2004-2005 Modifications,

The Revolver Shackles Save The day

 

In that photo above is the wheel and tire plus the axle stud after it left VEX going 70 MPH on I-90 approaching the summit of Snoqualimie Pass in the cascades of far western Washington State, a failure replete with snow and rain and ice. This is where the wheel and axle ended up, about 100 feet over the bank down in a shelf pit, after it left VEX and fled the scene on its own.....

Read on......

VEX, after the stop, sans axle plus wheel and tire..........no fire though......

 

How It Happened.............

I had been over in western Washington visiting my agent, Derek Hanson, and my friend from Peru, Marina Chang, others I know and have befriended in my time in the Seattle-Portland basin--I-5 corridor as well as other business matters. I had been there for about 3 weeks, jeepin' and my first break since daddy passed away and I needed to get away from my house.

I also had met several new Jeep folks and had gone jeepin' taking Marina Chang with me as she loves jeepin' trips. Those stories and pages are elsewhere here in the Jeep section.

I finally left and had one stop in downtown Seattle before heading east. About 40 miles up the trail toward the pass I needed fuel and stopped. I checked VEX as I normally do after fueling and there was smoke coming from burning oil dripping and wafting around the hub of VEX's right rear wheel. Wheel bearing failure. I know what did it and I had had no problem with rear bearings in the 13 years I had the Superior solid axle kit and so quickly remembered on the one Jeep trip up in the Evans Creek area I had pulled away from a bad place with emergency brake on and heard the tell-tale squawk of a strained bearing race, so made a note of it but forgot until the fuel stop and failure discovery.

I had all the tools but not the bearing puller or press. I was screwed. It was also a major deluge and no place to work out of the weather.

I was about 4 miles from the last burg from the pass; North Bend. I cruised slowly down to the trail to town and found North Bend Automotive. I talked to the owner and he said no problem and bring it in the next morning. I found a motel and checked in the next morning.

The mechanic in charge of VEX was a 24 year old fella named Dan Kooper and he had been jeepin' since 16. He was quite a talent and was impressed with VEX. His own 1984 CJ-7 was down for mods so he appreciated getting to work on a hard core Jeep. We worked together and took the axle out and he identified the fact it had solid axles and not sock and therefore would require a different bearing than the tiny things for stock-OEM. The boss argued with him and said it was the same and there was no real storm but the boss won and so, the next day the bearings were installed and new brake shoes on that side and away I went.

I stopped about 2 miles from the shop up I-90, and called Dan to tell him the hub was hot and starting to smoke. He told me to come back.

After VEX was in the shop we looked it over and Dan thought is might be the brakes. After readjustment and the okay by the manager of the shop and the owner, I took of again for home in Montana. About 10 miles up I-90 I stopped to check and lo, the hub was very very hot. I knew the bearing was wrong and so did Dan and he was fretting over it terribly. We were both on the same page and knew the fact, but by now it was too late for what was about to happen.

 

VEX incapacitated but me and he, safe! Whew! A pucker factor of 9 out of a possible 10!!

 

After I found this I decided that was it and slowly headed up the pass to find the first non-legal cross-over to the west bound freeway lane.

Sure. Not so. It took another 15 miles to the pass top itself to find such and by then i had to pack snow in on the wheel, axle, and hub to cool it down to prevent fire.

I headed back down slowly in the emergency lane with the flashers on. I made it all of about 4 miles and VEX started to speed up. I tired the brakes slowly and no brakes either. The bearing had failed. My speed increased to 60..........then 64..................and then 68..............and I was then cruising on the verge of a catastrophic malfunction at 70 mph on one of nations busiest interstates for its close proximity to Seattle proper where I found myself rushing out of control.

My options were only one. I have always felt there is always a way out. In this case, I knew that time was running out, the brakes had failed, the axle had left the differential group and so, no gears and the front hubs were in free so there was way to slam it in 4WD High Range and then use the gears and front end to slow down.

Vex in embarrassing repose in front of everybody.......

 

I then decided that all that was left was the emergency brake since it was cabled, mechanical, and would at least slow down the other rear wheel. About then, there was a roaring buzz sound, and the VEX started to swerve with me countering as fast as I could, then, this went on for many seconds until the wheel an axle rotated out of the housing as was free.

VEX immediately crashed down on its right rear hub and now I was on three wheels with sparks and heat and flammable fluids spraying out the open axle tube with VEX now finally slowing down with both the friction of the rear hub grinding itself to death on the pavement and the emergency brake slowing the right rear wheel thus VEX down considerably.

I struggled with the wheel while watching my wheel and tire-axle spinning crazily up the right hand side of VEX and then deflecting off the freeway, up a hump and out of site over the bank--at least it wasn't going to take out other vehicles. But now, how to get VEX stopped...........

All I could say quietly to myself I was hanging onto the steering wheel and trying to counter every little quirk leading to being out of control, was, "well, me and VEX are really really fu*ked now............"

........And without Teraflex Revolver Shackles, we would have been........

 

Revolver Shackles and VEX

I had been testing the Revolver shackles for a month now and had tested them in all situations, mostly in places and applications that directly duplicated all the claimed dissent against these devices by the multitudes on so many 4x4 and Jeep forums. In all tests, in very severe off camber situations, and other events, the shackles performed flawlessly and did the job as designed with no errors.

On my way over to the Seattle region from Montana I deliberately put the peddle to the metal to see what they would do at high speed and on curves. I went 85 at times, and still, they performed perfectly with no errors whatsoever. No body roll, no mushy feeling, nothing different than when I had the confer shackles on.

What took place next in this progressive failure has to be the ultimate test of these shackles since I was now on three wheels, on the verge of being out of control toward rollover and who knows how bad it was going to get.

But the Revolvers lived up to their name sake. They allowed the twisted motion of VEX at speed on three wheels to level out and now that the right wheel had been shed, VEX narrowed down straight as an arrow, since the Revolvers took up the side skidding torque which would have sent VEX into a flip and rollover, but the Revolvers took this up and so VEX aimed straight and true till I finally came to a complete stop.

 

A first for the dauntless VEX. He is used to pulling these rigs and ones like it including school buses, combines, concrete trucks and everything in between, out of jams, but never being piggy backed on a wrecker himself.

 

As VEX came to a stop I jumped out and the rear right axle housing and what was left the brake housing and hardware was a carved, smoking mess.

I checked the Revolvers and they were compressed and opened as needed to keep VEX on a lever plane regardless of what the axles did, in a fast motion way of what they had been doing on very severe off road events, in ice, snow, mud, ledges, rocks, etc.

I was amazed and impressed to.

I also noticed that my pants were dry and I was alive and VEX was at least intact, though crippled up pretty badly.

North Bend motel and Mt. Si from the parking lot.

 

Dan and the shop crew and the owner were mortified when they saw VEX coming in on a wrecker bed, knowing what could have been, and that had they listened to the esteemed Dan Kooper, this would not be the issue and I would have been home.

I went back to the motel shown above for another 3 days, now 6 days total, and after the shop got new solid Yukon axles and bearings and new brakes installed, all on their gracious ticket including the motel room too, VEX was ready to start home, finally.

Dan and I personally tested VEX and all seemed good.

The boss-owner and the manager then praised Dan, who felt terrible anyway over this event, and I did the same in front of everyone to make the young experienced Jeep lad feel a little better.

I want to thank Denny, Carl, and most of all dear Dan Kooper, of North Bend Automotive for taking care of this near catastrophe, and too, I do thank Teraflex and their Revolver Shackles for making such an incredible product, both off and on road, and most of all, thanks VEX for getting us both through this.

 

And VEX in normal repose, on the way home, about 300 miles from Whitefish, Montana

 

About halfway home, on the Columbia River, I went jeepin' in VEX in the bluffs and dunes to test out everything plus the ARB lockers and VEX overall. I jeeped by myself for about an hour and all is well. I pulled next to the freeway as shown above and took this picture of how things should be......

 

Home......

I got home and at 5 AM Saturday morning, 4-2-05, and slept a few hours then called my buddy and his girlfriend and we then went......................jeepin.'..........

Read about that on page 16.

 

 

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