I thought so too, at first. I slowed the video down to .5x and bumped up the quality, and it’s easy to see the upper ball joint moving. Maybe ball joints and bearings wouldn’t be the worst. Lots of miles and not knowing when they’ve been changed…
Colorado Daily-Driven Trail Warrior V2 - 2006 LJ
- Thread starter zachpeakee
- Start date
I thought so too, at first. I slowed the video down to .5x and bumped up the quality, and it’s easy to see the upper ball joint moving. Maybe ball joints and bearings wouldn’t be the worst. Lots of miles and not knowing when they’ve been changed…
OP
The video was tough to take, with the minimal amount of play im having. But from what I witnessed with my own two eyes, it’s JUST a ball joint issue. No movement elsewhere.
That’s not to say everything else is in great shape, but good enough that it’s not causing immediate concern as far as excessive movement.
With the unit bearing being within reach while I put the jeep down to do the joints, I’ll just go ahead and replace them while I’m at it.
Plan to replace anything/everything needed while in there. Go the whole 9 yards with it.
Anything else I should consider doing while I’m there?
Axle ujoints since you’re going to have the shafts out anyways.
Solid plan. At 110k mine didn't feel loose but they felt gritty when I spun them by hand as I had them off to move the knuckles over to my hp30.
Front axle u joints if you don't know how old they are.
OP
Adding U-Joints to the list!
Seems i've got another full-day project in my hands.
By the time i'm done 'troubleshooting' I'll have a fully brand new LJ...
Seems i've got another full-day project in my hands.
By the time i'm done 'troubleshooting' I'll have a fully brand new LJ...
OP
So tonight was somewhat disastrous.
My offroad lights have been laying around the garage floor, because I've been too lazy to install them.
The thought of dealing with the notorious windshield hinge mounting bolts was throwing me off.
BUT, I decided the lights needed to be off the floor, and back onto the Jeep. So that's what I did.
Headed to Oreilly's and picked up a can of Chrysler Flame Red to re-paint the mounting brackets.
I had pretty good 8/10 results when using Duplicolor Stone White for the TJ!
While in the store, I was skeptical that the "Flame Red" was NOT the same Flame Red as on the TJ...Something about it just looked 'off'.
I boiled it down to my eyes playing tricks on me. So I bought it anyways.
Started painting the Brackets to match.
After about an hour of drying, I decided to hold them up to the LJ.
Sure enough, my eyes are fine, and the color difference is DISGUSTING.
I KNOW that aerosol/color match in general is never going to be perfect.
But this is far more than "a few shades" off.
I believe Hellen Keller could've matched this paint better.
But, whatever.
I'll have to buy a few different paints, find which one matches closest, and repaint them in the very near future, because I simply can't look at that all the time.
Either way, the lights needed to come off the floor, so I mounted them up.
I actually prefer the way the LJ looked WITHOUT the lights.
However, good looks doesn't help you see down the trails at night, so it's something i'm willing to sacrifice.
I haven't wired them yet, and plan to do that tomorrow.
I'll be in the engine bay area most of the day anyways getting the rest of my sound system situated, as well as my new Carplay unit installed.
My offroad lights have been laying around the garage floor, because I've been too lazy to install them.
The thought of dealing with the notorious windshield hinge mounting bolts was throwing me off.
BUT, I decided the lights needed to be off the floor, and back onto the Jeep. So that's what I did.
Headed to Oreilly's and picked up a can of Chrysler Flame Red to re-paint the mounting brackets.
I had pretty good 8/10 results when using Duplicolor Stone White for the TJ!
While in the store, I was skeptical that the "Flame Red" was NOT the same Flame Red as on the TJ...Something about it just looked 'off'.
I boiled it down to my eyes playing tricks on me. So I bought it anyways.
Started painting the Brackets to match.
After about an hour of drying, I decided to hold them up to the LJ.
Sure enough, my eyes are fine, and the color difference is DISGUSTING.
I KNOW that aerosol/color match in general is never going to be perfect.
But this is far more than "a few shades" off.
I believe Hellen Keller could've matched this paint better.
But, whatever.
I'll have to buy a few different paints, find which one matches closest, and repaint them in the very near future, because I simply can't look at that all the time.
Either way, the lights needed to come off the floor, so I mounted them up.
I actually prefer the way the LJ looked WITHOUT the lights.
However, good looks doesn't help you see down the trails at night, so it's something i'm willing to sacrifice.
I haven't wired them yet, and plan to do that tomorrow.
I'll be in the engine bay area most of the day anyways getting the rest of my sound system situated, as well as my new Carplay unit installed.
OP
A bit of a side-discussion.
About to load up the shopping cart with some Bearings/Ujoints/Ball Joints.
Is Timken still the Go-To for Unit Bearings?
I've heard their quality has gone downhill in the past few years.
About to load up the shopping cart with some Bearings/Ujoints/Ball Joints.
Is Timken still the Go-To for Unit Bearings?
I've heard their quality has gone downhill in the past few years.
At about 100k, I replaced the factory unit bearings with Timken for no reason other than a vague idea of routine maintenance. About 50k miles later, the Timkens were crunchy.
Fortunately, I had kept the old factory set and reinstalled them for another 40k miles before changing to locking hubs not too long ago. There was still no sign of the original 140k mile factory set being worn out.
Last edited:
So tonight was somewhat disastrous.
My offroad lights have been laying around the garage floor, because I've been too lazy to install them.
The thought of dealing with the notorious windshield hinge mounting bolts was throwing me off.
BUT, I decided the lights needed to be off the floor, and back onto the Jeep. So that's what I did.
Headed to Oreilly's and picked up a can of Chrysler Flame Red to re-paint the mounting brackets.
I had pretty good 8/10 results when using Duplicolor Stone White for the TJ!
View attachment 502514
While in the store, I was skeptical that the "Flame Red" was NOT the same Flame Red as on the TJ...Something about it just looked 'off'.
I boiled it down to my eyes playing tricks on me. So I bought it anyways.
Started painting the Brackets to match.
View attachment 502516
After about an hour of drying, I decided to hold them up to the LJ.
Sure enough, my eyes are fine, and the color difference is DISGUSTING.
View attachment 502517
I KNOW that aerosol/color match in general is never going to be perfect.
But this is far more than "a few shades" off.
I believe Hellen Keller could've matched this paint better.
View attachment 502518
But, whatever.
I'll have to buy a few different paints, find which one matches closest, and repaint them in the very near future, because I simply can't look at that all the time.
Either way, the lights needed to come off the floor, so I mounted them up.
View attachment 502519
View attachment 502520
View attachment 502521
I actually prefer the way the LJ looked WITHOUT the lights.
However, good looks doesn't help you see down the trails at night, so it's something i'm willing to sacrifice.
I haven't wired them yet, and plan to do that tomorrow.
I'll be in the engine bay area most of the day anyways getting the rest of my sound system situated, as well as my new Carplay unit installed.
I'm curious how the highway whistling and hood glare will be on yours, that's been the main issue for me with these.
OP
I read one of your posts in a thread from awhile back about that.
Seems to be a common issue regarding the Timken bearings, as I saw that @hosejockey61 ALSO had some reservations on a thread awhile back regarding Timken unit bearings.
If new Mopar exist, get those. Used junk yard from a later XJ isn't a bad idea, either. As long as the dimensions match the LJ. I forget the variations over the years.
OP
Whistling is tolerable, but I plan to add some edge molding to the fins to prevent it.
I've heard that most lightbars whistle due to vibrations of the 'fins' along the backside, and it's actually not so much a wind-noise as it is a vibration issue that is caused by the wind. Supposedly edge molding along the fins help serve as a 'damper' to this effect. So I'm going to try it out and see.
Hood Glare on the other hand is another animal.
Depending on how high/low you aim the bar, the more/less glare you get, but the glare is ALWAYS there when the lights are on.
They're just absurdly bright, and there's no real way around it.
I guess that's just part of the gig when putting a bar above the hood.
With my previous TJ being white, the glare was borderline too much.
BUT, in my case, the amount of light output just simply outweighed any glare issues I was concerned about.
The point was, I could light the dark trails up.
The part that is worse than hood glare here in Colorado is Snow Glare. THAT is an actual issue sometimes, making the trail tougher to see.
Which is where the yellow lights come in, to add just a bit of 'warmth' to what you see.
At one point, I thought I would just install a window tint strip along the bottom edge of the windshield, just high enough to cover my hood if it became an issue I wasn't willing to deal with. But it never got that far.
Here's a photo of this exact setup when I had it on my TJ.
(note that the TJ was white, which is the worst color for 'hood glare')
Last edited:
OP
yeah, I think i'd take that photo back to the shop & the tech..
Similar thing happened the other day when I had my tires balanced.
They called me into the bay to find my wheel/lug lock because they couldn't find it.
While standing there, they asked "how much do you torque your lugs?"
I responded "anywhere between 90-110, just somewhere in that ballpark"
At which point he laughed and showed what their system was telling them to torque to...140ft/lb !!
Had the shop manager not known better, they probably would've snapped the lugs right off my brand new RG Chromoly shafts.
To be fair, they also said my air pressure was "really low" and proceeded to fill them to 50psi...
So tonight was somewhat disastrous.
My offroad lights have been laying around the garage floor, because I've been too lazy to install them.
The thought of dealing with the notorious windshield hinge mounting bolts was throwing me off.
BUT, I decided the lights needed to be off the floor, and back onto the Jeep. So that's what I did.
Headed to Oreilly's and picked up a can of Chrysler Flame Red to re-paint the mounting brackets.
I had pretty good 8/10 results when using Duplicolor Stone White for the TJ!
View attachment 502514
While in the store, I was skeptical that the "Flame Red" was NOT the same Flame Red as on the TJ...Something about it just looked 'off'.
I boiled it down to my eyes playing tricks on me. So I bought it anyways.
Started painting the Brackets to match.
View attachment 502516
After about an hour of drying, I decided to hold them up to the LJ.
Sure enough, my eyes are fine, and the color difference is DISGUSTING.
View attachment 502517
I KNOW that aerosol/color match in general is never going to be perfect.
But this is far more than "a few shades" off.
I believe Hellen Keller could've matched this paint better.
View attachment 502518
But, whatever.
I'll have to buy a few different paints, find which one matches closest, and repaint them in the very near future, because I simply can't look at that all the time.
Either way, the lights needed to come off the floor, so I mounted them up.
View attachment 502519
View attachment 502520
View attachment 502521
I actually prefer the way the LJ looked WITHOUT the lights.
However, good looks doesn't help you see down the trails at night, so it's something i'm willing to sacrifice.
I haven't wired them yet, and plan to do that tomorrow.
I'll be in the engine bay area most of the day anyways getting the rest of my sound system situated, as well as my new Carplay unit installed.
Don't go buy a bunch of cans until you find something...drive the LJ to Dales Paint on N. Circle Dr. They'll have some chips based on your paint code that you can hold up to the jeep and choose the closest match, and they'll mix it up for you. It'll be a base coat that requires a clear, so for best results, buy the spraymax glamour 2k clear while you're there. Be prepared, it's all gonna be in the neighborhood of $25/can.
I've done the custom mix spray can on two sets of half doors...neither of them were 100% perfect but they were both close enough that only a discriminating eye will know. I've had professional body shop work that wasn't as close.
I bought a can of that stuff you used once, and it wasn't even close.
Rustoleum Sunrise Red is an off the shelf that is pretty close to Flame Red. It was definitely closer than the Duplicolor Perfect Match Flame Red.
If you want the best you can get have it color matched by an auto paint shop like @freedom_in_4low mentioned.
GM Victory Red turned out to be the closest to my current color after 18 years of environmental impact.
Last edited:
I've been following along; impressive work - I'm jealous! As for paint match, I came across others here having good results with Automotive Touch Up Paint. I tried them on touch up for my TJ and it was a spot on match. Wound up picking some up for my daughter's Hyundai as well.
https://www.automotivetouchup.com/?...8ovP-Zlgl82Z3GT5QyXmwkVKKqHBP2QBoC6_0QAvD_BwE
https://www.automotivetouchup.com/?...8ovP-Zlgl82Z3GT5QyXmwkVKKqHBP2QBoC6_0QAvD_BwE
The duplicolor is awful. I bought several cans over the years (red, white, black) and every single can had paint spatter issues and various shades off. Its a close match, but never perfect and inconsistent.
These were my motobilt flares. The top was pretty darn close to the flame red. The bottom one was more a cherry red and really stood out when it was bolted on.
The next time I need to paint something, Ill go with the duplicolor that @JMT uses and use the 2k clear he also suggests. These flares, held up well for several years using the duplicolor clear, but I remember it being more of a dull clear.
These were my motobilt flares. The top was pretty darn close to the flame red. The bottom one was more a cherry red and really stood out when it was bolted on.
The next time I need to paint something, Ill go with the duplicolor that @JMT uses and use the 2k clear he also suggests. These flares, held up well for several years using the duplicolor clear, but I remember it being more of a dull clear.