Alberta LJ

[AmericaOverland]

Table of Contents
Day 2 Chrysler is paying for a new cam and crank.

I see later down the thread that you had to get your OPDA and Cam replaced. Seems to be a common problem for 2005-2006 Wranglers with the 4.0L engine of a certain range of build dates. Fortunately, I'm outside that build date range AND I had the OPDA checked this week (as I bought my gorgeous LJ last week!). Other than the silver top, it's just like mine, though I don't have it beyond stock at this time. I'm wondering about getting the hard top done like that to ease up on the heat and make it easy to clean. I LOVE the way it drives, a better ride over bumps, cracks, and dips in the road. Yours looks beautiful in the snow photos... I have both the soft and hard top. I chose to use the hard top and store the soft top until I figure out what to do with it.

Now that you've had the LJ for a while, could you tell me why is it that when I drive a car like the Honda CR-V, which I traded in for the Jeep, I have to almost come to a complete stop and brace myself when I come to a hard bump or that dreaded "V" dip that is built at the street boundary between street and driveway, and yet the LJ walks over it like it's nothing? In the LJ, I feel the roughness mainly in the steering wheel, but not in the way it rides or the body. In the CR-V, when I hit a band dip running across the street, I would get pulled down and the jerked up hard in the seat; it would follow every little thing in the road. It might as well be without shocks or springs. Is it the combination of wheelbase, coilovers, and shocks on the LJ? I'm reminded of the old pickups with the heavy axles and bodies. The LJ is simply a joy to drive. I like how the inertia of the heavy axles prevents me from feeling every little thing, not even following the vertical profile of the street.

Great Jeep and great trips!

 

[Canadian Moose]

I see later down the thread that you had to get your OPDA and Cam replaced. Seems to be a common problem for 2005-2006 Wranglers with the 4.0L engine of a certain range of build dates. Fortunately, I'm outside that build date range AND I had the OPDA checked this week (as I bought my gorgeous LJ last week!). Other than the silver top, it's just like mine, though I don't have it beyond stock at this time. I'm wondering about getting the hard top done like that to ease up on the heat and make it easy to clean. I LOVE the way it drives, a better ride over bumps, cracks, and dips in the road. Yours looks beautiful in the snow photos... I have both the soft and hard top. I chose to use the hard top and store the soft top until I figure out what to do with it.

Now that you've had the LJ for a while, could you tell me why is it that when I drive a car like the Honda CR-V, which I traded in for the Jeep, I have to almost come to a complete stop and brace myself when I come to a hard bump or that dreaded "V" dip that is built at the street boundary between street and driveway, and yet the LJ walks over it like it's nothing? In the LJ, I feel the roughness mainly in the steering wheel, but not in the way it rides or the body. In the CR-V, when I hit a band dip running across the street, I would get pulled down and the jerked up hard in the seat; it would follow every little thing in the road. It might as well be without shocks or springs. Is it the combination of wheelbase, coilovers, and shocks on the LJ? I'm reminded of the old pickups with the heavy axles and bodies. The LJ is simply a joy to drive. I like how the inertia of the heavy axles prevents me from feeling every little thing, not even following the vertical profile of the street.

Great Jeep and great trips!

Thanks for checking it out.

As for your first question... hard top or soft top. Easy, hard top in winter, soft top in summer. Nothing beats going topless!

For your second question. It is probably a combination of solid axles and a bit longer wheelbase. Your shocks might be worn in to the "perfect" amount. If / when you replace them, off road shocks and springs tend to be fairly stiff. In addition lifting (>2.5") a vehicle decreases the ride quality unless long arms are installed.

ps Your LJ wont have coilovers stock.

Keep it up :elkgrin:

 

[Canadian Moose]

August long weekend.

The next trip consisted of a 4,000km (2500 miles). From Edmonton Alberta to Tofino British Columbia.

The trip kicked off with some dirt biking near the "famous" whipsaw trail. I had never heard of it but when I was down there everyone kept asking me if I was doing it. Unfortunately, there were no other jeeps in the group I was visiting. After a few days there, we headed to the island. We had to take a 2hr ferry ride.

The jeep barely made it on.

At our campsite near Tofino.

A bear cub on the road across the island.

Whale watching in a zodiac (Jamies Whaling Station). We saw plenty of grey whales, humpbacks, seals and sea lions.

Then we returned to the mainland and climbed Mt Cheam.

We took a logging road up to the base of the climb.

We climbed through snow most of the way even though this was early august!

Finally back in Alberta... I catch the tail of a storm.. lots of hail!

 

[406to417]

You really need full length LJ rocker gaurds.

 

[A7XJ]

Wow I can't believe how much I miss Alberta an B.C. After looking at your pics I was ready to load up the family into our XJ and make the trek up there. Thanks for sharing.

 

[bob91yj]

Who makes that roof?

 

[Canadian Moose]

You really need full length LJ rocker gaurds.

Yeah, I do. They are on the list but short is better than none. Any suggestions?

Wow I can't believe how much I miss Alberta an B.C. After looking at your pics I was ready to load up the family into our XJ and make the trek up there. Thanks for sharing.

Thanks for looking. You probably want to come here as much as I want to head to your area (I have never been to Colorado, Arizona or Utah!)

Who makes that roof?

The soft top? Its the brand new (2011) Best Top Trek Top NX. Very clean, fits snug, very good viability through the windows and is the same if not quieter than stock. In addition I love the sunrider feature.... I use it every day! One of my favorite mods. http://www.jeeptopdepot.com/jeep-parts.aspx?cid=37&jeep-sid=359&plID=10876

 

[bldeagle10]

Thanks for looking. You probably want to come here as much as I want to head to your area (I have never been to Colorado, Arizona or Utah!)[/url]

I'm dying to one day head up to the Alberta/BC area some day, if you come down to AZ I could show you around, a lot of great trails here from desert, canyons, foresty and alpine mountains...

nice LJ one of the last REAL Jeeps out there!

 

[cdnabn49]

I'm dying to one day head up to the Alberta/BC area some day, if you come down to AZ I could show you around, a lot of great trails here from desert, canyons, foresty and alpine mountains...

nice LJ one of the last REAL Jeeps out there!

you should come on up to AB/BC - AB has lots of empty space to drive through, around and over... some people can be a little knobby but you get that every where... but Jeepers are Jeepers no matter what the rig. We really only have 2 decent months of summer - June/July in AB, BC on the other hand is totally different and has a fair amount of decent weather/rain :ylsmoke: it's definitely worth checking out

 

[Canadian Moose]

Fall 2011 update

Update.

Just call me Daveys Jeeps... haha.

Back in the fall I picked up this almost stock Tan Rubicon from an auction. It had 120,000 km and needed a clutch and some TLC, as well as tires and a top. I swapped the tires and rim and put on my soft top. Ended selling it for a bit of profit, which in turn bought me my daily driver. A "sweet" 1998 Chrysler Intrepid that my Grandpa used to own.

Here is a photo of the Rubicon slightly fixed up and for sale.

Edit: In hindsight I should have kept the tan Rubicon as a project jeep.... Read on....

 

[Canadian Moose]

Big Trip

In November I took a 3.5 week trip to Thailand and Cambodia. No real jeep photos but I will show some from the trip anyways. Just a couple of them...


An outfitted Samurai on a island in Thailand which anybody could rent. It was very strange to drive on the "wrong" side of the road.

Some scuba diving, tons of fish, saw several shark and hundreds of barracuda.

Dirt biking in Cambodia, Extremely poor country. Very "wild". Only a few paved roads which were just created a few years ago. A jeepers Dream!

A little deep for dirt bikes. Gotta love the GoPro.

Watch out for the land mines! Luckily we had an excellent guide. (http://www.siemreapdirtbikes.com/id5.html)

Abandon ruins on the top of a mountian. Good thing we had dirt bikes, there was no way my jeep could have made it up here.\

We also visited an orphanage. These kids have it extremely rough and many of them suffer from missing limbs due to land mines. There are an estimated 5 million land mines in Cambodia today. That being said the people are extremely friendly. This particular orphanage put on shows to generate income.

Took a trip to an army base and shot a ak47. This was pretty cool as in Canada we have strict gun laws. Only 5 bullets per clip, no full auto. Not the case in Cambodia!

 

[TOI]

1.25" jks body lift and 1" motor mount lift came next. The night we were installing them Phil asks if he can draw on my hood with a sharpie... I said go for it (planning on painting it down the road to fix some dents).

These are the results.

Any Gears of War Fans out there?

Later I made some mud flaps (similar to the teraflex ones) Cost me about $50.

thats awesome! i was going to do the gears logo on the trunk of my impreza

 

[Vinman]

Update.

Just call me Daveys Jeeps... haha.

Back in the fall I picked up this almost stock Tan Rubicon from an auction. It had 120,000 km and needed a clutch and some TLC, as well as tires and a top. I swapped the tires and rim and put on my soft top. Ended selling it for a bit of profit, which in turn bought me my daily driver.

Here is a photo of the Rubicon slightly fixed up and for sale.

Edit: In hindsight I should have kept the tan Rubicon as a project jeep.... Read on....

The tan Rubicon is sitting in my garage.
I put in a clutch, changed all the fluids, installed a 33 Engineering tummy tuck and tucked the gas tank amongst other small mods. I've been driving it for the last couple of months but it's a work in progress.

Vince

 

[Canadian Moose]

thats awesome! i was going to do the gears logo on the trunk of my impreza

Thanks, Phil did mine and made it look easy!! One thing I noticed though was that after a month the sharpie was beginning to fade. I would recommend clear coat immediately or a UV resistant marker... or both.

 

[Canadian Moose]

The tan Rubicon is sitting in my garage.
I put in a clutch, changed all the fluids, installed a 33 Engineering tummy tuck and tucked the gas tank amongst other small mods. I've been driving it for the last couple of months but it's a work in progress.

Vince

Small World!! Glad to see its working for you. I regret selling it... because after all it is a rubicon, the cheapest one Ill ever find. The main reason why I sold it was I didnt want to buy new suspension and tires all over again.

What else do you have to do on it?