A lesson learned—keep it light and nimble!

The more I work on this, the further behind I get.

- Replacing the RMS and oil pump resulted in a need to replace the timing chain (due to 1/2+ chain deflection)
- Planning to replace the timing chain resulted in ordering an entire new cooling system (due to the discovery of a slight water pump and radiator leak)
- Ordering a new cooling system led to the order of all the under hood A/C parts (because, being this far in, access to the compressor is easy and I see two small A/C leaks)

At some point I'd like to get to the installation of all the armor, some of which requires painting it body color. This crap is either going to kill an old man, or help keep him younger. Sometimes I don't know which of the two is winning! o_O
My latest is that wanting to do the locking hub conversion myself led to buying a 20 ton hydraulic press, which led me to make space for it in my garage, which led me to lease a big storage unit, and now I’ve spent several days organizing all my stuff across my garages and the new storage unit.

Oh, and while I’m at it with the hub conversion, I’ll go ahead and upgrade the inner axles and do the ball joints and inner axle seals.
 
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My latest is that wanting to do the locking hub conversion myself led to buying a 20 ton hydraulic press, which led me to make space for it in my garage, which led me to lease a big storage unit, and now I’ve spent several days organizing all my stuff across my garages and the new storage unit.

Oh, and while I’m at it with the hub conversion, I’ll go ahead and upgrade the inner axles and do the ball joints and inner axle seals.
I know this one all to well! FWIW, the 20 Ton Press is a huge plus. I added one, finally, when I did the locking hubs. There are some tricks to pressing in the wheel studs on the rotors, but it made that and u joints super easy. Now, I'm like you, I've acquired too many Jeep parts and considering getting a storage unit. o_O
 
....I've acquired too many Jeep parts and considering getting a storage unit. o_O
I can jump on that grenade for you and take some 😁

BTW--Chaos FINALLY gave me the estimate yesterday after I called and bugged them, but it's jumbled and not real helpful, and AK is out until next week so I still haven't talked to him about those axles.
 
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Count me in with the storage unit group. Plus I keep my Jeep trailer in it with one of my cars on it so I have more room in my garage to work on the Jeep.
 
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The more I work on this, the further behind I get.

- Replacing the RMS and oil pump resulted in a need to replace the timing chain (due to 1/2+ chain deflection)
- Planning to replace the timing chain resulted in ordering an entire new cooling system (due to the discovery of a slight water pump and radiator leak)
- Ordering a new cooling system led to the order of all the under hood A/C parts (because, being this far in, access to the compressor is easy and I see two small A/C leaks)

At some point I'd like to get to the installation of all the armor, some of which requires painting it body color. This crap is either going to kill an old man, or help keep him younger. Sometimes I don't know which of the two is winning! o_O
You can't give up now, we're all counting on seeing the finished result of this build! You're gonna be the golden standard of what a TJ on 31's should look like and something a lot of guys (like me) work towards. Keep it up (y)
 
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You can't give up now, we're all counting on seeing the finished result of this build! You're gonna be the golden standard of what a TJ on 31's should look like and something a lot of guys (like me) work towards. Keep it up (y)
Definitely not giving up. Just venting a little. All better today and back on track. I have to call Jeep Air, to try and sort out one A/C line. It looks like there was a swap in condensers part way through the '03 model.

Also, I'll have everything on the grill apart, so now's the time to add a transmission cooler and gauge. More to add to the list! (y)
 
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Feel your pain. Going through this now on my new to me 06 Unlimited. It has 237k on the original motor and the only paperwork I got from the previous owner was for a water pump replacement at 167k. As far as I can tell it’s the original radiator and no leaks but I have been eyeing up the Mopar radiator on rock auto so the code should help. Thanks for that!
 
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Lots of work left to do, but the new Cloyes timing set is in!

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BTW, I noticed, unlike older 4.0l engines, there was no oil slinger between the cover seal and the crank. Anyone happen to know when they did away with that?
 
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BTW, I noticed, unlike older 4.0l engines, there was no oil slinger between the cover seal and the crank. Anyone happen to know when they did away with that?
Great build thread, appreciate the level of detail in approach.

Your comment on the oil slinger had me scratching my head as I was recently inside there on my 2005 4.0 and I was confident that there was a slinger. No pics so I went back to the FSM to verify and it does show to be there confirming I haven’t completely lost my mind yet.
 
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Great build thread, appreciate the level of detail in approach.

Your comment on the oil slinger had me scratching my head as I was recently inside there on my 2005 4.0 and I was confident that there was a slinger. No pics so I went back to the FSM to verify and it does show to be there confirming I haven’t completely lost my mind yet.
That's what made me ask the question. The FSM shows one, but it's clearly been deleted. I just can't figure out why and when. There are some references to changes made to the balancer, on the web, but nothing I could find definitive.
 
Timing chain replacement is wrapped up. New A/C compressor is in. I had the entire exhaust system out and replacing the compressor was a royal PIA! New dryer and lines are in as well, minus one. Waiting on the condenser to arrive, before finishing the A/C system refresh. While waiting, I'll install a transmission cooler.

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I'm waiting on the condenser and liquid line to show up for the A/C refresh. While waiting, I've painted the "V" brace on the grill. Also, painted the bracket for the fuse/relay box under the hood, because I had to remove it to extract and replace the liquid line.

While the grill is completely exposed, I've ordered a B&M 70264 SuperCooler for the transmission, and a temperature gauge. I've installed several of these and had very good luck using them to monitor and keep the transmission temperature down. I did look at the Setrab cooler @mrblaine uses, but couldn't justify the cost.

I also ordered a PSC power steering cooler. This is obviously overkill for the stock steering, but since I'm right there, now is the time to do this. That way, I'll already be setup for a PSC upgrade, if needed, in the future.