What did you do to your TJ today?

Well nuts. Last night was Replace the Ball Joints Night. Which, honestly, almost went okay. Got the wheel off (had one very nasty lug nut that wouldn't move. Broke off the aluminum cap on the lug, so went down one size on the impact wrench and managed to get the lug off. Swapped that one out for one from the spare. I may be replacing all my lugnuts soon, because those capped things are for the birds).

Got the caliper off, the axle nut cover and the axle nut (yay 36mm impact sockets!!), and got 2 of the 3 hub bolts out. You see where this is going....

upload_2018-5-4_8-19-24.png


The last bolt was pretty well rounded off (long before I got to it). We had pre-soaked the bolts in Kroil (you can see it in the picture), but there was just no getting a grip on this one. First of all, are these things supposed to be spline bolts? I had a hanger-on last night telling me those are supposed to be reverse torque bolts but I have my skeptical face on.

So, we considered options like welding on some scrap or an old socket, and twisting the bolt out, as well as heating it with a torch and trying to get a grip on it, but it was getitng late and I needed to get home, so we buttoned everything up and came home.

Now i'm in the "fuck it" stage, and will probably hand it to my local garage, with the ball joints, and say "Here, you do it." I'd much rather do this myself, but this is beyond my meager mechanical skill set. :(
 
Jay P said:
Just curios... what temp does it need to be for you to decide that the top is coming off? Round here it’s about 60* plus but it’s been raining for 2 weeks and windy and mornings are around 52*.


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In Minnesota after a nice long disgusting winter.. 40 feels WARM. Although not quite ready for the top off.... I just took mine off this week and drove it into work this morning (Half doors/windows on for the ride in) and it's supposed to be mid 70's today. No looking back now.
 
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penk said:
Well nuts. Last night was Replace the Ball Joints Night. Which, honestly, almost went okay. Got the wheel off (had one very nasty lug nut that wouldn't move. Broke off the aluminum cap on the lug, so went down one size on the impact wrench and managed to get the lug off. Swapped that one out for one from the spare. I may be replacing all my lugnuts soon, because those capped things are for the birds).

Got the caliper off, the axle nut cover and the axle nut (yay 36mm impact sockets!!), and got 2 of the 3 hub bolts out. You see where this is going....

View attachment 40417

The last bolt was pretty well rounded off (long before I got to it). We had pre-soaked the bolts in Kroil (you can see it in the picture), but there was just no getting a grip on this one. First of all, are these things supposed to be spline bolts? I had a hanger-on last night telling me those are supposed to be reverse torque bolts but I have my skeptical face on.

So, we considered options like welding on some scrap or an old socket, and twisting the bolt out, as well as heating it with a torch and trying to get a grip on it, but it was getitng late and I needed to get home, so we buttoned everything up and came home.

Now i'm in the "fuck it" stage, and will probably hand it to my local garage, with the ball joints, and say "Here, you do it." I'd much rather do this myself, but this is beyond my meager mechanical skill set. :(
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Have you tried attaching a pair of locking pliers to the bolt?
 
Alex01 said:
Have you tried attaching a pair of locking pliers to the bolt?
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Yep. We did a fully squeezed set of heavy duty vice grips on it, but those bolts are regularly torqued to 75 ft/lb, so i even had to use a long bar on the other 2 bolts. We couldn't get a good enough grip on this to turn it :(
 
penk said:
Yep. We did a fully squeezed set of heavy duty vice grips on it, but those bolts are regularly torqued to 75 ft/lb, so i even had to use a long bar on the other 2 bolts. We couldn't get a good enough grip on this to turn it :(
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That's rough. If it was me I would let someone else do it. From past experience if you break the head off the bolt shops want a lot of money.
 
Alex01 said:
That's rough. If it was me I would let someone else do it. From past experience if you break the head off the bolt shops want a lot of money.
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I have the appointment scheduled for Monday. Feel a littl ebad about not being able to do it myself, but I agree, I ended up basically pulling the ripcoard and bailing. I'm going to hand them the ball joints and say "Have at ye." - this is the same garage that did my inspection, so they should be able to button everything up for me in one visit.
 
penk said:
I have the appointment scheduled for Monday. Feel a littl ebad about not being able to do it myself, but I agree, I ended up basically pulling the ripcoard and bailing. I'm going to hand them the ball joints and say "Have at ye." - this is the same garage that did my inspection, so they should be able to button everything up for me in one visit.
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How much are they charging? You could use a sawzall to hack the head off and get a new wheel bearing assembly and new bolts. Or once the head is off and you pull the bearing, you will have a better chance of pulling the rest of the bolt out.
https://www.summitracing.com/parts/...pKUXTxG6Q9iqOk-G14d7-NEmoEuz99f8aAiqJEALw_wcB
 
mcj600 said:
I put the doors back on. Darn rain...
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That is why mine is bedlined and I have a waterproof marine radio. I typically keep a towel in the Jeep to sit on if my seat gets rained on while I’m not in the Jeep. I also flip the seat forward when I’m not in it to prevent too much water from getting in it.


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97 SE
Removed the radiator, thermostat, hoses, etc. tomorrow it all goes back in, everything except the heater core, which will get done later when I (hopefully) install an a/c kit. Picking up a new fan clutch too. After that I'll go on to replacing the brakes. I also washed and waxed it.
 
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Yesterday and today (I'm slow) I worked on the cooling. New radiator, all hoses, thermostat, water pump, changed oil in the power steering and put the correct prop rod on the hood. All is well, went smoothly. Next I will change diff fluid, trans fluid (stick) and transfer case fluid.
After all that I'm going to renew the brakes.
 
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Well today I started off tying to change my axle seals but quickly ran into a snag when 2 wheel studs were spinning inside my wheel spacer. Gave up and took it to a shop and they said they couldn't do it and referred me to the local 4x4 shop. Called them up and they recommended what the forums were saying. Torch and pry to get them out. I eventually got them but now on top of changing the seals I'm putting in new wheel studs! I'm just so happy I'm be able to finish on my own :)
 
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