The 2010 Killington Jeep Jamboree is just over 2 weeks away and this year I went for some of the modifications to the Jeep that had been on the blueprints since I bought it.
My brother and I installed a BDS 3" coil suspension lift a couple months ago. Actually he did most of the installing and I handed wrenches and did what I could to help out. It took us a day to get through the main install and we had to put off the steering stabilizer install for a week because we ran out of time. Some of it was used up in getting appropriate tools to help with the job (it's always the case I think) and some of it was basic difficulties you get in these circumstances such as removing the front shocks and installing them. Speaking of shocks, instead of going BDS I opted to purchase Bilstein 5100s. The purchase has proven to be worth every penny to me as the ride has never been smoother. Overall the install went smoothly even if it took time.
A couple weeks ago I added the final pieces to the lift in replacing the stock Rubicon tires with GoodYear Wrangler MTR with kevlar tires (size 305/70R17). They were stupidly expensive and not my first choice. I had originally intended on installing Toyo Open Country M/T tires at 285/75R17 but apparently Toyo has some terrible business management. They tried to move from China to Japan after the tariffs to China increased. They found they didn't have the correct permitting to manufacture in Japan and opted to move to the USA where they do not remotely have enough capacity to manufacture for demand and I am sure odd sized tires like I was looking for are the last on their plans. The Toyo's would have been nearly $50 cheaper each but I have to take what I can get. I am happy with the quality of the ride of the GoodYears on dry and wet pavement so far. I will report on the off road quality after the Jamboree.
Purchasing tires 2 inches larger posed a couple problems. I had to get a mounting bracket for the spare which now blocks the 3rd brake light and I needed to order new bump stops for the tailgate as the stock pieces don't remotely come close to the tires.
I took a couple pics of the Jeep including tires and mods and will try to get them posted tonight.
Monday, June 28, 2010
Tuesday, June 08, 2010
Denmark in August, Jeep Jamboree in July
I have reserved flights through Delta to visit Denmark again in late August. This will be another couch hop at George's place with a rental car for the ability to get around. The difference this time is that I will be taking along my nephew William (his friends call him Will but I am stuck with what we call him in my brain and can't change it up). We will be flying out on a Thursday evening and coming back the following Wednesday so it will be a long weekend visit like my first trip to Denmark. William is 17 years old and this will be his first time out of the country. He got his passport just recently in hopes this trip would go down.
Way back in the dawn of time my first international trip was to the UK when I was 17. I think it is a good time to start to travel. Of course I did a school sponsored trip in high school with a larger group of people and this will be a touch different. I had a lot of fun on that trip and I was bitten then with the idea of international travel. It took a long time to be financially sound enough to do it but now it is one of my major goals in life. I am not sure it will hit him as much as it hit me but at least he'll get the opportunity to see it once.
He'll probably end up sleeping in a sleeping bag on the floor for the trip so we'll see how that affects his desire to travel. Hopefully he'll enjoy the trip for the valuable parts and make it through lack of sleep as needed. I think it will be a good time.
I haven't yet started thinking through what to do on the visit but I am sure we are going to try to reserve a visit with Jesper who just moved south from Copenhagen. I think it would also be fun to take a shot at the viking ship museum and sailing on one of the viking boats again. Other than that I have to see if there is any other place like Egeskov we can make the pilgrimage to.
I should also mention that I have my 3rd Killington Jeep Jamboree in July. The Jeep has been lifted 3 inches since the last Jamboree and I am in the hunt for some 34 inch tires to go along with that before the next one. I did get to test the Jeep on the lift a few weeks ago and that went well. I am looking forward to this year's trip very much.
Way back in the dawn of time my first international trip was to the UK when I was 17. I think it is a good time to start to travel. Of course I did a school sponsored trip in high school with a larger group of people and this will be a touch different. I had a lot of fun on that trip and I was bitten then with the idea of international travel. It took a long time to be financially sound enough to do it but now it is one of my major goals in life. I am not sure it will hit him as much as it hit me but at least he'll get the opportunity to see it once.
He'll probably end up sleeping in a sleeping bag on the floor for the trip so we'll see how that affects his desire to travel. Hopefully he'll enjoy the trip for the valuable parts and make it through lack of sleep as needed. I think it will be a good time.
I haven't yet started thinking through what to do on the visit but I am sure we are going to try to reserve a visit with Jesper who just moved south from Copenhagen. I think it would also be fun to take a shot at the viking ship museum and sailing on one of the viking boats again. Other than that I have to see if there is any other place like Egeskov we can make the pilgrimage to.
I should also mention that I have my 3rd Killington Jeep Jamboree in July. The Jeep has been lifted 3 inches since the last Jamboree and I am in the hunt for some 34 inch tires to go along with that before the next one. I did get to test the Jeep on the lift a few weeks ago and that went well. I am looking forward to this year's trip very much.
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