Family Project: '99 Wrangler TJ - An Exercise in Incremental Changes

kalmairn

Wrenching is only done right when done twice
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Sep 10, 2020
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Arvada, CO
I have no idea how this will develop, so let's all watch together - shall we?

Big thanks to the community for all their suggestions and references; plus, a good portion of you for how-tos. I've spent a tremendous amount of time reading what you've all posted and I think I'm ready to summarize our project. Here goes!

We recently purchased a very lightly optioned 99 Wrangler Sport 4.0 with ~170k miles. One owner, good service history. Only issues found in inspection are worn shocks (replacing anyway), bad alignment, and degrading rubber for several bushings. That, and the paint looked like it hadn't seen a car wash, let alone been waxed or polished, since it was purchased.

Here it is, in all its Craigslist beauty:
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Since I can't have an ugly car, I quickly took the time to clean the paint. I claybar'ed the paint, applied a medium cut cleaner/polish, and topped it off with a layer of wax. It needs a lot of work, but it'll do for now.

First, check out the difference a claybar and cleaner/polish made:
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There's a clear difference between this Jeep and the one in the Craiglist posting (beyond that it's in my driveway!):
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That's where we are today. (Well, a few weeks ago when these pictures were taken.) These are the plans!
  1. Correct the bump-steer and general vagueness. A full Moog kit is on the way. Alignment to see how the front-right scrub changes.
  2. OME 2" lift springs with Rancho 5000x 0-2" shocks will go in. Here's to hoping the differential and driveline will be tolerant. Again, alignment, but now with good shocks!
  3. Replace the wheels and tires. We'll put on Ultra Rogue 15x8 3.75" backspace wheels with 31"x10.5" BFG AllTerrain T/A KO2 tires.
Hardware for all this is on order. We aim to get it driveable before winter fully hits. Then, in the spring, we'll look at a few more things before hitting the campgrounds and trails - receiver hitch and a winch top the list, with a soft top and rock sliders a step or two down from there.
 
Parts are starting to be delivered. Other than checking that there is no damage we've largely set them to the side.
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...but with parts arriving, it's time to get some prep work done. Sometimes it's the little things that make the biggest difference, for yesterday that was spraying copious amounts of PB Blaster on every bolt we're likely to have to turn.

Nothing sexy about this. No disassembly progress, no parts on the ground, no new hardware test-fit. Just staining on parts and bolts after being sprayed down and left to sit overnight. We'll be doing this every day until we start pulling things apart. If there's anything I learned from my Miata tear-down, it's that the non-wrenching days are just as important as the wrenching days - or that an inch of preparation returns a mile of progress.

I didn't get a picture while we were crawling around yesterday, so sharing only a sample "next day" image. Plenty of evidence of excess 16 hours later - the PB Blaster way.
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Spent the last couple weeks selling crap (or at least trying to) from my storage shed and clearing out the other side of the garage to make room for the Jeep. Our driveway is sloped, so I need the garage as a workspace - and the garage queen isn't giving up her space to make it any easier.

That, and took the lovely wife on a grand tour of Colorado for leaf season last weekend.

Lacking any real progress to share, I'll share a couple other important things we've done. First, we all know the most important part of owning a Jeep is the tire cover:

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Next, since we're not working on the Jeep, a brief glimpse what we have been doing. Here's a view looking south from the east side of McClure Pass:

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Working on our Jeep TJ is SO much easier than working on my Miata. Dare I say, it's fun? Or maybe working on the Miata wasn't fun. Either way, it's nice to make solid, visible progress in just a few hours work - even when we have never done work on a Jeep before, nor have we done suspension work before.

I took more pictures than I'm used to, but even so I didn't get pictures of a few critical steps. Sigh.

Work Day 1: Steering Disassembly
I learned a lot of lessons about how difficult working on cars could be as I installed a turbo upgrade in my Miata. One of the most important lessons was setting a reasonable objective for the day and stopping when you got to it.

Our objective for Day 1 was to remove the steering assembly - pitman arm to tie-rod ends on the knuckles. We wanted to remove the whole assembly as one piece so we could match it when assembling the new Moog parts we have in the garage.

That said, the garage wasn't actually ready for the Jeep. The first couple hours were spent moving stuff around, reorganizing, tossing old crap, and generally making enough space for the Jeep plus space around it to work. The Garage Queen won't give up her space, but she was nice enough to move further to the side to give another foot of room to work.

I pulled the jeep in tail-first and we started on the front end. Jeep TJs are surprisingly small, even when sharing the garage with my Miata there's room to move around, plenty of room at the back of the garage - important because that's where we have our deep freezer (Costco, you know?).

We lifted the front end and put the axle on jackstands. Driver's side stand placement is a little awkward because of the placement of the lower control arm, the axle can't center in the saddle, but the ridge on the end of the saddle was behind the axle so we went with it.

Disconnecting the steering stabilizer was simple - just a single bolt. The tie rod ends on the driver and passenger side knuckles were pretty straight forward, beyond the pressure needed to get them to pop out with the press tools.

The pitman tie rod end was a little more challenging. After trying to wedge in tie rod end press tools at various angles and orientations, we found a position that had a little more room over top - pitman turned just passenger of center. That, and gentle application of force - i.e., hammer on the back of the press - and we were able to release the last tie rod end.

We also disconnected the trackbar at the axle end to replace the bushings. That hasn't gone to plan - see questions at the end!

Once the assembly was removed, we started piecing together the new parts to match - where we realized we were missing the longer tie rod sleeve. We're going to try to use the original as the new one is 5-6 weeks out - again, see questions at the end!

Overall, about 5 hours - 2 of those spent on garage clearing and prep, 2 hours on disassembly, and another hour or so spent on piecing together the new hardware. Excellent progress!

Steering components removed. Yes, the bike has a flat, the tubeless tape clearly has a problem.
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Look, Ma. No steering!
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Work Day 2: Shock / Spring Removal and Replacement
We went in expecting to remove the shocks and springs. Stretch goal was to install the new shocks and springs, and super-stretch goal was to replace the upper and lower control arms.

It was a very, very good day.

We started with the swaybar endlinks. We found the rubber seals torn, and the bolts were badly rusted - but, they came free from the axle easily with some judicious application of force. Impact driver FTW. We'll need to press them out of the swaybar, more on that in the questions below.

It's just a little tear.
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We then moved to removing the shocks. Many thanks to @fuse for his detailed write-ups on the subject such as this one. We admittedly didn't follow them closely as we probably should have, but the reference material was worth its weight in gold. Thank you!

The bottom bolts were pretty rusty, and the angle made it hard to access with the impact driver so that became a job for hand tools. Regardless, they came out with little fanfare. The nuts at the top, however, were a completely different story.

We started on the passenger side. First we gripped the shock stem with a Vise-Grip, then used a wrench to work the nut. This quickly failed, the vise-grips would turn easier than the nut. We used a metal file to flatten the side of the damper rod, then tried a wrench on the top. The top wrench was tight enough to need some tapping to slide on, yet still the damper rod would round out before the nut would turn.

A trip to Ace later, and we solved that problem with a nut cutter. (Also picked up new mounting hardware for the shocks.)

Nice try, but you lose.
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Since we were there, we also pulled the passenger side spring. We put jackstands under the framerails, then pulled the jackstand holding the passenger side of the axle up, letting it droop down. It was then a relatively simple process of pressing down on the axle while twisting the spring while compressing it slightly to pop it off.

Now to the drivers side. This shock was easier. We adjusted the angle of the axle so that the top of the damper rod was pointed straight up toward the access hole going into the engine bay. This allowed use of an impact driver with a deep socket to reach the top nut, which when coupled with little friction to the shock tube to prevent spinning allowed us to remove the nut. We were surprised, and very happy, this worked - it was much easier than the passenger side. Note, it's likely the passenger side shock top access hole could be reached by pulling the airbox - hindsight, I guess.

Then the driver's side spring. We allowed the driver's side of the axle to droop, pushed the axle down, and ... couldn't turn the spring.

Wait, there wasn't one of you on the other side!
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We removed the retaining clip, removed the shock, then pulled the spring just as we had on the passenger side - pressure down on the axle, twist the spring while compressing the bottom. Easy squeezy (how punny!).

Look how easy it is to get another 2"! As they say, however, it's how you use it.
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Now we moved on to assembly, starting with the shocks. We ended up setting the axle with the driver's side slightly lower than the passenger side, supported by jack stands. This gave a solid platform to work with for shock installation - nothing wandering around as we tried to mount hardware.

We first assembled the top of the shock; metal disc and rubber bushing below the upper damper mount; then once installed another rubber bushing and metal disc topped with a mounting nut.

We mounted the driver's side shock while the plastic retention strap was still in place, making it easier to fit into place. Once the top was loosely bolted in place, we cut the strap and guided the shock to expand into the mount on the axle. Once there, we bolted the bottom hand-tight.

Then we swapped sides - lather, rinse, repeat.

Now we cycle the suspension. I wish I had pictures because this was almost too easy - someone is likely going to question the results. We made sure we had the jackstands under the framerails high enough to allow full droop, and removed the supports from the axle. We then jacked up the driver's side of the axle until it compressed the bumpstop; the Rancho 5000x shocks still had ~1" travel left. We checked the passenger side with the same results. No bumpstop extensions required!

Next came springs. Fuse's instructions noted that it was likely we'd need to disconnect the LCA to fit in springs if they are larger than stock - and that was true. With the LCA disconnected and nothing on the other side of the axle, the axle has an absurd range of motion - almost a little scary.

A little pressure on the axle and the spring went on without little effort. As you put the spring on, make sure the end of the coil lines up with the gap in the seat; and make sure the top of the spring is seated correctly on the upper perch. After installing on the passenger side and switching the support on the axle to move to the driver's side, the spring started to bend outwards. Turns out the top of the spring caught the rubber perch and the bottom was misaligned; fixing that, the spring coiled nicely as it was compressed.

We took this opportunity to mount the replacement OE-style Lower Control Arm. Both bolts zipped off with some impact wrench coaxing. The bushings on the LCAs are clearly aged - lots of cracking in the rubber throughout, replacing is an excellent idea, especially since I'm already here.

The axle shifted forward slightly during the spring install so we ended up using a ratchet and tie-down strap to pull the axle slightly forward so the bolt holes aligned. Everything zipped together without too much trouble otherwise.

Lather, rinse, repeat - driver side. This was a little harder as the passenger side now had a spring and shock on it, but with a little downward pressure it mounted without issue. We also replaced the LCA before bolting everything back up.

Then we recalled one spring was taller than the other - and that spring should be on the driver's side. $#!+. Whip out the measuring tape...and the driver's side spring is 1/4" taller. Whew.

Isn't it purdy?
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Finally, we replaced the Upper Control Arms. The rear bolts were removed with hand tools as it was inconvenient to get a power tool in there. Probably doable, but decided not to try to assemble the pieces needed to impact wrench at an angle; and, besides, it tedious vs. hard. Amazing what we'll do when there's progress. The front bolt on the passenger zipped off with the impact wrench; the driver side required use of a Vise-Grip to hold the plate in place while zipping the nut off. Interestingly, the bushings on the UCAs were in great condition. Replaced them anyway, but they showed no sign of needed replacement.

The axle rotated slightly forward (again) as we replaced both UCAs. Passenger side, only needed to raise the axle slightly to get it aligned; but, on the driver's side, needed to use ratchet and straps to pull it into alignment.

New control arms. Garage queen in background, unimpressed.
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6 hours of labor working with breaks along the way and at least an hour spent on the steering components as we continued to try to figure out how to get a fully assembled system. Managed to accomplish not just the goal, but both stretch goals. This Jeep work is something resembling fun (for now).

Now, on to the questions!

Reusing the Tie Rod Adjusting Sleeve

Note: This might be overcome by events. I just sourced a new tie rod end at an auto parts place - $50! More to come once I pick it up...
The tie rod adjusting sleeve included in my Moog steering kit is 5-6 weeks out, so I'm trying to re-use the original one. I was able to remove one of the old tie rod ends, but the other is stuck enough that I put gouges in the sleeve's outer surface as it spun in my vice. Suggestions how to remove the second (hopefully without further damaging the sleeve)?


Replacing Trackbar Bushings - Or Buy New?
I bought poly bushings for my front trackbar, but after removing the rubber from the end we found there was a metal sleeve we still needed to remove. I'm guessing I need a press or something similar with the right size cylinder to push out the old sleeve. So, I'm looking for some suggestions:
  1. Suggestions how to remove the metal sleeve so we can install the poly bushings I bought; or
  2. Suggestions for a reasonable replacement trackbar. Moog has a OE-style unit for ~$110, I'm willing to pay a little more for the ability to adjust, but not Currie money.
Ordered a Moog OE-style trackbar. Looks like worst case I'll see 0.125-0.25 shift of the body toward the passenger side in the front. I have the OME rear trackbar relocation kit, we'll see if I use it and end up with the body cocked slightly compared to the frame.

Front Swaybar Endlinks
The rubber seals on my front endlinks are torn, so we're going to replace the endlinks. The Moog OE-style are about $100, JKS Quicker Disconnect about about $170. The upgrade cost seems reasonable for the easier disconnect, although I'm unsure I'll actually use it. Regardless, I'm looking for suggestions - JKS, alternative? And which ones - for example the JKS has a 0-2" and 2.5-6" Lift link setup, I'm assuming the 2" in my application.

I ordered the JKS front swaybar endlinks for 2" lift. $70 wasn't TOO bad a premium, although that's on a $100 part; I try not to think about that. I debated going stock and disconnecting from the bolts for the rare event I'd need to disconnect, but after seeing some comments sharing that disconnecting for forest roads can help ride quality decided to go with something easier to work with.
 
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Found a tie rod adjusting sleeve at a local auto parts shop, picked it up and did a quick fit.
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In attempting to install my steering stabilizer, I found it has metric nuts with a connecting bolt that is SAE. That's clearly not going on tonight, but an e-mail to the supplier is going out tonight.
 
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Finally turned on the stereo. Instead of getting music, I heard only paper vibration and distortion - bad speakers. These Polk 462 were inexpensive and well regarded here on the forum, so I picked them up and installed them. 30 minutes, 10 minutes of which was me repeatedly disassembling and reassembling - taken apart first to put on the baffle and second to route the wiring correctly.

Sigh.

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Quick question.

The Rancho 5000X shocks I bought, the 0-2" lift (RS55128 front / RS55240), have very little extension remaining. In the front, ~2.2" extension remaining before putting in a spring spacer to level out rake; in the rear, ~1".

I've bounced the springs to get them to settle to get them to this point.

So, my question: thoughts on these selections to replace them?

Front: Rancho 5000X RS55239 - this seems to put me closely in the middle of the shock stroke, with ~4.29" extension and ~5.12" compression after putting in the spring spacer to even out the rake.

Rear: Rancho 5000X RS55241 - this puts me at ~38% of the shock stroke - hardly optimal. Extension is limited at ~2.63", compression is solid at 5.53". Or, I could add a a spring spacer but this is diminishing returns as I try to keep the rake level. Alternatively, the RS55256 would give me 5.63" extension and 4.03" compression - at the cost of additional compression stroke.

Thanks!
 
Maybe we can compare notes a bit here. I'm running same springs, with 1"spring spacers up front and 3/4" spacers in the rear. Jeep is light and sits about level. Running the RS55239's/RS55241's shocks, which they boast for 2.5" lift.
Up front I'm getting pretty close to a 50/50 split with 5" up/4.32" down. The rear, however, is presenting challenges. My fight is with the rear track bar hitting the rear crossmember before reaching full bump. This leaves me with 1.25" of available shaft showing on the rear RS55241's. So, the rears are effectively netting 3.75" up/3.30" down, not ideal. What you need to look out for is if your TB is restricting your up travel, and how much added bump stop you will need. In my situation, I'm going to need more added bump stop and a bit longer shock. My plan is to add a 1" spring spacer, raising the jeep another 0.25", adding a bit more bump stop, and a longer shock. Sadly, Rancho doesn't make a shock that has the numbers I'm looking for, so I'm trying something else.
 
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This is great information, @bobthetj03!

I'm leaning toward what you suggested - especially since Rancho offers 90-day no-questions-asked returns.

I like the idea of a little more lift to offset extension/compression, although I've not found an easy way to install/remove lift springs (fishing for suggestions) - I have to disconnect control arms and reassembly is a bit of a pain.

Edit: Adding spring increases space for compression over ride height, right?

I'm trying to avoid an SYE and hopeful I can about transfer case lowering - but, with the added lift, I'm guessing I'm getting to that point.
 
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This could also be a situation where a rear shock extension might help. I know they reduce "up" (compression) travel, but in my situation I need more "down" than "up."
 
Yes, a shock extension, or bar pin eliminator might give you that extra down to even out the bias. Just make sure you have enough bump stop so as to not bottom out the shock on compression. I'm actually surprised you don't already have drive line vibes at that height.
 
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I'm actually surprised you don't already have drive line vibes at that height.
Drive line vibrations require....driving. Jeep is still on jack stands in the garage. :)

I'm tempted to assemble it with what we have. It's aligned, all the replacement hardware installed, just need to put on rear shocks, torque everything down, mount the wheels, and it'll roll.

I kinda need to do that so I can see what the rake looks like.
 
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Pictures will come soon.

Over the weekend, we replaced the rear LCAs, decided not to replace the rear UCAs; pulled the rear springs and shocks and installed the new springs.

Up front, we completed the installation of a Moog OE-style trackbar, then completed the installation of the steering components. The hardware for the steering stabilizer hadn't arrived, so another trip to Ace sourced everything we needed to complete the install.

Most of the work went smoothly, but there was still some excitement along the way.
  • The nut on the driver's side LCA rear bolt, behind the brake drum, was frozen solid. Our impact wrench couldn't budge it, starting to round it off in the process of trying. Sourced a mid-depth socket, locked that with a breaker bar against the axle. Put another breaker bar on the bolt side, and used a jack to push the breaker upward. It took so much force it lifted the driver's side rear axle off the jack before a loud POP and it settled. Another 10 minutes of small motions with the jack before it was loose enough for leg strength, then arms. Getting that nut removed without breaking the bolt was cause for a short celebration.
  • Installing the new springs required disconnecting the LCA and UCA on that side. It took us a while to realize that it was easier to reconnect the UCA then the LCA; even then, it took a little jacking with ratchet straps to get everything put back together.
  • Reconnecting the front trackbar was entertaining. We learned some lessons on the rear UCA/LCA reinstall, so we removed the two straps we'd tried to use to pull things together, tightened one, jacked one end of the axle, and with a couple more clicks of the strap it lined up.
Also picked up 96" of 1" aluminum box tube. Cut it in half, marked it with centerline, 31, 33, and 35" tire widths, and mounted it to the brake caliper in preparation for alignment.
 
Short list tonight. Reconnected the rear swaybar, installed the JKS Quicker Disconnects for the front swaybar. Checked torque on all steering components, aligned the castle nuts and installed pins. Torqued down the front LCAs and UCAs.

Aligned the front end, tightened the tie rod sleeve, and eyeballed the front end straight with the drag link sleeve; left that loose for a test drive.

In the process, found that bushing for the steering rod is squeaking/groaning. We'll work some lithium grease into it as we get a little time.

Bounced the front and rear end a bunch to help the suspension settle. Rear has settled enough to allow about 2" extension on the RS55240, and I suspect there's a little more to go. The RS55241 will probably work great. If we need to fine-tune, we'll put bar-pin eliminators in. Front hasn't changed, the RS55239 will probably near-perfect.

Also measured height to the fenders to see where the rake was going to land - looks like about 1". We'll see how it looks when the wheels are installed, but on jackstands it looks pretty good.
 
Priorities. That, and the cover fits nicely over the new wheel/tire combo.
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Rear suspension almost complete. Just need shocks.
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Front end completely assembled
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