Klune-V
Interview with
Jason Bunch of Tri County Gear
Jason
Bunch is a Jeep-builder-extraordinaire. He has been building
competition, sand and rock jeeps for over 20 years. Recently
taking up the new sport of Rock Crawling Championships
More like Rock Racing: They definitely dont go real slow!
Jason turned his skill to building up a competition Rock Jeep.
Called Rock Star, this Jeep started life as a Wrangler TJ.
Jason and his crack crew of Tri-County mechanics and fabricators
set to work to make a world class competition car.
Drivetrain
Surprisingly,
the factory stock 4 banger was retained, along with the factory
AX15 transmission. A Klune-V Extreme Underdrive unit coupled
to an Atlas 4.0 was included to give maximum flexibility of gears
in the project.
Suspension
They took
the highly capable Warn Black Diamond suspension system, and made
a few changes: The skid plate was cut and reworked to bolt flat
under the frame rails with zero hang down below, like the stock
part. All of the control arms were reworked to improve clearance
and optimize geometry. Not something Warn could have done from the
start: They had to notch and box areas of the frame and cut and
tub areas of the body to make it all work.
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So,
why the Klune?
I like the
advantage of different low ranges
available for super rock crawling, moderate rock
crawling, or playing in the sand dunes. And youre able to
drive on the street. Also, you dont have to change the
gear ratio in the rear end. |
| Describe
to me your vehicle?
It has a
mighty 2.5 liter four cylinder engine, stock 5 speed tranny,
inertia ring on fly wheel to work like a tractor, Klune-V
box, Atlas t-case, Warn suspension, Dana 44 reverse rear end
built by Tri County with Detroit lockers, reverse model 30
front end by Tri County, with spring over style steering to
keep out of rocks, built for rock crawling. Able to play
without rock crawling truck to drive on street and
rocks. |
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What
kind of wheeling do you want to do with it?
Rock crawling
mostly extreme stuff but I do moderate as well. I get out
and play in the sand, too. |
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Tell
me what you thought it was going to do before you put it in?
I
knew what to expect because of my background. But I didnt
realize how much more control it would give me. One thing
was I was totally surprised to drive up waterfalls in
Panamint - with what it was capable of doing. Owe a lot to
Klune on that.
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Have
you done any particular runs or obstacles using the crawler?
Panamint
Valley Days, High Desert Roundup, Rock Crawling championship
in Montrose Colorado, Moab, Farmington, Black Bear Pass,
Tierra Del Sol, Calico, sand dunes, Sledge Hammer, did 24
hours of hammers we did all 7 trails in 5 ½ hours. [in
Johnson Valley, California]. Ive had the Klune in my jeep
for over a year, and run the hell out of it. It always
works. |
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What
experiences have you had using the crawler you think others
might be interested in knowing about?
Having
more control. When I did the Warn rock crawling championship
[in Johnson Valley] the Klune-V was a major help to get 5th
place. [ed. comment: places 1-3 were purpose built
buggies, and all of places 1-4 were V8 powered with 40 or
larger tires. Not too bad for a four-banger with 35
tires!]
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