What did you do to your TJ today?

Did the pass side of the Summit seat foam and bushings. If you’re on the fence, just do it. Not many other material comfort upgrades for under $200.

Do you have a link to the hog ring pliers you used? I'm thinking about picking up a set of these seat foams this week.
 
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I did - It's not in great shape, but seemed like it would work fine for now. If i need to replace it, well ... I'll deal with that when I get there, lol.

was hoping to hear you came up with something when I inevitably get to that job :ROFLMAO: keep thinking im smelling a hint of antifreeze briefly from time to time but cant confirm if I am of not. think it might be just in the back of my head they fail and im smelling nothing.
 
Got the new exhaust manifold in (after new motor mounts last week). Sounds quiet now. Unfortunately did not fix the whistling noise that varies with throttle but at least eliminated some potential causes. The replacement actually went pretty well given its a PITA project. Used a a1 premium of amazon which is a typical chinese replacement but came fast and was as cheap and free shipping.

And a buddy got a 90's defender so time to compare. I know mine was cheaper.
 
I installed the cargo restraint system and mesh bikini top so my boy can come along.

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Swapped out the full doors for half doors. Had two days of sunshine and it is in the 60s so it is time. Of course the next 7 days is going to be rain.

Just got the LJ back from frame repair, new tires, caliper replacement, state inspection, rear axle seal replacement.

My guy really got it dialed in and it drives very nice now. Now to start saving for a regear.

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Do you have a link to the hog ring pliers you used? I'm thinking about picking up a set of these seat foams this week.

I took the rings off my old foam and put them on the new one. Used a piece of wire folded in the middle and pushed through the fabric tubes to pull the wire through the tubes and rings. It worked pretty well.
 
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No pics were taken, but over the past few days, I replaced my steering gear box and front and rear track bars.

Steering box: The steering box that was on the Jeep was leaking from the sector shaft seal where the steering shaft connects. I let this thing seep for probably 4 years now. Last month, I saw @JerryBransford recommend Lucas oil power steering stop leak which seemed to have fixed the issue. So I took the bottle's advice and sucked out the power steering reservoir and added stop leak to the fill line. Drove it another day or two and noticed fluid everywhere. The seal was pouring fluid and the PS reservoir was nearly empty. Since I couldn't justify the PSC, I decided to try my hand at resealing my gearbox. Ordered a seal kit. FF a few days, I removed the gearbox and began to disassemble. I discovered that I didn't have the proper tools to remove the sector shaft spanner and jam nut. I was in a pinch, so decided to get a remanufactured unit from O'Reillys. Figure that I'll have to use the "Limited Lifetime Warranty" at some point! Installed with a new pitman arm.

Filled system with some fresh ATF-4 and bled by turning the wheel a bunch. Topped off system and road tested. Seemed to have more play in the steering wheel than before. Adjusted the sector shaft nut 1/4 turn at a time for a total of 1/2 turn. Seemed better, but not quite what I remembered from before. Drove it home and adjusted another 1/4 turn. Drove it back to the shop today and did another 1/4 turn. So had a total of 1 turn on it. Felt good, but the wheel would no longer return to center. Decided to back off 1/2 turn and do the track bars.


Track Bars: I had a pair of adjustable Metalcloak track bars that have seen seven Ohio winters and about 25k miles since I installed them in 2017 I replaced them today with RockJock Currie track bars and relocation bracket. I also bought the rear hardware kit and a tube of Johnny Joint lube.

Got everything installed and torqued to spec. Put a couple pumps of JJ lube in each joint and took for a road test. Took a few trips around the block to get the steering wheel recentered as close to perfect as possible.

First impressions; I'm blown away at how much more quiet my LJ is over bumps and just in general driving. I had read of noise, vibration, and harmonic noise issues with heim joints and suspension/steering components, which swayed my decision to go with the RockJock track bars over replacing my heim joints(the front one had a tiny bit of slop) I'm glad that I did. Also, I thought I'd have to adjust the tailpipe on my Banks cat back, but It is perfect! I could never get the tailpipe perfect with the angles of the Metalcloak rear track bar.

In 2017, I bought the Metalcloak short arm lift which included control arms, track bars, springs, rocksport shocks, and sway bar links. Fast forward to today and all I have left from the Metalcloak kit is the sway bar links and control arms. Shocks wore out quick, Replaced both track bar heim joints once each, didn't need to replace the springs but did so chasing a better ride. I will say that I've had to do zero maintenance to the duroflex bushings in the control arms. They have been great. I've never heard a squeak, clunk, or any other noise from them. However, after changing the track bars today, the ride home was the most quiet and smooth riding that this Jeep has ever been!

I'm still on the fence about the gearbox. It seems fine after replacing track bars and adjusting the play. I want to trust it, but seeing all the concerns of remans being junk has me worried. I probably need the PSC unit being on 35's and offroad it occasionally, but It's hard to justify $1000+ for the box plus any other expenses
 
was hoping to hear you came up with something when I inevitably get to that job :ROFLMAO: keep thinking im smelling a hint of antifreeze briefly from time to time but cant confirm if I am of not. think it might be just in the back of my head they fail and im smelling nothing.

lol! expanding foam maybe?! sorry to disappoint, though.

Who knows, but yeah. I'll cross that bridge when I get there haha!
 
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