For you Jeep nutjobs
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I figure you'd like to see my buddy's car. And I actually got something done. Or rather helped him get something done. He works in Black River Falls, WI. Picked up his Jeep in Arizona. He left it there a few months back with his sister after he hit a bunch of National Parks from Colorado to Washington state.
He drove to S. Padre Island, TX and after a few weeks kitesurfing, stopped by my house to pick up skis on his way to Telluride and other ski spots for a few more weeks before parking his Jeep in my backyard and flying back to Wisconsin. He lives quite the life.
He camps out so we fine tuned a few things on his cheap Chinese diesel heater, replaced a burnt out fog light that needed dropping his front sway bar and sway bar disconnect to access, and upgraded his worn out steering damper.
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@VincentMalamute as a camping enthusiast who's perpetually cold, I'd like to hear more about this diesel heater?
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Nice, sounds like a fun time. Ursa Minor pop up camper?
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@beefchips It's an eBay knock off of the brand names, the Webastos and Espars. Except I think it was like $150 instead of $1000. Build quality is consistent with what he paid but it works. He keeps it on a high shelf that mounts on his spare tire so the heater stays outside.
It works too well. His main issue is the heat output overwhelms his tiny rooftop popup tent. So we kinda made a bleed valve on the output piping so a lot of the heat doesn't enter his tent.
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@VincentMalamute This sounds like a pretty awesome way to spend time. What does he do for a living, or is a year-off sort of thing?
Also definitely interested in more info and pics on the rig. Looks pretty cool.
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@vincentmalamute said in For you Jeep nutjobs:
It works too well.
That's a good problem to have I guess! I would be concerned with burning down my tent or monoxiding myself but if these are outside the tent... hmm...
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@looseonexit said in For you Jeep nutjobs:
Nice, sounds like a fun time. Ursa Minor pop up camper?
You evidently are one of those Jeep nutjobs identifying it from the sliver of roof white. I'm surprised I don't have any decent pics of his Jeep.
@beefchips No issue with burning down the tent since it's mounted outside. Decreases CO issues although I suppose it could be outputting CO through the heated air but a quality CO monitor would allay that fear?It's best for a larger space like a full size van. The heat output warms his little tent so much, it quickly shuts down and cycles every 5 minutes.
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@vincentmalamute said in For you Jeep nutjobs:
@looseonexit said in For you Jeep nutjobs:
Nice, sounds like a fun time. Ursa Minor pop up camper?
You evidently are one of those Jeep nutjobs identifying it from the sliver of roof white. I'm surprised I don't have any decent pics of his Jeep.
Me? ME? Not me, no, never. Good to see a JK used and not being mall crawled, especially being a Rubicon. Took me a second to realize that the solar panel on the hood wasn't just something sitting there but a panel actually mounted there. Looks very all functional vs form. Respect.
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@vincentmalamute said in For you Jeep nutjobs:
It's best for a larger space like a full size van
after seeing the @WhoIsTheLeader's sequoia review earlier, I kinda want a sequoia with a sleeping space in the back and one of these heaters... they're pretty cheap on my local list of craigs. Would be great for winter outdoor adventures!
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@beefchips Finally found one pic of the back. He mounts the heater on the black plastic shelf that sits on top of his spare tire. Can kinda see it in this photo camping out near Gunnison, CO. His coal fired grill is sitting on the shelf in the pic.
@jminer I am so bad at remembering to take pics. When he drops off his Jeep in a few weeks, I'll ask him what photos Jeep nuts would like. He's got nutty shocks with 4 individual shock bodies for example. I am not a Jeep aficionado so don't know much.
He's an ER doc and found a sweet gig in Black River Falls, WI. He works three 24 hour shifts in a row and then gets three weeks off. It's a small town hospital so he can sleep most of the night, just woken up a few times. Most hospitals are too busy to be able to work a 24 hour shift.
He must've worked like a week of 24 hour shifts because he's got six weeks off right now. He loves traveling so that works out great for him. His wife apparently loves traveling with him. She could be humoring him for the first year of marriage though.
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@vincentmalamute wow that is one epically sweet gig. Good for him!
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@looseonexit said in For you Jeep nutjobs:
Took me a second to realize that the solar panel on the hood wasn't just something sitting there but a panel actually mounted there. Looks very all functional vs form
My friend, Joe, is all about function over form. Drives me nuts. Which is what compels me to help him and why I got delegated to modifying his heater. And I help him so I can make sure he's not breaking my tools.
His orange front reflectors are just zip tied to the fenders. His fenders are randomly sawzalled to clear his tires. His interior is packed to the ceiling with no rear view. I tell him he should buy a Transit.
I went rock crawling with him once on a trail near my house. This rock shelf was too much for me to stay inside the Jeep.
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@beefchips oh here's a better pic of the back. After he got over the rock shelf, I felt safe enough to get back in..
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@looseonexit said in For you Jeep nutjobs:
Maybe like King triple bypass shocks?
Definitely not those. I found blurry pics when we installed them 7 years ago. It looks like two in the pics but I thought each corner had 4 shock bodies and 4 pistons? Only thing I know is one of them is leaking all over my grass
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@beefchips said in For you Jeep nutjobs:
I kinda want a sequoia with a sleeping space in the back and one of these heaters...
I can say that they work. He's still alive. They work better for larger spaces than his tent. It might be OK for a Sequoia if you can insulate it at all. It runs for a few minutes, gets it up to temp, and then insulation retains the heat enough so it doesn't have to run again for a much longer time than it does in his tent.
If you mounted it outside, you'd have to cut out a 4" dia hole in the sheetmetal somewhere to connect the heated air tube. You still have to cut a smaller hole for the exhaust if you mount it inside. Given it's cheapness, yeah, I'd worry about inside mounting and CO dangers.
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@VincentMalamute that makes sense, I know a guy that flies medivac choppers and works a similar schedule. Like 6 days living in barracks at the facility on call 24 hours a day and then 4 weeks off. He doesn't do anything nearly this interesting with his time off though.
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@jminer That does sound similar. My friend's personality just fits his lifestyle and his profession. He makes decisions quickly and does whatever is needed to get it done. Works well for an ER doc. I couldn't live his lifestyle and don't have his personality. I like to anxiously ruminate over every minor decision and then put it off as long as possible.
My friend travels all over the world (pre-COVID) with religious mission work in Afghaniston, Costa Rica, and Nigeria, and kite surfing lessons in Portugal. I like to stay home. He doesn't spend much money doing this stuff; it's all youth hostels, camping, backpacking, all cheap. I like to stay home.
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@vincentmalamute said in For you Jeep nutjobs:
I like to anxiously ruminate over every minor decision
You and me both.
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@vincentmalamute said in For you Jeep nutjobs:
@looseonexit said in For you Jeep nutjobs:
Maybe like King triple bypass shocks?
Definitely not those. I found blurry pics when we installed them 7 years ago. It looks like two in the pics but I thought each corner had 4 shock bodies and 4 pistons? Only thing I know is one of them is leaking all over my grass
Metalcloak 6packs! I have never seen them in person. Certainly a different setup! I have heard they leak.
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@LooseonExit I had forgotten what they were and what they look like. Those are nuts! They did have four pistons! Just two upside down so you only see two at a time.
Goes against my philosophy of keeping everything as simple as possible and using common OEM type parts if things break in remote areas. But very cool from a 'ooh, shiny!' perspective.
I can't figure out the name 'six-pack'. 4 pistons, I assume 4 shock bodies, so then 2 separate oil reservoirs to account for 6 tubes in there?
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@VincentMalamute Yes, there are 4 "shocks" (black) and 2 reservoirs (red). Nitrogen filled as well IIRC. The idea was to to allow over twice the standard shock travel in a given height, letting you have a much more compact shock. I think it allows more max travel than than a monotube collapses/extends to, ie 16"-32" tall shock gets 16"+ of travel, which would be impossible of on a monotube. Lets you have a long travel setup with stock mount points. Also would keep CG lower overall and let you have simpler no-lift/low-lift long travel setups as long as you're willing to trim/clearance for it. Would assume you could set them up for multi-bypass as well. Pretty innovative.
But yes, well beyond the normal KISS principle I would employ. Granted I have the fancy OEM DSSVs on the ZR2 and am not planning to swap out for something "normal" like a King/Fox setup lol. But I'd probably have something far simpler for regular overlanding in remote areas.
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@LooseonExit I appreciate the detailed explanation. I'm sure my friend explained all that when I helped him install them but that info disappeared from the brain. I love the clever engineering to get the extended travel.
I wouldn't mind buying something like that for the engineering and coolness factor. yes, just not out in the wilderness.
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Pretty sweet rig! Most Jeep guys I know just do big tires and lifts for mudding and the occasional camping trip. Glad to see someone is living their Jeep life to the fullest!
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@rctothefuture My friend does live life like that. I stay home.
He just told me he runs mud-terrains which surprised me. He finds that the current all-terrains have the tread blocks too close together. He's also driving thousands of highway miles in that thing. I found it unbearable; no room inside, no power, no visibility, no handling.
