That's the one, but it doesn't look like yours round the corner and go down to the fender which is the difference. Maybe I just can't see in your pic.
Woodrow's 97 Green TJ Moderate Build
- Thread starter Woodrow
- Start date
Mine does not make the turn down. It is straight across the leading edge of the cowl.
Yes, that's what I'm saying. I didn't think it would make a difference, but swapping to the newer style solved my problem. Worth a shot for <$20.
Is your CirKit Boss like mine with a ground eye at one of the mounting corners? If so, did you ground using the mounting screw? I made a mounting plate similar to yours (though I turned the fuse block sideways) using aluminum stock. Not sure how well aluminum will ground. What did you do?
Yes, the aux panel ground is to the aluminum plate via one of the mounting screws. Aluminum is a good conductor (hence the existence of aluminum wires). In addition to the plate bolted to the tub, I also have a stud (5/16" or 3/8"-can't recall) bolted to the plate and 2 ga. ground cable to the body ground on the fire wall in the engine bay and that goes to the battery.
Thanks. There is a ground stud right on the kick panel in the passenger footwell. I can run a ground to that stud from the mounting screw I suppose.
We have been back from Moab for about a week. Although there is a wheeling trips area on the forum, I wanted to document the trip here in my build thread as it was the first big wheeling trip for this rig (and for me) and a critique of the build seems relevant to this thread. It was really fun. It was also a great test for the TJ and my 33s build. In other firsts, I hadn’t met anyone in real life that I first gotten to know on-line before this trip. That went great as well (insert my wife's jokes about internet dating here
). I wheeled with @Apparition (and also met his wife @Mrs.Apparition), @gasiorv, @MagnumV8 and @lBasket. They are all experienced off roaders with good driving skills and nice Jeeps. @lBasket ’s Jeep was the most similar to mine being on 33s without armor. The others were on 35s. @lBasket also has only a front locker but made almost everything thing look easy, following @Apparition in his LJ on many lines. Also, @gasiorv and @lBasket both have manuals and didn’t seem to need anything else. On to the wheeling pics and videos:
On the first day, we did Steel Bender (loop and flat pass with some optional stuff). We met up at the Shell station south of town (except @gasiorv who wasn’t in town yet):
We started with a creek crossing and it was kinda deep. Here’s @Apparition leading the way:
Shortly after that, an obstacle leading to a whole optional loop:
A hundred yards later, we have this:
Everyone got up, though not all in that spot.
It was a long, fun day. Half way through, we came to the first real pucker of the trip for me, a steep go around of an impossibly tall ledge (way point 4 in the Charles Wells‘ book on Steel Bender Flat Pass Route). What isn’t shown is @Apparition ’s LJ getting squirrelly and @MagnumV8 gassing out the bottom to avoid potentially going over forward. I was last down. By that time the line was figured out and although I was tense, the experience of the prior 3 and great spotting led to an uneventful trip down:
Followed immediately by this:
@lBasket thought he was done, throttled out and got a little tippy
Time for Burritos. @lBasket made them and we all cooked them on our intake manifolds (45min a side worked well). They were amazing. I could’ve used a beer at this point as well.
The rest of the day was fun, and less stressful. The Wall on Steel Bender Loop Route:
Here’s @MagnumV8 making a tricky v-notch look easy:
Another creek crossing at the end:
It was a great day but I felt as if I skipped the kiddie pool and jumped in the deep end!
Day 2 coming up.
). I wheeled with @Apparition (and also met his wife @Mrs.Apparition), @gasiorv, @MagnumV8 and @lBasket. They are all experienced off roaders with good driving skills and nice Jeeps. @lBasket ’s Jeep was the most similar to mine being on 33s without armor. The others were on 35s. @lBasket also has only a front locker but made almost everything thing look easy, following @Apparition in his LJ on many lines. Also, @gasiorv and @lBasket both have manuals and didn’t seem to need anything else. On to the wheeling pics and videos:On the first day, we did Steel Bender (loop and flat pass with some optional stuff). We met up at the Shell station south of town (except @gasiorv who wasn’t in town yet):
We started with a creek crossing and it was kinda deep. Here’s @Apparition leading the way:
Shortly after that, an obstacle leading to a whole optional loop:
A hundred yards later, we have this:
Everyone got up, though not all in that spot.
It was a long, fun day. Half way through, we came to the first real pucker of the trip for me, a steep go around of an impossibly tall ledge (way point 4 in the Charles Wells‘ book on Steel Bender Flat Pass Route). What isn’t shown is @Apparition ’s LJ getting squirrelly and @MagnumV8 gassing out the bottom to avoid potentially going over forward. I was last down. By that time the line was figured out and although I was tense, the experience of the prior 3 and great spotting led to an uneventful trip down:
Followed immediately by this:
@lBasket thought he was done, throttled out and got a little tippy
Time for Burritos. @lBasket made them and we all cooked them on our intake manifolds (45min a side worked well). They were amazing. I could’ve used a beer at this point as well.
The rest of the day was fun, and less stressful. The Wall on Steel Bender Loop Route:
Here’s @MagnumV8 making a tricky v-notch look easy:
Another creek crossing at the end:
It was a great day but I felt as if I skipped the kiddie pool and jumped in the deep end!
Day 2 coming up.
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Moab, day 2.
On the 2nd day, we did some classic touristy Moab trails; Fins and Things and Hell’s Revenge. Its prototypical Moab slickrock.
Here’s a fun fact: Apparently, the name slickrock came from settlers using horses with metal shoes and wagons with metal wrapped wooden wheels which were super slippery on the rock. But today with rubber tires, slickrock is actually extraordinarily grippy. So much so that tire choice really doesn’t matter much (although airing down still does). I ran 10.5-11 psi on my non-beadlock load range C 33x12.50x15s all week. I drove around town like this and with the Swayloc in off-road mode and really liked the soft ride and comfy low speed handling. Imagine you're scouting the way for a group of settlers and this is your next obstacle:
Most of the tours don’t do any of the obstacles, but of course, we did (Hell’s Gate):
I got nervous when I lifted the passenger front and stalled it
. Had to restart and get moving again but that went OK.
@gasiorv and @Apparition did the Escalator successfully. I watched and @lBasket rode along with @Apparition (holding the shit bar
)
In general, many wheels were lifted. @lBasket on Hell’s gate:
@gasiorv on just 2 wheels. His wife was non-plussed throughout all sorts of antics
.
Here @gasiorv takes the pro-line and I don’t:
Here’s a climb video that shows the AT tires flexing like a drag racer
These two were the only ones brave enough to do Mickey’s Hot Tub on this day:
The group together on the slickrock with the La Sals in the distance:
Another good day overall
On the 2nd day, we did some classic touristy Moab trails; Fins and Things and Hell’s Revenge. Its prototypical Moab slickrock.
Here’s a fun fact: Apparently, the name slickrock came from settlers using horses with metal shoes and wagons with metal wrapped wooden wheels which were super slippery on the rock
. But today with rubber tires, slickrock is actually extraordinarily grippy. So much so that tire choice really doesn’t matter much (although airing down still does). I ran 10.5-11 psi on my non-beadlock load range C 33x12.50x15s all week. I drove around town like this and with the Swayloc in off-road mode and really liked the soft ride and comfy low speed handling. Imagine you're scouting the way for a group of settlers and this is your next obstacle:Most of the tours don’t do any of the obstacles, but of course, we did (Hell’s Gate):
I got nervous when I lifted the passenger front and stalled it
. Had to restart and get moving again but that went OK.@gasiorv and @Apparition did the Escalator successfully. I watched and @lBasket rode along with @Apparition (holding the shit bar
)In general, many wheels were lifted. @lBasket on Hell’s gate:
@gasiorv on just 2 wheels. His wife was non-plussed throughout all sorts of antics
.Here @gasiorv takes the pro-line and I don’t:
Here’s a climb video that shows the AT tires flexing like a drag racer
These two were the only ones brave enough to do Mickey’s Hot Tub on this day:
The group together on the slickrock with the La Sals in the distance:
Another good day overall
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Moab day 3: This actually day 4.
@Apparition, @gasiorv, and @MagnumV8 all took their jeeps to Pritchett Canyon the day before which I thought might be a bit too much for a newbie, like myself and my little 33s build with no rocker or corner armor. @lBasket didn’t take his Jeep either, but did ride along. Everyone made it out but @MagnumV8 did have an axle issue so he was out for events below. I took that day for some biking and hiking with my wife and our dogs.
So the plan for this day was “the trifecta”: Poison Spider Mesa, Golden Spike and Gold Bar Rim, run beginning with Gold Bar Rim, accessed from the toad to Gemini Bridges. That was the plan.
Instead we entered the road to Gemini Bridges (touching the Gooney Bird Rock), ran Gold Bar Rim to the split to Rusty Nail (a buggy trail, really). We completed Rusty nail which goes back into Gold Bar Rim near the start of Golden Spike. We went far enough down Golden Spike so I could do the Golden Crack and then turned around and went back out on Gold Bar Rim. Here we go.
Lotsa stuff that now seemed moderately easy:
However, not too far into Rusty Nail we come to a big wall preceded by 2 different approaches which were fairly under cut. @Apparition makes the harder approach after a few attempts (and some rock stacking):
I winched up the easier line. On the bright side, it was my 1st use of the new winch:
Definitely a fun experience controlling the winch AND driving the Jeep;
The next part of the obstacle was a big wall that everybody winched up although @Apparition and @gasiorv both gave it a good shot:
After that, came ”No Left Turn”. This was a difficult V-notch with no bypass. To the left, was a cliff (hence the name). But the real issue was the passenger side of the line which was a wall with a ledge a few inches wide to put your tire on to prevent falling in. Great spotting absolutely required here. Here’s the approach:
And the view down your line:
Dropping in:
Now things get real:
The tricky thing was landing the passenger front…
Then just drive it out
@gasiorv is an awesome spotter!
That was mostly it for the drama. Just a few other fun things to record.
The Golden Crack:
Almost as impressive as @NashvilleTJ -OK maybe not
Another little obstacle called “tougher than it looks".
It was.
Finally had to send it a bit.
Group shot:
Another wall just as the rain was threatening:
Finally, when we got to to end and headed out the Gemini Bridges road toward 191, everyone got into the throttle a bit. I hit a G-out just before the Gooney Bird Rock and full stuffed my rear axle, pinching my fuel line between the tub and elevated rear track bar bracket (stupid jeep builder!). The stroker shut down like someone threw a switch as it lost fuel pressure. More on that issue later. I needed a tow out to the road (thanks again @gasiorv) where I loaded up the rig on the trailer for the walk of shame back to the house. We were still going faster than a line a SUVs ahead of us
But it was another great day and we had one more to go.
@Apparition, @gasiorv, and @MagnumV8 all took their jeeps to Pritchett Canyon the day before which I thought might be a bit too much for a newbie, like myself and my little 33s build with no rocker or corner armor. @lBasket didn’t take his Jeep either, but did ride along. Everyone made it out but @MagnumV8 did have an axle issue so he was out for events below. I took that day for some biking and hiking with my wife and our dogs.
So the plan for this day was “the trifecta”: Poison Spider Mesa, Golden Spike and Gold Bar Rim, run beginning with Gold Bar Rim, accessed from the toad to Gemini Bridges. That was the plan.
Instead we entered the road to Gemini Bridges (touching the Gooney Bird Rock), ran Gold Bar Rim to the split to Rusty Nail (a buggy trail, really). We completed Rusty nail which goes back into Gold Bar Rim near the start of Golden Spike. We went far enough down Golden Spike so I could do the Golden Crack and then turned around and went back out on Gold Bar Rim. Here we go.
Lotsa stuff that now seemed moderately easy:
However, not too far into Rusty Nail we come to a big wall preceded by 2 different approaches which were fairly under cut. @Apparition makes the harder approach after a few attempts (and some rock stacking):
I winched up the easier line. On the bright side, it was my 1st use of the new winch:
Definitely a fun experience controlling the winch AND driving the Jeep;
The next part of the obstacle was a big wall that everybody winched up although @Apparition and @gasiorv both gave it a good shot:
After that, came ”No Left Turn”. This was a difficult V-notch with no bypass. To the left, was a cliff (hence the name). But the real issue was the passenger side of the line which was a wall with a ledge a few inches wide to put your tire on to prevent falling in. Great spotting absolutely required here. Here’s the approach:
And the view down your line:
Dropping in:
Now things get real:
The tricky thing was landing the passenger front…
Then just drive it out
@gasiorv is an awesome spotter!
That was mostly it for the drama. Just a few other fun things to record.
The Golden Crack:
Almost as impressive as @NashvilleTJ -OK maybe not
Another little obstacle called “tougher than it looks".
It was.
Finally had to send it a bit.
Group shot:
Another wall just as the rain was threatening:
Finally, when we got to to end and headed out the Gemini Bridges road toward 191, everyone got into the throttle a bit. I hit a G-out just before the Gooney Bird Rock and full stuffed my rear axle, pinching my fuel line between the tub and elevated rear track bar bracket (stupid jeep builder!). The stroker shut down like someone threw a switch as it lost fuel pressure. More on that issue later. I needed a tow out to the road (thanks again @gasiorv) where I loaded up the rig on the trailer for the walk of shame back to the house
. We were still going faster than a line a SUVs ahead of usBut it was another great day and we had one more to go.
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That line looking down No Left Turn.. Nope. I'll take a zero on that one.
gasiorv
I'm a new world samurai, and a redneck nonetheless
Supporting Member
Ride of the Month Winner
You are correct, I had to winch the second part of riff raff because of the big undercut. The only time I winched myself on the whole trip. I’ll take that as a win.
My bad. I probably have the wrong pic there. So Rif Raf was just before No Left Turn, correct? That's were I recall using my two 20' nylon straps around that giant rock as an anchor to get your LJ up.
Yep. That was more or less my thought upon initial inspection. However, the alternative was to turn around and drive down what we had just winched up. And after watching @Apparition and @lBasket do it with @gasiorv's help, it seemed possible, at least. What I didn't mention was that after doing such a stellar job spotting us all down, @gasiorv tore a sidewall on that passenger front when he came down.
(we failed him
)
It went riff raff, the wall and then no left turn.
I made the first half of riff raff but couldn’t get it to grab on the second part without walking towards that drop off. We could have got it with more rocks but it made more sense to me to winch up and not waste more time.
Everyone else took the alternate route which still wasn’t easy. Victor was the only one to make it without winching. This is also where we realized Basket needed remedial winch training.
Then on the wall, it was a situation where my extra wheelbase helped get my front tires to where they could grab so I made it up that.
Sounds right.
That was close to being an issue
I still wonder about "the minivan" on that one.
Go back on a different day, different conditions and everyone might walk right up.
The 37’s and wheelbase would have helped.
Yep. That was more or less my thought upon initial inspection. However, the alternative was to turn around and drive down what we had just winched up. And after watching @Apparition and @lBasket do it with @gasiorv's help, it seemed possible, at least. What I didn't mention was that after doing such a stellar job spotting us all down, @gasiorv tore a sidewall on that passenger front when he came down.
View attachment 436553
(we failed him
Did those plugs hold?
yep, and he towed me out with them in place.
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Last wheeling day in Moab, June 2023 (WARNING; TJs are conspicuously absent in this post!)
For the final day, we did the Top of the World trail. It is rated difficult in Charles Wells’ book, but this was by far our most mellow day. The group looked a little different today: @Apparition, @lBasket and @gasiorv all brought their TJs as is right and good. @MagnumV8’s Jeep was out for the trip with a rear axle tube spun in the diff housing and my TJ was out with a crushed fuel line. But, I decided to try and make lemons into lemonade and rented a somewhat built JLUR on 37s. I would‘ve much rather had the TJ but the back to back comparison on the trail was very informative. To make our group even more dissimilar, a friend of @gasiorv came along with a bone stock 08 Tacoma (ATs, no lockers, a clean body and wanting to keep that way). Another friend of the group showed up in a JKU.
Driving northeast out of town for 30 miles along the Colorado river past Castle Valley was pretty.
Amazingly, with careful driving, rock stacking and @gasiorv spotting, the Tacoma only needed winching once on the way up.
With its 118” wheelbase and 37s the JL was undoubtedly capable. So much so, that the trail seemed a little boring. The rig got dubbed “the minivan”.
It was the first time all week I was constantly looking for the hard lines.
For propulsion, this JL had the turbo 2.0L and 8 speed auto. Even with its much larger mass, I’d say it had as much get up and go on road as my TJ with its stroker and AX15.
There was some downtime as the Taco slowly picked its way up and down:
Everyone made it to the top. The obligatory picture (I thought catching the bird in the shot was cool):
In this pano shot, the La Sals, Castle Valley and Fisher Towers are visible:
I’ll bet not too many stock Tacomas have been here:
Here’s the view from the top in the other direction. I had to put this pic in because @gasiorv’s TJ is in it and this is supposed to be a TJ forum
The blue JK was with us. The JLs and JT all showed up after we got there. This was more traffic than we saw all week. This is probably a good time to mention the weather. It was perfect. 70s-80s all week.
Getting down, we took the east loop which is little more fun. I still can’t believe the Taco survived with no more the one little scrape on the rear bumper and the 4 pin trailer harness torn off.
In the earlier pic at the top, the road the bird’s wing crosses is the Onion Creek Trail which I did the next day in the rental with my wife, 2 friends and our 2 Aussies.
There are literally dozens of creek crossings but all are shallow and the whole thing is easily doable in a stock SUV. It was a beautiful and comfortable trip which I’ll admit wouldn’t have been possible in my TJ because everyone wouldn’t have fit.
When all was said and done, I liked and respected the JL but I love my TJ and was very impressed with its performance on this trip.
The End.
For the final day, we did the Top of the World trail. It is rated difficult in Charles Wells’ book, but this was by far our most mellow day. The group looked a little different today: @Apparition, @lBasket and @gasiorv all brought their TJs as is right and good. @MagnumV8’s Jeep was out for the trip with a rear axle tube spun in the diff housing and my TJ was out with a crushed fuel line. But, I decided to try and make lemons into lemonade and rented a somewhat built JLUR on 37s. I would‘ve much rather had the TJ but the back to back comparison on the trail was very informative. To make our group even more dissimilar, a friend of @gasiorv came along with a bone stock 08 Tacoma (ATs, no lockers, a clean body and wanting to keep that way). Another friend of the group showed up in a JKU.
Driving northeast out of town for 30 miles along the Colorado river past Castle Valley was pretty.
Amazingly, with careful driving, rock stacking and @gasiorv spotting, the Tacoma only needed winching once on the way up.
With its 118” wheelbase and 37s the JL was undoubtedly capable. So much so, that the trail seemed a little boring. The rig got dubbed “the minivan”.
It was the first time all week I was constantly looking for the hard lines.
For propulsion, this JL had the turbo 2.0L and 8 speed auto. Even with its much larger mass, I’d say it had as much get up and go on road as my TJ with its stroker and AX15.
There was some downtime as the Taco slowly picked its way up and down:
Everyone made it to the top. The obligatory picture (I thought catching the bird in the shot was cool):
In this pano shot, the La Sals, Castle Valley and Fisher Towers are visible:
I’ll bet not too many stock Tacomas have been here:
Here’s the view from the top in the other direction. I had to put this pic in because @gasiorv’s TJ is in it and this is supposed to be a TJ forum
The blue JK was with us. The JLs and JT all showed up after we got there. This was more traffic than we saw all week. This is probably a good time to mention the weather. It was perfect. 70s-80s all week.
Getting down, we took the east loop which is little more fun. I still can’t believe the Taco survived with no more the one little scrape on the rear bumper and the 4 pin trailer harness torn off.
In the earlier pic at the top, the road the bird’s wing crosses is the Onion Creek Trail which I did the next day in the rental with my wife, 2 friends and our 2 Aussies.
There are literally dozens of creek crossings but all are shallow and the whole thing is easily doable in a stock SUV. It was a beautiful and comfortable trip which I’ll admit wouldn’t have been possible in my TJ because everyone wouldn’t have fit.
When all was said and done, I liked and respected the JL but I love my TJ and was very impressed with its performance on this trip.
The End.
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