerque/Dallas) it would feel a little "weird" in the back. The rearranged cargo cured this. Made it back to Biloxi around 9 pm.
Lots of driving, lots of trails, and lots more driving back home. I had a blast, and the Scrambler performed great. Truly, an adventure that I would gladly repeat. The only repair I need to make: replace my rear springs, maybe get some slightly stiffer rear springs. Hopefully, Rubicon Express will warranty my springs???
As for my modifications and their performance characteristics:
1) MPI Fuel Injection - performed flawlessly. I could not imagine driving a carb from sea level, to elevation, and back again, without some issues. Off road, it was beautiful. MPG was good, too.
2) Selectable Lockers Front and Rear - besides me twisting the rear shifter cable during repair work, worked perfectly. After driving all the curvy, high altitude highways with open diffs, no way would I do it with auto lockers. Off road, I drove with the diffs open 90% of the time. I would engage them before I needed. The ability to unlock the diffs allowed for great maneuverability, plus a lot less strain on the power train/axles while driving on the high traction slick rock.
3) 4:1 Dana 300 gears - Loved them. Absolute control. With an auto transmission, maybe not necessary, but with a standard, I believe necessary. The lower low range allowed me to drive more gracefully, and the downhill compression breaking was phenomenal.
4) 20 Gallon gas tank - Loved it. On the highway, I had a 300 mile range, or about 4 hours of driving. On the trail, I would burn 8-9 gallons a day, leaving me with plenty of reserve fuel. Just remember, at Moab, you are in the desert. The trails are long and hard, and there are no gas stations in the wilderness. The CJ5 in our group had an LT1 V8 and a 15 gallon fuel cell, He ran out of gas on 3 of the 5 days. Good thing I carried an extra 5 gallon fuel can in my bed!!
5) Tires and Suspension _ Tires worked great. I had good traction, comfort, and no excessive tire "fold over" running 20 psi. I also ran on the paved roads back to camp at 20 psi, and it still handled good. The suspension worked great, flexed well, and handled the highways excellent. I might need to upgrade to slightly stiffer rear springs, due to my passenger side rear spring sagging/stuck an inch lower than the driver side. Either the weight, traction, torque multiplication of the 4:1 Dana 300, or a combination of the above, is a little too much for the rear springs.
All in all, I am very pleased with the Scrambler. It has performed its "dual" role flawlessly. That is, it drove on road to Moab safely and comfortably, it drove off road on some of Moab's toughest trails for a week, and made it back home in one piece. Yes, it did spin an axle tube, but in hind sight, I should have welded the tubes when I had the axle out. That, and the rear axle is almost 30 years old. So, I am not going to moan about that too much. The wheel base of the Scrambler allowed for a comfortable on road ride. Off road, on the steep climbs and descents, the vehicle felt planted. The front never felt "light" during climbs, the back never felt "light" during descents. I did hit the Dana 300 skid plate some, but that is what it is there for. The rear bed space easily held all my gear. Now, the rear overhang did live up to its "*** dragger" nick name, but my rear bumper handled all the hits just fine. I would in no way considering "bobbing" the bed and losing the cargo space just to keep from scraping the bottom of the rear bumper. I did hold me up once, but that’s why I have a winch on the front.
In conclusion, sorry for the long rambling post, I am very happy with the Scrambler, and just had the wheeling experience of a lifetime. I will post pics and video later on this week.
- City
- Biloxi
- State
- MS
Awesome, can't wait for pics!!
On the tire pressure, is running 20 psi a Moab slickrock thing? I've never heard of wheeling with the pressure up that high.
Great stuff!
I initially went down to 12 psi, but the tires were "rolling under" the rim too much, resulting in an unstable feeling on all the side hills. 20 psi felt more stable to me, and it still allowed for a comfortable, aired down ride over all the small rocks. The tires would even "wrap around" ledges and rocks at 20 psi. The traction on the "slick rock" is phenomenal, like driving on concrete. I never really "spun" a tire, and rarely "chirped" them. Most of the time, the tires just "hooked" up. Most of the other guys I was with, the ones set up similar to me, aired down to 12-15 and were happy. The guys with bead locks and "stickies" aired down to single digits. The 20 psi worked great for me. The tires stayed on the rims, I could "safely" drive up to 65 mph, and the ride was smooth. It surprised me the tires worked at 20 psi, too
- City
- Biloxi
- State
- MS
GREAT report!Thanks for shareing. We are all looking forward to the pictures and vidios.
I am waiting for my buddies to post up their pictures, they have all the Scrambler "in action" shots. I have a bunch of scenery and windshield pics I will post up over the next few days. One guy even has some video of the Scrambler climbing a ledge on the "Pickle" trail. It is pretty entertaining, due to all the "commentary" and the fact that it takes me about 5 minutes to pass this obstacle. The only bad thing, the pictures and videos do not do this place justice, everything looks nice and easy on film
- City
- Baton Rouge
- State
- La
Glad that was just a "brief" update.
Oh and 
Oh and
- City
- Biloxi
- State
- MS
OK, time for the "boring" pictures.
Some pictures of the Scrambler loaded up. The red bag is 100% waterproof, it is designed for white water rafting and boating. It held all my clothes, sleeping bags, pillow, etc,. The plastic box contains tools, spare parts, and vehicle fluids. The white cardboard tubes each hold a spare front axle shaft.
Driving from Mississippi into Louisiana.
Some pictures of the Scrambler loaded up. The red bag is 100% waterproof, it is designed for white water rafting and boating. It held all my clothes, sleeping bags, pillow, etc,. The plastic box contains tools, spare parts, and vehicle fluids. The white cardboard tubes each hold a spare front axle shaft.
Driving from Mississippi into Louisiana.
