- Location
- Middle Tennessee
So Mark bought a 1995 Wrangler and one of the items he needed to fix/upgrade was the steering. The drag link went from above the springs to under them which is less than ideal. He found an article where he could raise the drag link by converting to WJ knuckles. So a list was made to go get the required parts to upgrade the steering and get a brake upgrade in the process.
We took Thursday off and went to CFC Pick & Pull in Tullahoma, TN. It's a good clean yard and easy to work in. We arrived at 8 am and went to scout out the WJ's they had. After finding the parts we were after, Mark went back to the truck for tools and tasked me to find some upholstery to sit on to not get super dirty and keep us out of the gravel. This is really important as you know I have a hard time getting up and down and can't stand for extended amounts of time. So I went looking......
So I find a Chrysler minivan with the second row removable seats. Hmmm, these look pretty comfortable and are the perfect height with the seat back layed flat. I wish I had gotten a picture but it was perfect. Mark was jealous, he used a car seat that was much lower and not level due to the seat base. It was still better than sitting in the gravel though.
Mother nature had pity on us old men. Temps had been in the high 90's with high humidity the weeks prior to our excursion, but Thursday a cold front was rolling through and temps were in the high 80's and it was overcast so we didn't have the hot sun beating down on us. Humidity was still high and we both looked like someone sprayed us with a water hose.
We started with WJ #1. Got a bunch of stuff apart but when we got to the 13mm unit bearing bolts, one stripped. Now we had a problem, so we went off to WJ #2. We managed to get to the same point and then in trying to remove the 13mm bolts, applied so much pressure, we bent the wrench. We needed a different plan. Mark went to the office and they loaned us a new 13mm 12 point socked that was not worn like ours (probably why the first stripped). With the help of the DeWalt 1/2" impacts we had, it made the job easier and faster. We were able to break all of the bolts loose and we had what we needed.
We then went and get the knuckles off a 2003 WJ 2WD. Much easier and it netted us a set of stub shafts. These were parts for my XJ if the time ever comes that I want to upgrade.
Then we sent back to a ZJ that was next to WJ #1 and robbed the front axles from the D30 housing so Mark would have some spares. They do need new u-joints though.
All in all, we spent 4 hours getting all of the parts. Mark and I had an absolute blast getting out and pulling parts. It's been a while since we had done it and it sure felt good.
Our bounty for the trip was displayed in the bed of Mark's truck.
4 WJ knuckles
4 WJ caliper brackets
4 WJ calipers
2 Stub Shafts
2 Steering Linkages
1 set of ZJ D30 front axles shafts
Misc nuts, bolts, etc.
We took Thursday off and went to CFC Pick & Pull in Tullahoma, TN. It's a good clean yard and easy to work in. We arrived at 8 am and went to scout out the WJ's they had. After finding the parts we were after, Mark went back to the truck for tools and tasked me to find some upholstery to sit on to not get super dirty and keep us out of the gravel. This is really important as you know I have a hard time getting up and down and can't stand for extended amounts of time. So I went looking......
So I find a Chrysler minivan with the second row removable seats. Hmmm, these look pretty comfortable and are the perfect height with the seat back layed flat. I wish I had gotten a picture but it was perfect. Mark was jealous, he used a car seat that was much lower and not level due to the seat base. It was still better than sitting in the gravel though.
Mother nature had pity on us old men. Temps had been in the high 90's with high humidity the weeks prior to our excursion, but Thursday a cold front was rolling through and temps were in the high 80's and it was overcast so we didn't have the hot sun beating down on us. Humidity was still high and we both looked like someone sprayed us with a water hose.
We started with WJ #1. Got a bunch of stuff apart but when we got to the 13mm unit bearing bolts, one stripped. Now we had a problem, so we went off to WJ #2. We managed to get to the same point and then in trying to remove the 13mm bolts, applied so much pressure, we bent the wrench. We needed a different plan. Mark went to the office and they loaned us a new 13mm 12 point socked that was not worn like ours (probably why the first stripped). With the help of the DeWalt 1/2" impacts we had, it made the job easier and faster. We were able to break all of the bolts loose and we had what we needed.
We then went and get the knuckles off a 2003 WJ 2WD. Much easier and it netted us a set of stub shafts. These were parts for my XJ if the time ever comes that I want to upgrade.
Then we sent back to a ZJ that was next to WJ #1 and robbed the front axles from the D30 housing so Mark would have some spares. They do need new u-joints though.
All in all, we spent 4 hours getting all of the parts. Mark and I had an absolute blast getting out and pulling parts. It's been a while since we had done it and it sure felt good.
Our bounty for the trip was displayed in the bed of Mark's truck.
4 WJ knuckles
4 WJ caliper brackets
4 WJ calipers
2 Stub Shafts
2 Steering Linkages
1 set of ZJ D30 front axles shafts
Misc nuts, bolts, etc.
Attachments
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