Building an E-Ticket ride - 06 LJ
- Thread starter E-Ticket
- Start date
Test fit of the exhaust:
This is a bit further back than others have done with this muffler and the Savvy skid plate, however I like how it puts the rear hangar next to the UCA mount. That will give me a good spot to attach a hangar and in fact the stock hangar that bolts to the frame near the track bar will work if rotated 90 degrees. I’ve got to get a mount made up to put the hangar there and get some correct sized clamps to complete the job.
This is a bit further back than others have done with this muffler and the Savvy skid plate, however I like how it puts the rear hangar next to the UCA mount. That will give me a good spot to attach a hangar and in fact the stock hangar that bolts to the frame near the track bar will work if rotated 90 degrees. I’ve got to get a mount made up to put the hangar there and get some correct sized clamps to complete the job.
I was able to reuse the factory bracket by attaching it to a thick L bracket and then adding a gusset. Without the gusset it was flexing easily. With the gusset it is rock solid.
There are already some holes on top of the UCA mount, so I matched them in my bracket and bolted it on.
There are already some holes on top of the UCA mount, so I matched them in my bracket and bolted it on.
Looping back to the electrical stuff, I hadn’t yet mounted the rear facing camera. I didn’t want to run any wiring across the tailgate hinge, so rules out the tailgate. I’ve got a minimalist low profile bumper, so that doesn’t give many options either. I saw another post with a simple L bracket mounted just above the bumper and decided to go with that. The bracket uses an existing threaded hole from the spare tire spacer. There is another, smaller L bracket under it, mounted with a double sided foam piece. This allows a little give in case the camera ever contacts anything and the upper bracket is really stout to protect the camera from hits from above or directly behind. Let’s see how it holds up.
Time for a new battery and tray with more secure tie down function.
I tried a 13” double row LED light bar on my bull bar but it stuck up too high and did not look good. I had a 8” single row bar on the tailgate of my JL which is low profile and all black with a cover. I like that look of that.
I had a look to see if there was one that would fit nice on my bumper and sure enough there is a 12” version that puts out 4800 LM. It fits perfectly on my bull bar, just a bit above and behind it. With the cover on it is discrete.
I tried a 13” double row LED light bar on my bull bar but it stuck up too high and did not look good. I had a 8” single row bar on the tailgate of my JL which is low profile and all black with a cover. I like that look of that.
I had a look to see if there was one that would fit nice on my bumper and sure enough there is a 12” version that puts out 4800 LM. It fits perfectly on my bull bar, just a bit above and behind it. With the cover on it is discrete.
MountaineerTom
LJ Enthusiast, Retired USAF Weapons Loader
Supporting Member
Ride of the Month Winner
Following up on the new battery tray, at first the battery was sliding all over it and defeating the intended purpose of the “upgrade “. I put a sheet of rubber under the battery and also under the hold down and now it is rock solid.
Just for you @NashvilleTJ , a pic of the tractor on the day I picked it up in Michigan. 10 hours to get home!
Wrapping up loose ends this weekend:
Fill transmission with fluid, at least what I can do without running.
Installed axle vent tubes.
Confirmed pinion angles are good and torqued control arms.
Finally get Savvy UA all the way installed (damn wish I put the nuts in the forward stiffener first)
Fit up MORE engine skid and tighten up the bolts for the front mount. The engine skid has good clearance to the driveshaft, exhaust and transmission pan. Pics of that tomorrow.
I have to get some flush fasteners for the engine skid to UA connection and add the holes to the Savvy skid.
Tomorrow should be the big day, first time running the engine and hopefully a run around the block to bed the brakes after almost 2 years since I brought her home and immediately tore her apart!
Fill transmission with fluid, at least what I can do without running.
Installed axle vent tubes.
Confirmed pinion angles are good and torqued control arms.
Finally get Savvy UA all the way installed (damn wish I put the nuts in the forward stiffener first)
Fit up MORE engine skid and tighten up the bolts for the front mount. The engine skid has good clearance to the driveshaft, exhaust and transmission pan. Pics of that tomorrow.
I have to get some flush fasteners for the engine skid to UA connection and add the holes to the Savvy skid.
Tomorrow should be the big day, first time running the engine and hopefully a run around the block to bed the brakes after almost 2 years since I brought her home and immediately tore her apart!
I got the MORE skid plate install finished. What a pain! I hope I don’t have to take it off too often. The carriage bolts that hold the front on the mount are a nightmare to tighten, maybe an 1/8 turn at a time with an open end wrench against good pressure of a deformation locking nut.
I nearly blew the hole pattern transfer to the Savvy skid. I blame a 6 pack of Coors Lights.
All in all the skids mate up well together after some trimming of the MORE skid on one side to match the width of the Savvy skid horizontal section.
Tomorrow it is gas and go!
I nearly blew the hole pattern transfer to the Savvy skid. I blame a 6 pack of Coors Lights.
All in all the skids mate up well together after some trimming of the MORE skid on one side to match the width of the Savvy skid horizontal section.
Tomorrow it is gas and go!
Update: The engine fired up without any hesitation after about 5-6 "prime cycles". Yay for that. Another win - no ATF leaks! I was quite concerned about that given I messed with the lines to install my secondary cooler and also replace my OEM hardlines with newly routed hose. I let it idle for about 5 min in the shop and then topped up the ATF.
The plan was to then move outside to fully raise the transmission temp for a final fluid fill. However, whatever gear I select on the transmission, no go! I've tried up and down the stack many times and also the TC to ensure it was not in neutral. I've manually checked that the TC works by spinning the driveshafts, so believe that to be good.
Next up, my son will hop in and cycle the shifter while I have a look below. While I wait for him I am checking threads on 42RLEs that will not get into gear.
The plan was to then move outside to fully raise the transmission temp for a final fluid fill. However, whatever gear I select on the transmission, no go! I've tried up and down the stack many times and also the TC to ensure it was not in neutral. I've manually checked that the TC works by spinning the driveshafts, so believe that to be good.
Next up, my son will hop in and cycle the shifter while I have a look below. While I wait for him I am checking threads on 42RLEs that will not get into gear.
Well that was anticlimactic! Instead of “gas and go” it was “gas and no go”. No matter the configuration of the shifter and the TC, there was no movement of the Jeep. I was able to confirm that the shift lever on the transmission did turn with the shifter cable movement.
I put over 6 quarts of ATF in, which is more than the 4 quarts capacity…however I did install a Rubicrawler and a Derale cooler. Both of those add capacity and I drained the cooling lines so it is not a suprise that I used over 4qts. I am not 100% sure that I have a full ATF fill as the dipstick was in some cases showing overfilled but then later low. I kept adding and let the vehicle idle for about 15 minutes to heat up the fluid. The engine was up to 210d but my new trans temp gage was not working, need to pull that and check the wiring. I did feel heat on the cooler lines so it was heating up but not sure of the temp. Once everything was cool I was in the full range on the dipstick.
I know my new B&M shifter is not adjusted to fully cover P-R-N-D-2-1. Get 5 positions out of the shifter, not 6. I do get my reverse lights on when the shifter shows R. I will remove the shifter cable and manually cycle the transmission through the gears and see what that does. However, with 5 of the 6 positions I would expect to get at least reverse and drive to engage.
I don’t see any smoking gun threads for a similar situation on the forum. Happy to get any ideas and I may post a thread on this for better visibility.
On a positive note, the engine ran smooth with no codes and no vibes, at least without any load. The exhaust sounded great at idle and up to 3k, again without load. And no leaking ATF!
I put over 6 quarts of ATF in, which is more than the 4 quarts capacity…however I did install a Rubicrawler and a Derale cooler. Both of those add capacity and I drained the cooling lines so it is not a suprise that I used over 4qts. I am not 100% sure that I have a full ATF fill as the dipstick was in some cases showing overfilled but then later low. I kept adding and let the vehicle idle for about 15 minutes to heat up the fluid. The engine was up to 210d but my new trans temp gage was not working, need to pull that and check the wiring. I did feel heat on the cooler lines so it was heating up but not sure of the temp. Once everything was cool I was in the full range on the dipstick.
I know my new B&M shifter is not adjusted to fully cover P-R-N-D-2-1. Get 5 positions out of the shifter, not 6. I do get my reverse lights on when the shifter shows R. I will remove the shifter cable and manually cycle the transmission through the gears and see what that does. However, with 5 of the 6 positions I would expect to get at least reverse and drive to engage.
I don’t see any smoking gun threads for a similar situation on the forum. Happy to get any ideas and I may post a thread on this for better visibility.
On a positive note, the engine ran smooth with no codes and no vibes, at least without any load. The exhaust sounded great at idle and up to 3k, again without load. And no leaking ATF!
More diagnostic time today, some learnings:
First, the transmission shifter has 6 positions as well know for P-R-N-D-2-1. The transmission selector shaft has 7 detents! I know the rearmost detent on the selector shaft is confirmed P and from there I can prove out R-N-D, but that's all I've done so far given all of my other issues. In R my back up lights come on, for what that is worth. My B&M shifter cable adjustment is set correctly for P and does give me correct functioning for R-N-D, but it will not go down to 2 or 1 when attached to the transmission, no matter if I try to trigger or otherwise fiddle with it. However, if I disengage the cable from the transmission, the shifter will get back to the 2 and 1 positions. The B&M directions say to set for N and that should get you the rest of the positions, will try that next but that's the lease of my problems.
Next, a fully drained 42RLE system takes over 9 quarts to refill if you added a Rubicrawler and Derale cooler. Mine took about 9.5. Wow, that's more than double the capacity of the transmission alone. I wasted a lot of time and trials sneaking up on that by checking the dipstick after adding more a 1/2 quart more fluid but before it settled enough to give me a "clean" reading. Once I got the right amount of fluid, I got my gear engagement. I've still got a little grinding noise getting back into park from neutral and I can feel it directly on the selector shaft. I hope that settles down over time but I did cycle the transmission with far too low a fluid fill during my attempts to fill it, so hopefully no damage done.
Also, I damaged my transmission fluid gage and need a new one, ordered. I confirmed I've got power and group but I had previously accidently put 12V on the probe tab, now reading the manual that will damage the unit.
Finally, my transfer case appears to be "eff'd". At worst I've got only 2H working and at best I can sometimes get 4L to engage. I've got two neutrals, so no 4H. Shifting between positions is very hard and not always possible without some cycling of the transmission. Note all of this is being done up on a lift, so no real load on anything and I know it is often needed to jostle a Wrangler into or out of 4L, but not sure that is my situation, especially with a cable shifter. Note that before I put the TC in the Jeep I was able to confirm functioning of the modes on the bench, and again in the Jeep by turning the driveshafts. Maybe now being driven by the engine and trans, it has failed in some way.
As a recap, along the way from the stock NP231 that I had when I started, I put on a SYE kit and also a wide chain and 6 gear planetary using an upgrade kit off e-bay. The upgrade kit also included a heavy duty 5.5 inch sleeve and mode fork, which I used. Either that is not compatible with my NP231 or I botched the assembly.
I could try to drive it weight on wheels and see if that changes the TC behavior, but I am skeptical. Seems I am now going to have to pull the TC and tear it down and see what may be wrong with it. Damn, so close but now so far from driving this thing.
First, the transmission shifter has 6 positions as well know for P-R-N-D-2-1. The transmission selector shaft has 7 detents! I know the rearmost detent on the selector shaft is confirmed P and from there I can prove out R-N-D, but that's all I've done so far given all of my other issues. In R my back up lights come on, for what that is worth. My B&M shifter cable adjustment is set correctly for P and does give me correct functioning for R-N-D, but it will not go down to 2 or 1 when attached to the transmission, no matter if I try to trigger or otherwise fiddle with it. However, if I disengage the cable from the transmission, the shifter will get back to the 2 and 1 positions. The B&M directions say to set for N and that should get you the rest of the positions, will try that next but that's the lease of my problems.
Next, a fully drained 42RLE system takes over 9 quarts to refill if you added a Rubicrawler and Derale cooler. Mine took about 9.5. Wow, that's more than double the capacity of the transmission alone. I wasted a lot of time and trials sneaking up on that by checking the dipstick after adding more a 1/2 quart more fluid but before it settled enough to give me a "clean" reading. Once I got the right amount of fluid, I got my gear engagement. I've still got a little grinding noise getting back into park from neutral and I can feel it directly on the selector shaft. I hope that settles down over time but I did cycle the transmission with far too low a fluid fill during my attempts to fill it, so hopefully no damage done.
Also, I damaged my transmission fluid gage and need a new one, ordered. I confirmed I've got power and group but I had previously accidently put 12V on the probe tab, now reading the manual that will damage the unit.
Finally, my transfer case appears to be "eff'd". At worst I've got only 2H working and at best I can sometimes get 4L to engage. I've got two neutrals, so no 4H. Shifting between positions is very hard and not always possible without some cycling of the transmission. Note all of this is being done up on a lift, so no real load on anything and I know it is often needed to jostle a Wrangler into or out of 4L, but not sure that is my situation, especially with a cable shifter. Note that before I put the TC in the Jeep I was able to confirm functioning of the modes on the bench, and again in the Jeep by turning the driveshafts. Maybe now being driven by the engine and trans, it has failed in some way.
As a recap, along the way from the stock NP231 that I had when I started, I put on a SYE kit and also a wide chain and 6 gear planetary using an upgrade kit off e-bay. The upgrade kit also included a heavy duty 5.5 inch sleeve and mode fork, which I used. Either that is not compatible with my NP231 or I botched the assembly.
I could try to drive it weight on wheels and see if that changes the TC behavior, but I am skeptical. Seems I am now going to have to pull the TC and tear it down and see what may be wrong with it. Damn, so close but now so far from driving this thing.
I suppose I jinxed myself with my comment on not wanting to remove the MORE engine skid anytime soon. That’s now the next thing I’ve got to do to start accessing the TC for exploratory surgery! I am going to tear it down and see if I flubbed the assembly when I modified it last year.
Posting up my goal to have that done and back in by close of play Saturday for some accountability from the peanut gallery here.
Posting up my goal to have that done and back in by close of play Saturday for some accountability from the peanut gallery here.