Building an E-Ticket ride - 06 LJ

[E-Ticket]

Yesterday was a bust looking for the correct trans cooler hose all over town. All the shops carry a thinner walled hose than came with the Derale kit. The difference can be eyeballed even if the dimension is not much larger. As a last hope to match it I’ve got some Gates hose coming in from Amazon. In the meantime I’ve got four of the six fittings needed and the other two coming in from Amazon. I will reuse the two fittings from the radiator so I can have a 90 degree line and the other I’ve bent just a bit to use on the upper port of the trans where it is close to the tub.

The hose in the Derale kit is on the left.

While waiting for parts I used the time to move the Jeep out of the lift bay to wheee I’ve got more room to work on the armor and cage. I also got the hard top off and stored but before that I put on new struts and some mounts in the back for a hoist.

I also tested out my lightweight spare tire mount. I have a Yakima mount as many would put on their roof rack. It uses a loop and a hook to secure the tire. Instead of using the loops they provide (attached to a steel plate), I made an eyelet that screws into the back seat center seatbelt hole. If that can secure two people then it can handle a 35” tire, at least in my view. The whole thing weighs maybe 3-4 pounds. I can lock it if I want to, another nice feature.

 

[E-Ticket]

It took a few days to get all the parts for the trans cooler lines. I thought I could use some pex clamps but they did not fit. I got a kit of assorted clamps from Amazon and the 21mm size is perfect for this application.

Here is a test clamp on the left compared to what Derale used:

Good squeeze on the AN push fittings and the new quick connect fittings for the transmission:

I routed the lines aft of the transmission along the fuel lines and used the clamps/separators from the Derale kit:

The transmission connections:

Forward of the transmission the lines go along the top of the frame and through the bracke holding the steering shaft bearing, then over the engine mount weldments which are smooth on top. This routing should not induce any relative movement between the lines and the frame to prevent chafing. I still need to add a few more securing straps and also cut down the length and round off the ends of the bolts that secure the steering bearing bracket as they currently contact the lines going thorough there.

This routing keeps the lines well away from the cats and exhaust and and moving steering or suspension bits.

I sure as hell hope I don’t have leaks with the quick connect fittings when I fire her up. Those connections don't seem to have positive pressure between the fitting and the port and the fitting can move in and out just a bit despite the spring clip and plastic cap being in place. When I took off the lines all of the fittings were very snug and hard to pull out. Perhaps some pressure in the system helps hold them secure.

 

[E-Ticket]

After a week away for some much needed vacation, I had a chance to face my fears and get the Genright armor installed. I’ve been dreaming/dreading this for months, trying to soak up every tip and trick I can find online.

As a last step of preparation I watched some videos on tailgate hinge removal and that all by itself looked to be an adventure. I was set to go to the hardware store to load up on T40 Torx bits but first I thought I’d hit the backside of the reachable bolts with some PB Blaster. I go out to the shop and to my surprise I’ve got 9/16 hex head bolts instead of Torx! Happy day. I hit the few I can reach with some PB Blaster and shortly afterwards go for it with my impact wrench. All 8 of the hinge bolts come out with no drama!

Next up is to notch the front fenders in advance of bending up the pinch seam.

Next up is the bash the crap out of the pinch seam with a dead blow hammer. That works well in proximity to the torque boxes but there are a few areas where there is nothing to bash against and for those areas in the front, middle and rear I used some sheet metal clamps and they allowed me to bend those areas that had no nothing behind them to bend around. The result wasn’t pretty but I got the job done and the sliders were able to fit up without a second round of bashing.

I fit up the sliders and corner armor at the same time and I had slightly different results on each side. First up was the passenger side. Using the hinge bolts to set the rear position and holding the upper edge in line time the tub, the mating edge to the slider was out of parallel by about .060”. The slider was contacting the torque boxes and jacked up as far as possible. I took this as being as good as possible and I will trim the aluminum to give me a parallel edge to the slider.

I used a roto broach to cut the holes, all going well except the lower holes just at the tailgate edges. Those would not cut through with the armor in place, something for tomorrow.

The driver side went more smoothly being the second try. I ended up with about an 1/8th gap between the slider and armor but perfectly parallel. I will trim the passenger side to match tomorrow.

I also took the time today to hit all of the edges of the sliders with a flap disk to knock down the sharp edges and get a coat of primer on them.

Tomorrow I will install the nutserts and clean up/paint all holes to prepare for final installation. Hopefully I can get some decent paint on the sliders in a day but if not that will push me out a day or two.

 

[E-Ticket]

Another day of half the progress I’d hope to make but still some progress. Despite most of the hole size references in the Genright directions stating the drill size for the inserts being 1/2”, they are actually 17/32”. That’s an oddball size bit and I had to go to 4 stores before I found one.

There are also four holes located in spots that interfere with structure behind the hole. The two aft most holes for the sliders requires some clearancing of support brackets that hold the quarter panel rigid forward if the rear wheels.

The slider holes at the aft side of the passenger door require an insert but there is not enough depth to install one without penetrating the next skin which is very curved and wants to move the drill bit. I had slightly oblong holes there and this did not want to squeeze the insert for fear it would be mislocated. I ended up installing those inserts sandwiched between the slider and the tub which worked well.

The rest of the inserts went in as planned and thankfully I have a set of inserts that allowed me to add a few more on the torque boxes. In order to get the sliders snug as possible to the tub I used a couple of ratchet straps to pull them together before locating the torque box holes. This was after all of the upper fasteners were located and installed.

Then I had to correct the passenger side corner armor for along the bottom forward edge. I clamped a piece of steel to it on my cut line and used a flap disk to get a straight line and it worked great. Now the gap is parallel and sized as the driver side.

I’ve got a bit of work left to button these up but the hard stuff is done and now I can fit up the cage A pillars and the floor tie-ins that will but up inside the door sill and sandwich the tub to the sliders.

A nice result but as usual about twice the time I planned and I haven’t even painted the sliders yet. I am thinking bed liner to match the bumpers and give a bit more grip to the step.

 

[E-Ticket]

3 coats of Rustoleum bed liner on the sliders and a coating of Rustoleum rubberized undercoating on and under the newly bashed in pinch seams will allow me to get the sliders final installed tomorrow.

After the sliders go on I can get my MCE fenders on too.

 

[E-Ticket]

Finally a day that went to plan. I got the MCE flares installed and the newly painted sliders are in too. Mostly smooth sailing but for a broken self tapping screw and I changed out a lot of the hardware on the flares which required a trip to the hardware store.

As the sliders sit 3/16” proud of the fender the front flares needed to be cut to match. I clamped the flares between a 2x4 and a price of steel to use as a guide for the grinder to make quick work of. Unfortunately, fenders are not flat and the flare edges are not a great fit along the edges but it looks decent.

The fasteners MCE gives you are less than desirable so I made a few changes to eliminate the self tapping screws and increased the diameter of the washers that sandwich the rubber grommet spacers. The spacers are too long and I will cut them down next time I remove the flares.

I am pleased with the outcome but can foresee them getting smashed on the trail so I reserve judgement on the design until I get some experience with them.

The sliders are done except for the tie ins to the cage but those sit inside the sill so I don’t expect to have to remove them again.

 

[E-Ticket]

Today I spent some time organizing the shop and installing equipment some racks I’ve been sitting on for months. Now my grinders, air tools regularly used spray cans are off the bench, off the racks or out of the toolbox and easy to grab.

I got the Genright cage boxes staged on the floor.

I separated the bases from my stock seats so I can use them for my PRP seats. I will post up my stock seats for sale as well as the Bartact covers still in the box.

I wanted to get the A pillars and sill tie ins mocked up, I had to grind away a bunch of seam sealer that was preventing me from getting them into position nice and square. That sealer dust was a huge mess but I got them in place just to mark the holes to match the rockers.

That’s it until next weekend as I have to go out of town this week.

 

[FarFire70]

Just catching this thread. Great work! Enjoying where you're heading and look forward to watching the journey.

 

[E-Ticket]

Just catching this thread. Great work! Enjoying where you're heading and look forward to watching the journey.

Thank you @FarFire70 !

 

[E-Ticket]

Two things I’ve learned since my last post:

If I didn’t have a job or a family then I’d get a lot more done in the shop. I guess I will continue to make glacial progress on this build.

I weld like I golf. I am capable of laying down a nice bead but usually not back to back. Don’t quit the day job.

Such is life.

Friday I tried to dial in my weld settings and skills on scraps. My biggest challenge is maintaining a good view of where I am going so I stay in the right path with my pool. The tube joints don’t have a lot of contrast and there are no straight lines so it can be difficult to see where the joint goes ahead if the pool.

Saturday was all about cleaning the tubes which were very oily and the part marking was nearly impossible to read. Tubes laid out dirty

Tubes laid out clean:

My son gave me a couple of hours this morning to help me stand this thing up. Lots of straps and patience are needed for this. Many tubes fell but no blood was shed.

There were two tubes with the notch on the wrong side of the tube end but otherwise everything fit together well in the basic assembly. The X bar lower tubes needed quite a bit of grinding on the lower ends to fit but they did and after the long day all of the tubes were in place.

I’ve still got to install the gussets, handles and windshield V bars but I had to tap out for the day.

I’ve also got some ugly welds to fix once the cage is out of the vehicle and I can manipulate it to get better orientation to weld with my amateur skills.

Much respect for those who can lay down beautiful welds on tubes in situ. It is an unforgiving endeavor!

 

[E-Ticket]

I was away for a week but got some time today to tack on the remaining gussets and bungs and get the cage pulled out using my hard top hoist. Next weekend I can get the rest of the welds done and repair those I botched in situ.

 

[NashvilleTJ]

I was away for a week but got some time today to tack on the remaining gussets and bungs and get the cage pulled out using my hard top hoist. Next weekend I can get the rest of the welds done and repair those I botched in situ.

View attachment 514112

View attachment 514113

That blown tractor may be the coolest thing in the garage!

 

[E-Ticket]

Thanks @NashvilleTJ. I am digging my John Deere quite a bit. It is the ultimate in snow management and I’ve got the loader with forks too which is very handy for a shop.

Now if I just had some snow to move…over 100 inches last year before I got it and barely any this year. Well at least I did not get a snowmobile this year, that would have been a real gut punch!

 

[E-Ticket]

Moving on to some other stuff, it is time for some electrical:

New tunes:

Front enclosures:

I’ve got some sheet aluminum to fab an amp shelf under the steering column. I hope to get that sorted tomorrow.

While in the area I drilled holes for my seat heat switches:

I got started on my Aux Beam 8 panel switch panel. I removed my cruise control as it won’t be needed for a trail rig.

I confirmed my OPDA was original so that got swapped with a new on from Crown retaining my original sensor.

Old

New

Old gear wear:

I also got my locker harnesses run from the lockers to the Aux Beam panel. I’ve got to splice in a diode before I can finish that as I am not using the supplied switching and power bits.

Finally, saw this while in Chicago this week for business, a sculpture made from automotive exhaust!

 

[E-Ticket]

Changed my mind, going with the transmission temperature here instead. I can use my Aux Beam switch panel for the seat heat.

Test fit the Barnes minimal bumper.

And the Ruff Stuffbbumper tie ins.

Diver side looks good

Passenger side looks like crap. Going to need to break out the BFH or use a spacer to fill this gap

 

[E-Ticket]

Made some 3 wire LED marker and turn signal harnesses. Got them in but not tucked up yet as ran out of time to finish the OEM harness prep today.

 

[E-Ticket]

Got my fender lights finished up, ran my power and ground for the Aux Beam board, put in a few more LEDs and got my Truck Lite headlights in.

This location for the circuit breaker is not ideal but there is very little real estate near the battery.

I went with black bezels. I had to change out the retainer rings and the backing rings as mine were damaged.

Saw these terminals in another thread last week and ordered them. Very functional and look good too.

 

[E-Ticket]

I got my lockers wired up to the switch panel. I needed to put a diode in between the negative and positive for the Eaton E-Locker. I used a mini blade fuse adapter and grabbed the mini blade diode from the Eaton harness and put that in. Using my switch panel simplified the wiring versus the bulky packaging of the Eaton harness.

 

[Apparition]

I got my lockers wired up to the switch panel. I needed to put a diode in between the negative and positive for the Eaton E-Locker. I used a mini blade fuse adapter and grabbed the mini blade diode from the Eaton harness and put that in. Using my switch panel simplified the wiring versus the bulky packaging of the Eaton harness.

View attachment 520300

Did that mount come with yours?

 

[E-Ticket]

Yes @Apparition , it was a 90 degree bracket and I put it in a vise and bent another 90 in the tabs so it could mount like this.