I ran across this link and just had to share it. It seems the CDC has released a Zombie Preparedness document. It’s nice to see our tax dollars at work educating people to a very real threat. The undead are just waiting for a chance to roam the earth and feast upon the living.
The CDC has also provided some really nifty badges for your websites and blogs. Feel free to check them out.
Note: I know the CDC is just trying to get people to put generic survival kits together, but it’s still cool.
I finally got the parts Jeep cut up and drug out of the garage.
If anyone’s noticed, over the last week I changed web hosting providers. Because I had to sit around and wait for the domain transfers to complete, all of my domains were sort of in a holding pattern. This morning I got the word that all of them had transfered to the new host. Now I’m firring on all cylinders.
I know once again I’ve not posted in awhile. I’m toying with a new format where I just shoot video’s, upload them to youtube and then embed them here.
The ideas is because I really dislike having to type out long messages and all of that.
On a different note, the site has moved. I got this domain over a year ago for a project I was approached to do to create a jeep club/forum. It never took off and I was left hanging. I decided since I owned the domain, it would make a cool personal website. So here goes……
No I have not fallen off the face of the Earth. I’m just working 60+ hours a week and don’t have much time for working on the Jeep or doing posting.
In the past 3 months, I done afew small mods on the Jeep. I also got the chance to play with my RC Jeep afew times.
First off I got a V8 ZJ tie rod setup to strengthen the steering. When I went to put it on, I discovered the Tie Rod End at the pitman arm was bad and the drag link end wasn’t healthy either. So here goes a full steering rebuild.
I picked up another set of TJ rear flairs so I can eventually run TJ rear flairs all the way around. Sadly, I didn’t get a picture of them.
I also scored another set of 97+ XJ doors with manual locks & windows. This is really awesome because they are gray. Not only can I replace my ripped up front passenger door panel, but I can continue the trim upgrade to gray. As for the doors, I may sell them or I may cut them down for a set of half doors for the summer. I still need to glue the arm rest covers back down on the front doors, but they are in pretty awesome shape.
Here’s some backyard crawling I did with my RC Jeep.
High centered on a pile of rocks that will eventually become my RC rock garden.
Flexing on another rock in the back yard.
The other day, I tried to change my rear bumpstops and snapped 2 of the bolts. For the short term I punched the studs and the fastener into the subframe and threaded in some half inch bolts. I wasn’t too happy with that solution because I felt they wouldn’t be strong enough. While reading JeepForum, I came across a thread on fixing TJ transfer skid plates. I figured if it would work for a skid plate, it would work for a bumpstop. I wasn’t about to spend $8 a pop on them from a dealership, and I knew I didn’t need that much toughness. I found some nutserts at Fastenal that would fit the holes in my subframe and should hold. I got 4 of them with tax and shipping for less than $9.
Here’s a nutsert on on a homebrew installation tool. It’s an M10 bolt with 2 flat washers, a 7/16 nut (anything large enough to spin freely on the bolt will work), and a star lock washer.
The only hand tools needed are a socket to turn the bolt, and a wrench to hold the nut from spinning.
Test Installation on one of the doors of my parts XJ. I wanted to see exactly how it installed before I got up under the Jeep where space was limited.
Cross section of the installation. The door panel wasn’t vertical and was dented, so the bolt’s not straight.
Both nutserts installed in the frame.
Bumpstop installed.
Here are some more random pics of took while I was working on this project. If the fix seems to hold up, I may invest in a hand full of these when I replace my rear shocks next time.
For the last month, I’ve been in love with the idea of Four Square, but too terrified to check it out. Today I decided to take the plunge. After signing up, I ensured that it could not post to my Facebook and Twitter, and ensuring that it could not auto broadcast my location or any information that I may not want on the internet.
While walking to my car at lunch, I realized that alot of people complain about government and business monitoring them without their permission, and about their right to privacy. Then I thought about how many people give that information away freely. When you post on Facebook that you are at your favorite restaurant, when you post that you are out with so and so. You are giving a little piece of your privacy away. That information is stored on a computer somewhere and can be accessed almost will. Even if you have your privacy settings configured, that information is still recorded and accessible to law enforcement or a criminal who wants it bad enough.
In light of that, Four Square doesn’t seem so bad. I am not advocating going “off the grid”. I’m just saying that you should be careful what you say and do online as it never goes away. That information could come back to haunt you when you least expect it. Just be mindful of what you post and what your privacy settings are. That will go a long way towards safe guarding your privacy.
Lastly, remember that your shiny smart phone that allows you to connect to all of your favorite social networking sites can also cause you problems. All cell phones carry a GPS, and on many phones there are ways to remotely turn it on. If you have a smart phone, be careful where you get your applications from. Your smart phone is just like your computer and can get viruses and malware. On many smart phones, turning the phone off does not actually turn the phone off, but puts it into a standby mode. If you’re lucky enough to have a removable battery, then you can remove it to ensure it is really off. Your smart phone can be the most useful device you own or your own private tattle tell. It’s up to you to decide how you want to use it.
Yesterday I picked up an 27 spline 8.25 from a 91 Cherokee (XJ). I had wanted to get this because I’m looking for a complete axle that I can hang some XJ suspension parts on and mount a box on top to make a trailer. It was an hour and a half drive to pick it up. On the way back, I realized that including the axle’s that are under my XJ, I have 3 complete sets of rear axle’s (2 are 29 spline 8.25′s and a 27 spline 8.25), 2 complete D30 front axle’s, and duplicates of most any part I could ever need.
Back in my younger days I drove a Ford Tempo or Mercury Topaz (go ahead and laugh). I owned a total of 7 of them, including 2 that I had bought for parts. Along the way I collected a ton of spare parts. It seems that I’m doing the same with my jeep. The difference is that the parts are bigger and more involved. I don’t know if this is a natural progression or what. It seems that most of the people I deal with in the Jeep sphere of the internet also have alot of spare parts. I wonder if we have hoarding issues, or if there is a practical side to having all these spare parts.
Here are some pics of the axle as it stands now:
Axle loaded up in my Jeep.
Axle unloaded with some tires on it.
Axle stored in the garage.
This is a quick post about the past few weeks. I had been dragging my feet for the last year to install my tinted quarter glass. I was down in WV for the JeepInWV Jeep Show and locked my keys in the Jeep. After about 30 minutes of messing with it, I ended up shattering a quarter glass to get into the Jeep.
This needless to say made for a loud 3 hour ride home.
Not having much of a choice I had to install the new quarter glass. It only took about 10 minutes to replace this one and about an hour to replace the other one (because I couldn’t get it to shatter).
If I would have know it was that easy, I would have done it long ago. I really enjoy the upgrade to tinted glass. Now I just need to get the hatch glass replaced and I’ll be golden.