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Project "Constructive Deconstruction"

Re: Project "Spring Semester Of 2011"

I have seen the white XJ as well. I also spotted the maroon late model with the wide wheels and no flares again last week too, also parted in 33 over by the music building.

I hear you on the tires. Mine is currently sitting on some black TJ canyons with 235/75/15 BFG AT's for the winter driving. I will probably sell those and go back to the 33" KM2s soon, I need the money for repairs more than I need a set of winter tires.

I also used to work for a major tire store for 5-6 years, the duratracks grips well, but they "feel" soft, some people returned them because of too much flex or they wore to quickly, but other people loved them. You can actually feel a different by squeezing the tread blocks with your hands. Just an FYI.
 
Re: Project "Spring Semester Of 2011"

Fore Wheeler said:
Two CMU boys? sweet.

mach, you can keep an eye out for my dd, black 99, bb w/NAXJA stickers on the back.
Click to expand...
cant miss the NAXJA sticker.

machspeed said:
I have seen the white XJ as well. I also spotted the maroon late model with the wide wheels and no flares again last week too, also parted in 33 over by the music building.

I hear you on the tires. Mine is currently sitting on some black TJ canyons with 235/75/15 BFG AT's for the winter driving. I will probably sell those and go back to the 33" KM2s soon, I need the money for repairs more than I need a set of winter tires.

I also used to work for a major tire store for 5-6 years, the duratracks grips well, but they "feel" soft, some people returned them because of too much flex or they wore to quickly, but other people loved them. You can actually feel a different by squeezing the tread blocks with your hands. Just an FYI.
Click to expand...
they seem to perform great across the board. everywhere says they do just as good if not better than the KOs. i think they have bigger side lugs as well. also noted that they had more tread depth. wear might have been a little faster though.

any other suggestions for an all terrain? when it come crunch time i may step into some KM2s or MTRs if the price is right. but right now im planning for the A/Ts. (any input on mastercraft courser M/Ts? i can get them for cheaper than anything in cadillac.)
 
Re: Project "Spring Semester Of 2011"

Just get 2 sets of wheels and tires, one street, one off road, it's the best of both worlds.

I have nothing against the duratracks, I just like to share my findings and the results of many customers experience. Most liked them for grip and road performance, but we saw more than average returns for tread depth and road "squirm" or what ever you want to call it.

My suggestion to anyone who drives mostly on road but likes to seriously wheel too, is to get a decent set of all terrains for road, maybe sipe them if they need it, and then find some swampers or mud terrains and other wheels for off road. Then if you tear up your tires wheeling, you still can go to work on Monday, plus they both just work better.

I don't wheel super hard, mostly exploration type stuff, but I was sick of all terrains, that is why I went with the KM2. But at $180 plus each, 5 of them cost me a large fraction of what I paid for the Jeep itself. Plus people sell wheels and tires that fit XJs all the time, you can usually find a deal.
 
Re: Project "Spring Semester Of 2011"

:new:
UPDATE:

sold the stroker so i got some cash in my pocket. yall need to convince flex to sell me his d30. haha. tax return is in the works too. jeep is running good. needs some love but that will happen in the summer time. trying to convince myself i dont need to go to winterfest. parts would be more gratifying. lol.

not much else to report really... that is jeep related of course. classes are going well, ive been relatively happy lately. alone for valentines day, yay! skating a lot, not doing a whole lot of snowboarding. thats fine with me. i can see grass today a little. im happy. is it july yet? (how the hell to you michiganders take this year after year?)

cant wait for spring time to see all the pregos come out of the wood work. i know how you were keeping warm all winter! ha! :clap:
 
Re: Project "Spring Semester Of 2011"

$300 if i scrub it... $500ish if i live large... more if i break something.

if your by the coast john hit up surfline.com and see if there are going to be waves close to you! i want to see some west coast swell!
 
Re: Project "Spring Semester Of 2011"

Saw/heard your Jeep again today, pulling into lot 33 this morning around 9:45. Sound like you have a couple of squeaks you should look into, or is that just the cold weather affecting your Jeep?
 
Re: Project "Spring Semester Of 2011"

cold weather squeaks... me thinks front end. when i get about 5 miles on her they go away. suspect multiple culprits:






- track bar hole and bushing sleeve have wallowed out... AGAIN. ive redrilled my mount and the metal sleeve in the busing and replaced with a large bolt and torqued to specs. its loose again. it pops when turning quite often.
i need to move to a double sheer track bar setup this summer. an aftermarket track bar mount axle side is looking more and more appealing as well.
- sway bar disco is loose on the passenger side. the threads were stripped and it just spins in the nut, wont torque down. as a fix many moons ago i just tacked the nut to bolt. was towing a trailor and didnt feel safe without the sway bar.
2 new bolts is an easy fix. i just hate the winter. the little heims RE uses could probably use a little greasy love though. that always seemed to make a big difference until i hopped into a mud/water hole.
- springs might even be a problem. the stock coil isolators/spacers are shot. the springs are pretty much metal on metal with the spring perch. the front will need to be lifted once the 8.8 is in. prospectively i want deavers and my RE coils have a lot of life left in them... so ill go with some poly spacers till then.
ive thought about ACOS, but for that price i could get a set of 5.5" deavers. ill wait for that time to come... poly will work fine.
- control arms probably need some love. the super flex joints always look to be in good condition and never require more than a couple squirts of grease before its coming out. idk if the bushings are in decent condition... for some reason i vaguely remember the upper control arm bushings (axle side) catching on fire when we threw some flames their way to get the stock bolts loose. i dont remember seeing that technique in the FSM. i also feel slop when shifting from forward to reverse. me thinks that no matter how tight i get the control arms, there is no way itll pinch them hard enough to eliminate this slop.
all bushing are going to get replaced when the drop brackets go on. curious to see how the super flex joints have held up. with REs recent problems, i hope i can get them if i need them. the kit is only 4 years old or so... but its seen over 50k miles and a lot of dumb abuse.
- steering is sloppy too...
linkage and 14 year old TREs are in fair condition. ive been putting off a rebuild in hopes for a ZJ tie rod. double sheer track bar will mean a pitman arm drop. *sigh* one thing always leads to another.




i guess i could have just said that "everything that is replaceable or i can rebuild will get treatment in the front end this summer."

dan said all of these things were normal of a lifted XJ though... :dunno:

or it could just be the cold weather. my doors and hatch dont even seem to be working right. its all manual!
 
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Re: Project "Spring Semester Of 2011"

found my jeeps brother a week or so ago:
183746_155970994457325_100001332774399_269079_6989268_n.jpg



havent been on naxja much lately, or worried about the jeep. (someone might have found a chica to focus on. hehe). but the jeep has deceloped a new squeak. yay! not. somewhere from the right of the motor. i suspect power stearing pump or tensioner... itll break eventually though right? lol.




SNOW GO AWAY ALREADY!

later.
 
Re: Project "Spring Semester Of 2011"

well, found out what the sqeak was today. :mad:

squeak turned into a whine, which turned into a failed power steering pump. well, the bearing rather. went whole new pump, swapped the pulley which was a pain. bled it right there in the advanced auto parking lot. seems to be working fine. still has some bleeding to do, but ive got fluid to top it off. then drove away with my tire carrier still open. awesome. i hate sundays.





been kicking myself up and down because i turned down an evening with a gorgeous chica. told her i didnt want to have sex because it wasnt the right time. i wanted more than that from her. starting to think that was a mistake. i need to get layed, and that would have been a personal best. i should have smashed it. oh well, got to keep going with the good guy card now. :rolleyes:
 
Re: Project "Spring Semester Of 2011"

im doing plenty of kicking...

power steering pump is working great now. pretty much every accessory is new, alternator, water pump, thermostat/housing, power steering pump... what will go next?
 
Re: Project "Spring Semester Of 2011"

Fore Wheeler said:
Not sure if I should pat you on the back or kick you in the ass :dunno:
Click to expand...

Finally this thread gets interesting...

mac 'what if it was your daughter' gyvr
 
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