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2019 ARB Drive Day

20 May 2019

Blog

On a beautiful (and rare) sunny spring morning near Seattle, a small group of off-road industry personnel gathered for the 2019 ARB Drive Day event. Leave it to a company like ARB to take product training to another level. Putting together an event they call ARB Drive Day. An event that their vendors and members of the press get a chance to show up, learn about ARB products in-depth and get hands-on experience using the products in a controlled off-road environment. For the second year in a row, ARB rented the Ridge Motorsports complex in Shelton, WA for this event and brought in ARB personnel from across the country (and Australia) to help showcase the newest ARB product offerings and how they work. When I say a small group, small it was, ARB brought in a total of 9 participants and split us up into 4 groups, moving us around through the various stages and courses they had set-up.   ARB Test Vehicles: No hands-on training would be complete without some cool vehicles and ARB brought out five well built 4x4s. 2019 JL Sport This 2019 two door JL Sport was decked out in all the new ARB JL accessories including their Bondi front stubby winch bumper, a Safari snorkel and of course equipped with the n...
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7th Annual Twisted Turkey Run

20 November 2018

Blog

This past wet, cold Saturday marked the 7th annual Twisted Turkey Drive for the Denver Rescue Mission. We met at the Pepsi Center in Denver, CO and stood around for an hour or so talking, drinking coffee and waiting on the rest of the group to join us. Although it starts out like many other “trail runs”, this one has a different purpose, and takes us throughout Denver to the heart of the city and the Denver Rescue Mission. We decided as a group of friends, seven years ago, that we wanted to be more than “another off-road group”. This is what we came up with, and although the faces have changed, the goal has not.     A brief history of the Mission: it opened in 1892 as a women’s rescue home and transitioned into what it is today, allowing more than 300 people to sleep there nightly, avoiding the cold, and helping provide a small glimmer of hope that they will be able to better themselves and their situations. The Mission has several locations and partner shelters going up and down the front range. Although the name has changed a few times, the purpose has remained the same, and that is to help people.     We had decided on meeting at the Pepsi Center. As people arrived, they brought their donations over and put them in the back of the Northridge4x4 Dodge. Once everyone had shown up and the food collected, we headed out to make the drive over to the mission.     Once we arrived at the mission, it took a small army to un...
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2018 SEMA Show Las Vegas

01 November 2018

Blog

SEMA 2018 It’s SEMA time again and we are in Vegas checking out the new products and show Jeeps that the various aftermarket 4×4 companies have on display!   SEMA 2018… the logo says it all and people were lined up for a 1/4 mile to get their pic taken in front of this life-sized one. How BIG is the SEMA show? The two graphics below say it all… The South Upper Hall is the main off-road vendor area and it is longer than the Empire State Building is tall.   The Central Hall is massive too and there is still the North hall, the outer buildings and all the outside vendors. This show is HUGE and is one of the top three trade shows hosted at the Las Vegas Convention Center.   WARNING HEAVY JL CONTENT Of course with the 2018 Wrangler JL being new for this year, it was the Jeep to build for the show and built JLs were everywhere. From mild builds, to wild builds, to WTF? builds, the JL was definitely the rig to build for this year’s show. This was the first Jeep Wrangler JL we ran across when we walked onto the convention center grounds, well built, definitely good styling and posed out of course!     Trail Ready had a JLU in their booth showing off their latest wheels.     Up-Down Air was in attendance showing off their new Up-Down Air system for the JL crowd.     ...
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Long Weekend in Moab

22 October 2018

Blog

Road Trip to Moab: Sometimes you just gotta get out of town! And this week was one of those times, so we packed up the Dodge and the JK and rolled out of Denver about 8am on Thursday morning heading to Moab. As we approached Georgetown the snow began to fall, making for a slower drive than we wanted. As we wound through Glenwood Springs, the snow stopped and we continued on. When we arrived in Moab, the first stop was at the Moab Diner for some grub. We left there and headed straight to Steel Bender, wanting to see what the old Ram 1500 could do. Well, she definitely isn’t a Jeep, and Steel Bender lived up to its name, autographing the bed of the truck at one point when I was on three wheels. A Jeep it is not, but was still a lot of fun. It is definitely a whole different experience in a full size truck. We exited Steel Bender in the dark, and headed to the condo.   Posing for pics as we start out on the Steel Bender trail. Sun is still shinning, but it goes fast and we got a late start.     Full size truck on Steel Bender trail? Yes, it fits and yes we did pay the price.     Climbing one of the many waterfall ledges on Steel Bender.     Steel Bender lives up to it’s name and gave the Dodge a nice little crinkle!   Day Two -Poison Spider We decided to leave the truck and take the Jeep to Poison Spyder. With all the recent rain, the trail was wet, muddy, and the...
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Ladies’ Run at the 2018 Trail Hero

10 October 2018

Blog

The crew from the Salt Lake City Northridge4x4 recently attended the 2018 Trail Hero event at the Sand Hollow OHV park near St. George, UT. One of the highlights from the trip was the Ladies’ Run on Milt’s Mile Trail when AJ’s wife Lacey took over the pilot seat in their beautiful blue 2017 JKU. Check out the pics below and start planning on next year’s event, it’ll be even bigger!   Trail leader Shawna Ayers is piloting the Nitro Gear JK into Milt’s Mile trail at the 2018 Trail Hero Ladies’ run sponsored by Nitro Gear.     The vistas around the St. George trails are always great!     There’s always a crack that needs to be crawled! Teraflex axles and suspension along with 40″ Nitto Trail grappler tires helps make the trail look easy.     Wheels up action is easy to find on slick rock trails. The Patagonia MT tires give plenty of traction for slow creepy crawling through the slick rock trails.     More views from Milt’s Mile trail.     Lacey Swenson dropping down a ledge in the bright blue Northridge4x4 JK from the Salt Lake City store.     Kate Fry in her eye-popping pink JK dropping down the same ledge.     Posing for the obligatory group photo… we had a great day out on the trail, seeing old friends, meeting new friends and playing in our Jeeps! Want to learn more about the five-day Trail Hero event? Visit:
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Black Beauty – Featured Vehicle Oct 2018

08 October 2018

Blog

This beautiful black Rubicon JL Unlimited was brand-new and bone-stock when it rolled into the shop. The owner was looking for a nice clean build, one that had all the cool toys, but not a lot of lift. So into the shop it went and after a few days of wrenching, we have what you see now….   Perfect Stance 35/12.50/R20 Nitto Ridge Grapplers wrapped around a set of 20×9 KMC XD Fury Wheels in gloss black really set this build off. The wide and low stance looks lifted, but it isn’t… that’s right, no lift was harmed in the building of this JL!   JL Front Bumper and Winch LoD Destroyer Shorty front bumper looks awesome on the front of this JLUR. LoD Destroyer Front Bumper Skid Plate helps protect the sway bar disconnect and steering. Warn Zeon 10-S Platinum Winch is one serious winch and looks right at home on the bumper.
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Maxx & Kyle’s Epic Adventure – Rubicon 2018

04 October 2018

Blog

Rubicon Trip 2018 Recently Maxx Pehling (our front counter salesman) and Kyle Gibbons (one of our shop techs) ventured out from the Silverdale Northridge4x4 headed out for a trip across the famous Rubicon Trail, probably the most well know trail in the 4WD community. And Epic it was, 850 miles from the Silverdale shop to the trail head, three days on the trail and then the return 850 miles back to Silverdale. We’ll let them tell the story:   Rubicon Trailhead: First night we stayed at the Loon Lake staging area, the entrance for the Rubicon trail. We met up with the Capitol City Krawlers 4×4 club and hit the trail. Some time was spent taking in the scenery at the granite bowls shortly into the trail. Pushing further we ran Walker Hill, Little Sluice, the Slabs, and spent some time playing in Soup Bowl all on day 1. Eventually we setup with our tents and hammocks right on the edge of buck island lake and enjoyed a nice quiet evening. The famous Rubicon Trail sign greets us at the trailhead.     There are always places for poser flex shots and the Currie RockJock suspension flexes like mad!     Always gotta have the obligatory line-up. This one taken up on the granite bowl.   SOUP BOWL Within a couple hours we were at the infamous Soup Bowl, where flex, wheelbase and the right amount of traction make it possible to look like a ...
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Air Locker Fittings – How to

02 August 2018

Blog

The ARB Air Locker Bulkhead Fitting kit can look a little daunting when you first see one, but it doesn’t need to be. They really are quite simple and quite easy to install them once you have a good close-up of whats going on and what you need to do. This article covers the installation of the 170111 ARB bulkhead fitting kit which has been used in Air Lockers for the past decade and is the most common bulkhead you’ll run into if you are working on an installed Air Locker. There is a newer ARB bulkhead kit that is coming with the Air Lockers, we’ll cover that in a future article. This article is for those wanting to repair or replace their current bulkhead fitting. Parts Needed: ARB Bulkhead Fitting Kit pn# 170111 Tools Needed: 3/8″, 7/16″/ 9/16″ wrench Small flat blade screwdriver Parts Diagram: Here are the parts that make up the ARB #170111 Bulkhead Fitting Kit. ARB #170111 Bulkhead Parts Breakdown: Bulkhead Body #170611 O-ring #160234 Central Compression Nut. #170660 Outer Compression Nut #170661 Airline Support Spring. #170701   The Air Locker Bulkhead Fitting Kit How To: The ARB Bulkhead fittings can be separated into two groups, the copper line fittings and the blue airline fittings. The first group anchors and seals the...
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2018 Easter Jeep Safari Trail Runs

16 April 2018

Blog

For the third straight year, we ran several sponsored trail runs during Easter Jeep Safari in Moab, UT. If you were lucky enough to sign up for one of our runs, you received a sweet swag bag full of goodies and some crazy dude with a camera followed you around taking pictures of your run. Below you’ll find links to all the photos taken. Just click on the trail you were on and you’ll be sent off to our Flickr album where you can download as many photos as you like.   Drivers meeting at the Trailhead for the 3D trail run on Monday 3D Trail Album Monday 3.26.18     The views along the trail make the Easter Jeep Safari an unforgettable experience. Cameo Cliffs Trail Album Monday 3.26.18     This TJ is about to come up one of the many steps found throughout Moab’s famous trails. Hell Roaring Rim Trail Album – Tuesday 3.27.18     The La Sal mountains make an awesome...
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Northridge4x4’s 2018 JL Wrangler Build Out!

21 March 2018

Blog

NEW Wrangler models always equals EXCITEMENT! Unless you’ve been hiding under a rock, the new JL Wrangler is here and the excitement is huge, with manufacturers scrambler to design and build all kinds of cool parts. As always, Northridge4x4 is leading the chase to get these JL parts on our shelves and in our warehouses. So of course we placed an order for a bright red Rubicon model as soon as pre-ordering was open (back in Oct 2017). We took delivery of our Firecracker Red 2018 JLU Wrangler Rubicon in February and have been enjoying it ever since. The new JLUs are absolutely amazing, the engineers at Jeep really hit the ball out of the park with this newest rendition of the Wrangler. The 8 speed transmission is probably the biggest highlight out of all the new upgrades in the JL. Smooth shifting and gears for days, this transmission almost makes axle gear changes a non-necessity. Another highlight is the new AdvanTEK Dana 44 axles. With larger diameter and thicker wall tubes and thicker wall brackets, the new axle housing look to be a giant upgraded over the bend-prone JK D44s. With the Rubicon model having a 4:1 low range in the transfer case and front and rear lockers, we know that this rig is very capable out of the box, now let’s just see how much more capable we can make this rig.   And the build starts!   Ya Gotta’ lift it first – EVO Mfg: Our first mod was the
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Jeep Pushes Big…debuting seven new concept cars at 2018 EASTER JEEP SAFARI

20 March 2018

Blog

Every spring 4×4 enthusiasts from all over the continent make the big push to finish and then show-off their most recent builds at the Easter Jeep Safari in Moab, UT. Amongst all those cool newly constructed off-road rigs will be seven concept rigs built with combined efforts of the Jeep and Mopar skunk-works departments. “Pushing the limit is something the Jeep brand is no stranger to and these seven new, exciting and capable concept vehicles are the latest example of that,” said Mike Manley, Head of Jeep Brand, FCA. “Every year, we look forward to introducing new concept vehicles and ideas to our enthusiasts. The Moab Easter Jeep Safari presents a unique and perfect opportunity to collect valuable insight from our most loyal customers.” Loaded with an assortment of production and prototype Jeep Performance Parts, this year’s concept vehicles are built to be teasers and inspirations to customers and custom builders alike. “When it comes to customization, no vehicle can match the Jeep Wrangler,” said Pietro Gorlier, Head of Parts and Service (Mopar), FCA. “This is why we worked very closely with the Jeep brand to develop an exclusive line of more than 200 parts and accessories to enhance – even more – Jeep Wrangler’s off-road capability to fit any customer’s lifestyle. Almost all Wrangler vehicles sold are fitted with at least one Mopar accessory, and you see this perfect combination between vehicle and accessories come to life every yea...
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Top of the Ozarks

28 February 2018

jeep jamboree

Blog

  14th Top of the Ozarks Jeep Jamboree USA - 2021 The event was located in the Ozark mountains on SMORR (Southern Missouri Off Road Ranch) property, which is a little over 940 acres of trails. The park also features camping, cabins, shower house, restrooms, a kitchen, and a small general store for your souvenirs.  I’d guess about 300 people, including guides, staff at the ranch, vendors, and guests.  I honestly didn’t have a favorite, it was a whirlwind three day event, and was a great time talking with customers and getting out on the trails. The rain definitely made it a little more interesting as a whole with the mud. The evenings were met with getting back to the campgrounds/vendor areas and talking with attendees. Their were several husband/wife duo’s that each had their own Jeep. That always makes me smile. Overall, this event was a blast. The prep and courteousness of the staff at the park made the event seem to flow flawlessly. The lay out worked well, and everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves. This was my first JJUSA, but will definitely not be my last. I enjoyed spending time on the trails with our customers, both present and future, and getting to know them a little over the three day event. The wheeling was good, with some of the climbs out of the stream bed at the bottom being a little challenging. The trails quickly went from mud, to rock, to water, and then a combo of the three, to keep you on ...
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18th Texas Spur 2022

28 February 2018

jeep jamboree

Blog

.giftCardTile { padding:15px; } .bf_promo_images img { margin: 5px; }   18th Texas Spur Jamboree USA - 2022 What a fun trip this was. I hit the road on Monday starting my longest drive yet to an event, 23 and a half hours to the destination. 3 hours into the journey I hit Moab Utah and of course had to stop, unload and take a couple of pictures and videos of that incredible place. After that and getting a bite to eat I headed out. With a Goal of hitting Farmington, NM that night, I continued on. Tuesday morning I hit the road early, with a fever lol. Making it to Big Spring, Texas at about 9:30 that night I was ready to hit the hay. Wednesday morning I continued on accompanied by a really awesome headwind. Slowed us down a bit but we still got there late afternoon, still enough time for a couple of good pictures down by the riverfront. By the way, Llano Texas’s Taco bell is amazing! Thursday hits and you can start to see the increase of Jeepers cruising around town. Always a fun sight to see. Check-in is always a blast as well. I headed down to check in a bit early, set up the jeep out front, and helped Jeff and Griff with Jamboree set up their trailer. Hanging with the guys there and talking with all the Jeepers is always a blast. Once we got through and decided what color we would be running with we went out to eat and headed to the hotel to turn in for the night.                 Day 1 and Day 2 line up, jeeps all over the plac...
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18th Tennessee Mountains 2022

28 February 2018

jeep jamboree

Blog

.giftCardTile { padding:15px; } .bf_promo_images img { margin: 5px; }   Upon arriving at Windrock Park, we were blown away by how big it is. The park offers more than 73,000 acres and has trails for everyone. We talked with JJUSA officials and got our vendor passes, and set up our spot to hand out swag bags. This JJUSA event had about 125 registered Jeeps, not including sponsors or trail guides. Throw those in and there were about 160 Jeeps just in the JJUSA group. The park is public, so was still open to anyone else that wanted to be there. Day two on the trails started out a little wet, to say the least. It rained, sometimes pretty heavy, off and on all day. The clay turns into a nasty cement-like mud that sticks to everything. The trails were definitely a little interesting with all the extra water/mud. We ran with the green group on day one and had about 20 rigs in the group. Kevin Hedzik led the group through Trail 26 (which is a Jeep badge of honor trail) and Trail 27, Trail 5, and Trail 6. We returned to camp after the trails, in hopes of dodging the rainfall for dinner. That was not the case, and the rain continued into the night. Day three started with cloudy skies but only led to a few sprinkles. Of course, the trails were still nice and wet from the previous rain. We ran with the Tiger group and had about 20 rigs on the trails again. We were led by Tish York and ran Trail 51, Panther Rock (another Jeep badge of honor trail) Trail 11, Trail...
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2018 Wrangler JL in Super Bowl LII commercials!

05 February 2018

Blog

Three Jeep commercials air during Super Bowl LII, two showing off the new Wrangler JL. Jeep Jurassic The first JL commercial opens with the iconic Jeff Goldblum “must go faster” clip from the original Jurassic Park film. Changing to Jeff driving a Billet Silver Rubicon being chased by a ferocious T-Rex, Goldblum make a quick evasive move and ends up chasing the T-Rex through the jungle asking “How do you like it now”. The scene then quickly changes to show it was just a dream with Goldblum sitting behind the wheel of the Rubicon in a dealer showroom. Anti-Manifesto The second JL commercial features a Firecracker Red Rubicon model driving through a wide pond and up a series of small waterfalls. While making no claims to the off-road capabilities of the JL, the narrator makes light of other car companies’ claims. Finishing up just as the JL finishes the climbs, stating “There’s your manifesto”.  We liked them both, what did you think of the two Super Bowl commercials? ...
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Jeep – 2017 Most American Made and Most Patriotic Vehicle

27 June 2017

Blog

Jeep tops Cars.com list of American-made vehicles, ousting Toyota “The Wrangler, as a descendent essentially of the military Jeep that helped the Allies win World War II, had pretty good American credentials to begin with,” Cars.com executive editor Joe Wiesenfelder said. “It seems to go even deeper than that.” The top 10 most American-made cars, according to Cars.com, and where they are made 1. Jeep Wrangler/Wrangler Unlimited; Toledo, Ohio 2. Jeep Cherokee; Toledo, Ohio 3. Ford Taurus; Chicago 4. Honda Ridgeline; Lincoln, Ala. 5. Acura RDX; East Liberty, Ohio 6. Ford F-150; Dearborn, Mich. and Claycomo, Mo. 7. Ford Expedition; Louisville, Ky. 8. GMC Acadia; Spring Hill, Tenn. 9. Honda Odyssey; Lincoln, Ala. 10 Honda Pilot; Lincoln, Ala. ...
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ARB INTESITY 7″ LED DRIVING LIGHTS

26 August 2016

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Engineered in Australia, the ARB Intensity LED light range has been specifically designed to meet the demanding requirements of 4WDers throughout the world. From producing white light that is the closest possible imitation of sunlight, to a virtually indestructible polycarbonate lens, these lights are the premium choice. Unlike high intensity discharge (HID) lights, the LED range does not require time to warm up, and performs brilliantly on corrugated roads by producing a broad field of light that helps diffuse vibration. Submersible to 3m, the ARB Intensity LED lights have been vibration tested to military specifications to ensure they can withstand extended periods of heavy corrugations and extreme conditions to keep the road ahead brightly lit. Check out this video to for a quick look at the ARB Intensity Lights! Order your set today, CLICK HERE! ...
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Meet the Jeeps of JKX Alaska – 2016

18 August 2016

Blog

Nitto’s 2016 JK Experience Alaska presented by Discount Tire was incredible. While the last frontier made for a larger-than-life backdrop, the focus of the trip would be the Jeeps and people in them. The 14 Wranglers attending JKX Alaska would be filled with a mix of invited guest and sponsors. All of which were looking to test their JKs against some of the most unforgivable roads and trails on the planet. Here, we’re giving some background on each of the participants and how their Jeeps were built to handle this Experience. Northridge 4×4 Looking for a good place to get a great deal on aftermarket Jeep parts? Well, look no further thanNorthridge 4×4. The retail outlet is known for stellar prices on extremely in-demand components. They are also stocked with actual off-road enthusiasts who work there, like Eric Johnson. While Johnson is a full-time employee with Northridge, that isn’t a company Jeep he’s thrashing on the trails. No, it’s actually his personal JK! He, along with professional videographer David Page, are excellent examples of two people who love their jobs. We’re looking forward to seeing the footage from the Northridge 4×4 crew later this year. Driver: Eric Johnson Co-driver: David Page Representing: Northridge 4×4 Stomping grounds: Gig Harbor, Washington Model: 2014 Jeep Wrangler Unlimited Engine: 3.6L Transmiss...
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JKX Alaska – Day Seven: North Pole to Glen Allen, Alaska

04 August 2016

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Everyone awoke in the North Pole and attended to the various problems with their JK’s. We had issues with wheel speed sensors, crank sensors and an oil issue but everything was handled and everyones spirits were high. We were going wheeling again! After the drivers meeting, we had some quick road miles to make and then we turned left off the highway and looked straight into the mountains. We had a quick drivers meeting and everyone aired down from the previous road day and we were off up toward the Canwell Glacier. No one had any idea what it was going to look like let alone the fact we would be running up a spine ridge with a couple hundred foot drop off to the left and the mountain to the right. The JK’s ambled up the trail slowly as we were taking drone footage and there were photographers out getting still content. The higher we climbed the gnarlier the trail became as well as the darker the sky got. It was once again raining in Alaska. As we neared the end of the trail, it turned right and we stared directly into the Glacier basin and the run off creek it had created. It was truly unreal to think we were parked in a spot that had once been under a hundred feet of snow. Everyone took the allotted time to eat their lunch and shoot pics of where we were at, for those of us that had never seen a glacier we all took the time to soak it in. Once we were on our way down Mel decided to take a different route back to the highway and ...
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JKX Alaska – Day Eight: The Knik Glacier and the finale of the JK Experience

04 August 2016

Blog

The group had limped into Glen Allen as wheel speed sensors had plagued us again as well as a driveline issue. It was going to take some serious ingenuity to get the JK from Tactical Jeeps back the road…luckily Mel has some of the best wrenches in the nation on these trips. Kelly Carter from Low Range 4×4 and Russ Huff took a look at the situation and found that the JK would need a new driveline and as luck would have it there was one on the trip but it was going to require some serious fab work to convert it from an Atlas transfer case to the stock JK case. A local CAT service trucked pulled into the hotel parking lot about the time they realized that Russ had brought every tool needed for this fix in his JK. The driver graciously gave us his service truck and everyone went to work. It would require milling down a flange to fit the stock t-case and then re drilling and tapping the part for bolts. It was going to take some real thinking and backyard machining to make this work. When it was all said and done the part worked flawlessly and the machine work was even balanced and didn’t vibrate. With the repairs complete, we had our last drivers meeting of the trip. Mel told us to expect to use the snorkles and that we’d be doing some roads miles to the next wheeling place and then from there back to Anchorage where the group would be attending a meet and great for locals to come meet the MFG’s and the drivers and see the rigs of the JK Experience. We pulled o...
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JKX Alaska – Day Six: Prudhoe Bay to North Pole, Alaska

02 August 2016

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As the sun never really leaves the sky this far north, the night seemed extra short due to the fact we had all stayed up talking in the sun driven rain. Mel arranged for the crew to tour the town of Deadhorse/Prudhoe Bay and drive to the end of the highway marking the highest north you can drive in the United States. The town of Deadhorse is the public portion of the town and it has a parts store and pseudo gas station. The Prudhoe side is restricted by the Oil companies that built all the infrastructure for the oil crews to work on the North Slope. Is was quite astonishing to see how much is really built up in this harsh environment. Three thousand people inhabit this place on a rotating schedule while drilling. When we got to the end of the road we all ventured out onto the Jetty and little Mel decide he would take the Polar bear plunge and dove into the Arctic Ocean only latter to think maybe it wasn’t good idea. It was a lonesome feeling out there looking into the ocean as it was rainy and gray but it marked a point for all of us as a huge accomplishment. Once the crew was all back together Mel explained we would be driving someplace past Fairbanks back down the Dalton Highway and to expect close to a 14 hour day. The weather was rainy and dreary but the clouds were high enough to allow the group to be able to see a lot of the Brooks range and vast expanse of what was in front of us. As the group approached Antigun pass again t...
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JKX Alaska – Day Five: The Dalton Highway to Prudhoe Bay

30 July 2016

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  We woke up early to ensure that the Blue JK was prepped and ready for the road in front of us. Mel had told us the night before, which never happens, that we were running the Dalton Highway from Fairbanks to Deadhorse (Prudhoe Bay) which is the end of the road and the highest point in the United States. The mileage count was going to be right at 500 miles and while that doesn’t sound like much in the Lower 48, to run 500 miles in Alaska means you’re going to run pavement, gravel, and mostly dirt. Living in Alaska I’d heard of the Dalton and the TV show “Ice Road Truckers” has made the route famous but in no way could we understand what we would see let alone drive through for the next 500 miles.   We were an hour and a half in when we made the left hand turn to the Dalton and not far from that we crossed the Arctic Circle, who would ever think that you’d have a chance to cross that line let alone do it in a JK.   Once we were back on the road the next spectacle we ran into was the Trans Alaskan Pipeline which was built tin the 1970’s and supplies our country with a large portion of its sweet crude oil. The man made marvel still looks like the the first barrel flowed down the line from Prudhoe Bay to Valdez.   The next crazy experience for the JKX crew was driving over was driving over the Yukon River which was the principle form of transportation during the Klondike gold rush....
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JKX Alaska – Day Four: Stampede Road – Inspiration for “Into the Wild” book/movie

28 July 2016

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We began the day with a few road miles to the town of Healy, Alaska for some fuel and supplies. Once everyone topped off and was ready, we headed north to the Stampede Road turn. This trail became famous after Christopher McCandliss hiked into the interior of this road to an abandoned school bus which became his home where eventually he succumbed to the exposure and the elements of Alaska. Our purpose today was to wheel this trail and experience the Alaskan permafrost and Muskegs. It didn’t take long for the action to begin and we quickly learned the concept of teamwork winching and strap pulling as everyone understood what it was like to be stuck in the Alaskan Tundra. Our Warn winches and ARB recover gear was put through its paces as we slowly made our way over the twelve miles to the river crossing. The key to tundra is not to break through the crust because once you do there is no bottom. You wanted to be on the throttle but not spinning the tires unnecessarily. Once we got to the river crossing we assessed our time and decided to make our way back to the pavement as we had other obligations to make for the day. It was a good thing we did because the trail out was so much worse than the trail in. After 14 JK’s had made their way across the tundra, it was broken through and it took three hours to go back over what previously took and hour and a half! It took all hands on deck a lot of help from our Warn winches to get back to the...
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