So @psrivats is getting his dream Jeep, AND the first replacement parts "service kit?" Someone is living right!
Nothing I need, everything I want (2005 TJR, impact orange)
- Thread starter psrivats
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So @psrivats is getting his dream Jeep, AND the first replacement parts "service kit?" Someone is living right!
My proofreader is fired!
Tracking those. Was mostly curious of the new heat shielding.
That's where I was curious. Haven't used this type product so that detail helped orient me to how it's being secured overall.
Makes sense. I was thinking this was more of a mounted sheet (like the OEM) so you'd use rivet shafts to push through the sheet.... Never mind - my idea was overly complicated and not applicable to the application.
I get why you'd used rivets in strategic spots where the adhesive would want assisted help. Thanks for the explanation!
One more pic of the beautifully applied heatshield.
We had to get new transmission cooler(Dorman, fit like OEM) lines since the ones from the black jeep had been messed with installing the PSC cooler kit and such and not usable again. Blaine added some heat shielding to the OEM shield on the trans shifter cable after installing it with a a new bushing.
As Blaine was finishing up this work underneath the tub, he also sprayed SEM seam sealer to function as a high quality undercoating. SEM sealer is a great material from Blaine's experience. It seems to adheres well and it is very tough, it cures with a rubbery texture and can be applied thick if needed. Looks to be a great option for covering areas you don't want to rust. Far better option in my opinion than spray on bedliner or whatever other stuff that people tend to use by default. Knowing what to use where and why is something that only comes from long experience and careful observation + understanding of what works and doesn't.
If you carefully observer the below pics, you will see that Blaine also applied this over the taped edges of the heat shield .. both as a sealant and to help hold it in place mechanically in addition to everything he did before to prevent it from peeling up. The harness for the transmission was laid down where it needed to go and then secured and plugged into the transmission. He even went so far to replace all the small retainers that keep the harness in place .. some of them were replaced with better clamps for longevity. The originals from the factory lasted nearly 20 years. What Blaine has touched will last far much longer. Very few builders or shops will ever go into this level of detail. With Blaine, customer care is not an afterthought, it's the prime motivation. I really admire his technical skill, but at a deeper level I very much respect his entire philosophy.
Not everything always goes perfectly though. When installing the shifter for the Rubicrawler, the two bolts for the shifter bracket pulled the threads out of the casting due to some previous "professional" at either the local shop or trans shop way way overtightened the bolts. Blaine had to drill, tap and repair them with Timeserts. Same type of damage was found on the shift lever. Arrows show the timeserts that Blaine installed.
We had to get new transmission cooler(Dorman, fit like OEM) lines since the ones from the black jeep had been messed with installing the PSC cooler kit and such and not usable again. Blaine added some heat shielding to the OEM shield on the trans shifter cable after installing it with a a new bushing.
As Blaine was finishing up this work underneath the tub, he also sprayed SEM seam sealer to function as a high quality undercoating. SEM sealer is a great material from Blaine's experience. It seems to adheres well and it is very tough, it cures with a rubbery texture and can be applied thick if needed. Looks to be a great option for covering areas you don't want to rust. Far better option in my opinion than spray on bedliner or whatever other stuff that people tend to use by default. Knowing what to use where and why is something that only comes from long experience and careful observation + understanding of what works and doesn't.
If you carefully observer the below pics, you will see that Blaine also applied this over the taped edges of the heat shield .. both as a sealant and to help hold it in place mechanically in addition to everything he did before to prevent it from peeling up. The harness for the transmission was laid down where it needed to go and then secured and plugged into the transmission. He even went so far to replace all the small retainers that keep the harness in place .. some of them were replaced with better clamps for longevity. The originals from the factory lasted nearly 20 years. What Blaine has touched will last far much longer. Very few builders or shops will ever go into this level of detail. With Blaine, customer care is not an afterthought, it's the prime motivation. I really admire his technical skill, but at a deeper level I very much respect his entire philosophy.
Not everything always goes perfectly though. When installing the shifter for the Rubicrawler, the two bolts for the shifter bracket pulled the threads out of the casting due to some previous "professional" at either the local shop or trans shop way way overtightened the bolts. Blaine had to drill, tap and repair them with Timeserts. Same type of damage was found on the shift lever. Arrows show the timeserts that Blaine installed.
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That would be tough if you consider that this is just their normal caulking tube seam sealer that they now label as 2 in 1, bead and sprayable.
https://semproducts.com/product/1k-sprayable-seam-sealer-applicator/applicator
While a lot of places show this-
The part numbers for what sealer it will spray that are on the gun, all supercede to this stuff.
The video doesn’t look like it fans out very wide, maybe a couple inches. Are you able to go wider? Your application of it looks like it went on better than their video too.
No idea, I keep the fan narrow with low volume so I can layer it, build it up easier and control the overspray. I am not proficient with it or the gun, we're just experimenting and trying to learn better. I'm only spraying a foot to two feet or so from where we are under the rig so I need it to be very controllable and the small fan does that for me.
I had done the Noico (that you see on that thread) on the previous jeep along with Bedrug. Primary motivation for Noico was to help deal with the vibration issues I had and it not help with that too much, just muffled things a bit. I did not like that it was more or less a permanent addition (i mean, it is removable but it will take forever to get it out and make the tub look normal). The bedrug looked good, it's very different than carpet and lightweight. Given the lack of fibers like traditional carpet, it was simpler to clean out and I can see why folks say it would dry very fast. However personally I did not like the feel of the material at all and I felt it was overpriced for what it was.
I will not be doing either on this orange jeep. Instead, I am getting a traditional automotive style thick pile carpet from ACC with the mass backed vinyl option. It's spendy but I think for what I am looking for, it's the best option out there. I will also be running a hardtop headliner.
And finally we come to one of the centerpieces in this build - the transfer case. There have been several good threads in the past about what is the ideal combination for a TJ and several people have expressed opinions on what works best and what doesn't. These discussions have often polarizing posts about what works best with a manual vs an auto trans, benefits of the rubicrawler and the pitfalls, heavy debates on crawl rations ratio and all that fun stuff.
One of the things that I realized on the black jeep was that I often felt that 4:1 was too low sometimes for what i was doing. It should not be a surprise when I say that I could just live with a NP231 and it's 2.72:1 and be entirely happy with it for 99% of my needs. But sometimes the heart desires more and given the premise of this build, I decided to do something that has been discussed quite a few times but never really done given the costs.
This jeep is getting a 2spd Atlas (2.0:1 ratio) along with a Rubicrawler (2.72:1 planetary). Functionally it is equivalent to a 4spd Atlas, but disaggregated and not in the same "package" as you get with a 4spd Atlas. The main benefit of this setup is that you get 4 very functional ratios - namely 1:1, 2:1, 2.72:1 and 5.44:1. IMO, that is an ideal spread for a TJ. In the black jeep, I put the vehicle in low-low (4-low + rubicrawler low) ONE TIME and I realized why it was a dumb idea .. even standing on the brakes it was very hard to stop the vehicle. It's great for bragging rights but other than that is pretty much useless.
Q: Why do this way than a 4spd?
A1: I already had the Rubicrawler.
A2: This option also gives a little more rear driveshaft length which is always good.
Other than @NashvilleTJ with his 4spd Altas, is there anyone on the board running this specific combination of ratios? If yes, please chime in if you have it and are reading this.
Here it in all it's glory. Blaine perfectly clocked the transfer case and did the needed clearance work on the tub. Note that it still took 6 attempts taking the case on and off checking for various things. This work looks easy but I will emphasize that a lot of care needs to be taken - From close experience I know the horrible mess that results when the tcase touches the tub and you really don't want that happening because the unpleasant nature of that sound and vibration will drive you mad.
After the height was finally set in the final position, Blaine designed the support crossmember and transmission mount adapters. That work has a large amount of detail and I will share it in a future post. For those that enjoy the technical details .. I promise that there is a big treat waiting !
One of the things that I realized on the black jeep was that I often felt that 4:1 was too low sometimes for what i was doing. It should not be a surprise when I say that I could just live with a NP231 and it's 2.72:1 and be entirely happy with it for 99% of my needs. But sometimes the heart desires more and given the premise of this build, I decided to do something that has been discussed quite a few times but never really done given the costs.
This jeep is getting a 2spd Atlas (2.0:1 ratio) along with a Rubicrawler (2.72:1 planetary). Functionally it is equivalent to a 4spd Atlas, but disaggregated and not in the same "package" as you get with a 4spd Atlas. The main benefit of this setup is that you get 4 very functional ratios - namely 1:1, 2:1, 2.72:1 and 5.44:1. IMO, that is an ideal spread for a TJ. In the black jeep, I put the vehicle in low-low (4-low + rubicrawler low) ONE TIME and I realized why it was a dumb idea .. even standing on the brakes it was very hard to stop the vehicle. It's great for bragging rights but other than that is pretty much useless.
Q: Why do this way than a 4spd?
A1: I already had the Rubicrawler.
A2: This option also gives a little more rear driveshaft length which is always good.
Other than @NashvilleTJ with his 4spd Altas, is there anyone on the board running this specific combination of ratios? If yes, please chime in if you have it and are reading this.
Here it in all it's glory. Blaine perfectly clocked the transfer case and did the needed clearance work on the tub. Note that it still took 6 attempts taking the case on and off checking for various things. This work looks easy but I will emphasize that a lot of care needs to be taken - From close experience I know the horrible mess that results when the tcase touches the tub and you really don't want that happening because the unpleasant nature of that sound and vibration will drive you mad.
After the height was finally set in the final position, Blaine designed the support crossmember and transmission mount adapters. That work has a large amount of detail and I will share it in a future post. For those that enjoy the technical details .. I promise that there is a big treat waiting !
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B00mb00m
The Church of Cutting Brakes of Atlas-Front Digs
Supporting Member
Ride of the Month Winner
To many of us you are exactly that, a teacher of complicated things to those with a desire to learn. I’m going to make another thread soon that is all the stuff you helped me create last year that wasn’t even Jeep related! Truly you are a teacher in this life.
I’m stoked I stumbled on your thread Priv this is going to be a phenomenal build, everything you want and probably more.
Those ratios will be absolutely perfect, Sri. Any other ratio combination would simply suck. Anyone running any other ratio combination - and forget about just two speeds - is a waste of time, and should stay in the garage, or at the mall.
(How was that for polarizing…
)Seriously, I spend almost all of my time off road in 2:1. The Hemi does help there, but it just works for trail running and even into the rocks. And still plenty of wheel speed when I need it. I’ve said it before, the nicest thing about my combination is the ability to shift very easily (with one shift lever on the planetary) between 2:1 and 5.44:1. I do not have to touch the main case shifters to do this. That shift is like butter.
Your 2.72:1 Rubicrawler planetary will act just like the planetary on my 4-speed - one easy shift between 2:1 and 5.44:1. But the length of your driveline will be much shorter than mine, which will make a huge difference on a TJ. It will be interesting to see this setup running. Great plan.
B00mb00m
The Church of Cutting Brakes of Atlas-Front Digs
Supporting Member
Ride of the Month Winner
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