R2.8 Cummins Build

BugoutJeep · Nov 20, 2018

Paul Land said:
View attachment 64372
Here's a way to save. diesel will get you 300K-400K Mi. Break-in period for diesel is 50K

Haha. You're absolutely right, but it drives me crazy they didn't offer this in the Wrangler in the US for civilian use.

On another note is the JL for Jeep Liberty? I always joke when I see a Liberty that it's the new Jeep Wrangler.

RustyAutoholicGuy · Nov 20, 2018

DieselJeep said:
When it comes to 4 door vehicles and I haven't compared these side by side, but I was thinking of getting a Colorado ZR2 with a Duramax and slowly removing stuff and selling it like the bed and going to a flat bed. I do think Jeep will eventually do a diesel, but seriously they've been teasing for so long and you know you're not coming away for under $40k with one and then taxes and insurance will murder you for a decade. Plus once you get it you're going to be eyeing the DEF/EGR stuff and removing it and imagining 10 more gallons of diesel.

Now a slightly older JKU with a 3.8, maybe even a minor fire, might be a good project. And if you've got time to really do the work yourself, you could slowly massage the R2.8 in there or whatever makes sense at the time. Well for $40k you can find a JKU and go to Axis or Bruiser and say you'll see them in a couple of months and come back to a really nice build. The problem with this is having that kind of cash around without raiding something you shouldn't raid.

On another tangent, keeping the banks away from my vehicles is something I've finally been able to accomplish, though I've gone through a lot of rides most would be too ashamed to ride in. But money is something to consider and I don't want to be forced to work forever so I can keep shiny stuff around. I certainly splurged, but at least I don't have a payment (though the funds could have been utilized for a better financial return). It'll be a continual build, but at least every bit of the build will have some purpose that meets my needs and not the bottom line of a manufacturer. Every project even makes me a bit better at my job and I'd rather be the person doing cool stuff than having experiences filtered through TV.

DieselJeep said:
Your JKU for the family project is kind of inline with another project I'd like to do some day to take a 3rd row type vehicle that's smallish ie minivan and convert to 4x4 and diesel. I'm not calling the JKU a minivan btw, but add in a couple kids and pets, where you can't just throw everyone in the single cab pickup and the bed to go out camping anymore. Instead we go on elaborate vacations that imo are fairly boring.

Agreed on the banks and honestly I didn't even think about taxes, I've never owned a new vehicles before so my taxes have always been low.

Yeah I'm beginning to think once I get this TJ Wrangler project done, my next personal build might be a JKU with the 3.8. Swap in the Cummins 2.8L and I can use whatever transmission I want, would consider a 6-speed GM or Ford automatic, sure sounds nice and it would be great for my wife, two kids, and three huskies for sure!

I have to agree with the cost as well! I figured for a diesel JL Rubicon would be 60K minimum if not more, but I have to think if I got a 3.8 Rubicon JKU Wrangler and did all the work myself like I'm doing on my TJ, I might be able to scrap by for around 30K total for the JKU and Diesel Swap. I've seen 2007/2008 Rubicons around me for well under 20K and I don't care about the mileage on the engine/transmission because those will be swapped out regardless!

Yeah I really want to be able to travel all over North/South America with my wife and kids, and the JKU sounds great in terms of size, but you put a diesel in it with the GenRight extended fuel tank with 40+ gallons you will have a hell of a range on your hands!!!

-Grant

RustyAutoholicGuy · Nov 20, 2018

DieselJeep said:
Well the 4.0 is one of my favorite motors of all time, but personally I think it's a bit under kill for power and most V8s are over kill on stock components where they make peak power IMO.

The diesel swap is certainly not for everyone. It'll either resonate or won't and there's different levels of skill sets, money, and time that we can each utilize if it does strongly resonate. I am a newbie when it comes to swaps, but I wanted the challenge and knew I'd get bogged down in trying to make great the enemy of good. But until I did the swap I spent at least an hour a day everyday on average probably for a few years wanting/reading something like this build.

And I don't want to come across as bashing gas engines or anything, but even a lot of V8s aren't making the torque of most 4 cylinder diesels as low in the RPMs ie the range these vehicles typically would run at. I've read theories that the more your engine has to turn to do the same amount of work the more wear it'll see. It makes some sense, but then different engines have different design limitations and most gas engines are plentiful and parts are cheap, but hypothetically if I don't need to even think of a rebuild for 250k miles then I can save my fuel money up and do the repair when it's convenient. You can typically limp around with some really bad problems in diesel as well, but not so much if it's part of the common rail components.

I guess my rant against gas engines is that manufacturers are just now approaching what 20 year old tech has been doing reliably for diesel engines and they're still not there yet and likely won't without a hybrid system. Gas engines that we're typically looking at for swaps are very fuel hungry because for a vehicle with a gas engine to be efficient you have to pick the biggest engine you can, to meet all the work that you're looking to accomplish. Bigger engines for the most part have to always be fed to keep them running stoichiometrically (I'm not sure about the spelling, but neither is Spell Check) balanced. Diesel engines you can extract the energy from the fuel more directly with your right foot. IE if you go bigger you really won't notice a difference except for all the weight you have to move around and typically this is more of a suspension/frame issue. If a 6BT would easily fit and not be so cumbersome, you'd see almost the same MPG from it as you would the 2.8 Cummins, with proper gearing and for mechanical injection efficiency spikes a bit differently. For the reverse example, put a V8 in a Corolla and you're getting substantially less MPG than whatever the 4 cylinder was in there.

We could get in the weeds though and look at compound turbo builds of some kind of 4 cyliner gas engine kinda like the EcoBoost, but IMO that's maybe a bit more complex than a diesel swap. And remember when you don't have to perfectly time and quantity for your spark, air and fuel, every gas engine is a lot more complex in nature.

YES! I agree with this post completely! I have owned 4 or 5 Jeeps with a variant of the 4.0L engine and all were great even with the rear main seal leaking!!!! I'm on the same page as you when it comes to diesel, for a Jeep especially, it makes WAY more sense in terms of torque and fuel economy than any gasoline setup.

Again I love the 4.0L as well, but I'm not going to be upset selling the motor either! I'm hoping to have my V2403 Kubota diesel at least bolted in the engine bay by the end of the month if at all possible!

-Grant

BugoutJeep · Nov 20, 2018

disjaukifa said:
Agreed on the banks and honestly I didn't even think about taxes, I've never owned a new vehicles before so my taxes have always been low.

Yeah I'm beginning to think once I get this TJ Wrangler project done, my next personal build might be a JKU with the 3.8. Swap in the Cummins 2.8L and I can use whatever transmission I want, would consider a 6-speed GM or Ford automatic, sure sounds nice and it would be great for my wife, two kids, and three huskies for sure!

I have to agree with the cost as well! I figured for a diesel JL Rubicon would be 60K minimum if not more, but I have to think if I got a 3.8 Rubicon JKU Wrangler and did all the work myself like I'm doing on my TJ, I might be able to scrap by for around 30K total for the JKU and Diesel Swap. I've seen 2007/2008 Rubicons around me for well under 20K and I don't care about the mileage on the engine/transmission because those will be swapped out regardless!

Yeah I really want to be able to travel all over North/South America with my wife and kids, and the JKU sounds great in terms of size, but you put a diesel in it with the GenRight extended fuel tank with 40+ gallons you will have a hell of a range on your hands!!!

-Grant

There's some 8 speeds they mate to the R2.8 as well. I see people mating a lot of the GM stuff I think, but didn't look that direction too much since the length of the TJ is kind of limiting I think for lots of gears for autos.

I think the 3.8s aren't great engines, so find one with big issues and I'm sure you could easily have a hell of a rig for the price of a new ride. Pick the axles, steering of your dreams, engine, transmission and still not be where a new JLU or whatever that's "fully loaded" would run you.

One issue you may have with Wranglers and the R2.8 is AC. The compressor won't fit on a TJ without a custom made bracket. On the JKUs, I'm not sure if that's the case or not, but I suspect it's a problem and probably would run around $1,500 just for the bracket.

I didn't go with AC as I tend to stay local in the Jeep during the summer and/or remove doors/top. Ultimately it was going to add a few grand at least to have AC and it wasn't worth it for as little as I use AC.

I've heard you do want to lean toward overkill on the radiator for JKU and larger applications, especially with EGR, AC, Auto, Winch and other restrictions during the hotter times of the year.

I have a GenRight Extended tank and it looks nice and seems to work well. Very robust skid plate compared to the OEM one.

RustyAutoholicGuy · Nov 20, 2018

DieselJeep said:
There's some 8 speeds they mate to the R2.8 as well. I see people mating a lot of the GM stuff I think, but didn't look that direction too much since the length of the TJ is kind of limiting I think for lots of gears for autos.

I think the 3.8s aren't great engines, so find one with big issues and I'm sure you could easily have a hell of a rig for the price of a new ride. Pick the axles, steering of your dreams, engine, transmission and still not be where a new JLU or whatever that's "fully loaded" would run you.

One issue you may have with Wranglers and the R2.8 is AC. The compressor won't fit on a TJ without a custom made bracket. On the JKUs, I'm not sure if that's the case or not, but I suspect it's a problem and probably would run around $1,500 just for the bracket.

I didn't go with AC as I tend to stay local in the Jeep during the summer and/or remove doors/top. Ultimately it was going to add a few grand at least to have AC and it wasn't worth it for as little as I use AC.

I've heard you do want to lean toward overkill on the radiator for JKU and larger applications, especially with EGR, AC, Auto, Winch and other restrictions during the hotter times of the year.

I have a GenRight Extended tank and it looks nice and seems to work well. Very robust skid plate compared to the OEM one.

I would love to have an 8 speed automatic mated to the R2.8 Cummins! My main concern with an 8 speed automatic is the TCU, as long as there is good aftermarket support I will gladly go with an 8 speed automatic!

Ever since I got my 06 TJ with the automatic, I've never had a desire to wheel a Wrangler with a manual since, but again that is the type of off-roading I enjoy. If I did more mud bogs, or high speed stuff I think I would be fine with a manual, but I really enjoy the slow technical off-roading where being able to have my left foot on the brake and right foot on the gas comes in handy as well. Honestly my swap would have been SO MUCH CHEAPER if there was an aftermarket TCU for the 42RLE . . .

ON the AC front as well, I would spend the money on it, I don't need AC really but if I'm on a long road trip with the family, I've got to have it!

-Grant

BugoutJeep · Nov 20, 2018

disjaukifa said:
I would love to have an 8 speed automatic mated to the R2.8 Cummins! My main concern with an 8 speed automatic is the TCU, as long as there is good aftermarket support I will gladly go with an 8 speed automatic!

Ever since I got my 06 TJ with the automatic, I've never had a desire to wheel a Wrangler with a manual since, but again that is the type of off-roading I enjoy. If I did more mud bogs, or high speed stuff I think I would be fine with a manual, but I really enjoy the slow technical off-roading where being able to have my left foot on the brake and right foot on the gas comes in handy as well. Honestly my swap would have been SO MUCH CHEAPER if there was an aftermarket TCU for the 42RLE . . .

ON the AC front as well, I would spend the money on it, I don't need AC really but if I'm on a long road trip with the family, I've got to have it!

-Grant

I prefer manuals, but admittedly in use autos are better in practically every way. Almost all my experience is with manuals and when working anywhere near the trans I like not having to route around lines going to the trans cooler and I don't know much about the TCUs. But with the manual, my crawl is way too fast.

I'll have to either find a Rubicon 241 or go with something like an Atlas. With the gearing that looks ideal for my setup, to crawl like a Rubicon I'll need closer to 5:1, but I think the 4:1 would be fine. 2.72 is fast though. I think I'm going to try and swap in a tcase and semi-built 8.8 at the same time in the future and just get my driveshafts all at the same time.

For me and AC, long hot trips if I needed to take more people I'd just use my truck and I think I'll look into a trailer to tow and add AC in it as well. Though my truck doesn't currently have AC working. My house didn't have any HVAC for a few years either. Just used a wood stove for the winter and wore shorts all winter and summer.

RustyAutoholicGuy · Nov 20, 2018

DieselJeep said:
I prefer manuals, but admittedly in use autos are better in practically every way. Almost all my experience is with manuals and when working anywhere near the trans I like not having to route around lines going to the trans cooler and I don't know much about the TCUs. But with the manual, my crawl is way too fast.

I'll have to either find a Rubicon 241 or go with something like an Atlas. With the gearing that looks ideal for my setup, to crawl like a Rubicon I'll need closer to 5:1, but I think the 4:1 would be fine. 2.72 is fast though. I think I'm going to try and swap in a tcase and semi-built 8.8 at the same time in the future and just get my driveshafts all at the same time.

For me and AC, long hot trips if I needed to take more people I'd just use my truck and I think I'll look into a trailer to tow and add AC in it as well. Though my truck doesn't currently have AC working. My house didn't have any HVAC for a few years either. Just used a wood stove for the winter and wore shorts all winter and summer.

Yeah that is the beauty of an automatic with the transfer case, it's almost a variable rate in low gear, it's amazing.

The TCU has been an interesting problem to solve, but I have a solution, and I'm excited to implement it as well. The nice thing about having a computer that controls your transmission is all the safe guards that you can put in place to not only protect your drivetrain but your engine as well.

I don't see myself upgrading my transfer case on this Wrangler unless I can find a good deal on a 241, but for the light wheeling I plan on doing with this Wrangler, I don't think I'm going to worry about it for now.

AC is just an nice extra honestly. I think I wanted to challenge myself on this build. If I could do a diesel swap and also have AC still working in the Wrangler since it worked before I took it apart, I would like to have everything still working when I put it back together. Again not a must, but to me it will feel more like a "complete" conversion at that point. I always hate the idea of sacrificing something that was working before during an upgrade.

-Grant

BugoutJeep · Nov 20, 2018

disjaukifa said:
Yeah that is the beauty of an automatic with the transfer case, it's almost a variable rate in low gear, it's amazing.

The TCU has been an interesting problem to solve, but I have a solution, and I'm excited to implement it as well. The nice thing about having a computer that controls your transmission is all the safe guards that you can put in place to not only protect your drivetrain but your engine as well.

I don't see myself upgrading my transfer case on this Wrangler unless I can find a good deal on a 241, but for the light wheeling I plan on doing with this Wrangler, I don't think I'm going to worry about it for now.

AC is just an nice extra honestly. I think I wanted to challenge myself on this build. If I could do a diesel swap and also have AC still working in the Wrangler since it worked before I took it apart, I would like to have everything still working when I put it back together. Again not a must, but to me it will feel more like a "complete" conversion at that point. I always hate the idea of sacrificing something that was working before during an upgrade.

-Grant

I really don't do any technical driving, but I prefer going slow, so if I get into something too bad, then as soon as I notice I'm slipping, I'll put it in reverse and get out and regroup quickly or just grab a couple traction mats.

It's great to try and power through and sometimes you have to, but being stuck halfway through something is worse than just pulling out your front half that's buried. I find even in mud, though the area I usually play on is a family farm and I'm not trying to get stuck, but it's got a lot of clay and simply just going slow gets me through a lot of nasty mud too without damaging fields too badly.

Oh you mentioned the 40 gal extended tank. There's also a 13 gal spare tire fuel can if you really want to extend your range.

I don't know much about autos, but I've seen a lot more on them when looking around at other R2.8 builds. Your mention of autos, 4 doors and AC makes me want to go give my ZJ some love. At one time I was going to do a swap in it, but I'm going to hold off for a bit, but it's got so many features I think leaving it with the 5.2 makes sense. And time to time an interesting swap turns up in one of those.

RustyAutoholicGuy · Nov 20, 2018

DieselJeep said:
I really don't do any technical driving, but I prefer going slow, so if I get into something too bad, then as soon as I notice I'm slipping, I'll put it in reverse and get out and regroup quickly or just grab a couple traction mats.

It's great to try and power through and sometimes you have to, but being stuck halfway through something is worse than just pulling out your front half that's buried. I find even in mud, though the area I usually play on is a family farm and I'm not trying to get stuck, but it's got a lot of clay and simply just going slow gets me through a lot of nasty mud too without damaging fields too badly.

Oh you mentioned the 40 gal extended tank. There's also a 13 gal spare tire fuel can if you really want to extend your range.

I don't know much about autos, but I've seen a lot more on them when looking around at other R2.8 builds. Your mention of autos, 4 doors and AC makes me want to go give my ZJ some love. At one time I was going to do a swap in it, but I'm going to hold off for a bit, but it's got so many features I think leaving it with the 5.2 makes sense. And time to time an interesting swap turns up in one of those.

That's why I'm enjoying your R2.8 TJ build so much! Everyone has different taste and wants from their rigs, it would be so boring if we all had the same rig with the same engine with the same lift with the same tires etc etc.

I also just realized I kind of derailed your thread and I do apologize about that as well but you brought up several valid points in doing a build vs buy which I found insightful!

If you get a chance post a video of your TJ running and driving! I only have Tube Sock videos to watch for a R2.8 Cummins in a TJ to watch!

-Grant

BugoutJeep · Nov 20, 2018

disjaukifa said:
That's why I'm enjoying your R2.8 TJ build so much! Everyone has different taste and wants from their rigs, it would be so boring if we all had the same rig with the same engine with the same lift with the same tires etc etc.

I also just realized I kind of derailed your thread and I do apologize about that as well but you brought up several valid points in doing a build vs buy which I found insightful!

If you get a chance post a video of your TJ running and driving! I only have Tube Sock videos to watch for a R2.8 Cummins in a TJ to watch!

-Grant

Yeah my girlfriend was getting on me yesterday to get some of my videos together. I was hoping she'd do it, but Fallout just released a game from her home state. She's obsessed with the game though she complains a lot. I guess I'll have to do it myself. I'll have to figure out how youtube works I guess too.

I haven't taken any video for a bit. Once it ran, I stopped being very picky, but there's some humor in how I've got it put together at the moment.

RustyAutoholicGuy · Nov 20, 2018

DieselJeep said:
Yeah my girlfriend was getting on me yesterday to get some of my videos together. I was hoping she'd do it, but Fallout just released a game from her home state. She's obsessed with the game though she complains a lot. I guess I'll have to do it myself. I'll have to figure out how youtube works I guess too.

I haven't taken any video for a bit. Once it ran, I stopped being very picky, but there's some humor in how I've got it put together at the moment.

Yeah my wife has been doing "Life Is Strange" while I'm in the shop. She keeps coming in the shop when she finishes a chapter going "WTF!" I actually really enjoy it.

Youtube is pretty straight forward, feel free to send me a PM if you need help, I'm learning how to navigate through youtube right now as well. The bigger issue for me is trying to figure out my own style of shooting video, I'm really loving timelapse with GoPros, it allows for some creative yet really simple video editing!

-Grant

BugoutJeep · Nov 20, 2018

Originally I planned on the time lapse from a GoPro, but after my Sessions fell off where I mounted a couple times I stopped using it much. My phone has had a bad battery for months and I'm not sure if due to the battery or what, but it's been incredibly slow and connecting with the app was causing my phone to lock up and it just got to be a hassle. For solo work and trying to expedite getting stuff done, I ended using the my other camera more like a journal, ie I did this today and why and what I should have done different and what I plan to do next.

I did have plans to do cooler stuff, but once the bolts started flying those plans kind of flopped.

The girlfriend did not have any desire to head out to the garage. It went from blazing hot and bugs everywhere (I think I became immune to the mosquito bites) to freezing pretty quick. It was like 90s in October. And we had 20s not long after that and an ice storm last week.

Chris · Nov 20, 2018

DieselJeep said:
You won't be hurting for torque. Before getting into Jeeps and stuff I was more familiar with Japanese bikes and German autos and everything seemed like it was 10:1 or maybe something was even 14:1, or something crazy like that, I don't really remember. The 10:1 motors would handle some boost without doing anything, but yeah you had to either go thick on the head gasket to get more or just go get dished pistons if you were wanting to break axles.

Obviously before you would swap gears you'd test it out, but I think even 3.73s you'd be moving anything you really wanted to move. But you might feel like you're speeding in 4lo.

Sounds like my story as well. I owned a number of BMW M3s before the Jeep, and an M5 as well. In addition, I also owned a number of crotch rockets.

Like you said, all those engines have really high compression. You could put a smaller amount of boost on them, but with compression that high, you had to be careful. With the Jeep having such low compression, it definitely makes it a more suitable candidate for boost.

RustyAutoholicGuy · Nov 20, 2018

DieselJeep said:
Originally I planned on the time lapse from a GoPro, but after my Sessions fell off where I mounted a couple times I stopped using it much. My phone has had a bad battery for months and I'm not sure if due to the battery or what, but it's been incredibly slow and connecting with the app was causing my phone to lock up and it just got to be a hassle. For solo work and trying to expedite getting stuff done, I ended using the my other camera more like a journal, ie I did this today and why and what I should have done different and what I plan to do next.

I did have plans to do cooler stuff, but once the bolts started flying those plans kind of flopped.

The girlfriend did not have any desire to head out to the garage. It went from blazing hot and bugs everywhere (I think I became immune to the mosquito bites) to freezing pretty quick. It was like 90s in October. And we had 20s not long after that and an ice storm last week.

Yeah I love my Hero 5 Session and what I got into was magnet GoPro mounts, I can stick them anywhere on my Wrangler or the garage doors and I don't have to worry about it failing off. I did get a triple suction cup mount off of Amazon that is amazing, I used it when I was driving my TJ and it was rock solid.

Having said all that, it really is so time consuming to only work when the GoPros are running and then editing/posting the footage takes way more time than expected as well.

Please post the other pictures you do have when you get a chance I would love to see them!!!

Thanks
Grant

BugoutJeep · Nov 21, 2018

Installing the Engine

My general installation consisted of pulling the 4.0L and I actually left the transmission in place. I left it in because the 4.0 wasn't bad to pull and I wanted to measure off the face to check the engine mount placement. Honestly I'm not sure this helped me.

However pulling the R2.8 with adapter from the transmission was rather time consuming. I bolted on the adapter, leaving off the clutch to check motor mount placement, but couldn't get the frame motor mounts in place like I hoped and after pulling the R2.8 after that first fitment, decided to scrap the extra test fit.

I should have pulled the trans here, separated it outside of the vehicle, install the clutch, and bolt the trans ans engine easily and attached the motor mounts, add a new trans mount. Then install everything and get it situated, protected the engine/Jeep and tack welded the mounts and pulled everything back out.

That's what I should have done, but I didn't and you really don't have to. The Axis Motor mounts only fit one way basically. However there's a little wiggle room. I should have measured from the most forward part of the control arm bracket to 1 in to the engine mount, but again I screwed up a bit and the mounts were 1/8" forward. I was able to make that work without any real issues, but it did take some fitting. However, when routing between the firewall and engine, I'll take every fraction of an inch I can have. The issue is DOC clearance, if my DOC hit anything, I really wouldn't care and would modify it to fit or remove it.

Ultimately I have about 1/4" of clearance, but possibly a bit less with the DOC and upper control arm bracket. Looking back I was just kind of droning from working too many hours in too much heat, with too little rest. My MIG had failed and having the most experience with TIG, was going to TIG the vertical parts, but it wouldn't go about 70 amps, I found out later why, but I only had stick available and I have the least experience with stick. I think the welder issues distracted me as well. All the welders at the shop I work at were out at customer's facilities, so I was on my own and pushed on.

I did catch some old wiring insulation on fire which was fun, I'm so used to welding on a bench that it's amazing how much you can suck when your position changes. The welds don't look good, but they should hold. As a note, I painted everything with a light color paint and taped them off for the black paint so I have some contrast to keep an eye on them.

A couple items I didn't have at the time that I highly suggest installing before the engine is installed is the aftermarket oil pressure sensor, and the block heater. Block heater is pretty easy, but the oil pressure sensor, caused me another colossal screw-up later.

I did make a couple of decisions and exchanged some etorx bolts for hex head on the Cummins starter and allen head for the AX-15 top bolts and made an access port for the allen bolts on the trans.

Once the engine was in the only issues were mainly routing everything and trying to keep stuff clear and keeping track of engine, frame, body, suspension type stuff and how everything needs a bit of give and clearance. Ie where's my heat source, add some insulation and where am I going to secure this part.

Another screw up, but not a bad time to address it was the heater core. I damaged a heater core tube when trying to remove a heater core hose. It pissed me off at the time, but really it was pretty easy to swap out with the dash being mostly pulled already and battery and PCM removed.

Anyway, while routing everything I decided to add a 1" body lift. In my head I was thinking the tank went with the tub, which was a major bonus to me as I've hit my gas tank several times in the past. I was wrong, but this was still useful later on. Technically I could make room and move it up an inch, but decided not to unless it is a problem in the future. I mainly only hit when running 31" or smaller tires.

I found my brake lines fairly rusty, steering gearbox had been leaking, the tcase had water in it, a rear track bar bushing was worn out, a brake bleeder was seized up, and my fuel tank fill bezel was broken. I replaced all that stuff at the same time.

Figuring out Where to put everything.jpg

RustyAutoholicGuy · Nov 21, 2018

Great writeup and pictures! I'm really hoping I don't have to take off my fenders . . .

BugoutJeep · Nov 21, 2018

I think once you're removing motor mounts and welding in new ones, you'll want to remove them. The OEM ones really aren't hard to remove. The only issue I had was the Warn halogen wiring that was installed by a previous owner. I removed those though, because you wouldn't have a clue they were on if my 18" light bar was on and it's a flood light.

BugoutJeep · Nov 26, 2018

Added in the correct coolant reservoir and changed out the inline fuse. I also added the fuel level wiring to my new gauge cluster. I thought I was done with that but realized I needed to add a wire to dim the lights when I turn on my headlights.

For some information that a lot of people want to know. I did 89 miles all in town, going to work and used 4.167 gal of diesel. After some holiday travel, mostly highway and back roads I added 362.4 mi to the odometer and 13.850 gal of diesel.

On another note, Gobi confirmed my Stealth rack order so I'll see that in 3 or 4 months.

I've been planning on making my own wiring diagram and I kept thinking it would be super easy, but that's really not the case now. It's getting fuzzy which wire I used for what, but it's something I really need to get serious about fairly soon to complete.

I need to make a better battery hold down. I have one from Axis, but the terminals on this battery are in the way.

DETOUR · Dec 24, 2018

DieselJeep said:
I started with my 1997 Jeep Wrangler Sport with 4.0L engine, AX-15, NP 231, Dana 30/35 3.07 gears. It's not completely finished, but it's very driveable.

I installed:
-R2.8 Cummins
-Axis Industries Conversion Kit (Adapter, CAC, Radiator, wiring, power steering hoses, etc.)
-1" Body lift
-Stainless brake lines from Classic Tubes
-GenRight extended range tank with skid plate
-Dakota Digital VFD3 with GPS module and DSL-1E, diesel Tach adapter
-Luk HD clutch for the AX-15
-New fluids all around
-15X8 5X4.5/ 4.5BS - Part # PCW51-5866
-4x 33x 10.5 BF Goodrich KM 3s
-Corbeau Sport Reclining Seats
-Rear track bar bushing
-New transmission mount
-Probably more that I'll update as I remember

Here's a few pics not in the correct order. I'll try to explain everything but here's just a basic overview of the basic build. I have a bunch of video on the first part, but toward the end when I was routing it was really like watching grass grow or worse.

View attachment 64189

View attachment 64190

View attachment 64191

View attachment 64192

View attachment 64195

View attachment 64196

AAawesome !!!

BugoutJeep · Jan 18, 2019

It's been awhile, with the holidays, camping trips and sadly a pup went from vibrant and healthy to extremely ill with many vet visits and stays until we realized he wasn't going to get better.

I've been taking some baby steps here and there. I've incorporated my VFD3 Dakota Digital Dash and Murphy gauge a bit more into my dash much closer to a permanent way. I've still got the toggle button to integrate and I can't seem to find a wire that gives me 12V only when my headlights are on, but I've not been very motivated either. I found 1 wire, but didn't completely test it and had my brightness adjustment for the dash toggle when braking and using turn signals.

I made a seat adapter bracket for the Corbeau seat to OEM seat bracket. This was ok, but I just sit too high. I ordered the seat mount with slider from Corbeau and it's a bit better, but still not what I'd consider proper in many ways. I won't be buying a seat bracket on the passenger side. I do plan to get my OEM seats reupholstered some day so I don't want to destroy these OEM brackets, but I think I'll need to heavily modify the passenger side to fit it correctly.

The overhead room is now an issue and the gun rack is going to have to move now. The seats are comfortable and they fold up/recline nicely, but I don't like losing tumble, but it's more of an issue on the side that doesn't have a steering wheel.

Also I have to have a seat cover because myself and the dog are habitually dirty.

I completely removed my sound system from my Jeep. I have plenty of cheap Bluetooth speakers around. I prefer Bluetooth Speakers when I'm at camp as well. I'm not sure what to add to that space where the radio was located. I am going to be integrating my Yaesu FT8900R (used mainly just for 2m/70cm, but the price was good and the radio had crossband)(I've got some other handhelds as well for CB options, just now starting to mess with DMR and I've got some radios I program FRS and GMRS frequencies whatever the mission dictates I guess and I want to mess with some mobile camp sites where I can play with some NVIS stuff on 40M), but I was thinking of putting the ft8900R overhead. Storage is always an issue, so I'm thinking maybe just a small cubby would be fine, but I'm not sure yet. I think later I'm going to add a Bantam HD Spod to help deal with lockers, lights, coms, fridge, etc, but I think I can mount it elsewhere. One of these days I will be adding my tablet, but again I'll mount it elsewhere. If you've got suggestions I'd love them.

I finally broke down and ordered some Black Magic Brakes and Centric rotors. I'm really hoping I can have adequate braking. I'm more aware about the need to stop now that I can maintain speed with traffic without a lot of shifting, not only am I at higher speeds, but other motorists are closer to me. Obviously wrecking sucks.

And to continue my rambling. The block heater is nice this time of year. I finally figured out my digital outlet timer (I'm an idiot) and it's been around 110-120F when I go to start it up in the mornings. In about a mile I'm getting pretty nice heat.