Montana TJ Unlimited parts magnet

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Installed the autometer temp sensor bung. Leak testing overnight with water. If it'll hold water. It'll hold oil.

110V weld also.

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Thats a new Dorman pan with the drain plug. Going to give the Lube locker a Rip also. unless anyone reading this has used the Lube locker and it's no bueno?
 
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Once you mess with it. It's as fast as the stock shifter. But they actually tried when they made this. Very little flex. Sounds solid. And you can quickly move from R to 1. I'm impressed. It's not the usual 47 ratchets to each gear like the racing B&M stuff.

I've had a B&M in my old k5 once. It got old AF when snow wheeling and your starting to get stuck. Clunk clunk clunk clunk ratchet ratchet ratchet clunk ratchet ratchet ratchet. Shit, I'm stuck.

Good job B&M. I only had to add minimal lock washers and better hardware.

I also slid 1/2" heater core hose, and then sturdy heat shield over where the cable is 3" away from the manifold. And added heat shield on the transmission lines with my extra.

The heat shield and hose was not in the kit. The instructions are terrible. And they make no mention of hot AF exhaust that will be super close.

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Update.

The B&M made it about 1hr of road test time before I went back to the shop and removed it.

After assembling the rest of the dash it will let you absolutely slam your fingers in the dash. About 1/4" of clearance. The indicator is extremely hard to see. It misses gears on the road. And it misses reverse regularly. I also Checked the adjustment over and over. It's also way too far away from your hand.

It has a major safety flaw, I was going to try and look past it, but. It has you remove the park safety cable. This let's the Jeep start in gear. It would be rare, but this could be very dangerous if your working on the Jeep, or not aware it will start in gear. Overall it had about 5 strikes against it very quickly.

I knew after a very short drive this is a no way for me. It's already on the way back for a return and my money back. What a waste of time. Not my first waste of time. Hopefully I can be the guinea pig on that one. And somebody will avoid it.

I think it may fail as a product, but it also fits XJ cheorkees, so the cherokee boys may love it. It is a POS IMO after a real trial. I have owned and installed several B&M shifters. They really are just racing parts. They tried, but I feel it's not TJ specific enough. If it didn't try to cover multiple rigs and was more carefully geared towards the TJ, maybe.

I am so glad I carefully removed my original shifter. Cause it went right back in.

So, if anybody is considering this shifter who reads this thread. I say no. I put the factory shifter, with the stock T-handle and the shorty 2 cup holder console in.

I made the Ebay return window with 1 day to spare on the shifter and extra cover plates.

All other parts are great transmission shifts great. Trans temp Guage is nice.

Les schwab balanced the tires correctly also.

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This build is amazing. How is the front Aussie holding up? Any problems? Thinking about getting one in my DD LJ.
Thank you.

The Aussie is holding up good so far. I haven't really been very hard on it though. But plan to test it more this winter and spring.

When my front hubs are locked, the Aussie can be loud. Just being honest. The clicking from it is very noticeable. But its reliable and rugged.
 
I didn’t realize we had some options for shifters. That’d be nice to have a quicker 1-R path.

Sadly, I wanted to love the B&M shifter for the TJ. It wouldn't stay adjusted, and it missed gears constantly. Also, the gear indicator is very hard to see. It will let you smash the crap out of your fingers into the dash when you put it in park. I removed it the same day I installed it. And thankfully I got my money back by returning it.

The shift kit and other parts I installed in my 42RLE are great though and do improve its performance.

I believe that B&M shifter is aimed more at the XJ crowd that have a little more room around it. It was awkwardly far away from my arm, and I have long arms at 6'3" tall.

The parts and construction of the B&M felt good and looked solid. But, I believe it is not TJ specific enough. And to make it marketable B&M had to make it cover more than one vehicle. And that lowers its quality for our TJ's.

I guess my view is for somebody that is going to wheel their Jeep. I also snow-wheel, on top of rocks, so the ability to shift without looking down at the shifter all the time matters to me, alot.
 
Took this thing in the woods.

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Anyone run genright aluminum sides/corners on their Jeep here?

If not genright, then recommend aluminum sides that are available currently.

I would just get savvy. But I see they are not available.

Also any advice on swag off road tailgate kit?
 
Anyone run genright aluminum sides/corners on their Jeep here?

If not genright, then recommend aluminum sides that are available currently.

I would just get savvy. But I see they are not available.

Also any advice on swag off road tailgate kit?

@JMT Has GR coners. The only difference I could tell was the location of the holes near the top rail compared to my savvy covers.
 
I run the Genright aluminum corners. I bought the blanks and cut my own wheel wells. Good fitment - can’t imagine they are much different than Savvy.

They are cut for a high rocker - meaning about even with the bottom of the door. I had to weld a piece of aluminum in there to fill the void. Not sure how Savvy’s are in that regard.
 
I run the Genright aluminum corners. I bought the blanks and cut my own wheel wells. Good fitment - can’t imagine they are much different than Savvy.

They are cut for a high rocker - meaning about even with the bottom of the door. I had to weld a piece of aluminum in there to fill the void. Not sure how Savvy’s are in that regard.

Thanks, I'm pretty sure I'll go with the genright aluminum corners.

Right now I'm researching hydraulic assist options as well. Reading through lots of threads. I never really paid attention to the fact the Mercedes style box is a pos. Really can't even drill and tap it reliably it looks like.
 
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Thanks, I'm pretty sure I'll go with the genright aluminum corners.

Right now I'm researching hydraulic assist options as well. Reading through lots of threads. I never really paid attention to the fact the Mercedes style box is a pos. Really can't even drill and tap it reliably it looks like.

Yeah, if you go PSC it’s worth doing their saginaw style steering gear.
 
I'm going to do some research as well. But, does anybody know if it's ok to buy just the psc 03-06 steering gear box alone? While retaining the stock pump? Only so I could build it in stages.

The 3 grand is tough to stare at.

Also, I am running this psc cooler now? Is this type of cooler actually a restriction?


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