Jack of All Trades, Master of None: LJ Build

[PNW_LJ]

Alrighty, we are back from Moab. It feels good to be home. Unfortunately, we just got out of the heat, just in time for the only 2 hot weeks in the year we get here! I’m not made for the heat.


This time it was just me in the LJ and my dad with the family in his JTR. The trip started off with a banger. This happened just outside of Tacoma, going 70mph:

A couple lessons learned. First, don’t make any changes to both of your rigs the night before a big trip (more on that later). Second, don’t cheap out on wheel spacers.

Not even 200 miles into the trip, and I see in my rearview mirror the JT’s driver rear tire going flying at 70 mph. It’s a miracle the 150lbs 40 tire didn’t hit anyone.

Pull over, grab the 40” out of the bushes where it fell, reinstall (that was a fun experience on the side of the highway). Check the other wheels and every single lug nut is loose! Retorque, get to the first exit and remove the damn spacers.


I should note that I’ve run wheel spacers for several years now with no issues. I always follow the proper loctite/torque procedure, so this was surprising to say the least. The quality spacers we ordered for the JT didn’t arrive in time, so in a moment of weakness, some Chinesium ones were overnighted from Amazon. Lesson learned, never again!



About 700 miles later, at a gas stop, I see a big puddle under the engine, and my entire underside is covered in oil!

My recently installed rear main seal was spewing huge amounts of oil, about half a quart every other fillup. Not an immediate issue as I carry oil with me, and as it would turn out, the leak recedes once the oil level gets about half a quart low.

Just another job to do when we get back..

 

[PNW_LJ]

Alrighty, we are finally in Moab, and it took just one trail for me to figure out that my rear shock situation was not going to work. The Skyjacker Black Maxes were a disappointment on the road, but now that I added 2” drop spacers, it made for a horrible experience offroad. 3.75” of rear uptravel is not nearly enough!

So those had to go, and thankfully there were Rancho 5000X in the right length available locally:

Trimming the rear spring pads in the Oreillys parking lot:

Much better! Now I have nearly 6” of up, and just 3” of down. My rear end was lifting up coming off of obstacles, but at least I could semi-enjoy the trails.

 

[PNW_LJ]

Finally we could enjoy the trails. We didn’t hit anything crazy, as the whole family was riding along and their tolerance for being offcamber stuff is much lower.

Still had a ton of fun hitting the trails, rafting, visiting the arches etc!

 

[PNW_LJ]

Overall impressions, Moab was fantastic!

Everybody talks about the unearthly traction, yet it still truly blew me away. Absolutely no chance of us getting away with the same climbs up here in WA.

The LJ also blew me away with how well it performed. On all the climbs, dips and off camber situations, the jeep performed outstanding. Not a hint of any suspension issues, just smooth and stable. This is the tallest lifted vehicle I’ve owned at 5.5” of total lift, but also the most stable by far.

I’ll go as far as to say that it has an easier time than the JT with it’s mile long wheelbase. I don’t think there was any singular factor that contributed to this feeling, more so the combination of being light, swayloc, midarm, soft top, and no spare.

Running the “31.5s” was the right decision too. Coming over the passes, even with these tiny tires it felt undergeared, I can only
imagine “33s”. Offroad in 4L, it didn’t feel undergeared, it was actually quite perfect in my opinion.


Overall, I am very very impressed with how the Jeep has been performing, even in it’s unfinished state. Also very pleased with the midarm, there was a certain sense of “free motion” to it. It’s hard to describe, but it felt like it moved much more freely than others I saw on the trail.

I’ll try to attach some videos later..

 

[PNW_LJ]

Conclusions made and lessons learned:

1. Giant wheelbase and LCOG is utter B.S. (to a point). My “short wheelbase and tall” rig was more stable and had an easier time on the trails than the JT and other longer wheelbase rigs like 4dr JLs.

Stability comes partially from building it right w/ swaybars and shocks. The folks chasing giant stretches and dropping their rigs another inch are needlessly compromising uptravel and breakover/departure angles and so much more.


2. I need (want) to outboard the rears. Now that I’ve restored a decentish ride quality offroad, I am missing out on downtravel that does come in handy. There was also several situations where I can see a nice set of tuned shocks significantly improving the rig’s performance.


3. Axles. I didn’t need lockers as much as I thought I would. I do need to regear if I want to slap some 35/37s on. As much as I want to outboard, this is the next logical build step. Likely going with 5.89s and 35s.

Still considering 37s, and I would like to see if I can make TJ44s hold up on them for my use. But I first need to see how much performance I am giving up elsewhere by running them on stock width axles. Definitely decide on tire size before the outboard. Highlines and hydro assist will likely be a must with 37s which is another rabbit hole $$$.



4. Onroad drivability. As of now, it could be better.

My temporary exhaust drones at highway speeds. I would like to stick a quieter muffler under there and have it exit out back.

The wind noise from the soft top gets annoying after a couple hours on the freeway. I eventually want to buy a hardtop again, but I wonder how much difference a quality soft top makes (current one is a rugged ridge).

The seats also get uncomfortable after a couple hours, mainly from a lack of lumbar support. Some PRPs would be nice..

Stock headlights suck. Around lit-up Seattle they do okay at night, but they simply don’t work for night freeway runs.

I also definitely picked up some vibrations at idle after the tummy tuck. I also feel some vibrations at highway speeds (either pinion angle or exhaust hitting). Need to get underneath and check it out.

 

[PNW_LJ]

That was a long read. If you stuck with me, I thank you. This is more so for my personal record, so I can later go back and see how I’ve learned/grown.

Overall, I am very happy with where the LJ is at. It has a very good foundation to build off of, and I’m excited to see where it goes.

 

[02GreenTJ]

What trails did you run? Cool photos!

 

[Apparition]

Conclusions made and lessons learned:

1. Giant wheelbase and LCOG is utter B.S. (to a point). My “short wheelbase and tall” rig was more stable and had an easier time on the trails than the JT and other longer wheelbase rigs like 4dr JLs.

Stability comes partially from building it right w/ swaybars and shocks. The folks chasing giant stretches and dropping their rigs another inch are needlessly compromising uptravel and breakover/departure angles and so much more.


2. I need (want) to outboard the rears. Now that I’ve restored a decentish ride quality offroad, I am missing out on downtravel that does come in handy. There was also several situations where I can see a nice set of tuned shocks significantly improving the rig’s performance.


3. Axles. I didn’t need lockers as much as I thought I would. I do need to regear if I want to slap some 35/37s on. As much as I want to outboard, this is the next logical build step. Likely going with 5.89s and 35s.

Still considering 37s, and I would like to see if I can make TJ44s hold up on them for my use. But I first need to see how much performance I am giving up elsewhere by running them on stock width axles. Definitely decide on tire size before the outboard. Highlines and hydro assist will likely be a must with 37s which is another rabbit hole $$$.



4. Onroad drivability. As of now, it could be better.

My temporary exhaust drones at highway speeds. I would like to stick a quieter muffler under there and have it exit out back.

View attachment 450486

The wind noise from the soft top gets annoying after a couple hours on the freeway. I eventually want to buy a hardtop again, but I wonder how much difference a quality soft top makes (current one is a rugged ridge).

The seats also get uncomfortable after a couple hours, mainly from a lack of lumbar support. Some PRPs would be nice..

Stock headlights suck. Around lit-up Seattle they do okay at night, but they simply don’t work for night freeway runs.

I also definitely picked up some vibrations at idle after the tummy tuck. I also feel some vibrations at highway speeds (either pinion angle or exhaust hitting). Need to get underneath and check it out.

Don’t rule out Mastercrafts as a seat option. They make a huge difference on long trail days.

 

[Granite]

Such a great build-it-and-use-it thread!! Awesome stuff.

 

[PNW_LJ]

Hit up Reiter for the first time. Didn’t get any good pics unfortunately, but this place is awesome. Not sure 35s can make it through everything here, but I want to try before the rains come in. Definitely a “must come back” for me.

I did take out my passenger side mirror on a tree. Shouldn’t have tried to follow the buggies

 

[PNW_LJ]

Headlight upgrade! Decided to try out some ‘amazon special’ LEDs, as anything would be improvement over the stock candles.

Before:

After:

Got the smoked turn signals to finish it out too. It looks a tad bit “JL-esque”, but I’m digging it for the time being.

 

[PNW_LJ]

Some goodies from the Wizard:

New trans pan with a bung for temp sensor.

And a sick decal to go with it.

 

[PNW_LJ]

Welp, looks like my original radiator is done for. Tried a temp fix with a parts store “radiator weld kit”, no luck there.

This is an unexpected expense. I knew my cooling system needed a refresh, but I was hoping it would last till October. At least it lasted all through Moab.

 

[mrblaine]

View attachment 454248

Welp, looks like my original radiator is done for. Tried a temp fix with a parts store “radiator weld kit”, no luck there.

This is an unexpected expense. I knew my cooling system needed a refresh, but I was hoping it would last till October. At least it lasted all through Moab.

JB Weld, fiberglass drywall tape, coarse sandpaper. Rough it up, clean it very well, thin layer of glue, layer of mesh, more glue to embed the tape, let it cure overnight. That will buy you at least a few days.

 

[PNW_LJ]

JB Weld, fiberglass drywall tape, coarse sandpaper. Rough it up, clean it very well, thin layer of glue, layer of mesh, more glue to embed the tape, let it cure overnight. That will buy you at least a few days.

Just the regular type of JB Weld? I have some, but thought it didn’t work on plastic.

 

[Mike_H]

Just the regular type of JB Weld? I have some, but thought it didn’t work on plastic.

As long as you give it some surface area to bond to (rough it up with sand paper), it should grab and hold.

 

[mrblaine]

Just the regular type of JB Weld? I have some, but thought it didn’t work on plastic.

You aren't dealing with a normal plastic and all JB Weld consists of is a metal filled epoxy. Epoxies in general respond relatively well to rough surfaces with a good key even though there is not normal adhesion happening. This is not a permanent repair, the tank is eroded on the inside from steam at some point which what usually causes these type failures. This is to get you by for a bit and give you a list of items to carry in your trail bag with the only change being to switch to the 15 minute stuff so you can get moving again.

 

[PNW_LJ]

As long as you give it some surface area to bond to (rough it up with sand paper), it should grab and hold.

You aren't dealing with a normal plastic and all JB Weld consists of is a metal filled expoxy. Expoxies in general respond relatively well to rough surfaces with a good key even though there is not normal adhesion happening. This is not a permanent repair, the tank is eroded on the inside from steam at some point which what usually causes these type failures.

Thank you for the explanation, I’ll try this.

This is to get you by for a bit and give you a list of items to carry in your trail bag with the only change being to switch to the 15 minute stuff so you can get moving again.

I just got some of that 90min RTV, and now I’ll be getting the quick jb weld stuff too.

I saw this putty stuff today. Does it have a place in a trail bag? Say for a cracked oil pan.

 

[Rickyd]

There are two types of bond with composites. Chemical and mechanical. Rough sandpaper and alcohol or another solvent to clean the surface might allow it to bond for a while?it makes enough random angles for the epoxy to grab like a hand on a bar.I'd be tempted to sandwich some fiberglass cloth in it too.

There are plastic weld branded glues out there as well but who knows how well they would work. Hell i wonder if pipe primer and glue would work? Or abs glue if that is the type of plastic

 

[bbaldwin237]

Sweet LJ build, maybe one day (a ways down the road) when I'm a little more prepared I can join for a trail ride. I'd still like to add traction aids and armor before too much.

I've used the steel stick before on a small boat repair. My father-in-law's boat had a screw sized hole open up in the side near the water line. It was a small perfect hole (must have lost a weld plug from the manufacturing) right at the water line. It wasn't too serious and was just wetting some carpet in the gunwale. I grabbed a steel stick and patched it up and it's been holding for about 5-6 years. Can't even really find the spot now since it's on raw aluminum. Not sure how it would do with an oily surface though. I know soap was common for gas tank cracks back in the day?

Those look like the same headlights I have and they're super bright. The only down side is that switching to high beam doesn't really change much other than it reaches a touch higher and wider (very little) but isn't any brighter. But that's ok because I don't really need anything brighter. I haven't tried them at night in the rain yet though. That was what made me upgrade the lights in my Ram.