Recent Content by JWEST

Matt, I wish I had done this about two years ago as well. I went to great lengths to keep steel contamination out of my bumper, but there's always a little bit. The bed of the plasma cutter, forklift forks, etc. I do keep all me stainless abrasive stuff separate from the carbon steel...

For you 2nd Gen Rammers who like your shiny stuff, I have finally produced a polished stainless steel bumper. It is made of 3/16" thick T304, so it's just as strong as my steel bumpers. The finish is a near mirror - you can see yourself in it, and you'll be able to tell who it is, but you won't...

Deer Resistant Bumpers I just sold my first polished stainless steel John West bumper. You can p. m. me for good pictures. I still offer steel bumpers for those who don't need shiny things. The stainless bumper is the same 3/16" thickness as my steel bumpers. It costs more but, it looks...

Mimprevento, I have no doubt that double shocks will take care of the DW, but it's a remedy only. It's not the root cause of the problem. Just like the lack of a steering stabilizer does not necessarily mean we need one. There is something causing a violent, low frequency vibration in the front...

I agree with Clinton that there should have been some better design work on the front end of the 4x4's. If you look at the trucks year by year, you can see the changes DC made bit by bit, and you might think some of them would be obvious, and some not so obvious like the elimination of the CAD...

Chickenhawk, The track bar is the first place I looked since I had already been there once or twice. But being a mechanical engineer, I tried to look at things from a physics standpoint. What components on the front end of this truck can store and release enough energy make the thing bounce...

10-G, That's the bummer of my theory - it's very hard if not impossible to tell when a tire is bad by looking at it from the outside. Even if you cut one apart, you can never know if the steel belts - a bunch of wire really - remain where they were when the tire was molded. My BFG's were well...

Here's how you know when you've had the Death Wobble too many times: you put both hands on the steering wheel, slow down to 50 in heavy traffic, grip the wheel until your knuckles are white and hang on with your teeth clinched. There are three or four areas of interstate in my daily commute...

I agree with all of you that the track bar should be tight, steering stabilizer should be tight etc, but the one and only thing that will cause the Death Wobble is worn out tires. This has happened on my '96 with BFG T/A's twice now, both sets of tires with high miles. New tires is the ONLY...

Mark, PM me or email to -- email address removed -- about those stacks for sale!

If you could see the rest of my truck, you would know that sheet metal is not a big concern for me. Several trees have jumped out at my truck and caused some dings and scratches while playing at Silver Lake in Michigan. Rockcrawling takes that damage to a whole new level though, and I can't see...

HCK, Here is a sidewall shot of my 285 Bridgestone MT's. Believe it or not, there's 45 psi in these. Ride is decent, but they were a little squirrely for the first 5k miles. Probably due to the big tread blocks. I have Centramatic balancers so I can't really say how good the MT's balance on...

As soon as I have a chance to sneak out of the office with the digital camera I'll get you a tire shot. The 'Stones are D rated and don't seem to care whether I run them at 65 or 45 psi. Thanks for the bumper compliment. I like to think the cleaner look appeals to some people who don't need...

No problem - I just put those tires on, they are 285/75R16 Bridgestone Dueler M/T/s. I got 50k miles out of the last set I had a few years ago, so I gave them another shot. They are a little noisy but for a mudder they aren't too bad. My traction bars are twice as long as the front half of...

Briar - I have been curious about rock crawling for a while now. Tried it for myself in a creek bed and it was good. But busting your front diff on a rock or twisting your tie rod would be a huge bummer. Maybe later when I don't have to drive it to work everyday. Hill Country - That might be...