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10-15-2013, 05:54 AM
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Grease Monkey
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Join Date: Jun 19, 2010
Location: Oahu, HI
Posts: 330
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What's Your Scariest FSJ Experience?
I'd love to hear some of your "good scare" stories as related to our FSJs. I'll open it up with mine.
About the time I got my J20 right about where I wanted it for mild trail riding and rock crawling, I discovered an issue that about ended my hobby. I had a nicely warmed over 360, fresh 4" lift, 33"s, and lockers front and rear and I was ready to take on any obstacle (within reason).
So, one day at Hollister Hills I was crawling through a pretty nice rock garden, taking my time and picking my line when I got hung up on an axle. So, I put it in reverse and tapped on the gas to climb back up onto the rocks I had just slid down off of into my predicament. When I did that, the throttle stuck and I immediately tapped it again to "unstick" it. That just made it stick at an even higher RPM. My worn out brakes didn't help me any as the truck took a beeline in reverse bouncing back out of the rocks I had just so skillfully crawled over. I undid 5 good minutes of crawling in about 10 seconds with me standing on the brakes and freaking out as BigRed bounced and slammed and hauled butt back over the rocks and out of the rock garden in reverse at 3,500 RPM. Just before I went backwards over a nice cliff, I managed to pull the transmission forcefully out of gear with a loud clunk and stop the beast. It immediately idled down. I did some testing on flat ground and found that if I eased it around in reverse this wouldn't happen, but if I blipped the throttle pretty good, it would do the same thing. I was stumped initally, but it turns out the motor and transmission mounts were so shot that the torque in reverse would tweak the motor over in such a way as to pull on the throttle cable and hold it there until I got it out of gear. When I pulled the motor mounts, they just fell apart into two pieces in my hands. Replaced those and no more Christine truck.
Now let's hear your scary FSJ stories!
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-JoshUSMC
"Good engineering is simply finding the right wrench to pound in the correct screw." -Adam Welchel
1985 J20 "BigRed" 360/727/208/44/60 Edelbrock Performer Intake, Carb, Cam, MSD 6
1974 J10 "Ugly Monster" VERY SADLY SOLD!
1969 Javelin SST "Yet Unnamed" 290/BW M40 (360 build in the works with a built TH350)
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10-15-2013, 09:52 AM
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Bleedin' Gasoline
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Join Date: Feb 25, 2005
Location: Essex County, England
Posts: 1,526
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Breaking up one of my previous SJ's (see sig), i was working underneath it getting the drive train out, for the best part of an hour.
The axles were already off, as were the springs. So the body,frame were on axle stands along the rails.
Crawled out from under, and leaned on the carcass, when it promptly fell off the axle stands and landed where i had just been! WithAboutThisMuchSpaceUnderIt.
Turned out one of the axle stands had failed, bent, and allowed the SJ to move.
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'79 Cherokee 2 door (RIP)
'79 Cherokee 4 door (RIP)
'79 Cherokee 2 door (RIP)
'82 Cherokee Chief
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10-15-2013, 10:26 AM
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Master Mechanic
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Join Date: Aug 07, 2010
Location: MA
Posts: 827
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Driving at speed and plastic spare tire nut let go. Tired was bouncing in 30ish foot hops about 15 feet high. No one got hurt, but I guarantee there were some stained pants. Took hour to find tire. I wish I had pics or video of event or pic of my face watching tire in rearview mirror.
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10-15-2013, 10:32 AM
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Bleedin' Gasoline
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Join Date: Aug 26, 2002
Location: N39° 39' 17.2" W104° 59' 31.7"
Posts: 1,750
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For me it was being t-bone by a city bus while driving through an intersection less than a mile from my house on my way home from work Christmas Eve. Got knocked sideways and slide through the intersection. I am lucky I didnt flip the super chief

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Scott R.
'86 Grand Wagoneer Super Chief 360 / TBI / WT conversion / 35x12.5x16 BFG Mud-Terrains ( Project Link)
http://www.cfsja.org / http://www.fsjnetwork.com
"After years of being paranoid about my Jeep’s temp going towards that 220F mark, I’m realizing that if it was real problem, Jeep engineers would have painted that area RED." - FSJ Guy
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10-15-2013, 10:48 AM
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out of order
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Join Date: Jun 08, 2005
Location: Land of froot loops and cukcoo-nuts, CA
Posts: 9,807
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'78 Cherokee WT 360/4spd
Engine stall on VERY steep hill then losing the ability to hold it w/ brakes or get it restarted.
Rolled down the hill backwards  until we hit a tree to stop.
Luckily nobody got hurt!
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Tony
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10-15-2013, 11:06 AM
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Join Date: Jan 20, 2006
Location: The Great Googley Moogley Midwest.
Posts: 17,266
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one time i got in the wagoneer to go home from work and the XM radio didn't work.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Hankrod
Ristows right.................again,
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Fasts79Chief
... like the little 'you know what's' that you are.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Fasts79Chief
I LOVE how Ristow has stolen my comment about him ... "Quoted" it ... and made himself famous for being an ***hole to people. Hahahahahahahahahha!
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→ Where the kids hang out...
fsjbuilder.org come for the mindless chat,stay for the hand drawn emoticons.
It's like you're unraveling a big cable-knit sweater that someone keeps knitting...and knitting...and knitting...and knitting...
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10-15-2013, 11:15 AM
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out of order
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Join Date: Jun 08, 2005
Location: Land of froot loops and cukcoo-nuts, CA
Posts: 9,807
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Oooh I forgot about one...
'77 Cherokee NT 401 (1st SJ), almost got into a head on collision w/ a police officer.
Me and a buddy were just driving down the road, and he swerved over 2 lines and was heading straight for us.
I had to hit the ditch, tore the exhaust off the truck, and bent a rim.
He was leaned over towards the passenger side of the car not watching where he was going.
Didn't even bother to stop
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Tony
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10-15-2013, 11:43 AM
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The Nigel Tufnel of the FSJ world.
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Join Date: Jan 09, 2011
Location: Not The Hot Part, Arizona
Posts: 4,022
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I almost slid 3 generations of family memories backwards off the side of a mountain.
Doesn't look that scary, but trust me, but if you look after the turn, you can see that it's actually pretty steep. The road is fresh here, but within a month it was full of ruts and washboards from idiots hitting their brakes on the way down. Straight behind me in this photo is another switchback in the opposite direction around the corner of the mountain.
Now imagine this road covered in week old snowpack around sunset. As I reached the section next to the tree in the photo, I lost all traction and slid sideways into the ditch on the left, my rear bumper jammed into the snowbank. I freed myself and tried again, with a perfect repeat result. Time to go home, but without a place to turn around, I had to back down with the brakes. I was already in low range, but it wasn't slow enough.
But by now the sun was setting and the road was freezing over. When I backed to the point I am at in the photo, I lost all control. I locked all four wheels with the brakes and slid ever so slowly straight backwards toward the switchback behind me. If I didn't make that switchback, it was a fatal 800 foot drop off the side. I was franticly trying every combination of brakes, gears, and steering to try and control my excruciatingly slow slide to doom, with no luck. In my last attempt, I let off the brakes and my speed picked up, but I regained steering and steered the back bumper into the ditch and snow back to stop me. I stopped at the last section of straight road. Good thing, because I had my door open and my seatbelt undone ready to jump out of the car and save my life by letting it go over.
I had to pull forward to free myself, but whenever I tried, the tires would just spin and the front end would try to side-slip out and I could feel the slope of the road trying to make the car swap ends. I knew if it did that, it would not be recoverable.
I pulled out my brand new floormats and put them under the front tires. By now the ice was so bad I could barely stand on it myself.
It worked, and I was again on the road. I knew fully that even a gentle shove would send the car sliding like a hockey puck again.
I made it around the switchback sliding between dry patches of road in N with the brakes. I found engine power in R made it slide worse. The rest of the way back down the 1 mile road was the same thing: slide backwards for 5 feet or so...hit dry patch....slide for several feet, dry patch.
It took 3 hours for me to back down 1 mile of road.
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'72 Jeep Wagoneer Custom, 360 V8
I love how arguements end as soon as Ristow comments. Ristow is right...again.
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10-15-2013, 12:24 PM
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Join Date: Aug 08, 2004
Location: Willamette Valley, OR
Posts: 4,960
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Night dune run years back. Following a cruiser and went up a dune, had to hit the power when I realized how tall it was, then back out of it near the top. All of a sudden realized I was not going to get over it and hit the gas again. The cruiser had a lighted long whip and the light on it went out of sight just about the time his tails disappeared. KNIFE EDGE!!!! Launched off of that thing and was airborne.....The nose fell through and just then I hit hard on all 4's, bounced once and kept going.
Went back the next morning and saw the 4 impressions where I landed...about 60 feet out from the top and 80 feet down.
Last time I ever went out at night and it was 3-4 years before the wife found out why I don't do night runs out there anymore.
This was at Christmas Valley dunes in central Oregon out on the southeast corner, on a Memorial Day w/e.
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Art
ASE Master Collision Tech
"Beast" - 81 "S" W/T, 85-360, T-18, Lock-rite,wag alloys, 31-10.50 Pro Comp MT's, Warn 8274 in a fabbed bumper/deer strainer(tested and approved)
88 XJ, 3" lift, 31-10.50's, custom bumpers and winch/tow bar mounts, Warn 9500HS, custom sliders/steps, camo paint, & headliner
Member: FSJ Prissy Restoration Assoc.
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10-15-2013, 01:50 PM
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Murphy's Law Poster Child
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Join Date: Dec 03, 2003
Posts: 10,707
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__________________
You know it's bad when your car's on the EPA's 10 most wanted list!
'82 J10
'65 J2000
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10-15-2013, 04:29 PM
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Gear Head
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Join Date: Mar 14, 2005
Location: Las Cruces, New Mexico
Posts: 618
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1978 Chief
When I was about 11 or 12, hunting with my dad and some family friends, we were attempting a gnarly gravel and rock hill, and near the top my dad realized it wasn't going to make it. So he stopped, threw it into reverse, and proceeded to back down. Then the throttle got stuck, so we were flying down this hill, hitting all the big rocks and it started to go sideways (in reverse, probably going 30mph) The big custom rear bumper caught a boulder twice the size of the Jeep and that stopped it. That whole afternoon my dad talked about getting rid of it for any price, lol. Went back the next day, fixed the throttle and was back in business!
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1980 Jeep J-20
1979 Jeep J-10 Honcho
1991 Jeep Grand Wagoneer
1975 Jeep Wagoneer- The Green Bastard, from Parts
Unknown
1968 Plymouth Satellite
1978 Camaro- back in action
1980 'Vette. Chevette. Please someone buy this
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10-15-2013, 06:10 PM
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Gear Head
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Join Date: Apr 15, 2008
Location: Lima,Oh
Posts: 583
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Brake booster went out on my 79 J-20 pulling my popup camper the other year. Was only at 55mph when it happened but still scary when you have a set of hair pin turns coming up and the truck is on 36's lol
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10-15-2013, 06:23 PM
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Grease Monkey
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Join Date: Jun 19, 2010
Location: Oahu, HI
Posts: 330
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grand_wag_85, that looks BAD, man. I cringed seeing those pictures.
78J-10, I had that happen crawling down a steep hill offroading, but never on the highway with a trailer.
Ristow, seriously? LOL!
__________________
-JoshUSMC
"Good engineering is simply finding the right wrench to pound in the correct screw." -Adam Welchel
1985 J20 "BigRed" 360/727/208/44/60 Edelbrock Performer Intake, Carb, Cam, MSD 6
1974 J10 "Ugly Monster" VERY SADLY SOLD!
1969 Javelin SST "Yet Unnamed" 290/BW M40 (360 build in the works with a built TH350)
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10-15-2013, 06:36 PM
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Member
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Join Date: Oct 12, 2010
Location: Red Bluff, CA
Posts: 49
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A couple of weeks ago I was heading to the store in the J20 on my lunch break. Parked went in got what I needed came back out and fired it up. Went to put in reverse and thought man that brake pedal feels weird. Well I went ahead and put it in reverse anyway. Thats when I discovered the funny feeling brake pedal was a blown front rubber line to the passenger caliper. Had it happened on the way to the store there would have been a very large wreck.
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1977 Jeep J20 401 TH400 Quadratrac w/ part time conversion SOA/SF
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10-15-2013, 08:30 PM
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Murphy's Law Poster Child
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Join Date: Dec 03, 2003
Posts: 10,707
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Red20
grand_wag_85, that looks BAD, man. I cringed seeing those pictures.
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It was. Jeep spun 270* and nearly flipped. Walked away without a scratch.
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You know it's bad when your car's on the EPA's 10 most wanted list!
'82 J10
'65 J2000
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10-15-2013, 09:02 PM
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Join Date: Feb 12, 2011
Location: Gold Bar, WA
Posts: 6,474
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Wasn't scared at the time (other than almost hitting the horse and gas leaking inside with the motor still running)
Not too long before that a brake line failed (steel line, no rust but it was rubbed through by the cab moving around) as I was going down James Street in Seattle towards first ave (picture a hill in San Francisco with people at the bottom) I laid on the horn and people stopped moving so I swerved around them, ran the red light and spun the truck into a parking space (360 plus 90) on a one way street and slapped it in park. Nothing hit but nerves were frayed!
__________________
 Jeep gauges are for amusement only. Any correlation between them and reality is purely coincidental.
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10-15-2013, 09:11 PM
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Auto Trannie God
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Join Date: Feb 18, 2001
Location: Bouse,az
Posts: 10,544
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i got you all beat ...... the day i brought my 3rd wife home in my SJ
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I\'ve seen gsmikie\'s video for the TH400 and thought it was just awful.watching a guy tear down a greasy pile of metal in a junkyard. it dosent have to be surrounded by water to be an island
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10-16-2013, 03:26 AM
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Moderator
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Join Date: Mar 28, 2003
Location: Taylor Mill,KY 41015
Posts: 5,592
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Colliding with a motorcycle head on at 50 MPH 1300 miles from home in NM. Got the truck airborne jumping it over him. Truck was totalled and no where near drivable. Motorcycle broken in a thousand pieces. The guy walked away from it once he came to and continued their trip home on the back of his wife's bike. I had the j20 towed and rebuilt over the following 3 weeks then returned home. That was my first trip to Ouray,CO 2006, the J20 has still never made it there.
Trying to take it to Ouray in 2007 resulted in a blown brake line as I was heading over a hill going down to the Ohio River bank. The line failed as a result of landing on the motorcycle the year before.. His handle bar went up inside my frame rail right next to the gas tank and nicked the line.
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Tom Gibson
1980 J20 Utility bed truck. Factory cab and chassis truck. Many new mods for it but it will look all stock.
1985 J10 nothing special just a nice clean stock truck.
1977 Honcho "Blue" 401/400/quad. Under going major upgrades.."This is Not Your Fathers Honcho", it may not even be a Honcho anymore when done.
2017 Challenger. Very jealous of the Jeeps.
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10-16-2013, 08:56 AM
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Grease Monkey
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Join Date: Dec 17, 2006
Location: Arlington Texas
Posts: 473
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Had just gotten off work,going home in the j20. Picked up speed to get on the curving frontage road for interstate 35, as I got into the curve the steering wheel just started turning while the truck was going straight! Across 2 medians and 4 lanes of highway. Got it stop before the creek by popping the clutch. Steering linkage had come loose
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Just
Expect
Every
Problem
Got to love them
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