Made a little progress on the 9” axle I’ve had laying around for the past few months. Maybe I’ll order the axle shafts and brakes to get it done here soon. The heat and lack of motivation has been the worst for progress. Now things aren’t 100°+ out, I don’t mind
View attachment 28005
Got the beadlocks done before my Rubicon trip a few weeks back. Used some of the knockoff “steel it” stainless steel paint from AutoZone ($10/can) for the wheel and I had the rings sand blasted to just be raw aluminum. Turned out exactly how I was hoping so I’m happy there. So glad I didn’t leave them black. Can’t stand black
View attachment 28006
Rubicon didn’t go as expected. We left a day earlier than we initially planned so we can spend more time relaxing at the lakes and drinking beer. We got on the trail around noon Thursday morning and within about 2 miles I snapped a front axle shaft in the diff. Not even on a tough spot. Super lame. Pictured below is me trying to weld a bolt to the stub to get it out. Swim trunks and flip flops are OSHA approved for sure!
Well that didn’t work out so I figured I’d just take it easy and do everything in 2lo or 3wd when necessary. Made it to Spider Lake for camp the first night with no further issues.
Next morning we made it another mile or two (just past the 5 Mike marker) when my ARB locker lost the seal. It’s been something I should have taken care of since it started kicking on the compressor pretty often when in use. Just shitty time for it to go out at this point.
From here I made it another few hundred yards when my steering rack blew out the seals causing me to lose all the fluid; leaving me with no power steering. Man what shitty luck for it to go out here.
So at this point I turned around and had Robert help get me to the trailhead with quite a bit of tow strap usage since I couldn’t steer into decent lines. He just drug me over everything lol.
The trip was a clusterfuck but I still had a blast. Better than being stressed out at work.
View attachment 28007View attachment 28008View attachment 28009