Woodrow's 97 Green TJ Moderate Build

2 more improvements to record:
1. New seat belts. The originals were faded stained and frayed. New ones are Seat Belt Solutions from Quadratec. Expensive at almost $400 for the drivers and passenger 3-points plus L/R buckle releases. If you don’t replace the buckle releases, the cost is half but mine were stiff and worn looking. They are fairly OEM looking and feeling. The spring for retraction could be stronger.
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2. GM retractable under hood light:
I credit this forum for this one completely. What a great little addition! $45 on e-bay. 18 feet of cord. Mounted in original location. Great output with an LED 89 bulb (same socket as 1156 but small globe to fit under clear cover). On/off switch instead of always draining your battery when ever your hood is open.
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Stroker Dyno Results are in… and they are not what I hoped for:
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After 600 miles on the new engine, it had its first oil change and I headed back to the same Mustang Dyno the original 155K 4.0 was measured on in June when the motor made 136 hp and 168 ft.lbs. This calculated to represent a 24% drivetrain loss vs Jeep’s stock crankshaft numbers (181 hp and 222 ft.lbs). The now installed 4.6L stroker made 280 HP and 320 ft.lbs on a SuperFlow engine dyno in May. That was with no accessories, a holly stand-alone EFI system and an open header. I supposed Jeep may have used similar conditions to collect the stock rating and so, using the 24% drivetrain loss, I figured I might see up to 210 hp and 240 ft.lbs. Well, here in the real world, it was 169hp / 211ft.lbs. Needless to say, It was a little deflating. Here are the 2 motors side by side on a graph:
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The stroker has 30+ more hp and 40+ more ft.lbs. but the curves have fairly similar shapes. The stroker revs a little higher (and revs more freely on the street). So some investigation; HP Tuners apparently has some support for the 97 TJ PCM, so w/ an O2 sensor in the tail pipe and a PC plugged into the OBD2 port, we could acquire a little data.

DISCLAIMER: I have virtually no knowledge or experience with engine tuning so I’m just sharing raw data and a few comments from the tuner running the dyno.

Here is the stroker with fuel mixture (lambda) on the graph:
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I’m told the fuel mixture is perhaps a hair leaner than ideal, but pretty decent non-the-less. Chad Golen says that mixture typically allows the stroker to pass emissions without issue. Next, are a few screen captures showing some other data (like timing and injector duty) at 3 different RPM points. I have nothing intelligent to say about these but was hoping some one with some knowledge here might.
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As I mentioned in my previous post of initial impression, the TJ really drives well. It’s much more energetic and remains smooth. But, dot the i’s and cross the t’s, I went home and checked a few things. The oil and coolant appear clean and up contaminated:
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the spark plug gaps are correct and they all look good. Compression is good, too (9.5:1 =

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Nice job on the transformation and the stroker numbers are appreciated!
 
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Might consider Flyin Ryan Performance. Even on stock rigs his tunes seems to help. @Chris is running one of his tunes on his TJ. I don't have any experience with him on stock engines but will be running a tune from him once my Jeep is running again.

You could email him and send him the data logging info you have and see what he says?

https://wranglertjforum.com/threads/frp-tuning-for-97-06-tjs.45983/
Good idea Wildman. I did e-mail him. We will see what comes of it. Thx.
 
Learned more TJ stuff today:
I was reading on this forum somewhere last week (I didn’t record the thread so I apologize for not giving proper credit) about harshness after changing transmission mounts. After I installed my stroker, I had a high idle which I solved by installing Mopar O2 sensors instead of the Bosch units I had put in before the new motor. At the same time as changing the O2 sensors, I replaced the original (I think) transmission mount. I had been meaning to get around to this for awhile. Since I dropped the transfer case skid to get at the downstream O2 sensor, it was a good time to do it. The high idle was back to normal with the Mopar sensors (about 700 RPM) but now there was an annoying vibration in the dash at idle I hadn’t had before. I assumed it was the new motor and stock tune not playing together perfectly. Then, I read a thread here with multiple members noting a similar problem after replacing the transmission mount with a non-stock unit.
💡
Maybe THAT was the issue? In addition to Mopar mounts, Anchor brand mounts were recommended. Since I was still pissed off at spending $300 on Mopar O2 sensors at the dealer, I decided to try the Anchor T-mount. $11 for the mount (+$15 shipping 😡). That‘s still way less than $125 for a Mopar T-mount. So the Anchor mount arrived yesterday:
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The Anchor part is the dull one on top. Bottom is a NAPA T-mount which I think was around $30. The rubber is noticeably softer on the Anchor unit and the bar in the middle looks like the stock component. It’s a little different on the NAPA piece.


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After swapping the NAPA replacement transmission mount for the Anchor, the harshness at idle resolved. Great! But, yet another example of the TJ being fairly sensitive to brand differences in replacement parts.
 
New front drive shaft finally installed; 41 5/16” Adams CV w/ spicer 1310 joints not drilled for zirk fittings (extreme duty) matching the previously installed rear SYE kit (Adams CV shaft with advance adaptors tail housing and yolk style output shaft).
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I’ve been busy with other things but this morning I blocked out some Jeep time.
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A couple of things: ZJ tie rod upgrade and extended front brake hoses. Using info on the forum, I collected parts to replace the entire steering linkage including the ZJ tie rod & tie rod end and R+L front brake hoses 4” longer than stock. Here are the Moog front end parts:
DS 1312 (the ZJ tie rod)
DS 1430 new drag link (same on TJ & ZJ)
ES 3096L (tie rod ends x2; one for drag link to pitman arm, 2nd for ZJ tie rod to driver side knuckle)
ES 2079S (also x2 for connecting the above 2 rod ends to the drag link and ZJ tie rod)
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As others have noted, they come unpainted, so I just sprayed them with Krylon’s version of rust-oleum, satin black.
Out with the old;
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In with the new: The ZJ tie rod and end are significantly stouter
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The stud in the old drag link for the steering stabilizer would not come out undamaged with lots of PB blaster and 2 different pullers, so a new one is on order. Using the 2 bars clamped to the rotors method, toe-in is set at 3/16” for the 33” tires. Steering wheel centered for the 1st time since I‘ve owned it. All torqued to specs with anti-seize and the new joints are lubed. It actually drives well without the stabilizer. It will be back on in a couple of days.

Next the front brake lines. I noticed the stock lines were dangerously tight with front axle at full droop on a lift and wheels turned. It would be a bummer to be X-ed up on some steep terrain and lose the brakes.
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The 3“ lift added by previous owner is a good height for my purposes but the execution is not what I wish. I’ve already done an SYE kit and driveshafts, removed the transfer case drop and changed shocks. New arms with johnny joints, geometry correction, better springs and bigger brakes are planned, but the brake line issue is more urgent. 4” extended stock style lines from Dorman should be a good fix:
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Old lines out:
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New lines in and bled with synthetic DOT 4.
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Brakes feel good and I feel better about them. Enough for today.
 
Some housekeeping today. When I did the stroker swap a few months ago, I replaced the clutch with an OEM style Luk unit but I haven’t done the clutch master cylinder/slave cylinder assembly yet. This is pretty straightforward but of course there are a couple of things to pay attention to. The whole assembly can be had pre-bled for around $100. I used Luk as I think that’s OEM. Here’s the part number:
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There are two 15mm nuts in the cab and two 13mm nuts on the lower drivers side of the transmission clutch housing to remove. There is also an electrical connection for the clutch safety switch to unplug and a plastic retainer which holds the master cylinder push rod to the clutch pedal. This is trick number 1. You’re upside down in a tight space (the footwell) and the joint is on the far side of the pedal lever. It comes off fairly easily if you cut/break off some of the plastic clip (yellow circle) and then pry them apart gently with a flathead screw driver (where the red arrow points).
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Once everything is disconnected, the whole assembly can be removed.
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In the pic above, the push rod has been removed to recover the switch which is re-used with the new Luk assembly. I did this by clamping the push rod end in a vice and gently but firmly pulling on the master cylinder with some wiggle and twist. It popped out pretty easily. Before I did that, I took a pic of the switch and it orientation relative to the plastic washer and foam o-ring so I could re-assemble correctly.
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Next, I cleaned the switch and it’s connection with compressed air and put some di-electric grease on the connector pins. Then the switch, new washer and new o-ring are placed over the new push rod which then snaps into the new master cylinder. Now, the new assembly was installed by first attaching the master cylinder to the fire wall with the 2-15mm nuts inside the cab.
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Then, I fished the slave cylinder and hose down to the transmission.
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The slave cylinder was then inserted into the clutch housing and bolted in with the 2-13mm nuts. Here is an important point. The rod sticking out of the slave cylinder is held in a compressed position with white plastic straps. DON’T remove or cut these. It’s not necessary. They will break the first time you push in the clutch as they are designed to. Iv‘e read they prevent overextension during shipping and installation.
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You can just see the white tabs still in place after the slave cylinder is in.
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The last thing to do is connect the master cylinder push rod to the clutch pedal with the new plastic clip and plug in the switch. Thats it. You will feel/hear the 2 white plastic straps break the 1st time you push in the clutch.

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About a month ago, I replaced my entire steering linkage and did the ZJ tie rod upgrade. While staring at my TJ’s front end, I finally figured out the front track bar mount wasn’t stock. Instead it was elevated about 2.75” from stock. Here’s a pic with steering linkage out of the way:
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The red arrow starts at the stock axle mount location and goes to the elevated mount put on by a previous owner. Thats where the stock axle mount for the steering stabilizer is supposed to be. The pitman arm is stock. Thanks to reading on this forum, I realized the elevated axle attachment would make the drag link and track bar significantly less parallel and screw up the handling. This Jeep has had some rather unsettling handling quirks since I bought about 2 years ago that I’ve just accommodated. It would veer to the left with hard acceleration and to the right when engine braking in gear. Also, in higher speed corners, bumps made it a little wild (bump steer, I guess). If you don’t try to correct and just let it do it’s thing, it would usually wind up back in the middle of the lane once the bumps were behind, but that took some getting used to. I did take it to a locally well respected alignment shop and was told “it’s fine“ and “that’s just lifted Jeeps”. This next photo shows the front end at ride height after the new steering linkage went in:
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The red line is the track bar with elevated axle mount. Blue is the drag link. Yellow is the track bar if in stock location. You can see the stock track bar location would be much more in line with the drag link. I tried to move the track bar to the stock location, but it wasn’t long enough. So, ordered a JKS HD front track bar (JKSOGS1280) and some JKS sway bar disconnects (JKS2001) as well as a stock style steering stabilizer from NAPA made by Monroe. Here’s the new stuff at full droop on the lift then ride height:
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Much better. After centering the axle at ride height, re-centerIng the steering wheel an torquing everything to spec, a test drive revealed big improvements in handling. No more pulling into oncoming traffic with acceleration and pulling towards the ditch with deceleration. Also the unsettled feel with bumps in high speed corners is gone. Yay!
 
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While I was working out the above front end geometry issues, there were some other things to note. In addition to wire wheeling and painting some surface rust on the axle, I also took the opportunity to cycle the suspension. I have a 3“ spring lift on 33x12.5x15 with 3.75” backspaced wheels. There’s 7 3/4” travel from full shock droop upto the bumps. The Bilstein 5100s have 9 1/16” of travel. So, I think the bumps are safe for the shocks, at least. Here’s some full stuff pics with springs out and sway bar disconnected but shocks on:
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Overall, pretty good with regard to contact. No fender contact, except light against passenger side plastic flare. The tires touch the front of frame at full lock + full stuff on both sides. At ride height, there’s 3 3/8” up travel to touch the bump. So 4 3/8” down travel. (7 3/4” between full droop and full stuff). I’ve read you need a 4” lift for 33s, but at least with these bumpstops, the tires seem to fit OK. However, with an additional 1/2” spring spacer, up an down travel would be matched at 3 7/8”.
 
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Big step today…
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After years of intermittent desire and months of planning, equipment collection and site preparation, I put down my first weld. Then some playing around:
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Here’s the garage set up in active mode and standby:
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And here’s the first 2 pieces of metal welded (16ga. square tube):

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Not that it has anything to do with weld quality, but it cleans up well with a grinder and wire wheel…
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I like the garage. The wood stove would be nice to have too. And congrats on the welder.
Thanks. My garage is all wood, except the floor. Setting up to weld while keeping the risk of burning it down lowish took more time/effort than I figured. Still not sure but winter is I good time to start, I think.
 
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What model did you buy?
Miller Multimatic 220. Not cheap at all but at this stage in my life, I’m grateful to be able to get something that, hopefully, will allow me to progress. It will do steel and aluminum up to 3/8” MIG and 1/4” TIG as well as stick welding steel. MIG is probably the most useful, but I aspire to TIG welding stainless and aluminum. I‘m also interested in gas welding and brazing, so I have a torch as well.
 
Miller Multimatic 220. Not cheap at all but at this stage in my life, I’m grateful to be able to get something that, hopefully, will allow me to progress. It will do steel and aluminum up to 3/8” MIG and 1/4” TIG as well as stick welding steel. MIG is probably the most useful, but I aspire to TIG welding stainless and aluminum. I‘m also interested in gas welding and brazing, so I have a torch as well.
That’s a great machine I was looking at one of those multiprocess machines to replace 2 of my welders but I don’t think it did A/C. So I have separate tig and mig machines
 
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