99 XJ DD & Weekend Warrior

Rack Lights Install (pt1) March 2012

So i was trying to figure out how and where to mount the lights on the rack.
Since the rack I have on there isn't the quintessential "offroad rack" my mounting solutions were kind of limited. As i'm a cheap bastard, I didnt want to shell out $20-30 for each mount (like the KC bar clamp style.) So I was going to fab something up. I had initially thought about tabs to weld on, but I wanted something that gave me a little adjustability/flexibility.
now as far as position goes....The easiest was to go above the rack (on top) ...these are just mocked in place in this pic:


But I wanted a little more lower profile, and still wanted to be able to pull into the garage. So off of the lower bar was where I had decided where my my mounting position was going to be. Something like this:


I did a ton of searching online, and around various forums, and actually found a couple different ideas from a couple different places, and combined them to make what I used.
Some stainless hardware, 3/4" conduit clamps, and some drilled/galvanized angle stock:


The conduit clamps were used to mount the angle stock onto the rack itself, and the angle stock is where the lights would mount to.
Here's how it all went together, and the process of the installation:



Here's a little closer shot of how the conduit clamps work with the rack and a more side profile of the assembly:



I mocked together the whole assembly. lights and all for a test fit:



If you decide to use something like this for yourself, here's a tip: Chose a smaller conduit clamp than the diameter of the bar your mounting to is. For instance (like mine) if your bar is 1.00" in diameter, use a 3/4" conduit clamp. I had made the mistake of choosing a 1" clamp initially, and it didn't work out... just didn't have enough "bite" to hold things in place without rotating around the bar.

And since i'm not real big into "bling" I didnt want all that flashy metal up on top of my rack, so I painted as much of it as i could flat black. Here is the clamps, the light mounts and the angle stock all painted up:

I mock installed it (again) without the lights to make sure where my final mounting position was going to be, and started clamping/tightening everything down.


At this point I mounted the lights and started trying to figure out how I was going to get my wires into the inside. I read countless threads on this, and the only real clean installs were guys who drilled thru the roof... not my ideal choice, trust me, but I didnt want to run miles of wire, and I wanted something clean, and out of the way. So I made the tough decision to drill.
...But i'll get to all that in a bit....
 
Rack Lights Install (pt2) March 2012

Here's the electrical side of things:
Being a First Class MECP Certified Installer, and having worked in the mobile electronics industry for 10 years, (i've since moved on but still do side jobs) ...I have amassed a good stash of various "shop supplies" including enough wire to do just about anything:

The switches used for this project ended up being quite a hassle... I found a set (from radio shack) that I really liked, so after going to three different stores to get the quantity I wanted (4) I started drilling my center console, well shift bezel really, to mount them up..... the problem was after doing so I realized the switches I got were 125v not 12v..... major fail..... so three trips, and two different switch choices later, I finally got some that worked for the location, the mounting pattern, and that had the look that I wanted:

I then wired all the switches (shown) and relays (not shown) up all nice and clean.


Loomed up the new harness to keep it clean:


The main supply from the battery comprised of (2) 10awg ATC Fuse holders, (loaded with 20a fuses) then strung with 12awg wire to the relays. Each of these feeds one pair of lights on the rack.
(i'll clean this up one of these days I swear)


The low voltage supply from the switches was pulled directly from the ignition, and was fused as well. Since this line only feeds enough voltage to trigger the relays, and to power the LED indicators on the switches, It didn't need much for protection.
The four switches are laid out as individual circuits, but share common ground and power supply. The relays for the lights have their own power supply, and share a ground. Each switch provides its own trigger for each circuit.
From top to bottom I have them like this:

  • Fog Lights (already installed - just switched the switches)
  • Rock Lights (future install)
  • Pin Spots (center on rack)
  • Driving Lights (outsides on rack)

Once the switch panel was all wired up and the wires loomed and routed to their destination, It was time to put it back together. I found that this tab (pic below) was in the way of the wires coming off of the lower switch.


So I hacked it off.

This tab is to locate the indicator panel (the clear plastic tab that comes off of the shift selector indicator. But on the right side (the tab that was in the way) is for right hand drive vehicles, and in no way played any role in locating or locking into position my shift bezel.
Now that it was out of the way, the bezel locked back into position perfectly, and looks great:


 
Rack Lights Install (pt3) March 2012

Now that interior side of things was done it was time to move onto the lights themselves.
So as I stated earlier, I made the choice to drill, I chose a location that was easy to get to, near the "B" pillar (my choice for the route of the wires to go from the top of the vehicle to the bottom) and that was going to be more or less "hidden" from view, and and various branches or other things that may want to snag the loom. I picked a spot, drilled a pilot hole, then hogged it out from below with my uni-bit.


Yes this is light shining thru the hole in my otherwise perfect roof:


I primered the hole with black paint:


And pulled out the necessary supplies to protect the wires from being cut, and the headliner/interior from water leakage:


Here you can see the grommet installed before getting the wires and sealed up with the RTV.


All four lights share the same ground, which is right at the top of the "B" pillar on the inside where a bracket is to support the sunroof. The lights are paired, thus only three wires total (the same 12awg wire you saw above) are coming thru the roof. One ground, and one trigger for each pair. All the wires are routed and loomed to keep things nice and tidy, and protected from the elements (more or less)
Here's how things looked when done:


I left myself some extra wire on top, just in case I changed my rack, or relocated it, or if the position of the lights ever changed. It's looped up, and tied out of the way, but there in case I ever need it:


Here you can see the final routing and protrusion thru the roof line:


A little closer look at the sealing job:

The RTV was used inside the grommet around the wires, and both on the exterior, as well as on the inside, around the grommet, and the wires. This has been tested with several days of good rain, and at speed in the rain thru days of commuting, and not a drop had dripped. I'm fully confident that this will remain sealed for quite some time.
Here's a poser shot, during the day, and before everything was all aimed up.

All in all I'm quite happy with the results, the lights look like they belong, tie-in well with the vehicle, and perform well. They're plenty bright on the street, and I'm sure will light up the trail just fine.
Let me know what you think!
 
awsome job on the switch location. i deffinetly like the thinking behind the houshold hardware light mounting ideah. i think you should change out that gromet in the roof tough. the rtv will FAIL! trust me im in the biz of keeping things sealed.

you want to use a ruber gromet. the gromet im thinking of has a lip or knotch in it. simular to a door jamb, or firewall gromet. normaly you would want to drill the hole acording to the size needed, "depends on the amount and size of the wires used." how tight are the wires in the current hole? you want to literly Stuff the wires down throo the gromet, the last wire semingly impossible to thred throo the hole. if you can acheve this, there wil be no need for sealant at all. and your seal will never fail. if you have to use sealant. it will ALWASE need attention. just my .02

looks good, and im guna steal a couple ideas now.:thumbup: hope to wheel with you soon.
 
Keep it up Josh! Let's wheel soon...

As a side note, Josh is one great guy and has helped me immensely with the build up of my Jeep. He always provides a helping hand and offers to guide me or instruct on how a product is installed correctly on my Jeep. Thanks again buddy!
 
MCObray said:
Keep it up Josh! Let's wheel soon...

As a side note, Josh is one great guy and has helped me immensely with the build up of my Jeep. He always provides a helping hand and offers to guide me or instruct on how a product is installed correctly on my Jeep. Thanks again buddy!
Click to expand...
Hey man! Thanks for the Kudo's! (and the motivation) -Always willing to help out. I might be putting together an un-official St. Patrick's Day run... so maybe we can hook up then.

nightfoam said:
I saw you behind me in Beaverton this morning, the lights look good on the rack! Nice wiring work too.
Click to expand...

Thanks Ryan! I appreciate the feedback....I must've missed you...(not sure how though) MY "XJ radar" is usually on point, but i've been fighting off a head cold this week, so the last few mornings I've been on complete "autopilot." BTW... just checked out your blog, NICE WORK MAN!!! Your photography is amazing. I really like it... we may have to get together for some expeditions/camping runs this summer.
 
Last edited:
Exhaust Manifold Swap pt.1 ___March 2012

So I've been slacking greatly on the updates. In the last several weeks, I've managed to install the new header, the new cat, and the new steering upgrade. The work is done, and the pics have been taken, but I havent gotten around to getting everything posted up.... so here's the photo's and write ups... (finally)
>
Pretty much half of the engine compartment has to come out in order to get the exhaust manifold off. The intake manifold and everything thats on it. The power steering pump, fuel rail, intake, the whole nine yards.
>
First to come out was the air box and intake tube.


The throttle linkage and bracket comes off as well:


All the various breather lines, hoses, and vacuum lines come off:


As well as the fuel rail:


The power steering pump has to come off as well, the mount for this is part of the intake manifold. But first you have to loosen up the belt. On mine this is done by relieving the tension on the tensioner pulley by turning the bolt that moves it up and down. (seen to left side of the photo)


Loosen up all the bolts and pull them out thru the pulley.




Once all the bolts are out the pump can be removed,


and set aside (the former location of the air box makes a good shelf)


Now you have access to all the bolts, both upper and the PITA lowers to get the intake manifold off:


Once off you get to see just how nasty the inside of these manifolds can get:


The build up was pretty good, I may just see if some seafoam will help knock this down a bit.


I did end up at the end cleaning this up a little, but I didnt want to spend all day wiping tar.
The exhaust manifold was ready to come out, just needed to loosen up the bolts down at the down tube flange.
 
While I was down there I got a good look at how my repair job had cracked open:


Finally out and on the ground, and getting a piece of my mind:


Since I had it out I gave it good looking over and realized just how bad the leak was....SEVERAL cracks were found.


And the main crack was almost completely around and thru the whole header pipe:


Now it was time to address the engine:


All the old gasket material, build up, grime and gunk was all scraped off. I used some scotchbrite to get the surface all nice and smooth. I also wiped some of the goop on the ports out a little bit...but again, I wasnt wanting to spend all day at it.


The new manifold vs. the old:


Back when I rebuilt my old motorcycle engine, a friend gave me a tip about gasket treatment. A good coating of copper spray helps keep a gasket seated, gives it a bit more durability, and life. It dries a bit tacky, and just adds to the sealing capacity of the gasket.


The new header has a gasket of its own for the down pipe joint. This thing resembles a steel wool doughnut mated with tin foil.


Kind of a pain in the butt to get on and seated all the way, but some whacks with the dead blow got it to seat right:


The new manifold was placed on, and a couple of the bolts put into place. The intake manifold was placed back on, ensuring that it was seated on the location pegs nice and flush. Then all the bolts were torqued down in order, and to spec according to the FSM.


After everything was all put back on and hooked back up, I fired it up..... It was weird hearing the jeep purr and not clack about.... the idle had smoothed out a bit and there was no noise coming from the engine bay anymore.
I'm very happy with my choice, and after several weeks, its holding up just fine, and still no leaks.
This job took me several hours, I only had a couple snags, one was the fuel rail, and the other was the lower bolts on the manifold...they're just kinda hard to get to. Other than that, this job was actually pretty easy.... just time consuming.
>
Next up is going to be my write up on the steering upgrade. Stay tuned!
 
Steering Upgrade - March_2012

Ok so after a lot delay, here's the write-up on the Crown HD Steering upgrade that was done earlier this month....

First to get tackled was the track bar. This was long overdue, as my axle has not been centered for a little while now. Since the kit I ordered came with a ne double shear mount, the old frame side mount was first to come off:


There's four bolts that hold this thing onto the frame, two on the side of the frame rail, accessible from inside the wheel well:


And two found on the underside of the frame rail. Here you can see I have the forward most bolt removed, the weld nut holding it in snapped off, and luckily I was able to still get the bolt out by using some vice grips on the broken nut.


The rear most bolt has a weld nut as well, and on my XJ, it was stubborn as all hell...even after a good soaking in PB Blaster. So out came the heat....


And even more heat....(got this thing red hot and it STILL wouldn't budge)


After a lot of swearing, another round of heat blasting, and back breaking force with my biggest breaker bar, it finally came out:


Here it is completely loose from the frame side, all that was left was the axle side mount, and it was ready to come out:


Here's the old vs. new:


The frame mount and he track bar itself are SO much more beefy than the stock... plus I'm gaining adjustability.
The bar is not only a larger diameter, its wall thickness is double over the stock (iirc)


The frame mount was first to go in, and although the kit didnt come with new mounting hardware, I knew I couldn't re-use the old bolts, (at least on the lower side) ...good thing I had some extra hardware laying around. Here's a lesson as to why its a good idea to always have some extra nuts and bolts laying around:


Since I was going with some new hardware, I wanted to eliminate the one remaining weld nut, so I put a cut off wheel on the grinder and went to work... off it came!


Here you can see the new double shear track bar bracket in place with the new lower hardware:


Its easy to adjust the track of the front axle. Since the track bar was off you can bounce the suspension, and wiggle the steering wheel back and forth to self center the axle under the body. Once I had it pretty close, I mocked up the frame stiffener. (we'll get back to that in a min.)


At this point it was time for a beverage break, and since it was St. Patrick's Day, I figured this was a fitting refreshment:
 
Steering Upgrade pt2

Ok back to work, the drag link and tie rod was next to come out. The steering stabilizer was disconnected from the drag link and was loosely left in place just to help keep things in place. Removing the drag link from the pitman arm was a massive pain in the ***. Heat, prying, and finally a puller (seen on the floor) finally paid off.


The tie rod came off real easy, and the whole thing was brought out as one assembly. Here's the old vs. the new:


I know it doesn't look like much of an upgrade, but remember, this is a solid tube, and the rod ends are much, much more beefy:


Once I had everything all in place, and roughly measured out to "close enough home garage alignment" specs... I noticed something that wasnt right....here's the view of where the drag link meets the tie rod looking upwards:


From above:


And from the side:


As you can see the rod end is hitting the sway bar mount. I tried everything, from pressing/compressing the joint as much as possible.....


....to even pulling out the grease zirk, and screwing in a set screw as a plug.


I finally ground the hell out of the sway bar mount and that gave me a bit more clearance....


Here's the finished product:


It still hits a bit, but I think once I get the drop pitman arm on, it'll lower the drag link a bit and should clear this high point of the swaybar mount, as well as correcting some of the angles.
>
Now that wasnt the only snag in this whole thing... remember that frame stiffener I briefly mentioned earlier?
Here's where it mounts on the passenger side frame rail:


With it mounted at the frame, here's where it ends up at the track bar mount (where the other end is supposed to secure to)...


And if its secured to the track bar mount, here's where it ends up on the frame:


As you can see its a bit too long.... either that or my unibody is twisted/bent or otherwise not straight.... which I dont think is the case....so I'm stuck.... Not sure what to do with it at this point. Any suggestions?
 
great build thread! I plan to swap my engine and tranny mounts in a few weeks. You've given me many ideas and turned me onto several things that need attended to.

have you made any progress so far this month?
 
Yes, the D30's Axle U-joints were swapped out, (that was a massive ordeal, and as soon as I get a little more time i'll post up all that) - I also just did the Hub units this last weekend (4/20/2012)... the passenger side was howling pretty bad, so it was due time. Its been all maintenance for now. Right now I'm trying to solidify a deal to get some 33's under it.... they'll be well used, but at least it'll be a step up from what I've got now, and after the whole front end nightmare the last few months, causing the horrible uneven wear of my front tires, i'll be glad to move onto something that's worn more evenly, even if the tread life left is a little on the shy side....But the plan is to run them thru this year, and i'll buy new rubber next year with tax returns....
 
Some front end maintenance was overdue, and I couldn't put it off any longer. The Front axle had been making some noise when I would turn.... pretty much anytime over 30mph and turning the wheel to the left, I would get a howl from the passenger side. I deemed it was time for some U-joints. I'm pretty sure the ones in there were the originals. And at over 200k, I'm not surprised they had started to make some noise....
Especially looking like this:



Too much rust for my liking. All my research made the process to do the swap seem pretty easy. Everything got a liberal soaking with PB Blaster, and I went to work...
With the tires off, and the front end jacked up an stands, everything else has to come off of the knuckles. I needed to use a screw driver stuck in the slots in the end of the rotor against the caliper as leverage to get the hub nut off. Another option would be to have someone stand on the brake pedal. Or it would probably work better if the transfer case was in 4lo, and one wheel/tire were left on, and on the ground. Since I was this far, I just went with the screw driver method. This cotter pin was going to have to eventually come out, so I knew I was also going to have to take off the wheel spacers at some point.


Once that was off, this nut cap and compression spring come off (dont loose these) and you can get to the 36mm nut. You'll need something like this to get it off:


With some good force (or an impact gun if you have one) it'll come off:


Now its time for the caliper to come off. Two 6-point 13mm bolts on the back hold it on:


Once those are out, the caliper swings off from the top:


You dont want to just let this hang by the brake line, so suspending it with some bungees, or a coat hanger or even some zip ties is a good idea:


Once thats off, the rotor can come off too. It may need some persuading with a dead blow, just to loosen it up, but it should just come right off.
Next up is the thee, 12 point, 13mm bolts that hold the unit hub on. Do not attempt to use a 6pt socket or a wrench for these, you WILL screw them up.


Once all three bolts are out, the hub assembly is ready to come out. There are a few different ways others are taking these out of the knuckles. They're pressed in, but can come out by hammering a chisel between them and the knuckle, this will more than likely result in damaging the dust shield, but may work for some. Some people opt for a puller of some kind, but if you live in the rust belt, or your jeep came from an area near the coast or where they use salt on the roads, you may want to use this option - A three inch 3/8" extension, (a 1/2" would work well to, but I wouldn't use a 1/4" for this) placed in between the axle and the outer shaft. With the engine on, the force applied to this with the power steering is enough to pop the hub right out. Be careful though, the extension could just as easily become a projectile.


At this point the axle shaft outer, u-joint, hub assembly, and inner shaft all come out as one. Its important to support the inner shaft as it comes out, trying to keep it as close to the middle of the tube as possible.

After a little while some of the diff fluid may leak out a but, but it wont be too much, especially if the axle is more or less level.

Once this is out you can separate the hub unit from the axle shaft.
The U-joints are pressed in the ears, and are locked into position with circle clips. These have to come out. A screw driver and a hammer makes this easy:


Once these are all out, the joint can be pressed out as any other.....
The first cap came out with a lot of resistance... this may explain some of the noise:


The other cap was even more difficult, and ended up coming out like this:


The rest of the job proved to be impossible. All I had was my trusty H.F. Press Tool. It worked great for the driveline, but proved to run out of leverage (without having a vice) to get he rest of the joints out in either shaft. Even with one, I think getting these out would have proven to be difficult if not impossible. I ended up having to have a fellow jeeper (two in fact) help me out, He-Man was kind enough to provide some transportation, and drove me out to Battleground to BPB's house, where he dropped what he was doing to help me out using his 20ton press, they finally came out. But it took all that thing had, plus a BFH to do it. The problem was that the force required to press the old joints out bent the ears in I think. So it was impossible to get the c-clips back on the new 5-760's I was trying to put in. We even blew one end of one of the caps off trying. So I went back home with 1.5 spicer 5-760's that didn't fit. This being my only vehicle, failure was not an option, The following morning I got a ride to the parts store, and picked up some ultra heavy duty precision u-joints, to replace the spicers, and solidified my theory that the ears were bent, as these didnt go in either. I tried heating up the metal, and tried to bend the ears back as best as I could, but it was no use. I ended up grabbing the file, and the grinder and took off about .062" of material off between the inside of the two ears. This gave me enough room to finally get the clips on the new joints.
 
Axle U-joint & Hub Assembly Replacement_April 2012 (pt2)

Some people may claim that spicer joints are the best, thats why I had originally picked them for this. After comparing the precision to the spicers, I think theses will work out fine.


Now that the U-joints were done, I could put the axle shafts and the new hub assemblies back in. The old ones were long over due:




Here's a video of how bad the wheel bearings were in this unit:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tPwbeDimgDo&feature=youtu.be



The old knuckle was pretty crusty:


I prob should have wire wheeled this and painted it, but a good wiping and a little grease seemed to do just fine:

The new hub unit, and axle shafts/U-joint assembly was re-installed, (trying to be very careful when inserting the inners back into place, as to not damage the axle seals) ....and all bolts torqued to spec.
Here's a shot of the new U-joint in place:


The ride is much quieter, and of course the howling is gone. This job is not too terribly difficult, but CAN be quite time consuming if things dont go as planned. Obviously I had had some snags, which turned this into a two day job. I also learned that its very difficult to re-install the passenger side axle shaft (the long one) without a very high risk of damaging the axle seal. I believe I nicked mine on the re-install, as I've had some minor, and intermittent diff fluid leakage over the last week or so. So that is going to be fun. I hear the carrier has to come out for that job. (great...)
 
Hey man long time no talk...have you tackled your Rear Main Seal yet? I have all the stuff but still haven't had the time to tear into mine.
 
Sup Wokker?!?! No not yet... the rear main job has been put off to tackle other more pressing work...(see above) I DO HAVE the seals and stuff just sitting in my spare room, ready to go. Need to pull the trigger on that here soon. When are we gonna hook up and talk Jeep?
 
NW99XJ said:
Sup Wokker?!?! No not yet... the rear main job has been put off to tackle other more pressing work...(see above) I DO HAVE the seals and stuff just sitting in my spare room, ready to go. Need to pull the trigger on that here soon. When are we gonna hook up and talk Jeep?
Click to expand...

Soon soon...it has been crazy at work and my schedule just changed so I have weekends off now. I work swing during the week so I have weekdays free until 3:30 also. Right now Im working on my gauge LED swap and waiting for new hatch support lifts also coming from Amazon. Then I will probably do the exhaust? I don't know its up in there air after that. So anytime that you wanna hang I'm down. Sorry I was so flakey the last time. Im not usually like that it was rough times.
 
Ok, so i've been lazy in getting these pics up so here it is: Last weekend (05/05/2012),, I tackled the axle seals in my D30. I was a little scared, as I knew the diff had to come out, and I've never done any differential work before, and was a little worried I'd screw something up. While I was in there I was going to throw in the Spartan locker I got off Craigslist for a sweet trade. (managed to grab a new hardened cross pin shaft for it too from Central 4WD)
>
So here's how it went:
-First step was getting the diff cover off & draining the fluid. (I really wish I woulda had a beefier one to put back on but at least this one isn't too beat up.)

You like that thumb? Seems like every time I wrench on this thing I bleed.
I've always said: "a little bit of me goes into every upgrade"

Once off and drained, I got a good look at the innards:


Next up was getting the shafts out, I opted to just remove the hubs, shafts, and rotors as one large assembly, kind of heavy, but manageable to re-install later, (I just didnt want to take off my wheel spacers,)

My FSM said to check the backlash before removal, so I did so and made note of it. I kept my fingers crossed that this number would pop up again after all was said and done.


After that I used a punch to mark the bearing caps, as they need to go back in their original locations and orientation. I removed the caps, and was ready to pull the carrier and ring gear assembly. I had worried that I was going to need a case spreader to get the diff out, but it ended up just sliding right out. No trouble at all. Didnt even have to pry.


Here's a look at the seal from the inside. Seemed to be fine, the leaks WERE intermittent, but none the less, needed to be addressed.


They came out relatively easy. Still needed to use a dead-blow and a bar to push them out.


Now that the diff and the seals were out, I cleaned the inside up, and ran a towel thru the tubes to help clean out the debris and residual oil and whatever else was in there. (credit to TORX for the idea on that)
Here's one of the new vs. old seals.... the old wasnt nicked up or split or anything, must've just been some grit and grime that got between the shaft and seal when I did my u-joints and hubs.
(Back/Diff-side)


(Front/Axle-side)


Putting them in was easier than I thought it was going to be. I had gotten some advice from other members here, and on jeepforum.com on some tips and tricks to make this as easy as possible. (Thanks to all that gave advice)


Here's the tool that was created to get the driver's side in (from the passenger side) - about 4' of extensions and a 35mm socket (it fit perfectly inside the lip of one of the old seals...the old seal of course fit perfectly inside the back flange of the new seal - Credit to TORX again for the idea of using the old seal as a die to press the new seal in - thanks man!)


 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

tmbuster
Back in an XJ finally!
Replies
0
Views
55
tmbuster
tmbuster
TikiMan369
99 Cherokee XJ randomly cuts power not getting code
Replies
11
Views
297
wbnickens
W
NCCherokee
JK tube doors on XJ with pics
Replies
4
Views
187
NCCherokee
NCCherokee
S
XJ 99 Classic Door Trim Removal
Replies
1
Views
283
RCP Phx
R
EricsXJ
2025 Reno Fest - Memorial Weekend - High Rock Canyon (preparation thread)
2
Replies
38
Views
922
EricsXJ
EricsXJ
Back
Top