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Woodrow's 97 Green TJ Moderate Build
- Thread starter Woodrow
- Start date
I just want to know what you were thinking of.
When the first Odyssey batteries came out they referred to them as Drycell https://www.summitracing.com/search/part-type/batteries/product-line/odyssey-drycell-batteries but reality is they are still just AGMs.
deadbeat son
TJ Enthusiast
Nice job on the build so far, I appreciate the attention to detail!
I'm glad to hear I'm not the only one who suffers from this...As is often the case when I’m in the garage, I spent more time staring and thinking than actually doing anything
I like that YJ plate, great idea running it instead of a TJ plate. Now I just need to figure out if I like it enough to swap out my plate.
1. Thank you. Always nice to hear that from folks with whom you share an interest
2. I suspect its common.
3. After some staring and thinking along the way (see #2), I'm pleased with the way the YJ plate worked out.
I'm probably going to steal the stock stubby bumper and YJ plate idea. Its genius. Simple and so clean. And cheap. I like it a lot.
To go with the winch, I put together a recovery bag:
30’ kinetic rope, TRE
soft shackles (2), WRG
2”x20’ straps (2)
Snatch block, TRE
wired winch controller, Warn (also have a warn Bluetooth controller, not shown)
Air down tool, ARB
30’ kinetic rope, TRE
soft shackles (2), WRG
2”x20’ straps (2)
Snatch block, TRE
wired winch controller, Warn (also have a warn Bluetooth controller, not shown)
Air down tool, ARB
Aren't JCI (or whomever owns the battery division now) and Enersys (the makers of Odyssey) bigger than East Penn / Deka? I know for motive power (like industrial batteries, they are not nearly the player that Enersys and Crown are. At one time, JCI was making something like 80% of all automotive type batteries in the world.
JCI sold the automotive battery division to an investment group and branded it Clarious. They and Enersys globally are larger than East Penn. East Penn is still family owned and has the largest single production facility in the US. They have started branching globally but I doubt they could ever catch up.
I re-did my winch rope to drum attachment in the method of @mrblaine (https://wranglertjforum.com/threads/winch-line-to-drum-attachment-wrg.69352/).
I know not everything that seems intuitively obvious is correct, but the tiny screw anchoring the line to the drum that Warn provides seems damn sketchy and Blaine obviously knows something about winches. I am not experienced in winching and having the rope solidly on the drum seems like protection against a dumb mistake. The new splice with a loop the thimble will pass through and an 8” free end:
Over the drum, back out the bottom and thimble through the loop:
Pulled snug and free end on the drum with Gorilla tape:
Then it was re-spooled under tension by attaching to the tractor and winching the Jeep up a gentle incline. Simple, and much more secure.
Next, I started fooling with making a hand throttle. I didn’t buy the kit, but I think this Sunrace bike friction shifter is the same. The shift lever is much smaller in diameter than a bike handle bar. Rather than mounting it with large rubber grommet like in the kit, I cut the bar mount from the shifter and used a rubber wrapped clamp from a hardware store and a longer screw with a nut and washer. This lowers the profile and is probably fine but I may see if I can make a cleaner more ergonomic set up using a road bike downtube friction shifter in the future:
Speaking of ergonomic, this is the best location I‘ve initially settled on. I doesn’t hit the dashboard in 1,3 or 5. Its angled and height adjusted to be easily reachable with my fingers with my palm still stabilized on the shift knob but not noticeable with normal shifting. Forward is off, back raises the RPM.
I still need an adjustable cable stop to mount near the throttle body, but I think I’ve got everything else in my spare bike parts bins.
I know not everything that seems intuitively obvious is correct, but the tiny screw anchoring the line to the drum that Warn provides seems damn sketchy and Blaine obviously knows something about winches. I am not experienced in winching and having the rope solidly on the drum seems like protection against a dumb mistake. The new splice with a loop the thimble will pass through and an 8” free end:
Over the drum, back out the bottom and thimble through the loop:
Pulled snug and free end on the drum with Gorilla tape:
Then it was re-spooled under tension by attaching to the tractor and winching the Jeep up a gentle incline. Simple, and much more secure.
Next, I started fooling with making a hand throttle. I didn’t buy the kit, but I think this Sunrace bike friction shifter is the same. The shift lever is much smaller in diameter than a bike handle bar. Rather than mounting it with large rubber grommet like in the kit, I cut the bar mount from the shifter and used a rubber wrapped clamp from a hardware store and a longer screw with a nut and washer. This lowers the profile and is probably fine but I may see if I can make a cleaner more ergonomic set up using a road bike downtube friction shifter in the future:
Speaking of ergonomic, this is the best location I‘ve initially settled on. I doesn’t hit the dashboard in 1,3 or 5. Its angled and height adjusted to be easily reachable with my fingers with my palm still stabilized on the shift knob but not noticeable with normal shifting. Forward is off, back raises the RPM.
I still need an adjustable cable stop to mount near the throttle body, but I think I’ve got everything else in my spare bike parts bins.
I love my hand throttle. Looks good! Nice knot too. I want to do the same.
I did use the Teraflex. I could have rigged one together as a MTB’r, but $40 was cheap.
I think mine is mounted very similarly to yours Here’s a pic for reference. It’s on the left side of the shifter. I use my pointer finger and thumb to control it.
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Somewhat different. Makes sense. I’ll need to play with the orientation once I get it hooked up.
I think you’re going to want the throttle on the left side of the shifter so you can use your pointer finger to pull it back for gas and your thumb to push it forward when you want to let off the gas. You want to be able to do this on the fly, as when you’re shifting.
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I have the pair (L/R) of friction shifters. If I move it to the driver's side, I think I'll use the other one to maintain the back pull for gas/forward off setup. Using the thumb/index sounds more intuitive. Hard to know what's best until you try it, so I appreciate you chiming in with your experience.
I probably use it 80+% of the time off-road. This may be bc I’m trying to be conscious of my rpm’s due to the Tera-4-Low and that’s easier to do with the hand throttle. I am usually in 4L and 2nd gear, but I do shift into 1st and 3rd. If I need to go to 4th I just shift the TCase to 4H bc I t’s 4th and 5th in 4L where the rpm’s in the planetaries get so high it can blow them up! I occasionally use it on road when starting on a steep incline, though it’s not really necessary, and then use it to shift into 2nd just for fun.
I think the hand throttle just works better on the left side because of our dexterity with our thumbs. The other side would be awkward, but you might adjust. One guy mounted a tractor hand throttle on the dash next to the steering wheel. I need to check back with him and see if he likes it.
I’ve driven a lot without it. More than 3 years. I think I got it a few months after swapping in the 4:1, mainly for rock crawling. I still use the foot pedal sometimes, but the rpm’s are way easier to control with the hand throttle bc it’s not nearly as responsive. With the foot touching the gas the rpm’s tend to shoot up in that short first gear. Sometimes I want that. Most times I don’t.
I tried the hand/thumb throttle thing & couldn't get it to work well for me.
I also tried it in front of the shifter.
Mine was a kit but not the TeraFlex one. But more or less the same thing. I haven't decided yet if I'm going to try installing on again of not. I've got to see how sensitive the 6 pack is first. And how well I do trying to drive it with my right leg.
I also tried it in front of the shifter.
Mine was a kit but not the TeraFlex one. But more or less the same thing. I haven't decided yet if I'm going to try installing on again of not. I've got to see how sensitive the 6 pack is first. And how well I do trying to drive it with my right leg.