What did you do to your TJ today?

Today was rear shock day...it’s something I’ve been actively putting off because I knew it was gonna be a PITA. And.... circle gets the square...I was right. Two bolts on the frame side mount snapped off and I just know they are going to be fun getting out.
09B3B55E-3256-4284-8734-02EBA09FC03C.jpeg6810C026-26C9-4AA0-8B84-50E5D4589A7C.jpeg
In a related note, does anyone have any advice or opinions on bar pin eliminators for the rear? Is it something I should do to make it easier, less of a nightmare when I change out the shocks in the future? I want to do it right with future upgrades in mind, but they are cheap enough that I can buy them now and throw em in while everything is apart.
sometimes I feel like I’m losing this rust battle, I’m sure you guys can relate.
 
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NyTj13 said:
Today was rear shock day...it’s something I’ve been actively putting off because I knew it was gonna be a PITA. And.... circle gets the square...I was right. Two bolts on the frame side mount snapped off and I just know they are going to be fun getting out.
View attachment 178979View attachment 178980
In a related note, does anyone have any advice or opinions on bar pin eliminators for the rear? Is it something I should do to make it easier, less of a nightmare when I change out the shocks in the future? I want to do it right with future upgrades in mind, but they are cheap enough that I can buy them now and throw em in while everything is apart.
sometimes I feel like I’m losing this rust battle, I’m sure you guys can relate.
Click to expand...

That rear bolt will be fun. Get a torch and be patient.


Hit me up. I have a few spare sets of the bar pin eliminators in the package still.
 
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NyTj13 said:
Today was rear shock day...it’s something I’ve been actively putting off because I knew it was gonna be a PITA. And.... circle gets the square...I was right. Two bolts on the frame side mount snapped off and I just know they are going to be fun getting out.
View attachment 178979View attachment 178980
In a related note, does anyone have any advice or opinions on bar pin eliminators for the rear? Is it something I should do to make it easier, less of a nightmare when I change out the shocks in the future? I want to do it right with future upgrades in mind, but they are cheap enough that I can buy them now and throw em in while everything is apart.
sometimes I feel like I’m losing this rust battle, I’m sure you guys can relate.
Click to expand...

If you go with bar pin eliminators, is there a reason for taking those bolts out? Clean up the area and find a guy to spot weld the BPEs in place.
 
NyTj13 said:
Today was rear shock day...it’s something I’ve been actively putting off because I knew it was gonna be a PITA. And.... circle gets the square...I was right. Two bolts on the frame side mount snapped off and I just know they are going to be fun getting out.
View attachment 178979View attachment 178980
In a related note, does anyone have any advice or opinions on bar pin eliminators for the rear? Is it something I should do to make it easier, less of a nightmare when I change out the shocks in the future? I want to do it right with future upgrades in mind, but they are cheap enough that I can buy them now and throw em in while everything is apart.
sometimes I feel like I’m losing this rust battle, I’m sure you guys can relate.
Click to expand...
My son was helping me put my shocks on several years ago and put the wrong bolt on one of them. He got the bolt about half way in before the head stripped out.
I eventually had to cut the Floor on the rear and ended up having to weld an Allen head socket to it to get it off.
The standard bar pin shock mounts are horrible. I've broken both shocks off before replacing them with the JKS Bar Pin Eliminators. They work great...

Screenshot_20200723-152129.png
 
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Ephry73 said:
No Ham radio in the jeep, but I do have a Midland 75822 handheld and a BaoFeng UV-5R Dual Band Two Way Radio for emergencies. Did not think about the RF interference, but will see. Was your setup done with a body mounted antenna or antenna mounted on the radio as mine are? I have a few ground straps to add to the motor and chassis and not a while ago re-added the ground strap from the body to the hood.

Fingers crossed


E
Click to expand...

Mine was a body mounted VHF/UHF antenna, but had the same effect on my HT.
 
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Irun, I know what you mean on the inspection her in Virginia. My LJ is due next month again. Last year they rejected me because I had the ring of fire which is not DOT approved for the 3rd brake light along with a DOT approve light in the center of the spare tire. I also forgot the cover the KC lights on the front bumper. So I cut a piece of cardboard to cover the ring of fire and it passed.
 
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CharlesHS said:
Mine was a body mounted VHF/UHF antenna, but had the same effect on my HT.
Click to expand...
Good to know. I do have the KSuspension H4 headlight harness installed. Maybe that isolates the bulbs from the entire harness? I put the lights in and turned them on.

Definitely brighter than the Osram units (Listed as 3450k temperature).

These ALLA LEDs are the 3200k temp units (bright yellow, not deep -Oddly enough- but almost as light yellow as the KC Gravity LED spot lights with laminx yellow film I have on the A pillar) and I wasn't expecting them to be as bright as they are.

The cooling fans DO hum, subtle, but you can hear them with the motor turned off.

I had the Baofeng handheld radio on listening to the weather forecast and did not notice any issues with reception based on the report of RF interference. I turned the engine on, had the high beams on, just to see if the fans would spin faster and cause any issues. So far so good. Radio in the car, no interference. Will see once I do a body mounted antenna. Don't foresee doing it for more than a year, but things do change, it is a Jeep. :cool:

This weekend the JW Speaker EVO 2 units (advertised as a 5000k temp units) will go on and I will compare all three to see which headlight setup works better for me. I tend to like headlights to be bright and aimed in a nice yellow to white temp. Don't enjoy driving with blue hue lights, or anything that bounces off wet ground.

Fingers crossed
 
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So I have some good news and I have some bad news...

The good news: After 4 years of saving, having to use all the money I had saved for emergencies - three times! - and an extra two weeks of waiting (see post #705 in this thread) I finally have an ARB locker in my front Dana 30 to match the one I have in the rear Dana 44, and while I was at it I also had chromoly front axles installed. Kudos to the guys at Desert Rat in Albuquerque, they got it done in an amazingly short time. Life is good, right? Not exactly...

The bad news: The front locker locks up as soon as I turn on the compressor and won't disengage after turning the compressor off - you literally have to disconnect the front air line to get the locker to release. Drove the guys at Desert Rat nuts trying to figure it out. I figured it out right away: it is my fault. Several years ago I built and installed a DIY winch/locker panel. Worked great and has a retro/aviation vibe to it. Somehow, in trying to simplify the wiring I evidently went too far. What worked quite well with only one locker isn't working at all with two. So now I think I'm going to have to ditch the retro look and reinstall the original ARB Carling switches. They have something like six contacts on the back of each switch, as opposed to the two on the old helicopter switches I was using. Gee, ya think the other four wires going to each switch actually do something? Fortunately, I didn't cut any of the original wiring, I just tucked the stuff I wasn't using up out of the way. A little redesign of the panel, hook all the wires up the way they should be, and I think I'll be back in the crawling business in a day or two. In the meantime I have my DD back, so it's not a total loss.

Next up: Install the CalTrend seat covers that just came in.
 
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@Ephry73 , how do you like that Baofeng UV5 radio? Specifically the weather channels.

Also, can it be charged in the Jeep or only from a base station?
 
MountaineerTom said:
@Ephry73 , how do you like that Baofeng UV5 radio? Specifically the weather channels.

Also, can it be charged in the Jeep or only from a base station?
Click to expand...
So far so good. The programming was fairly easy and range is great. No way to charge it that I can see with the current battery other than using the station, but there are USB adapters for it so setting up a car charging setup should not be too bad. I have seen extended battery packs, but the standby battery life is like 24hrs or something like that. I have a power inverter with 120v outlets that I will be integrating into the center console(one facing forward and one to the rear) for charing devices quickly while driving etc.
 
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Ephry73 said:
So far so good. The programming was fairly easy and range is great. No way to charge it that I can see with the current battery other than using the station, but there are USB adapters for it so setting up a car charging setup should not be too bad. I have seen extended battery packs, but the standby battery life is like 24hrs or something like that. I have a power inverter with 120v outlets that I will be integrating into the center console(one facing forward and one to the rear) for charing devices quickly while driving etc.
Click to expand...

Thanks. I seen they have what they call a programming usb cable, but I don’t know it it will charge it too.
 
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Ephry73 said:
Good to know. I do have the KSuspension H4 headlight harness installed. Maybe that isolates the bulbs from the entire harness? I put the lights in and turned them on.

Definitely brighter than the Osram units (Listed as 3450k temperature).

These ALLA LEDs are the 3200k temp units (bright yellow, not deep -Oddly enough- but almost as light yellow as the KC Gravity LED spot lights with laminx yellow film I have on the A pillar) and I wasn't expecting them to be as bright as they are.

The cooling fans DO hum, subtle, but you can hear them with the motor turned off.

I had the Baofeng handheld radio on listening to the weather forecast and did not notice any issues with reception based on the report of RF interference. I turned the engine on, had the high beams on, just to see if the fans would spin faster and cause any issues. So far so good. Radio in the car, no interference. Will see once I do a body mounted antenna. Don't foresee doing it for more than a year, but things do change, it is a Jeep. :cool:

This weekend the JW Speaker EVO 2 units (advertised as a 5000k temp units) will go on and I will compare all three to see which headlight setup works better for me. I tend to like headlights to be bright and aimed in a nice yellow to white temp. Don't enjoy driving with blue hue lights, or anything that bounces off wet ground.

Fingers crossed
Click to expand...

Sounds as though the filtering problem may have been resolved. Good luck with the LEDs and Baofeng.
 
Blackegg said:
My son was helping me put my shocks on several years ago and put the wrong bolt on one of them. He got the bolt about half way in before the head stripped out.
I eventually had to cut the Floor on the rear and ended up having to weld an Allen head socket to it to get it off.
The standard bar pin shock mounts are horrible. I've broken both shocks off before replacing them with the JKS Bar Pin Eliminators. They work great...

View attachment 178988
Click to expand...
The thought crossed my mind to just cut the floor for sheer convenience to work on getting this out. However, I don’t have a welder (yet...I see one in my near future though) so I balked at the idea. I was almost certain the eliminators were the way to go, but thought I’d ask if anyone had any negative experiences with them or if there was some reason to stick with the stock setup. Thanks for the heads up!
 
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