How would you outfit this custom LJ?

[Jim K in PA]

Safe travels, Jeff.

 

[Ford Prefect]

Yes, I find I am rather jealous of your pending vacation! I hope it goes well, and safe travels. Please do import some travel photos for us as well!

Please say hello to Colorado for me! Though I will be in Ouray in two and a half weeks, so I guess I can not complain too much! (my wife still has not told me how long we will be there though, so I stay optimistic and pray for a week to ten days rather than the possible three days!)

 

[jscherb]

I'm on my way back from the Colorado trip, off-pavement for about 250 miles over five days, plus the about 4000 miles on pavement (by the time I get back) en route from upstate NY to Colorado and back.

Here are a few photos, I didn't take too many of the Jeep because I was focusing on photos for a magazine article I'm working on, which isn't about the Jeep.

- Crossing a creek just off the Marshall Pass road, I am heading for the alleged town site of Chester, which I never did find.

- Posed at Tincup pass. I took the Tincup Pass trail out of the St. Elmo ghost town, this shot was taken at the summit at 12,154 feet elevation.

- Crossing water at Mirror Lake. Coming down out of Tincup Pass, the trail passes Mirror Lake and crosses this stream (approx elev 11,000) just before arriving at the town of Tincup.

- At 12,300 elev., above Cumberland Pass. I got there the hard way over the old Cumberland Pass trail rather than taking the dirt road from Tincup. The trail is very steep, narrow and almost entirely loose rock but well worth it because of the many mine ruins it passes. Then it breaks out above the tree line for this "top of the world" view.

- On the descent from Cumberland Pass, I took the Alpine Tunnel Road to the tunnel entrance. This shot was taken along the Palisades, and doesn't do justice to the drop to the valley below... other than the dropoff it's a pretty tame road and an amazing engineering feat.

Descending from the Carson ghost town, taking a steep short cut rather than the easy trail...

The trip was a great test for a number of features of the Safari Cab...

I left the hardtop hard side panels at home, and ran the soft sides the entire trip. I couldn't be more pleased with the soft side curtains - they were very quiet at 75mph on the highway, and so convenient and easy to roll up for access and open air driving. The hard roof keeps the strong mountain sun off the interior, but the full open sides let the mountain air in.

I had about 150 lbs. on the roof the entire trip (rack, spare, farm jack). No rattling or movement of the roof either on the highways or the rough trails, it's extemely solid thanks to the roof-rack/roll-bar tie-in brackets. The jack is very securely bolted to the rack, so that's quiet, but the mechanical parts of the jack tend to rattle a bit, so I'm going to find a solution to quieting the jack itself.

The trip was also a test for my new tailgate mounted jerry can carrier design. No problems there either, the Exogate kept everything rigid even during trail pounding, and no rattles from the jerry can, except for the padlock, which I swapped for a bolt and nut on the trail. I need to get a rubber coated padlock I guess.

 

[Fargo]

- On the descent from Cumberland Pass, I took the Alpine Tunnel Road to the tunnel entrance. This shot was taken along the Palisades, and doesn't do justice to the drop to the valley below... other than the dropoff it's a pretty tame road and an amazing engineering feat.

I was out there 2 years ago. It is an amazing road and an engineering feat. Did you notice they didn't use any mortor to hold those walls together? Every stone was custom fit.

I too thought that trail was pretty steep sided and I was a bit nervous. Then I came across a full size truck pulling a trailer with utility tractor on it coming down the trail. I'm looking at him thinking ******. Who is up here pulling a trailer with a tractor. Turns out they were doing some work up on top and he was just taking the tractor back down. But I couldn't believe it non the less. It just shows how the locals get used to driving on those shelf roads that us flat landers get scared of just by the steepness of the cliffs.

 

[squint]

Jeff, absolutely love the pic of the jeep at mirror lake and the river crossing. Those are spectacular places that, in my opinion, are truly difficult to portray in photos but you did a great job nonetheless. I can't wait to revisit my old home soon. You are a man of many talents-a photographer as well!

I am a stickler on rattles and my highlift was driving me crazy, so along with some zip ties, I used a Ubolt to secure mine.

 

[jscherb]

Jeff, absolutely love the pic of the jeep at mirror lake and the river crossing. Those are spectacular places that, in my opinion, are truly difficult to portray in photos but you did a great job nonetheless. I can't wait to revisit my old home soon. You are a man of many talents-a photographer as well!

Thanks. I do photography semi-professionally, I've had hundreds of photos in magazines over the past 10 years, and I agree - those mountain vistas are impossible to capture with the camera. They're always disappointing. I didn't focus on Jeep photos too much on the trip, but I did have to take a few for the forums .

I am a stickler on rattles and my highlift was driving me crazy, so along with some zip ties, I used a Ubolt to secure mine.

Thanks, I'll try something like that.

 

[jscherb]

I too thought that trail was pretty steep sided and I was a bit nervous. Then I came across a full size truck pulling a trailer with utility tractor on it coming down the trail. I'm looking at him thinking ******. Who is up here pulling a trailer with a tractor. Turns out they were doing some work up on top and he was just taking the tractor back down. But I couldn't believe it non the less. It just shows how the locals get used to driving on those shelf roads that us flat landers get scared of just by the steepness of the cliffs.

Yeah, to us flatlanders the drop-offs are pretty dramatic. The Alpine Tunnel road didn't bother me, but the descent out of the pass on the Ophir Pass Trail was a little worrying - there's a very long section where it would be impossible for two vehicles to pass, and if you need any reminder of the danger, there's this crushed vehicle at the bottom:

In the photo it looks close, but I used a long telephoto lens and shot out of the window of the Jeep, it's at least 500 feet down.

 

[squint]

Also, for the padlock, I use one of these on my spare. It is coated in plastic and has a cover for the keyhole to prevent rusting. Being the king of zipties, I used one here to quiet it as well. :sombrero: What a great way to make a living-photography!

 

[Ford Prefect]

...the descent out of the pass on the Ophir Pass Trail was a little worrying

Food for thought for you Jeff...

The last time I did that trail it had rained really hard; it caused a massive mud slide on the main road, so we took Ophir pass to get around it all. On that long section you speak of, about halfway across that major cut, there had been a small slide there as well. Part of the trail was washed away, and the rest of it (about the width of a jeep) tilted one axle at a time to what felt like it had to be at least 30 degrees (down hill of course). The pile lifted the uphill tire three feet to get over it. Yeah that was interesting to experience. It did not scare me, but my dad who has been a long time colorado resident still does not like the tippy stuff, and he was a touch uncomfortable. That was two days after having seen a jeep WJ half an hour after it went off of Imogene pass down 900 feet of flips and rolls etc.

But I love this sport, so what can you do!?

 

[jscherb]

Also, for the padlock, I use one of these on my spare. It is coated in plastic and has a cover for the keyhole to prevent rusting. Being the king of zipties, I used one here to quiet it as well.

That's what I've been thinking of doing.

What a great way to make a living-photography!

It might be, but I definitely don't make a living at it, it's just one of my hobbies that happens to generate a little cash now and then. I do magazine photography, often accompanied by illustrations I've drawn, and usually with an article to go along with it. Like designing Jeep accessories and licensing them to companies to market (the Exogate, the fiberglass Jeep-tub trailer kit, the Safari Cab hardtop), it's a hobby that I do for fun that has a side benefit of throwing off a little cash.

 

[Krytos]

Quick question Jscherb, what are you plans with the piggy-back Jerry can carrier? I went the Exogate route and I'm looking for a way to carry a pair of Jerry Cans. The other design that I found really interesting was the fold down rack that could be mounted to the spare.

Do you plan to sell these designs like you did the Exogate, Safaricab, and Trailer after you refine them?

 

[jscherb]

Quick question Jscherb, what are you plans with the piggy-back Jerry can carrier? I went the Exogate route and I'm looking for a way to carry a pair of Jerry Cans. The other design that I found really interesting was the fold down rack that could be mounted to the spare.

Thanks for choosing the Exogate!

Ever since I built the Exogate prototype I've been experimenting with ways to use the additional carrying capacity that the Exogate provides.

One of the first things I did was make a rack that goes in between the Exogate and the spare carrier. The original design was to hold two Jerry cans, but I built this prototype just for one. I used it on a trip from upstate NY to Portland, Oregon and back and it worked great:

Then I did a jerry can rack that goes on the outside of the spare; it's easily removable for times when you don't want to carry a can. Along with that I also designed a "stake pocket" mount for a cargo rack that mounts above the spare. I used this jerry can rack on my recent trip to Colorado, 4000 miles on the highway and 250 miles off road and it also worked great:

And then there's the "Excursion Rack/Trail Table" you mentioned, which is designed to quickly mount on the spare to provide a little extra cargo capacity and serve as a trail table. It folds up when not in use and can be removed in less than a minute.

Do you plan to sell these designs like you did the Exogate, Safaricab, and Trailer after you refine them?

I'm done with all of these designs for now. I'm satisfied that they all work as intended, and I've done a lot of testing with the jerry can racks and a bit of testing with the cargo racks.

If a company was interested in offering any of these for sale, I'd be happy to talk to them.

 

[nwoods]

If a company was interested in offering any of these for sale, I'd be happy to talk to them.

Have you heard of ORTT (Off Road Trail Tools)? This is the kind of thing they would build and sell. The owner, Tat Marcy, is selling the business. I believe he may be negotiating with another EXPO member to carry it forward.

 

[jscherb]

Today I installed a StoreGate on my LJ's tailgate. I installed an open version with a net, because when the tailgate is closed and locked, access to the cargo in the StoreGate is secure - the StoreGate closes up pretty close against the trunk box.

At the moment the StoreGate is holding my recovery strap (in the black canvas bag) and two quarts of oil. There's room left for more cargo.

BTW here's the other version of the StoreGate I've got on my trailer tailgate: it's got a lockable door that also serves as a small table.

 

[Ford Prefect]

Jeff I dare say if there is a problem with that upgraded tailgate hinge you have, you will be the one to find it out, with all that weight on there! haha

Looks really good Jeff, congrats yet again.