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Dominican style...

We took a RZR side by side out for half the day yesterday. It was a lot of fun.  Definitely saw some odd shit. We stopped at a little hut that was down this little 2 track in the middle of nowhere by what looked to be a little lake. The only thing is is the hut was more like an island because everything was flooded from heavy storms (Ed would be in his glory). The water we drove through to get to it was probably 20" (OK, so not deep enough for Ed). They rolled and sold cigars, ground and sold coffee and sold other native stuff like coco and vanilla extract. There was also a guy in full military BDU's sitting on a picnic table with an AK-74 guarding the place. There were goats, pigs and horses randomly on the side of the trail. Houses that were absolute shacks that people live in. Two gorgeous white plantation houses that were identical build right next to each other in the middle of nowhere overlooking the foundation of a lighthouse on the point where the Atlantic Ocean and Caribbean meet. There were two because one burnt but rather than tear it down and start again they just built one just like it next to it. It was kinda creepy and looked vacant but people live there. We saw a Toyota crew cab pick up truck slowly driving the trails with three guys up front and one guys standing in the back with a shotgun. They waved and said ¡Hola!. We just waved back. I assume they were hunting something other that tourist or maybe they were and thought we were terrorist's since we were wearing bandana's outlaw style like bad asses. If that was the case they weren't very good hunters. LoL. Yeah. It's cool to see but you really can't trust anyone down here. It is a weird culture. It is a Spanish speaking island. The people at the resort speak broken English but once you leave the resort it's Spanish only. If they think they can hood wink you they will. Hell, even if they don't think they can hood wink you they will try. I have to be on guard 100% when we are off the resort. The resort is safe but you learn real quickly who the hell to avoid because their ultimate goal is to become your best friend and sell you a timeshare. Should I tell him "Fast Willy" isn't a good sales name? We are having a lot of fun though. If you want something interesting to read about Google search Mamajuana. Pronounced: Mama-ha-wanna. They sell it in gift packs that I refer to as the "Clinton Preidential" gift set because it comes with a cigar. Which I think is hilarious because all they talk about when you ask for Mamajuana is how it make you "Strong like Bull" or "It will make you go allllll night looong". They definitely push the aphrodisiac property of it. I will try and post pics. I'll see you all when we are back in cold weather.



P.S.
Snow wheeling just moved down a notch on my preferred wheeling styles.

Alan, is your jeep a 5 speed manual or 3 speed auto? 4.88 gears are awfully steep. What gear ratio do you have right now? I know a few guys that are running lunchbox lockers and are happy with them. I put one in the front of mine but that didn't end well. It was a prototype and let's just say they needed to do a whole lot more R&D on it. If you go with a known brand like Spartan, Richmond or Aussie you should be good to go.

I will be interested to see what your thoughts are. I don't beleive I gave any bad information. The only failures I spoke of was failures I've seen with my own eyes. I beleive you are doing axles in your jeep which leads me to beleive you know there are weaknesses in factory axles. Granted you are running a V8. There are ways of doing axle swaps cheaper than buying a complete new axle but that takes knowledge and resources. Opinions on jeep builds differ. That's what makes jeeps cool. Everyone builds them the way best see fit so you never see two jeeps alike.

ARB's are bad ass. Dana 30's are not. I know you have mentioned going to bigger tires in the future. The common consensus is a 35" tire is the limit of a D30. Some guys will swear a D30 will handle a 35" tire just fine while other guys will swear that a 35" tire will break a D30 axle shaft pulling out of the driveway. I personally have seen 3- D30 (front axle) shafts break and 1- D35 (rear axle) shaft break. When I say personally seen I mean witnessed it happen in front of my own eyes. One of the D30 shafts and the D35 shaft were on a TJ and were a direct result of WAY too much skinny pedal. It was a spectacular boom when the both broke at the same time. The other 2 D30 shafts were on a YJ that ran 35" tires with no problem for years until he locked the front end. He ended up converting his front end to TJ shafts and hasn't broke one since. I guess what I'm trying to say is factory axles have their weaknesses. Not that they are useless (Hell, I still run a factory D44 in the rear and D30 in the front) but bigger tires are going to exploit the weaknesses of factory axles. By the time you buy an ARB, upgraded axle shafts (IE: Chromoly or RCV), install heavy duty diff covers and possibly truss it you are going to have some major cash wrapped up into that axle. That doesn't even take into consideration the labor, blood, sweat and tears of doing it. You may want to seriously consider something like a complete upgraded axle like G2 or Dynatrac. I'm sure there are way more companies making them. Be prepared for sticker shock but when you take all things into consideration it isn't all that much more than upgrading your factory axle. The other option would be to put a lunchbox style locker in what you have and run it. Sorry for the long post but this is something that I have been considering with my LJ and am leaning toward buying new upgraded axles with a warranty.

Oh yeah!!!! Russ and I made picture #1 LoL.

Welcome. Sounds like you have a good start to a nice jeep. You would be amazed what they'll do. If you have never wheeled before you have found good company here (or if you have wheeled for that matter). We have several ladies that are out on the trails regularly. I believe there is also talk of us doing another 4x4 awareness class for people that are new to the sport. Hope to see you at our February 8th meeting.

Forgot I posted these here. They are sold pending funds. I actually bought Gogolen's old DCII wheels and tires. I still miss my old jeep. I'm hopeing that after I get the same wheels on this one the regret of selling my old one will subside. If not it will be time to start saving pennies for another stroker.

I've got a set of 4 BFG AT's 33x12.50R15 on a set of factory 2006 LJ wheels. Tread depth is 9/32 so they are just over 50%. I'd like to get $350 for the set.

Merry Christmas.
for today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. (‭Luke‬ ‭2‬:‭11‬ NASB)

I need to get off my dead lazy ass and do it.

I don't have one but the same thought process has gone through my mind. I will probably install one at some point or another.

Cool. I'm not in a big hurry. I will just pick it up at the January meeting.

Soak it in PB Blaster then try drilling and use an easy out.

How bout a little less about you and a little more about the jeep. LoL. Just kidding, welcome.

I don't do any sort of fab work. Sorry.