Junkyard Jeepin’
In this episode of Dirt Every Day presented by Tire Rack
Transcript
00:00 (upbeat music)
00:02 - On this third every day,
00:15 we're out in the desert at a Jeep junkyard.
00:17 We got big tires, gasoline, a battery, a lift kit,
00:20 and a bag of tools, and we're driving a Jeep home.
00:23 - I want this one 'cause it matches my sweater.
00:25 - Whatever you want, Dave.
00:27 (upbeat music)
00:56 - So we're at Sergeant Jeeps.
00:58 This is a kind of a private Jeep junkyard
01:00 out in Rosamond, California.
01:02 This place is full of Jeeps.
01:04 And the idea here is we're gonna get a Jeep
01:06 and we're gonna lift it,
01:07 we're gonna put some bigger tires on,
01:09 pick one out that we can hopefully fix enough
01:11 to drive all the way home.
01:12 Now, home is gonna be Pismo Beach.
01:15 Pismo Beach is my backyard.
01:16 There's a bunch of dunes there.
01:17 We can go bombing around the dunes.
01:19 But first we gotta pick one out,
01:21 and there's a lot of Jeeps.
01:22 - What do you bring parts for?
01:24 - A YJ.
01:25 - Fred, this one's already lifted.
01:27 - Look at those shackles.
01:29 - Those are scary.
01:30 - This is a four cylinder.
01:33 We need a four liter.
01:34 We need a big...
01:36 The four liter Jeep straight six
01:38 is like the small block Chevy of Jeep engines.
01:41 - Yeah.
01:42 - What about this one?
01:44 (upbeat music)
01:46 It's got a four liter.
01:48 - It's got a roof rack.
01:49 - It's got the jack still.
01:50 - It's got a five speed.
01:53 - It looks like it was in a fire,
01:54 at least up here.
01:56 But under here it looks just fine.
01:58 Check out this bumper.
01:59 This is ready for ramming.
02:01 I bet it goes ramming speed.
02:03 - Go find out what they want for it.
02:04 - I'll go find out.
02:05 - Cool.
02:06 This one's a 94, so it's like the high output four liter.
02:09 It's got a five speed manual,
02:11 which is like the AX15 transmission.
02:13 They're super, super durable.
02:15 And it looks like the Sahara package
02:17 'cause it's got like the cool interior,
02:20 and it's also got the tachometer.
02:22 This thing's rad.
02:24 The Jeep I had was basically the same as this,
02:27 and I sold it way too cheap.
02:29 I sold it for 3,200 bucks.
02:31 In this condition, I'd give him 2,500 bucks for it,
02:33 maybe three grand.
02:35 But I don't know, I'm curious to see what he's got.
02:37 He's over there arguing with the guy,
02:39 and I know he didn't bring much money, so.
02:41 - We got a deal?
02:42 - Yeah, ugly looks.
02:44 - All right.
02:45 - Look at this.
02:46 - I got us a Jeep.
02:47 - What'd you get it for?
02:48 It's got all sorts of rad parts on it.
02:49 - Well, that's the thing.
02:50 I got us a really good deal,
02:51 but we can't keep the rack on the top.
02:54 - Where are we gonna put our stuff?
02:55 - For the top itself.
02:57 - You didn't get the top?
02:58 - Or the doors.
03:00 - What did you get?
03:00 - Or the rear bumper.
03:01 I got us a Jeep.
03:03 You know, like America.
03:04 Basically, we can't afford all the nice stuff.
03:06 He can sell all of that and make a lot of money.
03:08 Like, these half doors are really valuable.
03:10 In fact, he said the family cage is more valuable,
03:13 so I conned him into getting us one of the sport cars,
03:16 which is cooler looking.
03:17 - So we gotta strip it down to give it back to him,
03:20 and then build it up from there?
03:22 - Yeah.
03:23 - All right.
03:24 - So we're simultaneously are taking it apart
03:25 and putting it all together.
03:26 - Cool.
03:27 (rock music)
03:29 - That Jeep's the same color as that JK we had in Toledo.
03:36 - We need to stop coming to places like this,
03:37 'cause now I need a Jeep again.
03:39 - You can drive it whenever you want.
03:42 - It's not the same if it's really yours.
03:45 - Oh.
03:45 (rock music)
03:52 - So we're gonna start by taking off the roof rack.
03:55 Get rid of that, we'll pull the soft top off.
03:57 We'll get the rear tire carrier and bumper off,
04:00 give that back to him, pull out the rear seat,
04:03 ditch the carpet, and then we'll go four-wheelers.
04:06 Without being super broke.
04:08 So the thing about Jeeps of this year,
04:14 they use like every fastener known to man.
04:17 You need like metric sockets, standard sockets,
04:21 you need Torx bits, you need inverted Torx.
04:24 Very convenient for your tool bag.
04:26 Tip it forward.
04:27 - Look at that.
04:28 I got a roll bar, Dave.
04:35 - Look at that.
04:41 - Look at that.
04:42 - Like a glove.
04:43 - All right, Dave, let's see if it'll actually start
04:45 now that we've done a bunch of work to it.
04:46 - All right.
04:47 - Crank it.
04:50 (engine starting)
04:52 - We got oil pressure?
04:54 No?
04:55 - It does now.
04:56 Got a quarter tank of gas.
05:00 - Fire it.
05:01 Gonna go.
05:02 Look at that.
05:05 - Check it out, I'm doing a burnout.
05:06 We don't have charge.
05:09 - We may need an alternator.
05:11 (engine revving)
05:14 (upbeat music)
05:17 - Tommy tried to sell us a bunk fuse, so that's burnout.
05:29 So now we're gonna look in one of these other,
05:31 look at this, Tommy's, I mean, Sergeant Jeep.
05:33 - That's like a double in Alacrost.
05:34 - That's a double?
05:35 - Yeah, look at the fuel.
05:37 - Yeah, but I'll give you this one.
05:39 - It's only half off.
05:40 - All right, so now we have a brand new fuse for that,
05:43 a brand new alternator.
05:44 This thing's gonna charge.
05:45 - Brand new used.
05:46 - Right on out the door.
05:47 - It's making voltage.
05:52 It's making voltage.
05:55 Get in there.
05:58 - I'm gonna start putting these wheel spacers on
06:02 since you're doing that thing.
06:04 - Oh, you just get to do, you're the glory grabber.
06:07 - What?
06:08 I thought you were busy.
06:09 - You're like, Dave can do the rusty crappy stuff.
06:11 I'll get these billet aluminum rads on here.
06:14 We gotta take the shocks off
06:16 so we can drip the suspension out the rest of the way
06:17 'cause they're actually limiting it right now.
06:19 It's actually coming apart pretty easy.
06:21 - Somebody back in the day thought it was a good idea
06:30 to put track bars in the leaf springs.
06:32 The problem is the track bar
06:34 wants to move your axle side to side as it goes up and down.
06:37 Leaf springs want to move your axle back and forth
06:39 as it goes up and down.
06:41 And then it all binds.
06:42 All right, we are packing it up for the night.
06:52 The rear suspension's all torn apart.
06:55 We still gotta get this track bar out.
06:56 It's fighting us.
06:57 We're gonna deal with that in the morning.
06:58 We gotta put all the bushings in our new leaf springs.
07:00 Dave's packing up the tools.
07:02 We're gonna clean up.
07:03 Hopefully tomorrow it's sunny and warm
07:05 and not cold and rainy.
07:06 Get out of here, Dave.
07:07 (upbeat music)
07:10 - Good morning, Dave.
07:17 - Good morning.
07:18 - All right, what are we going to do today?
07:20 - Put the leaf springs and shocks in.
07:22 - Found this wire.
07:22 We're gonna use this to just wire
07:24 that track bar out of the way.
07:25 - Yep.
07:26 - 'Cause I'm tired of fighting it
07:27 and we need to get this thing on the road.
07:29 - We gotta drop the transfer case,
07:30 put the wheels and tires on
07:31 and the rest of the wheel spacers and peel out.
07:35 These old man Emu springs don't come
07:37 with the bushings pressed into them
07:40 'cause they offer you these urethane ones,
07:41 which are a little bit more durable
07:43 and they allow for better flex
07:45 than the like pressed in rubber bushings
07:47 like stock would have.
07:48 You gotta put some grease in there
07:50 and push the bushings in before you can put them in the Jeep.
07:53 (upbeat music)
08:03 Bounce up and down on it.
08:05 Almost.
08:07 Okay, one is in.
08:09 One more.
08:13 - This is what all the professional off-road shops
08:18 do to install shocks.
08:20 They say we put the tires on it,
08:21 get it off these jack stand tires
08:22 and then do the transfer case.
08:24 - Good idea.
08:25 I really like these steel wheels from Rugged Ridge.
08:28 They only make these currently in a JK bolt pattern.
08:32 Manufacturers recommended tire size
08:33 but this size lift is like a--
08:35 - 31.
08:36 - 31 or 32 and a half, maybe a 33.
08:40 These are 35s.
08:41 Notice they rub slightly right here.
08:45 But this is plastic, I'm not too worried about that.
08:47 (upbeat music)
08:50 So we're gonna start on the front end.
08:54 The front suspension has a sway bar
08:56 that we're gonna just delete, get rid of.
08:58 Also has another track bar,
08:59 which we're gonna delete and get rid of.
09:00 It has a steering dampener.
09:01 We have a new one of those.
09:02 We're gonna get rid of that and put the new one on.
09:04 We gotta take the old shocks off,
09:06 front leaf springs out.
09:07 So basically, front end's getting torn apart right now.
09:10 Tires go on the front, we're ready to peel out.
09:13 - We're putting the shocks in.
09:14 We're almost done with this suspension lift.
09:17 There haven't been any major hiccups yet.
09:19 But I'm sure there will be.
09:21 (upbeat music)
09:30 - Suspension's done, tires are on.
09:33 All the fluids are topped off.
09:35 We didn't put any gas in.
09:36 - We have a quarter tank in here.
09:38 First drive, does it go forward?
09:42 - Does it go forward?
09:43 Does it stop?
09:44 Does it go backwards?
09:45 Stop?
09:48 I think we're ready to go.
09:49 Let's go find some dirt, Dave.
09:52 It is rubbing a little.
09:57 That's all right, it'll clear.
09:59 Let's test drive this thing, Dave.
10:01 - All right.
10:01 So far, so good.
10:02 - Rubbing a little bit.
10:05 Let's go that way.
10:07 Those 307 gears are high speed.
10:13 - He gets it.
10:14 That's nothing.
10:16 - Lost my hat.
10:17 - I'll go back and get it.
10:18 - It doesn't rub too much when you turn.
10:22 - It drives good.
10:24 It's got all the gears.
10:28 Oh yeah.
10:29 All those things are working.
10:31 - It gets it pretty good.
10:32 - Doesn't feel like the driveshaft fell out.
10:34 Let's go get our gear.
10:39 We'll head up to the hills, find some rocks.
10:43 A couple of days from now, we'll be in Pismo Beach, duning.
10:46 (upbeat music)
10:52 You ready, Freddy?
10:57 - You're looking good, Dave.
10:58 - Thanks.
10:59 - You look like General Patton standing up there
11:00 in your Jeep.
11:01 So we can take the highway,
11:02 we can be in Pismo in about three hours.
11:04 - All right.
11:05 - But we have two days before we need to be there.
11:07 So let's go north.
11:09 - To go west.
11:10 - And drive dirt roads as far as we can possibly get.
11:12 - All right.
11:12 - Buckle up for safety.
11:16 - Junkyard Jeep in.
11:18 (upbeat music)
11:22 (engine revving)
11:24 - It's crazy, there's still all these dirt roads
11:36 in California.
11:37 Nobody thinks about it like that.
11:40 (upbeat music)
11:42 Think we can find dirt from here to Pismo?
11:51 - You got a fancy map.
11:53 We probably should air down.
11:54 - We probably should air down.
11:57 - I don't think you really need to be at 32 pounds
12:00 in a YJ on the street to try to find 12.
12:02 - Getting a little bit of--
12:04 - I think it's doing all right for a one-wheel wonder.
12:06 - Yeah.
12:08 Oh God, I might have thrown out a little.
12:09 (laughing)
12:10 Jeez.
12:11 - All right.
12:12 Good place to--
12:13 - Check your tire pressure.
12:15 - Air down.
12:15 (upbeat music)
12:18 (engine revving)
12:21 - This is a good hill climb.
12:33 - Third gear, low range, hill killer.
12:37 - He tried this earlier and it started pooping out.
12:40 - Second gear, low range, hill killer.
12:43 - We're getting closer.
12:46 (upbeat music)
12:49 - Whoa.
13:01 - How's your seatbelt?
13:03 - Seatbelt's good.
13:04 - Keep you safe?
13:05 - It's, I'm the safest.
13:06 - This Jeep just loves you, Dave.
13:08 It just hugs you.
13:09 Oh, let's take this line.
13:10 - There's the highway.
13:15 (upbeat music)
13:17 - Oh, Dave, tunnel.
13:19 - Sweet.
13:20 - Think we'll fit?
13:20 (upbeat music)
13:23 You always have to honk.
13:26 (honking)
13:28 - Coming through.
13:29 - This is rad.
13:32 Coming out the other side.
13:35 - This wash is cool.
13:38 There's wheeling everywhere.
13:42 All right, Fred, let's get out of this wash.
13:44 Back to the highway.
13:44 - Right there?
13:45 - Oh boy.
13:46 (laughing)
13:48 - Is this the line you want?
13:51 - No.
13:52 Hang on, I'm gonna push.
13:56 Go.
13:58 That was really good.
14:02 - You need more straighter at it.
14:05 - Yeah, yeah, like that.
14:07 There you go.
14:09 Stay in it.
14:13 (engine revving)
14:14 - There we go.
14:15 - See you later, wash.
14:16 We got places to go.
14:17 Kids of America really look up to us.
14:23 All right, Dave.
14:27 - It's cold.
14:28 - This is where that tire was rubbing into the flare
14:31 and ripped the whole fender.
14:32 So we were down there in Rosamond.
14:36 We came up this road.
14:37 We cut across Cameron Canyon.
14:40 We'll keep going up 58 until we get to Sand Canyon.
14:43 - All right.
14:44 - I know there's cool stuff up there.
14:46 Let's go jeeping.
14:47 (upbeat music)
14:51 - Head up in the hills there.
14:59 - You wanna go that way?
15:00 - Yeah.
15:00 - Oh, I got mud in my eye.
15:02 - You got mud in your eye?
15:03 I'll try to keep us out of the mud.
15:04 Oh, jeez.
15:05 I'm gonna take us right through the mud.
15:06 How about that?
15:09 Oh, jeez.
15:10 That's great, Fred.
15:13 - You clean?
15:15 Sorry, you get mud on you?
15:17 - We'll just go up here and hang a rack.
15:21 - Oh yeah.
15:22 I don't know how we wanna get into that river.
15:26 - You have to cross it.
15:27 You think that Lewis and Clark were scared
15:29 of a little river like this?
15:31 - It's the best way to clean mud off your tires.
15:34 (upbeat music)
15:37 (upbeat music)
15:39 - Not deep at all.
15:44 Very uneventful.
15:44 (upbeat music)
15:49 - Good day, Fred.
15:54 - It was awesome.
15:56 Well, we've explored all around here.
15:59 We're gonna head into town for the night.
16:01 Tomorrow we got some other trails we're gonna run
16:02 and we'll be in Pismo by the next day.
16:05 (upbeat music)
16:07 Here we go.
16:08 - Good morning, Dave.
16:14 - Good morning, Fred.
16:15 - We made it to Bakersfield last night.
16:18 - Yep.
16:19 - Which was literally like an hour
16:19 from where we picked up the Jeep.
16:21 So we drove all day and got an hour away.
16:23 So here's Bakersfield.
16:24 We're gonna head across, drop down by Ford City, Taft,
16:29 head on out the 166 to Pismo.
16:31 - And there's rad trails through here?
16:32 - Yeah, there's like mountain ridgeline roads
16:34 and I think there's some rock crawling that is open
16:36 if it's not raining and it's supposed to rain tomorrow.
16:39 So we should get there in one piece.
16:41 - Let's get there before the rain.
16:42 - You look really good.
16:43 You got all cleaned up.
16:43 You could put a clean shirt on you.
16:44 - I know.
16:45 You should try it sometime.
16:46 - That's not gonna last.
16:47 (upbeat music)
16:49 Hey, look.
16:57 - Ford City.
16:58 - Harrison Ford City.
16:59 Harrison Street, Ford City.
17:02 Let's go find the coolest Ford in Ford City.
17:05 - There's one.
17:07 - That's a Ford Aerostar.
17:08 That's a Ford Honda.
17:09 - I have a feeling this place is gonna be rad.
17:20 - I think so.
17:22 How deep do you think it is, Dave?
17:24 - Seven inches.
17:25 Deeper than that.
17:27 - Maybe 13 inches.
17:31 - Let's see if there's anything rad up here.
17:33 - Slinging mud.
17:34 I had hopes of going to this awesome place.
17:44 What's going on here?
17:47 - Check if it's locked.
17:48 It's probably locked.
17:50 The road's a closed sign says locked.
17:53 I'll look at the map.
17:54 This place was gonna be rad.
17:57 We could backtrack.
17:59 Let's go back and find something else.
18:02 Never give up, Dave.
18:03 - There was that horse trail up the road, like three miles.
18:06 - Oh yeah, let's go try that place.
18:08 Sometimes you win and sometimes you lose.
18:10 Sometimes you have a Jeep that works awesome
18:11 straight out of the junkyard,
18:13 and sometimes the road's closed.
18:15 - Dirt road riding.
18:25 It's like a mud slide.
18:26 - Oh yeah.
18:27 Let's try some four by four.
18:29 Oh, oh, it's muddy.
18:32 - Gnarly.
18:33 - It's like concrete wheeling.
18:36 - Actually gets good traction though.
18:39 That's like the weirdest mud I've ever driven in.
18:45 - It's just like slurry.
18:47 - Hey look, a gate.
18:52 - Go figure.
18:54 - Let's see if it's locked.
18:55 If it's not, this is gonna be rad.
18:57 - There's a big lock.
18:59 The biggest problem is,
19:02 we're running into a lot of closed fences.
19:04 This one's closed.
19:05 A lot of the roads along the 166 have closed fences,
19:08 so we're not able to get up in the hills.
19:09 We've had a lot of rain.
19:10 I think a lot of the roads are really soft
19:12 and they're worried about people
19:13 running off the side of the road.
19:14 But it's not raining on us, so it's still a good day.
19:17 We're not that far from Pismo,
19:20 and we still got half a bag of cookies left.
19:24 So what we're gonna do, we're gonna turn the Jeep around,
19:26 go back the 166, headed east,
19:28 'cause there's really no rush to get to Pismo.
19:30 There's some cool roads up here.
19:32 We can see 'em on the map,
19:33 whether or not we can get to 'em.
19:34 That's the next challenge.
19:36 (wind blowing)
19:38 (upbeat music)
19:42 (engine revving)
19:45 (upbeat music)
19:50 - Hey, Dave.
20:01 We're back to dirt.
20:03 - Finally.
20:04 No more closed gates.
20:05 - No more closed gates.
20:06 We're going all the way through here.
20:07 We'll be in Pismo before sunset.
20:10 And it's sunny and warm and beautiful out.
20:13 Lovely California weather.
20:15 Just the things everybody comes to California to see.
20:18 We're going back out, we're going to the beach.
20:19 See you guys there.
20:20 (upbeat music)
20:25 This is awesome, Dave.
20:29 - I like--
20:30 - Jeep during the rain.
20:31 - Your Pike's Peak Hill Killer Jeep.
20:33 - Dude, we took a junkyard Jeep from the desert,
20:36 and we're driving in a, like a--
20:38 - Tropical forest in the southern--
20:40 - It's like we made it all the way to Argentina.
20:42 - It definitely doesn't look like Cali--
20:44 Holy cow.
20:45 - No, it doesn't.
20:46 It looks like we're in like Thailand.
20:48 We're probably being chased by bad guys
20:50 in a 4Runner with a bunch of camera gear.
20:53 You think about it like that, it's a whole different game.
20:55 So the wipers aren't doing much.
20:57 I mean, they're doing something,
20:58 but they're not cleaning the inside.
20:59 - They're doing it on the wrong side.
21:01 - We might as well, pretty soon we're just gonna
21:03 fold this windshield down, Dave.
21:04 - I'm all right with that.
21:06 Can't see anymore.
21:07 - Let's just fold the windshield down.
21:10 (upbeat music)
21:13 - There's some nasty stuff jammed in the dash.
21:26 - It'll all blow into our face as soon as we're moving.
21:29 To the beach!
21:31 Oh, this is way better, Dave.
21:37 - Get more sand in my teeth.
21:40 - Windshield's down, thumbs up.
21:42 (laughing)
21:45 - Wow, it's pretty country out here.
21:48 (upbeat music)
21:50 - Oh boy. - Left or right?
22:00 - Straight up. - All right.
22:01 (engines revving)
22:04 (upbeat music)
22:07 - Oh my God.
22:11 - Gosh, that was fun.
22:14 - Woohoo!
22:14 - I love having fun.
22:16 - Oh, it's in my underwear.
22:19 - Oh boy.
22:20 - There's something we can cool off in.
22:23 (laughing)
22:27 - Let's go this way.
22:28 (upbeat music)
22:32 (wind blowing)
22:35 - Good work.
22:35 I think we gotta put the windshield up.
22:38 That was awesome, but we're gonna get on the highway.
22:41 Windshield up to the beach!
22:45 (upbeat music)
22:48 To Pismo!
22:52 (upbeat music)
22:55 (wind blowing)
22:58 - Finally, an open gate.
23:07 - Look at those dunes, babe.
23:09 - Oh man.
23:11 - Pismo Beach!
23:12 - That was the longest 30 mile drive I've ever been on.
23:15 - You wanna hop in the ocean and cool off?
23:18 - No.
23:18 (upbeat music)
23:21 (upbeat music)
23:24 - Hey, where else can you drive on the beach,
23:27 in the rain, in California, in a Jeep,
23:30 that you got out of a junkyard a day and a half ago?
23:33 - Nowhere but here, Fred.
23:34 - Nowhere but here at Pismo Beach.
23:36 - California.
23:37 - Did you bring any tanning lotion so we don't get burnt?
23:40 - I didn't.
23:41 All I brought were these safety glasses.
23:43 - And 17 layers of waterproof gear.
23:46 - Junkyard Jeep for the win!
23:49 - This thing's awesome.
23:51 (upbeat music)
23:52 - A few days ago, I was not a big fan of YJs,
23:55 but this little junkyard Jeep has been great.
23:57 Battery, big tires, a lift kit.
23:58 We've been wheeling for two days straight, having a blast.
24:01 I can't wait to drive this thing all over the place.
24:03 Wait, I guess Dave's driving now.
24:04 - Let me drive.
24:05 Get in.
24:07 - That's it for "Dirt Every Day."
24:08 See you next time.
24:09 (upbeat music)
24:12 - You need to get these tires to break in a little better.
24:19 - They're getting better.
24:21 - It's a hair down from street pressure.
24:24 You mean these tires I got at--
24:25 - Tire rack?
24:26 - Get on the rack.
24:28 - Tire rack.
24:29 (engine revving)