Inside-Out Build—2006 LJ

Here's mine with 32" tires and a lift that measures 2.75".

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see, I go back and see photos like this of my own TJ and begin to question...were the MCE's an improvement (aesthetically)? I'm honestly not sure. I think it was an even trade, and I'm not sure I want to chop up or swap a set of fenders for an even trade.

I should just focus on what I still need to do to get it driving and cross this bridge when I get there. But it's winter, and I'm an addict lol. And it would be nice to have this put to bed when I put my Savvy sliders on so I can just take the old ones off and put new ones on and be done with it.

Points for MCE
-looks cool
-more resilient and more easily replaceable than a metal fender, and lifetime warranty
-possibly more clearance (conflicting info)
-already have the rears
-readily available and less expensive than Rubi flares

Points for Rubicon fenders
-also looks good. Maybe better?
-more paintable surface (more options for color choice)
-don't have to chop a pair of fenders
-probably clear just fine (35s with 4" suspension/1.25" body) with maybe some trimming of the flare mounting flange
 
it's amazing how much smaller the exact same tires look with the exact same lift height (within 1/4") just because the axles are farther apart.

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Front suspension is aligned and torqued, all that's left is to center the steering wheel and it will be drivable. I hope to get the Exogate swapped over in time to take it for a drive on Saturday.

Work that remains to be done to consider the swap "complete":
-wire the rear e-locker
-install the switch for the KC lights on the a-pillar

maintenance:
-change engine oil
-replace transmission oil with redline MTL
-replace inner shift boot

Then come the mods:
-Savvy sliders
-hand throttle
 
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Got it out on the road yesterday. Has the fuel burping issue, so I might get a savvy tank skid when I do the tuck this summer and take care of it while I do the install.

Noticed it never really got to operating temp, though I didn't drive far. Driving around it was liking around 175 so I think somebody either swapped in a 160 or a failsafe that's stuck open. Ordered a 195 superstat, gasket and radiator cap, and it's a good excuse for a coolant flush since I don't know how old it is.
 
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Completed the coolant flush Friday. This is what came out after running a few days with the Prestone flush.

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I also found the source of the occasional coolant smell I was picking up - the thermostat gasket was leaking. The reason it was leaking was related to the reason it was only getting up to 175° - the thermostat wasn't centered in it's counterbore, so the housing wasn't able to seat fully. Somebody used half a tube of orange RTV getting it to almost-seal up, and the proper 195° thermostat was so far off center that there was actually room for coolant to bypass the flange.

I didn't look at the "before", but after the prestone and thermocure I'm pretty pleased with what I saw behind the thermostat housing.

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I'd kinda forgotten how similar Zerex G-05 looks to human urine.

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Don't be impressed with my overflow bottle detailing abilities - that coolant reservoir is new. I found a hole in the factory one that looks like it may have at some point not been secured correctly and fell back against the power steering pulley.

I'm also pleased that after a 50 mile drive, the coolant still looks just like it did when I poured it in. That was not the case when I did my TJ 3 years ago...despite flushing until it seemed clear, that one had rust particles showing up again almost immediately.

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Got the family together for an "after" photo.

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Those wheels on the LJ are the gray ones I had on the TJ - but I've stripped off the plastidip. I've gotta say, with proper prep work, and maybe helped by the machined and cast surfaces on the wheels - that stuff was stuck on GOOD and was much more difficult to strip than the wheels where it was applied over glossy paint/powdercoat. I started by opening it up with the car wash wand - it had to be about 1/4-1/2" from the surface to start it. Then there were several places where the pressure just wouldn't do it, so I took it home and spent about half an hour trying to peel it by hand. Then I soaked it in WD40 and wiped most of the rest off, but then still had to get to the car wash again to get the last few bits.

With the machined aluminum, my interest in the wheels has been rekindled. I just wish it came in a backspacing option between 3.75 and 5.25. I want something around 4.25 when I go to 35's and I don't want to deal with spacers.
 
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I wanted the banks drone-monster exhaust off asap, but walker only lists a tailpipe and quiet flow muffler for a TJ, specifically saying "except unlimited". I bought the TJ parts and all it took to work with the LJ was a $7 piece of 2.25" exhaust tubing from auto one to bridge the gap from the muffler outlet to the tailpipe inlet. I don't know how long the piece was but I cut it down to 12-1/4", or 10" plus the length of the expanded portion.


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I don't know if an LJ tailpipe normally goes farther past the axle than the TJ version but I like that it's a little more tucked in.

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I also am happy to be rid of the stupid oversized chrome tip that stuck out past the tub.

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And most of all I like that it no longer produces a booming exhaust note that seemed to coincide with the resonant frequency of the tub, hardtop, and my skull.
 
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Just for fun I've done some exercises comparing the NSG370 to the AX15 that I'm used to. Since I still have both of them and get to drive them back to back, it's interesting to me how different they feel.

This is what how they compare in an apples to apples comparison using the same stock axle ratio and tire size.
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What jumps out to me there is that most of the difference is where the AX15's 3rd and 4th get split into 3 gears in the NSG. I don't really enjoy shifting all the time but I do see the benefit of keeping the RPM above 2500 where the 4.0 likes to make torque. The shift into OD accomplishes the same thing, which is especially important to maintaining speed at the speeds that takes place in.

This is what I get to compare right now, which is a study of extremes.
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Obviously the LJ with the 6 speed is overgeared right now with 4.88 and 32's, and the 5 speed TJ is undergeared with 3.73 and 31s. First gear in the NSG is borderline annoying since it revs out so quickly, so I've been skipping it and starting in 2nd. By 50mph, I've shifted the NSG370 already two more times than the AX15. 75mph isn't really that enjoyable at 3440rpm, though getting rid of the Banks exhaust has helped a lot there. Mostly I just don't like the more on/off feel of the throttle response with the narrowed "neutral throttle" window at that engine speed. I don't have enough mileage on it yet to get a good comparison on fuel economy. I've actually really been enjoying holding in the same gear so long in the TJ, specifically 4th which comes into play on primary roads and just keeps going until I'm up to interstate cruising speed. I realize these characteristics wouldn't be as welcome off-road due to the crawl speed.

This is a comparison more tuned to my actual experience - where the TJ was that I considered good, and the same for the LJ, which will be with 35's. The difference in gearing and tire size actually seems to bring 1st and OD closer together than they were on a stock rig. The difference then mostly just becomes that extra shift in between first gear and 1:1.

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Some time back I did some datalogging of engine load at different vehicle speeds but the same engine speed to establish a curve representing the resistance due to aerodynamic and rolling friction as a function of speed. I took this, working backward through the gear ratio used at each vehicle speed, to approximate the necessary cruising engine torque. From there I can apply that back to the torque curve to get an engine load and approximate fuel consumption.

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It seems a stock TJ finds the best compromise between engine efficiency and aerodynamics around 50mph. So if there are any hypermilers in this forum, I'd love to hear whether real world data corroborates this. I'm sure not going to try it. :ROFLMAO:
 
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so I went and rebuilt my front driveshaft. All new spicer non-greasable parts. Centering stud seemed to be in pretty good shape, and I can't feel any slack at all with the new parts. I couldn't really with the old parts either. There wasn't really any reason to do it except I already had it out and they would have been the only U-joints in the entire rig that hadn't been replaced within the last 2000 miles.

There's something about the contrast of the fresh steel against the rusty driveshaft that I find visually appealing, so I decided not to paint it.

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I threw it in the back of the LJ when I dropped it off to get the front axle regeared, and asked the gear setter to install it when he was done. When I went to pick it up, he told me it would bolt in at ride height but was too long with the axle drooped. I checked when I got home, and sure enough, it bottomed out well before my 11" Ranchos.

I ran some numbers in Excel and confirmed. Because I'm a nerd.

The first chart is with my HP axle. The second is with a stock low pinion axle, assuming a 4" difference in the pinion height because I didn't have an LP around to measure. As it turns out, the lower driveshaft angle resulting from the higher pinion means that the arc the pinion follows due to the control arms shortens faster than it would on a LP as the axle droops.

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So I ordered a new front driveshaft from Tom Wood's with an X spline with a 39-5/8" length so it has plenty of travel. I installed it and it was a little bit of a pain since the driveshaft at ride height is not at the midpoint, the boot is slightly stretched. But it fit, and the front shaft seems to spin smooth as glass (no difference in vibration at 75mph vs no shaft installed).

Now gotta pull the rear and test drive to confirm the rear is the source of my vibration and I'm going to send it back to TW to get evaluated and rebalanced.
 
Savvy Body lift, JKS MML, and GM fuel filler hose to fix the overflow issue. I spread the work out over 3 sessions in 2 days but I'm not sure I have more than 3 hours in all of it. When I did a MML on my TJ, I used a cherry picker to lift the engine, thinking that would be safer, easier, and more controllable. I think this MML with the jack and a block of wood took less than half the time, even though my TJ was a 99 and I didn't have to pull the bracket off the block.

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Now my wheels are turning about all the stuff I can do now that I have 1.25" extra space between the frame and body. Tuck, gas tank skid, or something simple like moving the upper rear shock mounts above the frame.
 
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time to install the savvy rocker guards I've had in the floor of my office since December. I'm going to roll Flex-Seal onto the tub under the rocker base, hence the masking tape.

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I've never pulled the inner fender liners before. Kinda weird seeing this stuff from above.

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I like Savvy's products, but I think their tagline should be "for when 30 minutes figuring out where each fastener goes is your favorite part of every job". The nutserts are pretty easy to figure out, as are the countersunk screws, but the washers aren't, at least to me. There are only 2 fender washers, but the install tips I found say there's supposed to be 6, and they're for a TJ so depending on where they go, I might need 8, but there's no subset of 3-4 holes per side that is obviously unique in a way that would require fender washers. Maybe the rearward torque box holes that go through the aluminum bar? Maybe the small ones go under the hex bolts where they go through the top edge of the steel slider? There aren't enough of them for both the hex and the pan head screws, so it's one or the other. There are extra countersunk screws, and 4 (per side) are about 1/4" shorter than the rest, so I guess I'm gonna use those in the nutsert holes going into the kick panels and seat belt mount area where I might run the risk of the screw running too deep and hitting something. But it sure would be nice to know that's where they're supposed to be.

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I've never pulled the inner fender liners before. Kinda weird seeing this stuff from above.

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I like Savvy's products, but I think their tagline should be "for when 30 minutes figuring out where each fastener goes is your favorite part of every job". The nutserts are pretty easy to figure out, as are the countersunk screws, but the washers aren't, at least to me. There are only 2 fender washers, but the install tips I found say there's supposed to be 6, and they're for a TJ so depending on where they go, I might need 8, but there's no subset of 3-4 holes per side that is obviously unique in a way that would require fender washers. Maybe the rearward torque box holes that go through the aluminum bar? Maybe the small ones go under the hex bolts where they go through the top edge of the steel slider? There aren't enough of them for both the hex and the pan head screws, so it's one or the other. There are extra countersunk screws, and 4 (per side) are about 1/4" shorter than the rest, so I guess I'm gonna use those in the nutsert holes going into the kick panels and seat belt mount area where I might run the risk of the screw running too deep and hitting something. But it sure would be nice to know that's where they're supposed to be.

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At least they give you a decent amount of hardware, we were really short on my genright slider install and they had a bunch of unused junk in it too.
 
At least they give you a decent amount of hardware, we were really short on my genright slider install and they had a bunch of unused junk in it too.

Yeah, there does seem to be an excess of some types, like the countersunk screws and the small washers. I am short on nuts and fender washers though, at least according to the install tips document I found. But I can't blame Savvy for sure because my 6 year old got into the hardware bag. I haven't come across any of it in my house but I can't rule out that he lost some.
 
I'm not sure what person (that isn't a machinist) just has a 17/32" drill bit lying around. Home Depot doesn't even have them in the store, and none of my stepper bits stop between 1/2" and 9/16". So I'm drilling with a 1/2" twist bit and hogging it out until the nutserts will just slip in.

Then I'm cleaning up all the holes with a tapered grinding stone on my dremel, so there aren't any sharp edges when I paint them.

I still get the heeby-jeebys about the holes I can't access from both sides, especially the torque boxes. Just gonna coat them as best I can and hope the channel doesn't rust out behind the rocker guard without me ever knowing. It is what it is.
 
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I'm glad I decided to put the layer of flex seal between the rocker base and tub because it gives a preview of what it would look like if I did it all in black. I was already like 80/20 toward body matching, now I'm like 95/5. The only thing that would sway me at this point is if black was in stock and red was on the list of things there's a worldwide shortage of. Even then I might just go with a silver in a shade approximately equal to raw aluminum.
 
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