5.3L MJ D44 and Junk.

[xj+rcks]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZkMmSi0V_Qs&feature=share&list=UUHf-wciWNV5UiFzPRP5kGHw

 

[Exxon Valdez Jeep]

Nice. I sold my stroker and trans, cleaning up the engine bay getting ready for the same thing!

 

[xj+rcks]

Nice. I sold my stroker and trans, cleaning up the engine bay getting ready for the same thing!

Right on! The wiring is done, except for the gauge cluster, all the wires have been run, but I want to run a newer style cluster with an electronic speedo and a tach. Anyone have one lying around? I've been having some clutch issues, or I would be posting a sweet driving video, grrrr.... I'm headed to the shop now to pull the trans and scratch my head. Photos and videos coming.

 

[MoparManiac]

I might have one lying around you could have, I'll have to double check.

You should come out to the NAC m&g next weekend :thumbup:

 

[xj+rcks]

I might have one lying around you could have, I'll have to double check.

You should come out to the NAC m&g next weekend :thumbup:

Explain about this event, I'm interested.

 

[kastein]

Well, first we're getting pizza in CT, then we're probably wheeling a bit, then the UndergroundJeeps christmas party is after that.

 

[MoparManiac]

Check out the North Atlantic Chapter.

Event is stickied as "Pizzafest".

 

[xj+rcks]

I've been dinking with the clutch setup, machined a new pivot ball and whatnot, just ordered a new master cylinder that matches the slave cylinder. I'll get back on it when the parts come in.

 

[xj+rcks]

I haven't posted up on this build for awhile, but there has been some progress. After the wiring was finished, of course I wanted to drive the damn thing. That began the clutch disengagement fiasco. Long story short the trans came in and out three times, I lengthened the throwout bearing arm pivot. I threw an old extension on the lathe and made it long enough for the arm to be in its forward most position in the bell housing hole.

Then I ended up swapping to a Wilwood master and finally swapping out the pressure plate to arrive at a functioning clutch. Lord have mercy. I then started on the brakes, after some digging I found out that the owner of the Wagoneer that I got the axles out of used '85 Lincoln Continental calipers when he did the rear disc brake conversion. Threw some new calipers and pads on as well as a new master, which I couldn't resist throwing in the powder oven.

My brother came over Friday and started on the exhaust system, just a simple 2.5" dual into a single muffler to a 3" tailpipe. Threw a bunch of V-bands on it for good measure and this is how it sits.

Kind of reminds me of BMW exhaust with the pipes running parallel like that. Pulled the springs out today to check clearances at bump and compression

Here it is all hunkered down. The track bar hits the oil pan at this point, but the bracket on the frame side needs to be lowered to put the drag link and track bar parallel. Once that is done I'll decide if I need to put a bend in it for ultimate clearance. Either way I will be bump stopping it so I won't have to worry about cracking that oil holder when I come down from some air borne fun.

Here she is at full droop, you can clearly see that the links aren't parallel, hello bumpsteer. I'm thinking that I will end up using a 14" travel shock or coilover. Not too excited about the hit that will have on my wallet though.

 

[CTeunuch]

TRE's on the trackbar? Why not heims or JJ's?

There was a set of 14" airshocks on NEOW a few weeks ago, not sure if they're still up, might be worth a look.

 

[yossarian19]

TREs tend to wear better & last better in mud / grime. Also quieter, I've heard (hah!)
but yes, unusual to see them in an after market track bar. Harder to fabricate, I think?

 

[xj+rcks]

TREs tend to wear better & last better in mud / grime. Also quieter, I've heard (hah!)
but yes, unusual to see them in an after market track bar. Harder to fabricate, I think?

I made the steering and track bar, super easy to build, has stood up to my abuse, the joints are lifetime warranty from my local parts store that delivers to my shop, and they are greasable. Why not?

 

[xj+rcks]

Alright, cooling system question. I am running a Cherokee radiator which does not have a fill on it. I am using the factory overflow/fill container from the same year Cherokee. For simplicity's sake I ran the heater hoses directly to the overflow. I need to figure out a new way to route coolant to the overflow/fill because the thermostat doesn't like the way it is setup now. I also need to look into why the fans aren't cycling on when they should, do some PCM output diag. I have been doing other things though, got the front shaft in and bought a tailgate off of a guy who stopped by the shop. He came to drop a friend off to pick up a car and I asked if he wanted to sell the gate off his truck. I showed him mine and he sold me it for $30. I took the mounting brackets as well as mine were long gone. I also swapped an adjustable proportioning valve in, which helped my brake bias greatly. My pedal is softer due to the larger piston size on the calipers, but it stops well and locks up all four at once instead of just the rears.

Some more bling as well.

 

[sandsgg]

I like that jeep emblem

 

[xj+rcks]

Thanks!!

 

[sandsgg]

You should make me 2 angel and devil over the comanche logo lol

 

[xj+rcks]

You should make me 2 angel and devil over the comanche logo lol

Now there is an idea

 

[sandsgg]

.

 

[xj+rcks]

So after obtaining some info on weights I talked to some shock people. Because I live in the Northeast there aren't areas where I can cycle the suspension rapidly through its full travel so I opted to save some money for more dimple dies and ordered up some emulsion coilovers. From what I heard from Poly Performance and Dirt Fab Racing I shouldn't see any shock fade with the type of wheeling that I am doing. I wish I could say that I am going to be smashing through whoops at 60 MPH for 30 minutes but there just isn't that kind of terrain around here. They didn't have any 14" travel bodies in stock so after talking about it I went with a 16" Fox 2.0 coilover with some springs that were spec'd for my weight and intended purpose. I know I won't be able to use all of the shock, but this way I can have the coilover hoops pop out of the hood just a little bit, which is something that I have had in the back of my mind on this build. I will be limit strapping and using Fox 4" air bumps to limit up travel, thus using getting about 13" of useable travel. I'm running 12" Fox shocks in the rear as the leaf springs won't be providing much more travel than that. In comparison JEEPspeed rigs are limited to 12" front and 10" rear shocks and they jump awesome! I doubt I will be able to get my suspension dialed in that well, but it should be a huge improvement from my last setup. Can't wait until Friday when the big box comes!

 

[xj+rcks]

3656LBS and 62/38 bias