05 Flame Red TJ Build

[JMT]

Are you getting a new fabric top or going to get used?

Going with new Sri. Bestop Pavement Ends will hopefully serve my goals. We had a slow onset of summer this year and I’d like to have an option of putting the top down on those cold days and removing on the warmer days. If you have a better suggestion please let me know.

 

[psrivats]

Going with new Sri. Bestop Pavement Ends will hopefully serve my goals. We had a slow onset of summer this year and I’d like to have an option of putting the top down on those cold days and removing on the warmer days. If you have a better suggestion please let me know.

I think that should serve you well.

 

[JMT]

I kept having shimmies at 39-45mph with my Monster beadlock/MT legend setup. I had the guy come back and balance them again. We found some radial runout in either the wheel or tire, so in order to buy some time I mounted my old Mamba/KM3’s. Then I got shimmies with them too, and they were fine before I swapped wheels/tires. Since then I’ve rotated the tires front to rear and can’t get a workable combination. I’ve been chasing this awhile. 10-2 steering test revealed some minor up down play in the MC tie rod at the frame. Trying to decide if I want to replace that heim for $50 or go to a RockJock TR.

In the meantime I de-beaded the two tires from the beadlocks and rotated them 180* to see if they’ll be better. The guy is going to come balance them again sometime this week. If this doesn’t work I’m going to assume it’s the play at the Heim that is the culprit. Hoping to get a smooth driving rig ASAP.

 

[Woodrow]

I kept having shimmies at 39-45mph with my Monster beadlock/MT legend setup. I had the guy come back and balance them again. We found some radial runout in either the wheel or tire, so in order to buy some time I mounted my old Mamba/KM3’s. Then I got shimmies with them too, and they were fine before I swapped wheels/tires. Since then I’ve rotated the tires front to rear and can’t get a workable combination. I’ve been chasing this awhile. 10-2 steering test revealed some minor up down play in the MC tie rod at the frame. Trying to decide if I want to replace that heim for $50 or go to a RockJock TR.

In the meantime I de-beaded the two tires from the beadlocks and rotated them 180* to see if they’ll be better. The guy is going to come balance them again sometime this week. If this doesn’t work I’m going to assume it’s the play at the Heim that is the culprit. Hoping to get a smooth driving rig ASAP.

Tire balance (road force and dynamic) is a frustrating thing with large tires. Sounds like you could have another issue too though. My sense is, not only are heavier, larger diameter wheel/tire combos inherently more problematic but they also can amplify other issues.

 

[JMT]

Tire balance (road force and dynamic) is a frustrating thing with large tires. Sounds like you could have another issue too though. My sense is, not only are heavier, larger diameter wheel/tire combos inherently more problematic but they also can amplify other issues.

I agree. My KM3 setup is 88lbs, and my MT setup is 105lbs. I really need things perfect and that means fixing the heim and somehow making sure the tires are balanced perfectly. I have only found one tire shop that reliably balances, but they’re 1hr 15min away, which means it requires a solid half day to get it done.

I watched the mobile guy I used this time and his machine would say add weight, then remove weight, add weight, and he did that till it zeroed out. My thought was spin it one more time and almost guaranteed it would not zero out. That’s why I’m taking Victors advice and getting a bubble balancer. I can practice with my KM3’s.

 

[Rickyd]

I agree. My KM3 setup is 88lbs, and my MT setup is 105lbs. I really need things perfect and that means fixing the heim and somehow making sure the tires are balanced perfectly. I have only found one tire shop that reliably balances, but they’re 1hr 15min away, which means it requires a solid half day to get it done.

I watched the mobile guy I used this time and his machine would say add weight, then remove weight, add weight, and he did that till it zeroed out. My thought was spin it one more time and almost guaranteed it would not zero out. That’s why I’m taking Victors advice and getting a bubble balancer. I can practice with my KM3’s.

Back when i had access to balancers i noticed guys would place the weight slightly off from where it needed to be and wind up with too much.

My solution was to try less weight than recommended and respin.then try it an inch in both directions from recommended. A lot of the time i could get it to suddenly recommend less weight for the next step or hit zero faster and with less weight.

Good luck finding tire slugs who will take twice as long to do this though. I keep thinking about buying a used tire balancer. Hell i could even get most super swampers i owned to zero balance that way

 

[Mike_H]

I gave up and put 14 oz of balance beads in each of my tires. They mostly work. Occasionally, they will dynamically unbalance and I'll have to slow down to get them to reset. I'm also noticing the ride smoothing out over the last few hundred miles or so, which is something that the centramatics never did for me. I believe that the balance beads are "trueing" my tires up.

YMMV, but that's my experience so far. I'm still not willing to die on the "balance beads are the answer" hill, but I'm relatively happy with mine.

 

[lBasket]

I agree. My KM3 setup is 88lbs, and my MT setup is 105lbs. I really need things perfect and that means fixing the heim and somehow making sure the tires are balanced perfectly. I have only found one tire shop that reliably balances, but they’re 1hr 15min away, which means it requires a solid half day to get it done.

I watched the mobile guy I used this time and his machine would say add weight, then remove weight, add weight, and he did that till it zeroed out. My thought was spin it one more time and almost guaranteed it would not zero out. That’s why I’m taking Victors advice and getting a bubble balancer. I can practice with my KM3’s.

Cool, I'll be staying tuned to see how that goes for you. I'm going the same route with the bubble balancer as well.

Balancing beads seem like a good idea in tandem to compensate for the lack of the dynamic balancing ability.

 

[JMT]

Cool, I'll be staying tuned to see how that goes for you. I'm going the same route with the bubble balancer as well.

Balancing beads seem like a good idea in tandem to compensate for the lack of the dynamic balancing ability.

My one attempt with balance beads added through the valve stem holes didn’t help. My sons attempt at throwing in a bag of beads didn’t help. I get the theory, but not sure there’s enough time for the beads to find the low spots between the most critical speeds of 39-45mph

 

[Mike_H]

My one attempt with balance beads added through the valve stem holes didn’t help. My sons attempt at throwing in a bag of beads didn’t help. I get the theory, but not sure there’s enough time for the beads to find the low spots between the most critical speeds of 39-45mph

In my research, I’ve found that most people don’t add enough beads. Or they don’t use actual balance beads.

The ones I installed were very small, like almost sand blast media. They are ceramic, so they don’t break down with humidity like airsoft pellets. Loading them through the valve stem was agonizing…I did one that way, and broke the beads on my tires for the rest.

 

[JMT]

In my research, I’ve found that most people don’t add enough beads. Or they don’t use actual balance beads.

The ones I installed were very small, like almost sand blast media. They are ceramic, so they don’t break down with humidity like airsoft pellets. Loading them through the valve stem was agonizing…I did one that way, and broke the beads on my tires for the rest.

Maybe I should get some bags and try again. I think in my sons they added 1 bag in two tires and 2 bags in another tire. The fourth balanced easily (IROK’s). He was never happy. Wanted to sell the Jeep till the day he got new tires and got them balanced. Champ now.

 

[Mike_H]

Maybe I should get some bags and try again. I think in my sons they added 1 bag in two tires and 2 bags in another tire. The fourth balanced easily (IROK’s). He was never happy. Wanted to sell the Jeep till the day he got new tires and got them balanced. Champ now.

The brand I bought has different bag sizes, so number of bags isn’t a good qualifier. For a 35” mud terrain, counteract (the bead brand) recommended 14 oz. Per tire. I bought a kit with 4, 12 oz bags, and I bought a separate 10 oz bag to make up the difference.

It’s important to remember, balance beads, or any other balance method can’t fix an out of round tire. That will shake, no matter what. Well, I guess I should rephrase that. They can correct for a slight out of round, but it takes a long time.

My biggest issue now is that two of my tires were used, and I believe them to have not worn evenly. The balance beads are improving the ride, but it’s still not perfect. It is better than weights alone, tho.

 

[ChadH]

Well I think you have me convinced to do a 42RLE swap in the TJ at some point. Maybe in a year or two, assuming I can find a place to do it.

Finally worked up the motivation to start installing the Setrab transmission cooler. Blaine sent me some small parts awhile back. Super nice parts. I just got tired of working on the Jeep after the transmission swap, but I’m ready now. I’m mounting it to the V-Bar behind the grill. Tolerances are tight so I drew it out on a 3M sticky note and made the two strips of 1 1/4” wide x 1/8” thick steel brackets. Drilled the holes where they needed to be for the bosses. It fits well without touching the V-Bar or the back of the grill.

Laid down a few beads to warm up. It’s been awhile.

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Fresh paint:
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I'm curious why this option instead of the Derale unit that I have seen recommended so often. Is this a better way to go for overall trans cooling? I think I saw @mrblaine say something about the fan on the Derale, with its typical mounting location, not working well for highway use? It looks like from your temps this works well - personally I would prefer to have a cooler mounted in front of the grille like this anyway rather than under on the frame. It seems like it would be more effective.

 

[JMT]

Well I think you have me convinced to do a 42RLE swap in the TJ at some point. Maybe in a year or two, assuming I can find a place to do it.




I'm curious why this option instead of the Derale unit that I have seen recommended so often. Is this a better way to go for overall trans cooling? I think I saw @mrblaine say something about the fan on the Derale, with its typical mounting location, not working well for highway use? It looks like from your temps this works well - personally I would prefer to have a cooler mounted in front of the grille like this anyway rather than under on the frame. It seems like it would be more effective.

The main reasons are the mount location, clean install, and not having to fab a mount to protect the cooler from road debris/rocks. The cost for the unit is similar, but the extra bits for the Setrab increase the cost, but it doesn’t require a special bracket to fab, so maybe some of that cost is offset. I’ve never really been impressed with the fan cutting on and off on the Derale. The Setrab mounts so cleanly and it’s not too difficult. It works really well. Once it’s there you kind of forget about it.

 

[mrblaine]

I'm curious why this option instead of the Derale unit that I have seen recommended so often.

Because sheeple accepted the recommendation by someone who didn't even run a gauge. You can't tell anyone how something works if you don't know the temps. Basic common sense is neither basic nor common it seems.

 

[ChadH]

Because sheeple accepted the recommendation by someone who didn't even run a gauge. You can't tell anyone how something works if you don't know the temps. Basic common sense is neither basic nor common it seems.

Yeah makes sense - sorta. I never paid attention to the auto situation until recently having picked up one, but I recall from the old forum the Derale being all the rage. This method though is way more professional IMO

@JMT it looks great

 

[JMT]

It’s helpful to mock things up so you can see what’s going on. I made this rear frame piece out of cardboard to see what a 9” stretch would look like if you moved the arch back. I made an educated guess on the location of the outboard shock towers. My measurements show that the GR Alien 15 gallon tank will work with moving my axle back 9” with 1” to spare. The evap stuff on the 05-06 would have to be moved. Not a big deal. The main issue would be the gas filler tube. Where the hell is that going to go? It is slammed in the corner and would literally have to crawl straight up the back of the tub and exit somewhere above the tail light.

 

[JMT]

This came in, but I’m not ready to do anything with them yet. The 12” shocks are in the attic ready to be mocked up and once done I can get them tuned for my setup.

 

[mrblaine]

It’s helpful to mock things up so you can see what’s going on. I made this rear frame piece out of cardboard to see what a 9” stretch would look like if you moved the arch back. I made an educated guess on the location of the outboard shock towers. My measurements show that the GR Alien 15 gallon tank will work with moving my axle back 9” with 1” to spare. The evap stuff on the 05-06 would have to be moved. Not a big deal. The main issue would be the gas filler tube. Where the hell is that going to go? It is slammed in the corner and would literally have to crawl straight up the back of the tub and exit somewhere above the tail light.

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Where the filler hose winds up is part of the overall plan for a stretch. If you are committed to that much stretch, then don't go half way. Modify the tank and put the filler neck where it needs to go. I've not laid this out on a TJ but I do it on every TJ Unlimited stretch.

 

[JMT]

Where the filler hose winds up is part of the overall plan for a stretch. If you are committed to that much stretch, then don't go half way. Modify the tank and put the filler neck where it needs to go. I've not laid this out on a TJ but I do it on every TJ Unlimited stretch.
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That gives me a lot to think about. Other than fumes during filling up, is there a drawback to relocating the filler neck so that it comes straight up through the floor of the tub in the trunk area?

I really like that custom tank. The hoop is interesting too. The frame almost looks doubled up. Hard to tell what I’m looking at there. Certainly one of the coolest things I’ve ever seen.

That hoop is so close to the wall. The filler tube is a work of art.