99 XJ DD & Weekend Warrior

[kndrewa]

Yep, could have been worse! Looks like you don't regret it, so that's what matters! : ) The rear 1/4s look good!

 

[NW99XJ]

Yep, could have been worse! Looks like you don't regret it, so that's what matters! : ) The rear 1/4s look good!

Thanks! Yea....Sh-t happens, what can ya do?
I still have one rear quarter to do, and my front fenders dont match right now.
I need to at least take care of the last remaining rear quarter, and some other things on my list before a three day run I have coming up in a couple weeks.

Items on the TO DO list:

• Driver's side rear Cut-n-Fold
• Rear Bump Stops
• Motor Mounts
• Oil and Tranny Fluid Change

 

[NW99XJ]

Motor Mounts / Bump Stops_July-2012

This last weekend, finally put in the motor mounts, and rear bump stops I had ordered a couple weeks back. (sorry forgot to take pics of those out of the box)

The motor mounts were done first. I knew that at least one was toast, as some mornings, I'd start up the Jeep, and hear (and feel) the engine shutter around, for just a second. It was a good thing I did this now... there really wasn't much left of the driver's side mount.
(New on the Left - Old on the Right)

The passenger side one looked pretty good, not even a little bit of chapping.
BOTH were replaced regardless.... and the results? Not too shabby. The engine feels more solid on start up - and less like its going to jump out of the hood and run down the street. I also noticed when driving, and hitting a pothole or something, there's much less of my fillings falling out of my skull. I think a lot of the sound/impact I was hearing/felt was the engine slamming around on the lack of any dampening of the drivers side engine mount.
>
The rear bump stops were next on my list. The drivers side (again) was the worst of the two - in fact is was so bad, it wasn't even there.
And in true Cherokee fashion, all four bolts snapped off in the frame when trying to be removed. - awesome -

Tried drilling them out, and went for the Easy-outs .... of course one of those snapped off inside one of the drilled bolts as well. -awesome -

So the only other option left was to fabricate. Well... weld really.
So a co-worker hooked me up while I was working late and prepped the area for me, and got it all down to bare metal. The rest was going to be up to me.


The tabs of the bump stops were wire wheeled clean of paint....


And my super fancy bottle-jack-piece of wood-holding device was placed into action to temporarily secure the bump stop into position while I tacked it into place.


Everything was welded into place, the metal wire wheeled again, and all got a fresh coat of paint to seal it up.



My welds are getting better, still not great, but better, and the most important thing is that they hold. We'll see how they work out after the big Jolly Jeepers run this weekend.

 

[kndrewa]

Nothing ever goes as planned, eh? I know the feeling!

 

[NW99XJ]

Been looking around at gears and getting prices... talked to Tyler at Rock Solid Fab who quoted me this:
C8.25 4.56 gears: $215
C8.25 Master Install kit: $78
_________________________________
D30 4.56 Gears: $135
D30 Open Carrier Bare (put your internals in it): $61
D30 Master Install Kit $99
Shipping will be $40
Total: $628

Good Deal?
Not sure of the brands associated with this quote.
And I'll more than likely be having someone help me out with the install, as I don't have the press, pullers, etc.... I can do most of the work myself, but it will all have to be done at once, and with the axles still under the rig. (DD)
Please Let me know what you guys think!

 

[Icemans]

Been looking around at gears and getting prices... talked to Tyler at Rock Solid Fab who quoted me this:
C8.25 4.56 gears: $215
C8.25 Master Install kit: $78
_________________________________
D30 4.56 Gears: $135
D30 Open Carrier Bare (put your internals in it): $61
D30 Master Install Kit $99
Shipping will be $40
Total: $628

Good Deal?
Not sure of the brands associated with this quote.
And I'll more than likely be having someone help me out with the install, as I don't have the press, pullers, etc.... I can do most of the work myself, but it will all have to be done at once, and with the axles still under the rig. (DD)
Please Let me know what you guys think!

I think when i bought my step dads 4wheel parts had a deal with motive gear. We bought his set with install kits for a little under $500 i don't know if they still do that or not. Also if you come down to a PNW meeting ( third Tuesday of each month) they will give you a deal if there not on sale already. Just a thought most of the time its like 10%.

 

[NW99XJ]

I've been meaning to post this up for a while, just haven't gotten around to it yet....
Here's the latest additions to the parts stash....
Some "New-to-Me" adjustable upper and lower control arms - in LIKE-NEW condition.
As well as a nice beefy Tie Rod upgrade..... These will be going on soon!

 

[crazymoose1990]

Soooo why are they in your cargo area and not on your Jeep Josh?

 

[NW99XJ]

TIME my friend, TIME….
I just haven’t had much spare time lately.
Between 50-60 hour work weeks, and side gigs almost every weekend, I just haven’t had the time to do anything to the jeep.
It sucks too, because I missed out on a killer deal on a set of flat style fenders (1/2 off) because I couldn’t make it out to get them.
I have a wheeling trip coming up this weekend, and it’s not looking like I’ll have any short (8hr) days this week, so I doubt this stuff will go on for a couple weeks.

 

[crazymoose1990]

Well I need a job, maybe you can give me some of your extra hours.

 

[NW99XJ]

OK the control arms and tie rod are still sitting in the garage, but i did manage to do a little something on the Jeep over the weekend. In the cargo area, there were only 3 cargo tie-downs, (the little loops in the floor) and I've wanted to have 4 for obvious reasons.
With a planned wheeling trip coming up the next day, I decided to whip somehting up real quick, just to tied me over.
I used what I had laying around, a section of back strap (similar to plumbers tape, but thicker- usually found in the install kit when you get a new car stereo.) This was used for the bracket part, and a galvanized nail was used for the loop part. I just cut off the tip and the head, and bent it to shape using a couple pairs of pliers.

Here it is installed, nothing special, and again, totally temporary, but served its purpose well for the time being.
(I'll be upgrading ALL the rings soon.)

 

[dellstopjeep]

If you want cheap cargo tie downs go pull s10 blazer. Ones from junkyard. There way stronger and mount using a bolt going through floorboard. They work well and can be had easily since there lots of blazers all years in the junkyard.

 

[NW99XJ]

GREAT TIP! -Thanks!
Yea I was planning on going JY hunting for a new solution, just didnt have a specific vehicle I was going to look in.

 

[cody4359]

looking good. how do you like the dura tracks?

 

[Bronzewyrm]

looking good. how do you like the dura tracks?

i love mine, just waiting to test them in the white stuff:scottm:
Bronze.

 

[NW99XJ]

I dont have the Duratracs anymore, but they were awesome when I did.
I'll prob get another set with Taxes next year.
Bronze...you're going to LOVE them in the snow. The best thee is as far as snow traction...absolutely unstoppable!!!

 

[NW99XJ]

I finally got off my lazy ass and started the "one man work party" to install some parts i've had laying around since Aug/Sept.
But before I started any of that, some routine maint. was on the top of the list.
I knew after several trips out this summer, wheeling in all that dust, my air filter was in need of some serious attenmtion.....I didn't realize just how bad it needed to be addressed.
This is the PILE of dirt and debris I shook and tapped out of my air filter:

Yea....I know.... Might explain why I've been getting only 12.5 mpg lately.
I also cleaned up the oxidation and corrosion from the cap and rotor.. which also desperately needed some love. And while looking/poking around discovered I might have a slight valve cover leak:

Once that was done and a courteous fluids check...I started actually turning wrenches.
The goal was to get the (new to me) adjustable upper and lower control arms on:

....and swap out some of the bent steering components. My ZJ Tie rod suffered some carnage on Waterfall up at the TSF earlier this year, and was in need of a swap out. Luckily I had all the parts on hand. With the CA's I had picked up earlier this summer, I also grabbed a Rough Country Tie Rod Upgrade....

So the plan was to get all of this on Saturday morning, and get it aligned that afternoon.......Lets just say things didnt go quite as planned.

Here's what I was working with. Fixed lower control arms, from the ProComp Kit I started with all those years ago.

They've served me quite well over the years, and despite a little rub wear from when my axle wasn't centered....they're still in amazingly great shape. Even the bushings are in like new condition. However, despite all that, they were still fixed, and at the lift height I'm at now, I needed adjustability. Here's a comparison:

Because these are straight arms, and dont have any bend to them, I knew I was going to face some clearance issues in the flex department. I quickly took care of this.

The point at which the control arm meets the mount was "trimmed" for better clearance, then painted. That's one thing I will definitely miss about my other arms.

Next up it was on to the uppers. I was doing this one side at a time, and let me tell you, having a third hand would've come in real handy for getting these slightly longer control arms into place. The lowers I've done on my rig and other's plenty of times, and have a pretty good technique for man-handling them into place. So they both went in relatively easily.

I was however a complete tool at this point, and not only didn't pay attention to what I was doing, and was just going all out trying to get things accomplished..... so when it came time to remove the first upper control arm, I went at like I did for the last vehicle I did this on (03 TJ)....I got into the frame rail thru that small oval opening with my socket and extension with one hand... and with the other got on the nut on the inside of the frame rail...and started turning....hard. "ca-clunk-clunk".....I pulled out the now socketless extension from inside the frame rail, and swore out loud for a good 10 min straight. After about an hour of fishing with this and that, I finally made a magnet tool and extracted the lost socket from inside the frame rail:

Now that this project had my undivided attention....I realized that there is no need to use any tool on that nut because It has a large flange on it to keep it from turning!!!!!!! DUH! So after I put my feelings of sheer stupidity aside, I quickly removed the first upper control arm and tool a picture for comparison:

YAY! I had one side done, and only one solitary control arm to go....the passenger side upper.

Now that that was out of the way, the bolts came right out and I was able to finish the install.

 

[NW99XJ]

The tie rod was a whole nother issue..... No matter how I set up the drag link, or where I adjusted everything, I had nearly TWO INCHES of toe in that I couldn't get rid of. I think it was a combination of an XJ tie rod and a ZJ drag link. Everyone always says they're the same... I beg to differ. The other thing I noticed is that although this tie rod IS substantially beefier... it still uses XJ tie rod ends.....and those are weaker (smaller) that the ZJ TRE's.

In the end, I installed my spare ZJ Tie rod... and was able to dial in the toe in using a tape measure to within a 1/4" ...close enough to get me to an alignment shop. This of course was not until the next day....and after nearly 12 hours of battling this project as a whole.

Upon recommendation from another member....I took it to my local Firestone dealer...after calling them, and verifying that they could PROPERLY handle the alignment of a lifted XJ with all of said aftermarket parts on it. When I got down there, I was told to go somewhere else, as they would only adjust it to OEM specs.... and nothing more.
This of course would not do, even upon my insistence, and supply of all the necessary numbers for toe-in and castor. They still would not touch it.
FINE!
BE THAT WAY!
I ended up going to the place I bought my first set of 31's from, a local Goodyear Tire Center..... Not only were they more than willing to do it, and do it right, they did it to my specs, and guaranteed it for life. They also threw in (upon my request) a rebalance of my front two tires...FOR FREE.
I left there very happy, and have numbers for reference, and a very driveable Jeep that I cant wait to take out for a shake down run.

 

[BPB]

Nice looking good

 

[crazymoose1990]

About time you put that thing together.