What did you do to your TJ today?

[Jeepin' Geo]

I'm treating my covid crisis depression by punishing my wallet. Time for my old winch to play dress-up:

Therapy is becoming expensive. Wouldn't it be awesome if we could invoice @Chris for all the treatments he and the site inspire?

 

[Westtown Willy]

Today I may have done the best thing ever, my son came over in his new to him Jeep & we worked on them together. Nothing major, I was changing my tc fluid & transmission mount while he was installing a trailer hitch for his bike carrier, but it was awesome because we’ve never worked on cars together. I bought my TJ as a 50th birthday present to myself 4 years ago & up until then I’ve only ever done general maintenance on my cars like all fluids & tire rotations, I never ventured into any kind of repairs or modifications. Soon after I bought the TJ however I developed an interest in all of these things & while I haven’t done anything really complicated I have done more to this vehicle than all others I’ve owned in my life combined. Now that my son has a Jeep I hope some interest is also sparked in him to try some things himself he might otherwise automatically take to a mechanic. Just hanging out & sharing what I’ve learned with him is really indescribable, and I know many here understand what I mean.

My mess first, I've developed some drive line vibes & I'm going through a list of possible causes, the transmission mount is trashed, may be original. New one is being delivered Friday but I figured I'd get a jump on it

while I had the skids out I figured it was a good time to change the tc oil too

and clean about 20lbs of rocks, mud & filth from the skids

the boy's new to him 2014 Grand Cherokee

he rides a mountain bike so it was time for the bike rack, needed a hitch first:

not bad, took about 30 minutes

:

what a great way to spend a Wednesday night

 

[Zorba]

I bolted a pintle hook onto my rear bumper a few weeks back, but decided it just had to have the gen-u-WINE M-151 "G.I." chain plate to go with it. Standard parts aren't. Interchangeable parts won't. Chain plate's horizontal hole spacing off by 1/4", or 1/8" per side. Maybe tolerance stackup, maybe just a different spec between it and the civilian sourced pintle hook. Spent about an hour elongating the holes in the chain plate so it would bolt up. Too dark by the time I was finished to snap a picture.

 

[jazngab]

Not today but over the weekend, the TJ towed for the first time. My freshly built kayak/camp gear hauler (not as cool as these off road campers but works for me....and can be used for other household chores). I’m a noob to towing anything so all the bangs and loud noises and potholes make me nervous lol. Don’t want to see my kayak rolling down the road in my rear view mirror

 

[grumblebee]

pintle hook

Wow, I was today years old when I realized it was "pintle" and not "pindle" because I've only ever heard Arkansans say it.

 

[InOmaha]

I added some cheap tube doors. The wife would never dream of riding doors off and I'd rather spend money on better critical parts like suspension.

The black works with the rest of the black trim, cheap mirrors included.

I'm 2 rear shocks from starting the lift.

Then I'll see about a body and motor lift if I think I need it. I may start with some skid plates and a rock slider if I can find one for an unlimited. I'm not keen on drilling holes in good metal so it would have to be frame mounted.

 

[grumblebee]

I used Krylon Fusion for Plastic on my Son's XJ black parts about a year back and even sitting outside in the elements, still look amazing. Just another option if the Sema stuff is expensive.

I've seen plastic Fisher Price stuff repainted with it and left in the elements and it does well, so I'm sure it's great on fender flares. I discovered today that Krylon doesn't make "Fusion for Plastic" anymore. It's called "Fusion All-In-One" and its good for plastic. I guess they didn't want to make two separate lines any more, so they made one that does it all. Just a heads up if you are looking for the same product again later.

 

[madcanvis]

Finally!! It’s been 1 month to the day since removing my skid plate to SafeTCap both center frame sections.

Many issues resolved since it’s been in time out (brake lines, new magnaflow glass pack- welded on , and the shut down clunk is gone with restored frame) Today was the day I fitted the skid plate and took it out for a ride- I then removed skid plate, cleaned it up and painted. Took the top off and enjoyed a nice ride. All’s good.

despite never touching a welder, and some OJT (they’re not pretty but strong) I feel a HUGE sense of accomplishment in what I believe to be a large under taking for a shady tree mechanic.

 

[grumblebee]

The Jeep dealer never got back to my follow up on the quote for the 60K service on schedule B (that am only asking for because I haven't had anything done at a dealership in over 15 years and have no idea the "value" of my DIY and want to find out). I'm gonna hit them again with a third email on Friday. I really don't want to call since I have no intention of having them do anything, but I'm sure they get calls from people they never hear from again all the time.

Got my Sport Grip lace-on steering wheel cover in. Gonna save it for my build thread. I need to leave it out in the sun so it will be easier to put on anyway.

Generic brand GraBar handles should be in tomorrow.

Started the write up I'm going to use in my build thread. If you guys read things like War and Peace and Ph.D. dissertations for fun, you'll love it! And if you don't, don't worry, there will be lots of photos.

 

[JeepZilla380]

I've seen plastic Fisher Price stuff repainted with it and left in the elements and it does well, so I'm sure it's great on fender flares. I discovered today that Krylon doesn't make "Fusion for Plastic" anymore. It's called "Fusion All-In-One" and its good for plastic. I guess they didn't want to make two separate lines any more, so they made one that does it all. Just a heads up if you are looking for the same product again later.

Thanks! Yea i tried the free heat gun route first, and it made them look better for a really short time. Finally bought a few cans of the Fusion, did a real good cleaning of the flares, taped off and painted. So much better.

 

[Ephry73]

Not today but over the weekend, the TJ towed for the first time. My freshly built kayak/camp gear hauler (not as cool as these off road campers but works for me....and can be used for other household chores). I’m a noob to towing anything so all the bangs and loud noises and potholes make me nervous lol. Don’t want to see my kayak rolling down the road in my rear view mirror

View attachment 170576

View attachment 170577

Quadratec wheels?

The trailer looks good.

 

[Gregg1LE]

Not today but over the weekend, the TJ towed for the first time. My freshly built kayak/camp gear hauler (not as cool as these off road campers but works for me....and can be used for other household chores). I’m a noob to towing anything so all the bangs and loud noises and potholes make me nervous lol. Don’t want to see my kayak rolling down the road in my rear view mirror

View attachment 170576

View attachment 170577

What brand of trailer did you buy and how much did you pay? Great looking rig !

 

[InOmaha]

That's a nice looking trailer. It's similar to my folding trailer based on the roller wheels behind the tires. I take the back and sides off of mine, flip the back over and tilt it up, then push it against the wall in my shop.

It started as a used harbor freight trailer I got off cragslist for $100 and ended up like this after making the sides and adding the flooring. A spare I mounted under the back, a jack on the front, and bearing buddies rounded it out. I used old door hinges and nails as pins to hold the wood sides together at the corners

Here's the current version of mine, https://www.harborfreight.com/autom...x-96-in-super-duty-folding-trailer-62647.html but the guy I bought mine from towed a 3 wheel car to shows on it so he added twice the number of metal cross member supports and the manual winch to get it on the trailer. You can order extra parts directly from the factory. So my beefed up version will easily hold more than 1,700 lbs. You can see the spare I mounted under the rear license plate. I never travel without a spare and extra wheel bearings. The 12 inch tires and bearing buddies help with bearings.

The whole setup rides so nice I forget it's back there if I don't have something sticking up to remind me there's a trailer there. I have a Reese Outfitter Adventure System bike rack that holds four bikes and has a pass through hitch for the trailer.

 

[il buono]

When I removed the unnecessary transfer case drop over a week ago, I didn't remove the drop bracket for the transfer case linkage. I went to drive it to work on Monday and felt a slight thud under my feet between 25-40mph. I investigated the next day and saw the messed up angle. I'll probably upgrade to a cable shifter , but for now, I just wanted to get it back to normal.

 

[Zorba]

Yesterday's chain plate install. Since the pintle hook is rated for 5.5 tons, I'm contracting to move mobile homes! Bumper? What bumper?!?

 

[grumblebee]

It's similar to my folding trailer based on the roller wheels behind the tires. I take the back and sides off of mine, flip the back over and tilt it up, then push it against the wall in my shop.

Clever idea! Have you got a picture of what it looks like when stored? How much of a garage space footprint does it take up? One of these would come in handy so I don't have to borrow a truck when I need a bunch of bags of mulch and what not.

 

[HBomber8]

From 1997 to 2001 the hoods had dual nozzles. Hoods from ‘02 to ‘06 all had the center single nozzle.

Wait what? I’m shook! My 99 hood has one nozzle. I didn’t even think that it could have been a replacement from another year, as it has the Chrysler circuit diagram on the underside, but now that I think about it, one of the previous owners did get into an accident, according to the car fax. My mind is blown...

Wow, I was today years old when I realized it was "pintle" and not "pindle" because I've only ever heard Arkansans say it.

I was today years old when I learned that people who live in Arkansas are called Arkansans

 

[InOmaha]

Clever idea! Have you got a picture of what it looks like when stored? How much of a garage space footprint does it take up? One of these would come in handy so I don't have to borrow a truck when I need a bunch of bags of mulch and what not.

Here it is in storage mode buried behind the bikes I bring down for summer. It takes up around 3-4 feet of floor space from the wall in the third car garage. But I can store gas cans under it.

 

[John Cooper]

Repaired several vacuum lines while at work, idles lots better. Next is to replace both CCV hoses, probably do that Saturday!!!!!

 

[grumblebee]

Wait what? I’m shook! My 99 hood has one nozzle. I didn’t even think that it could have been a replacement from another year, as it has the Chrysler circuit diagram on the underside, but now that I think about it, one of the previous owners did get into an accident, according to the car fax. My mind is blown...

Right? I'm thinking we should start a support group.