1963 Us Navy Dj-3a

[Fireball]

It's always a puzzle. Man, trying to get everything in the bed is admirable. I can barely do it with a rack. Especially if you have 2 people, and or a dog.

It's going to be tight, but I want the Jeep to be fun at home too, so I'm hoping I can make it work.

I'm going to be learning a lot on this first trip. I haven't done any camping of significance in 20+ years.

This trip is going to be about survival and learning. Future trips will be about refinement.

 

[cj2atruck]

I woke up at 3 am this morning thinking about what I need to take on the Rubicon trip…and when I got up, I see your post on the same topic…LOL. Seems some of are already starting to plan.

The last time I did the Rubicon in the JK, I carried way too much stuff. When I moto camp for a week or more, I only have 51 pounds extra weight for camping gear, cloths, food, etc on my KTM 690, so I’m trying to plan my Rubicon gear like I’m doing an Adventure ride, minimalist. Fortunately, my Rotopax cans are always on the jeep and always contain fuel, so for me, they have a normal home on the jeep. One less thing to think about…

I looked at the mileage from our campground in Tahoe to the trail head, and it’s 57 miles! I downloaded an odometer app on my phone (my speedometer cable broke a long time ago) so I’m going to start working on figuring out the MPG for the 47. I will start the trip with 20 gallons of fuel, and I think I’ll burn 4-5 gallons just getting to the trailhead (it’s uphill for a long way once we leave highway 50), which leaves me 15 gallons for the trail. I really wish I had another 3-5 gallons I could add to my fuel supply so I’m not THE GUY who didn’t bring enough fuel.

 

[Fireball]

Bump stops are still on the list before the Rubicon, so it was time to throw it back in the ditch for a flex test

First with the driver side front compressed:

The rear is about 1" from the bump stop when everything starts to hit at the same time. The tire is hitting the inner fender, the brake caliper is hitting the body (I need to rotate the rear caliper brackets on the spindle bolts to stop this):

I also need to trim some more off the old spare tire fender brace I hacked out earlier:

Since the bump stops only need to be an inch longer, I think I'll just re-use the stock ones and space them down with wood blocks.

Up front, it flexes enough to hit the factory bump stop and has just enough tire clearance, so I don't need to do anything there:

Flipped around the other way:

It's hard to see in the picture because of the mud, but this side hits the seat belt bolt in the front of the fenderwell. I may move the bolt location when I change out the belts:

This rear caliper on this side hits the body too:

The front driveshaft has good clearance to the exhaust crossover:

The front tire hits the flare if it's on, and JUST clears the front fender with when the flare is off . I'm fine with that. The flares will be off for tougher trails:

There is about 3/8" clearance between the front locker air hose and the crank pulley. Not a lot, but enough:

The passenger side front is also on the factory bump stop:

Overall, not bad. I need to do the following:

• Rotate the rear calipers one or two spindle bolts down so they don't hit the body
• Extend the rear bump stops one inch
• Do some more trimming to the old spare tire brace in the passenger rear fenderwell

I will say that without more lift, these are the absolutely largest tires you can fit with out major work. I've already extended the rear fender openings 1" to the rear.

 

[Jw60]

Now do that again with all that gear you just removed...

 

[Fireball]

Now do that again with all that gear you just removed...

It will be on the bump stops, so it won't really change anything at the extremes.

 

[Rich M.]

Planning on bringing 20 total. Hoping that's enough.

Fuel is expensive on the trail. Bring craft beer and plenty of tp. Otherwise you'll be forced to burn your Coleman fuel, damhik.

 

[timsresort]

15 is close, 20 is plenty. And by the time you are in the Springs, you can empty the cans into the tank and keep the weight low for Cadillac.

 

[GeoffreyL]

Yeah, I'm kind of leaning to leaving the rear axle alone until after the Rubicon. If you bring spares for me to pack along, that would make it much safer.

I’ll have spares

Edit: front 27 spares, not rears

 

[Fireball]

Started working on tire clearance issues in the back of the Jeep last night.

Task number one was cutting/grinding some more off the bottom remains of the spare tire brace remains:

Then I started ripping apart the rear hubs so I can rotate the calipers:

I was a little surprised that the bored out spindles are drum brake spindles. I was going to swap my 30 spline billet spindles in but they have the disk brake larger ID inner bearing. I don't have the needed bearings and seals, so I ordered them and it will go back together as is once I rotate the caliper mount.

I also ordered this 26x32" rack to make a second tier for camping junk storage in the back. I'll need to figure out some mounts;

 

[Militarymetal]

When is the trip?

 

[Fireball]

When is the trip?

End of June. It's not far off! I really need to work on the packing side of things.

 

[47v6]

Started working on tire clearance issues in the back of the Jeep last night.

Task number one was cutting/grinding some more off the bottom remains of the spare tire brace remains:

Then I started ripping apart the rear hubs so I can rotate the calipers:

I was a little surprised that the bored out spindles are drum brake spindles. I was going to swap my 30 spline billet spindles in but they have the disk brake larger ID inner bearing. I don't have the needed bearings and seals, so I ordered them and it will go back together as is once I rotate the caliper mount.

I also ordered this 26x32" rack to make a second tier for camping junk storage in the back. I'll need to figure out some mounts;

When I first made my FF set, I used drum spindles. They were in a pile and free. I also didn’t know it would work, or if I could make it work…

To make the spindles for FF, bore to 1.31 ID. The mating side to the axle tube also needs turned down to fit inside. I don’t have that measurement off hand. Mine are a slight press fit.

 

[Fireball]

Passenger side back together with caliper rotated:

Hub reinstalled with the ARP bolts torqued to 40 ft.lbs. I cleaned all the holes with a tap, brake clean, and compressed air before assembling:

And wouldn't you know it, some loose hub bolts on the other side. Glad I'm going through this stuff:

Driver side back together with the brake hose routed away from the exhaust and ARP hub bolts:

Here's where the caliper was hitting the body. Not the kind of bump stop you really want:

Speaking of bump stops, the next project is cutting some one inch spacers out of this cherry wood:

I've got an ARB diff cover for the rear axle I'd like to get installed too. Then it's on to figuring out how to pack everything and maybe 3-pt harnesses.

 

[Fireball]

With the help of the bandsaw and the belt sander, I made a couple of cherry wood 1" spacers for the rear bump stops. I could have made them out of metal, but that would have taken me a couple of days and didn't seem worth it.

Passenger side:

On the driver side, I put an aluminum heat shield over some insulating fabric since it's about 3/8" from the exhaust. One a good note, the exhaust stretches about 3/8" when it's hot, so it's really 3/4" clearance when it matters most. I'll keep an eye on it for charring, but I think it will be fine:

Tomorrow night's project is the ARB cover for the rear diff. I got it cheap from a forum member last year:

The mid-rack for the cargo area showed up. The size is perfect. The left side will clamp to the roll bar, and I'll need to make some legs for the other side. I've got some expanded metal I'll line the bottom with:

 

[duffer]

I'm on my third set of those for my B. The first ones I whittled out of steel. The second ones were aluminum. The third set with the u-bolt flip eliminated the frame spacer and an aluminum puck bump stop contact is axle mounted.

 

[Norcal69]

With the help of the bandsaw and the belt sander, I made a couple of cherry wood 1" spacers for the rear bump stops. I could have made them out of metal, but that would have taken me a couple of days and didn't seem worth it.

Passenger side:

On the driver side, I put an aluminum heat shield over some insulating fabric since it's about 3/8" from the exhaust. One a good note, the exhaust stretches about 3/8" when it's hot, so it's really 3/4" clearance when it matters most. I'll keep an eye on it for charring, but I think it will be fine:

Tomorrow night's project is the ARB cover for the rear diff. I got it cheap from a forum member last year:

The mid-rack for the cargo area showed up. The size is perfect. The left side will clamp to the roll bar, and I'll need to make some legs for the other side. I've got some expanded metal I'll line the bottom with:

Personally I would come up with a simple slide in hitch spare tire carrier specifically for Rubicon type trips.
There are allot of simple fold down ways to build it too, hold it up with a ratchet strap even.
That spare is taking up precious space in the jeep.

 

[cj2atruck]

Personally I would come up with a simple slide in hitch spare tire carrier specifically for Rubicon type trips.
There are allot of simple fold down ways to build it too, hold it up with a ratchet strap even.
That spare is taking up precious space in the jeep.

I’ve built a several versions of spare tire carriers that used my receiver on the 47 over the last decade and I hated every one of them. In fact, I hated them so much, I was considering going without a spare and just carrying a a Glue Patch external tire repair kit (I carry on even with a spare tire). I even had two receivers on the bumper, one for the spare tire carrier and one for the hitch, and I still hated them.

Over the years, I’ve built a number of swing away tire racks for various Jeeps, but on the 47, I knew I would have to get more creative to clear the tailgate because of the way I built the bed, so I procrastinated. However, after getting the swing away tire carrier figured out for the 47, it’s A LOT better than any receiver mounted carrier I have built or seen.

I also have a 3 inch steel wheel that is mounted to 2”x1/4” tubing that I built for the Gladiator since it has so much rear overhang, so considering using this on the 47 for the Rubicon. It just helps roll off steep drops instead of sliding down a rock using the bumper.

 

[Norcal69]

I’ve built a several versions of spare tire carriers that used my receiver on the 47 over the last decade and I hated every one of them. In fact, I hated them so much, I was considering going without a spare and just carrying a a Glue Patch external tire repair kit (I carry on even with a spare tire). I even had two receivers on the bumper, one for the spare tire carrier and one for the hitch, and I still hated them.

Over the years, I’ve built a number of swing away tire racks for various Jeeps, but on the 47, I knew I would have to get more creative to clear the tailgate because of the way I built the bed, so I procrastinated. However, after getting the swing away tire carrier figured out for the 47, it’s A LOT better than any receiver mounted carrier I have built or seen.

I also have a 3 inch steel wheel that is mounted to 2”x1/4” tubing that I built for the Gladiator since it has so much rear overhang, so considering using this on the 47 for the Rubicon. It just helps roll off steep drops instead of sliding down a rock using the bumper.

I completely agree that most hitch slide in spare tire carriers typically disappoint.
That disappointment is not nearly as disappointing as loosing 1/3rd of the cargo space in an already compact jeep cargo area.
My point is that fabricating something simple to use once a year on a big trip is worthwhile.

 

[Fireball]

The first project this weekend was a vanity project.

I Decided to paint the wagon wheels so they don't annoy me so much.

Washing:

I scuffed them with Scotch-Brite and used some soda cartons to make a mask:

This left a little white around the outer ring, so I painted those by hand with a brush:

I love the way it turned out. I wish I had done this a long time ago:

 

[Fireball]

I flexed it back out in the ditch to see how my mods did:

The compressed rear tire takes up every bit of the fenderwell:

One thing that still makes a little noise at full stuff is the seat belt bolt. It's not really biting into the tire, so I can live with that:

Things look good underneath. It's hitting the extended bump stop just as the tire is touching the inner fender and the brake caliper is nowhere near the body now:

The tire is not touching the spare tire brace anymore either: