Jeeping the Coast 2020

I've owned Jeeps since 1986, almost as long as motorcycles.   Those two entities have been part of my life for almost 2/3rds of my time on this planet, so I get a lil' passionate about both subjects.

The previous two years, we did Jeep Topless Weekend down on the coats here in Texas.  As I've blogged about previously, it's morphed into a reckless party of thugs from Houston in my opinion.  Lots of Jeeps .. but... not what it started out as. I swore 'no more' and didn't attend this year (it was officially canceled due to COVID, but still went down).   However last year, my nephew down in Mississippi asked us to attend JTC (Jeeping The Coast) but we pushed back. After seeing the pics and stories afterwards, I committed to this years.   With all the Wuhan Virus BS causing cancellations we were concerned.    Ten days or so prior, we realized we had good reason to be.  The local city sponsoring it, pulled the plug. That means vendors, bands, everything.. was cancelled.  NOT!  A huge amount of the folks that planned to attend and many vendors, flipped COVID the finger and said....   we're still going.  So... it's a "GO!"   We're headed to MS as were many others, to 'salvage' the event. The bands wouldn't make it, but we'd improvise.

We're leaving Greenville last Thursday and planned on an early morning rise and get to our AirBnB in Pass Christian 'early'.  Sure thing.  Zach Romo was playing at the Oaks Country Club the night before and there is no way we weren't going to attend.  Just a couple of glasses of wine I said; sure thing.   When we woke up the next morning I felt like I'd been hit by a bus, but I didn't overdo it.  Neither did Lucy. Someone must have spiked our drinks; my story and sticking to it.  Well,  here we were both thinking "WTF" and had to head down the road 8 hours to the Mississippi coastline; ugh.

Good news is I'd already packed the Jeep up for the most part.  Throw the cooler in the back iced up, our travel bags, and we're out the door.  Gave Peanut some hugs n' love, and we're soon rolling down the road.  Few javas, few waters and I'm doing fine.  Still, the road trip is wearing on me thanks to the night before.  Six hours into it, we're a 1/2 hour from Baton Rouge when shit goes south.  F**k

Last year, I made the decision to change up my Jeep.  It's a highly customized '17 with low miles, and a butt load of change dumped into it.  Well, I upped the ante with a RIPP Supercharger setup.  I considered a V8 motor swap, but had trouble with the idea of ripping out a perfectly good motor, so I added some 'air flow' to it.  Now, it's rolling with the power characteristics of a 5.7 V8 Hemi, and a fraction of the cost.   Well....was.

Over the waterways west of Baton Rouge on I-10 that extend for about 20 miles on bridges in the rain, I suddenly smell burning rubber.  Smoke plumes are rolling up from underneath the hood.  Loud Squeals have me thinking "oh f**k!" .   I'm watching my gauges as the motor temp goes into the red.  Voltage levels from my alternator are dropping.  I've lost some of the power.  Dropping from 75 MPH to 60 MPH, I've got the temps out of the red. Still, I'm on this above water bridge with minimal shoulder and do NOT want to pull over.... yet.  Half a dozen miles up, we find an exit down to the sea level road below the bridge.  As I pull off, I realize I've got no power steering. This is when I realize exactly what's happened.  The serpentine belt is not functioning.  Once we get it off the Interstate and stopped, I'm able to verify.  I'm also wondering what caused it, or a fluke and it just 'broke?'   A call to AAA and an hour

AAA to the rescue

later, Rubi' is being loaded onto a flatbed, strapped down and we're headed to a Jeep dealer in Baton Rouge.  We get there five minutes before they close the gate, I tip the wrecker driver, toss the keys into the after hours box with a note, call to Uber and we're headed to a Marriott hotel for the night.   An Uber the next morning gets me to an O'Reilys to get a new aftermarket Serpentine belt for this configuration, drop it off with the dealer, back to the hotel for mama and some Lunch.  Finally.   During lunch I get the 'fatal' call.  Reason that belt snapped?  The Supercharger froze up.  My brain immediately flips into rental car mode and it becomes a nightmare trying to find one.  Still, after going to one.. then another  .. and finally Avis, I've got mama in the car and we're rolling.  My plan was to head back to Texas and get my trailer and retrieve the Jeep.  I'm in 'fix it mode'.  Mama thank god, convinces me to put it on the back burner and let's continue on to MS.  So we're headed East again after my nephew tells me that not only will we have someone to ride with .. but .. Paul W his roomie, is handing us the keys to his '19 Rubicon for a few days.  We're feeling the love!

The Jeep fiasco is no longer on my mind and I'm flipping back to Vaca' mode!   We soon roll into our cool/quaint lil AirBnB a block from the beach, pop some cold ones, unload the car and the family rolls up in 3 Jeeps.  My nephew Paul and Beth in his (my old '11 JKU), Jamie and his bride in his '14 JKU and ... Paul W with his '19 JLUR.  They've already stripped it of it's top and doors ... our ride for the week has arrived!  We're soon in the '19 Jeep headed off behind them to my nephews about three miles down the road and JTC 2020 is officially on!

My nephew Paul has a cool place about a 1/2 mile from the beach.  The houses in his small development are all up in the air like many on the coast.  He's leveraged this to create his own personal oasis of sorts;

Asshole? Fake news!

reminds me of a lot of small bars I've been to.  His backyard is loaded with Jeeps and Jeep parts,  and

Diggs and Jamie kicking it up

a grilling area.  Underneath, it's partitioned off sort of into a party area where this night a few friends would be jamming for us.  As the sun drops, folks keep rolling in, alcohol is flowing and music fills the air.  We're blessed with great weather for the weekend and we're kicking it up

Party Girl!

right.  Dinner, drinks, people watching, music and some do a lil' dancing.  We missed the 'official day one' due to the Baton Rouge fiasco, but we're in the mix now.  Still, I've got to drive someone else's Jeep home, keep it in check and before midnight we're headed back to our AirBnB for a night cap on the side porch.  Day one .. or is it two (?) is in the books.

Some Java on the porch, redo the cooler for the day, and we're soon headed back to Paul's.  He's made us some breakfast with killer local sausage and eggs from their hen house.  I've finished off an awesome Bloody Mary ... and ... this day is looking good!   We've got an 1100 depart time and soon 1/2 doz Jeeps full of our 'weekend family' are rolling west down the beach highway for the meetup point.  I honestly have no idea what to expect so I'm just rolling behind my nephew's Jeep which .. is hard to miss.  When I sold it to him years ago, it was sharp then. Since then, he's taken it to a completely

Paul's '11 JK Party Wagon

different level.  With an ' Merica theme , additional 2" of lift (6" now), 38s' (was rolling on 35s) and a crazy over the top sound system... you can't miss it.  In fact, we just turned our stereo off since I can't hear it over his  tunes in the wind.  You'd swear you were listening to it in HIS jeep, rolling two car lengths back.  Funny shit because I'm sure not everyone forced to listen to his play list is a fan ... haha.  Anyways, we soon pull into a parking lot with approximately another hundred Jeeps in place and you realize a lot of people are not throwing in the towel this weekend.   As I'm soaking it all in, I'm told that this is 'nothing'.  Normally, it's packed ..

Sea of Jeeps

exponentially more than I'm seeing.  Still, this is a first for me.  And I soon have my favorites (hey .. mine ain't there).  My nephews' Jeep sticks

My Fav at the event

out. There's another one not far from us that is sporting 40" rubber with a custom/clean third row seat which I've never seen before.  And I've got a fetish for CJs and there are upwards of a dozen of them here.  One CJ5 has my attention rolling around on what looks like 36's or 38's with a V8 thundering out an awesome exhaust note.  It reminds me of one of my goals.  To one day in the near future get another CJ7, lift it about 6", slide some 36s under it, add a V8 if it doesn't already ... and create a summer cruiser similar to my very first Jeep. Surprisingly I only see a single Gladiator there ( there must have been more; I just didn't see them).   Quite a few folks have some really nice clean setups with crazy awesome stereos' pumping out tunes, everyone trying to outdo the other it seemed.    After thirty minutes.... folks are jumping in , hitting horns and.... moving out in formation. I've done this a thousand times with motorcycles; this is a first in a Jeep.  We're headed down the highway in a long line of Jeeps headed to stop #1.

Few of us

I'd asked a lot of questions before committing to this weekend wondering 'what do you do?"  Basically, they have multiple stops each day, at certain times , and everyone rolls as a group.  I honestly thought "ummm.. that's it?" But I've got to admit, it's a blast. First stop was a Frozen Daiquiri bar (as would be our 2nd).  You find yourself walking around sort of like a car show, visiting folks, admiring their rides, BSing with your friends and making new friends.  Then, it's time and the whole group moves to the next location.  Well, this year, wasn't organized like usual so at some point we broke off to head to a dive bar.  After a few beers and some grub, we're headed back to Pauls to regroup.   Soon we're headed further out west over the causeway to Bay St Louis where the event is having a really nice YJ raffled off and there appear to be some vendors.  This is somewhat of a touristy area with multiple multi level places; Ugly Pirate, Tripletails, Buoys Bar, Blind Tiger, Daiquiri Shak, Cuz's Old Town Oyster Bar & Grill.  We couldn't make it all of them, but did hit 3!  I'm not sure if we're the smart ones or the old ones, but Lucy and I grabbed the Pauls and Beth and, and headed back around mid-nite.  We still had to get back to our sleeping quarters!   Success.

I can't believe it's Sunday. We've toyed with the idea of extending another day, getting a hotel room for the night and enjoying the day with family but with Peanut back in Texas waiting for us and some other issues... we decide to pull the plug.  Pack it all up, drop off Paul W's Jeep (Thanks Again!!!) .. and we're soon headed back home in that damned rental car.  Eight hours later, we're back.  Drop that sucker off at Avis the following day and then....  my next problem.

I've never hauled a 4 wheel based vehicle before.  I've hauled a stupid amount of motorcycles.  I've pulled 43' Toy haulers around.   But.. never loaded a Jeep and pulled it down the road.   Last year, I purchased a TJ Jeep to play in and beat the snot out of .  So, knowing I'll eventually 'break it" I also got a car hauler.  I then researched how best to tow it all and got some high end straps. Still I've never done this before.  With all the straps in the bed of the truck, hook up the trailer and I'm headed back to Baton Rouge six hours away.  As always, my brain is going 100mph thinking of what could go wrong.  I spent a few hours BSin'g with Brother Dick on the phone passing time discussing all this and possible scenarios.  I realize I've never measured the width of the tires on Rubi'.  At 13.5 wide on 12" wheels .. it's 'wide!'  I've got metal fenders on the trailer and wondering ... "will I have to drive over them?" and hope I don't crush them?  Each fender has 4 bolts holding them, so I come to the conclusion I'll remove them if necessary.  Now, I didn't bring any tools.. .but...   that's now my Plan A if necessary.  I'll solve the tool issue if needed. I'm not exactly sure where my strap mount points are on the Jeep, but I have a solid solution with the trailer mount points.  Lets just say I really over thought all this, over a period of six hours.  Why I've never done a test fit with the TJ or JKU previously is beyond me.  Now I'm in the hot-seat.   This trip with the trailer turns out to be a quick one.  Guess it's a good thing I wasn't drinking wine and jamming to music the night before?  Well I'm soon at the dealer, pay the tab for 'one hour' of labor from last Friday.... and they bring me the Jeep.

They have  a forklift setup with a scissor of sorts to basically grab the two rear tires of your vehicle and literally push it around with the rear tires a few inches off the ground; brilliant.  He whips it around to be back of the trailer, we line up the wheels and I realize for the first time... it may fit between the trailer's fender wells. It's a tight fit but front tires squeeze through without damage to the rims. As it moves forward, I can see the rear of the truck starting to squat.  Stop. Done. It's centered.  Forklift heads back, mechanic chats with me about the Supercharger issue, pulls out his phone and shows me a Hellcat (707HP) equipped Jeep one of their customers brought in (yeah.. that one kept my ego in check) and... time to figure out my straps.  On my TJ this would be a no-brainer, but on this Rubicon, it's equipped with air lockers so You've got all kinds of hoses and cables near/on/around the axles you've got to worry about.  Eventually, I've found some 'clear' areas to attach to , strap it down.. and ... done.  Sitting there dwarfing the trailer, but my stomach is doing flips. What If I hooked this up incorrectly?  What if something fails?  Strap loosens?  Trailer blows a tire?   After a few minutes of doubting myself, hop in the trailer and head to I-10. 

Headed back from Baton Rouge with Rubi'

Took me awhile to find my comfort zone with it all.  But after the first gas stop, tightening up the straps (new ones tend to stretch a lil bit), I was used to the way it pulled and parked any concerns I had.  So, the next five hours, put that cruise on 75mph and headed home.   Around 2300 hrs I'm rolling down the driveway after 14.5 hrs on the road.  Didn't get tired until the last hour and nothing a Mountain Dew couldn't fix.  Next step is to get the Supercharger shipped with an RMA.  As luck would have it, it's still under warranty ( by a week!) so ol' Rubi' should be back on the road soon.  We're already planning JTC 2021.  But this time, my ass is going to arrive on time!

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What SHOULD have been