05 Flame Red TJ Build

NashvilleTJ said:
Do you ever use Jeep or wheelin’ analogies in your teaching, Jeremy?

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Yes, in terms of obstacles we have to overcome in life and building to gain more capability. Then I occasionally have a student who likes big tires, so we have a good connection there.

Right now I have a student living part time in the Baja peninsula who drives a semi-built JK.

Another student works for Volvo as an engineer. He said that any Volvo that is produced has been across his desk.

The folks at the church have seen a few Moab videos. LOL! I get a lot of good reactions from that stuff!
 
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I finally got rid of one of my first mods, the MetalCloak front TB. I replaced the heim a few months ago thinking the very slight amount of play was contributing to a shimmy. In the end I just don’t think that joint is up for 35 tires on beadlocks that are weighing in at 105lb each.

I replaced it with a Currie TB, so all my steering is now RJ/Currie. I was glad to get the Currie TB because it has the smaller 10mm axle bolt and rubber bushing. I cut about 2/3” off the frame side bolt so I could get a 24mm/7/8” socket on it without interfering with the frame. Steering feels solid. Pretty quick job. Yes, the jam nut is not tight in this photo, but I tightened it after. Had a 1.5” crows foot for the job which is handy.

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In the front TB process I drug down an old TB that must have been on one of my son’s rigs. I’m supposing it’s RC, but really don’t know (EDIT: it’s JKS). Thought it would be interesting to compare them.

Currie and JKS
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JKS and MC
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Currie and JKS.
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Mike_H said:
The old one that you drug out of storage looks like a JKS to me. Rough Country has the adjustment at the frame side end.
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That may be. One rig just got back home and I can’t even remember what TB he has. The other one has JKs and should be here in a couple hours. I’ll go take a look. These bends are only a little bit interesting, but the MC is quite different than both. I’m assuming if the other one is JKS that the housing indicates it uses a JJ.
 
JMT said:
That may be. One rig just got back home and I can’t even remember what TB he has. The other one has JKs and should be here in a couple hours. I’ll go take a look. These bends are only a little bit interesting, but the MC is quite different than both. I’m assuming if the other one is JKS that the housing indicates it uses a JJ.
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I had a JKS for a while. They said mine had a johnny joint, but the poly race was slightly different than what I'm used to on my "real" johnny joints. The ball and construction of it was the same, and my JJ tools always worked, so I'd say it is a johnny joint, but the the castellations are of JKS design.
 
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Mike_H said:
I had a JKS for a while. They said mine had a johnny joint, but the poly race was slightly different than what I'm used to on my "real" johnny joints. The ball and construction of it was the same, and my JJ tools always worked, so I'd say it is a johnny joint, but the the castellations are of JKS design.
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I remembered when you posted that you kept having trouble with the forged end bending. Probably good only up to 33’s. I’m glad to be leaving the MC behind, though it too seemed sufficient up to 33’s. Heims just shouldn’t be there.

The other TJ just got home. I’m updating the above post
 
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JMT said:
I remembered when you posted that you kept having trouble with the forged end bending. Probably good only up to 33’s. I’m glad to be leaving the MC behind, though it too seemed sufficient up to 33’s. Heims just shouldn’t be there.

The other TJ just got home. I’m updating the above post
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Not forged...that was the issue.
 
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Mike_H said:
Not forged...that was the issue.
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Man, I can’t get half of this stuff right. Another good example. I sure hope my sons can go farther than I can. I was not raised around this stuff. Crazy thing is my dad managed a Chief Auto Parts in the 80’s. Three weeks ago he was stranded in his RV due to what I finally learned was a leaf spring. Due to Hurricane Helene they were like 40th in line to be looked at by the insurance adjuster for an RV repair place. I was like, “Dad, any mechanic can fix that.” That night I called a friend 57 miles from where they were and the next day it was fixed. They’d been sitting ducks for two weeks with no end in sight. I don’t understand how one could be that close to automotive stuff and not know who could fix a leaf spring. And I still don’t know anything.
 
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JMT said:
Man, I can’t get half of this stuff right. Another good example. I sure hope my sons can go farther than I can. I was not raised around this stuff. Crazy thing is my dad managed a Chief Auto Parts in the 80’s. Three weeks ago he was stranded in his RV due to what I finally learned was a leaf spring. Due to Hurricane Helene they were like 40th in line to be looked at by the insurance adjuster for an RV repair place. I was like, “Dad, any mechanic can fix that.” That night I called a friend 57 miles from where they were and the next day it was fixed. They’d been sitting ducks for two weeks with no end in sight. I don’t understand how one could be that close to automotive stuff and not know who could fix a leaf spring. And I still don’t know anything.
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I wasn't raised around this stuff either but I have a friend of about 50 yrs and he was raised around this stuff and got me interested. I've been having fun ever since.
 
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Mike_H said:
I had a JKS for a while. They said mine had a johnny joint, but the poly race was slightly different than what I'm used to on my "real" johnny joints. The ball and construction of it was the same, and my JJ tools always worked, so I'd say it is a johnny joint, but the the castellations are of JKS design.
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Sounds kind of like theft.
 
Mike_H said:
I guess JKS used to make the bars for Currie, or so I’ve been told, anyway. So, I’m sure they had a gentlemen’s agreement at some point. May even have been a formal license.
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JKS made the track bars for Currie at least 10 years ago, likely longer. Currie switched to in house manufacturing with the design change to the offset frame side joint along with changes to the bends. Around that same time, JKS kept the old designs and began using their own joints.
 
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jjvw said:
JKS made the track bars for Currie at least 10 years ago, likely longer. Currie switched to in house manufacturing with the design change to the offset frame side joint along with changes to the bends. Around that same time, JKS kept the old designs and began using their own joints.
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I still want to know why Currie and Rock Jock split. There must have been some internal disagreements but it would be interesting to know. When I chatted with RockJock I brought it up and they clearly didn't want to talk about it other than just saying the two wanted to go different directions.
 
ChadH said:
I still want to know why Currie and Rock Jock split. There must have been some internal disagreements but it would be interesting to know. When I chatted with RockJock I brought it up and they clearly didn't want to talk about it other than just saying the two wanted to go different directions.
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Snagged a 3-ton jack on FB for $75. It’s an aluminum Pittsburgh that matches my 2.5-ton. It had a lot of paint overspray on it. Had been worked hard and was making odd noises under load. I replaced the hydraulic fluid, greased the wheel bearings needle zerks came in handy), and made a new rubber pad for it. Ready for future projects.

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Found a Warn M8000 for $200 with cable and remote. I’m picking it up tomorrow morning. I’ll overhaul it and make it nice. Pics tomorrow.

Sold my old MC trackbar for $100. Evidently its going on an XJ.

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