What did you do to your TJ today?

Went on a road trip to a nearby town and when I came out of the store, I had a stowaway. First time I've had this happen. My daughter's JLU seems to collect them to the point I told her she needs to rename it the Duck Pond.

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@AndyG was in Tennessee today, that's a known fact now!!!!!
 
Shocks were shot so I decided to follow the general recommendations and threw some Ranchos under there. Finished just before midnight so I’m putting off the test run for the morning. They look much more well built than my previous hydros so I’m eager put them through their paces.
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Been tracking down a transmission leak. It wasn't obvious so I removed the skid plate and placed paper towels around every point that could leak above the pan gasket and let everything sit for a day or two. Turns out it was the shift shaft seal. Following some information on this forum, I was able to replace it today without dropping the pan and valve body. Drove it around for a good while tonight and will check in the morning if everything is still dry. I sure hope so.
 
I got the rear diff cover off finally by doing this:


Hammering a razor blade in there was enough to break the initial seal. If you use a 2nd razor blade, put it behind the first one. I still didn't have enough space to get a screw driver in between the blades, and the blades were going further and further into the diff. I took some pliers, removed the 2 blades, and of course 1 of them fell in the catch basin. After I fished it out and dried it off, I hammered in that razor blade in spot that was just over from the first place. At that point, I got a small pry bar behind the blade and that was enough leverage to break it fully open.

Today, I don't have much to do on the Jeep. The new transmission pan and Lube Locker diff gaskets will be here tomorrow. I may clean out the diffs more, and clean out the RTV, but that's it. That shouldn't be more than an hour.

For now, I have some coffee and The Righteous Gemstones to watch.
 
3. What's the benefit of a new transfer case shifter cable?

Typically, usually, the OEM transfer case mechanical z gate shifter starts to bind after time and needs adjustment to stay in the selected position. It can also be somewhat clunky. The shifter cable when properly adjusted makes shifting the t case butter smooth. Also, if you are thinking of a body lift the cable is much easier to make any necessary adjustments.
 
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Typically, usually, the OEM transfer case mechanical z gate shifter starts to bind after time and needs adjustment to stay in the selected position. It can also be somewhat clunky. The shifter cable when properly adjusted makes shifting the t case butter smooth. Also, if you are thinking of a body lift the cable is much easier to make any necessary adjustments.

I took a look at the Savvy kit. I'm going to pass for now, but I did add this to my Amazon wish list. $170 isn't a lot, but I'm trying to limit spending money on the Jeep right now because I've spent so much on it already since I bought it. Maybe in a year or so.
 
Shocks were shot so I decided to follow the general recommendations and threw some Ranchos under there. Finished just before midnight so I’m putting off the test run for the morning. They look much more well built than my previous hydros so I’m eager put them through their paces.
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I replaced my shocks yesterday with the highly recommended Rancho RS5000x as well. The forum was right, they are a very soft ride. I had the Bilstein 5100s and they don't compare. Great ride!
 
I got the rear diff cover off finally by doing this:


Hammering a razor blade in there was enough to break the initial seal. If you use a 2nd razor blade, put it behind the first one. I still didn't have enough space to get a screw driver in between the blades, and the blades were going further and further into the diff. I took some pliers, removed the 2 blades, and of course 1 of them fell in the catch basin. After I fished it out and dried it off, I hammered in that razor blade in spot that was just over from the first place. At that point, I got a small pry bar behind the blade and that was enough leverage to break it fully open.

Today, I don't have much to do on the Jeep. The new transmission pan and Lube Locker diff gaskets will be here tomorrow. I may clean out the diffs more, and clean out the RTV, but that's it. That shouldn't be more than an hour.

For now, I have some coffee and The Righteous Gemstones to watch.

This won't work for a stock rear cover, but my front cover was stuck so I did this:

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Didn't need the hydraulic jack to get it off per se, but it gives nice gradient control as opposed to tugging on the thing.
 
I spent something like 40 hours in the garage over the weekend, I'm not even sure what all I did. Rear coils in and out 12 times. fine tuning axle positioning. Mocked up CavFab sliders. Trimmed poison spyder corner armor to fit over them. Finished installing the interior, windshield header, top, etc. Figured out the OEM seat belts with the PRPs. Painted the sliders. Put the gas tank back in. Maybe I did that last weekend? I don't know. Adjusted the parking brake. Started the process of tying up all the fuel and brake lines and wiring along the driver's side. Not happy with how that's going, but whatever. All hinges, doors, mirror hung and adjusted. Fire extinguisher mounted. In between all that I installed some slightly longer shock extensions on the Foxes on the Gladiator and pulled out the rear track bar to replace with a Currie track but they sent me the wrong parts and it's a solid 4" too short. Removed the rear seats from the Glad... busy weekend.

Leave thursday morning to tour Colorado in the Glad for 11 days. Then I'm home for a week with an overtime shift in there before I'm meeting folks in northern MN for a wheeling trip with the TJ. So... I essentially have 1 day left to get the TJ done.

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I replaced my shocks yesterday with the highly recommended Rancho RS5000x as well. The forum was right, they are a very soft ride. I had the Bilstein 5100s and they don't compare. Great ride!

I would really appreciate it if you could please push down on one corner and compare to what you see in my video. Any difference?


Thanks, Andy
 
This project Jeep is the first time that I have ever done any kind of major work on a vehicle, and I gotta say that a breaker bar is an amazing tool.

Poor Man's impact wrench.

I've used breaker bars for years before I ever got a big enough air compressor to run an impact gun. I still use them as lug wrenches and for stuff that the impact gun won't loosen up.
 
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