Random Nuclear Strikes

Steely Dan minutiae ahead.

Which means I have to post my favorite track from the Boys from Bards

Caves of Altamira – Steely Dan

Buy it here

Backbround here

Youze guys stop by with your knowledged ORV facts and junk and blow my “order of magnificence” out of the water completely.

To answer the questions: Buddy still has a Dana 35 in the back (the hitch is an after market job). My “Jeep Guy” and I have discussed swapping out to a Dana 44 in the not too distant future, but I was hoping to put it off a bit longer as my 35 is just fine. Though after doing some research due to the comments I noticed that 35’s w/ABS in my year are all C-clipped, so yeah, it’ll have to go.

Jeep Guy says $500 + labor.

Two spares will be a minimum on my ORV rig. One on the roof and one on a rear tire carrying bumper I’ll be buying from these guys (for those who missed out last Buddy post, I’m also getting this front bumper w/a 2in receiver and these rock rails from them). One of the guys at work does some very serious structural fab work on custom hot rods in his off hours and we’ll be getting together sooner than later to built a cross between a roof rack and an exo-skeleton kindathing mounting to the rails and the front and back bumpers.

Said rack will carry hi-lift jack, shovel and/or Pulaski, six jerry cans and four spares, with the previously mentioned one on the back and plans for a sixth spare to be mounted on the front bumper via the front receiver mount. I don’t plan on using the rack as an exo-skeleton, but since Buddy didn’t come with a factory roof rack, and the rain rails won’t hold that much weight, I have to go with that style rack.

For winching, I’m going to go with one 10,000lb winch, not sure what brand yet, in a 2in post cradle with pre-wired connections, front and back.

Then maybe I’ll finally be ready for 31’s?

Though I’ve certainly got no wings and less than a prayer.

Buddy’s back (click for super size)

Before

After

Before

After

Once again, I put this Rubicon Express 3.5in Super Ride kit in. My extended slip yoke is on backorder, but it should be in within the next couple weeks or so. Hopefully. Cause I’ve got a semi-mean vibration at the 35-45mph that it should get rid of.

And when/if it does, we’re moving on to tires next.

The 235/70-16 rubber currently on there looks a bit shrunken and while I hate to give up the 2mpg, I think I’ll put up with it for a little extra width and some extra height.

Get yer calculators out: The 235 gets divided by 25.4 to get your inches in width. That number gets rounded at the hundredth and then multiplied by .70 (the 70) to get your tire wall height. That number gets doubled and added to your rim size to find your total tire height.

That just one example of how the euros screwed us over with the metric system.

Anyway, Buddy’s tires are currently at 28.94 inches tall. They’re 50% gone and a bit too narrow, so I’m going to up them in the not too distant future, provided I don’t have to purchase and install a CV Driveshaft.

I have these on my F-150 in a 255/70-16 and they are one hell of an All-Terrain tire. They excelled in last year’s wind/snowstorm and have taken everything I’ve driven them over with nary a nick.

However, these look like a nice fit and worth trying

But I’m not sure if my tire guy can get his hands on four of them. I’ll hopefully know sooner than later.

Before I saw the finished product, I was just going to for width and snatch up some of the Yokohamas in 255/65-16 size, which when compared to what I have on there now, would be nearly the same height at 29.06 inches.

That’s out the window now though. I’m going for the psuedo-mondo 265/70-16. over an inch wider than the 235’s and nearly a half an inch wider than the 255’s and tops up at 30.7. Which is nice, because I can run the Yokos daily and then switch out to a set of these in a 31×10.5-15 which, after the squat a vehicle puts on them, are actually only 30.7 inches tall and not have to worry about speedometer troubles.

If you’ve had any experience with the Khumos or the M/T-R’s, please let me know in the comments. Also, any ego stroking about the lift will be welcomed as well.

At the Dem Convention’s buffet after submitting this idea

A plan introduced Thursday by U.S. Rep. Mike Ross to encourage alternative and renewable energy relies on oil drilling in Arctic wildlife lands and the Gulf of Mexico to meet its goals.

Ross’ bill, the “American-Made Energy Act of 2008,” also would create tax credits to build new nuclear power plants throughout the United States, with an aim of having 40 percent of the nation’s power come from nuclear sources.

Oil and nuclear!?! Hell, he’ll be lucky to keep his vote as a Superdelegate.

Expect the leftosphere to erupt in indignation if this gets out of committee.

Btw, if McCain were to partner with this guy and get this introduced into the Senate (and get his name on an actual good piece of legislation) I’d be happy about that.