The lights before lockers build: double tough 97 Sport

Got the knuckles removed, new spi er U-joints installed, and the old ball joints pressed out. All the joints were shot, so I'm glad I'm doing this while the axle is on saw horses. Makes it a ton easier!
20220414_145209.jpg
20220414_145205.jpg
20220414_145158.jpg
 
So while waiting on my next days off, I'm thinking about what comes next. Definitely getting new ball joints and upper control arm bushings put on. Then I will probably run a gear pattern on both diffs. Other than that, I'm going to just continue to be all sad waiting on my Savvy order. Man, as soon as it gets in I can really start moving forward on this build!
 
I'm starting this thread today because I want to chronicle my build thread and get advice along the way, because I'm going to order a bunch of parts on Monday. I've had my jeep for about 2 years now and mostly what I've done has been cosmetic or required repairs. I'm about to begin making it a truly capable offroader! I will be detailing what I have done so far over the next few posts, then listing the parts I am planning on ordering in the next few days. I have been saving $$ for the past 7 months to make the next big stage of my build a reality. So without further ado, I present my build thread. Beware, for the first year I had it, I was thinking about what would look cool, not what would make a great off road vehicle. Please bear with me and forgive my rookie mistakes. A lot of the next planned build phase was informed heavily from gleaning advice from this forum, so in a way, many, many of you have contributed to what comes next. Thanks all!

I started my hunt for a TJ in March of 2020. My wife got a JK in 2018 and I just enjoyed the hell out of driving it. I wanted a jeep of my own on the cheap that I could turn wrenches on myself. Nothing fancy, but that I could improve my basic shadetree mechanic skills on as I improved the jeep. I was looking for a manual because I enjoy rowing gears around town. In April, I found a red (my favorite color... this wasn't a deciding factor, but was a plus) 97 TJ on Marketplace for $7800. It had 145k miles on it, but was the 4.0 with a Manual. He was the 3rd owner. I met the seller, and checked it over. Everything I knew th check for was in good shape for its age, but I was a week out from having the cash in hand. I would have haggled a bit and tried to get him down to about 7k, but I knew what the market was like so offered him full asking price if he would hold it for a week. He was a gentleman about it, and a week later I paid him and got the title. I didn't know much about TJs at that time, but looking back, knowing what I do now about my Jeep, I think it was a fair deal both ways.

The fist upgrade was a Smittybilt xrc 9500 winch. I mean, every Jeep needs a winch, right? So I bought a winch plate and mounted it up. Honestly, I may have just been throwing money at it without a plan, but I do like the winch. I've even used it effectively, so all in all, I'm happy with the purchase.

Next I realised it had an exhaust leak and determined from some looking around tha the exhaust manifold was cracked. I watched some YouTube videos, figured out how to replace it, and installed a new one in a day. That was one of the most ambitious mechanic projects I had tackled to date at that point. I did replace it with one from autozone, so knowing what I know now, I will likely be replacing it again in a few years with something better, when this one cracks.

Of course, I put a Amazon Special light bar on it! That's why this is the lights before lockers build. I didn't know what I was doing and so did some dumb shit out of order. But I honestly enjoy my light bar too. Is it super practical? Nah. Do I like how bright it is running around on forest roads in the evenings? Heck yeah.

I moved the side mirrors to the tub, thinking it would be nice to cruise around town with the doors off during the summer. It makes the mirrors hard to see, and I have only taken the doors off twice in 2 years, so I moved em back to their original locations. Plus the rough country mounts for the mirrors were kinda cheap.

I upgraded the stereo to a pioneer head and Fosgate speakers and wired it for Satellite radio. Gotta say, I love being able to listen to the radio no matter how far back in the wilderness I am.

I changed the water pump in the Santa Fe rodeo grounds when my wife called me when she was out in the jeep and told me that it was leaking fluid all over the place. Had to head over there and fix it right then, so it is an autozone water pump. It's been on there about 3k miles at this point with no problems yet though, so that's nice. I also bought a bikini top that I run in the summer from about May to September. I love it, but sure am glad I have a hard top for the winter.

Lastly, I have added the Jeep's name, Double Tough to the hood sides. I know some people think this is silly, and that's alright! I like it though. Problem is, I realise I need to build the Jeep better to make it worthy of the name.

Alright, that about covers the big stuff done so far. Next post will be pictures, followed by a post of upcoming planned mods!

Thanks for reading, everyone!

Check out the 97s thread in my signature, and let us know if you have anything to add.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 97TJNM
I read through your summary and don't have anything to add. If I run I to anything not listed during my build, I will add it to your post!
 
  • Like
Reactions: SSTJ
Never in my life have I had ball joints press in as easily as a tutorial video. I expected to fight these for a few hours. 45 minutes later, bam, done. Don't get me wrong, they are the correct size and they did have to be pressed, but my
20220419_095959.jpg
20220419_100006.jpg
cheap Omix press worked like it should and none of em tried to go in crooked or anything! That's a successful morning!
 
Got the upper control arm bushings installed in the front axle.

Pulled the diff covers on both axles and discovered that while the rear has an ARB air locker as advertised, the front has a factory Rubicon locker.

Got help from a few forum members (most notibly @sab @AMS417 @Apparition and @NashvilleTJ ) and will be ordering a Regulator for the rubi locker.

Big shout out to all who jumped in to quickly help me figure this one out!
20220420_110253.jpg
20220420_110256.jpg
20220420_110309.jpg
20220420_114311.jpg
 
Worked on cleaning up the rear diff and ran a gear pattern. Drive side seems toward the toe and coast side is toward the heel. Don't seem to be touching the peak or root.

Now, of course, I never set up gears before so I don't entirely know what I'm doing. Not sure if I put enough drag on the ring gear while running the pattern or how that might effect the pattern. Also, from my searches, it looks like with used gears (these are secondhand axles, after all) once they have worn in a pattern, there's not much to do but run it or replace the gears.

What do yall think? I'm leaning toward running it but knowing in the back of my mind I may need to replace the gears at some point in the next year or so.
20220421_125158.jpg

20220421_125213.jpg

Of course I ran out of time to get a pattern on the front. Gonna have to wait a day or two on that.
 
Game On! Lookin good! You gonna be out working on it this weekend?
Sadly, no. I will be working this weekend. Rotating schedule means MY weekend is always different. Next day off is Wednesday. Maybe I'll have some parts in by then!
 
Game On! Lookin good! You gonna be out working on it this weekend?
Actually, I will be off from Wednesday through Saturday so maybe next weekend (at least on Sat.) I will be wrenching. If parts come in I'll let you know!
 
Got access to a welder? Throw a couple tacks on those u joint caps. It will help to keep them from spinning and spitting out ruining the ear of your shaft.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 97TJNM
Sadly, no. I will be working this weekend. Rotating schedule means MY weekend is always different. Next day off is Wednesday. Maybe I'll have some parts in by then!
Dang! I'll keep my eye out for ya. Spotted your Jeep a while back while working near your place. ;)
 
  • Like
Reactions: 97TJNM
Got access to a welder? Throw a couple tacks on those u joint caps. It will help to keep them from spinning and spitting out ruining the ear of your shaft.
Is that a thing? I was under the impression that heat was a killer for u-joints... admittedly there's a whole lot of crap I don't know...

You mean tack the caps to the shaft? Wouldn't that make em a bitch to change in the future?
 
Is that a thing? I was under the impression that heat was a killer for u-joints... admittedly there's a whole lot of crap I don't know...

You mean tack the caps to the shaft? Wouldn't that make em a bitch to change in the future?

One or two small tacks won’t kill a u joint. 30 seconds with a grinder and it’s gone if you need it removed.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 97TJNM
When I was putting in U-joints, I accidentally pinched a seal on one. Then in the process of trying to get the cap back out, I scattered needle bearings everywhere. I manage to find all the needle bearings but decided to just get a new joint so that I wasn't worried about the pinched seal. Today I reassembled it and re-greased it. While not perfect, it will make a good trail spare.
20220422_083042.jpg
 
  • Like
Reactions: TRE3TOP
When I was putting in U-joints, I accidentally pinched a seal on one. Then in the process of trying to get the cap back out, I scattered needle bearings everywhere. I manage to find all the needle bearings but decided to just get a new joint so that I wasn't worried about the pinched seal. Today I reassembled it and re-greased it. While not perfect, it will make a good trail spare.View attachment 324683
Wrap some electrical tape around the caps long ways to keep them from sliding apart.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 97TJNM