JL-EXPERIENCE : REUNION - PART 2 | Rock Crawling Fun in Arizona

wayoflife

wayoflife

Administrator
Staff member
WiscoHR said:
I’ve been waiting for this all day, after seeing the driving line video. Now just need to finish my beer and head home.
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Well, we know our Sony Handycam can't hold a candle to the RED that Ali, the DrivingLine videographer was using and we certainly weren't allowed to fly a drone like him but we hope you enjoy our amateur video just the same :cool:

benatc1 said:
Loved the video, very cool recovery effort. There was some w
Serious terrain and looks like Jet Li took a bit of a beating but kept on ticking. Amazing sunsets too. Looks like such a great time. Thanks for sharing!
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Awesome, so glad you enjoyed it. The trails out there are the real deal and we consider ourselves lucky to have come out with such little damage. Would have been a lot more fun to run in Moby. :crazyeyes:

13_gecko_rubi said:
That looked like an awesome trail. Sorry about the rear corners! "Trophies" :)

Sent via....
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LOL!! eh, it comes with the territory and we knew what we were getting ourselves into. The locals only trails out in Mel's neck of the woods are badass for sure. Wish you could have been there with us.

StingRubi19 said:
My goodness those looked like some hellacious rocks! Some crazy recovering you guys had to do as well. Hell my butt puckered seeing Mel go down that ledge lol awesome video once again! Looking forward to the next!
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:cheesy: Yeah, the trail wasn't for the faint at heart. So glad to hear you enjoyed our video :)

WJCO said:
Wow. That was an intense film.
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Yeah, it was intense to film as well :crazyeyes:

JIMBOX said:
:D Truly outstanding video and a good example of TEAM WORK--

Thanx wayoflife

:thumb: JIMBO
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Thank you! It's always nice to wheel with good friends. Glad you enjoyed the video :yup:
 

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Richamby

New member
Love the video and you guys sharing the real experience. The good and the bad. Seeing things not going right and the teamwork involved is uplifting.

You guys rock!

Thank you, Your efforts are greatly appreciated.
 

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wayoflife

wayoflife

Administrator
Staff member
WiscoHR said:
Amazing video!! Looked like a long day. Sucks about the rear corner damage but from the looks of things it could have been a lot worse. And great driving Cindy, got to be hard after Mel almost ends up on his roof and your next!
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Oh yeah, this trail is really meant to be run with 40's and coilovers - NOT with 37's and a basic Rancho lift :crazyeyes:
Cindy has nerves of steel and is one of the best drivers I know - that's why she did it and not me :D

Garret said:
Gnarly rocks! Makes me eager for the arrival of my 2019!
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Awesome! Hope you get it soon :thumb:

SSBattalion said:
Great video! That had to be the most punishment any group of JL's has taken so far in the wild anywhere.
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Yeah, the trail was the real deal and with the exception of Loren, the guy driving the Nitto JL on 40's and coilovers, I don't think anyone came out of there unscathed.

BillArnett said:
So what happened to the white JL which had to be winched down? Broken ring gear? Fixed?
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Yup, broke his ring and pinion being that he was 3-wheeling. They ended up swapping Mel's UD60's onto his Jeep that night.

Rypstyx said:
That was epic! That was so much fun to watch! Thanks for sharing and I can’t believe how well the JL navigated that terrain. Fantastic driving and spotting!
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So glad you enjoyed our video :)

Onlyone said:
Amazing as alway Eddie. Sorry about the damage. It’s bound to happen in those gnarly rocks. Watching this makes me want my 2 door even faster. Thanks for the video. :thumb:
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It's all good and we've already got an appointment to get the damage fixed. As you say, it's bound to happen when you play on trails like that. :crazyeyes:

RMC2 said:
There was a whole lot of ouch in that days wheeling. And some serious excitement when Mel got sideways. Did he accidentally drop into neutral? Starting to worry about these new axles - not that I have taken the JL anywhere.
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To put things into perspective, Tactical Offroad was running 40's on a factory axle. We were all giving him hell because of it. Even he knew this was going to be a problem and already had ProRocks on order.

Regarding Mel, he didn't put it into neutral - the computer did or what made it seem like it anyway. I think it was a traction control issue.
 

wayoflife

wayoflife

Administrator
Staff member
OverlanderJL said:
Great video! I’m ready to go!
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Seriously, we need to run this trail again. Although, I think I'd like to take Moby instead :crazyeyes: :D

OverlanderJL said:
The jeep kicked into neutral would be my guess. He tried to throttle out and it kicked into neutral.
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Actually, we talked to Mel about this and he said that he was still in drive. He thinks that because he didn't have his lockers on, the multiple spinning tires confused the traction control system. I really hate all this computer stuff. :rolleyes2:

JMac79 said:
Wow I loved the video. What I really enjoy about your videos is the flow of them. Often I watch videos where I see 20 vehicles do the same obstacle or a bunch of attempts at different lines. Thanks again for what you do.
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Thank you. We're glad you enjoyed it. :cool:

Spack said:
Eddie, you and Cindy do such an awesome job with theses videos that I don’t see how the pros could put together a better video. What’s your thought on a rear bumper now?
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We're flattered that you'd say as much. The pros have much better cameras than our Sony Handycam, had drones and got to stop the group anytime they wanted to get footage. Cindy and I could only film whenever the chance presented itself. Needless to say, most of what you see in our video is all we could get and from our personal point of view. Still, we're glad that you enjoyed it just the same.

Regarding rear bumpers, I still don't like them and don't want one. They just weigh way too much and we already sag from all the gear that we NEED to carry. that being said, I am looking to find or even make some kind of rudimentary protection for the quarter panels. Comparing the JL corners to the JK, they hang down a LOT more and need it.

tallguy26 said:
Great video as always
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Thank you :)

drhcobra said:
Great video. For those of us less experienced, its great to see the recovery efforts. And a good reminder not to get in over your head.
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It should be noted that this JLX was invite only and for people in the industry. This was definitely not a trail for someone to do by themselves or without a good amount of experience.
 

wayoflife

wayoflife

Administrator
Staff member
Richamby said:
Love the video and you guys sharing the real experience. The good and the bad. Seeing things not going right and the teamwork involved is uplifting.

You guys rock!

Thank you, You efforts are greatly appreciated.
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Truly flattered you would say as much. Thank you.
 

NFRs2000NYC

NFRs2000NYC

Member
Damn that was a crazy trail! What was that clicking when the guy was trying to back up with the bad steering? I hear Mel say it's the ring gear, but then the guy kept driving...is it just the ring gear skipping teeth? Any damage from that? Video is crazy for sure....good crazy.

Product Plug Ahead....

There are a few parts of the video where you can CLEARLY see the rancho front glide plate do it's job.
 

wayoflife

wayoflife

Administrator
Staff member
Trail Bud said:
Intense day,
Mel” I know I’m getting over when I spill my coffee. WOW!!
Keep em coming.
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LOL!! It really was a crazy intense day for sure. Glad you enjoyed it. :cool:

NFRs2000NYC said:
Damn that was a crazy trail! What was that clicking when the guy was trying to back up with the bad steering? I hear Mel say it's the ring gear, but then the guy kept driving...is it just the ring gear skipping teeth? Any damage from that? Video is crazy for sure....good crazy.

Product Plug Ahead....

There are a few parts of the video where you can CLEARLY see the rancho front glide plate do it's job.
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The sound you were hearing was the pinion spinning on broken ring gear teeth. Not a good thing and tons of bad things comes from it. Basically, the internals on that axle are toast. As far as the Rancho glide plate goes, I am so damn glad that we had it for this run. :yup:

NFRs2000NYC said:
WTF is this nonsense? The jeep will just kick itself into neutral when it doesn't like something you do?! Computer stuff sucks.

EDIT...just read eddie's clarification on it.
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Yup, the traction control is ultimately what we think kept Mel from throttling out. A great system on snowy roads but totally sucks in a situation like this.
 

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anotheraznguy

New member
Epic wheeling. I had to pause the video a few times to inspect Mel's rig. I am amazed that he is still running stock driveshaft front and rear with the amount of use that rig has been through. Also got a good look at the frame mounted sliders and they look amazing. Can't wait till they finally release them.

For the white jeep was his steering ok after going down that cliff? Was it just that his rig was that bound up that it didnt want to work or could there have been another electronic nanny on his power steering as well?
 

wayoflife

wayoflife

Administrator
Staff member
anotheraznguy said:
Epic wheeling. I had to pause the video a few times to inspect Mel's rig. I am amazed that he is still running stock driveshaft front and rear with the amount of use that rig has been through. Also got a good look at the frame mounted sliders and they look amazing. Can't wait till they finally release them.

For the white jeep was his steering ok after going down that cliff? Was it just that his rig was that bound up that it didnt want to work or could there have been another electronic nanny on his power steering as well?
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Nothing wrong with the factory shafts. The biggest reason to replace the rear shaft is that it can hit your gas tank skid with big enough flex and without some kind of axle re-centering.

On the Tactical Offroad JL, CJ, the driver was just in over his head. He just was just having a really hard time steering and driving and winching and remembering to do all of the above.
 

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2008jk

New member
Great film! It would have been nice to have some rear bumpers on the two damaged rigs to see how they would have held up. Nice to see the JL's on these trails to show what they can do. This is the reason we build them and use them the way we do! When is EVO going to release these sliders, Zan told me there was no time frame on these. If nothing comes out by Feb I will have to go a different direction.
 

tobyw

tobyw

Member
Another great video, thanks for continuing to put these together!

I'm not trying to bust your chops, so please don't take it as such, but you keep referring to a basic and budget-friendly Rancho lift... What about the $1500+ of EVO control arms? I believe that most, if not all, aftermarket adjustable arms including the EVO's exploit the increased "flex" offered by the various joint designs. In constant extreme articulation situations like this, how much do you really think the aftermarket arms gain(ed) you versus running a set of stock control arms?
 

wayoflife

wayoflife

Administrator
Staff member
2008jk said:
Great film! It would have been nice to have some rear bumpers on the two damaged rigs to see how they would have held up. Nice to see the JL's on these trails to show what they can do. This is the reason we build them and use them the way we do! When is EVO going to release these sliders, Zan told me there was no time frame on these. If nothing comes out by Feb I will have to go a different direction.
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Glad to hear you enjoyed it. Not sure what to tell you on the rocker guards but the delay is why we decided to get LoD rocker guards. We are planning to test out the EVO Bomber Rockers next.

Happy Camper said:
You guys have Jet looking and working great. Thanks for the latest video.
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Thanks! We are definitely happy with the way he's performing :yup:

tobyw said:
Another great video, thanks for continuing to put these together!

I'm not trying to bust your chops, so please don't take it as such, but you keep referring to a basic and budget-friendly Rancho lift... What about the $1500+ of EVO control arms? I believe that most, if not all, aftermarket adjustable arms including the EVO's exploit the increased "flex" offered by the various joint designs. In constant extreme articulation situations like this, how much do you really think the aftermarket arms gain(ed) you versus running a set of stock control arms?
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In a way, I suppose it's a shame that we're running EVO control arms being that it puts into doubt just how well other lift kits would still perform without them. Our biggest reason for running EVO arms was so that we could set our caster to what we like AND to set our pinion angle in the rear once we installed aftermarket drive shafts. In truth, you just need adjustable front lower arms and rear upper arms to do this. Of course, drop brackets could have been used up front and Harris, the blue JK was running them. As far as Mel goes, he was still running factory drive shafts so rear uppers wouldn't have been needed there. Sure, johnny joints provide a greater degree of bind free flex but you're kidding yourself if you think they're required to get something like a Rancho kit flexing well. I should also note that we hope to run coilovers in the near future and at that point, yeah, EVO arms will be needed to maximize their potential.
 

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Four Flusher

New member
Wow, great video, tons of crazy moments. The word "buggy" trail keep running through my head. Amazing what a built JL in the hands of a good driver and spotter can do. Well done, can't wait for more.
 

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