Anna’s Y2K TJ

[GoldCountry]

Hello,

We just picked up our first Jeep. It's a 2000 4.0 5 speed with 44,000 miles. First order of business is maintenance. I picked up some Shell Rotella T6 10w-30 and a Wix filter. I also bought some Gates hose for the PCV. Not happy about it, but it has an AFE intake. I'll be hitting the junk yard for an OEM intake.

Looking for recommendations on the following:

1. Is the motor oil I picked up appropriate?
2. What MT oil is recommended? Looking at Redline MTL for the nv3550.
3. What transfer case oil is recommended?
4. What differential oil is recommended? It has a Dana 44 rear.
5. The 31x10.5x15 BFG KO2s rub the factory control arms at full lock. Probably staying with 31s for the time being. Looking for recommendations on a short arm tubular kit with a smaller lift/leveling spring for the front and also considering going long arm kit from the get go. Recommendations on both routes would be nice.
6. I will probably do an OEM water pump and t-stat. Any other maintenance recommendations?

Here are some pictures...

 

[GoldCountry]

I’m assuming traclock means I have an LSD?
What’s the 5 additional gallons of gas thing all about? Is it still a standard 19 gallon tank?

 

[Rickyd]

Nice looking jeep and welcome!

1-4) https://wranglertjforum.com/threads/wrangler-tj-fluid-capacities-fluid-recommendations.195/

5)if you go with a short arm lift don't use one with poly bushings in tubular arms. They are so stiff they can rip brackets off your jeep instead of flexing.
Not much love for long arm kits here.they have as many issues as a short arm lift.

H&R has some 1" springs. But some small spacers would be fine to give you a little height with 31's.rancho rs5000 0-1" shocks.Stay away from rough country!
6)you're on the right track changing all your fluids.including brake fluid. Stock spark plugs as listed on the underwood sticker. don't replace sensors and electronics with parts store stuff if possible.mopar and ntk/ngk for o2 sensors.
Unfortunately 2000 4.0l could have a crack prone cylinder head if it hasn't been replaced with aftermarket or have a factory upgraded TUPY head. Take off the oil cap and look in there to see if it has tupy cast. That is where they crack incidentally and leak coolant into the oil

 

[Rickyd]

Yes,traclok means clutch type LSD.so use lsd goop or oil with it already

Yes 19 gallon tank

 

[Rickyd]

https://wranglertjforum.com/threads...ice-manuals-fsm-technical-documentation.4618/

 

[GoldCountry]

Nice looking jeep and welcome!

1-4) https://wranglertjforum.com/threads/wrangler-tj-fluid-capacities-fluid-recommendations.195/

5)if you go with a short arm lift don't use one with poly bushings in tubular arms. They are so stiff they can rip brackets off your jeep instead of flexing.
Not much love for long arm kits here.they have as many issues as a short arm lift.

H&R has some 1" springs. But some small spacers would be fine to give you a little height with 31's.rancho rs5000 0-1" shocks.Stay away from rough country!
6)you're on the right track changing all your fluids.including brake fluid. Stock spark plugs as listed on the underwood sticker. don't replace sensors and electronics with parts store stuff if possible.mopar and ntk/ngk for o2 sensors.
Unfortunately 2000 4.0l could have a crack prone cylinder head if it hasn't been replaced with aftermarket or have a factory upgraded TUPY head. Take off the oil cap and look in there to see if it has tupy cast. That is where they crack incidentally and leak coolant into the oil

You recommend against a long arm kit? This is what I was considering:
https://metalcloak.com/tj-lock-n-load-long-arm-upgrade-kit.html

That’s disheartening to hear about the head flaw. So the letters TUPY will be cast into the head? Anything I can do if it’s not the upgraded head to keep it from cracking? I’m in CA so any parts have to be CARB compliant…

 

[Rickyd]

Smarter guys than me say bolt on long arm kits don't have room to create good geometry.so they aren't worth the effort. I'd go with a savvy midarm kit if I wanted to cut off stock brackets.

Yes,tupy cast in the head can be seen in the oil fill hole. Swapping in a Clearwater or stock tupy head is an easy job. I'm in CA too.a Clearwater head will pass smog. Google 4.0l cracked 0331 head.

 

[GoldCountry]

Smarter guys than me say bolt on long arm kits don't have room to create good geometry.so they aren't worth the effort. I'd go with a savvy midarm kit if I wanted to cut off stock brackets.

Yes,tupy cast in the head can be seen in the oil fill hole. Swapping in a Clearwater or stock tupy head is an easy job. I'm in CA too.a Clearwater head will pass smog. Google 4.0l cracked 0331 head.

Just went out and looked, no tupy casting. Looked at Clearwater. There was a review that mentioned “the head didn’t have the dowel pins for the intake gasket or the two bolts for the exhaust to mount to.”

Was this your experience as well?

 

[GoldCountry]

My rear axle requires 64 ounces of fluid plus four ounces of friction modifier. If the gear oil already has friction modifiers as an additive, do I use 68oz (64+4)?

 

[Rickyd]

Just went out and looked, no tupy casting. Looked at Clearwater. There was a review that mentioned “the head didn’t have the dowel pins for the intake gasket or the two bolts for the exhaust to mount to.”

Was this your experience as well?

Someone else would need to help you with that. I had an 0630 head and now have an edelbrock. The early 0331 heads were crack prone.

My rear axle requires 64 ounces of fluid plus four ounces of friction modifier. If the gear oil already has friction modifiers as an additive, do I use 68oz (64+4)?

Take the axles total and remove gear oil. whatever the manufacturer of the modifier says to use. You don't need 4 oz of jeep additive.

If the gear oil says it's for a lsd,then just fill it up

 

[Jamison C]

How much lift are you planning on? I would stick with stock style control arms up to 2”. Just adjust the steering stops slightly so the tires don’t rub on the arms.

Nice looking Jeep. Good find. I had a 2000 as well with 52k on the clock and it was reliable as could be.

 

[GoldCountry]

Cracked out on the jeep today. In addition to pulling the interior for a deep clean, we changed the oil, air filter and plugs. I’ll be doing the diffs, trans, T-case and radiator flush in the next few days and call it good for routine maintenance. Then I’ll tackle the suspension, bushings, etc…

 

[GoldCountry]

The airbag light comes on after 30-45 minutes of driving. We live in an area with bumpy, windy roads. Is the clock spring the likely culprit?

 

[GoldCountry]

How much lift are you planning on? I would stick with stock style control arms up to 2”. Just adjust the steering stops slightly so the tires don’t rub on the arms.

Nice looking Jeep. Good find. I had a 2000 as well with 52k on the clock and it was reliable as could be.

Not even 2”, probably a 1” spacer in the front to level, or a 3/4” if we decide to ditch the winch and aftermarket bumper for a factory bumper.

Who makes good replacement OEM style control arms and track bars? May still go metal cloak aluminum double adjustable control arms, but unfortunately their track bars are too long. They require a 2” lift minimum. Then I’d need 33s…and aftermarket wheels…and new gears…etc. It’s already marginal up long, steep grades with 31s and 3.73s and I’m trying to avoid the snowball of parts. I do however like the way the 31s look on there, but would like to maintain as tight of a steering radius as possible.

 

[GoldCountry]

Is there a decent quality 1”-1.5” spring for the front of this jeep?

 

[Rickyd]

Post #3 in this thread

 

[GoldCountry]

Started hearing an intermittent chirp or squeak that I thought was interior related. Couldn’t figure out where it was coming from. Started reading and found that it may be the front DS. The jeep is only at 45,000 miles, but it is 25 years old at this point.

I plan on pulling the front DS and driving to verify, however I’m anticipating a rebuild. I called a shop that we’ve used on full size vehicles in the past and they said a rebuild starts at $200-250. I don’t like the “starts” part of that statement. We don’t really have time to squeeze in this project at the moment ourselves, so now we are looking at Tom Woods. May seem over the top to do an SYE on the rear output, but will likely go that route due to the lift. Based on rough guesstimates, with the lift, the short little rear shaft will have operating angles exceeding 10 degrees. Did not know that the SY does not have a support bushing in these transfer cases prior to owning the Jeep…interesting.

So the plan is TW driveshafts front and rear and an AA SYE. Until the core4x4 stuff goes on Black Friday sale, we won’t have all the parts and won’t have the 1” H&R springs installed. So for now, we will just pull the front DS to avoid grenading it at highway speed.

All of this is probably over the top for a 1” lift, but OCD is at play and it will future proof us for a potentially bigger lift if we decide to go up to 33s.

Speaking of which, locker installation is on our minds as well. The jeep has 3.73s from the factory. What would be the recommendation for a gear ratio that would be okay if we keep the 31s, but potentially go to 33s? 4.10s or should we go even shorter? We feel like 4.10s would be just about perfect with 31s…

 

[L J]

Speaking of which, locker installation is on our minds as well. The jeep has 3.73s from the factory. What would be the recommendation for a gear ratio that would be okay if we keep the 31s, but potentially go to 33s? 4.10s or should we go even shorter? We feel like 4.10s would be just about perfect with 31s…

The Rubicon editions came with 4.10 gears and 30.5ish"x9.5ish" tires. Unless you DIY the gear change or are going with expensive selectable lockers, going from 3.73 to 4.10 isn't worth the cost IMO.

 

[Rickyd]

Consider a ssye instead of the AA kit. It gets you more driveshaft length at the cost of an electric speedo correction device

 

[GoldCountry]

Consider a ssye instead of the AA kit. It gets you more driveshaft length at the cost of an electric speedo correction device

Any downside to the super short kit? I was looking at JB Conversions after searching SSYE. Even their standard SYE purports to have clearance advantages with the yoke shape, though you get a big name and the comfort that comes along with it with an AA SYE.

90% chance we leave it at 1” lift and 31s and all of this is overkill…