Daily Driver, Go Where I Want To Build

A small group of us ran Chinaman Gulch on Saturday. A few things of interest.
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@Peakbagger (I'm borrowing your pics) let me drive his 32rh equipped TJ on 33s through a tricky section. This was really interesting and enlightening as I had never driven an automatic through rocks. It was really great. Gear ratios don't matter. The control is tremendous. If there was a viable swap that wasn't a 42rle, I would work towards making it happen.

This is a good pair of images. Both have the same 11" front and 12" rear shocks and Antirock on the same middle setting. The only difference other than the wheelbase is short arm vs mid arm.
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Notice that the flex is identical between the two. @strumble8 will be installing the Savvy mid arm soon and I'm really looking forward to seeing and hearing about the changes with a fresh pair of eyes.

The Rock Pile
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We flew through the trail pretty quickly. Then we decided to do the first 150 feet of Carnage Canyon!

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We both get stuck. Then we get to the small turn around and the coolant flush tee fitting I installed almost exactly 100k miles ago decided to crack and dump antifreeze everywhere.
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I got a ride into town to buy a new flush kit for the tee, coolant and distilled water. Then I finish my unplanned and overdue coolant flush.
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A very very short ways later, I get off the rocks and the serpentine belt shredded. Another drive to another town and we come back with a new belt. We install it and watch it walk off the York pulley.

Then we spend the next couple hours dismantling the York and alternator to play with the alignment.
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That seemed to work, but now the belt has a squeal the entire two hour drive home.
 
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Yesterday was spent going through all the pullies and accessory bearings looking for something. The sound comes from the York. It isn't the bearings. I cleaned every pulley and idler surface. Still a squeal. The only fix we found was to switch belts with @strumble8. My belt doesn't squeal on his and his doesn't squeal on mine, so the problem is solved, but still a mystery.
 
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Too loose? When I swapped belts after my oba install I got a 1/2" longer belt than needed and it would squeal
 
The MTRs are fantastic, btw. These are the best tire I've put on the Jeep. Both for the street and the trail. Really grippy and really stable at 8psi. I'll play with the pressure over the next few runs. I'm really interested in how they do in the rain and snow later this year.
 
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tworley said:
Too loose? When I swapped belts after my oba install I got a 1/2" longer belt than needed and it would squeal
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The lengths are identical to the belt I ran for four years 30k miles when the first York went in.
 
Lou said:
Why not swap a 32rh?
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Can't swap into a 2003+ and also have automatic lock up. There are manual ways to trigger and release it, but I don't want to deal with those.

If Blaine's NAG1 project ever becomes a reality, that would be the best. But it might also require a wheelbase stretch for a TJ.
 
jjvw said:
Can't swap into a 2003+ and also have automatic lock up. There are manual ways to trigger and release it, but I don't want to deal with those.

If Blaine's NAG1 project ever becomes a reality, that would be the best. But it might also require a wheelbase stretch for a TJ.
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Ill be doing it within the next 2 weeks. 2002 PCM and 1 wire from the TCC solenoid to the PCM and 1 wire to switched B+.

I have compared 2002 to 2003 wiring diagrams and the only difference is 2002 used an oil pressure sensor and 2003 used an oil pressure switch. If that gives me problems I will just switch to a 2002 sensor and add the additional wire to the PCM.
 
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Lou said:
Ill be doing it within the next 2 weeks. 2002 PCM and 1 wire from the TCC solenoid to the PCM and 1 wire to switched B+.

I have compared 2002 to 2003 wiring diagrams and the only difference is 2002 used an oil pressure sensor and 2003 used an oil pressure switch. If that gives me problems I will just switch to a 2002 sensor and add the additional wire to the PCM.
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Hopefully that will work. I think I would be happy with the 32. Though I also have no idea how any of these options would work with my existing Savvy skid.
 
jjvw said:
Hopefully that will work. I think I would be happy with the 32. Though I also have no idea how any of these options would work with my existing Savvy skid.
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I will definitely post up how it goes on the forum. Yeah the savvy skid might be a problem. I am ditching my UCF mud flap trans mount and getting a crossmember built.
 
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jjvw said:
The MTRs are fantastic, btw. These are the best tire I've put on the Jeep. Both for the street and the trail. Really grippy and really stable at 8psi. I'll play with the pressure over the next few runs. I'm really interested in how they do in the rain and snow later this year.
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Given our shared climate I’m excited to read your experience. I think the MTR or MTZp3 are next, just not sure which yet.
 
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I know you've ruled out the 42rle, but it isn't so bad. A little more power makes them drive pretty good. In 4 low I liked the 4.10s better than the 5.38s with with the 241 TC. IMO the crawl ratio with 5.38s is too low with a torque converter.

Driving with 4.10s with OD turned off or a 32rh vs 5.38s in OD is a toss up for me. The tie breaker goes to the 5.38s because I don't have to turn off the OD every time I drive it. People have said that a 42rle needs more than 5.38s, adding 200 more rpm would be ideal. 4.10s with a 3 speed gives you 250 RPM. 5.38s in OD is about 2500 rpm with 35s. 4.10s with a 3 speed is about 2750 RPM.

The NAG1 sounds appealing, but far more complicated.
 
jjvw said:
If there was a viable swap that wasn't a 42rle, I would work towards making it happen.
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is your objection to the 42rle solely based on the fact that you'd have to regear or are there other obstacles?

I'm starting to search for an LJ and finding that opening it up to automatics multiplies the quantity of viable candidates. It just sucks that I'll have to regear again before jumping to 35s and probably won't even like my 4.88's much with 33's.
 
My opinion on why swapping a 42rle sucks is because the transmission isn't cheap, you need an entire engine harness, PDC/harness, and to really do it OEM the dash harness. for 2003/2004, you need a PCM and a TCM. Its not a cheap swap without a donor vehicle.
 
Lou said:
My opinion on why swapping a 42rle sucks is because the transmission isn't cheap, you need an entire engine harness, PDC/harness, and to really do it OEM the dash harness. for 2003/2004, you need a PCM and a TCM. Its not a cheap swap without a donor vehicle.
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fair point, though his comment sounds like he considers the 42rle the most viable swap so I assumed all that you mentioned was considered par for the course.
 
Would it make more since to get an atlas for your current setup if you desire a lower crawl ratio vs swapping to an auto?
 
Seems like every auto swap has its own cascade of things to address to make work.
 
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