Tykesplace 98 Montana TJ

[tykesplace]

My’98 TJ. I got it about a year ago. This is how it looked when I got it.

3.5” Rancho lift. 33s. Roof rack. 2.5l that was rebuilt and bored 0.20 over. 4.10 gears. That’s about it. Everything else is stock. I also bought a rear Dana 44 from the seller. He got it from https://www.highway-truckparts.com. He bought all new brake parts and lines. But didn’t install any of it.

I was happy with . But after the first trail run I realized it was way under geared. And I knew I was going with at least 35s at some point.

So I started researching a lot, and learned a lot. Especially from the folks on this forum.

I was going over the stuff I’ve done so far, and the other stuff I’m getting together, and thought it might be worth a build thread. Maybe I’ll get some help along the way. Maybe others will learn along with me. At the very least it will give me a place to document everything I’m doing. It’s going to take me a while as my budget allows, and I patiently wait for deals. But I think I know whereI’m heading with it.

 

[tykesplace]

The first things I did were relatively minor. I put in a cb first. Mounted the antenna on the driver side fender. I was glad that I did it. But I’ve hardly used it.

Next was a winch. I got a 12k Badlands from HF and a mounting plate.

Later I chopped the stock bumper.

 

[tykesplace]

My next focus was the drivetrain. The front is a LP Dana 30 and Dana 35 rear. I know those have to go. I had the Dana 44 rear. So I started looking for a front.

I watch FB marketplace like a hawk. Always searching. Eventually I saw a HP30 and 8.25 for sale. $50 and about 2 hours from me. The seller was willing to hold them for me. Pretty soon I had a job in his area. So I was reimbursed for the travel. Also offered him $25 for both and he took it.

I posted the 8.25 for $50 and took $30.
Next I started shopping for Dana 30 parts. Thinking about gearing, etc.

That’s when I came across a posting in Texas for a pair of 05 Rubicon axles, long arms, and other stuff. I knew it would take some work, and buying parts I wasn’t anticipating, but I couldn’t pass it up.

So we made the deal and I arranged for shipping.

Here’s what’s on the pallet.
05 Rubicon axles 4.56 gears
Detroit in the rear
Heavy 3/8” thick diff covers.
Chromoly Shafts on both. Ten Factory rear. G2 front. Plus stock fronts for spares.
MetalCloak dual rate 3.5" springs.
Adams drive shafts front and rear.
Bilstein 5100 and MetalCloak Red Body shocks.
Clayton long arms. 4-link rear and 3-link front.
Some sort of track bar with a Johnny Joint on one end. Ruff Stuff maybe?

So now I have a hp Dana 30 for sale.

 

[tykesplace]

First task was to clean up. I hit the axles with the pressure washer and wire wheel. Then some phospho to kill surface rust and prep for paint.

 

[tykesplace]

A few coats of self etching primer got them looking good. I seriously considered going with olive drab paint. But decided on black.

Jack stands is not a good working height. My back was killing me. And once I rolled the rear off the stands and dropped it. That was the last straw.

I dismantled the pallet that the seller built and made some stout saw horses. Now I could work standing up.

 

[tykesplace]

So here’s my Rubicon axle inventory

04 Rear, air locker
05 Rear, Detroit tru trac
05 Front, aid locker

After a lot of discussion with different people I decided to move the Detroit carrier to the 04 rear and sell that.

The Rubi stock front is an open carrier design. The rear is an limited slip style.

I’m swapping them. I think this arrangement will work best for what I do. I’ll get the ls traction up front, and full locker when needed.

But the Rubi and Detroit carriers take different bolt sizes. Which means one ring gear takes 3/8” bolts and the other 7/16”.
So I ordered some sleeves for the smaller bolts to fit the Rubi carrier. I’ll have to drill out the Detroit carrier to 7/8” so it will take the bigger bolts. I hope that makes sense.

My work area looks like the diffs exploded while I wait for the sleeves.

 

[tykesplace]

Here’s how the front is looking after many coats of paint. I think it looks pretty sharp. I’m using Ace premium paint. It’s inexpensive, but man does it spray well. Some of the best spray paint I’ve ever used. We’ll see how durable it is. I can’t wait to beat it up. But touching it up will be cheap.

 

[Wildman]

Looks great. Man that rear truss is TALL.... Are you keeping it or going with something different?

 

[tykesplace]

Looks great. Man that rear truss is TALL.... Are you keeping it or going with something different?

It’s not actually a truss. It’s the mount for the top links of the long arm 4 link. I think it provides some structural strength. But not like a full truss.

 

[Wildman]

It’s not actually a truss. It’s the mount for the top links of the long arm 4 link. I think it provides some structural strength. But not like a full truss.

Yes I guess I should have worded that better. It is still VERY TALL and will limit your up travel if you don't replace it. I wonder if they made it like that for seperation between the upper and lower mounts?

 

[tykesplace]

Yeah. It’s probably for the triangulation between the upper and lower links. It’s a kit from Clayton Offroad. I doubt they would have designed it too tall. The guy I bought it from didn’t have any issues.

 

[Wildman]

Yeah. It’s probably for the triangulation between the upper and lower links. It’s a kit from Clayton Offroad. I doubt they would have designed it too tall. The guy I bought it from didn’t have any issues.

Had a buddy who had a Clayton kit on his LJ back in the day. And yes it worked good. It just seems really tall.

 

[tykesplace]

Another part of my plan is beadlocks and tires. Since I was going with a hp30 and Dana 44, 35s have been the goal.

Crazy expensive beadlocks aren’t feasible for me. So I started looking into weld ons. I found TMR Customs. I had a set of 5 stock Jeep steelies from my Daughter’s TJ. So I ordered a set of rings and got to welding.

I set up a lazy Susan ring and centered the wheels on it. Now I could turn them while welding.

Welded them in.

Bent the “anti coning tabs” into place and welded those. Self etching primer and black wheel paint. I may go with red for the wheels, and gun metal for the rings.

With the new shafts and such I could probably pull off 38s. But then I need to consider wheel size. The only tires I can find bigger than 35 on 15” wheels are swampers. I’d have to go with 17”. I only have about $300 in these wheels. But I’d also need to regear. So it’ll be 35s for now.

 

[tykesplace]

Tore into @Wildman’s 5.2 a bit more today.

Some of the lifters were stuck. Same for the valves. From a build up of burned oil.

Timing chain was real sloppy.

The cam is worn.

I haven’t pulled the pistons or crank yet. Just a couple caps to check the bearings. Not shot, but worn enough to replace. The crank surfaces seem ok.

There’s some debris in the oil pan. Chunks of silicone maybe, and some other stuff. Judging by the stuff in the pan it wouldn’t surprise me if there is debris stuck in an oil passage.

Overall it’s burned oil. Has a heavy tar smell. I guessing from the overheating. It’s bad enough that I think it would need to be hot dipped before rebuilding it.

I need to evaluate everything before I go further.

 

[tykesplace]

Bloop

 

[Wildman]

Yes my guess it is a combination of the blown plenum gasket and all the oil it sucked in and then all the times it had gotten hot. Can't tell you what the goop is but it might be RTV. So me being told it was a low mileage engine was most likely incorrect from the way it sounds. Unless the cam was ruined by it getting so hot.

This is what the blown plenum gasket looked like before I installed the Hughes kit.

Yes hot tanking the engine is always a good idea before you do a rebuild.


Also this engine has sat for over 8 years so god only knows what could have gotten into it. I found a dead mouse in my front diff when I drained the oil out of it.

 

[tykesplace]

It’s been a while since I added anything to my thread, so I thought I would catch up. I’ve just been accumulating parts as my budget allows.
Recently I was able to make some substantial purchases. Five 35” Tires, Revolution 5.38 gears with master install kit and install tools, some Artec brackets for the axles, and a 220v MP welder. I also scored a DeWalt 20v impact from a pawn shop.

Today I’m mounting tires on the TMI weld-on beadlocks. Kind of backbreaking work. But if you ever mount beadlocks I highly suggest a lazy susan ring under the bucket. It’s a lot faster when you can spin the whole thing around. And an impact gun to tighten down the bolts. luckily I painted them two days ago, because we got about 8” of snow today.

 

[Wildman]

Nice seeing you are still working on it. Stop using that 4 letter word for that white stuff.... I'm hoping I have another month or more before I have to deal with it.

 

[TWiG01]

Nice update, let us know how those Patagonia’s work out. You scored some killer deals along the way.