'03 Sport—Northern NM (Manhattan Project With No Secrets)

[WHBNM]

Ordered a stock air cleaner set up yesterday as I move toward ditching the CAI installed by the po. It was a little more than I wanted to spend but oh well. Its on is way! I found several for cheaper but they looked a little rough and didn't come with the pipe.

 

[WHBNM]

After much web crawling, shopping and deliberation I finally took the next major step on my build - after some back and forth with East Coast Gear I ordered front and rear ring & pinon sets in 5.13, rear arb (already have front) and master install kits. The shop that I am working with prefers Yukon and told me it was fine to order my own gears so that is the direction I went. ECG (Paul) was super responsive and easy to work with . Price was as good as any. EXCITED AND ANXIOUS!

 

[pc1p]

After much web crawling, shopping and deliberation I finally took the next major step on my build - after some back and forth with East Coast Gear I ordered front and rear ring & pinon sets in 5.13, rear arb (already have front) and master install kits. The shop that I am working with prefers Yukon and told me it was fine to order my own gears so that is the direction I went. ECG (Paul) was super responsive and easy to work with . Price was as good as any. EXCITED AND ANXIOUS!

Paul and Chase at ECGS are my go-to team for anything gear related!

 

[pc1p]

Starting to think about new wheels and leaning toward these-
View attachment 172278

Those Fuels are one of the best looking wheels on the market - unfortunately, like most things nowadays, they fall short on the details. Those bolts on the rim are some sort of coated Chinesium junk and are known to capture water and rust behind them, only to have them leach out onto the wheel itself.

To circumvent this common issue, a friend of mine recently bought a set and spent ~6 hours removing each of them, retapping threads and installed near identical bolts in stainless steel. Per his comment:

" I removed all 120 junk bolts and washers from them (Chinese “paint” that looked like magic marker), tapped all 120, and installed 8x1.25x10mm (the junk ones were only 8mm long) stainless bolts with a .060 washer, sealed of course. Some of these wheels end up with rust leeching out of the holes due to the junk hardware, wanted to avoid that."​

BTW, I saw the Manhattan Project in your title - are you near Los Alamos?

 

[Chris]

Yep, ECGS is very good.

 

[WHBNM]

Those Fuels are one of the best looking wheels on the market - unfortunately, like most things nowadays, they fall short on the details. Those bolts on the rim are some sort of coated Chinesium junk and are known to capture water and rust behind them, only to have them leach out onto the wheel itself.

To circumvent this common issue, a friend of mine recently bought a set and spent ~6 hours removing each of them, retapping threads and installed near identical bolts in stainless steel. Per his comment:

" I removed all 120 junk bolts and washers from them (Chinese “paint” that looked like magic marker), tapped all 120, and installed 8x1.25x10mm (the junk ones were only 8mm long) stainless bolts with a .060 washer, sealed of course. Some of these wheels end up with rust leeching out of the holes due to the junk hardware, wanted to avoid that."​

View attachment 221854

View attachment 221855

BTW, I saw the Manhattan Project in your title - are you near Los Alamos?

That is great info! I have been looking for something that I like better at the same price point or lower for a long time and can't find one so I actually ordered one as I had a gift card to burn a couple of days ago and will get the rest as a set of 4. I may have to go this route as well. Thank you!

Yes sir live in Los Alamos.

 

[UKTJ]

Just read this one through from the start - great write up and a really good looking Jeep, nicely done sir! Thank you for taking the time to share this, I learned a lot from reading it.

 

[WHBNM]

Needed a small task so yesterday evening so new plugs went in - Autolite xp985. Theyve been sitting on the shelf for months. Purrs like a kitten now. The ones that I pulled out were oem. I believe. They all looked good but noticeable sound difference at idle and slightly more responsive.

I have noticed an annoying vibration lately. Starts at a little over 2000 rpm and persists. It occurs at a standstill and on the road, clutch in or out. I checked all the pulley driven components and seem good. With a flashlight I notice a slight wobble in the fan bolts. Not sure if it will help but ordered a Hayden fan clutch and fingers crossed.

 

[WHBNM]

In a coffee induced purchase this morning I found the Revolution USMade 4340 front dana 30 27 spline shafts I have been waiting for, $809 on eBay and pulled the trigger.

My journey and $$ hemorrhage toward a quality build to 35s continues - talked to my gear shop late last week and will take my rig down as soon as they have room to keep it inside for a couple of days. The parts are here and will have 5.13s and rear arb put in. I really want to try myself after watching @hosejockey61 & BFH Garage multiple times but... self doubt is a bitch.

Will wait to get tires until I get the install done followed by Mr.Blaines big brake kit and eventually PSC/BMB hydro assist. Can I be done then? Please. Haha.

 

[WHBNM]

I had a chance to install my Revolution US made 4340 cro-moly axles shafts this weekend.
Front Dana 30 27 spline, thought about the 30 spline but as I already have a 27 spline arb in the front there's no way that was realistic from a cost perspective. Since I'm building to max at 35s it seems that those who know say I should be fine. As has been well documented, these Revolution shafts are very high quality. The 1350 style (5-7166x) u joints are burley as are the ears and clearance with the unit bearing bolts is very close. I had a slight tick as the ears or u joint cap clipped them on the first few rotations by hand but that was it. Turning from lock to lock while hand rotating turned smooth with seemingly no interference after that. The jury is out on whether or not I'll have to reduce the size of the unit bearing bolt heads like @jjvw did in his write up.

OEM for reference.

The rear shafts Dana 44, 30 spline went in as well. Progress!

 

[jjvw]

Turning the steering to full lock is where you should find it. But the axle shaft will easily mow down the bolts the small amount they might be in the way. What I did was only me being nitpicky.

 

[WHBNM]

Turning the steering to full lock is where you should find it. But the axle shaft will easily mow down the bolts the small amount they might be in the way. What I did was only me being nitpicky.

Nitpicky is good! On my test drive tonight I turned lock to lock making circles as tight as I could in a parking lot and all seemed well. Tighter radius too but not sure how much or if its in my head.

 

[WHBNM]

Hauled her down to NM Gear &Clutch for the re-gear and rear arb install. Feel pretty nervous but excited. Its never been out of my possession before! Eerily similar to dropping kids off at first day of kindergarten except in a bad part of town 90 miles away!

 

[WHBNM]

Gear break in continues. Bit the bullet and ordered the small arb compressor to power the lockers and will keep the existing Quick Air 3 installed by po for airing up. Some plumbing and wiring in my future! Should be fun though.

Maxxis Razr MT in 35 12.50 15 on the way along with Fuel Anza gunmetal wheels.
JCR half doors too! I'm planning on painting them body color like @DuncLJ . Loved how his turned out!

 

[DuncLJ]

I love my JCR trail doors. I hope yours come out great too.

 

[WHBNM]

Thanks

I love my JCR trail doors. I hope yours come out great too.

Thanks man. Can you tell me about how much base and clear you went through? I have a cart ready but would love to get close to the right quantities.

 

[DuncLJ]

Thanks

Thanks man. Can you tell me about how much base and clear you went through? I have a cart ready but would love to get close to the right quantities.

I believe it was a can of base and a can of clear per door. That was for exterior side only though. I did the interior sides in gray to match the interior.

 

[WHBNM]

I believe it was a can of base and a can of clear per door. That was for exterior side only though. I did the interior sides in gray to match the interior.

Thats right. I remember you did the interior to match looked great. Thanks much. Raising my Sierra to you as I type.

 

[WHBNM]

I wasnt super excited to plow this morning!

I'm ready for Spring dammit!
Oh well, might give me a chance to install this!

I had planned on putting together a manifold for newly installed rear locker using the existing compressor but the compact arb setup made too much sense with its wire loom, ease of install, size and hopefully dependability. I'll keep the "Quick Air 3" for airing up for now.

 

[WHBNM]

I know some might not agree with what I did and I know there are better ways but... I got the arb compact compressor in and am excited to have everything running! Tested and all appears well.