Joop day!

"Tristan" (casselts) 01/04/2019 at 23:51 • Filed to: None

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Since I’ve been working my butt off for months and college classes are starting back up on Monday, the Mrs. gave me a free pass to do whatever I wanted to do this afternoon. A couple hours at the Tillamook State Forest OHV area (a .k.a. Brown’s Camp)  was just what the doctor ordered.

I was DDing the XJ prior to buying my GLI, but it was starting to have some driveability issues in wet weather, so no big deal during winter in Portland, amirite? It has been sitting for about a month now and became basically impossible to start, so I popped the cap off and it was mighty crusty. Not having any parts stores nearby and wanting to get on the road quickly, I hit the contacts with a jeweler’s file. It ran perfectly afterwards.

Also a testament to my neglect of the poor old girl- every fluid was low except the clutch master cylinder.

Obligatory poser shots:

I’m still very pleased with the wheel and tire setup, and I maintain my belief that the AX-15 conversion was the best thing I ever did. Anyone who says an automatic is better for a wheeler is either bad at driving or an amputee.

Look, ma! The flare’s still attached!

M.T. Blake > Tristan 01/05/2019 at 00:32

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Bravo for the AX15 conversion. I haven’t seen a lot of that... yet. The AW4 is relatively reliable but the manual experience is the manual experience. It can’t be out done by any slushee box. 

arl > Tristan 01/05/2019 at 00:37

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Man that spare tire looks Massive on your first pic. Can you see out the back? Sweet Jeep BTW. 

unclevanos (Ovaltine Jenkins) > Tristan 01/05/2019 at 01:36

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Hooray for the ax- 15. Get those brake hard lines done. Even though my YJ has a mint frame for a Northeast jeep, I blew out the original rear line in a parking lot while slamming the brakes in reverse to adjust the parking brake.

Tristan > unclevanos (Ovaltine Jenkins) 01/05/2019 at 05:54

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It’s a 100% rust-free Florida Jeep that was 2wd until I bought it, and it now lives in Oregon where cars never age. ;) 

Tristan > arl 01/05/2019 at 05:56

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It is, and no. I've been meaning to find a matching wheel and spare tire, it's just always been low on the priorities. That tire is very old and very heavy, too.

Tristan > M.T. Blake 01/05/2019 at 06:00

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The AW4 is a damn tough slushbox  but after driving a friend’s manual XJ I immediately started hunting for parts to convert it. There's something wonderful about popping it into 4L/1st gear and being able to idle over ANYTHING without the rubber band effect of a torque converter.

shop-teacher > Tristan 01/05/2019 at 08:32

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Sounds like a damn fine day to me.

M.T. Blake > Tristan 01/05/2019 at 08:38

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I had always thought it was hard to use a manual off road. That was until I saw what you described. Buddy had a twin stick custom 4Runner. Thing idled in first gear, clutch out and barely moved forward. Amazing. 

99XJSport > Tristan 01/05/2019 at 09:54

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Beautiful jeep, I love that green, props on the manual swap too