Sunday was spent getting SUSUSUCIO cleaned up. The off road trail included mud pits containing (1) coal laiden mud, (2) red clay mud, and (3) plain old mud. The effect of these mud pits reminded me of Jackson Pollock. I could stare at his paintings at the Musium of Modern Art (MoMA) for hours. Unfortunately I had to resist the urge to do the same here, since I just needed to get the Jeep cleaned up so I could drive it to work on Monday.
Having driven an M151 Mutt in my US Army days, I know what its like to wash off this kind of shit. However unlike the Mutts which had an olive green matte finish making it hard to spot stains and imperfections, SUSUSUCIO is glossy black, so there’s no wiggle room here, you’ve got to do a thorough job.
First image:
SUSUSUCIO in full battle gear, three coats of mud (coal, red clay, and plain mud), ready for more action, the mud…worn as a badge of honor. #pffff
Second image:
I drove 8 miles to the nearest self-service car wash. I spent 10 minutes with a high pressure hose to the paint. Then another 10 minutes on the canvas soft top and wheels. Total cost $5. I was pleasantly surprised to see that no water got into the Jeep, testament to the excellent soft top redesign in the JL models. The guys waiting for the slot gave me the stinky eye, so I figured I did enough spraying.
Third image:
Next stop was the local car wash. I selected the package that included under carriage spray, wheel shine, and spotless drying. I read that it wasn’t a good idea to spray wax onto soft top on vehicles so skipped that option. After exiting the car wash I cracked open an ArmorAll container of citrus based wipes and started to rub out the coal laiden mud stains on the plastic trim, and the soft top.
All that cleaning left me exhausted. I headed to Dunkin Donuts to get a 20 ounce coffee to chase down about half a dozen Aleve pills. In about an hour I was good as new. Or close to it. Don’t ask how I felt the following morning. Not if you don’t want to get the stinky eye.
Some folks asked what the deal was with the 4 door Rubicon Unlimited climbing the steps on the course. Offline Consulting does a very good job of describing technical aspects of trail riding. Including articulation and swaybar disconnects. Rubicon models have electronic disconnect, however there the disconnect is limited. One reason I went with a low end model and had JKS Quicker Disconnects added along with the lift.
The top of the image shows how far the Jeep can flex if you don’t disable the swaybar. What’s a swaybar? There are some videos on the internet that can explain. Note the amount of flex on an unmodified Jeep is extreme, enough to make you cringe. Note how the front wheel is on the third step, and the back wheel is a few inches off the ground.
The bottom of the image shows you how much more a Jeep can flex if you disconnect the swaybar. I had no idea what a swaybar was until I bought the Jeep. Heck, I can’t even explain it…Google it! Not how with the swaybar disconnected, the front wheel went to the top step, and the back wheel is on the ground?
I asked the instructor “How often would you need/want to disconnect the swaybar when you’re on the trails?” His response is the reason I signed up for the 201 class next weekend. He told us “You don’t need to disconnect it on the 101 class. You’ll definitely want to disconnect it on the 201 class.” Cringe factor 10, and I’m signed up for the 201.
A detail worth knowing. The Rubicon model Jeep has controls for everything you can imagine. Disconnecting the swaybar at the press of a button, locking the axles at the press of a button, etc. I don’t have all those fancy buttons. My Jeep is so cheap, you have to get out to adjust the side mirrors…you have to crank both windows down by hand…you get the idea.
I’m not a fan of Rubicons. I think they’re overpriced, and a rolling box of bells and whistles. A low end Jeep saves you $15,000 that you can use to buy what you need, and not what they want to sell you. How is this a good thing? Consider Rubicon’s swaybar disconnect limits articulation, when compared with disconnecting the bars manually.
So for next weekend, I’ll finally get to use the JKS quick release swaybar connectors I had installed with the lift. I did my homework and decided I’d need them. Now I’m so glad I did. I just hope it doesn’t rain, since you have to crawl under the Jeep to disconnect them. Aw heck, I’m not complaining, I signed up for this shit.
Overlander at large 