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Stay Stuck Dash pad review

Stay put mat holds GPS in place
Stay put mat holds GPS in place
Natalie from MobileFun.co.uk Iphone Acccessories sent me a StayStuck phone pad. This silicone pad is made of an amazing friction material that sticks to just about anything. I have been driving around with it in my street Jeep this week and my cell phone has stayed put just like the product name suggests. I have stuck it on the dash and on the center console and it stays either place just fine.

The sample she sent me also has a really cool feature in that it has a place to mount a suction cup device like a phone holder or a GPS navigation device. To test it further I put it in my off road Jeep to see how it holds up to bumps and dust.

I had to use a damp cloth to clean the very dirty dash in my Jeep before it would stick. However, once it was free of dust, the pad stuck fine.

I mounted my mom’s Tom Tom to it to see if it would stay in place. I have left it there in all kinds of weather conditions from cold to hot to wet to dry. It has not moved. I always get annoyed at suction cup devices because they tend to pop loose when the temperature changes. No such problems with this pad.

I have driven around on the trails on my farm and have even done some rough maneuvering to get the Jeep into position to do some winching and so far the pad is still in place.

I need to get one for my mom for mother’s day because she is really happy that she does not have to mount her GPS on the windshield any more. For more information on this cool product see: StayPut Pad

I think I am going to get one of the regular phone pads to prevent occurrences of the levitating cell phone.

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Workpalce saftey tips number two

See the original article here: Work place Safety Tips

2. Use guards and engineering solutions wherever possible instead of relying on PPE – personal protective equipment. PPE is hard to police and uncomfortable to wear. Find a way to prevent the exposure in the first place. Your workers will be much more productive if they are comfortable.

PPe should be used as a last resort for keeping workers safe on a regular basis. Far too often I see PPE used as the primary mechanism for avoiding hazards.

Most machines and operations can be designed with enough guards and safer material flow paths to eliminate hazards for workers without resorting to PPE. Personally I hate working in safety glasses and gloves all day. I would much prefer to work in an environment where I feel safe to be there with out a lot of PPE involved.

At one converting plant I worked with, we designed and installed Plexiglas shields over the folder gluers to eliminate the need for safety glasses when working around the machine. The guards eliminated the hazard of flying cartons while still allowing the operators to see the adjust the process.

Productivity went up and waste went down as operators felt safer interacting with the machine.

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Reinforcing XJ control arms

The lower control arms on my off road Jeep have taken quite a beating. I have considered going with after market control arms, but for now with just a three inch lift, I am sticking with the stock control arms.

My first modification to get more droop was to modify the axle above the control arm mounting points. The mounting plate for the shock and spring hits the control arm at full droop limiting the flex. I simply hammered and ground away a lot of the offending material. It adds no strength to the axle and is just in the way.

The other part of the control arm that gives me trouble is where the front axle end bushing is pressed in place. The arm is just folded over here and when hit, it tends to crush and allows slop in the bushing.

When changing the bushing, you have to place a piece of metal in here to keep the arm form crushing while pressing the bushing in or out. To strengthen this area, I cut a length of pipe the size of the inside of the control arm. About 1 1/4 inch. I then cut this in two to make two C shaped pieces. I then hammered these pieces inside the control arm over the bushing. I then welded them in place.

These braces will prevent the control arm form crushing and hopefully prevent some of the bushing damage that occurs when I hit the control arms on rocks.

I also fabricated some guards over the axle mounting points that will further protect the front of the control arms.

After bending one of my control arms at Wooly’s Off Road park, I decided to strengthen them in the bending direction as well. I did this by cutting a piece of 3/4 in ch pipe and placing it inside the U part of the arm. I have seen people plate the bottom but this would keep the arm form twisting. The twist allows the suspension to flex more. To add strength and still allow twist, I drilled three holes int he top of the arm and plug welded the pipe to the arm just at the top.

The pipe should add strength to the bending vector but still allow the arm to twist as designed.

I look forward to seeing how these low buck modifications perform of the trails.

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Top ten workplace safety tips revisited Tip Number 1

My Top ten workplace safety tips article has proven to me my most popular article. I am taking a moment to revisit each tip and delve a bit deeper in to what is behind each one. Read the original articel here: Top ten safety tips.

Tip number 1: Maintain a clean work area. Not only will you remove many hazards from a work area by keeping it clean, but you will also provide a more productive work environment for your employees.

According to Louise Hay, accidents are often the result of an inability to speak up for the self, rebellion against authority or a belief in violence. It is easy to see that allowing employees to work in a messy environment could result in feelings of frustration that would be difficult to express and could result in a resentment for authority.

In addition, having a workplace that is free from obstructions will result in a more efficient and effective work atmosphere. If employees are restricted by messy conditions, not only will they be more likely to be injured, they will spend more energy getting the job done that would otherwise be required.

By keeping the workplace clean and orderly you will not only reduce the chance for accidents but also improve the overall productivity of the process.

For example in my own shop, I occasionally will try to work on cramped quarters having too many projects going on at once. When I do, I always find myself trying to work in less than optimal positions and sometimes I will slip and hurt myself. I also waste a lot of energy stepping over or moving around obstacles.

When I take time to prepare the work area before I begin, not only do I work much faster, but I enjoy the experience much more as well. Enjoying the experience helps me be more aware of my surrounding and makes me safer as a worker.

So to both improve your productivity and reduce accidents, make sure your work place stays clean and orderly.

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Stronger tie rod for my Jeep Cherokee

After bending the tie rod on Scuffy a second time, I decided to make it stronger. I looked at several options. First I looked at getting the V8 ZJ steering set up from Crown Automotive. Then I figured out that my older style steering knuckles will not work with the ZJ steering like the later knuckles do.

After looking at the Currie steering on Matt’s XJ, I decided to simply reinforce the stock tie rod. I will keep the stock tie rod ends.

I began with an old tie rod I had removed for one of the parts cars a while back. The tie rod ends were frozen in place so I used my torch to heat the threaded part of the tie rod and eventually freed them up. The actual ends them selves seems in good shape so I decided to reuse them with new grease seals and fresh grease.

I looked through my scrap metal pile until I found a piece of pipe that slipped over the tie rod. I think I ended up with a one inch pipe. Since this tie rod was slightly bent as well. I had to hammer the pipe over the old tie rod.

Once I had it centered on the tie rod, I drilled three holes and plug welded the pipe to the original tie rod. I then lubed up the tie rod ends and put them back in place.

I tried setting the front end alignment with the Jeep on the lift as it is much easier to access the tie rod this way. I thought it might be close enough.

However, when i put the weight back on the front end, the toe was way off. So I had to set it again. It took a few tries, but I eventually got it set back to zero toe in.

I locked down the clamps and took it for a test drive.

It looks pretty beefy and I know it will take a lot more force to bend the pipe and the tie road than just the tie rod alone. I turned the steering to the stops in both directions and I did not see any place where the thicker tie rod interfered with the steering in any way.

I look forward to seeing how my extremely low budget fix works out on the trails this summer.

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