05' JMT's Twin Teenager's Rubicon Build

I came home from Moab to this: a 17 yr old someone had taken over my garage. 🤣

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It’s pretty cool to see he’s taking responsibility to do it himself. He’s got to have perfect brakes, so he got new Centric Rotors, new calipers, and new pads. Then he bled the brakes and went out and bedded them in. While I was not happy about the garage being in disarray, it is lookin’ good K!

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New father here - my first response —> 'Put some damn shoes on!! What are you doing out here in the garage without shoes. I know I taught you better.'
:ROFLMAO:


If 'when papa's away the boys will play' means they're working on their Jeep — You have taught them VERY well!!
 
New father here - my first response —> 'Put some damn shoes on!! What are you doing out here in the garage without shoes. I know I taught you better.'
:ROFLMAO:


If 'when papa's away the boys will play' means they're working on their Jeep — You have taught them VERY well!!

I'm starting to think Kaleb and I have very similar bad habits 😅
 
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I'm starting to think Kaleb and I have very similar bad habits 😅

Yes, I noticed your flip flops Alex. I’m no better. Whatever footwear I’m wearing I’m wearing. I think in that pic @FarFire70 , Kaleb was just walking out. He wasn’t working on it, so there is that!
 
OK I'll give you a pass on the footwear for NOW....

But WTF!! Am I just not seeing the jackstand or is the jeep supported on a floor jack? If it is shame shame on him & you....
 
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Yes, I noticed your flip flops Alex. I’m no better. Whatever footwear I’m wearing I’m wearing. I think in that pic @FarFire70 , Kaleb was just walking out. He wasn’t working on it, so there is that!

The cold weather has changed my footwear. Now I have two layers of wool socks and my shoes on.

Maybe in August I can be irresponsible again. After today it looks like upper 60s though!!!!
 
The cold weather has changed my footwear. Now I have two layers of wool socks and my shoes on.

Maybe in August I can be irresponsible again. After today it looks like upper 60s though!!!!

I've been wearing Tevas since January. The transition to work boots since I started for the summer has been rough. I hate shoes.
 
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The TJR is looking good. We adjusted the rear pinion today. I don’t know why the pinion was so high relative to the driveshaft. I thought we dialed it in when doing the lift in January. It was 15* shaft and 18* pinion. Now it’s 16* shaft and 16* pinion. We also moved the rear axle about 1/2” forward. Loved the second pic.

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The TJR is looking good. We adjusted the rear pinion today. I don’t know why the pinion was so high relative to the driveshaft. I thought we dialed it in when doing the lift in January. It was 15* shaft and 18* pinion. Now it’s 16* shaft and 16* pinion. We also moved the rear axle about 1/2” forward. Loved the second pic.

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Color me impressed. How did you get the blue to reflect so far?
 
For Christmas we got Kaleb a Soundstream Nano Picasso 640D amp. Gradually he’s been piecing together the other parts of the sound system. The Kenwood head unit came with the rig. It has three pre-amp outs, so he was good to go there. It also came with a pair of Kicker 5.25’s. I think class CS. He got the adapter brackets and installed them in the dash. His annual Christmas gift at work was a gift card to Best Buy, so he came home with another pair of Kicker’s for the sound bar. He installed the amp under the steering column like many of us have done. The final piece of the puzzle was the sub. He originally wanted to just upgrade the speaker in the console, but decided it would sound too punchy. He wanted a Kicker LT7 10”. He’s always got to one up his old man who runs an 8”. It’s got to be hidden, so we measured for under the rear seat 27”x11 3/8”x4-5” rise with 1.5” seat risers. I got to teach him how to use the table saw. That was a really good day. He got a lot of joy out of doing it himself, and that gave me a lot of joy. He cut all but one piece, flubbed a couple of end pieces, but in the end it turned out great. The system sounds similar to mine, but it can hit the lows better and clearer. Sounds amazing!
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So, l’m having some issues getting my TJR to start. I’m still working to diagnose what is wrong, but thought l’d ask for some input.
FWI - jeep has 160,500 miles on it, but l don’t know what the PO did to it.

Here’s what’s happening. Without priming the fuel pump l start the vehicle. The engine consistently turns over 3-5 times and then fires up and runs like a top. When the engine is warm it will fire right up every time. Fuel injectors have been replaced and spark plugs (5,000 miles ago), throttle body is clean, air intake good. No fuses out.
When l prime the fuel pump( turn key on and wait 2 seconds, turn off and repeat 4-10 times ) it fires up, but not consistently. I have attempted to do a gas line pressure test to eliminate the fuel pump, but couldn’t get the system to seal effectively.
Does this sound like a fuel pump related issue?
@Jerry Bransford
 
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So, l’m having some issues getting my TJR to start. I’m still working to diagnose what is wrong, but thought l’d ask for some input.
FWI - jeep has 160,500 miles on it, but l don’t know what the PO did to it.

Here’s what’s happening. Without priming the fuel pump l start the vehicle. The engine consistently turns over 3-5 times and then fires up and runs like a top. When the engine is warm it will fire right up every time. Fuel injectors have been replaced and spark plugs (5,000 miles ago), throttle body is clean, air intake good. No fuses out.
When l prime the fuel pump( turn key on and wait 2 seconds, turn off and repeat 4-10 times ) it fires up, but not consistently. I have attempted to do a gas line pressure test to eliminate the fuel pump, but couldn’t get the system to seal effectively.
Does this sound like a fuel pump related issue?
@Jerry Bransford
Have you stress tested the battery? Autozone will do it for free.

Alternatively you could just hook jumpers to the red jeep to see if its a low cranking volt issue.

Before you buy a new fuel pump I would start making fun of your dads butt crack so he drops the tank and raising the rear crossmember. While the tank is out you can "borrow" the known good for testing. (Pressure test is easier but not as fun)
 
So, l’m having some issues getting my TJR to start. I’m still working to diagnose what is wrong, but thought l’d ask for some input.
FWI - jeep has 160,500 miles on it, but l don’t know what the PO did to it.

Here’s what’s happening. Without priming the fuel pump l start the vehicle. The engine consistently turns over 3-5 times and then fires up and runs like a top. When the engine is warm it will fire right up every time. Fuel injectors have been replaced and spark plugs (5,000 miles ago), throttle body is clean, air intake good. No fuses out.
When l prime the fuel pump( turn key on and wait 2 seconds, turn off and repeat 4-10 times ) it fires up, but not consistently. I have attempted to do a gas line pressure test to eliminate the fuel pump, but couldn’t get the system to seal effectively.
Does this sound like a fuel pump related issue?
@Jerry Bransford
Yes, I'd suspect the check valve in your fuel pump is leaking and allowing the fuel that is supposed to remain in the fuel rail adjacent to the fuel injectors to instead leak down back into the gas tank. The amount of time it takes the the engine to start is how long it takes the fuel pump to get the fuel back up to the fuel rail which is highly dependent on how long it has been sitting without having been started. I'd go strictly for a Bosch fuel pump assembly which is the OEM brand, you can find them on Amazon. Avoid store brand fuel pumps, they seldom hold up well for long.
 
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UPDATE! The jeep is fixed! I’ve been trying to learn everything there is about fuel pump problems over the last couple weeks. However, Thanks to Alex, I found it was just a simple voltage issue.

Last week, I hooked up the jeep's battery to my brother's rig, and it started right up! This sounded like a battery problem which really surprised me as l had just replaced the battery one year ago. I drove it up to O’Reilly's to get the battery load tested and the load tester wouldn't even draw enough voltage from the positive terminal to even load test the battery. I took a closer look at my terminals, and decided I'd try and replace the positive terminal as it was looking pretty rough. So, I went ahead and ordered a new battery terminal from Dorman Solutions for 15$. The part got here Friday night, installed in 10 minutes, and it started first time! It now starts and drives better than it ever has!

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Found the old terminal was missing a whole side!
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New terminal :cool:

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I think this was a great learning experience, however, it did drive me kind of crazy (my dad can testify). Next project is to rewire the side markers and hopefully get rid of the feedback in my dash. Also, seat heaters are all wired up and ready to be plugged in. Any suggestions on seat covers? Don't really want to take off all the stock covers and deal with all the pins.
 
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Any suggestions on seat covers? Don't really want to take off all the stock covers and deal with all the pins.

If you don't mind Vinyl, Iggee makes pretty good ones. I put mine in 2018 and they still look new. I went with black and grey.

I don't like leather for many reasons. I wanted something that is easy to clean and won't get stained. These fit the bill perfectly for me.

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UPDATE! The jeep is fixed! I’ve been trying to learn everything there is about fuel pump problems over the last couple weeks. However, Thanks to Alex, I found it was just a simple voltage issue.

Last week, I hooked up the jeep's battery to my brother's rig, and it started right up! This sounded like a battery problem which really surprised me as l had just replaced the battery one year ago. I drove it up to O’Reilly's to get the battery load tested and the load tester wouldn't even draw enough voltage from the positive terminal to even load test the battery. I took a closer look at my terminals, and decided I'd try and replace the positive terminal as it was looking pretty rough. So, I went ahead and ordered a new battery terminal from Dorman Solutions for 15$. The part got here Friday night, installed in 10 minutes, and it started first time! It now starts and drives better than it ever has!

View attachment 465653Found the old terminal was missing a whole side!
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New terminal :cool:

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I think this was a great learning experience, however, it did drive me kind of crazy (my dad can testify). Next project is to rewire the side markers and hopefully get rid of the feedback in my dash. Also, seat heaters are all wired up and ready to be plugged in. Any suggestions on seat covers? Don't really want to take off all the stock covers and deal with all the pins.

Im glad it was a simple fix. I believe @Midnight LJR has the bartact covers. They are really nice but aren't really budget friendly.

If it was me I'd probably get something fairly cheap off amazon and keep my eyes peeled on facebook marketplace for some prp or mastercraft seats for a long term solution. I wish we were closer so you could sit in mine but having a seat with more bolster really helps in off camber situations. I rearly find myself hooking on the door or center console with my elbows after installing the PRPs which adds a lot of confidence on the offcamber stuff.
 
I believe @Midnight LJR has the bartact covers. They are really nice but aren't really budget friendly.

I am sure they are nice covers, but that prominent logo irritates me more than I can tolerate. I called them and politely asked if they would do a one-off without that logo or if they could put the logo in the backside of the seat, and they refused both (not surprising I guess).
 
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