What did you do to your TJ today?

Drove it to a site for a raptor survey this morning. 27 degrees heading up into the mountains with snow (I thought spring was here, apparently not). The seat heaters worked well ;)

View attachment 94911


Haven’t you ever heard “Winter’s is not over til there’s snow on the Dogwood blossoms”
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: Alex01 and tworley
That’s awesome! I wish I had trails near by. We only have Uwharrie National Forest and it’s hours away. Nothing cool in ENC (or much of anywhere in NC that I’m aware of).
 
Yesterday was the cooling system overhaul.

Today I will be pulling it out from the garage for the first time since last summer.
 
Sun is beaming down in LA. Put the top down and switched out the full doors for EAG spider ones. Changing out the rusted torx screws on the door for new steel ones later today.

31995658-72B2-4938-890F-0A70BD2E0C92.jpeg
 
Wow! That’s quite the list! Seems like you’ve done quite a few different variations of frame sealing, coating, painting, inner, outer etc. Any particular reason for all the different methods/variations? Once you’ve done 1 type does a 2nd, 3rd etc really add any additional benefit? I’m in the south and my frame doesn’t have a spec of rust. Everyone who looks at it says it looks like it just came from the showroom floor. Perhaps the PO did some sort of coating? I’m the 2nd owner.

A couple of things, I'm probably a little bit anal about maintenance, and some of my first efforts were done incorrectly or poorly.

Reading any Jeep forum, frame rust is something that needs addressed. My jeep has a solid frame, but had surface rust. The PO/car dealer sprayed undercoating on the exterior prior to my purchase.

I initially addressed the inside of the frame with Eastwood's internal frame coat, but my limited shop space and time had an impact on my results. I bought the Jeep last August, but didn't start any long term maintenance until after the colder weather started. Any work I did, had to be done in one evening, so I could park my wife's car in the garage that night.

About 6 weeks ago, I had access to my garage for longer term repairs. This is when I dropped the gas tank/skid. I decided if I'm going to do the work, do it right. At this time, I drilled additional drain holes in the frame, cleaned the inside with a wire cable attachment in my drill, and washed with degreaser and a pressure washer. I then applied a second coat of Eastwood's internal frame coat. If I would have done this the first time, a second coat would not be necessary.

While I was working under the jeep, I saw some areas that appeared to be covered up with undercoating. Hence the wire wheel, sand blaster, or grinder to remove the undercoating and repaint.

Overall, if I would have done the job in the beginning with the proper tools and procedures, it would have taken a lot less effort. If my frame looked "showroom new", I probably would have only sprayed the undercarriage with fluid film for protection. With a spray gun, this is a 15 minute job.

Tonight, all my efforts seemed to have paid off. I took the top off and went for a ride. To celebrate our first topless ride, my wife and I picked up another couple and drove to a local restaurant. While eating, the restaurant owner/bar tender asked "who owns the blue jeep?" I raised my hand. He said he wants it, and offered to trade his Harley and cash. His wife took a selfie with my jeep. After all my efforts, I finally understand the meaning of "It's a Jeep Thing".
 
Last edited:
A couple of things, I'm probably a little bit anal about maintenance, and some of my first efforts were done incorrectly or poorly.

Reading any Jeep forum, frame rust is something that needs addressed. My jeep has a solid frame, but had surface rust. The PO/car dealer sprayed undercoating on the exterior prior to my purchase.

I initially addressed the inside of the frame with Eastwood's internal frame coat, but my limited shop space and time had an impact on my results. I bought the Jeep last August, but didn't start any long term maintenance until after the colder weather started. Any work I did, had to be done in one evening, so I could park my wife's car in the garage that night.

About 6 weeks ago, I had access to my garage for longer term repairs. This is when I dropped the gas tank/skid. I decided if I'm going to do the work, do it right. At this time, I drilled additional drain holes in the frame, cleaned the inside with a wire cable attachment in my drill, and washed with degreaser and a pressure washer. I then applied a second coat of Eastwood's internal frame coat. If I would have done this the first time, a second coat would not be necessary.

While I was working under the jeep, I saw some areas that appeared to be covered up with undercoating. Hence the wire wheel, sand blaster, or grinder to remove the undercoating and repaint.

Overall, if I would have done the job in the beginning with the proper tools and procedures, it would have taken a lot less effort. If my frame looked "showroom new", I probably would have only sprayed the undercarriage with fluid film for protection. With a spray gun, this is a 15 minute job.

Tonight, all my efforts seemed to have paid off. I took the top off and went for a ride. To celebrate our first topless ride, my wife and I picked up another couple and drove to a local restaurant. While eating, the restaurant owner/bar tender asked "who owns the blue jeep?" I raised my hand. He said he wants it, and offered to trade his Harley and cash. His wife took a selfie with my jeep. After all my efforts, I finally understand the meaning of "It's a Jeep Thing".
This thread is worthless without pics
 
  • Like
Reactions: JP13 and 04 LJ
TJ owners day - woke up , ate, farted around , went to bed

LJ owners day be like -

Woke up crazy early
Ate
Ran a marathon
Pulled my engine
Swapped my frame

Ate lunch

Rode the Rubicon trail, in reverse
Washed it
Saw a movie
Went to waffle house
Went home

Re geared it
Went to bed early , really busy day tomorrow
 
swapped out my speedo gear, so nice to know how fast (or slow) I am going, super easy thanks to the write up in the how to section on this forum.

Also changed the t-case fluid, what a f'n disaster, by the time I was done I was covered in fluid, fluid all over the ground. I knocked over the bottle (with the top off of course), over flowed the funnel I was using, just a mess!!!
 
swapped out my speedo gear, so nice to know how fast (or slow) I am going, super easy thanks to the write up in the how to section on this forum.

Also changed the t-case fluid, what a f'n disaster, by the time I was done I was covered in fluid, fluid all over the ground. I knocked over the bottle (with the top off of course), over flowed the funnel I was using, just a mess!!!

I’m not the most mechanically inclined but I’m not afraid to try...when I changed my t-case fluid over the winter I bought this https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000BQW5LK/?tag=wranglerorg-20 after effing around for an hour + and it was the best $8 I ever spent! Not sure why I didn’t buy it before I started! Would have saved my son and me a lot of time from crawling around on the freezing concrete!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
  • Like
Reactions: Fonz54 and RussTJ
Went to change out the front sway bar struts yesterday and discovered that my ancient ball joint fork has went awol (along with a set of tire irons). So, I ended up going to Harbor Freight yesterday evening to get a new one (and tire irons) and came home with a ball joint separator that has a jack screw. We'll see how that works once I finish my morning coffee.
 
  • Like
Reactions: RussTJ and matkal