At the time I bought the material, there wasn’t really anyone offering a panel. Now at least two forum members are.
A rebuild of #miRustyJeep...
- Thread starter Mike_H
- Start date
At the time I bought the material, there wasn’t really anyone offering a panel. Now at least two forum members are.
Started installing Tires this weekend. Doing it myself, since I want to make sure the beads get cleaned (they are a mess) and I have to rotate wheels and tires around so I have my best wheels in my new tires, and the worst of the generals on as a spare. Didn't feel like explaining that 12 times to a tire shop...so here we are. The first one was pretty hard...but I got it done. Second one took me about an hour to removed from the Jeep, Dismount the old tire vaccum out balance beads, remount the new tires, pour in balance beads and install on the Jeep. I got a LOT quicker.
However, I found some concerning wear on the drinker's side front tire. The Outside of the tire is worn quite a bit more than the inside is. I also found a bad unit bearing. May be related...maybe not. The plan right now is to get the unit bearing fixed and take it to an alignment shop for some measurements. More to come on that. Tires LOOK really good though, LOL.
However, I found some concerning wear on the drinker's side front tire. The Outside of the tire is worn quite a bit more than the inside is. I also found a bad unit bearing. May be related...maybe not. The plan right now is to get the unit bearing fixed and take it to an alignment shop for some measurements. More to come on that. Tires LOOK really good though, LOL.
What do you get with a good quality level vertical on the wms?assuming your toe is in spec and the wheel straight?You should be able to see if the axle is bent.
Are those aev wheels? They look good.
Yes to AEV wheels. Haven’t pull the front end apart to really do any investigation yet.
Finished up mounting my new tires today. Its not a terrible job, little bit of a fight, but its not difficult. I may invest in a manual changer, or convince a couple buddies to throw in with me for a used powered machine. Doing it myself let me clean up the bead seating surface in my wheels really well. I also found some damage on one of my wheels, now rotated into my Spare.
I think I know when it happened. When on Drummond last, I was in a water crossing and felt / heard a pretty loud bang under the Jeep. Probably dropped onto a rock or something. It wasn't leaking air, but I also didn't want it in main duty.
Add to the list of maintenance...My driver's side wheel bearing is loose too. I don't know what is going on with Timken, but they are not that old. I have one on order, to be delivered tomorrow, but I'll need to order another. I did take the extra step to check the axle nut and make sure it wasn't loose, and it was not.
I think I know when it happened. When on Drummond last, I was in a water crossing and felt / heard a pretty loud bang under the Jeep. Probably dropped onto a rock or something. It wasn't leaking air, but I also didn't want it in main duty.
Add to the list of maintenance...My driver's side wheel bearing is loose too. I don't know what is going on with Timken, but they are not that old. I have one on order, to be delivered tomorrow, but I'll need to order another. I did take the extra step to check the axle nut and make sure it wasn't loose, and it was not.
Mike, this looks great!
What wrap did you use for this? Did you choose one specifically that's more resistant to scratches? How has it held up thru the few trips it's seen?
When you installed the fasteners, did that try to twist or peel the wrap that was under or near the fastener head? Any tips in this department?
I'm ready for my armor to not be raw but don't have a compressor large enough for hvlp and cringe at the cost of automotive and 2k rattle cans. Been wondering if this would be an alternative knowing it wouldn't be as tough as well applied paint.
I used some Vivid stuff on Amazon. Nothing specific for toughness, more because it was cheap and offered in the sizes I needed.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B09H3L7FLL/?tag=wranglerorg-20
Its holding up pretty well...A couple scratches but not terrible. I did have a couple "twist bubbles" under my screw heads. I tried to minimize them by cutting the majority of the film away from the countersink. There are a couple small wrinkles...but you have to look REALLY closely to see them.
I did end up sanding and priming the aluminum, just to keep it from oxidizing under the film and causing the film to loose adhesion to the armor. So Far, So Good.
Spent some time tonight working on the Jeep. She's been neglected for a long time apparently, and is letting me know with broken parts. I mentioned that I had two bad unit bearings that I found while changing my tires. Well, Those are still bad, but I also found that my passenger side axle shaft has a totally roached U-joint. Never made a sound but it was VERY notchy and dry in one direction when I was working on the front end. So, I got that pulled apart tonight and I'll have to pick up a new one tomorrow. Looking back through my records, It looks like I replaced the Driver's side at the end of May this year. Not sure why I didn't do both sides at the same time...I must have been in a hurry or something. Anyway, I'll catch the Pass side up now.
I have an appt on Monday to get alignment checked. Basic angle finder checks shows that I'm about -2° Camber and only about 1.5° Caster. If my measurements are correct, that little caster might explain some of the weird tire wear I'm getting and it DEFINITELY explains why my steering follows the road so bad. Going to have to play with that, I bet. Putting more caster in might take care of the excessive camber too, based on the steering axis inclination. I'm looking forward to seeing the readings they get...less looking forward to having someone other than me work on my Jeep.
I have an appt on Monday to get alignment checked. Basic angle finder checks shows that I'm about -2° Camber and only about 1.5° Caster. If my measurements are correct, that little caster might explain some of the weird tire wear I'm getting and it DEFINITELY explains why my steering follows the road so bad. Going to have to play with that, I bet. Putting more caster in might take care of the excessive camber too, based on the steering axis inclination. I'm looking forward to seeing the readings they get...less looking forward to having someone other than me work on my Jeep.
New u joint and two new bearings installed. Added couple inches to my sway lock links to angle the bar up more since I noticed wear marks in the old tires from the bolts.
Went for a test drive and these tires are great! They are quiet too. Of course, they are brand new, but they are quieter than the Baja boss AT I have on my truck! They are able about 5 lbs lighter, per tires, than the generals that are coming off.
They run pretty smooth too. Had it up to 70’ish on the secondary’s around my house and she feels pretty good. Still have just a touch of steering wheel shake. Monday will be alignment day. After the alignment, we’ll see how everything is performing. Gotta get the hard top on too, since I can’t currently close up the stop top, due to my broken zippers.
Went for a test drive and these tires are great! They are quiet too. Of course, they are brand new, but they are quieter than the Baja boss AT I have on my truck! They are able about 5 lbs lighter, per tires, than the generals that are coming off.
They run pretty smooth too. Had it up to 70’ish on the secondary’s around my house and she feels pretty good. Still have just a touch of steering wheel shake. Monday will be alignment day. After the alignment, we’ll see how everything is performing. Gotta get the hard top on too, since I can’t currently close up the stop top, due to my broken zippers.
My top needs to be on next weekend. Enjoying a fall stent of 70's weather, although the mornings are a bit chilly, 45*. Shorts weather for you, I'm sure.
I’ve been known to rock the shorts at 45 degrees. Usually on the back side winter vs heading into it though. We had 72 here yesterday and I wore pants.
alignment was done on Monday, I think...They were not able to give me the printout, because their printer is broken. I wasn't expecting that...and honestly, I was disappointed. I brought it somewhere mostly FOR the print-out. But I did talk to the mechanic who said everything was decent but the toe was off, so they adjusted that and the steering wheel back in. I noticed my tie rod ends are shifted off center, so I'll need to adjust those back to center too. It does seem to drive better, so I think they did something. I just wish I knew what it was. I do have some pivot plates that I bought for my motorhome to do an alignment. I'll probably build a wheel fixture I can set my angle finder on to be able to get these numbers at home.
I'm getting a bit of grinding or rubbing noise when I turn the wheels driver as slow speed. Not sure what it is...might just be the new tires making noises I'm unaccustomed too. I'm not turned far enough when the noise starts for it to be tires rubbing anything. It has me a little gun shy, only because my old Pass unit bearing was VERY tight to my axle shaft (like pound off with a hammer) and the new one didn't go on easily either...so I'm wondering if I have a bad stub shaft that is making the axle ride too deep in the carrier and binding the U-joint (since that is also the one I had to replace).
Maybe I should just pony up for RCV's?
I'm getting a bit of grinding or rubbing noise when I turn the wheels driver as slow speed. Not sure what it is...might just be the new tires making noises I'm unaccustomed too. I'm not turned far enough when the noise starts for it to be tires rubbing anything. It has me a little gun shy, only because my old Pass unit bearing was VERY tight to my axle shaft (like pound off with a hammer) and the new one didn't go on easily either...so I'm wondering if I have a bad stub shaft that is making the axle ride too deep in the carrier and binding the U-joint (since that is also the one I had to replace).
Maybe I should just pony up for RCV's?
Finally got some time this weekend to work on the Jeep again. I had the front end completely torn apart this time. Good news is I found the source of my rubbing/scratching sound. The bad news is that it was because I was dumb and didn't pay attention to how my brakes were going together...
When I changed my wheel bearings, obviously you need to pull the brakes. Since I have the BBK from Black Magic, that means you pull a caliper AND a saddle to get the rotor off. Well, when I put it back together, I forgot one of the parts of the instructions, and that is to pay attention to the saddle bolts and make sure they don't poke through too far and touch the rotor. When I installed the kit the first time, I put two washer on one of the bolts to prevent that. I remember it being on the bottom. This time, I put it on the top...Because I forgot about the possibility of bolt rub and just thought I doubled them up because I was out of the "thicker" washers that were on the other bolt. Sometimes, I do that when the washer has to bridge a bigger than standard opening (like on the 15/16 brake kit with the figure 8 shaped hole).
It was immediately apparent what was wrong when I pulled it apart. No harm, no foul, since those heavy grooves are outside the swept area of the pads. I had put the doubled up washer on the top bolt, and the bottom bolt was poked through too far and rubbing on the caliper.
I also took the opportunity to fix a couple other niggling little things up front and make one pretty big upgrade.
The first was my front locker. Its been a bit finicky to engage since I installed gears. I've checked a LOT of things that I thought might weaken the engagement of the plates, to no avail. Talking with a few others, I've gotten it narrowed down to either worn locking plates (which is basically a death sentence for the factory locker) or possibly low preload in the housing...apparently they can flex? So, since the other option is pull the carrier and replace it with an ARB, I thought I would increase the preload a bit. I borrowed a case spreader and added 0.005" a side to the carrier bearing preload. Directionally, I believe this is correct, since I was able to remove the Diff by hand. It didn't fall out, but it wasn't really tight in there either. I also noticed that I was getting just a tiny amount of leakage from the factory air tube. Only when I touched it, which tells me the original, 20 year old rubber line was starting to lose compliance. I replaced that as well with some 5/32 vacuum line I have. Finally, I looked at the routing of that line, and where the factory clamp goes.
Its very close to the plate that shifts over to engage the locker. In fact, if the clamp is not aligned correctly, I believe it may cause the airline to drag on the plate, slowing down the system.
I also rewired my locker sensor. I noticed that was torn apart a while ago. It got smashed under some articulation last time I was at an offroad part. I went through my stash of parts and found some new connector bodies, spliced in some new wire, and Viola!, my dash light works again. No pics and totally unnecessary, but I wanted to fix it.
And, for the upgrade...I got my hands on a set of Revolution Big joint axle shafts. I had some Chromoly shafts up front from G2, but I had already broken one of them (when my Diff seized) and the pass side splines fit like garbage on the unit bearing. Here is a 1350 joint axle shaft next to the Factory 5-760x joint size axle
In order to install them, I had to shorten the passenger side axle by about an 1/8" (I guess this is pretty common?) and I turned the heads of the three bolts that hold the unit bearings down from about 1.100" to 0.75." Otherwise the flange of the bolt interferes with the Yokes on the axle.
Its all back together again, with a fresh coat of black paint on most everything outside the inner C's.
I even have clearance from the saddle bolts to the rotor!
Test drive went well. I have something else making noise now. Not sure if its new though. The new tires are a lot quieter than the old ones, plus I put the hard top on, which tends to amplify those lower, growly noises. Could be an exhaust leak, or a bearing somewhere in my drivetrain. My money is on exhaust, since I can shift to neutral and the noise goes away. Put load on the drivetrain and it makes noise again. Its either that or the transmission. I checked fluid on that and its up to the correct level and bright red / not burned. No vibrations or any other sillyness either. Just a low, growly noise.
When I changed my wheel bearings, obviously you need to pull the brakes. Since I have the BBK from Black Magic, that means you pull a caliper AND a saddle to get the rotor off. Well, when I put it back together, I forgot one of the parts of the instructions, and that is to pay attention to the saddle bolts and make sure they don't poke through too far and touch the rotor. When I installed the kit the first time, I put two washer on one of the bolts to prevent that. I remember it being on the bottom. This time, I put it on the top...Because I forgot about the possibility of bolt rub and just thought I doubled them up because I was out of the "thicker" washers that were on the other bolt. Sometimes, I do that when the washer has to bridge a bigger than standard opening (like on the 15/16 brake kit with the figure 8 shaped hole).
It was immediately apparent what was wrong when I pulled it apart. No harm, no foul, since those heavy grooves are outside the swept area of the pads. I had put the doubled up washer on the top bolt, and the bottom bolt was poked through too far and rubbing on the caliper.
I also took the opportunity to fix a couple other niggling little things up front and make one pretty big upgrade.
The first was my front locker. Its been a bit finicky to engage since I installed gears. I've checked a LOT of things that I thought might weaken the engagement of the plates, to no avail. Talking with a few others, I've gotten it narrowed down to either worn locking plates (which is basically a death sentence for the factory locker) or possibly low preload in the housing...apparently they can flex? So, since the other option is pull the carrier and replace it with an ARB, I thought I would increase the preload a bit. I borrowed a case spreader and added 0.005" a side to the carrier bearing preload. Directionally, I believe this is correct, since I was able to remove the Diff by hand. It didn't fall out, but it wasn't really tight in there either. I also noticed that I was getting just a tiny amount of leakage from the factory air tube. Only when I touched it, which tells me the original, 20 year old rubber line was starting to lose compliance. I replaced that as well with some 5/32 vacuum line I have. Finally, I looked at the routing of that line, and where the factory clamp goes.
Its very close to the plate that shifts over to engage the locker. In fact, if the clamp is not aligned correctly, I believe it may cause the airline to drag on the plate, slowing down the system.
I also rewired my locker sensor. I noticed that was torn apart a while ago. It got smashed under some articulation last time I was at an offroad part. I went through my stash of parts and found some new connector bodies, spliced in some new wire, and Viola!, my dash light works again. No pics and totally unnecessary, but I wanted to fix it.
And, for the upgrade...I got my hands on a set of Revolution Big joint axle shafts. I had some Chromoly shafts up front from G2, but I had already broken one of them (when my Diff seized) and the pass side splines fit like garbage on the unit bearing. Here is a 1350 joint axle shaft next to the Factory 5-760x joint size axle
In order to install them, I had to shorten the passenger side axle by about an 1/8" (I guess this is pretty common?) and I turned the heads of the three bolts that hold the unit bearings down from about 1.100" to 0.75." Otherwise the flange of the bolt interferes with the Yokes on the axle.
Its all back together again, with a fresh coat of black paint on most everything outside the inner C's.
I even have clearance from the saddle bolts to the rotor!
Test drive went well. I have something else making noise now. Not sure if its new though. The new tires are a lot quieter than the old ones, plus I put the hard top on, which tends to amplify those lower, growly noises. Could be an exhaust leak, or a bearing somewhere in my drivetrain. My money is on exhaust, since I can shift to neutral and the noise goes away. Put load on the drivetrain and it makes noise again. Its either that or the transmission. I checked fluid on that and its up to the correct level and bright red / not burned. No vibrations or any other sillyness either. Just a low, growly noise.
Out for a drive today, and saw a double rainbow...
I found the source of another clunk yesterday. Crawling around underneath the Jeep and marveling at just how flippin dirty it is, I was pushing and pulling on things to see if I might have contact somewhere that is causing that low frequency growl. Grabbed my rear trackbar and it is wiggling around in the axle mount. Tried tightening the bolt (which was looser than I expected) and got some of it to go away, but not all. So, I'm thinking my joint is worn out. Its a JKS with their "spherical urethane bushing for unrestricted travel"
My decision is do I rebuild the joint (about 50 bucks), Weld a new insert into the tubing to change the threads to 1x14 from 1-1/4 x 12 and install a RockJock trackbar end (about 175 bucks), or just buy the Rockjock bar and throw the JKS bar in the trash.
My decision is do I rebuild the joint (about 50 bucks), Weld a new insert into the tubing to change the threads to 1x14 from 1-1/4 x 12 and install a RockJock trackbar end (about 175 bucks), or just buy the Rockjock bar and throw the JKS bar in the trash.
Someone might buy that JKS bar for $75 with full disclosure. I’m always amazed at the crap people buy from me. Then when I put up something nice nobody will buy it.
Another little TLC project complete. I have a Soundstream Picasso Nano 4.1 Amp in the Jeep, mounted under the steering column. Its not the best amp in the world, but its a compact lil thing and it sounds good enough for me, in the Jeep. Since its so compact, Soundstream used little Molex connectors for the RCA connectors, the Remote Turn on, and the remote bass control knob. A shortly after I installed it, the locking tab on the connector to the remote knob broke. SInce the remote knob is mounted to a pretty square box, I was able to just use a piece of electrical tape to secure the wire. Well, at the beginning of this year, the remote turn on wire broke off the little molex connector, right at the terminal. I pulled the terminal out and soldered the wire back on. On my last big trip in the Jeep...the remote turn on wire broke again. Lots of vibration and a solder joint didn't mix.
This time, I decide to fix it correctly. I scoured the 'net for a replacement harness. Doesn't exist. Soundstream doesn't offer it, not on ebay, etc. I have a bit of experience with electrical terminals and how to find them, and what I lack in experience (a lot!) I make up for in sheer obstinance. I found a number on the connector body that plugs into the amp (5264) and started hunting Google with that. I found out that its a Molex mini-SPOX series. Once I got that, I was able to search out the part number on Molex, come up with the proper terminals and build my shopping list. Got the parts at Mouser.com Its like McMaster Carr for electrical stuff. They are a little on the expensive side, but you can buy in "eachs" instead of 1000 pieces rolls, like a lot of terminals are sold and they have almost everything.
If you have one of these amps, the connector body is a Molex 50-37-5043 and the terminals for 22-28 AWG wire is Molex 08-70-1040. The remote bass adjust side is a pretty simple RJ12 connector (which are available anywhere). You'll also need open barrel terminal crimping pliers for the molex stuff (I used a universal set that I picked up a while ago for weatherpacks) and another special set of crimping pliers for the RJ12 connector body.
Anyway, I rebuilt the harness this afternoon but not before it got to dark to work on the Jeep. Pics of the finished product. I added a piece of heatshrink to reinforce the connection too.
It will be nice to have some tunes to listen to again so as to drown out the noise of the rest of the Jeep!
This time, I decide to fix it correctly. I scoured the 'net for a replacement harness. Doesn't exist. Soundstream doesn't offer it, not on ebay, etc. I have a bit of experience with electrical terminals and how to find them, and what I lack in experience (a lot!) I make up for in sheer obstinance. I found a number on the connector body that plugs into the amp (5264) and started hunting Google with that. I found out that its a Molex mini-SPOX series. Once I got that, I was able to search out the part number on Molex, come up with the proper terminals and build my shopping list. Got the parts at Mouser.com Its like McMaster Carr for electrical stuff. They are a little on the expensive side, but you can buy in "eachs" instead of 1000 pieces rolls, like a lot of terminals are sold and they have almost everything.
If you have one of these amps, the connector body is a Molex 50-37-5043 and the terminals for 22-28 AWG wire is Molex 08-70-1040. The remote bass adjust side is a pretty simple RJ12 connector (which are available anywhere). You'll also need open barrel terminal crimping pliers for the molex stuff (I used a universal set that I picked up a while ago for weatherpacks) and another special set of crimping pliers for the RJ12 connector body.
Anyway, I rebuilt the harness this afternoon but not before it got to dark to work on the Jeep. Pics of the finished product. I added a piece of heatshrink to reinforce the connection too.
It will be nice to have some tunes to listen to again so as to drown out the noise of the rest of the Jeep!
Putting that same amp in soon (hopefully). Very much appreciate you listing out the part numbers.
Glad you got the problem worked out!