<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<?xml-stylesheet type="text/xsl" media="screen" href="/~d/styles/atom10full.xsl"?><?xml-stylesheet type="text/css" media="screen" href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~d/styles/itemcontent.css"?><feed xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom" xmlns:openSearch="http://a9.com/-/spec/opensearchrss/1.0/" xmlns:georss="http://www.georss.org/georss" xmlns:geo="http://www.w3.org/2003/01/geo/wgs84_pos#" xmlns:feedburner="http://rssnamespace.org/feedburner/ext/1.0"><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12030231</id><updated>2009-11-02T08:51:52.035-05:00</updated><title type="text">Adventures of JeepGirl and Speedracer</title><subtitle type="html">This blog is about Jeep, Jeep Cherokee, XJ, outdoor adventure, hiking, and other adventures.  We will also occasionally talk about attraction and other metaphysical subjects.  But mostly just Jeeps, having fun and other off road sports.</subtitle><link rel="http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#feed" type="application/atom+xml" href="http://jgandsr.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default" /><link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://jgandsr.blogspot.com/" /><link rel="hub" href="http://pubsubhubbub.appspot.com/" /><link rel="next" type="application/atom+xml" href="http://www.blogger.com/feeds/12030231/posts/default?start-index=26&amp;max-results=25" /><author><name>Mike</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/07991970552878929235</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email></author><generator version="7.00" uri="http://www.blogger.com">Blogger</generator><openSearch:totalResults>139</openSearch:totalResults><openSearch:startIndex>1</openSearch:startIndex><openSearch:itemsPerPage>25</openSearch:itemsPerPage><geo:lat>35.03521</geo:lat><geo:long>-84.84199</geo:long><link rel="self" href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/JeepgirlAndSpeedracer" type="application/atom+xml" /><feedburner:browserFriendly>This is an XML content feed. It is intended to be viewed in a newsreader or syndicated to another site, subject to copyright and fair use.</feedburner:browserFriendly><atom10:link xmlns:atom10="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom" rel="hub" href="http://pubsubhubbub.appspot.com" /><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12030231.post-3769262393260037472</id><published>2009-07-17T11:11:00.002-04:00</published><updated>2009-07-17T11:14:06.959-04:00</updated><title type="text">Replacing Ball Joints</title><content type="html">I replaced the ball joints on my off road Jeep this week.  I am sure they contributed to the breaking of my axle shaft in Harlan.  The completre story is here: --&gt; &lt;a href="http://mikestrawbridge.com/blog/2009/07/ball-joint-replacement-jeep-cherokee-repair/"&gt;Ball Joint Replacement Jeep Cherokee&lt;/a&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/12030231-3769262393260037472?l=jgandsr.blogspot.com'/&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel="related" href="http://mikestrawbridge.com/blog/2009/07/ball-joint-replacement-jeep-cherokee-repair/" title="Replacing Ball Joints" /><link rel="replies" type="application/atom+xml" href="http://jgandsr.blogspot.com/feeds/3769262393260037472/comments/default" title="Post Comments" /><link rel="replies" type="text/html" href="https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=12030231&amp;postID=3769262393260037472&amp;isPopup=true" title="0 Comments" /><link rel="edit" type="application/atom+xml" href="http://www.blogger.com/feeds/12030231/posts/default/3769262393260037472" /><link rel="self" type="application/atom+xml" href="http://www.blogger.com/feeds/12030231/posts/default/3769262393260037472" /><link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://jgandsr.blogspot.com/2009/07/replacing-ball-joints.html" title="Replacing Ball Joints" /><author><name>Mike</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/07991970552878929235</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd="http://schemas.google.com/g/2005" name="OpenSocialUserId" value="02202091416615615958" /></author><thr:total xmlns:thr="http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0">0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12030231.post-6553713203628421754</id><published>2009-06-24T11:42:00.003-04:00</published><updated>2009-06-24T12:00:44.142-04:00</updated><title type="text">Trail Riding at Prentice Cooper</title><content type="html">&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Prentice Cooper State Fores&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;strong&gt;t&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;This past weekend Mike, myself, our son Will , Jenny and her children decided to go to Prentice Cooper State Forest to check out the Jeep trails.  We had visited &lt;span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0"&gt;Prentice&lt;/span&gt; Cooper State Forest the day before and checked out some of the trails.  We were in our Suburban at the time. Therefore we stayed on the main trail.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The next day we went in the Jeeps.  We started out on Persimmon Trail and stayed on it until we came to a dead end.  We turned around and tried another way, but we got confused as to where we were on the map.  We turned around again and went back to the main trail.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;We then found a trail that led to &lt;span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1"&gt;Lusk&lt;/span&gt; Point.  At this point we were able to overlook the Tennessee River.  It was a beautiful sight!  We could see Hwy 27 where it goes by the rock quarry at the foot of Signal Mountain.  It was here that we decided to eat our picnic lunch.  &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;After lunch we found Haley Rd.  This road was the most interesting.  When we turned onto the &lt;span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2"&gt;road&lt;/span&gt; we found a sign that said only 4x4s were allowed on this trail.  It started with a steep downhill leading all the way to a creek crossing.  As we made our way down the trail we came to a hill climb.  We kept driving until we found Hwy 27.  We then turned around and went back to the hill climb.  &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;There was a trail at the top that we took until we came to a couple of trucks.  The drivers said there were a few trees down.  We turned around and started to head back to Haley Rd. However,  Jenny's Jeep started to act up.  I don't think she the Jeep Princess) wanted to leave. Mike was able to keep her going as we coaxed her on, and we soon made it back to Haley Rd and Hwy 27 and home.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;You can read more here.  www.mikestrawbridge.com&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/12030231-6553713203628421754?l=jgandsr.blogspot.com'/&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel="replies" type="application/atom+xml" href="http://jgandsr.blogspot.com/feeds/6553713203628421754/comments/default" title="Post Comments" /><link rel="replies" type="text/html" href="https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=12030231&amp;postID=6553713203628421754&amp;isPopup=true" title="1 Comments" /><link rel="edit" type="application/atom+xml" href="http://www.blogger.com/feeds/12030231/posts/default/6553713203628421754" /><link rel="self" type="application/atom+xml" href="http://www.blogger.com/feeds/12030231/posts/default/6553713203628421754" /><link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://jgandsr.blogspot.com/2009/06/trail-riding-at-prentice-cooper.html" title="Trail Riding at Prentice Cooper" /><author><name>Ms Janice</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/08394531158701594792</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd="http://schemas.google.com/g/2005" name="OpenSocialUserId" value="12695702350848068019" /></author><thr:total xmlns:thr="http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0">1</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12030231.post-7043906990581647765</id><published>2008-12-30T13:01:00.005-05:00</published><updated>2009-01-15T09:19:37.515-05:00</updated><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Aetna" /><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="buckshot" /><title type="text">Aetna Mountain off road</title><content type="html">This weekend I went with some friends to Aetna Mountain near Chattanooga. The recent rains made the rails very slippy. Even the main road up and down the mountain was a huge challenge to navigate. Places that can be accessed by car when dry were nearly impassable. I was very happy with my &lt;a href="http://www.mikestrawbridge.com/buckshots.shtml"&gt;Maxxis Buckshots&lt;/a&gt;. Since trailer parking is limited and not secure, I drove the 50 miles to the trail head. I did not want to air down too much since I had to drive back. The &lt;a href="http://www.mikestrawbridge.com/buckshots.shtml"&gt;Buckshots&lt;/a&gt; were amazing even at 25 psi.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;We met some very interesting folks in he woods and had a great time. I was very appreciative to the guys it he Cherokee who showed us a shortcut out and to the guy in the Toyota who pulled me back straight when I got crossed up in the ruts on the way out.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Here is a video of Jenny playing on a waterfall climb: My favorite part of the video is the narration by her three year old son Hunter.&lt;object height="344" width="425"&gt;&lt;param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/Sw9mQDGwUG4&amp;amp;hl=en&amp;amp;fs=1"&gt;&lt;param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"&gt;&lt;param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"&gt;&lt;embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/Sw9mQDGwUG4&amp;hl=en&amp;fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"&gt;&lt;/embed&gt;&lt;/object&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/12030231-7043906990581647765?l=jgandsr.blogspot.com'/&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel="replies" type="application/atom+xml" href="http://jgandsr.blogspot.com/feeds/7043906990581647765/comments/default" title="Post Comments" /><link rel="replies" type="text/html" href="https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=12030231&amp;postID=7043906990581647765&amp;isPopup=true" title="1 Comments" /><link rel="edit" type="application/atom+xml" href="http://www.blogger.com/feeds/12030231/posts/default/7043906990581647765" /><link rel="self" type="application/atom+xml" href="http://www.blogger.com/feeds/12030231/posts/default/7043906990581647765" /><link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://jgandsr.blogspot.com/2008/12/aetna-mountain-off-road.html" title="Aetna Mountain off road" /><author><name>Mike</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/07991970552878929235</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd="http://schemas.google.com/g/2005" name="OpenSocialUserId" value="02202091416615615958" /></author><thr:total xmlns:thr="http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0">1</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12030231.post-8677264594629486459</id><published>2008-12-17T10:22:00.002-05:00</published><updated>2008-12-17T10:27:37.730-05:00</updated><title type="text">Jeep No Start update</title><content type="html">I just thought I found the problem when I found the bare wire going to the distributor.  The next day when I was needing to leave my office to go to a very important meeting, my Jeep would not start.  I used up most of the battery trying different wires and connections that might be bad.  I finally borrowed Jenny's Jeep and made my meeting.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The computer was again showing code 54 - no sync.  This sensor is mounted inside the distributor.  Since I had a spare distributor, I elected to change the whole unit instead of just the sensor. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Working in the parking lot between rain showers, I carefully marked the direction of the rotor for the old distributor.   Installed the spare making sure the rotor ended up pointing at the mark I made so that it would be indexed the same as the old one.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I reconnected the wires and even with the low battery, it fired right up.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I am happy to have it going again.  Maybe this will cure this very annoying intermittent problem I have had for a while.&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/12030231-8677264594629486459?l=jgandsr.blogspot.com'/&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel="replies" type="application/atom+xml" href="http://jgandsr.blogspot.com/feeds/8677264594629486459/comments/default" title="Post Comments" /><link rel="replies" type="text/html" href="https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=12030231&amp;postID=8677264594629486459&amp;isPopup=true" title="1 Comments" /><link rel="edit" type="application/atom+xml" href="http://www.blogger.com/feeds/12030231/posts/default/8677264594629486459" /><link rel="self" type="application/atom+xml" href="http://www.blogger.com/feeds/12030231/posts/default/8677264594629486459" /><link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://jgandsr.blogspot.com/2008/12/jeep-no-start-update.html" title="Jeep No Start update" /><author><name>Mike</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/07991970552878929235</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd="http://schemas.google.com/g/2005" name="OpenSocialUserId" value="02202091416615615958" /></author><thr:total xmlns:thr="http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0">1</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12030231.post-3178316450858659924</id><published>2008-12-15T14:15:00.003-05:00</published><updated>2008-12-15T14:20:58.969-05:00</updated><title type="text">More electrical gremlins</title><content type="html">I have been fighting some more electrical gremlins on White Jeep for the last few days.  It would suddenly cut of and then restart while going down the road.  I had trouble cranking it Friday and got codes from the computer.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Code 54 turned out to be no sync signal from the distributor.  Sunday afternoon I went to move my Jeep and it would not start again.  finally I had the no start condition at home where I could work on it!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The code 54 was back.  After a lot of searching and running the battery down trying to start it, I found that one of the wires coming from the distributor had a bad place in the insulation and was grounding out against the engine.  I put some tape of the wire and the engine started right up.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I am noticing that alot of the insulation on the wires near the engine is starting to crumble.  That was what had happened to this piece of wire.&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/12030231-3178316450858659924?l=jgandsr.blogspot.com'/&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel="replies" type="application/atom+xml" href="http://jgandsr.blogspot.com/feeds/3178316450858659924/comments/default" title="Post Comments" /><link rel="replies" type="text/html" href="https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=12030231&amp;postID=3178316450858659924&amp;isPopup=true" title="1 Comments" /><link rel="edit" type="application/atom+xml" href="http://www.blogger.com/feeds/12030231/posts/default/3178316450858659924" /><link rel="self" type="application/atom+xml" href="http://www.blogger.com/feeds/12030231/posts/default/3178316450858659924" /><link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://jgandsr.blogspot.com/2008/12/more-electrical-gremlins.html" title="More electrical gremlins" /><author><name>Mike</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/07991970552878929235</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd="http://schemas.google.com/g/2005" name="OpenSocialUserId" value="02202091416615615958" /></author><thr:total xmlns:thr="http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0">1</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12030231.post-959087641630367666</id><published>2008-12-05T15:37:00.003-05:00</published><updated>2008-12-06T20:37:05.111-05:00</updated><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Jeep Modification" /><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Air horn" /><title type="text">Air horns</title><content type="html">&lt;a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_29-fQLbH_m8/STsojG4ngWI/AAAAAAAAAEI/vnOuE1z_CSU/s1600-h/100_3046.jpg"&gt;&lt;img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5276855972003283298" style="WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 297px" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_29-fQLbH_m8/STsojG4ngWI/AAAAAAAAAEI/vnOuE1z_CSU/s400/100_3046.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div&gt;I have not had a horn on White Jeep for a couple of years. I had thought there was a wiring problem or a bad relay so I never really looked into it. However, recently, I was testing a horn for a friend and I found that the wire to my horn was hot. The horns just made no sound.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;JeepGirl and Harbor Freight to he rescue. For my birthday she got me a set of air horns. I hooked them up last night. I fished the wire from the driver's side horn back into the engine compartment. I hooked it to the positive terminal of the compressor which I mounted where the air box used to be. I had to add a ground wire from the compressor to the body. I stuck two of the trumpets through the hole where the air box normally breathes and let the other trumpet rest under those.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Now I have a real attention getting horn.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/12030231-959087641630367666?l=jgandsr.blogspot.com'/&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel="related" href="http://mikestrawbridge.com/jeep-cherokee-off-road.shtml" title="Air horns" /><link rel="replies" type="application/atom+xml" href="http://jgandsr.blogspot.com/feeds/959087641630367666/comments/default" title="Post Comments" /><link rel="replies" type="text/html" href="https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=12030231&amp;postID=959087641630367666&amp;isPopup=true" title="1 Comments" /><link rel="edit" type="application/atom+xml" href="http://www.blogger.com/feeds/12030231/posts/default/959087641630367666" /><link rel="self" type="application/atom+xml" href="http://www.blogger.com/feeds/12030231/posts/default/959087641630367666" /><link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://jgandsr.blogspot.com/2008/12/air-horns.html" title="Air horns" /><author><name>Mike</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/07991970552878929235</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd="http://schemas.google.com/g/2005" name="OpenSocialUserId" value="02202091416615615958" /></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_29-fQLbH_m8/STsojG4ngWI/AAAAAAAAAEI/vnOuE1z_CSU/s72-c/100_3046.jpg" height="72" width="72" /><thr:total xmlns:thr="http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0">1</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12030231.post-6304435116861730490</id><published>2008-12-05T15:24:00.004-05:00</published><updated>2008-12-05T15:37:40.796-05:00</updated><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="jeep repair" /><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="seat belt repair" /><title type="text">Jeep repairs  - seat belt latch</title><content type="html">Last night I did a few repairs to White Jeep. My seat belt latch has been giving me trouble for a while. The little spring that forces the catch into the tang of the belt broke. I managed to get by for a long time by just shoving the parts of the spring back to together, but eventually that failed as well. I then stole the spring out of the center seat belt in the rear as the rear seat seldom gets used. However, the driver's side front buckle is slightly different from the rear in that it has a switch in it. I had to cut out the switch to get the rear parts in. This has worked well for a couple of months with the exception of being hard to disconnect.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Yesterday, it failed again. Part of the plastic from the old switch jammed the mechanism and bent the release mechanism.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I have made all the previous repairs with the seat belt still attached to the tunnel because I had not been able to get the bolt loose. Well last night I decided it would be much easier to make the repair on the bench so I used my air wrench to remove the bolt. It came out easily with the torque of the thunder gun.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Once it was out and I could see and move parts around, I cut out the remaining plastic from he switch and made the mechanism work smoother. I had to bend the tabs on the release button back into the proper position. After a few tries I was able to snap the cover back on and have every thing stay in place.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I have thought of buying a new belt but when I found the price was over $200 for the belt, I decided to fix mine again. It is amazing how motivating saving $200 can be.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;It is nice to have a seat belt that stays fastened and comes loose when I push the button.&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/12030231-6304435116861730490?l=jgandsr.blogspot.com'/&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel="related" href="http://mikestrawbridge.com/jeep-cherokee-off-road.shtml" title="Jeep repairs  - seat belt latch" /><link rel="replies" type="application/atom+xml" href="http://jgandsr.blogspot.com/feeds/6304435116861730490/comments/default" title="Post Comments" /><link rel="replies" type="text/html" href="https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=12030231&amp;postID=6304435116861730490&amp;isPopup=true" title="1 Comments" /><link rel="edit" type="application/atom+xml" href="http://www.blogger.com/feeds/12030231/posts/default/6304435116861730490" /><link rel="self" type="application/atom+xml" href="http://www.blogger.com/feeds/12030231/posts/default/6304435116861730490" /><link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://jgandsr.blogspot.com/2008/12/jepp-repairs-seat-belt-latch.html" title="Jeep repairs  - seat belt latch" /><author><name>Mike</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/07991970552878929235</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd="http://schemas.google.com/g/2005" name="OpenSocialUserId" value="02202091416615615958" /></author><thr:total xmlns:thr="http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0">1</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12030231.post-2041886831813053103</id><published>2008-12-02T13:39:00.003-05:00</published><updated>2008-12-02T13:54:13.799-05:00</updated><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="jeep" /><title type="text">300,000 miles</title><content type="html">&lt;a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_29-fQLbH_m8/STWB_IDJkdI/AAAAAAAAAEA/5t2KmasTlFk/s1600-h/Pix038.jpg"&gt;&lt;img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5275265460026839506" style="WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 300px" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_29-fQLbH_m8/STWB_IDJkdI/AAAAAAAAAEA/5t2KmasTlFk/s400/Pix038.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;My daily driver know affectionately as White Jeep turned over 300,000 miles recently.  This Jeep has really been a very reliable vehicle.  The oil gets changed occasionally and it gets driven a lot.&lt;br /&gt;It has been raced, rallied, rally crossed , run off road, towed trailers and generally been well used.  It has even been overheated severely a couple of times.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Over the years I have had to change the alternator twice.  I have installed a half dozen or so sets of spark plugs.  Changed the plug wires a time or two.  I have changed the rear oil seal once and installed a new harmonic damper and seal in the front.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I have swapped the radiator a few times and had the head cleaned out by the dealer due to overheating issues.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The front control arm bushings were replaced with poly years ago but it is still running the original track bar.  I have swapped the front wheel bearings more times than I can remember and installed several sets of high performance brake pads.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The leather seats are getting a bit ragged and I have worn out three steering wheels.  The Ac compressor recently quit but otherwise this Jeeps runs and drives great.  I could not have asked for a more reliable and fun truck to drive.&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/12030231-2041886831813053103?l=jgandsr.blogspot.com'/&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel="replies" type="application/atom+xml" href="http://jgandsr.blogspot.com/feeds/2041886831813053103/comments/default" title="Post Comments" /><link rel="replies" type="text/html" href="https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=12030231&amp;postID=2041886831813053103&amp;isPopup=true" title="1 Comments" /><link rel="edit" type="application/atom+xml" href="http://www.blogger.com/feeds/12030231/posts/default/2041886831813053103" /><link rel="self" type="application/atom+xml" href="http://www.blogger.com/feeds/12030231/posts/default/2041886831813053103" /><link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://jgandsr.blogspot.com/2008/12/300000-miles.html" title="300,000 miles" /><author><name>Mike</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/07991970552878929235</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd="http://schemas.google.com/g/2005" name="OpenSocialUserId" value="02202091416615615958" /></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_29-fQLbH_m8/STWB_IDJkdI/AAAAAAAAAEA/5t2KmasTlFk/s72-c/Pix038.jpg" height="72" width="72" /><thr:total xmlns:thr="http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0">1</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12030231.post-4889604834554526484</id><published>2008-12-02T13:10:00.006-05:00</published><updated>2008-12-02T13:30:49.831-05:00</updated><title type="text">Wooly's Off Road Park</title><content type="html">&lt;a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_29-fQLbH_m8/STV7rDl-W2I/AAAAAAAAAD4/BJVQbDHAqvI/s1600-h/Pix041.jpg"&gt;&lt;img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5275258518163577698" style="WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 300px" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_29-fQLbH_m8/STV7rDl-W2I/AAAAAAAAAD4/BJVQbDHAqvI/s400/Pix041.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_29-fQLbH_m8/STV7k4aT38I/AAAAAAAAADw/NvjIc-ptuoA/s1600-h/Pix033.jpg"&gt;&lt;img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5275258412082651074" style="WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 300px" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_29-fQLbH_m8/STV7k4aT38I/AAAAAAAAADw/NvjIc-ptuoA/s400/Pix033.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div&gt;On the day after Thanksgiving, Scott and I were getting bored sitting around waiting for our wives to return form shopping so we took Janice's Jeep to a place near Lewisburg called Wooly's off road park.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;We felt a little out of place in her stock Jeep with her &lt;a href="http://gonowgirls.blogspot.com/2008/11/motives-custom-blend-foudations-and.html"&gt;Motives Cosmetics&lt;/a&gt; ads on the rear hatch but we knew that a stock jeep is very capable of running mild trails.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;The folks there were very nice and friendly and told us which trails they recommended. We signed the waiver and paid our $10 entry fee.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;I drove around a bit and explored the east side of the park. There was lots to see there. We watched a couple of wranglers tip toe around on some of the rocks there. &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;As we were getting ready to cross the road to the west side of the park Scott was driving when we spotted the Wranglers working their way down what looked like a tricky hill. I quickly scouted it and saw it was easily passable in JeepGirls Jeep and I waved Scott on. He made it down with very little drama. &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;In fact remarked how easy it was. So I told him to turn it around a go back up. Even with both sway bars installed, and full street pressure in the tires, he made it up the hill. He only stopped once but a little bump got him over the rock. Not a Neal Hoover bump, just a little bump.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;We explored some of the west side of the park but we got confused at a five way intersection. It was starting to get dark so we turned around and I let Scott drive back to the parking lot.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;Wooly's is defiantly due for a revisit. It looks like a good safe place for Scott to drive his Woody Wagoneer. There are also some very interesting looking hills that I want to try Scuffy on. &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;I guess I will have to fix my winch before Christmas.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/12030231-4889604834554526484?l=jgandsr.blogspot.com'/&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel="related" href="http://www.woolysoffroad.com/" title="Wooly's Off Road Park" /><link rel="replies" type="application/atom+xml" href="http://jgandsr.blogspot.com/feeds/4889604834554526484/comments/default" title="Post Comments" /><link rel="replies" type="text/html" href="https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=12030231&amp;postID=4889604834554526484&amp;isPopup=true" title="3 Comments" /><link rel="edit" type="application/atom+xml" href="http://www.blogger.com/feeds/12030231/posts/default/4889604834554526484" /><link rel="self" type="application/atom+xml" href="http://www.blogger.com/feeds/12030231/posts/default/4889604834554526484" /><link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://jgandsr.blogspot.com/2008/12/woolys-off-road-park.html" title="Wooly's Off Road Park" /><author><name>Mike</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/07991970552878929235</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd="http://schemas.google.com/g/2005" name="OpenSocialUserId" value="02202091416615615958" /></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_29-fQLbH_m8/STV7rDl-W2I/AAAAAAAAAD4/BJVQbDHAqvI/s72-c/Pix041.jpg" height="72" width="72" /><thr:total xmlns:thr="http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0">3</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12030231.post-6178672931237951010</id><published>2008-10-22T21:21:00.004-04:00</published><updated>2008-10-22T21:31:37.537-04:00</updated><title type="text">My Jeep just quit!</title><content type="html">&lt;div&gt;&lt;div&gt;Today I was driving along in my Jeep Cherokee and it suddenly lost power. I looked down and saw the tach was reading zero. I bumped the shifter into neutral and after a few tries, it started back up. I was pretty sure I knew what the problem was, but I did not want to mess with it in traffic. It ran fine after that initial failure.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div&gt;Later that afternoon when I went to star up my Jeep, it started and then immediately died. I first checked the mounting for the ecu and the plug for the CPS. Both seemed fine. &lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div&gt;I then moved to the grounding bolt on the back of the block. Sure enough one of the main ground wires had broken loose. I was able to position the wire where it made contact an the other wires held it in place so I could drive home.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_29-fQLbH_m8/SP_TP34H0LI/AAAAAAAAADg/TeGLWZBz_QY/s1600-h/broken+wire.jpg"&gt;&lt;img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5260155159442870450" style="WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 300px" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_29-fQLbH_m8/SP_TP34H0LI/AAAAAAAAADg/TeGLWZBz_QY/s400/broken+wire.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;I also found one of the other wires was loose in its terminal so I replaced both with new ring terminals.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_29-fQLbH_m8/SP_TvXZWI2I/AAAAAAAAADo/V74LNC0kQD0/s1600-h/repaired+wire.jpg"&gt;&lt;img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5260155700479664994" style="WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 300px" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_29-fQLbH_m8/SP_TvXZWI2I/AAAAAAAAADo/V74LNC0kQD0/s400/repaired+wire.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/12030231-6178672931237951010?l=jgandsr.blogspot.com'/&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel="replies" type="application/atom+xml" href="http://jgandsr.blogspot.com/feeds/6178672931237951010/comments/default" title="Post Comments" /><link rel="replies" type="text/html" href="https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=12030231&amp;postID=6178672931237951010&amp;isPopup=true" title="1 Comments" /><link rel="edit" type="application/atom+xml" href="http://www.blogger.com/feeds/12030231/posts/default/6178672931237951010" /><link rel="self" type="application/atom+xml" href="http://www.blogger.com/feeds/12030231/posts/default/6178672931237951010" /><link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://jgandsr.blogspot.com/2008/10/my-jeep-just-quit.html" title="My Jeep just quit!" /><author><name>Mike</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/07991970552878929235</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd="http://schemas.google.com/g/2005" name="OpenSocialUserId" value="02202091416615615958" /></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_29-fQLbH_m8/SP_TP34H0LI/AAAAAAAAADg/TeGLWZBz_QY/s72-c/broken+wire.jpg" height="72" width="72" /><thr:total xmlns:thr="http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0">1</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12030231.post-731947058049525750</id><published>2008-09-30T13:27:00.003-04:00</published><updated>2008-09-30T13:57:11.989-04:00</updated><title type="text">Coker Tire and Antique Cars</title><content type="html">&lt;strong&gt;Coker Tire Challenge and Antique Cars&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;During the weekend of September 19, 2008 I was involved with the &lt;span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0"&gt;Coker&lt;/span&gt; Tire Challenge in Chattanooga,TN. This event has run for the past three years and is sponsored by &lt;span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1"&gt;Coker&lt;/span&gt; Tire of Chattanooga.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;This year there were 40 antique car entries. The event ran from Chattanooga, TN to &lt;span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2"&gt;Lynchburg&lt;/span&gt;, TN on Friday, September 19. Then on Saturday the entries ran from Chattanooga, TN to &lt;span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3"&gt;Etowah&lt;/span&gt;, TN. On this day the entries stopped in Cleveland, TN to have lunch with the National Antique Car Association. There were approximately 350 cars at this event at &lt;span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4"&gt;Westwood&lt;/span&gt; Baptist Church. On Sunday the entrants ran in &lt;span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5"&gt;the Chattanooga&lt;/span&gt; area.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Each day some of my friends and I helped out by working the checkpoints. These checkpoints were timed and each entrant had a certain time they were to arrive at each point and each entrant received &lt;span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6"&gt;penalties&lt;/span&gt; for either being early or late.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;If I had to choose my favorite car I am not sure that I could.  However, I did enjoy the Antique police car (Car 54) and the Jaguar from Puerto Rico.  My friend Jennifer enjoyed the Model A that she got to ride in a the finish.  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I enjoyed working the checkpoints, but my favorite part was getting to meet the people and see the beautiful cars. I enjoy events like this and the people involved have a wonderful love for the antique cars and trucks.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7"&gt;Corky&lt;/span&gt; &lt;span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8"&gt;Coker&lt;/span&gt; and his family did a great job with hosting the event and everyone had lots of fun. Thanks to the &lt;span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_9"&gt;Coker&lt;/span&gt; family and what they do to help others enjoy playing with the antique automobiles.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;For more information about the Coker Tire Challenge or to see pictures from the event go to &lt;a href="http://www.coker.com/"&gt;http://www.coker.com/&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/12030231-731947058049525750?l=jgandsr.blogspot.com'/&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel="replies" type="application/atom+xml" href="http://jgandsr.blogspot.com/feeds/731947058049525750/comments/default" title="Post Comments" /><link rel="replies" type="text/html" href="https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=12030231&amp;postID=731947058049525750&amp;isPopup=true" title="0 Comments" /><link rel="edit" type="application/atom+xml" href="http://www.blogger.com/feeds/12030231/posts/default/731947058049525750" /><link rel="self" type="application/atom+xml" href="http://www.blogger.com/feeds/12030231/posts/default/731947058049525750" /><link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://jgandsr.blogspot.com/2008/09/coker-tire-and-antique-cars.html" title="Coker Tire and Antique Cars" /><author><name>Ms Janice</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/08394531158701594792</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd="http://schemas.google.com/g/2005" name="OpenSocialUserId" value="12695702350848068019" /></author><thr:total xmlns:thr="http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0">0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12030231.post-1628003614594237123</id><published>2008-08-19T11:41:00.004-04:00</published><updated>2008-08-19T11:54:17.368-04:00</updated><title type="text">Changing the rear pinion seal</title><content type="html">Last night we replaced the rear pinion seal on Jenny's XJ. Her Jeep has the Chrysler 8.25 rear end. The gear lash of the differential is set partly by the amount of crush on the spacer under the pinion bearing, so changing the seal has the potential to up set the alignment of the gears.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;After removing the drive shaft, we carefully marked the nut and the pinion shaft. Then while holding the yoke with a pipe wrench and turning the nut with a socket, we carefully counted the turns required to remove the nut. In our case it was nine turns exactly.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The yoke came off easily with the nut removed. I used a chisel under the metal lip of the old seal to drive it out. After cleaning up all the surfaces, and inspecting the yoke for wear, we installed the new seal.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I used a hammer and a seal driver to press the seal in flat against the differential housing.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;We then installed the yoke being careful not to damage the new seal.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;We then reinstalled the nut and carefully counted the turns to put it back into the right spot. A little dab of lock tite was put on the threads as a precaution.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;After tightening the nut back to precisely the same spot as it came off, I turned it just a little bit more to ensure it was tight.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;We then reinstalled the drive shaft and filled the diff with fluid to replace what had leaked out.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;A quick test drive shaowed it was all sealed up. No more stinky burning diff lube on the exhaust!&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/12030231-1628003614594237123?l=jgandsr.blogspot.com'/&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel="replies" type="application/atom+xml" href="http://jgandsr.blogspot.com/feeds/1628003614594237123/comments/default" title="Post Comments" /><link rel="replies" type="text/html" href="https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=12030231&amp;postID=1628003614594237123&amp;isPopup=true" title="0 Comments" /><link rel="edit" type="application/atom+xml" href="http://www.blogger.com/feeds/12030231/posts/default/1628003614594237123" /><link rel="self" type="application/atom+xml" href="http://www.blogger.com/feeds/12030231/posts/default/1628003614594237123" /><link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://jgandsr.blogspot.com/2008/08/changing-rear-pinion-seal.html" title="Changing the rear pinion seal" /><author><name>Mike</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/07991970552878929235</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd="http://schemas.google.com/g/2005" name="OpenSocialUserId" value="02202091416615615958" /></author><thr:total xmlns:thr="http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0">0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12030231.post-1146864530875194866</id><published>2008-08-11T10:58:00.002-04:00</published><updated>2008-08-11T11:10:39.119-04:00</updated><title type="text">Jeep XJ Fuel Pump Relay</title><content type="html">I have been dealing with a couple of Jeep XJ Cherokees lately that have had intermittent fuel delivery problems.  The first one was Jenny's 92 XJ.  Occasionally on hot days her jeep would appear to vapor lock.  While vapor lock was common on systems where the fuel pump was at the engine and pulled fuel from the tank, the pressurized system of the Jeep should be immune to vapor lock.  Jenny's Jeep would also occasionally read low fuel pressure ont he fuel rail and then at other times read the correct fuel pressure.  Bypassing the ballast resister would sometimes cure the low fule pressure problem.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Next my son's 91 XJ began havign trouble starting.  It would sometimes fire then stumble an ddie only to start right back up.  At others times it would simply spin but not fire at all.  Testing the fuel pressure at the rail would show fuel and checking spark gave me quite a jolt.  But it simply would not start.  Sometimes it would seem to start while holding the key in start but as soon as the key was released to run his Jeep would die.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The most annoying part was that after he would call me or my dad to come rescue him, we would get there to check it out and it would fire right up.  Pull it in the shop to test it and it would start and run fine every time.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Finally, one day it failed to start while I was there and i had a chance to keep experimenting with it.  After quite a bit of head scratching, I found that the fuel pump relay was not always making contact.  I swapped his cooling fan relay in to the slot to get him home while I stopped by the parts store to get him a new relay.  I picked up one for Jenny's Jeep while I was there.&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/12030231-1146864530875194866?l=jgandsr.blogspot.com'/&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel="replies" type="application/atom+xml" href="http://jgandsr.blogspot.com/feeds/1146864530875194866/comments/default" title="Post Comments" /><link rel="replies" type="text/html" href="https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=12030231&amp;postID=1146864530875194866&amp;isPopup=true" title="0 Comments" /><link rel="edit" type="application/atom+xml" href="http://www.blogger.com/feeds/12030231/posts/default/1146864530875194866" /><link rel="self" type="application/atom+xml" href="http://www.blogger.com/feeds/12030231/posts/default/1146864530875194866" /><link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://jgandsr.blogspot.com/2008/08/jeep-xj-fuel-pump-relay.html" title="Jeep XJ Fuel Pump Relay" /><author><name>Mike</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/07991970552878929235</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd="http://schemas.google.com/g/2005" name="OpenSocialUserId" value="02202091416615615958" /></author><thr:total xmlns:thr="http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0">0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12030231.post-8122217525446816814</id><published>2008-08-05T15:09:00.003-04:00</published><updated>2008-08-05T15:24:37.684-04:00</updated><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="cherokee" /><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="jeep repair" /><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="jeep trouble shooting" /><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="XJ" /><title type="text">Working with the boys</title><content type="html">This weekend I took my younger son will to see his brother Scott.  Actually Will took me along only because he needed a navigator.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;We spent some time first replacing the master cylinder in Scott's XJ Wagoneer.  He thought it was pretty scary to drive when the pedal went to the floor with no braking effort.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Swapping the master cylinder was an easy task once we got the right unit from O Reilly's.  Getting parts for an XJ Wagoneer is always a challenge.  When we went back to swap out the unit that was apparently for an SJ Wagoneer we simply asked for one to fit a Cherokee.  That one matched up.  Since he did not have a vice at his rented house, we went ahead an mounted it on the brake booster and did the bench bleed procedure there.  After attaching the lines and quickly bleeding all four corners he has a nice firm brake pedal again.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Next we moved to Will's XJ.  His dome lamp fuse was blowing ever since he changed his headliner.  Assuming that there was a bad wire somewhere, we had removed the headliner an checked everything last weekend.  We found nothing so we put it all back together.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The memory for the radio and clock are also fed from the dome light circuit so we made a plan to bypass the short and just power up the radio from another source.  When we checked for a short at the radio every thing tested fine.  We were able to power up the radio and clock with a jumper and ensure it all worked.  So we looked further to find the short from this side.  Everything we tried tested fine.  So we went back to the fuse box and tested again. No more short.  So we tentatively put it all back to getter and put in a fuse to see what would happen.  Happily the fuse stayed an the radio, clock and dome light all work properly now.  The clock did show 15:14 when it started up but it reset correctly when Scott pushed the buttons to set the time.&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/12030231-8122217525446816814?l=jgandsr.blogspot.com'/&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel="replies" type="application/atom+xml" href="http://jgandsr.blogspot.com/feeds/8122217525446816814/comments/default" title="Post Comments" /><link rel="replies" type="text/html" href="https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=12030231&amp;postID=8122217525446816814&amp;isPopup=true" title="0 Comments" /><link rel="edit" type="application/atom+xml" href="http://www.blogger.com/feeds/12030231/posts/default/8122217525446816814" /><link rel="self" type="application/atom+xml" href="http://www.blogger.com/feeds/12030231/posts/default/8122217525446816814" /><link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://jgandsr.blogspot.com/2008/08/working-with-boys.html" title="Working with the boys" /><author><name>Mike</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/07991970552878929235</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd="http://schemas.google.com/g/2005" name="OpenSocialUserId" value="02202091416615615958" /></author><thr:total xmlns:thr="http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0">0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12030231.post-8280068622490534032</id><published>2008-07-25T14:33:00.003-04:00</published><updated>2008-07-25T14:38:51.656-04:00</updated><title type="text">Gas Saving tips for your Jeep Cherokee</title><content type="html">With increasing gas prices, I am having to take a close look at how I drive my Jeeps. I have looked at getting a more fuel efficient vehicle, but none meet my needs for getting me to the places I need to be and carrying all my stuff. I am looking at the idea of getting a dual sport motor cycle but I have not yet justified the cost in my mind yet.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;For now here are some tips for improving the gas mileage of your Jeep: &lt;a href="http://www.mikestrawbridge.com/XJMPG.shtml"&gt;Jeep Cherokee MPG&lt;/a&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/12030231-8280068622490534032?l=jgandsr.blogspot.com'/&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel="related" href="http://www.mikestrawbridge.com/XJMPG.shtml" title="Gas Saving tips for your Jeep Cherokee" /><link rel="replies" type="application/atom+xml" href="http://jgandsr.blogspot.com/feeds/8280068622490534032/comments/default" title="Post Comments" /><link rel="replies" type="text/html" href="https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=12030231&amp;postID=8280068622490534032&amp;isPopup=true" title="1 Comments" /><link rel="edit" type="application/atom+xml" href="http://www.blogger.com/feeds/12030231/posts/default/8280068622490534032" /><link rel="self" type="application/atom+xml" href="http://www.blogger.com/feeds/12030231/posts/default/8280068622490534032" /><link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://jgandsr.blogspot.com/2008/07/gas-sving-tips-for-your-jeep-cherokee.html" title="Gas Saving tips for your Jeep Cherokee" /><author><name>Mike</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/07991970552878929235</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd="http://schemas.google.com/g/2005" name="OpenSocialUserId" value="02202091416615615958" /></author><thr:total xmlns:thr="http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0">1</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12030231.post-8904414377801931166</id><published>2008-07-22T15:00:00.002-04:00</published><updated>2008-07-22T15:05:12.595-04:00</updated><title type="text">Jeep Cherokee Trouble Shooting</title><content type="html">I have started a series of articles relating to &lt;a href="http://www.mikestrawbridge.com/jeep-cherokee-off-road.shtml"&gt;trouble shooting &lt;/a&gt;problems with your Jeep Cherokee.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I will cover topics like what to do when it &lt;a href="http://www.mikestrawbridge.com/XJstarter.shtml"&gt;won't start &lt;/a&gt;and instructions on common repairs like &lt;a href="http://www.mikestrawbridge.com/XJalternator.shtml"&gt;changing the alternator&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;For more info see: &lt;a href="http://www.mikestrawbridge.com/jeep-cherokee-off-road.shtml"&gt;Jeep Trouble Shooting and Performance Improvement&lt;/a&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/12030231-8904414377801931166?l=jgandsr.blogspot.com'/&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel="related" href="http://www.mikestrawbridge.com/jeep-cherokee-off-road.shtml" title="Jeep Cherokee Trouble Shooting" /><link rel="replies" type="application/atom+xml" href="http://jgandsr.blogspot.com/feeds/8904414377801931166/comments/default" title="Post Comments" /><link rel="replies" type="text/html" href="https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=12030231&amp;postID=8904414377801931166&amp;isPopup=true" title="0 Comments" /><link rel="edit" type="application/atom+xml" href="http://www.blogger.com/feeds/12030231/posts/default/8904414377801931166" /><link rel="self" type="application/atom+xml" href="http://www.blogger.com/feeds/12030231/posts/default/8904414377801931166" /><link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://jgandsr.blogspot.com/2008/07/jeep-cherokee-trouble-shooting.html" title="Jeep Cherokee Trouble Shooting" /><author><name>Mike</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/07991970552878929235</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd="http://schemas.google.com/g/2005" name="OpenSocialUserId" value="02202091416615615958" /></author><thr:total xmlns:thr="http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0">0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12030231.post-5047291985360796643</id><published>2008-07-21T13:20:00.002-04:00</published><updated>2008-07-21T13:24:24.796-04:00</updated><title type="text">Making the Doors Removable</title><content type="html">One of the most obvious modifications I made to my XJ before gong the the spring fling was making the doors removable.  I love the modification!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The visibility is wonderful when crawling over the rocks.  I also love the open air feeling.  And not having to open the big heavy door when jumping out to check something is a huge plus as well.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;At night and on the trip to and from the park, I put the doors back on and felt secure that all my tools and goodies were locked up safe.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;For more on how I made my &lt;a href="http://www.mikestrawbridge.com/XJDoors.shtml"&gt;doors removable, click here.&lt;/a&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/12030231-5047291985360796643?l=jgandsr.blogspot.com'/&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel="related" href="http://www.mikestrawbridge.com/XJDoors.shtml" title="Making the Doors Removable" /><link rel="replies" type="application/atom+xml" href="http://jgandsr.blogspot.com/feeds/5047291985360796643/comments/default" title="Post Comments" /><link rel="replies" type="text/html" href="https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=12030231&amp;postID=5047291985360796643&amp;isPopup=true" title="0 Comments" /><link rel="edit" type="application/atom+xml" href="http://www.blogger.com/feeds/12030231/posts/default/5047291985360796643" /><link rel="self" type="application/atom+xml" href="http://www.blogger.com/feeds/12030231/posts/default/5047291985360796643" /><link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://jgandsr.blogspot.com/2008/07/making-doors-removable.html" title="Making the Doors Removable" /><author><name>Mike</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/07991970552878929235</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd="http://schemas.google.com/g/2005" name="OpenSocialUserId" value="02202091416615615958" /></author><thr:total xmlns:thr="http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0">0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12030231.post-5573152468936080580</id><published>2008-07-07T11:32:00.002-04:00</published><updated>2008-07-10T10:25:20.087-04:00</updated><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="off road" /><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="4x4" /><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="rock crawling" /><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="XJ" /><title type="text">Playing in the rock garden at Harlan.</title><content type="html">&lt;object width="425" height="344"&gt;&lt;param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/6tp0_oSq6yw&amp;hl=en&amp;fs=1"&gt;&lt;/param&gt;&lt;param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"&gt;&lt;/param&gt;&lt;embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/6tp0_oSq6yw&amp;hl=en&amp;fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"&gt;&lt;/embed&gt;&lt;/object&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/12030231-5573152468936080580?l=jgandsr.blogspot.com'/&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel="related" href="http://youtube.com/watch?v=6tp0_oSq6yw" title="Playing in the rock garden at Harlan." /><link rel="replies" type="application/atom+xml" href="http://jgandsr.blogspot.com/feeds/5573152468936080580/comments/default" title="Post Comments" /><link rel="replies" type="text/html" href="https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=12030231&amp;postID=5573152468936080580&amp;isPopup=true" title="2 Comments" /><link rel="edit" type="application/atom+xml" href="http://www.blogger.com/feeds/12030231/posts/default/5573152468936080580" /><link rel="self" type="application/atom+xml" href="http://www.blogger.com/feeds/12030231/posts/default/5573152468936080580" /><link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://jgandsr.blogspot.com/2008/07/playing-in-rock-gardern-at-harlan.html" title="Playing in the rock garden at Harlan." /><author><name>Mike</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/07991970552878929235</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd="http://schemas.google.com/g/2005" name="OpenSocialUserId" value="02202091416615615958" /></author><thr:total xmlns:thr="http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0">2</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12030231.post-3063026850964466522</id><published>2008-07-03T09:06:00.001-04:00</published><updated>2008-07-03T09:07:20.515-04:00</updated><title type="text">Comments on Off Roading from another Jeep Girl</title><content type="html">I really do not look like the typical off-roading, adventurous person. I'm just a 31 year old single mom of three children ages 10, 5 and 2. But I own a 1992 Jeep Cherokee Sport 4x4. It has a 3" lift, 31" Maxxis Buckshot Mudder tires, and Craggar Black wheels.&lt;br /&gt;Last year I owned a 2000 Mazda MPV minivan. My kids enjoyed it since it had a video player, but surprisingly they were not sad to hand it over to grandma and grandpa.&lt;br /&gt;In fact, all three of them are protective of "Princess." We have named "our" Jeep (XJ) Princess of the Mud.&lt;br /&gt;I practiced off roading at my best friend's 26 acre property. He has created several trails all around his house along the creek.&lt;br /&gt;Practicing helped prepare me for my first real off-roading adventure in October 2007. I was heading to Windrock located in Oliver Springs, Tennessee. It is 73,000 acres that a mining company has leased out.&lt;br /&gt;I met up with several other XJ owners from the Yahoo XJlist, most of them from Kentucky. I managed to show them that a female in a stock Jeep Cherokee can keep up with the souped up XJ's. I made a couple of dents and scratches which is no big deal to me.&lt;br /&gt;When you are off-roading the world's problems are forgotten otherwise you end up smacking a tree, the side of a hill or expect to go off a cliff/mountain. The adrenalin rush is awesome. Watching the XJ'ers in front of you take a challenging climb up a trail is exciting. When it's your turn, the adrenalin kicks in.&lt;br /&gt;At Windrock on trail 39 I amazed everyone by making it up a part of the trail the rest of the group had trouble with in their lifted, off roading tires. At Windrock I had not made any modifications so mine was still just a street, stock Jeep Cherokee.&lt;br /&gt;Then I blew them away on trail 16 making it up an up hill part of the trail on the first attempt while the veterans took two and three tries.&lt;br /&gt;Nine months later we all meet up near Harlan, Kentucky at Black Mountain. This time my XJ is modified from the street stock it had been.&lt;br /&gt;I have also brought along my oldest child, my daughter Shiloh who is 10 years old. After the Windrock trip she was highly upset I didn't take her so this is kind of a vacation for the two of us.&lt;br /&gt;Myself, Shiloh and my best friend Janice meet up with her husband also my best friend, Mike. He had arrived a day earlier just to hang out with the guys. When I say meet up I mean out in the middle of the entire off roading map. Trail 45 looks innocent at the beginning since it is the main trail. But since it had rained there was mud and alot of slipping.&lt;br /&gt;It was fun though to be able to do some trailing by myself without the guys around. Eventually we met up with them at the bowl. The bowl has numerous trails for ATV's and off-roading vehicles. After the guys kept asking me if I was going to go I got Janice to ride with me. I was looking forward to that adrenalin rush. I got it too.&lt;br /&gt;The guys had been joking around with me since I had a chance to practice a few weeks earlier at Coppinger Cove near Jasper, Tennessee. Mike had me try out what looked like a tiny innocent hill. I nearly did a Dukes of Hazard jump which is why the guys were teasing me.&lt;br /&gt;While in Kentucky, it kept raining. The first morning at camp (for us ladies) it rained and rained. Our plans had to be modified because some of the trails were going to be extremely difficult if not dangerous. We had all hoped to go to the Mason Jar area but that had to be cancelled since the rocks were going to be too slick. Mike had mentioned a section the guys had all been to before would require strapping to avoid going off the side of the mountain. With it being slick from the rain the guys just did not want to risk it.&lt;br /&gt;Most of us went up trail 15 when it was nice and muddy. Half way up the first section it was very slick. It was fun though since I ended up being the last person. Neal, our leader and "expert" was in front of me. After the third section I made him look bad since I made it up all three on the first attempts. Apparently Neal forgot to put his XJ in 4 Low like everyone else had done.&lt;br /&gt;One of the things I had the chance to do was try the beginning of the rock garden. Since I didn't get to have my rock rails put on before Kentucky (only one was ready to be put on), Neal decided just to let me try the first part of it. I hope on our next adventure to have the rails on so I can try a rock garden out.&lt;br /&gt;After we got home, some of the guys expressed how they were continued to be amazed by me accomplishing the trails that some of the amateurs had difficulty on. We all had fun which is the most important part of the Spring Flings and Fall Crawls.&lt;br /&gt;Living in the southeast part of Tennessee it is not unusual to see a lifted XJ or really any SUV or truck lifted with bigger tires. To some of us, off-roading has become a part of life. It is a way to get away for just awhile from a world that can be cruel at times. We get an adrenalin rush that tends to build confidence in a positive way.&lt;br /&gt;Normally it's the men that are doing the off-roading. But for them to see a woman doing it makes it even more fun and exciting.&lt;br /&gt;Jennifer Bryan&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a id="link_90" href="http://www.empowering-solutions.net/" target="_new"&gt;http://www.empowering-solutions.net&lt;/a&gt; - &lt;a id="link_91" href="http://www.jenniferbryan.com/" target="_new"&gt;http://www.jenniferbryan.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Article Source: &lt;a id="link_92" href="http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=Jennifer_Bryan"&gt;http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jennifer_Bryan&lt;/a&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/12030231-3063026850964466522?l=jgandsr.blogspot.com'/&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel="related" href="http://www.empowering-solutions.net" title="Comments on Off Roading from another Jeep Girl" /><link rel="replies" type="application/atom+xml" href="http://jgandsr.blogspot.com/feeds/3063026850964466522/comments/default" title="Post Comments" /><link rel="replies" type="text/html" href="https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=12030231&amp;postID=3063026850964466522&amp;isPopup=true" title="0 Comments" /><link rel="edit" type="application/atom+xml" href="http://www.blogger.com/feeds/12030231/posts/default/3063026850964466522" /><link rel="self" type="application/atom+xml" href="http://www.blogger.com/feeds/12030231/posts/default/3063026850964466522" /><link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://jgandsr.blogspot.com/2008/07/comments-on-off-roading-from-another.html" title="Comments on Off Roading from another Jeep Girl" /><author><name>Mike</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/07991970552878929235</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd="http://schemas.google.com/g/2005" name="OpenSocialUserId" value="02202091416615615958" /></author><thr:total xmlns:thr="http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0">0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12030231.post-2157020499264219287</id><published>2008-07-02T15:05:00.002-04:00</published><updated>2008-07-02T15:11:31.137-04:00</updated><title type="text">The ultimate road trip? NEXT Road Rally</title><content type="html">Is this the ultimate road trip?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The NEXT group is hosting a &lt;a href="http://www.nextroadtriprally.com/"&gt;Road Rally&lt;/a&gt; in September.  This road rally will be a tour of nine states in the northeast USA.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The event looks like a lot of fun with entrants competing for $25,000 in prizes. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The NEXT group is also recognizes the potential for environmental impact for such an event and has teamed with carbonfund.org to minimize the impact of the event.  However, I would have thought the north east would welcome some global warming.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Anyway check out this &lt;a href="http://www.nextroadtriprally.com/"&gt;TSD road rally&lt;/a&gt; at &lt;a href="http://www.nextroadtriprally.com/"&gt;http://www.nextroadtriprally.com/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/12030231-2157020499264219287?l=jgandsr.blogspot.com'/&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel="related" href="http://nextroadtriprally.com/" title="The ultimate road trip? NEXT Road Rally" /><link rel="replies" type="application/atom+xml" href="http://jgandsr.blogspot.com/feeds/2157020499264219287/comments/default" title="Post Comments" /><link rel="replies" type="text/html" href="https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=12030231&amp;postID=2157020499264219287&amp;isPopup=true" title="0 Comments" /><link rel="edit" type="application/atom+xml" href="http://www.blogger.com/feeds/12030231/posts/default/2157020499264219287" /><link rel="self" type="application/atom+xml" href="http://www.blogger.com/feeds/12030231/posts/default/2157020499264219287" /><link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://jgandsr.blogspot.com/2008/07/ultimate-road-trip-next-road-rally.html" title="The ultimate road trip? NEXT Road Rally" /><author><name>Mike</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/07991970552878929235</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd="http://schemas.google.com/g/2005" name="OpenSocialUserId" value="02202091416615615958" /></author><thr:total xmlns:thr="http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0">0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12030231.post-1562658065973670234</id><published>2008-07-02T08:54:00.003-04:00</published><updated>2008-07-02T09:02:46.428-04:00</updated><title type="text">XJlist Spring Fling in Harlan KY</title><content type="html">&lt;a href="http://bp0.blogger.com/_29-fQLbH_m8/SGt7KCGbSmI/AAAAAAAAACQ/BEKd1YzdpUM/s1600-h/DSC01554.JPG"&gt;&lt;img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5218400005531585122" style="CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://bp0.blogger.com/_29-fQLbH_m8/SGt7KCGbSmI/AAAAAAAAACQ/BEKd1YzdpUM/s400/DSC01554.JPG" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The XJ list returned to Harlan Ky for their annual Spring Fling this year.  As usual the event was huge fun.  We welcomed new member Evan and his Cherokee.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;AS you can see in the photo, I made Scuffy's doors removable for the event.  I really enjoyed the extra visibility.  And I really did not have too much trouble even in the heavy rains.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I took on a couple of the rock gardens this time and found out how much fun they are.  Naturally that got me thinking about more modification I would like to do to Scuffy.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;My ARB worked well after the repairs.  I now have a few more repairs to make as my alternator and wipers became intermittent during the weekend.  Probably mostly from disuse.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I also have an exhaust leak that becomes annoying at times so I need to quieten that down before my next trip.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Look for a full writeup and photos later at &lt;a href="http://www.mikestrawbridge.com/"&gt;http://www.mikestrawbridge.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/12030231-1562658065973670234?l=jgandsr.blogspot.com'/&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel="replies" type="application/atom+xml" href="http://jgandsr.blogspot.com/feeds/1562658065973670234/comments/default" title="Post Comments" /><link rel="replies" type="text/html" href="https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=12030231&amp;postID=1562658065973670234&amp;isPopup=true" title="0 Comments" /><link rel="edit" type="application/atom+xml" href="http://www.blogger.com/feeds/12030231/posts/default/1562658065973670234" /><link rel="self" type="application/atom+xml" href="http://www.blogger.com/feeds/12030231/posts/default/1562658065973670234" /><link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://jgandsr.blogspot.com/2008/07/xjlist-spring-fling-in-harlan-ky.html" title="XJlist Spring Fling in Harlan KY" /><author><name>Mike</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/07991970552878929235</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd="http://schemas.google.com/g/2005" name="OpenSocialUserId" value="02202091416615615958" /></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="http://bp0.blogger.com/_29-fQLbH_m8/SGt7KCGbSmI/AAAAAAAAACQ/BEKd1YzdpUM/s72-c/DSC01554.JPG" height="72" width="72" /><thr:total xmlns:thr="http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0">0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12030231.post-4377171018421409198</id><published>2008-05-18T19:48:00.002-04:00</published><updated>2008-05-18T20:02:51.913-04:00</updated><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="trouble shooting" /><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="focus" /><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="maintenance" /><title type="text">The Power of Focus</title><content type="html">My Dad just bought a Ford Focus, but that is not the kind of focus I am focusing on today!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Today I heard a talk on the subject of focus. The speaker pointed out that much of the chronic fatigue that we have in our lives is because our energy is so scattered.  Multi tasking in considered an asset, however when taken to extremes it actually reduces our productivity.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;For example when working on my Jeep, I find I can accomplish much more is a shorter period of time when I am alone in the shop.  Just having someone stop by and speak to me is often enough of a distraction for me to injure myself.  even if just a little cut or smashed finger, the pain reminds me that I have been distracted.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I don't even play music in my shop anymore while I work.  The work becomes like a meditation.  When I am truly focused on the work I am doing, I am purely in the present moment.  If I find myself thinking about the past - of maybe how this problem came to be or to the future like how this problem will effect the performance of my Jeep, then I will either make a mistake or cause myself pain. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;When I am truly focused on the task at hand, turning the one bolt, locating a gasket just right, finding a locating pin or tab, or just visualizing the flow of electricity through a circuit, I am most effective if I am focused on just that one thing.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Working on my Jeep has become great therapy for me.  Learning to focus on the present moment and getting the instant feedback of seeing myself become more productive is a fantastic learning experience.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I find that when I am focusing on the present moment, I can get great clarity and trouble shoot problems that have eluded me for hours or even days as my attention has been divided.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I am often inspired to test things that might not even be on the checklist and suddenly uncover the source of a problem.  At other times, I am reminded to just follow the trouble shooting chart ignoring the history for the problem and simply focus on what works and what does not to get the the root of a problem.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Staying focused is the key.  Maybe I need to borrow Dad's car.&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/12030231-4377171018421409198?l=jgandsr.blogspot.com'/&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel="replies" type="application/atom+xml" href="http://jgandsr.blogspot.com/feeds/4377171018421409198/comments/default" title="Post Comments" /><link rel="replies" type="text/html" href="https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=12030231&amp;postID=4377171018421409198&amp;isPopup=true" title="0 Comments" /><link rel="edit" type="application/atom+xml" href="http://www.blogger.com/feeds/12030231/posts/default/4377171018421409198" /><link rel="self" type="application/atom+xml" href="http://www.blogger.com/feeds/12030231/posts/default/4377171018421409198" /><link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://jgandsr.blogspot.com/2008/05/power-of-focus.html" title="The Power of Focus" /><author><name>Mike</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/07991970552878929235</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd="http://schemas.google.com/g/2005" name="OpenSocialUserId" value="02202091416615615958" /></author><thr:total xmlns:thr="http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0">0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12030231.post-2704273158343755719</id><published>2008-04-29T10:52:00.002-04:00</published><updated>2008-04-29T10:59:26.013-04:00</updated><title type="text">Buy parts on line and earn rewards</title><content type="html">Do you buy Jeep parts on line?  Unless I am in a huge hurry I buy almost all my Jeep parts on line.  And even when I am in a hurry, I can sometimes purchase parts on line and pick them up at my local store.  Parts America is one company that offers this option.  Walmart is another.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;By &lt;a href="http://www.marketamerica.com/free2bme/index.cfm?action=shopping.wpGoShopMain&amp;amp;storeID=1"&gt;clicking this link &lt;/a&gt;and signing in as a preferred customer, each purchase you make can earn you reward points good toward free products.  There is no cost to join, just click "sign in" in the upper right of the screen and make up a user name and password.  Each purchase you make through this simple portal will earn you reward points that can be redeemed for free products.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Also, many vendors offer special pricing when accessing their site through this portal , so be sure to check them out and compare prices.  Save money, save gas, save time and earn free products.  It doesn't get any better than this does it?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.marketamerica.com/free2bme/index.cfm?action=shopping.wpGoShopMain&amp;amp;storeID=1"&gt;Click here.&lt;/a&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/12030231-2704273158343755719?l=jgandsr.blogspot.com'/&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel="related" href="http://www.marketamerica.com/free2bme/index.cfm?action=shopping.wpGoShopMain&amp;storeID=1" title="Buy parts on line and earn rewards" /><link rel="replies" type="application/atom+xml" href="http://jgandsr.blogspot.com/feeds/2704273158343755719/comments/default" title="Post Comments" /><link rel="replies" type="text/html" href="https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=12030231&amp;postID=2704273158343755719&amp;isPopup=true" title="0 Comments" /><link rel="edit" type="application/atom+xml" href="http://www.blogger.com/feeds/12030231/posts/default/2704273158343755719" /><link rel="self" type="application/atom+xml" href="http://www.blogger.com/feeds/12030231/posts/default/2704273158343755719" /><link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://jgandsr.blogspot.com/2008/04/buy-parts-on-line-and-earn-rewards.html" title="Buy parts on line and earn rewards" /><author><name>Mike</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/07991970552878929235</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd="http://schemas.google.com/g/2005" name="OpenSocialUserId" value="02202091416615615958" /></author><thr:total xmlns:thr="http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0">0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12030231.post-7694006893533087734</id><published>2008-04-23T12:36:00.002-04:00</published><updated>2008-04-23T12:43:32.435-04:00</updated><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="starter" /><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="jeep repair" /><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="jeep" /><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="XJ" /><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="nss" /><title type="text">Starting problem follow up</title><content type="html">Well it turns out it was not the NSS after all.  My XJ finally failed to start at home where I had all my tools handy to check it out.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I first noticed that as I moved the shifter back and forth I could hear a relay click.  That told me the NSS was doing its job.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I then hooked my voltmeter to the terminal on the starter solenoid and found that there was power there when the key was turned to the start position.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I used a screwdriver to tap on the solenoid and it started right up.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I promptly drove my Jeep to the barn and put it on the lift. I pulled the very muddy/greasy old starter off and replaced it with one from a ZJ that I am parting put.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Oddly the old starter tests fine now that it off the Jeep.  I probably just needs a good cleaning.  But after 295,000 mile it is probably due for a replacement.  I will likely clean up the old one and keep it for a trail spare.&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/12030231-7694006893533087734?l=jgandsr.blogspot.com'/&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel="replies" type="application/atom+xml" href="http://jgandsr.blogspot.com/feeds/7694006893533087734/comments/default" title="Post Comments" /><link rel="replies" type="text/html" href="https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=12030231&amp;postID=7694006893533087734&amp;isPopup=true" title="0 Comments" /><link rel="edit" type="application/atom+xml" href="http://www.blogger.com/feeds/12030231/posts/default/7694006893533087734" /><link rel="self" type="application/atom+xml" href="http://www.blogger.com/feeds/12030231/posts/default/7694006893533087734" /><link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://jgandsr.blogspot.com/2008/04/starting-problem-follow-up.html" title="Starting problem follow up" /><author><name>Mike</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/07991970552878929235</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd="http://schemas.google.com/g/2005" name="OpenSocialUserId" value="02202091416615615958" /></author><thr:total xmlns:thr="http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0">0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12030231.post-4019516089179866065</id><published>2008-04-17T11:07:00.002-04:00</published><updated>2008-04-17T11:11:13.479-04:00</updated><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="home business" /><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="market America" /><title type="text">The Go Now Girls</title><content type="html">The Go Now Girls:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;JeepGirl has teamed up with Jennifer of &lt;a href="http://www.jenniferbryan.com/"&gt;www.jenniferBryan.com&lt;/a&gt; to promote a new home based business opportunity.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;They are having a really fun time driving their Jeeps to meet with new friends to tell them about this new business opportunity that allows them the freedom to spend time with their children, as well as play with their Jeeps.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;See &lt;a href="http://gonowgirls.blogspot.com/"&gt;http://gonowgirls.blogspot.com&lt;/a&gt; to see what fun they are up to today.&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/12030231-4019516089179866065?l=jgandsr.blogspot.com'/&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel="related" href="http://gonowgirls.blogspot.com" title="The Go Now Girls" /><link rel="replies" type="application/atom+xml" href="http://jgandsr.blogspot.com/feeds/4019516089179866065/comments/default" title="Post Comments" /><link rel="replies" type="text/html" href="https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=12030231&amp;postID=4019516089179866065&amp;isPopup=true" title="0 Comments" /><link rel="edit" type="application/atom+xml" href="http://www.blogger.com/feeds/12030231/posts/default/4019516089179866065" /><link rel="self" type="application/atom+xml" href="http://www.blogger.com/feeds/12030231/posts/default/4019516089179866065" /><link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://jgandsr.blogspot.com/2008/04/go-now-girls.html" title="The Go Now Girls" /><author><name>Mike</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/07991970552878929235</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd="http://schemas.google.com/g/2005" name="OpenSocialUserId" value="02202091416615615958" /></author><thr:total xmlns:thr="http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0">0</thr:total></entry></feed>
