OK .. maybe not Jeep related, but check out my Do-It-Yourself stand up desk

I have switched to a standing desk and I love it.  I tend to move around more by, rocking foot to foot, toe rises, and leg bends.  This has to be better than sitting in my nice cushy office chair with vibrating action ... that I NEVER use.  I modified a cheapie desk I bought at Staples to make my stand up desk.

http://www.staples.com/Z-Line-Gemini-L-Desk-Maple-Black/product_497474?cmArea=SC2:CG33:DP4543:CL164556:SS998674

All I did was turn the part with the little shelf around so it was in the front for my keyboard and mouse.  I then put a little book shelf at the back to put my monitor on.

Easy peasy!  Here's a picture of it.  What do you think?

DIY Cold Air Intake - On the Cheap!

So my goal is to eventually build a snorkel for the Yooper Jeep, but first things first I needed to just replace the air filter!  So my research began there.  At first I was going to just replace my air filter with a K&N filter that fit in the stock intake box, but after reading about oiled air filters I realized I didn't want to go that route.  I read and have had experience with the Original Yooper Jeep that these filters are a pain if you run in the dust a lot, which I do.  So decision one was to go with a non oiled but washable filter.

I then thought about the whole cold air intake thing.  Most of these use a cone shape filter in an open box configuration to grab more air.  Which made since because the stock one has this big old box and pretty good size air filter, but a fairly small opening to it.  I'm sure it is designed to keep water out, but I seem to get water into it pretty regularly anyways.  In the end then, decided on a K&N AEM DryFlow Air Filter # 21-203D (5" x 6" dia w/ 3" opening).  I bought this at Advanced Auto Parts for $44 bucks ($54 - $10 off coupon).

Next decision was what to do about the intake box.  I have taken the stock one out a couple of times and have tried to figure out how to reuse it.  My current configuration is to just leave it as is with the top off and have the cone air filter just sit in it.  I unhooked the intake box from the throttle body hose and attached the cone filter to the hose using a 8" long piece of 3" muffler pipe ($5 bucks).  I then zip tied the muffler pipe down so the filter sat in the bottom half of the intake box and "voila" I have a El-cheapo cold air return for under $50 bucks!

Now I know this is not a perfect solution because of the water issue and I'm sure that the pipe gets hot, but for now it will work fine until I move forward with the snorkel project!   But for $50 dollars, It seems to be working great.  I have no science behind this, but the gas mileage seems the same or better and it does have a new cool sound to the engine!  I'd say, it works just as good as some of those cold air intakes that cost $200 plus.

I'm embarrassed!

I'm embarrassed because I went to update my blog and noticed I haven't written anything for 6 months!  Well there has been a couple things come up.  First of all, I was finishing a big project at Chrysler last fall and secondly, I left Chrysler and went to work for Microsoft in December.  Holy Jeeper Batman my life has been a little nutty.  If interested about the boring business stuff, just go to my LinkedIn page: http://www.linkedin.com/in/jameslavallee

But, I glad to say I'm back in "Jeeper" mode and will be sharing a few new upgrades to the Yooper Jeep over the next month.  I did a DIY cold air intake that I want to eventually make it into a snorkel, I upgraded my steering stabilizer ... again, I'm trying out a Bestop 1/2 cab and duster combo, and finally I'm doing a custom "wood" trim interior upgrade!  Yes, I guess I'm going a little crazy but what the hey it's a "Jeep thing!"


Oh ...  I'd like to get some wheeling in as well  :  )

New 15" black wheels for the Yooper Jeep

I switched over from my 15" chrome wheels to these new (off Craigslist) black 15" wheels.  The main reason I switch was because the backspacing on the chrome wheel was too deep.  They were 9" wide with a 4.75' backspacing it made the tires stick too far out and from head on they looked goofy to me.  Plus, I had to run a 3/8" spacer on the fronts too clear the brakes.  The black wheels are 8" wide with a 4" backspacing and look much cleaner on the Jeep and I don't need the front spacers any more.  Link to them at Summit Racing: http://www.summitracing.com/parts/CRR-3975850/


Some might ask why I'm running 15" rim's and not 17" or 18" wheels?  Well because I'm cheap and 15" tires are way more inexpensive that those with larger tire diameters.  Plus I'm old school and like the "chubby" tire look over the "skinny" tire look ... kinda like me!  Here's an example (pricing from Tirerack.com - 9/26/2010):

BF Goodrich AT / KO's
33x12.50R15   $162.00   (overall 32.7t x 12.4w (10" wide rim))
LT285/70R/17   $222.00  (overall 32.8t x 11w (8.5" wide rim))
SAVINGS:$60 x 4 = $240!!!

35x12.50R15  $188.00  (overall 34.7t x 12.7w (10" wide rim))
LT315/70R/17  $255.00  (overall 34.5t x 12w (8.5" wide rim))
SAVINGS:$67 x 4 = $268!!!

Here's a before (chrome) and after (black)!

Response to a tire question in LinkedIn

Since I haven't posted in a while, I thought I'd better ...  Here is a little ditty I wrote for a question on LinkedIn's Jeep site.

In the last 5 years, I've run GoodYear MTR's (excellent wear), Interco IROK's (best pure off-road tire I've had) and now Cooper STT's (I love these tires - excellent all-around). So if you are just a weekend warrior running on a variety of surfaces it doesn't matter a whole lot if you go with a quality mud tire. The distinction comes in if you run in more distinct terrain like rock versus mud versus sand. Also, if this is your daily driver you might want to go with an AT versus Mud tire. Bottom line is read the reviews, buy a name brand and buy what's the best deal at the time. Here is a few reviews.

Jim
(www.yooperjeep.com)

http://www.ajeepthing.com/jeep-tires.html
http://www.offroaders.com/info/tech-corner/reading/mud.htm
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/2407284/cooper_stt_great_tires_for_jeeps.html?cat=27

Jeep Geeks at the Mounds June 12, 2010 - Splish Splash

It was hot, it was muggy, and it was rock'in!  The Mounds in Mt. Morris, Michigan is a great place to get your "jeep-on" for an afternoon and that it what the Jeep Geeks did this past Saturday.  Here are a few pics.  Enjoy!

Yooper Jeep Custom Front Bumper – DIY

Much to the happiness of my lovely wife, I’ve finished the Yooper Jeep’s bumpers! I say that because all though working with metal is great fun … it is very messy! I had the “monster” garage going for a couple months with small metal pieces and grinding dust all over the place. Any how it was well worth it because I’m very happy with my new Jeep book ends.

For the front bumper I went with the same rough dimensions and design as the rear. Basically I used 2” x 6” 3/16 tube steel. I angled the ends to match the rear and added a small stinger bar over the winch. At first I thought that this would be easier than the rear, but I had to make some changes to my original plan and it took longer to finish than I hoped.

First of all I was just going to make a “shorty” front bumper (44” wide), but once I clamped on the steel for a look-see, I didn’t like it. It looked ok with the stock tires, but when I put on the 12.5” mudders it looked puny. So I added another foot of 2’x6” to it and for a final width with the angles of 56”.

The other thing that took more time was the winch fairlead. I originally was going to just bolt it to the front of the bumper, but the more I looked at it seemed to just hang out there too much. So I decided to recess it into the bumper. So I had to cut the hole bigger and incorporate tabs on the back of the bumper to bolt the fairlead to. It turned out really nice and a much cleaner finish. I also, made a license plate holder that clips on the vertical rollers to hide the whole thing.

Since I had built a separate winch mounting plate between the frame, all I had to was now figure out how to bolt it too the original bumper mounts. I thought about using d-ring mounts to bolt the bumper on, but the cheapest set I could find were $80 so I decided to go without. Plus I had a front tow point already mounted. I might add them in the future, but for now I’ll leave them off. So, all I did was get 3.5” bolts and drill holes in the bumper to match the frame holes and with socket wrench in hand bolted it up with no problems.

The final touch was the stinger bar. I had always wanted to have a stinger bar on the bumper but couldn’t figure out how to bend the pipe. I found my answer when I was looking around in my steel pile and found an old roll bar. I cut it to size at the right angle and when put on edge, it made a perfect stinger bar without any pipe bending! I ended up welding a 4” angle steel along the back of the bumper to mount the stinger bar to and make the bumper look beefier.

In the end, I think it came out great. I added a couple of off-road lights and used the same bed liner paint that I used on the back bumper for toughness. But the rust inhibitor primer I used didn’t seem to bond with the bed liner paint, so I already have some chips in it. I’ll probably strip it and repaint it next winter, because now it’s time to fabbing and get out and go Jeep’in!