Moab 2017 Info thread

I put the wife's Honey-do-list on hold a couple weeks ago so I can finish my truck up.
I figure about mid-April at the latest.

I decided last November to swap out the front and rear original axles. Went searching and lucked out and found what I needed. Scrap, clean. grinding, order parts, wait for delivery etc.

The holidays and weather put a stop to truck work.

I've been busy as a beaver working on my truck for the last couple weeks.
After removing the original spring mounts and making new spring mounts they are bolted in place for now until I finish welding them in place.

The newer Dana 44 front axle is bolted in place with new U-bolts. Purchased new tie rod with drag rod. Looking good. :rolleyes:

Oops, :confused: Problem with the pitman arm hitting the tie rod. Hmm. Remove the Power steering box and mounting bracket. Break out the angle grinder and attack the bracket that I had made last year.. Cut this, cut that. Figure a new mounting plan, okay, that only took 15 minutes to come up with the new plan.
Starting to look better that what I had before. Ordered a 30" long Double D steering shaft.
I don't own a shaft stretcher.
Need a different pitman arm, that is a little longer and will rise up 1.5 inches so that the drag arm will not be in harms way. I have a local shop digging for my needs.

I placed an order last December 20th, 2016 for a bolt on disk brake kit for the 9" rear axle.
I expected it would ship asap. WRONG. MFG is shipping to me. Guess what MFG said, "Closed for holidays and first 2 weeks of January for inventory". 3rd week of Jan. I'm told they are waiting for parts. UG!!!!!

Yesterday I got and email that it had shipped and it will be as long as 6 days from Calif. Dam, must be going via dog sled.

I can't post pictures as I have to figure out about resizing them. UG again.

Got to go for now.

Cheers, Thomas :cool:
 
Hello members again with an update;

I received today, hooray, the box of rear disk brake setup that I mentioned above. Found out that the steel bracket that bolts up to the 4 axle flange bolts, WILL NOT FIT OVER THE AXLE. The hole in the bracket is 2-5/8" dia. The axle retainer cover that holds the axle in place has a diameter of 2-15/16". Hmm. Scratching my head.

Going to sleep on it tonight and in the morning call the Co. that I placed the order with in December. They will then call their supplier and hopefully they can send me the proper bracket. If not I'll have to have the center hole machined out to 3" dia.

I'm not saying who I bought from just yet. Best to give them a chance to fix things.

Just trying to move along with my build completion so I can be at the 2017 Moab Rally. I made my Lodging reservation back in late November. Confidence is great motivator.

Thomas
 
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Good luck, it sounds like there may be different 9" rear ends out there. Hopefully they can get you the correct bracket!
 
Todays update for those interested.

First off, Pete. If I should not be here with this posting. Move if need be.

It has been a few days from hell dealing with the axle/disk brake mounting problems.

Recap: On Tuesday I received a disk brake conversion kit.
The mounting bracket would no fit properly on the axle retainer cover. Included instructions are very lacking in advice. :mad:

I purchased the kit from Summit Racing Equipment, so the next day, on Wed morning, I call SRE and explain the problem to the person, I'm told to please hold while she will be calling there supplier, CPP and I will only be a few minutes on hold.

25 minutes later she comes back and tells me that she will have to call me back in 2 hrs with an answer.

6 hrs later, I still have not received a return call. So I call SRE and I'm told that I need to wait until next day for a reply from CPP and SRE. That would be Thursday.

Thursday arrives, and I wait, and wait. No cal back to me, so mid-afternoon I call SRE and as for a supervisor. but they will not connect me with a supervisor. I get connected to a nice fellow who I have to explain all over again for the 3rd time my problem. Grrr.

He tells me to please hold while he checks the installation spec's.
He comes back and asks me if I had tried to install the bracket between the axle retainer cover and the axle housing? I told him, no I had not, he said I should give it a try and he thinks it will work. I said ok, I will try it.
Hang up the phone.

So I try to move the retainer cover out but it only will move out about a 3/16", not enough space for the 3/8" thick brake mounting plate.

I'm thinking, call SRE back again, Thomas, are you stupid, no, I'm not Stupid.
I figure SRE NEVER EVER called their supplier, they just tried to stall me off and skate over the problem of poor instruction sheet with lack of details.

FYI: I have spent a lot of $$$ at SRE and they sell but they don't know jack about sh***.

Now for the rest of the story.
I came up how to solve my problem, I pulled both axles out and went an axle shop I have used and asked for help. I'll be damned, In 15min they used a plasma cutter and cut off the retainer plates and said no charge. have a good weekend. :) Yeppy skippy.

Long story, today I bolted the kit in place and then trouble reared it's ugly head again, the new ROTERS in the kit will not fit between the caliper pads. What the hell now.

Next stop this afternoon brake shop that I trust. Turn the rotors down. Cost $30.00.
Small price for sanity I figure. Installation complete.....

And that is the end of the story, hope you enjoyed it, time for some beers. :beer::beer::beer:

Later, Thomas
 
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That's the exact reason I stopped ordering from Summit Racing. Their customer service isn't worth a stale bucket of piss, and their Summit branded products are mostly sorry. I order from Jeg's now, who have free shipping and will price match any online retailer. I've been very happy with Jeg's.
 
I will not be able to make Moab this year. I have 1 bedroom with 2 beds booked at the Apache. Does anyone need a room? If someone does I will see if we can switch it from my name to yours or something.
 
This years Rally Shirt Graphics. Hoping to have them up on the Rally website in the next couple of days if you'd like to buy extras, or if you aren't attending you can still buy a shirt-

Shirt back:
moab17shirtback2.png


Shirt pocket:
moab17shirtpocket.jpg
 
Very nice Pete.

Update:
I have been working away at my to do list.

Last night I lost sleep thinking about what I must get done.

I made up my mind that I will be installing the complete new wiring system starting in 2 days. After that, I will be installing the 2pc windshield and then the back window. Then the doors get rehung and the vent windows with the main door glass. O ya, The new steering wheel has to be set. Brake system filled and bled. Fluids all filled, Radiator, axles, transmission, transfer case. A/C needs charging. and exhaust system installed. Come hell or high water I figure I must complete the above in 3 weeks. That's a huge undertaking, but I have a 55 gallon barrel of midnight oil on hand. Ha.

I guess the interior finish will have to wait for summer.

Later, Thomas:cheers:
 
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Hello,
I am planning on making some of the trail rides this summer, starting with Moab, May 19-21, 2017. I'm a newcomer to the Flatfenderers (is that a word?) and am looking forward to meeting some of you folks.
I saw some of you planning on trail rides before the weekend. I may stay a few days after because then I am planning to head over to Ouray to check out the trails in that area (anyone want to join me?). Then heading north to the Black Hills run, then back for the northern Colorado run and finishing up with the Fall Colors Tour. Phew! In between I'll try to find a local storage facility so I don't have to tow back and forth. That's the plan, anyway. Hopefully it will all fall together. Again, looking forward to some great scenery and meeting some great folks.
John,
1943 MB/GPW
 
I look forward to meeting you. I also plan on staying there for several days after in the Canyonlands/Moab area, and then coming back through Durango/Telluride. I plan on doing some additional trail riding and just ordered a bunch of guide books to try and see where to go. I'm sure there will be others staying in the area as well, and maybe we can continue meeting up. I also have a buddy out in Durango that I may be meeting up with that knows the trails in Canyonlands very well. I was hoping to do the Alpine Loop in Colorado but my buddy said it's unlikely that it will be open by mid-May this year.

I did a trial run on some trails here a couple weeks ago and everything did great. I'll just have to top off the transmission/transfer case with gear oil every day because it is leaking from literally everywhere it seems. I'm guessing I'll also have to tinker around with the carburetor jets at altitude. I'm bringing extras and lots of tools.

I have a room until Monday 5/22 and they said it was OK for me to keep my trailer on their property since it's a bed and breakfast outside of town with lots of grounds. Afterwards I plan on just doing some camping at various BLM sites in the area. I'm hoping there's enough open space at those places to keep my trailer. Other than that, I've seen people recommend RV parks that may allow you to keep it there. I've also read that several people park trailers on the public roads or lesser used parking lots in the area.
 
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That sounds great! As this is my first trip to this area I plan on "winging it" through most of the trip. I just hope I don't get stuck too often with no "home" for the night. Hope I dont have to fight the tourists for accommodations!

I'm trying to keep track of the different trail rides listed on three or four different sites and it gets a little confusing as to contact people, etc. I'm listing my EMAIL so anyone can add me to any mailing list for events or contact me directly.
It is: johnnygeep@gmail.com

I went on a thousand mile run last summer with a group of MVPAers in the Black Hills. A buddy was adding about a quart a day to his transfer case. I went over to help him drop it but first we cleaned everything up. Turns out it was just the seal on the front output. Ended up being an easy fix. Usually we're not that lucky!
Looking forward to an exciting summer,
John

 
The Willys Rally Apparel page is up on the willys rally website: http://www.willysrally.com/Apparel/apparel.html

If you are attending and would like to order extra stuff, or if you can't make it this year and want to get a cool shirt or hat sent to you, check it out.

This year we have beanies and flex fit hats, nice jackets, and tank tops as well as the regular long and short sleeve t-shirts.

Pete
 
Registered but can't get to Cart

Hello,
I successfully registered but when I tried to pay I couldn't view cart. Any alternate ways to pay or suggestions?
thanks
johnny






Dimmwatt said:
Johnny, I'll add you to the email blast. We should have another in a few days. Here is a link to the last one in case anyone else here missed it. You can subscribe yourself to the email if you like. Click this link and follow the prompts to subscribe at the bottom.

http://us5.campaign-archive2.com/?u=272f798f7b7d177721f619ddd&id=cef2408417&e=c402adb3d2
Click to expand...
 
Johnnygeep said:
Hello,
I successfully registered but when I tried to pay I couldn't view cart. Any alternate ways to pay or suggestions?
thanks
johnny
Click to expand...

You can PayPal directly to: rally@oldwillysforum.com

If that doesn't work, send me an email or PM here on the forum and I'll get you set up.

Thanks, see you in Moab!

Pete
 
Not going to make it out this year as we have a daughter going to have a baby in June, so we have to make the trip to Colorado. We did order a couple shirts though.
THANKS to all.
 
OH NO! Tom, I'll miss you bud. You are always one of my favorite regulars to hang out with. See you next year!
 
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