2005 LJR R2.8 build
- Thread starter 1945GPW
- Start date
It's really coming together now. I scrambled finishing my electrical part and didn't write it down properly. Of course eliminating the PCM, simplified a lot of this, but in my mad dash and then just trying to catch up from being behind, I've yet to record everything the way I should have.
What are you doing exhaust-wise? I've never really addressed this and kinda like doing almost nothing with it sound-wise, but that's not ultimately how I want it finished.
What are you doing exhaust-wise? I've never really addressed this and kinda like doing almost nothing with it sound-wise, but that's not ultimately how I want it finished.
Freshened up the door hinge bushings and installed new sway bar disconnects while I wait for the radiator.
I plan to run dual batteries and I was afraid that adding more stuff to that spot would make it harder. Also I just wanted to remove as much of the old wiring as possible, which is something I still haven't done. Going with new gauges gave me a GPS Speedometer option as well, which may be handy if I decide on adding the Atlas 4. It was also a way to reduce the my cluster size and try to integrate additional gauges there.
There's something I enjoy with all of the installation of goodies, is finding something that I can remove. Relocating was an option as well, but once I started getting into it I was actually planning on trying to get the J1939 stuff to read out to a tablet/screen, but that started to seem harder than what I wanted to deal with and once I got the Jeep running again I just said F it and I've seen Dakota Digital used a lot with these swaps and the wife said she liked the digital stuff.
I ordered some of this heat shroud to protect all the wiring running next to the exhaust. I think it will work pretty good. Also decided to purchase a banks exhaust for the jeep. The exhaust shop I originally was going to use closed down and everyone else is super expensive so this will work out great. Should sound nice and being stainless will look much better.
Heater core lines finished. Decided to remove the hard line going to the back of the engine. Easier to remove and install this way.
I got a couple rolls of that Design Engineering stuff as well, but never got around to using it. I need to though.
Some goodies came in today
I've got to hear this once you're finished. I still haven't decided what I want to do for exhaust so everything is just temporarily bolted together straight piped and only about a foot of pipe. I actually like the sound though.
MountaineerTom
LJ Enthusiast, Retired USAF Weapons Loader
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Sorry to keep you guys hanging. I am literally just waiting for the radiator to get here. It’s frustrating how long we have been waiting for that thing to ship. Axis was supposed to have them the end of April.
Once that’s installed I’m ready to start it up. Don’t worry I’ll get plenty of videos. Also plan to get some side by side video comparison between the stock ljr and this one. So stay tuned!
Once that’s installed I’m ready to start it up. Don’t worry I’ll get plenty of videos. Also plan to get some side by side video comparison between the stock ljr and this one. So stay tuned!
Btw. I'm not saying that there's no way to make the OEM Jeep radiator work, but I have heard some guys having issues with stock radiators. I've actually seen temps hit 200F (aftermarket temp gauge), 210F, may be normal, but 225F and above stuff is supposed to start turning stuff off, so I'm guessing with any really really lo range work that's steep, especially with a trailer that CBR/Axis radiator is the way to go. I think the Axis system is very simple, so I prefer it to all the more complicated systems.
Also I want to drive the Jeep and not just play around with cooling packages. It was obviously a very expensive option, but I would still prefer my Jeep to any of the new stuff I see at the dealer.
Also I want to drive the Jeep and not just play around with cooling packages. It was obviously a very expensive option, but I would still prefer my Jeep to any of the new stuff I see at the dealer.
They're custom CBR radiators from my understanding and apparently they do something that sets them apart. Don't have the measurements either. I asked Axis about it before I ordered my kit and at that time they had 1 or 2 Jeeps overheat in the summer heat and were still trying to figure out the solution.
I was debating to not pick up the full kit at the time and kind of thought, since I didn't have an auto, will eventually delete EGR, and wasn't running AC that I'd be ok. They thought that might be ok, but even having the winch in the way might make a difference. I asked about the normal radiators for the TJ and that seemed to be a no go as well and I don't think they want their kit to have an extra $2k either, but I'm guessing to make the other packages cool more then you're going to need to change the system configuration somewhat. I don't know the cooling specs of the CBR radiator nor the Jeep OEM radiator, so it's all just speculation. I believe the CBR is likely thicker and I want to say there's something different about the fins or spacing or something.
Mrblaine mentioned in a post somewhere about trying to get a CBR radiator, but I don't remember any details and from my understanding he never received one.
I can complicate what I'm reading from my gauges and other possibilities further. I don't know when my electric fan kicks in and have never witnessed it operating. I've heard 190 it'll kick in, but I'm not sure how to get it there without being in traffic or crawling up a hill with a trailer in 4Lo. I'm not sure what a tune or what the newer tune did if anything to the cooling needs of the engine. Once my warranty is up, EGR is gone and it'll require at least a slight tune and I'm not sure how that'll affect my cooling, which I actually want it to run the temps it runs now. In the winter I can barely get it over the low 180s, which is not ideal. I'm not sure what it'll be when I'm 4lo in 100+ weather with high humidity.
I was debating to not pick up the full kit at the time and kind of thought, since I didn't have an auto, will eventually delete EGR, and wasn't running AC that I'd be ok. They thought that might be ok, but even having the winch in the way might make a difference. I asked about the normal radiators for the TJ and that seemed to be a no go as well and I don't think they want their kit to have an extra $2k either, but I'm guessing to make the other packages cool more then you're going to need to change the system configuration somewhat. I don't know the cooling specs of the CBR radiator nor the Jeep OEM radiator, so it's all just speculation. I believe the CBR is likely thicker and I want to say there's something different about the fins or spacing or something.
Mrblaine mentioned in a post somewhere about trying to get a CBR radiator, but I don't remember any details and from my understanding he never received one.
I can complicate what I'm reading from my gauges and other possibilities further. I don't know when my electric fan kicks in and have never witnessed it operating. I've heard 190 it'll kick in, but I'm not sure how to get it there without being in traffic or crawling up a hill with a trailer in 4Lo. I'm not sure what a tune or what the newer tune did if anything to the cooling needs of the engine. Once my warranty is up, EGR is gone and it'll require at least a slight tune and I'm not sure how that'll affect my cooling, which I actually want it to run the temps it runs now. In the winter I can barely get it over the low 180s, which is not ideal. I'm not sure what it'll be when I'm 4lo in 100+ weather with high humidity.
1945,
will the intake/cooling bracket fit an OEM radiator? My bracket is likely different than what you have and in fact it didn't fit the CBR radiator bolt holes well, so I'm not sure of the issue, but at the time I wanted this thing running so I "fixed" it and made it work.
Firejeep,
I've certainly seen guys builds online where they are running OEM, but I've heard of issues and I simply just don't know enough to say it'll be no problem. If I knew it would fit and the fan bracket used in the axis kit fit, I'd say experiment, but I think it's all designed together. Of course, like I said before, I have no idea if my fan even works, so maybe it's worth the experiment, but if you drop somewhere in the neighborhood of $20k, 10% additional will seem like nothing if you can have the project fired up and driving around without too many problems. With a build like this I made sure I had even more funds built into it for emergency use, which I ate into pretty hard when I decided to get tires/wheels/gauges, etc. My amazon/off-road vendor orders look pretty insane in the last 12 months.
will the intake/cooling bracket fit an OEM radiator? My bracket is likely different than what you have and in fact it didn't fit the CBR radiator bolt holes well, so I'm not sure of the issue, but at the time I wanted this thing running so I "fixed" it and made it work.
Firejeep,
I've certainly seen guys builds online where they are running OEM, but I've heard of issues and I simply just don't know enough to say it'll be no problem. If I knew it would fit and the fan bracket used in the axis kit fit, I'd say experiment, but I think it's all designed together. Of course, like I said before, I have no idea if my fan even works, so maybe it's worth the experiment, but if you drop somewhere in the neighborhood of $20k, 10% additional will seem like nothing if you can have the project fired up and driving around without too many problems. With a build like this I made sure I had even more funds built into it for emergency use, which I ate into pretty hard when I decided to get tires/wheels/gauges, etc. My amazon/off-road vendor orders look pretty insane in the last 12 months.
The Radiator has finally shipped from Axis and will be here Thursday. This has been quite frustrating waiting for this thing but at least its coming now. I'm hoping to have our first start this weekend and the exhaust on Monday. In the mean time I did a pressure test to our AC condenser and found we have a leak so ordered an OEM condenser to replace it with.
You're so close. Have you fired up the engine or anything yet just to verify everything is hooked up correctly?