OldBuzzard's 2005 Jeep Wrangler Unlimited

[OldBuzzard]

Trails and Trail Damage

We spent a week in Ouray, Colorado for our summer vacation (as we do most years). We took some familiar trails, and some new ones. They were still bulldozing out the snow in mid July.

A new trail for us was Sound Democrat Mine and Mill, where @NJW took his March 2023 ROTM photo. That was pretty cool. It still had snow in July, so we visited it again in the fall. Two months changes the colors dramatically.

One familiar trail, into Silver Basin, refused us admission this time. Last year, on 31" tires, with no lockers, we had no trouble on the trail. This year, on 33" tires, with new gears and a front locker, we couldn't get up the far side of a stream crossing. It's about a 3 foot vertical wet dirt wall coming up out of the stream. With heavy runoff and vehicles digging it in, it was chewed deep, and was too much for our Jeep this time. It's a narrow trail, with a dropoff/waterfall off the edge, so there isn't much room to maneuver. The front went up easy enough, but that buried the rear bumper/trailer hitch in the rocky stream bed. Too much vertical wet dirt, and bumper drag, and it just wouldn't go up. A guy in a JK with 37s went up just fine. We'll try again another year.

We took a wee bit of trail "damage".

Well, we were on a trail, and the door strap broke. That counts, doesn't it?

There are dozens of cheap Chinese brands on Amazon. I picked this one (a pair):
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07PN351VM/?tag=wranglerorg-20
It seems to be plenty strong, a little thinner than the OEM strap but also wider.

 

[BDP]

Shock Absorber Problem

A year ago, I installed a set of Skyjacker Black MAX shocks. I like the ride. But these shocks have a problem.

When I installed them, the bottom of the rear shocks would not tighten up correctly. The FSM calls for 74 ft. lb. but it would not tighten to more than about 50 ft. lb. I could keep tightening, and the mounting flange wings would squeeze tighter against the rubber, but it would never go above 50 ft. lb. It felt soft as I tightened it, never really getting firm. So I left it there.

I recently disconnected the bottom of the rear shocks to let down the axle for some other work. And I discovered why those bolts would not tighten. Skyjacker uses a split steel bushing inside the rubber. When you tighten the bolt, the flange is supposed to squeeze against the bushing and pinch it very tight. But in this case, the bushing just deforms and collapses. Shame on Skyjacker for using a cheap bushing here.

The bushings were very badly deformed, crushed on the inside, with jagged ends cutting into the rubber.

View attachment 370409

I bought a couple of Hillman 1/2-in I.D. x 5/8-in O.D. x 1-1/2-in Length Seamless Steel Spacers p/n 880421 at Lowes for $2.34 each. They look a wee bit better than the junk Skyjacker uses.

View attachment 370410

They're a little too long, so I cut off 1/8" to match the OEM spec of 1-3/8" for these bushings.

I had to rig a tool from sockets and a piece of all-thread to press out the damaged bushings.

View attachment 370411

The new seamless bushings slid into the rubber by hand. I had to use a crowbar and big ChannelLock pliers to spread the wings of the mounting flange a little.

View attachment 370412

I put the bottom of the shock back into place and torqued the bolt to 50 ft. lbs. It tightened up solidly with only a couple of cranks of the torque wrench, without any squish-down feeling like it previously had. I went on up to 74 ft. lbs. with a couple more cranks, and it still felt very solid. No crush with these seamless sleeves.

Are you still happy with the Black MAX shocks?

 

[OldBuzzard]

Yes, I still like the Black MAX shocks. But I don't really have anything to compare them to except worn out OEM shocks. I just read a bunch of reviews and comparisons, and decided to try these first.

 

[BDP]

Yes, I still like the Black MAX shocks. But I don't really have anything to compare them to except worn out OEM shocks. I just read a bunch of reviews and comparisons, and decided to try these first.

Yeah, I read some good reviews also and also noticed that you had them for a while. Good to hear you're still like them and they're holding up. I'm going to give them a try.

 

[aidanm]

Motor Mount Lift

Along with the body lift, I installed a Savvy 1" motor mount lift. That puts the fan back up inside the shroud, so no shroud mods are needed. And it will allow a tranny lift with a partial tummy tuck.

Getting the factory motor mounts out went well, even with the air conditioner pump blocking the bolt on the driver side. I don't know why people cut off that bolt. I just loosened the three bolts on the engine bracket, which then tilted enough for the big bolt to come right out.

First problem: The Savvy bolt extenders won't go into the Savvy lift blocks. The holes are 0.001" smaller than the extenders. After asking around on the forum, I re-drilled the big holes to 5/8", and filed them a little to get the extenders to slide in easily.

View attachment 380981

Second problem: After installing the motor mount lift on the passenger side, I couldn't get to the nut with a wrench. I had to remove the bottom bolt in the engine bracket, torque down the motor mount nut, then replace the engine bracket bolt.

View attachment 380982

Third problem: I hear more engine noise than I used to, and there is a rattle-clunk over every bump in the road. I wired the gas tank filler over to the side to keep it from bumping around. I checked the exhaust since it moved a bit, but it didn't seem to be bumping anywhere. @Woodrow showed the problem here, along with the solution: https://wranglertjforum.com/threads/woodrows-97-green-tj-moderate-build.51602/post-1126424
The passenger side lift block is sitting against the rear engine bracket bolt (photo above). Engine noise is transmitted directly into the frame, and whenever the engine moves a little, it pulls away and clunks back against that bolt. I removed the lift block, and trimmed the end in a couple of places. I also ground away some metal on the engine bracket and the frame where it was close enough to knock together.

View attachment 380983

View attachment 380984

View attachment 380985

View attachment 380986

Fourth problem: Can't shift into 2nd, 4th, 6th, or reverse. Tilting the engine up, without bringing the tranny up with it, left the shifter leaning back far enough to hit the bezel for the leather shifter boot. I popped out the bezel, and will leave it loose so I can drive it until I get the partial tummy tuck, which will bring the tranny up to level, or a little higher.

Body lift and motor mount lift completed.

You could also do a b&m short shifter which would make it to where your shifts aren’t as drawn out and there isn’t as much throw between shifts, leading to that issue not being quite as bad because that’s my current issue with the 5 speed, the shifter is hitting the bezel and binding on the accordion style shifter boot, but the short throw should fix that

 

[OldBuzzard]

More Crack Hiding

With the body sitting 1.25" above the frame, the silver tub is visible above the rear frame arch, and looks kind of silly.

I masked off the frame with newspaper and tape, and sprayed the tub through the crack with flat black paint.

Great. Now my eye isn't drawn to that "silver eyebrow" every time I look at the rear tires.

 

[OldBuzzard]

ZJ Tie Rod Conversion

A year ago, I did a ZJ tie rod conversion. The joints were fine, no slop, but with 100K miles I wanted to replace them all while I was at it. I ordered MOOG tie rod, drag link, adjusting sleeves, and tie rod ends. And a Monroe steering damper. Cleaned, primed and painted them.

Installation was straightforward. I greased it, adjusted the toe-in, and centered the steering wheel. It drove well, and felt about the same as it had before.

I had noticed that the tie rod end studs sink deep into the knuckles, so the dust seal looks too flat and the cotter pin hole sits near the top of the castle nut. And that's before torquing the nut, just snugging it up to draw the taper into place and squash the dust boot.

OEM tie rod end:

MOOG tie rod end:

There has been a lot of discussion about this problem (like this one). Some folks think we're over-torquing the castle nut, but the problem appears before torquing. I don't think every TJ owner is pulling that tapered stud too deep into the knuckle, as has been suggested. I don't think we could if we tried, without going to a LOT higher torque. And people have tried new knuckles and still had the problem.

I suspect the real problem is that MOOG and Crown and pretty much every other manufacturer is building these TREs to a bad spec. Look at pictures of other brands after installation, and many of them have the cotter pin too high and the dust boot mashed too flat.

I used a washer under the castle nut to lift it a little so the cotter pin will fit right. That doesn't help the dust boot problem.

MOOG Drag Link Problem

Three months later, I noticed a split dust boot on the lower end of the drag link.

I removed it and found this sharp ridge right where the split occurred:

I covered the joint to keep out metal filings, and filed it smooth:

MOOG does not sell the dust covers separately, or send them out to fix their own screw-ups. I couldn't find an exact match, but I found that these will fit fairly well: Prothane 19-1714-BL Black Tie Rod End Boot (a pair)

I installed the Prothane dust boot, and I'm keeping my eye on it. A year later, it's still in good shape.

Note: That's the drag link end on the passenger side, not the tie rod end on the driver side with the cotter pin/smashed boot problem. The dust covers are different.

 

[OldBuzzard]

OPDA

My OEM OPDA was working fine, no noise, no error codes, no rough running. But since the infamous OPDA is known for dying two different ways, at least one of which will destroy an engine, I decided, at 105K miles, it was time to replace it. The two problems with the Mopar OPDA are (1) a soft gear which wears against the camshaft gear and destroys both, and (2) a seal blocking oil from the upper bearing. Mopar discovered the soft gear problem and replaced most of those OPDAs with an identical unit but with a different gear. Mine may have been replaced with the modified one, but it's still a Mopar "LDI" unit. But Mopar never redesigned the shaft/bearing/seal to fix that second problem. The Crown OPDA was a re-design of the Mopar OPDA, with the upper seal moved up above the upper bearing, and a spiral groove cut in the shaft to carry oil up to that upper bearing.

I took several photos of the position of the OPDA for reference. Then I removed the OPDA cap, put the Jeep in 3rd gear, and bump-pushed the Jeep forward a wee bit at a time, watching the reluctor, until the alignment holes lined up perfectly. I dropped a long #10-24 screw in the hole to keep it aligned (fits perfectly in the top hole, a little loose in the larger lower hole).

I removed the cam position sensor, and the hold-down clamp. I lifted the OPDA, twisting counter-clockwise, and pulled the thin metal gasket from the block (almost invisible in situ).

The OPDA and camshaft gears looked fine, somewhat worn as expected, but not deeply. The sides of the camshaft gear are surprisingly rough, but not where the OPDA gear touches it.

With the plastic pin in the new Crown OPDA, and the gear lubed, and the gasket in place, I inserted the shaft into the hole. Starting with the sensor hole snug against the block, I turned the entire OPDA clockwise slightly to find where the gears would mesh (away from the block a little). After lowering the OPDA, rotating clockwise, it appears to be turned clockwise a little farther than the OEM one was. That's not a problem, since the OPDA reluctor is pinned to the body. I laid the finger clamp in place, and started the bolt with a grabby tool.

After tightening the bolt, and replacing the OEM cam sensor, and pulling the plastic pin, and replacing the OPDA cap, I took it for a drive. It started and ran fine, no error codes. I ran it up to 4000 RPM, and it was fine, no limp mode. And it's been fine for several thousand miles since.

I had expected to have to tune it, either fractionally by eye, or by finding someone with a DRBIII. But fortunately, it's been fine. Eventually I'll probably get a tool to check it, just for fun.

 

[TimV]

Good work indeed and excellent write up(s).
Appreciate your efforts.

Tim

 

[Irun]

Yes, I still like the Black MAX shocks. But I don't really have anything to compare them to except worn out OEM shocks. I just read a bunch of reviews and comparisons, and decided to try these first.

Having been through multiple shocks, BM is by far my favorite shock that won't make you feel like you've overpaid. A very reliable, balanced, and respectable ride for the money!

 

[OldBuzzard]

Having been through multiple shocks, BM is by far my favorite shock that won't make you feel like you've overpaid. A very reliable, balanced, and respectable ride for the money!

Agree. I had Bilstein 5100s on my old, light Tacoma, so I have some notion of what they would be like on the TJ. Never had any experience with Ranchos.

It was your "A lesson learned" build, @Irun, where I learned about the BMs. Your detailed descriptions and comparisons really helped me to choose. And thanks for both of your build threads — I've learned a lot, and picked up many of ideas from them.