ElectricWizards 2000 TJ Sport Build

Love the upgrades on your rig. I’m doing a 2000 sport that’s been rescued from a Frankenowner. I need to regear and plan on rebuilding the axles at the same time. My wish list is long and very expensive.
 
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Love the upgrades on your rig. I’m doing a 2000 sport that’s been rescued from a Frankenowner. I need to regear and plan on rebuilding the axles at the same time. My wish list is long and very expensive.
Appreciate it! (y). It just wouldn't be a Jeep without a long and expensive wish-list, of course ;)
 
Today I replaced the crankshaft seal on the timing cover in order to fix a slight, but annoying, oil leak I've been suffering.

I bought an SKF #17800A crank seal for the repair, and also decided to replace my serpentine belt too; for that I used a Continental #4060750 belt.

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First, I removed the serpentine belt and then removed the fan and fan shroud. Next the radiator was drained and removed; this opened up lots of room to remove the vibration dampener.

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The dampener bolt was easily removed with an impact, and then a puller was setup to remove the dampener from the crank. With the dampener out of the way the mess can clearly be seen now!

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I cleaned up the oily mess on the timing cover and drove in the new seal; the lip of the seal was greased before being installed. I used a socket just the size of the seal as not to hit the timing cover. The seal when fully seated should be slightly recessed in the timing cover.

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Before reinstalling the dampener I ensured the sealing surface was clean and free of grooves or burrs. I also applied a bit of extra grease onto the sealing surface. Next I used an installer to press the dampener onto the crank most of the way, and then finished it up with the bolt by torquing it to 80 ft/lbs.

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The radiator, fan, and shroud were reinstalled, new serpentine belt installed, and the hoses reconnected. I then filled the radiator and overflow tanks with coolant and started up the Jeep to burp out any trapped air. So far there are no leaks after a trip down to O'Reillys and back to return the rental tools.

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I already did this repair a year ago, but obviously it was leaking again. The kit I used previously was the FelPro Timing Cover kit, though I only used the crank seal and dampener sleeve (to refresh the dampener sealing surface) from the kit.
I don't think I drove the crank seal into the timing cover fully the last time; it appeared the seal lip was riding right on the edge where the dampener sleeve ends, thus likely getting cut as the engine turned. Had I paid better attention to that detail a year ago, I wouldn't have had to do todays repair ;)
 
Todays project was to replace (nearly) all of my drum brake system; shoes, drums, and hardware.

My justification being my current drums appear to not be true to the hub as you can hear the brakes making uneven contact. No amount of adjustment or setup has fixed the problem. Due to this issue, my parking brake is also nearly non-existent and likewise can't be improved with any amount of adjusting.

I chose to use Centric parts, going with 2x 122.67021 Brake Drums, 112.05380 Heavy Duty Shoes, 118.63012 Hardware Kit, and 119.62036 & 119.62037 Adjuster Kits. I didn't change the wheel cylinders since I previously replaced them 2 years ago.

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First I jacked up the rear of the TJ and removed the wheels. Ensuring the parking brake was off and that the transmission was in neutral, I removed the drums. The drivers side came off without issue, but the passenger side required some persuading with a BFH. Note the small ring of rust on the axle, it really doesn't take much rust at all for a drum to be thoroughly stuck on.

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I then removed all the old brake components, leaving just the wheel cylinders in place. A liberal amount of brakeleen was used to prep the backing plate for the new parts; I also added a small amount of anti-sieze to the shoe contact points.

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The new shoes were attached with their stakes and springs, then the self adjuster mechanism, the adjuster lever spring, and the lower shoe equalizer spring was installed.

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The parking brake equalizer and spring were next put into position.

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The adjuster cable, cable guide, and the upper spring that retains the guide were losely into place. I then slid the spring-hook end of the cable over the adjuster lever.

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The upper spring that retains the cable guide was stretched over it's hook, ensuring the cable guide stays in place. Once that looked good the adjuster lever was pulled down into position against the adjuster wheel, and the spring was pulled over the adjuster lever. After all that is done and looked good the last upper spring was installed.

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Next the adjusters were backed out until the shoes lightly dragged on the drums. When that was good I put the wheels back on and took it for a test drive!

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So far everything works and feels great. I still need to do some adjustment to my parking brake cables as the lever in the TJ is quite tight, and only goes up a few clicks; at least there's something there though!
 
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Today after work I adjusted my parking brake. After replacing my drum brakes my parking brake lever would come up about 4 clicks before it was too tight. Here's a quick walk-through of what I did:

First I let off the parking brake and went under the Jeep to remove tension from the parking brake cables. This is easily done by loosening the nut on the cable equalizer. A 13mm box wrench is what I used. I loosened the nut until there was a small amount of slack in the cables.

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I then removed the wheels and drums

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I then turned the adjuster wheel until the brake shoes lightly drag on the drum. Even though I set these up just the other day they still required some adjustment.

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Once the brake shoe clearance is set correctly the drums and wheels are reinstalled.

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Then it was back underneath the TJ to tighten the cable tension nut until the lever feels good and tight, and isn't too high or low in it's throw.

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And now my parking brake is working the best it has been since I bought the TJ! (y)
 
SwayLOC Dual Rate Swaybar Install

For the last few years I've been disconnecting front swaybar whenever I go out on the trails. It has worked out well for the most part, however in some off-camber situations the body-roll is definitely pronoucned and somewhat sketchy feeling. I've wanted to install an off-road swaybar for quite some time, but I couldn't decide what one I wanted to go for.

The popular Currie Antirock gets mixed reviews regarding on-road performance from some people; while it isn't a problem for most, I do like the way my TJ performs on the road and didn't really want to add more body-roll. The other option was to pick a dual-rate swaybar that keeps the highway rate similar to stock, and allows you to "unlock" to a have lighter rate for off-road use. I decided to go with the ORO SwayLOC Dual-rate Swaybar with manual lever control.

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I started off by removing the bolts that retain the stock swaybar bushings. In my case the Warn winch plate needed to be unbolted due it's design which captures one of the swaybar bushing bolts. I had to use a prybar between the bushing retainer and the winch plate in order to shimmy it forward enough to get a socket on the bolt.

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Once the bushing bolts were freed up, I removed the bushings and disconnected the swaybar links from the axle for the final time. I also removed the studs that the links mounted to.

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Next I removed the swaybar. I wish I could say it was that easy, however in my case, it wasn't ;). Due to my winch wiring I couldn't just lift the swaybar up between the grill and the winch, and I really didn't wanna completley disconnect the wiring. I was able to carefully lift and pivot the winch/plate and finagle the swaybar out underneath it.

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Before installing the new swaybar bushings in the front crossmember I needed to remove some welding spatter. I made quick work of it all with a chisel and half-round file, I also applied a bit of paint to the bare metal before I put in the bushings.

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I drove the passenger-side bushing into the crossmember and added some silicone grease into it. The SwayLOC has two torsion bars, a solid one and a tube. The tubular torsion bar needed to be driven through the bushing towards the driver side. This ended up being a lot of work, requirng a combination of: beating, twisting, and brute force pushing. Eventually it made it through.

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I greased the driver-side bushing and began to drive it into place. This also ended up being a lot of work as it was a very tight fit between the crossmember and the torsion bar.

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Next the solid torsion bar was greased and slid into the tubular bar.

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Now the driver-side arm was ready to be installed. I tapped the arm onto the torsion bars until the hollow bar was fully seated in the arm, however the solid bar was not in at all. I tightened up the inner retaining bolt on the driver-side arm, locking the hollow bar down, and jumped over to the passenger-side to install the inner latching arm (which only attaches to the hollow bar); likewise I tapped it into place and tightened the retaining bolt once it was fully on the bar.

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Doing this allowed me to tap the solid torsion bar from the passenger side until it was most of the way through the driver-side arm. At this point I was able to use the driver-side endcap bolt to pull the bar the rest of the way in. At this point the driver-side arm was done and all bolts were fully tightened.

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Next I hopped back over to the passenger-side and loosened the retaining bolt on the inner arm. ORO provides a tool for pulling the passenger-side arms onto the torsion bars properly, while maintaing the gap needed between the arms. Once the inner arm was pulled fully seated its retaining bolt was snugged down. The outter arm was then tapped into place on the solid bar and the tool assembled again to seat it fully. Doing it this way keeps a gap between both arms, which is needed for when they're unlocked. Both of the retaining bolts on the passenger-arm were then tightened.

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Instead of an endcap bolt, the passenger-side gets a grease zirk; it's installed in the same fashion as the endcap bolt.

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Lastly it was time to assemble the swaybar links. I spent some time finding the best combination of parts for my setup, ORO includes many different lengths to allow for different lifts. Once I found the best setup I installed the links onto the arms and axle tabs. I put the upper side of the link on the inside of the swaybar arms to gain extra clearance from the tires; this is mentioned in the instructions as an option.

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The install was pretty much wrapped up at this point. I did spend a bit of time trying to flex my TJ in various ways, also turning the tires lock-to-lock in order to see if there is any rubbing. With my current combo of 31x10.5" tires and stock 5.5" backspaced wheels it seems I'll only rub the passenger-side arm while at full bump and at full lock towards the left. I could likely add some steering-stop washers to help add some clearance, but ultimately I just will get wheels with less backspacing. I'll spend more time fine tuning and ensuring there's clearance in the near future.

Driving around in town felt good, very similar, but maybe a tad softer than stock, mainly on quick or sharp events. So far so good, I definitely approve! (y)
 
@ElectricWizard I also have one installed in mine! I went with Currie links and there was some finagling needed so that everything would clear without issues . It's pretty great when you go off road, so easy to flip that lever while you air down the tires. I don't feel a difference on the pavement compared to stock at all. It's expensive, but I think this is one of the best mods to have.
 
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@ElectricWizard I also have one installed in mine! I went with Currie links and there was some finagling needed so that everything would clear without issues . It's pretty great when you go off road, so easy to flip that lever while you air down the tires. I don't feel a difference on the pavement compared to stock at all. It's expensive, but I think this is one of the best mods to have.
I saw that you posted about that right after I bought mine; helped me feel like I made the right choice ;) haha.

So far I'm very impressed with it! I've got a few super potholed and rutted gravel streets near me, I unlocked it and ran through those a few times to give it a bit of a test. Feels a lot more controlled than being disconnected. I certainly think the price is worth it should somebody want a no compromise setup!
 
I don't know how I haven't seen this yet. I also have a forest green 2000! We should explore together sometime, I was in Sand Lake 2 weeks ago. I love it over there and have been looking for a way to relocate over to the North Oregon Coast. Anyway, nice build so far man!
 
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I don't know how I haven't seen this yet. I also have a forest green 2000! We should explore together sometime, I was in Sand Lake 2 weeks ago. I love it over there and have been looking for a way to relocate over to the North Oregon Coast. Anyway, nice build so far man!
Thank you, appreciate it! I guess I've just managed to sneak by ;)

Awesome, I'm defintiely down for some exploration whenever you're out this way again!
 
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Went kayaking today utilizing the TJ. Very happy with the performance of the SwayLOC, I couldn't tell any difference from when I've carried kayaks in the past. No additional body roll while traveling the twisty mountain roads. All in all a good, fun, and tiring day.

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Today I took care of some well deserved TJ maintenance after its long trip.

First on the list was a new air filter; it has been a little over a year since I changed it. It wasn't too bad, but definitely dirty! The old filter was an STP, and the new is an AC Delco.
Old vs new:
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New filter in place:
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Next I changed the oil. Just like the last oil change, I used Valvoline MaxLife 10w30 and a Wix filter. I also took a sample for an oil analysis.
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Lastly, I changed the oil in both my front and rear diff. It has been about 2,300 miles since my re-gear break-in change, so I was curious to see the condition of the oil and gears. Thankfully neither diff looked like my milky way picture ;). Neither one had any serious amount of metal and the gears looked great.

Rear:
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Front:
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This past weekend I replaced a leaking rear axle seal. I replaced the seals a few months ago when I reubilt and re-geared my axles, but it appears I must have nicked it during installation or it was defective. I hadn't noticed the leak until after my eastern Oregon trip when all the dust mixed with the oil and created quite a mess on my wheel.

I didn't have time to document this repair as much as most of the work I do, but I was able to snap a few pictures. Besides, I documented this process back in my re-gear saga in full detail.


First step was to jack up the rear axle so the tires were just off the ground, and then drain out the gear oil. This was frustrating as I had just changed the oil a few weeks ago; unfortunately I didn't notice the crap on my wheel, and thus the leak, until just afterwards..

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Next I pulled the wheel off, exposing all the nasty grime.. I also removed the brake drum and sprayed everything down with brake cleaner.

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Next I removed the spider gear cross-pins, removed the axle-shaft c-clips, and pulled the axle-shaft out. This revealed the offending seal.

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From this point on I wasn't able to get pictures, but it's just the reverse of disassembly ;)

I pulled the old seal and cleaned up the bore, drove the new seal in and applied a healthy dose of grease to the seal lip, then I slid the axle-shaft back in and reassembled everything else. So far the new seal seems to be good, hopefully it's gonna last a bit longer this time (y)
 
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Ahhh, the sight of drums alone scares me... haha.

Good thing you caught that axle seal leak!
The first time I did them I was driven to the point of near insanity, but after figuring out a few tricks they're just about as easy as disc brakes ;). Kinda surprised I didn't notice the leak sooner considering the mess it made on my wheel!
 
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The first time I did them I was driven to the point of near insanity, but after figuring out a few tricks they're just about as easy as disc brakes ;). Kinda surprised I didn't notice the leak sooner considering the mess it made on my wheel!

It's probably been 10 years since I did drums. I'm sure I could figure them out again pretty easily, but like you said, at first they will drive you to insanity!
 
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Quick fix time!

While out in the woods this weekend my passenger got a bit overzealous and broke my passenger seat pull tab. What actually ended up failing was a small portion of a plastic retainer that connects the cable to the lever at the rear of the seat.

Luckily, it was quite easy to fix with a simple small zip tie! All I had to do was use it to hold the end of the cable in place, replacing the broken portion of the retainer clip with the zip tie. Simple fix that works great. Now in the future I'm just going to have to teach my passengers how to properly fold the seat up..

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It is once again leak, I mean rainy, season here in the PNW; and this time it's back with a vengeance..


After fighting (and failing) to fix an intermittent leak on my driver side this past fall, I've since developed a very severe leak on my passenger side. Previously I would occasionally find some water on the passenger side, similar to the driver side. During previous repairs I have also found water accumulating in the bottom of my HVAC box where the fan is, under the cowl cover.

The bit of HVAC gasket I can feel on the inside of the cab will sometimes be moist, and today if I pushed against it in the right spot would encourage it to leak more. Sometimes I'm also able to hear the fan sloshing around water. I suspect the water is likely coming from the cowl air intake area, and possibly from inside the engine bay where the heater-core tubes penetrate the firewall.

I will have to investigate further to try and solve these leak issues. Hopefully the weather can be a bit more cooperative before the rain sets in for the next few months ;)