Srfnfly227's LJ Rubicon

The last of the non Jeep related updates. This catches the thread up to current time.

Friends invited us out their boat one day back in July.  They even invited the puppy since they were bringing their dog as well.  The dogs got along great and Tucker enjoyed his first boat trip.  I tried really hard to talk Amy in to buying a boat after this, but she won.  All good though since it leaves some money available for Jeep mods and hopefully a vacation.



I take Tucker down to the beach at least once a week.  We walk for a bit and then I let him off leash and throw the ball with the Chuck It.  He loves it.



We had a 3 day work trip to Vegas at the beginning of August.  At just under 5 hours to get out there, this was the longest flight I've ever done.  I don't know how the long haul guys do it because I get really bored at anything over 2 hours and they can fly for up to 8-10 hours.

Hoover Damn.  We stayed pretty busy with golf so I didn't get to visit the damn on this trip.  I'm making a point to do it next trip out.



First is of me golfing the first day.  Second is the other pilot the second day.  It was 103 degrees both days, but I'd take that any day over 85 at home.  Humidity sucks.  The courses out there were amazing.  The second day was in the middle of nowhere, so it was true desert golf with great mountain views.




The "new" plane ready to head home.  It was built in 92 and is the oldest jet I've flown to date.  Bombardier Challenger 601-3A-ER.  I've flown planes built as far back as the 50's and 60's, just not jets.  The lack of technology up front actually makes us do pilot things.  It's nice to be challenged again.



Amy's parents rented a house in Duck, NC for a week back in September. Her brother and his wife came in from Alaska and the 6 of us spent the week together. During the week, I drove up to the north end of the island so that I could get on the beach.

Poser shot


Grin on my face


Tucker just as happy as I am


First of the wild horses


The other sighting


I also did a bunch of surfing while we were there. The waves were great and could be seen from our house.

 
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Is this the flying circus aerodrome in Warrenton VA?

 
Very cool update!!! Gotta love the pup. Seeing your pics makes me wish I took more..... It's amazing how quickly life jumps by when you aren't looking.
 
bobthetj03 date=1418846490 said:
Awesome pics! Thanks for sharing. Sounds like you have an awesome job too! Oh yeah, Nice LJ Rubi, lol!
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ShaunSweeney said:
Cool job and beautiful dog.
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Thanks you much. My job can be great and it can be really tough. Being gone from home can get old pretty quickly, even when it's places I like to go. That said, I love what I do and I've been extremely happy with my current job.

heehawhardy date=1418850164 said:
Now that's some quality time! Lovely captures
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Thank you.

G Beasley date=1418863470 said:
8DD65840-E201-48D8-82CD-FA0154B32D5D.jpg


Is this the flying circus aerodrome in Warrenton VA?
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It was. They were having a competition there that day. I flew the old boss in and while he went and did his business, I got to watch aerobatics. Definitely a nice way to spend an afternoon.

357transam date=1418867724 said:
Very cool update!!! Gotta love the pup. Seeing your pics makes me wish I took more..... It's amazing how quickly life jumps by when you aren't looking.
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Pup is great. My wife grew up with dogs, but he's my first. It was definitely a little tough for me the first few months. We really did get lucky though. He was a rescue from the SPCA up the street from our house so we really had no idea what we were getting. I'm not sure it could have turned out better.

I wish I took more pictures also. I usually think about it once it's too late. I bought Amy a nice point and shoot camera for her birthday 2 years and we may take it out 2 or 3 times a year. Most pictures are taken on the cell phones and they just never turn out that great.
 
ShaunSweeney said:
I have found rescue dogs to be some of the best. It's like they know you saved them.
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He was 14 weeks old and when we got him. He hadn't even made it on the website yet and was actually the last cage we came to. We still have no idea how he made it 5 days without somebody adopting him. It was meant to be. When we did the math to figure out his birthday, it would have been within a day or 2 of us buying our house.


An Actual Jeep Update: Ruffstuff order from Cyber Monday came in on Monday. I need to open the box up to make sure everything is correct. Other than that, I've just been spending a lot of time under the Jeep. I've basically been taking a lot of measurements and looking at how everything is run. Measurements have been going in to the 4 link calculator and I've learned that my numbers aren't going to end up quite as good as I was hoping. They'll be by far better than where I am now, or where I'd be if I added an inch of suspension height and didn't do the work, but I'm still surprised that I could get them quite to where I wanted. Obviously, the calculator is an estimation tool and is only as good as the numbers you put in though.

Basically, if I stayed at my current height, my numbers would look great. The main problem that I would have there would be that I wouldn't be able to get the 5 inches of up travel that I wanted before the axle end of the upper control ends hit the tub. I'd be right about 4.5" up with the soft top on (which is how I wheel). I'd also still be at my current height and I'd really like to be an inch taller. Going up the extra inch allows for 5-5.25" up travel, but leaves me with some oversteer. I'd also have to work really hard to get the antisquat under 100%. I could lengthen the arms, but then I'd have contact concerns with the frame at stuff. Plus, I'm doing this to make the clearance under the Jeep better and longer arms doesn't exactly achieve that goal. Leaves me wondering what to do.

It's also worth noting that I am going to have a link bridge bent up locally. I'm going to get in touch with Eddie (Bezerk or Groundpounder fab) since he's local. Going the custom route will allow me to tweak the height of the uppers to exactly what I'd like.

Here's the screen caps of the 4 link. Both pictures are using 23" lower arms, which is as long as I want to go. The angles can not be changed since I'm using the Poly brackets and Duroflex joints. The brackets set the angles and the joints can not be mounted in misalignment. The first picture is at my current height and the second is if you add an inch at the frame.



 
Christmas was good to me this year. I didn't actually get any Jeep parts, but working in the garage just got a lot easier. Craftsman tools: Torque wrench, deep well impact socket set, metric and standard ratcheting wrenches. I also got a creeper that will fold up to be a bench and a Sears gift card to buy some more new tools. I think I'll be getting a floor jack.
 
Yeah, I'm pretty excited about the tools. I've really wanted ratcheting wrenches for a while now, so I put them on my wish list. I can't wait to start working on the Jeep this winter. Will be really nice not having to borrow all of the tools. 
I've been thinking about the gift card and am thinking about a tool box instead. A nice drawer style so that I can find stuff would be nice. If not that, then I'll pick up a jack.
 
Srfnfly227 said:
Yeah, I'm pretty excited about the tools. I've really wanted ratcheting wrenches for a while now, so I put them on my wish list. I can't wait to start working on the Jeep this winter. Will be really nice not having to borrow all of the tools.
I've been thinking about the gift card and am thinking about a tool box instead. A nice drawer style so that I can find stuff would be nice. If not that, then I'll pick up a jack.
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Take a look on craigs list for a good used tool box , or the Harbor Freight box with a coupon.
 
My Dad has one of the Harbor Freight tool boxes and it's quite nice...roller bearing drawer slides and latches to keep them closed.  The price is lovely too when you get one of the coupons involved.
 
cescuzzy said:
My Dad has one of the Harbor Freight tool boxes and it's quite nice...roller bearing drawer slides and latches to keep them closed.  The price is lovely too when you get one of the coupons involved.
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Did he get the 54" lowers ? Thats what I have , and as you said the ball bearing slides are sweet. I started out with the Craftsman boxes , and for once the HF stuff is significantly nicer.
 
I'll have to take a look at the Harbor Freight box. I was thinking Craftsman so that I could use my Sears gift card, but I could still use that to pick up a jack. Ah decisions.

So I took advantage of the weather today and washed the Jeep and my wife's Honda CRV. I also swept the floor and organized the shelves in the garage so that I could put the new tools away. I found a spot for everything except the creeper. I'm going to find a way to hang it from the wall.

I took a quick picture since I really don't have many with the hard top on it. Sorry for the dark cell phone shot.



Then I pulled the Jeep in to the garage and found a nail in the spare tire. I'm a little surprised that I didn't see the nail when I was washing it.



Since I always do 5 tire rotations, I'll have to have it patched. I've got 3000 miles to figure that out since it was just done last week.

One more picture of the garage. I had a stroke of genius right after we moved in. 3, 4" strips of velcro on the wall and the soft top windows stay flat and out of the way. Don't mind the giant puddle. We had a ton of rain recently and that all dripped off my wife's CRV.

 

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