Robert_Stephens
New member
A Story, back in 1988, one Jeep before current ride, VEX, here on the site an profile.
VEX has about a gazillion mods done to it and there is a profound reason it weighs 3 tons and has 1 ton rated drivelines and 12,000 pound winches front and rear, and on and on and on. This is not because I am "cool" or trying to have the nastiest Jeep around, no, its because I am a ex-failure engineer for NASA and base all things on my screw ups that are never ceasing, which the following story will surely reveal shortly. I do what I do to avoid 'FAILURE'
So much for intentions.
It was 1988 and I had this pretty cool 1979 CJ7. I had pretty much made it tough, I thought, and had 8000 pound warn winches front and rear and a few frame mods to beef it up and a bigger electrical system and so on, but that was about it. Ok, well, one day one of the ranch hands got one of dad's John Deere combines stuck in one of the wet wheat fields as we were trying to get the fresh grain in and it had rained, and thus, the wet field.
Well, the only rig that we could get out to it was my Jeep so out we went with extra heavy cable and chain. We got to it and rigged up and I dead manned the Jeep to a huge, sound, sugar pine stump about 200 feet distant. Chained off I unspooled and got my 3 50 ton snatch blocks rigged and rigged off to the combine and was finally ready.
Dad was out there with me as we always did stuff together and he was more at times my best buddy, as well as my dear daddy. So, I had the controller for the winch in my hand and dad was over at the combine. I started to engage the winch and the line went taught.
Daddy then came over near me and we looked at each other and I engaged the winch again. Everything went very very taught now, and the sounds of strain were everywhere. I thought I might want to change something or back off and plan something else. I was thinking and doing some math on dynamics and load, etc....
Then, there was a sound of screeching, tearing metal, two huge "pop" sounds like blowing a stump out with pentex explosive, then BAM, the Jeep separated into two distinct pieces--about 15 feet apart. The Jeep had come unglued right at the cross member at the TC and the body parted right in front of the front seats. Both section-pieces were nose down, still sitting on the wheels and axles, respectively.
I paused and was truly stunned, my mouth hanging opening. Dad was too. He looked at me and I turned slowly to him and we both stared at each other, as what just happened set in, eyes as big as saucers, mouths opened. We then, after about 30 long seconds regained composure a little. I lit up a hand rolled smoke and Dad walked the few feet over to me and stood beside me and then in his ultra dry smart azzed wit, nodding at the two pieces of my latest Jeep, and said, "Ya know, Bob, that is something ya don't see everyday!"............
I turned to him and said, "no chit, daddy-o!!"
We both broke into hails of laughter.
I had another 75 CJ5 so that became my main ride as I scrapped out the destroyed 7. From there, in 1990 I got the totaled 1983 Jeep CJ-7 that evolved into VEX of today. 21 years and 1,000,000 plus miles on its 5th engine and beefed up so that no matter how stupid I am it cannot be totaled by me.
Now you know why VEX, in part, is so extreme in mods.
Enjoy, and hat is tipped to everyone here.
Robert
VEX has about a gazillion mods done to it and there is a profound reason it weighs 3 tons and has 1 ton rated drivelines and 12,000 pound winches front and rear, and on and on and on. This is not because I am "cool" or trying to have the nastiest Jeep around, no, its because I am a ex-failure engineer for NASA and base all things on my screw ups that are never ceasing, which the following story will surely reveal shortly. I do what I do to avoid 'FAILURE'
So much for intentions.
It was 1988 and I had this pretty cool 1979 CJ7. I had pretty much made it tough, I thought, and had 8000 pound warn winches front and rear and a few frame mods to beef it up and a bigger electrical system and so on, but that was about it. Ok, well, one day one of the ranch hands got one of dad's John Deere combines stuck in one of the wet wheat fields as we were trying to get the fresh grain in and it had rained, and thus, the wet field.
Well, the only rig that we could get out to it was my Jeep so out we went with extra heavy cable and chain. We got to it and rigged up and I dead manned the Jeep to a huge, sound, sugar pine stump about 200 feet distant. Chained off I unspooled and got my 3 50 ton snatch blocks rigged and rigged off to the combine and was finally ready.
Dad was out there with me as we always did stuff together and he was more at times my best buddy, as well as my dear daddy. So, I had the controller for the winch in my hand and dad was over at the combine. I started to engage the winch and the line went taught.
Daddy then came over near me and we looked at each other and I engaged the winch again. Everything went very very taught now, and the sounds of strain were everywhere. I thought I might want to change something or back off and plan something else. I was thinking and doing some math on dynamics and load, etc....
Then, there was a sound of screeching, tearing metal, two huge "pop" sounds like blowing a stump out with pentex explosive, then BAM, the Jeep separated into two distinct pieces--about 15 feet apart. The Jeep had come unglued right at the cross member at the TC and the body parted right in front of the front seats. Both section-pieces were nose down, still sitting on the wheels and axles, respectively.
I paused and was truly stunned, my mouth hanging opening. Dad was too. He looked at me and I turned slowly to him and we both stared at each other, as what just happened set in, eyes as big as saucers, mouths opened. We then, after about 30 long seconds regained composure a little. I lit up a hand rolled smoke and Dad walked the few feet over to me and stood beside me and then in his ultra dry smart azzed wit, nodding at the two pieces of my latest Jeep, and said, "Ya know, Bob, that is something ya don't see everyday!"............
I turned to him and said, "no chit, daddy-o!!"
We both broke into hails of laughter.
I had another 75 CJ5 so that became my main ride as I scrapped out the destroyed 7. From there, in 1990 I got the totaled 1983 Jeep CJ-7 that evolved into VEX of today. 21 years and 1,000,000 plus miles on its 5th engine and beefed up so that no matter how stupid I am it cannot be totaled by me.
Now you know why VEX, in part, is so extreme in mods.
Enjoy, and hat is tipped to everyone here.
Robert
