High travel, high clearance & high octane, a streetable adventure LJ story

[toximus]

ok, i been diggin around looking at the fuel cell install........and i hate to put another thing on your punch list but i do believe it needs corrected.
i kinda misunderstood this routing of the vent line. the path of across the tank, then down, then back across. i literally assumed you wrapped the cell across down and back across b4 exiting out, not inverting the system to under meaning as in when rolled over, then the B bar line is under the cell.

there is a dip in the line. right off the cell it dips just slightly to enter that B bar, this is the spot that will make you suck bubbles if you splash fuel into that line. putting a hole in the padding 3-4" higher and entering there might fix it.

or

maybe wait to fix this (and you may have to wait for your fancy fuel filler to do this). the end vent should also be a rollover valve, it's supposed to breath not spill fuel. so once your get that exterior filler frame fixed just make provisions to use a bulkhead rollover vent beside the filler. and reverse plumb the valve's and the tube can rise right off the cell with the filler neck, and be outside and always elevating/elevated.

View attachment 135355

Good eye! On the tank, those are Mopar rollover valves (spring loaded ball). The vent hose shouldn't dip. Once I build a cover I'll tie the hose to the cover and might need to cut a hole higher like you mentioned. Here's how it's routed:

 

[toximus]

I've read through your thread but it's been a while, did you adjust your wheelbase at all front and/or rear?

The stock LJ wheelbase is perfect for 37s. I left the rear stock but the front is moved 2" forward so it'd package better. No other reason.

 

[toximus]

I cut the Savvy skid stiffener to clear the muffler.

First I traced the stiffener onto a cardboard template and traced around the muffler:

The plasma torch was used for a rough cut followed up with a flap disc:

A perfect fit:

I did not add any plating to spread the load across this area. The remaining material should be sufficient but I'll keep an eye on it after the skid gets some hard hits.

 

[someguysjeep]

it took me 10m on zoom to track that routing, it was hiding in the shadow. a minor thing to address.

 

[someguysjeep]

i finally got contact back from 4x4 outlet.....they no longer make the back 1/2 for TJ's.

 

[toximus]

i finally got contact back from 4x4 outlet.....they no longer make the back 1/2 for TJ's.

I just looked... it appears that they are now out of business?

 

[xxdabroxx]

Not sure what @someguysjeep is looking for but I think motobuilt has front and back half kits available.

 

[someguysjeep]

I just looked... it appears that they are now out of business?

that i didn't/don't know, they just replied back to me they no longer made the kit.

Not sure what @someguysjeep is looking for but I think motobuilt has front and back half kits available.

yes Artec and Dave'scustoms both make the elevated transition from the frame up to your own tubing.
while Moto, GR and a couple others make a full kit. i'm not a fan of all the welded channel or the cost of those.

after questioning toximus about his install, i made the pieces.

 

[someguysjeep]

i need to ask, since you had the fuel pump in hand and messed with it. my center section is gonna be tight between the baffle walls, kinda like what they had in your tank.
do you think i could pull the sending unit off the pump assy and mount it remotely on the baffle wall, allowing it room to cycle fully and remain functional? i assume i'd have to jump the wires too.

technically i don't give a rats ass about knowing i have a full tank, as long as it functions from 1/2 to empty.

 

[toximus]

i need to ask, since you had the fuel pump in hand and messed with it. my center section is gonna be tight between the baffle walls, kinda like what they had in your tank.
do you think i could pull the sending unit off the pump assy and mount it remotely on the baffle wall, allowing it room to cycle fully and remain functional? i assume i'd have to jump the wires too.

technically i don't give a rats ass about knowing i have a full tank, as long as it functions from 1/2 to empty.

The way the 05-06 pump works is there's a reservoir in the bottom. That's what the sending unit is attached to. I didn't see any easy way to separate the 2. I think you'd be better off using a ball style sender and converter such as Tanks Inc. MeterMatch: https://www.tanksinc.com/index.cfm/...t_id=748/category_id=184/mode=prod/prd748.htm

 

[toximus]

The upper mini-cats can burn unburned fuel and mess with the true air to fuel ratio. To get an accurate reading on the AFR gauge I decided to gut them. This will allow me to get a better tune into the engine and hopefully in the end will be better for the environment compared to running the engine too rich. The lower cat will be staying as there's only benefits of keeping it.

I took some readings on previous test drives so I can compare and see if removing the cats before the AFR sensor makes any difference.

 

[toximus]

You may remember that my AFR sensor hit the engine skid brace and needed to be moved.

I wire brushed the surface clean and drilled a 7/8" hole for the new bung.

The bung is Summing Racing part number SUM-G2990SS.

I welded it in place with a plug screwed in to keep the threads from distorting. Normal carbon steel wire would have worked but due to my location being favorable to rust I opted to use a small 2# spool of 308L stainless welding wire to weld the bung in (Hobart H522506-R19 https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001DZG11S/?tag=wranglerorg-20). I didn't want to invest in tri-mix gas so I used C25 which seemed to work fine but with more splatter than is normal.

I applied antiseize to the plugs and sensors and bolted the exhaust back up. Now there's plenty of room!

 

[toximus]

The exhaust shifted slightly and moved the tailpipe closer to the frame. I took it off again to whack it a couple of times with a ballpeen hammer to clearance around the rear control arm mount.

 

[toximus]

While I was tidying up the AFR wiring under the hook I finally terminated the ends of the rock light wiring. I decided to run each light/area to it's own fuse so if one wire gets pinched offroad it won't take out all of the lights. It also allowed me to use a lower fuse rating so a shorted wire will be more likely to blow the fuse than spark against the frame.

 

[toximus]

I appreciate everyone's help looking for a hydroassist fitting but unfortunately I was unable to find a fitting for my HA cylinder that would work off the shelf. Thankfully @mrblaine figured out a wonderfully simple solution. He cut two 90* fittings and brazed them together with a section of stainless tubing between them. I feel confident that I could make one myself next time.

It's a tight fit but it works at full bump and full lock:

 

[Nickgsjeep]

I appreciate everyone's help looking for a hydroassist fitting but unfortunately I was unable to find a fitting for my HA cylinder that would work off the shelf. Thankfully @mrblaine figured out a wonderfully simple solution. He cut two 90* fittings and brazed them together with a section of stainless tubing between them. I feel confident that I could make one myself next time.

View attachment 140797

It's a tight fit but it works at full bump and full lock:

View attachment 140798

View attachment 140799

 

[toximus]

The steering gear box came back from PSC with the new 0.210 torsion bar. It appears that they actually sent me an entirely new box... it must be simpler and cheaper for them to resell the used box and build one new with the requested torsion bar?

To get to the fittings on top I needed to remove the grill body snubber which requires removing the headlight since I have the Savvy body lift. Ever since upgrading my headlights to LED I have had trouble getting a torx driver into the bezel screws because the headlight is so bulky.

Last month I ran across ball end torx drivers and decided to pick up a T15 bit (Bondhus 11331) to remove the difficult to access headlight bezel screws. With some inward pressure it worked like a charm!

 

[toximus]

Back on my first test drives I noted that the high pressure line fitting into the steering gear leaked and needed to be replaced. I replaced that and also noticed that the pitman arm has been brushing into one of the lines down to the cylinder. I couldn't angle the fitting any further up or else it could make contact with the radiator when the body flexes (which the grills/radiator moves A LOT when it does flex). I bent the 90* fitting into more of a 45* and angled it outward to get around the pitman.

I cycled the suspension one last time to verify everything is in a good place and I had just enough Swepco 715 fluid on the shelf to bleed the steering. I ordered more this morning to have on hand.

 

[B00mb00m]

Back on my first test drives I noted that the high pressure line fitting into the steering gear leaked and needed to be replaced. I replaced that and also noticed that the pitman arm has been brushing into one of the lines down to the cylinder. I couldn't angle the fitting any further up or else it could make contact with the radiator when the body flexes (which the grills/radiator moves A LOT when it does flex). I bent the 90* fitting into more of a 45* and angled it outward to get around the pitman.

View attachment 140809

View attachment 140810

View attachment 140811

I cycled the suspension one last time to verify everything is in a good place and I had just enough Swepco 715 fluid on the shelf to bleed the steering. I ordered more this morning to have on hand.

Ahhh I probably should've done that. I did flare my back fitting out but kept it snunggled up with the other one. Then on my first ride the cotter pin that locks the pitman nut nearly sliced that one fiitting. I bent it out of the way now but clearances are close...

speaking of close clearances, how much spacing do you have between the tube and can? The axle can probably move back a bit when the control arm bushings deflect. The fitting looks like a good solution though!

 

[toximus]

Ahhh I probably should've done that. I did flare my back fitting out but kept it snunggled up with the other one. Then on my first ride the cotter pin that locks the pitman nut nearly sliced that one fiitting. I bent it out of the way now but clearances are close...

speaking of close clearances, how much spacing do you have between the tube and can? The axle can probably move back a bit when the control arm bushings deflect. The fitting looks like a good solution though!

PSC does sell a 45* fitting which I'll probably swap out the next time I have those lines off. It'll make things easier than bending.

Tube and can? You mean the HA fitting and air bump? There is about a 1/8" gap. I'm not overly concerned with deflection from the control arm bushings narrowing that gap since the only time the fitting will be that close will be under a full right turn which if that happens when the axle is near bump and is hit hard enough to compress the bushings I probably will have bigger problems.