OP
I had to modify the windshield washer location a little, but no problems.
Tennessee Red
- Thread starter gasiorv
- Start date
OP
OP
The access roads may be a little muddy, but the trails will be good.
Cya Sat at 9.
Cya Sat at 9.
OP
My steering box has taken a few good hits in the past, so I fabbed up a skid out of some scrap I had laying around. I never liked the idea of having a skid hanging down but I got it as tight as I could against the box with a little gap to allow some deflection without making contact. We will see how it goes in the rocks.
OP
Wife wasn't home so I pulled my jeep into the garage to do a few things before loading it onto trailer. When I was walking back up driveway I noted that both TJs were side by side in same garage (probably for first time).
Pretty sure if I had two TJs to put in the garage, I'd never have to worry about my wife parking in there again...
Can you explain what you're referring to when you say "steering speed?" I've not heard of that term before.
When you run hydro assist with a pump that does not put out enough volume, you can literally only turn the steering wheel slowly when the engine is idling. Unlike with regular power steering, which will let you turn the steering wheel just about as fast as you want.
Oh man, Victor - between your power steering pulley and my overheating, I've got quite a few burns on my hands and forearms this morning....
Great wheelin' with you yesterday. You and your rig are unstoppable. It's crazy what you were able to get up, over and through - and not having to winch once!
Well, except for that last time....
For anyone who has never seen Victor wheel - he is a madman and a master.
Great wheelin' with you yesterday. You and your rig are unstoppable. It's crazy what you were able to get up, over and through - and not having to winch once!
Well, except for that last time....
For anyone who has never seen Victor wheel - he is a madman and a master.
Brianj5600
TJ Expert
Very true! Watching him climb out of Merlin was amazing. I did not think he had a chance, he proved me wrong. Videos coming?
OP
Jeff,
Thanks for joining us, it was a great trip. Your LJ looks and sounds great out on the trails and you made a few of those obstacles just look simple. I was out in the garage most of the day assessing the damage, more info to come on that.
I asked my wife if she got any video and she said "I only got one of Jeff, where he climbed that hill at top of brokefoot that you couldn't climb". Tough crowd around here!!
Once I have time to look at some gopro footage, I will post something up. Right now I am on a mission to get my Jeep fixed for the next trip!!
Thanks for joining us, it was a great trip. Your LJ looks and sounds great out on the trails and you made a few of those obstacles just look simple. I was out in the garage most of the day assessing the damage, more info to come on that.
I asked my wife if she got any video and she said "I only got one of Jeff, where he climbed that hill at top of brokefoot that you couldn't climb". Tough crowd around here!!
Once I have time to look at some gopro footage, I will post something up. Right now I am on a mission to get my Jeep fixed for the next trip!!
OP
Had a great day of wheeling at Hawk Pride. Got a lot of rain early in the week but end of week turned out to be really nice (sunny and cool) so I thought the trails would have been a little drier, but they weren't. Very happy that the park has fixed most of the access roads, they used to be huge mud holes, but for now they were great, barely any mud at all. The wet clay on the rocks on the actual trails on the other hand made for a day of work in the ol' TJ, but it was fun!
I was meeting a bunch down there and also invited NashvilleLJ along, upon arrival and after hitting the first trail, I noted that most of the bunch was going to be stopping to socialize and get reebs out of the coolers all day (which is great if you are there for the weekend, but I was just there for the day so I wanted to ride!!) so I asked Jeff if he wanted to split off and go hit some trails that he never been on before and he obliged. We hit Up Hill Both Ways and Lower Ditch with the group, then we split off on our own and hit the following trails: Jester, down Lucky, Dollar Bills, down Lucky, Cherokee, down Ol' 21, Waterfall, Brokefoot, Backdoor, lunch break at pavilion, Merlin, Maverick, Ghost.
My jeep had a minor issue in the morning while on brokefoot. The power steering pump pulley started to back off the ps pump shaft and it through the belt. Luckily there was no damage to the belt, the pulley, the pump, or anything else, and Jeff quickly noted "why" the belt jumped and he also had a bolt handy that we were able to use to press back on the pulley (and left installed to keep it from backing off again).
On Ghost is when my day came to an end. In what did not seem like too bad of jam (I was stuck in between two large rocks undercut perfectly on both sides of my drivers side rear wheel) the front end made a loud "pop" and then a whole bunch of popping and clicking when you tried to go fwd or aft. So we decided to "wear the pink shirt" and pull the winch cable and while winching, there was another pop from the drivers side rear wheel and while I was unsure of what gave out on the front end, I was definitely sure that the rear axle shaft gave up the ghost on that pop. After a little more winching and doing a bonehead move that resulted in the loss of the bead on the right front tire, we were able to get my Jeep to the top of Ghost. From there I was able to make it back to the parking lot under my own power, but there was a whole lot of clicking and popping from the front and rear.
All and all a great day on the trails and I was happy to get the opportunity to meet up with Jeff and do some wheeling with him and his rig.
Since I have a Hot Springs trip planned in October, I wanted to get a jump on figuring out what had broken and get parts on order (COVID still got part availability all F'd up and hit or miss on what is available) ASAP. So this morning, I powerwashed the Jeep to get rid of that Alabama mud and then put her on jack stands.
Rear-
Drivers side axle shaft definitely broken. It is under warranty so I will submit claim first thing tomorrow.
Unfortunately, the broken shaft did a good bit of damage to the locker and the carrier bearing. Fortunately, I was able to get the carrier out and get the broken shaft piece out and worst case if Eaton doesn't have the locker cap available, I should be able to clean it up and still get a bearing to press on. The cap bolts that hold the locker cap on, also had backed out again and were damaged.
Front-
Both shafts were still connected so I know the shafts weren't broken and when I opened up the diff cover I found two big pieces of metal (teeth) stuck to the magnet (luckily). I actually had to remove the magnetic plug to get the pieces out.
Further inspection and it had to be from the spiders in the locker (it is a stock rubicon locker). So I removed the carrier and the ring gear and sure enough the spiders were damaged. unfortunately, there is no longer parts available for the stock rubicon locker so I guess i am going to have to go either elocker or possibly a grizzly or detroit.
I have had a clicking from my passenger side RCV axle since not long after I installed it and since I had to pull the boots off and the shafts out to get the carrier out, I did some looking and there is definitely a lot of play and a very hard break over point in the CV joint. Since these shafts are basically new and I have a recent email from RCV basically telling me to not worry about the clicking, I am not too happy with RCV right now. I will send them an email with the video of play tomorrow.
Well as long as I can get that rear elocker cap (or clean it up enough to accept and retain a new bearing) I should really only be out a new locker in the front with everything else being under warranty. Not the greatest outcome, but it could have also been a lot worse. Hopefully my next post will be everything back together and ready to do some wheeling at Hot Springs in a few weeks.
I was meeting a bunch down there and also invited NashvilleLJ along, upon arrival and after hitting the first trail, I noted that most of the bunch was going to be stopping to socialize and get reebs out of the coolers all day (which is great if you are there for the weekend, but I was just there for the day so I wanted to ride!!) so I asked Jeff if he wanted to split off and go hit some trails that he never been on before and he obliged. We hit Up Hill Both Ways and Lower Ditch with the group, then we split off on our own and hit the following trails: Jester, down Lucky, Dollar Bills, down Lucky, Cherokee, down Ol' 21, Waterfall, Brokefoot, Backdoor, lunch break at pavilion, Merlin, Maverick, Ghost.
My jeep had a minor issue in the morning while on brokefoot. The power steering pump pulley started to back off the ps pump shaft and it through the belt. Luckily there was no damage to the belt, the pulley, the pump, or anything else, and Jeff quickly noted "why" the belt jumped and he also had a bolt handy that we were able to use to press back on the pulley (and left installed to keep it from backing off again).
On Ghost is when my day came to an end. In what did not seem like too bad of jam (I was stuck in between two large rocks undercut perfectly on both sides of my drivers side rear wheel) the front end made a loud "pop" and then a whole bunch of popping and clicking when you tried to go fwd or aft. So we decided to "wear the pink shirt" and pull the winch cable and while winching, there was another pop from the drivers side rear wheel and while I was unsure of what gave out on the front end, I was definitely sure that the rear axle shaft gave up the ghost on that pop. After a little more winching and doing a bonehead move that resulted in the loss of the bead on the right front tire, we were able to get my Jeep to the top of Ghost. From there I was able to make it back to the parking lot under my own power, but there was a whole lot of clicking and popping from the front and rear.
All and all a great day on the trails and I was happy to get the opportunity to meet up with Jeff and do some wheeling with him and his rig.
Since I have a Hot Springs trip planned in October, I wanted to get a jump on figuring out what had broken and get parts on order (COVID still got part availability all F'd up and hit or miss on what is available) ASAP. So this morning, I powerwashed the Jeep to get rid of that Alabama mud and then put her on jack stands.
Rear-
Drivers side axle shaft definitely broken. It is under warranty so I will submit claim first thing tomorrow.
Unfortunately, the broken shaft did a good bit of damage to the locker and the carrier bearing. Fortunately, I was able to get the carrier out and get the broken shaft piece out and worst case if Eaton doesn't have the locker cap available, I should be able to clean it up and still get a bearing to press on. The cap bolts that hold the locker cap on, also had backed out again and were damaged.
Front-
Both shafts were still connected so I know the shafts weren't broken and when I opened up the diff cover I found two big pieces of metal (teeth) stuck to the magnet (luckily). I actually had to remove the magnetic plug to get the pieces out.
Further inspection and it had to be from the spiders in the locker (it is a stock rubicon locker). So I removed the carrier and the ring gear and sure enough the spiders were damaged. unfortunately, there is no longer parts available for the stock rubicon locker so I guess i am going to have to go either elocker or possibly a grizzly or detroit.
I have had a clicking from my passenger side RCV axle since not long after I installed it and since I had to pull the boots off and the shafts out to get the carrier out, I did some looking and there is definitely a lot of play and a very hard break over point in the CV joint. Since these shafts are basically new and I have a recent email from RCV basically telling me to not worry about the clicking, I am not too happy with RCV right now. I will send them an email with the video of play tomorrow.
Well as long as I can get that rear elocker cap (or clean it up enough to accept and retain a new bearing) I should really only be out a new locker in the front with everything else being under warranty. Not the greatest outcome, but it could have also been a lot worse. Hopefully my next post will be everything back together and ready to do some wheeling at Hot Springs in a few weeks.
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Looks like you’ll have your hands full for a little while. Hope you can find all your parts quickly.
Seen it, believe it!Oh man, Victor - between your power steering pulley and my overheating, I've got quite a few burns on my hands and forearms this morning....
Great wheelin' with you yesterday. You and your rig are unstoppable. It's crazy what you were able to get up, over and through - and not having to winch once!
Well, except for that last time....
For anyone who has never seen Victor wheel - he is a madman and a master.
Wish you guys were closer, or I was closer I guess lol... maybe some day I'll make it out there.
OP
Nashville has posted some videos on his build thread and I created a Wheeling Trip post with some videos.
https://wranglertjforum.com/threads/hawk-pride-9-25-21-southeast-wheeling.55525/
OP
Well the wifey had dinner plans with friends tonight and all my parts came in yesterday so I spent the evening out in the garage.
Got the rearend completely buttoned up; elocker cap cleaned up and new bearing installed, locker installed, warranty axle installed, test to make sure locker worked and diff cover on. Now I just got to wait to put gear oil in it on Sunday.
Got the new elocker installed in the front. Got it wired up, axles reinstalled and tested. diff cover installed, now just waiting to sunday to put gear oil in it and then reconnect tie rod and get this thing back to rubber to ground.
Helping my buddy Kris (4 dr JKU from Moab) put on a Mt Bike race tomorrow so tomorrow will be all registration, time keeping, and beer drinking. Hopefully sunday morning I can get it buttoned up and I will be driving this thing sunday afternoon to a local brewery to grab a beer with the wife.
Tonight it is Kettle One and cranberry and bandaging my finger which got got between two pieces of metal, not really that bad, but it was a bleeder!
Got the rearend completely buttoned up; elocker cap cleaned up and new bearing installed, locker installed, warranty axle installed, test to make sure locker worked and diff cover on. Now I just got to wait to put gear oil in it on Sunday.
Got the new elocker installed in the front. Got it wired up, axles reinstalled and tested. diff cover installed, now just waiting to sunday to put gear oil in it and then reconnect tie rod and get this thing back to rubber to ground.
Helping my buddy Kris (4 dr JKU from Moab) put on a Mt Bike race tomorrow so tomorrow will be all registration, time keeping, and beer drinking. Hopefully sunday morning I can get it buttoned up and I will be driving this thing sunday afternoon to a local brewery to grab a beer with the wife.
Tonight it is Kettle One and cranberry and bandaging my finger which got got between two pieces of metal, not really that bad, but it was a bleeder!