Well back from Sand Hollow. New engine performed flawlessly. Got about 6-8 mpg crawling and running 4-5k rpm in the sand dunes. Got anywhere from 11-13 on the freeway. Generally feels like I've lost about .5 mpg in exchange for more power.
Three trail fixes during the trip. One...rear lockers were not engaging. Took apart the relay box and dash... eventually figured out the metal pin for the fuse holder had slipped out no longer powering the switch triggering the relay. Snapped it in, reseated the fuse and locker fired right up.
Second was several days of messing with adjusting the Steinjager shift cable. It wouldn't shift reliably into 4 low and would pop out violently 3-4 times before settling in. I actually think the lever is hitting my plastic console so I'm planning on adjusting that back a 1/4" if possible. My center console appears to be from a later model TJ.
Third my 25a fused blew on the iBooster circuit. Replaced it with a 35a fuse. Going to move it to the Maxi fuse section of the PDC.
Last fix was on the freeway driving home. Lost three skid plate bolts. Put in the two spares I had, drove home... replaced the spares with grade 8 flange bolts and put the two spares plus three more in my emergency kit.
Very little rock damage. Rear outboard shocks are fantastic. Did some pretty bad hopping climbing some obstacles... guessing that's the black max shocks in the front or me not changing the dial on the rear reservoirs.
Worst damage I did was getting a milkshake in town...they had yellow pylons just under hood height and I turned into one driving out of the drive through. I don't know if that slightly bowed the slider or if it was something else. It definitely caved in the tube slightly in two spots. Rock Hard sliders.
Pulled the exhaust manifold and replaced it with my warranty replacement freshly back from ceramic coating. Noticed I was missing one exhaust flange nut and I must have missed an exhaust header bolt.
Got a DPST switch coming in. The ground interrupt I'm using as a locker safety isn't working. Going to run each of the relay trigger wires through a single switch with seperate indicator lights. I don't like the added complexity but I need a safety.
I also need to take apart the dash because my Midland GMRS isn't sending. Guessing the cheap bulkhead Amazon fitting is bad. I ended up using my Baofeng most of the trip. Also the puck on the back of the handset was off. Nobody in town had a 2mm x 8mm bolt so I ordered one on Amazon and picked it up at a UPS store.
Also the new Bulletproof Mounts wireless charger cradle I got stopped opening automatically on Thursday running the Maze. I emailed Bulletproof and they've already shipped a replacement.
Heated gloves were great for cold morning freeway driving.
Brought extra gas for Oregon and Nevada. 2 one gallon cans that were easy to tuck between my rack and the side of the tub. Ran out of gas once in sight of a gas station. Had to use both cans to make it from Winnemucca to Lakeland.
Very happy with the Jeep.
Probably not going to do any additional mods for at least a year while I pay down the CC.
Would like to do a front coilover conversion. Seems prudent since a coilover is roughly the same cost as a fox shock in stock configuration.
Rear aluminum fenders. And some hooks or slots for my camping grill or a table. Just picked up an aluminum welder that does mig and tig.
Also want to do a cold air intake.
And I want to use the original engine to figure out how to get a Haltech to run the Jeep.
-Mac
Oh and P.S. fixed the neighbors truck. You're supposed to replace the pads before you're using the pistons in the rotor.
Three trail fixes during the trip. One...rear lockers were not engaging. Took apart the relay box and dash... eventually figured out the metal pin for the fuse holder had slipped out no longer powering the switch triggering the relay. Snapped it in, reseated the fuse and locker fired right up.
Second was several days of messing with adjusting the Steinjager shift cable. It wouldn't shift reliably into 4 low and would pop out violently 3-4 times before settling in. I actually think the lever is hitting my plastic console so I'm planning on adjusting that back a 1/4" if possible. My center console appears to be from a later model TJ.
Third my 25a fused blew on the iBooster circuit. Replaced it with a 35a fuse. Going to move it to the Maxi fuse section of the PDC.
Last fix was on the freeway driving home. Lost three skid plate bolts. Put in the two spares I had, drove home... replaced the spares with grade 8 flange bolts and put the two spares plus three more in my emergency kit.
Very little rock damage. Rear outboard shocks are fantastic. Did some pretty bad hopping climbing some obstacles... guessing that's the black max shocks in the front or me not changing the dial on the rear reservoirs.
Worst damage I did was getting a milkshake in town...they had yellow pylons just under hood height and I turned into one driving out of the drive through. I don't know if that slightly bowed the slider or if it was something else. It definitely caved in the tube slightly in two spots. Rock Hard sliders.
Pulled the exhaust manifold and replaced it with my warranty replacement freshly back from ceramic coating. Noticed I was missing one exhaust flange nut and I must have missed an exhaust header bolt.
Got a DPST switch coming in. The ground interrupt I'm using as a locker safety isn't working. Going to run each of the relay trigger wires through a single switch with seperate indicator lights. I don't like the added complexity but I need a safety.
I also need to take apart the dash because my Midland GMRS isn't sending. Guessing the cheap bulkhead Amazon fitting is bad. I ended up using my Baofeng most of the trip. Also the puck on the back of the handset was off. Nobody in town had a 2mm x 8mm bolt so I ordered one on Amazon and picked it up at a UPS store.
Also the new Bulletproof Mounts wireless charger cradle I got stopped opening automatically on Thursday running the Maze. I emailed Bulletproof and they've already shipped a replacement.
Heated gloves were great for cold morning freeway driving.
Brought extra gas for Oregon and Nevada. 2 one gallon cans that were easy to tuck between my rack and the side of the tub. Ran out of gas once in sight of a gas station. Had to use both cans to make it from Winnemucca to Lakeland.
Very happy with the Jeep.
Probably not going to do any additional mods for at least a year while I pay down the CC.
Would like to do a front coilover conversion. Seems prudent since a coilover is roughly the same cost as a fox shock in stock configuration.
Rear aluminum fenders. And some hooks or slots for my camping grill or a table. Just picked up an aluminum welder that does mig and tig.
Also want to do a cold air intake.
And I want to use the original engine to figure out how to get a Haltech to run the Jeep.
-Mac
Oh and P.S. fixed the neighbors truck. You're supposed to replace the pads before you're using the pistons in the rotor.
