Trenching under roots rather than through them is not for sissies. Geez that's a good job.
High travel, high clearance & high octane, a streetable adventure LJ story
- Thread starter toximus
- Start date
How about a moat around the property?Ha! Maybe you need to start a trench build thread
Maybe you can get your wife to build you a rock garden next?
Kiwi TJ
I don't suffer from insanity I enjoy every minute
Supporting Member
Ride of the Month Winner
OP
I will throw in a garage post every now and again to show changes.
Are there any other aspects that you guys would enjoy? Tools I use, more pictures, more part numbers, etc?
OP
I don't have a lot of land; just enough for a short trail. Maybe a member here has machinery I can barrow for a weekend?
OP
OP
First on the agenda is connecting up the parking brake. When I started this build, this part we thought was going to be a challenge. It ended up being super easy and only a few brackets were needed.
I started with a 304 stainless steel remnant. It feels great to be making chips again!
These cable adapter links were made with 1" of separation between the holes:
I previously mentioned that I made and welded on parking brake retainers. What I did was I cut and drilled a small tab of 1/4" steel and used a 3-1/2" hole saw at the bottom of them to match the curve of the axle tube and then welded a short support leg onto that. Here's a picture from back when I made them:
And here's a good look at the parking brake assembled:
Once I got the parking brake off the list, UPS delivered the 10mmx1.0 to -6AN fitting I was waiting on. I removed the diff cover and quickly chased the threads and got the new fitting in. I topped it with a PTFE lined stainless steel hose with a 90* fitting on the near end. This solution is going to clear the bridge perfectly and at the other end of the hose I can go back to a barbed fitting to finish bringing the breather up to the firewall.
I started with a 304 stainless steel remnant. It feels great to be making chips again!
These cable adapter links were made with 1" of separation between the holes:
I previously mentioned that I made and welded on parking brake retainers. What I did was I cut and drilled a small tab of 1/4" steel and used a 3-1/2" hole saw at the bottom of them to match the curve of the axle tube and then welded a short support leg onto that. Here's a picture from back when I made them:
And here's a good look at the parking brake assembled:
Once I got the parking brake off the list, UPS delivered the 10mmx1.0 to -6AN fitting I was waiting on. I removed the diff cover and quickly chased the threads and got the new fitting in. I topped it with a PTFE lined stainless steel hose with a 90* fitting on the near end. This solution is going to clear the bridge perfectly and at the other end of the hose I can go back to a barbed fitting to finish bringing the breather up to the firewall.
Nicely done on the bracket. That looks factory!
So you drilled the holes and then cut them out with a cutting wheel or something then I assume?
So you drilled the holes and then cut them out with a cutting wheel or something then I assume?
OP
Yeah. I used my calipers to mark out the link on the larger piece. I then drilled the holes before cutting because it's easier to work with it in the drill press vise. I cut it out using an angle grinder with a cut off wheel.
OP
Haha! I kinda dropped a bunch of posts all at once. I'm glad you were able to catch up!
OP
The tag that came with the axle lists that it takes either 2.5qts or 3qts of diff fluid depending on if it has inner-seals. I tried 3qts which brought the level right up to the top of the filler, so I sucked out half a quart and figure the rear diff takes 2.5qts of non-synthetic conventional oil.
A while back Currie did tests and found conventional oil cools the gears much better than synthetic. Ever since then they require it in their housings.
Every nut and bolt is torqued, antiseized, and/or loctited. I rechecked the rear alignment and we're looking good! Unfortunately when I was torquing the bridge I managed to strip one of the bolts. I think it may be due to mangled threads on one of the bolts which I already used a die on to straighten which may have reduced the overall OD of the bolt. A time-sert and fresh bolts are on their way.
I further reduced the overall weight of my Jeep by 60lbs+ by taking an honest look at my growing recovery gear bag. I sold the useless hi-lift jack, recovery chains, old huge snatch block, replaced steel shackles with synthetic soft shackles, and bought a synthetic rope to replace the steel cable on the winch. I might be jumping ahead of myself in the build thread a little bit since I don't even have a front bumper yet, but here we go anyway...
I have previously run soft shackles from CustomSplice on my ATV, they work but when they get wet and frozen they are difficult to open. Tactical Recovery Equipment places an extra pull string inside the body of the shackle to assist opening the choker loop. I bought an extra shackle for my ATV to test this theory out this winter.
When using shackle tabs, it is important to round the inside edges so that they don't cut into the soft shackles:
On the trail, I have tended to find that I'd always be doubling up my trusty old 20ft recovery strap for towing or when used as a tree saver because it was just too long for the tight woods. In an effort to reduce the physical size of my recovery gear I replaced it with a 10' tree saver. If I ever need more length I can either double it with a friend's or pack 2.
The winch line is 100' of 3/8" Dyneema with a Safety Thimble II on the end.
One important detail is the fairlead: Many hawse style fairleads from even large brands are created with a sharp edge that will wear through the synthetic rope, Tactical Recovery Equipment's hawse fairleads are designed with the correct radius.
My ATV wears through winch lines fairly quickly when plowing since the same spot is against the rollers repeatedly, so I also got a replacement line and Safety Thimble I for it. The smaller thimble is cute compared to the Safety Thimble II.
OP
I repaired the threaded hole with a timesert. I took a closer look at what could have initially damaged the threads on the bolt and I think it may have been due to the bridge overlapping the bolt holes slightly. Since only the upper holes are used for locating the UCAs I ovalled the lower holes on the bridge to allow for better clearance around the lower bolts. I replaced all of the bolts with new ones just to be safe.
Here's an animation that shows how the timesert works:
Here's an animation that shows how the timesert works:
OP
I wasn't satisfied with the coverage I got with my first application of internal frame coating and when I welded the transfercase crossmember I burned off the coating in that area. I applied half a can to each frame rail.
I then installed entry guards to the front doors. I'm not entirely a fan of the design, but short of bending my own it's the best I can find. We'll see how they hold up.
I then installed entry guards to the front doors. I'm not entirely a fan of the design, but short of bending my own it's the best I can find. We'll see how they hold up.
So this is very similar to a heli-coil then? I had to do that once on a spark plug in a cylinder head... with the cylinder head still attached to the engine. Thank goodness for super high powered vacuums with tiny attachments.
OP
It is very similar. A timesert is supposed to be stronger than a helicoil, if this is a tangible difference I do not know. I do know that it installed cleanly and held the torque which I am happy about.
It looks like a job well done. I'll have to keep that in mind next time I have a stripped bolt-hole... which I hope isn't for a long time.
OP
It's been a while since my last mistake. I was changing oil on an atv... I used a cheapy torque wrench and blew the threads on the oil strainer bolt.
OP
Christmas came early this year: my local Ace Hardware started stocking grade 8 Stover nuts! I celebrated by buying enough for the rear parking brake. I hope they continue to stock them. I went to fine thread on the 1/4" bolts so I could get more threads engaged.
The rear wiring is cleaned up and license plate light plug wired in. I did not use the 3rd brake light on the license plate mount because it looks dumb having that off center (and you can't tell it's there unless it's lit). I left the trailer harness tucked up in the back that I had wired in a few years ago if I ever decide to use it again.
For the brake line drops I tried going back to hard line where the line follows the UCA but it just ended up looking bad to me and seemed like it would be less durable if a rock or tree branch snagged it. Instead I used a longer 36in -3an flex line down the control arm into the distribution block. The axle breather is bundled with it. Once I figure out where my onboard air compressor is going I will run the line for the ARB locker.
I am using Russell 640503 to split the brake lines to each caliper:
10" flex lines are used to connect up to the calipers:
All of the flex lines are Fragola's coated stainless steel lines. The coating should help protect the lines and other parts from abrasion.
I'm not sure why JK rear calipers are listed online as 10mm x 1.25 banjo bolts, the rear calipers I have are 10mm x 1.00. Little things like that are continuing to add time to the project.
The rear wiring is cleaned up and license plate light plug wired in. I did not use the 3rd brake light on the license plate mount because it looks dumb having that off center (and you can't tell it's there unless it's lit). I left the trailer harness tucked up in the back that I had wired in a few years ago if I ever decide to use it again.
For the brake line drops I tried going back to hard line where the line follows the UCA but it just ended up looking bad to me and seemed like it would be less durable if a rock or tree branch snagged it. Instead I used a longer 36in -3an flex line down the control arm into the distribution block. The axle breather is bundled with it. Once I figure out where my onboard air compressor is going I will run the line for the ARB locker.
I am using Russell 640503 to split the brake lines to each caliper:
10" flex lines are used to connect up to the calipers:
All of the flex lines are Fragola's coated stainless steel lines. The coating should help protect the lines and other parts from abrasion.
I'm not sure why JK rear calipers are listed online as 10mm x 1.25 banjo bolts, the rear calipers I have are 10mm x 1.00. Little things like that are continuing to add time to the project.
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