A rebuild of #miRustyJeep...

[Mike_H]

I've been fortunate enough to never have a tire issue I couldn't address on the trail. And I certainly don't miss the 100+ pounds hanging off the ass end.

The 2x I've used the spare, I could have probably gotten by without it, but having the spare meant swapping the tire and going, vs dicking around trying to seat a bead or plug a hole. I've only recently come up with an on board air solution, so that factors into the decision too.

 

[Mike_H]

Took a break from working on the motorhome today to do some work around the house. Got some stuff done in the Jeep too. It got a bath and I flushed the rest of the Kentucky mud out of the frame and rear corners, sliders, front fenders, etc.

I also pulled my spare carrier apart too. Spent some time with it in the press and got everything straightened back out.

 

[Mike_H]

Opened up my front diff cover to check out why it was making so much noise when engaging. It was being "lazy." It would eventually engage, but sometimes it would take a few seconds and made a horrible ratcheting sound (just like you would expect when a bunch of teeth are sliding past each other and clipping their corners).

I dumped the fluid and as expected, there was some metallic shimmer. The damage I did was not terrible. The locker engages exactly as it should with the wheels in the air. Nothing was cockeyed or crooked. The bladder is still good. After consulting with a few people and looking at things through the inspection hole,

I sprayed the housing out with brake clean, dumped some new fluid in, and bolted the cover back on. Easy and cheap "repair." Leading theory on why the locker was being lazy is that I drove the fill plug too deep. I tend to use liquid thread sealant vs tape...and I think after enough material built up on the magnetic plug, it started to interfere with the actuator. I don't have a ton of miles on this since the regear last spring, so I'm sure the gears are still shedding material...which is where the material came from to begin with.


This is the last of the items to check on left from my KY trip.


Now, to plan the next one!

 

[Mike_H]

I bought some new fox shocks tonight. They are factory race, but a bit older. They have the blue anodized top and bottom caps. They will all need to be rebuilt with new seals, and will need some new external components (from a quick look, a couple will need new hoses, they will all need spherical bearings, etc.)

Guy I got them from said they came off a Silverado with a 6” lift. Got 4 of them about 12” long and two that are longer, I’d guess 14” travel. Those two are pretty beat, and will probably just become useful for parts. It was a bit of a gamble, but I only paid 200 bucks for all 6. I should be able to refurb them. It won’t be the first time I’ve taken someone else garbage and made it as good as new.


Here are the four 12” ish long shocks

They were bolted together, 2/corner. I assume these were the front shocks

Here are the longer ones, I assume rear. They are pretty beat up. One of them sounds like the seal is completely gone on the piston, it’s so noisy. The chrome is coming off the other one. Both top caps are pretty well damaged, externally.

I’ll learn how to tear shocks apart with these ones, since I really think they will only be good for parts at this point.

Kinds of excited for this. Been wanting to do “good” shocks for a long time and this will let me learn all about them. I may even spring for the dsc reservoirs, since the shocks themselves were less than my last set of black max’s!

 

[starkey480]

I bought some new fox shocks tonight. They are factory race, but a bit older. They have the blue anodized top and bottom caps. They will all need to be rebuilt with new seals, and will need some new external components (from a quick look, a couple will need new hoses, they will all need spherical bearings, etc.)

Guy I got them from said they came off a Silverado with a 6” lift. Got 4 of them about 12” long and two that are longer, I’d guess 14” travel. Those two are pretty beat, and will probably just become useful for parts. It was a bit of a gamble, but I only paid 200 bucks for all 6. I should be able to refurb them. It won’t be the first time I’ve taken someone else garbage and made it as good as new.


Here are the four 12” ish long shocks

View attachment 446936

They were bolted together, 2/corner. I assume these were the front shocks

Here are the longer ones, I assume rear. They are pretty beat up. One of them sounds like the seal is completely gone on the piston, it’s so noisy. The chrome is coming off the other one. Both top caps are pretty well damaged, externally.

View attachment 446937

I’ll learn how to tear shocks apart with these ones, since I really think they will only be good for parts at this point.

Kinds of excited for this. Been wanting to do “good” shocks for a long time and this will let me learn all about them. I may even spring for the dsc reservoirs, since the shocks themselves were less than my last set of black max’s!

Looks like same shocks I got!

 

[Mike_H]

Looks like same shocks I got!

Do you have any idea where yours are valved?

 

[starkey480]

Do you have any idea where yours are valved?

No idea. They came off of an old Blaine build with a slightly older iteration of his tune.

 

[mrblaine]

Do you have any idea where yours are valved?

Where, probably the same as the others in that style, top and bottom of the piston.

 

[Mike_H]

Been a while since I've done anything of any "fun" value to the jeep. Been focusing on work, family and the motorhome. I did get a new set of Taillights from Black Magic Brakes. SUPER nice kit. Blaine really knows how to get the consumer what they need. I'll post a pic once they are installed this weekend.

In other news, I've been fighting a rough idle when cold and hard starting issue for a while. Once the jeep is warmed up, its been running fine. I've been looking at how to check idle air controllers and throttle Position sensors. A few days ago, the Jeep was REALLY hard to start. Felt like the battery had run down, which was weird, because nothing was on to run it down. I put the charger on it and started it the next day and it was running GREAT. Hmmm.....

So I left it a couple more days. Its cold here now, temps are routinely in the 30's and I've had the Jeep outside to use my shop. So, after a couple days, the Starter wouldn't even click. Well, shit. I know what that means. Put the charger on it again, got it started and inside. Pulled the battery and took it in for a test. This is a two year old Odyssey. It failed at Autozone. So, I bought it at Batteries Plus. It failed there...but here's where it gets interesting. They don't have any record of my buying that battery! I have the receipt, so I show them. It says X2, not Oddyssey. So, they ask about that. I said, truthfully, that the guy that processed my online order said they didn't have any X2's, and the webiste should have reflected that. He DID have the Odyssey, so he "upgraded" me to that, free of charge. Well I guess he didn't record that in their system. After a BUNCH of rigamarole, they charged, tested, charged, tested, etc, they finally called and said, we're going to warrenty the battery, but we have to replace it with an X2. I said thats fine, since that's what I bought in the first place.

I thought X2's were Enersys batteries, just like Odyssey...they were when I got this one two years ago. Now, they are made by someone else...Says Distributed by Acccent Batteries Supply and mfg in USA on the Label. No idea on this one. Since I worked adjacent to the Battery mfg industry for about 10 years, I'm pretty familiar with the big players and still have some contacts I can check with. Anyway, my jeep fired right up and is running like a sewing machine again. Hope it stays that way. The surging idle was REALLY annoying.

 

[NashvilleTJ]

Been a while since I've done anything of any "fun" value to the jeep. Been focusing on work, family and the motorhome. I did get a new set of Taillights from Black Magic Brakes. SUPER nice kit. Blaine really knows how to get the consumer what they need. I'll post a pic once they are installed this weekend.

In other news, I've been fighting a rough idle when cold and hard starting issue for a while. Once the jeep is warmed up, its been running fine. I've been looking at how to check idle air controllers and throttle Position sensors. A few days ago, the Jeep was REALLY hard to start. Felt like the battery had run down, which was weird, because nothing was on to run it down. I put the charger on it and started it the next day and it was running GREAT. Hmmm.....

So I left it a couple more days. Its cold here now, temps are routinely in the 30's and I've had the Jeep outside to use my shop. So, after a couple days, the Starter wouldn't even click. Well, shit. I know what that means. Put the charger on it again, got it started and inside. Pulled the battery and took it in for a test. This is a two year old Odyssey. It failed at Autozone. So, I bought it at Batteries Plus. It failed there...but here's where it gets interesting. They don't have any record of my buying that battery! I have the receipt, so I show them. It says X2, not Oddyssey. So, they ask about that. I said, truthfully, that the guy that processed my online order said they didn't have any X2's, and the webiste should have reflected that. He DID have the Odyssey, so he "upgraded" me to that, free of charge. Well I guess he didn't record that in their system. After a BUNCH of rigamarole, they charged, tested, charged, tested, etc, they finally called and said, we're going to warrenty the battery, but we have to replace it with an X2. I said thats fine, since that's what I bought in the first place.

I thought X2's were Enersys batteries, just like Odyssey...they were when I got this one two years ago. Now, they are made by someone else...Says Distributed by Acccent Batteries Supply and mfg in USA on the Label. No idea on this one. Since I worked adjacent to the Battery mfg industry for about 10 years, I'm pretty familiar with the big players and still have some contacts I can check with. Anyway, my jeep fired right up and is running like a sewing machine again. Hope it stays that way. The surging idle was REALLY annoying.

View attachment 480492

Wow. 2 years on an Oddessy. Mine just went after 3 1/2 years. Not boding well for AGM’s in our Jeeps. Sounds like Optima all over again.

Hope the X2 works out better.

 

[Mike_H]

Wow. 2 years on an Oddessy. Mine just went after 3 1/2 years. Not boding well for AGM’s in our Jeeps. Sounds like Optima all over again.

Hope the X2 works out better.

I'm going to start looking for an HP tuner to adjust my charging voltage up. I think thats what might be killing these...AGM's require a slightly different charging profile than a std FLA battery. Will need to look at the service manual and how the temp sensor works. Maybe I can "fool" the pcm with a resistor and make it charge more

 

[NashvilleTJ]

I'm going to start looking for an HP tuner to adjust my charging voltage up. I think thats what might be killing these...AGM's require a slightly different charging profile than a std FLA battery.

Good point. I’ve actually never understood why an AGM requires a special charger - but we can drop one into our rigs without any changes.

 

[Mike_H]

Got the tails installed today. Took me a bit longer than normal since my wires were trapped by the evap canister that is located on the RH side of the vehicle on the later models. Pain in the ass...

I also took the opportunity to remove my CB anntena mount...will have to weld up the leftover hole eventually, but its fine for now. Matches the 4 holes for the License plate mounts, LOL. Someday soon, I will be getting some Corner Armor.

I also rotated my Spare into use. I lost ALL the wheel weights on my LF tire. That makes for a VERY uncomfortable drive.

 

[Mike_H]

After a quick test drive today, I have verified that the left front tire is way out of balance. Throwing the spare on made a huge difference in drivability.

The battery also made a big difference. No longer did I have to worry about my Jeep dying at an intersection…it never did, but it sure felt like it was going to.

I also appear to have a bad bearing or ball joints up front. Have a wheeling trip tomorrow, so I’m rolling the dice there, but can definitely feel some play in the left front tire that will need to be addressed soon.

 

[SvtLdr]

Have a wheeling trip tomorrow, so I’m rolling the dice there, but can definitely feel some play in the left front tire that will need to be addressed soon.

Where did you go wheeling? How were the trails?

 

[Mike_H]

Where did you go wheeling? How were the trails?

White cloud, Michigan area. Trails were muddy. No pics of my rig, but I can toss a couple in.

This is an obstacle (really the only one of the day) called skidder hill. I think it’s on OnX and pretty sure it’s on Gaia. Photos were taken from the same point, one looking up hill and one looking down.

We had a couple people try it. We call this guy “Suburban Matt” for obvious reason. He made it all the way down, lifting his rear tire about 2 feet in the air at the mid point. The suburban was worse for wear though…

Hard to tell in the pic, but he caved in every body panel on the drivers side leaning up against the embankment. It was pretty bad ass to see though

 

[SvtLdr]

White cloud, Michigan area. Trails were muddy. No pics of my rig, but I can toss a couple in.

View attachment 481901
This is an obstacle (really the only one of the day) called skidder hill. I think it’s on OnX and pretty sure it’s on Gaia. Photos were taken from the same point, one looking up hill and one looking down.

View attachment 481902

View attachment 481900

We had a couple people try it. We call this guy “Suburban Matt” for obvious reason. He made it all the way down, lifting his rear tire about 2 feet in the air at the mid point. The suburban was worse for wear though…

View attachment 481899

Hard to tell in the pic, but he caved in every body panel on the drivers side leaning up against the embankment. It was pretty bad ass to see though

Love the square body 'Burban! Thanks for sharing, dude!

 

[Apparition]

Love the square body 'Burban! Thanks for sharing, dude!

It's a dent side now

 

[SvtLdr]

White cloud, Michigan area. Trails were muddy. No pics of my rig, but I can toss a couple in.

View attachment 481901
This is an obstacle (really the only one of the day) called skidder hill. I think it’s on OnX and pretty sure it’s on Gaia. Photos were taken from the same point, one looking up hill and one looking down.

View attachment 481902

View attachment 481900

We had a couple people try it. We call this guy “Suburban Matt” for obvious reason. He made it all the way down, lifting his rear tire about 2 feet in the air at the mid point. The suburban was worse for wear though…

View attachment 481899

Hard to tell in the pic, but he caved in every body panel on the drivers side leaning up against the embankment. It was pretty bad ass to see though

Did your Jeep hold up ok? Left front issue.

 

[Mike_H]

Did your Jeep hold up ok? Left front issue.

Yes it did. I have a new rock jock front track bar to install soon, so I’ll start looking into what is going there. Pretty sure it’s bearings, but the damn thing isn’t that old…maybe two years?