Next up on my dream Jeep Wrangler 2006 LJ Rubicon list of parts are the Bumpers and Tire Carrier. The possibilities are endless in this class but I have been able to decide on one particular style. When I began comparing all the bumpers out there I kept seeing the design as this huge bumper that weight a lot and look they would be easy to get hanged up on. While it may be nice to have a massive bumper on the Jeep, it just isn’t my style. Things like gas mileage, vehicle weight, and approach angle mean a bigger deal to me than the little bit of add protection you gain.
Which is why T&T Customs has won me over because I like the approach angle, clean lines, and simplicity of their design. These bumpers are for Hard-Core off-road in mind, meaning they’re meant for some serious abuse. If you can even manage to hit them while off-road. Unlike many manufacturers, T&T Custom’s Front Bumpers has the Winch Mount, D-Ring Mounts, and Guardian tube standard on the front TJ bumper.
The Rear Bumper gets even better than the Front Bumper. T&T Custom’s designed the bumper so that it is flush with body, providing an excellent departure angle. The integration of the Brake lights, Two D-Ring mounts, and back-up lights into the bumper help finish off the design by saving you the time and effort on figuring out how to mount the them when a 37″ tire sits back there.
Hopefully you will agree with my reasoning on why I choose to go with T&T Custom’s Bumpers, because otherwise you should leave a comment below. And next time I will talk about the Body armor and Sway-bar setup I will go with on my Dream Jeep Wrangler Unlimited Rubicon – LJ.
So till then, see ya on the Trails
Eric Schwarz.
A while back I mentioned a part that would be on my dream Jeep Wrangler 2006 LJ Rubicon, which is the Advance Adapter Rubicrawler and you can read that post here. To get on track with the next item in a list of items for my dream Jeep that I plan to update more frequently is from GenRight Off-Road. GenRight is know for their amazing fabrication skills with metal, specifically tig welding.
So what is this part I desire?
The Hi-Fender Tube Kit – LJ from GenRight. This fender kit is the most important part of my Dream Jeep because I will not be putting a lift kit on my Jeep. Instead this kit allows me to run 35 inch tires on a factory TJ/LJ Jeep Wrangler 1996-2006 with no rubbing. Now if you did read my previous post you know that I decided on 37 inch tires, but fear not a simple 2″ Budget Boost will solve my problem. The beauty of this GenRight Hi-Fender Tube Kit is that I can retain factory suspension while still driving on these massive tires. Now I just said “factory suspension” and in attempt to get all of you on board with me here’s a list of things I will not have to worry about to get 37″ tires on my Jeep-
- Drive-Shaft Vibrations
- Lengthening and/or Shorting of Drive-Shafts
- Reduced Life on U-Joints from Extreme Angles
- Converting to Double Cardien Joints (But you know this only implies to non Rubicon edition Wranglers)
- Steering Alignment issues
- Caster Angle
- Transfer Case Drop Kits
- Bumper Steer
- Exhaust Modifications
- Sloppy Non-Responsive Steering
- Extended Brake lines
- etc.
Which is me just naming a few thing off the top of my Head.
But, The bread and butter don’t stop there, not yet. Unlike other Jeeps out there, my Dream Jeep will have an extremely low center of gravity (it doesn’t sit very high). Meaning when I drive down the off camber trails, this Jeep going to feel nice and secure, where others maybe worried about rolling their Jeep onto its side.
Finally, You may have not noticed it but the kit include the sliders that are in the two images above.
Look for next weeks post on what bumpers I have chosen.
On June 11, 2010 I drove north on I-90/94 to Devil’s Lake State Park to camp, hike, and rock climb in Baraboo, WI. The park is know for it Quartzite rock that rises out of the ground 500Ft. forming bluffs that surround Devil’s lake. The Winnebago Native Americans called the lake “Ta-wa-cun-chuck-dah” which translated correctly means Spirit Lake or Sacred Lake, but for the sake of attracting tourist the translation chosen was Devil’s Lake.
I recommend reserving a site months in advance of your planned date because the sites fill up quick, by clicking here. Even thought all the sites where booked, the group I was with lucked-out and got the last one of the site that cannot be reserved, Ice Age Campground Site #370. As always when camping I recommend purchasing two bundles of wood for every night that you decide to camp. The site with two vehicles, two tents, and six adults ran us about $67 dollars for a Friday to Sunday visit, and had a 3:30PM check out but didn’t mean we had to leave the park.
On Saturday, are first day out in the park looking at the Devils Lake Map we decided to do a lap around the lake, Hiking the bluffs and stopping at any spot we thought we might be able to boulder. We started in north shore and headed around Devil’s Lake in a clock wise manor on East Bluff Trail, stopping at Elephant Rock and just about every scenic out-cropping along the way. If your like me I got memorized by the beauty that Devil’s Lake State Park possesses and completely forgot about nabbing a Geocaches along the way. Eventually we made it to balanced rock and head to the South shore concessions for lunch and to cool off in the lake. After that reprieve we hopped on the boardwalk and headed to West Bluff Trail headed for camp .
The second day out was aimed at sight seeing, we saw Devil’s Doors and hiked the CCC Trail. The CCC was special to us because at camp after the first day of hiking I realized that the hardest trails we had hiked was medium. Which had me scratching my head if all the trails we did where Medium at best, “What was Difficult like?” Well the trail CCC Trail didn’t disappoint, but nothing that someone determined to climb it couldn’t do. Since we weren’t up for re-hiking trails and the second day out was also are last day there we drove to the place label “Group Camping” on the map right below the CCC Trail and parked in the parking-lot there. When we got there we found out that CCC stands for Civilian Conservation Corps which was part of the “New Deal” that President Franklin Delano Roosevelt created to help poor families during the Great Depression. Enrollment was limited to boys 18 to 25 and they where treated in military fashion, Calisthenics at 6:15AM, Barracks Inspection at 7:00aM, and Lights-Out at 10:00PM to get and idea. Rain, Snow, Extreme Heat, or Extreme Cold these boys where out building the trails we hiked, moving and place every block of Quartzite rock.
One thing I wish I would have taken advantage of at Devil’s Lake is the Fishing Tackle and Forestry Pack. At the Nature center you can borrow either the fishing tackle or forestry pack for free, all that is required is an adult signature. The fishing tackle requires that anyone over the age of 16 have an fishing license. Devil’s Lake State Park claims that you can catch bluegill, crappie, perch, bass, walleye, northern pike and brown trout. The Forestry Pack is full of books, games, activities, magnifiers, measurement tools, collection boxes and a bird-calls. Both the Fishing Tackle and Forestry Pack are available for 24 hour check out.
If your like me and live south of the park, be sure to take Route 113 and take the ferry across, which is free.
Let me start off by thanking all the mothers of the world, in their struggles of razing hellions like me. My brother and I personally got are mother her favorite perfume which she is running out of and a watch that came with a matching bracelet. Even though today is Mother’s Day, I still found some time to get out and have some fun which I ended up going Geocaching with my Dad and the dog.
We went to Marengo ridge which is part of Mchenry Count Conservation District, but for us locals we remember it as Kunde Wood’s. To brush up on the history of this land it was originally owned by Dr. Emerson Kunde who noticed that the land was heavily over grazed by livestock and is famously quote saying “The soil was so hard you could hardly put a pickaxe into it.” He planted many kinds of pine trees believing that these trees had the ability to survive in the poor soil conditions, and now the park is a thriving forest.
Anyway, I went there to enjoy the woods, walk the dog, and most importantly find a few Geocaches (Marengo Moraine, Chicago land Battleship Geocaching Challenge: A1, The Daniel Jackson). My dog, Koby, made it a bit difficult because he gets extremely excited on walks but I managed to find them all. The Battleship one is difficult unless you have the map, which I so happened to be here. Also the Marengo Moraine isn’t a normal Geocach, once you get to the area there will be a post to help you answer the questions to log this one.
The Marengo ridge is unique because it is the farthest west distance traveled by the Lake Michigan Lobe of the Wisconsin glacier. In one part of the park you stand upon the Marengo Moraine an enormous pile of rocks, gravel, sand which is called glacial till. The deposit of rock, gravel, and sand is up to 280ft deep and is 40 miles long. The earliest deposit of glacial till is from 270,000 years ago and the most resent only 15,000 years ago.
All in all it was a good day, I was worried it might be cold, but that wasn’t the case. Again I wish all the mothers a Happy Mother’s Day.
Till the next Adventure.
