Project-JK Moby Dick Endurance Test - 9 Trails in 6 Weeks

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After blowing up our factory Dana 44 front axle back in June, WOLette and I decided that it was time to make a few upgrades and transform our white JK into Moby Dick. As some of you know, these upgrades included a new:

Dynatrac Pro Rock 60 Front Axle w/Competition Shafts & CTM U-Joints
ARB Air Lockers
40x15.50 Toyo Open Country MT's
20" Spyderlock Beadlock Wheels
Off Road Evolution 14" King Front Coil Overs
Off Road Evolution Rear Sway Bar
PSC Ram Assist Steering
Mastercraft Baja RS Seats
COP4X4 Nack

Being that we were already running a Sahara Dana 44 with a ARB's and prototype Superior 35 spline chromoly shafts, we decided to leave it alone and just regear to a set of 5.38's to help give the new 40's a little more help.

Now, since getting these upgrades, WOLette and I have spent the last 6 weeks pushing Moby Dick as hard as we could and did so by driving it up to Tahoe and back twice (almost 500 miles each way and totally about 2,000), and during this time, we drove out to and punished it on 9 separate trails (10 if you count the Rockpile at Niagara Rim as a separate trail) - all but one of which were rated difficult. These trails included:

1. Twin Peaks - 07/10/09
2. Hell Hole - 07/11/09
3. Slickrock - 07/15/09
4. Deer Valley (in reverse) - 07/15/09
5. Wentworth Springs/Rubicon (to the Little Sluice) - 07/18/09
6. Cleghorn - 08/02/09
7. Niagara Rim (Trail, Lions Butt & Rockpile) - 08/08/09 ~ 08/09/09
8. Rubicon (in a day) - 08/11/09
9. Dusy Ershim - 08/28/09 ~ 08/30/09

Click on the trail or scroll down to see pics from all our trips.

With the exception of some body damage suffered on our last run out to the Dusy, the only failure we had was with our rear ring & pinion. Of course, running a set of 40's on a Dana 44 and subjecting it to the amount of abuse we threw its way, I'm kinda surprised that it did go out sooner. Other than that, I really have to give big props to Off Road Evolution and their outstanding EVO Flex Coil Over System. In conjunction to the Full Traction Long Arm Kit that we have, their coil over system has given us the stupid crazy flex we needed to run all these trails with ease WHILE STILL offering a Cadilac smooth ride as we made our drive out to them.

Anyway, for those of you who are interested, I thought you might want to know how our JK and the new components it now has had faired during our endurance test. And, based on it, I guess it's safe to say that we'll now be saving up for a new rear Dynatrac Pro Rock 60.

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Twin Peaks

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Hell Hole

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Slickrock

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Deer Valley (in reverse)

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Wentworth Springs/Rubicon (to Little Sluice)

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Cleghorn

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Niagara Rim (Trail, Lions Butt & Rockpile)

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Rubicon (in a day)

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Dusy Ershim