My "Hero" Blog

[Jeep450r]

Hahah yeah jake time sure does fly. I just turned 21. I'm getting old now. :P

[Jeep450r]

Back in business Gentlemen.



Slick Rock bound within the hour.

[831_xj]

Yewwwwww!!!

[GordoSmasho]

Thats a very beastly pic of your hero. Happy to see it back on the road man. Have fun

[blondejoncherokee]

You are a machine Kevin. Good work man.

[Jeep450r]

Welp, I ended up leaving for Slick Rock at almost 11:30 Friday night with a few good friends. Got to camp at 3:30 in the morning and went to bed as the sun was coming up. Wheeled slick rock Saturday and then broke a main leaf spring half way to the top of the Deer Valley Trail Saturday evening. Limped it back to Lake Alpine and left it there for me to fix next weekend. What a freaking adventure this weekend has been lol

Don't think I broke a bellhousing though!

And now with the new SYE kit, I have no vibes whatsoever and it is freaking amazing! So smooth.

Anyways. Here are a few pics!

The camp spot



Dropping down the Slick Rock



Aaaaand the break







It broke on a simple ledge about half a mile into deer valley. Very little skinny pedal too. Must have just fatigued and finally let go. Wrapped it up with some gorilla tape and put some c-clamps on it and she held up for the short drive back to Lake Alpine. I'm hoping to head up next weekend to swap in some new leafs if I can get my hands on any.

[Skipper51]

Man oh man! Glad the bell housing is OK.

Good news is you change the springs and you can do some trail runs in some of the most beautiful country around.

[Jeep450r]

Originally Posted by Skipper51

Man oh man! Glad the bell housing is OK.

Good news is you change the springs and you can do some trail runs in some of the most beautiful country around.

Yup! Can't beat it! Head up Friday after work, fix it Saturday morning, and wheel, fish, swim, and dirt bike for the rest of weekend? I'm down.

But she does need some work still. When I get it home it's going straight up on jack stands so I can go through the whole front end and make it super solid before sierrafest. She's makin some noises up front, that's for sure.

[goodwilljeeper]

Originally Posted by Jeep450r

She's makin some noises up front, that's for sure.

i really wish i had something clever to say to this that is clean. ill work on it

[GordoSmasho]

Originally Posted by goodwilljeeper

i really wish i had something clever to say to this that is clean. ill work on it

I feel dirty.

[Jeep450r]

Went to the Rubicon this past weekend. What a trip.

Hit the trailhead at 10 or 11. Hit the first obstacle at gate keeper and broke the other main leaf. Pulled out my spare and the centering pin was the wrong size. Wandered around for a while trying to find someone with a drill and some bits. Finally found a guy after half of the people out there were asleep. Drilled it out. Brought it back. Put the leaf back together. Went to put ubolts on and the threads on it were jacked. Found a new ubolt and stripped the nut on it. Got a new nut and when we were tightening down the ubolts I guess the centering pin popped out of the hole. Tightened it down not knowing this and caved in my spring perch. Went to bed at 5:15am.

Woke up in the morning and slapped it all back together (basically with no centering pin) and wheeled to spider and did soup bowl on the way. Got to the box and busted the high pressure steering hose. Bypassed it at the pump and wheeled out Sunday with no power steering. I still don't know how I didn't break both of my thumbs.

Then when we woke up Sunday morning my friend in a cj7 found out he cracked his frame. So out came the batteries, jumper cables, and 6013 welding rod and we welded it back together. Twice.

Overall it was still a fantastic trip and if anything got me re-motivated to keep wrenching and wheeling. Funny how that works.

Now to fix the perch, buy/install new leaf springs, fix the hose, replace all the bushings up front, replace the power steering box, replace the front ujoint, and just do an overall prep for Cantina in 2 weeks!

Compilation of a selfie with my broken jeep, a shot of where I broke, and the broken spring


Soup bowl


Camp near the box


My buddy mike welding up his frame


Another "successful" Rubicon trip in the books!



Sorry about the Instagram pics. It's all I got this trip.

[CAJJ93XJ]

lets go to Fordyce bud

[blondejoncherokee]

Kevin,

Gbless main leafs.

[GordoSmasho]

Tons o fun kev. What leafs do you have in the back there?

[Jeep450r]

Gordo they were/are rough country springs with about 5 years of hard use. They were sagged enough to need replacement anyways. But of course I don't have my receipt any more so no warranty.

Now they're rough country packs but with a factory main. Both sides. Hoping to buy jakes RE springs this weekend maybe?

Jake I'm down for fordyce sometime in a few weeks once I get settled back into Sacramento for school.