High Mileage 2001 Sahara Build

[jodomcfrodo]

Just went and hammered on them to the point where they weren’t stopping too great anymore. Front wheels were too hot to touch when I got back and I could smell the brakes easily. Will let them cool overnight and see what happens.

Luckily I was able to notice 3 cops and avoid them as I did my 50-15 mph routine over and over again down the road. I’m sure they wouldn‘t have been too impressed with that.

 

[astjp2]

I remember when I used to ride motorcycles, all these guys would be looking for the perfect Enduro bike. One that had amazing off-road capability, but was also a joy to ride on longer highway trips.

What it always came down to was that there was no such thing, it's just not possible. You could have something that was a happy medium, but it's as the saying always goes, "jack of all trades, master of none".

I would call the Honda CT90 as the perfect bike for enduro, its good for the trails and be it a bit slow, good for the highways...

 

[jodomcfrodo]

Break in stopped the screeching. I tried a break in before, but I guess I just didn't try hard enough that time
Thanks @mrblaine

I still think my passenger rear drum still needs a bit of adjustment, but the Jeep brakes way way better than it did before in terms of feel. In terms of stopping power, it does take a good amount more pedal pressure to get it to stop than before, but I'm assuming I'll get used to that again. I'm fairly sure it was like that when the brakes were first installed.

 

[jodomcfrodo]

Did some small work on the Jeep over the past week. A little more rust cleanup and removed the cover on my TRE winch line after doing some reading on here.

I've been trying to find the cause of my "two clicks" noise when I take off from a stop. It was present before the frame swap so I'm not sure what it could be. I have all new control arms, a rear track bar, driveshafts, and axle shafts, so I'm starting to wonder if it is the diff or transmission.

@mrblaine I have some more questions. The screeching is back after about 50 - 100 more miles of driving around. I've been trying to stop a little harder to keep them broken in, but maybe I'm not stopping hard enough? The screeching is louder than it was before. When I did my original re-break in, I noticed it went away for a while and then came back. Same thing when I wash them out at the coin up. It stayed away a little longer after the hard break in you recommended. Should I just go get them hot again?

 

[mrblaine]

Did some small work on the Jeep over the past week. A little more rust cleanup and removed the cover on my TRE winch line after doing some reading on here.

I've been trying to find the cause of my "two clicks" noise when I take off from a stop. It was present before the frame swap so I'm not sure what it could be. I have all new control arms, a rear track bar, driveshafts, and axle shafts, so I'm starting to wonder if it is the diff or transmission.

@mrblaine I have some more questions. The screeching is back after about 50 - 100 more miles of driving around. I've been trying to stop a little harder to keep them broken in, but maybe I'm not stopping hard enough? The screeching is louder than it was before. When I did my original re-break in, I noticed it went away for a while and then came back. Same thing when I wash them out at the coin up. It stayed away a little longer after the hard break in you recommended. Should I just go get them hot again?

Sounds like you do long coasting stops. Don't do that if you do and go break them in again. You are also very likely downshifting to help the brakes which simply don't need it.

You will very likely regret the use of the much smaller Allen drive versus the much larger #4 Phillips. They are designed with the use of a good small electric impact driver like the Milwaukee 3/8" M18 Fuel and #4 3/8" square drive sockets. Works damn near flawlessly.

 

[jodomcfrodo]

Sounds like you do long coasting stops. Don't do that if you do and go break them in again. You are also very likely downshifting to help the brakes which simply don't need it.

You will very likely regret the use of the much smaller Allen drive versus the much larger #4 Phillips. They are designed with the use of a good small electric impact driver like the Milwaukee 3/8" M18 Fuel and #4 3/8" square drive sockets. Works damn near flawlessly.

I downshift on every stop and only use the brakes for the last few miles per hour. I'm assuming I should just be using the brakes. That'll be a hard habit to break but I'll give it a shot. I'm going to go do another hard break in tonight and try to remember not to downshift.

I still have the original hardware that I might swap back over when I reinstall my skid plate. I was using a #3 screwdriver so that was the main problem. I'm going to pick up some #4 stuff for my impact and see how I like it. I'm expecting that it'll be a whole lot better than the #3 for obvious reasons.

 

[mrblaine]

I downshift on every stop and only use the brakes for the last few miles per hour. I'm assuming I should just be using the brakes. That'll be a hard habit to break but I'll give it a shot. I'm going to go do another hard break in tonight and try to remember not to downshift.

Your wallet needs to talk to your clutch foot. Hi foot, how you doing today? I'm doing okay but you may want to consider that a clutch job is a lot harder and a lot more expensive than a brake job so stop saving the brakes.

I still have the original hardware that I might swap back over when I reinstall my skid plate. I was using a #3 screwdriver so that was the main problem. I'm going to pick up some #4 stuff for my impact and see how I like it. I'm expecting that it'll be a whole lot better than the #3 for obvious reasons.

Right tool always makes a difference.

 

[jodomcfrodo]

Your wallet needs to talk to your clutch foot. Hi foot, how you doing today? I'm doing okay but you may want to consider that a clutch job is a lot harder and a lot more expensive than a brake job so stop saving the brakes.


Right tool always makes a difference.

When I was learning to drive stick, my Dad said "if you don't downshift people will think you don't know how to drive a manual", so thats where I got that from I guess. My original clutch lasted 186,000 miles of my Dad's rough down shifting so maybe it isn't a huge problem, but I'll try to stop for the sake of the brakes anyway.

I definitely agree on the tool part. I find I have to tell myself that a few times on any given job...

 

[jodomcfrodo]

Went and gave them another good break in. I can tell just by adjusting my driving style that the brakes are a bit happier when they aren't used lightly. Jeep feels a lot less rickety when stopping. Screeching stopped near the end of the break in and I'm letting them cool right now.

Also took advantage of heading North to check out some of the parks on Lake Michigan. I found a couple nice spots for the rest of the Summer.

Also, I heard a plastic piece fall off the Jeep while driving. Wasn't too hard to figure out what it was when I got back and checked the brakes. Guess this is just a sign that I should order some beadlocks soon and get rid of my chinesium wheels.

Thanks again for the help @mrblaine. Going to make sure I keep them broken in this time.

 

[jodomcfrodo]

It appears I'm going to be doing some more wheeling towards the end of the summer. Put in an order to Savvy today for the "surfboard" part of the under armor, a steering box skid, and F/R mini skids.

The mini skid install could be interesting, but I have a buddy that is a fairly good welder. I'm assuming the process should be to disconnect the battery, remove the control arm, prep, weld, paint, and reinstall the control arm.

Also going to order a new Mopar fuel pump later today and keep my current one as a backup. The anti-drain back valve is broken on my current one so I thought I might as well replace it and have a spare. Not really that hard to replace so it might be nice to have a spare sitting around.

 

[jodomcfrodo]

Minor but annoying “repair” tonight. I’ve been checking over my armor since it really hasn’t been tested out on any rocks yet. Found that the rock sliders weren’t as tight as I’d like them and that the serrated nuts were not gripping well. Turns out my shop left giant burrs (or edges maybe) on the inside of the tub after drilling. The serrated nuts had nothing to really grab onto. Out came the step drill bit and impact gun to ditch those edges and tighten the screws down.

I probably wouldn’t have let this leave my shop like this, but then again I don’t wrench for a living...

 

[jjvw]

I've never disconnected the battery when welding on mine.

 

[jodomcfrodo]

Went to go break my brakes in for the 3rd or 4th time tonight. I've been slamming on them every time I stop but I can't seem to fully get rid of that screech. But on the way, I decided to see exactly what temp I was running down the highway. This is on a 70 degree evening with new mopar radiator, 1 yr. old water pump, 3yr. old thermostat:

AC On:

AC Off:

Jeep runs about 199 - 208 around town with the AC on so I'm assuming this is fairly normal. Anybody have different results? I want to make sure I'm dialed in before I head across the country in the heat of August.

 

[jodomcfrodo]

Have Jeep parts but no Jeep! Still at the shop getting looked over. Going to have to call them tomorrow...

Got invited to some mud bogs this weekend. The shirtless, toothless, bud light, and Florida Georgia Line type mud bogs in central Illinois. If I get the Jeep back, I'll probably be able to get this all installed down there. Definitely not going into the mud pits though...

Guess I need to buy some nuts for the steering box skid.

 

[jodomcfrodo]

Jeep is back from the shop. They fixed a few small things but otherwise I’m good for holy cross in a few days!

First coat of prime down on the steering skid and the steel parts of the surfboard. I’m just going to do the painting tonight and finish it up tomorrow.

 

[jodomcfrodo]

Steering box skid was dead simple. Pretty sleek too!

Transfer case skid is back on. Now to work on the engine skid. My old teraflex one looks like it might be a pain to get off.

 

[jodomcfrodo]

This is probably my new favorite photo of my Jeep. If you haven’t been to Colorado with your TJ, plan a trip ASAP. The scenery unbelievable and I’m only near Denver. I’ve heard Ouray is even better.

After Holy Cross, I’ll need two new diff covers. But otherwise the Jeep came out completely unscathed besides a scratch on the passenger fender and one on my Savvy sliders. If you have a somewhat built Jeep, add Holy Cross to your bucket list

 

[tworley]

Glad you enjoyed the trails. Sorry I couldnt make more of them with you. You ever wanna come back let us know!

 

[jodomcfrodo]

Glad you enjoyed the trails. Sorry I couldnt make more of them with you. You ever wanna come back let us know!

Thanks for showing me around all! I don’t quite think I’m done with Colorado yet. I’ll be back at some point, maybe on vacation, but hopefully as a move from Chicago.

 

[jjvw]

Blanca Peak next time.