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Project "The Gray Goose"

Goose_XJ88

NAXJA Member
NAXJA Member
Location
Sacramento, CA
Ok so Ive been on here for a while now but will finally get around to posting my "build" thread. This will be mainly copied from Cherokeeforum but I will try to update pieces a little bit.

So without further adieu, the build thread of my Jeep finally.
Bought her 10-17-10 and I'm loving every bit of it. I'm from Bakersfield, CA and I drove all the way up to Napa, CA to buy her. She was priced at $3000 on craigslist. The day before I head up, the cl owner changed his price to $2500 so that's what i got her for. 👏

She got her name because the first time i took her out locally, my buddy talked me into jumping her. So because she flew and shes gray, I came up with the name "The Gray Goose".

So here she is when I first met her.

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little blurb from the CL ad
-5.5 Inch Rough Country Short Arm Lift with sway bar quick disconnects.
-33 in all terrain tires with 70% tread left.
-Logan offroad front bumper
-JCR stage 3 rear bumper (First Gen)
-NEW brakes all around with NEW rotors and drums (brakes have less than 1000 miles on them)
-NEWLY Rebuilt Rear DANA 44 rear end. Geared to 4.56 with rare DANA Powerlok Positraction. Less than 1000 miles on the rebuild. All new seals, ring and pinion, and fully rebuilt posi. Armored.
-NEWLY Rebuilt front DANA 30 front end. New seals, NEW 4.56 ring and pinion. (less than 1000 miles on the rebuilt front end) Armored.
-NEW 1995 brake power booster and master cylinder (less than 1000 miles on the booster and master). It brakes very well.
-Newly rebuilt motor from S&J engines (about 2500 miles on the motor)
-Rusty's steering track bar
-Rubicon express cut and tap SYE kit.
-Rubicon express rear drive shaft
-Rubicon express steering box brace
-New polyurethane bushings all around
-Sony explode 6 speaker sound system
-Audiobahn 8 inch sub woofer with remote mounted in console
-NEW aluminum 3 core radiator
-NEW aluminum transmission cooler
-NEW fan clutch
-Passes CA smog. Just smogged in July.
-Champion 8000lb winch
-JCR stage 2 rock sliders
-New high-lift jack
Other technical specs:
Engine - Jeep 4.0 (Renix)
Transmission - Aisin-Warner AW4
Transfer case - NP-242
Although it drives just fine, there is some work that needs done to make this a great jeep. Here's what it needs:
- New Throttle position sensor (or it needs adjusting)
- It has a cracked flex plate (hairline crack) Knocks at warmer temps because of this
- The bearings in the transfer case need replacing
- It has a high-flow Flowcooler water pump that makes it great for off-roading but it pumps water at such a high volume that it runs kinda warm on the freeway. It runs very cool at slow and 4x4 speeds. If you intend to do a lot of highway driving I would recommend a stock water pump.
- Tranny cooler return line needs to be replaced as it leaks a bit

A little over 3 year later i still have yet to replace the tc bearings, flex plate, or the tranny cooler line. :twak: :wierd: :explosion Shes not a regular DD...I think that Ive put 11k miles total on her in the three years that Ive owned her



Almost forgot my plans for her for now. Going to keep her looking stock and create enough cargo room for four to go on a camping trip. (planning ahead for a family camping vehicle, only 23 right now). Original plan was be kept clean and be more of a dd and camping/expedition rig than a rock crawler. I was planning on getting a second one, hopefully super clean white '93 which will take over this ones' job as the camping/easy wheeler so this thing can become the rock crawler.. Either that or just find a beater to make the purpose built crawler.

5.5" or 6.5" Rubicon express Springs up front that i got on cherokeeforum
5.5" big offroad leafs (Thanks BenH)
12" bilstein 7100 front
10" bilstein setup rear
Frolich offroad Long Arm upgrade
NP231 with SYE and all new goodies when I find a good deal on one when i have $$
Uniden Pro 520XL cb for xmas (2012) to replace my broken Pro 500D when it was broken into (story later)
rustys center skid *free (Thanks BenH)
15" black D-window steelies with 33"X12.50 or 11.50 Toyo mud country
roof rack with light bar
pre-runner hoop for lights on front bumper
black door handles
97+ side mirrors
black grill/header pannel
bed liner lower quarter pannels
703 injectors
cubby mounted sub
cargo area rack/storage
hybrid cage at some point
lockers front and rear
 
Last edited:
nice looking rig!
 
I totally forgot that it had the windshield visor and hood scoop haha.
 
aahhh. the spruce goose.
 
Ahh I like it, spruce goose.. Been busy the past week or so, will update its first two trips in a few days hopefully.
 
So the first "mod" was to remove the visor and I liked the look much better. Didnt do much to it but drive it and wheel it for a while.

For a bit, it backfired like crazy (still does at a certain throttle location) and as a result the jeep jerks while accelerating or decelerating..I had replaced the cap and rotor which made the backfireing a little bit better but it was still really bad. Messed with the TPS and replaced it with a spare AJTorris had but the Goose still stumbled at constant 55mph on the freeway and on colder days. Shes actually stumbled so bad a few times that shes killed herself at low speeds but started again after 5 min or so.
Eventually i'll get around to the flex plate, bearings, and cooler line.

took a few trips out local places in Bakersfield to play in the mud and such. few trips to Hollister Hills..Now for the pics.
Dec 2010 in HH

Getting ready to leave early in the morning
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the lovely Maroon interior :thumbup: with almost factory looking headliner "mod" by the PO. (not sarcasm, the color has grown on me and I love it now)

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Driving

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Sitting at the lookout point in HH waiting for my buddies to show up

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Having fun flexing my jeep out for the first time in the quarry. Still alone. (n)

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not much flex but it was my first flexing pic.. lol

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some stuff

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the mud pit

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after my try at the frame twister, logs side first. Definitely like the darker rims..lol

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My friend's Big, Bad FJ after his trip through the mud.

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My first "body damage". Never take an over grown, unmarked trail without walking it first. Super scary like 7 point u-turn switchback for me, like 15 point for the FJ. (Location is at the top of the next peak after completing 5 fingers)

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Tail light "guard" caught a protruding tree branch and broke the light. (glad it did now, man those were hideous)

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The FJ's first "major" damage. There is a dent there, just hard to see.

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more flexing

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JeepinSeal in his 2WD Tacoma before he owned a 4x4

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ballanced..:thumbup:

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Idiot in a 2wd truck thought he could get through..went in too hot and went into both ruts and got cross-threaded.

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Jeremy to the rescue with the winch.

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Trip #1 done...
 
Man that was a fun trip. I knew that truck was blue. He was funny to watch though hahah. If I remember right that was Jeremy's first pull on that wench. Glad you got rid of the "euro" lights.
 
I think it was his 4th. One to pull the white jeep off the pipes, one to pull him off the pipes, one to pull me out of the logs and then this one.
 
replace your TPS , 02 sensor, and CPS . Adjust TPS properly if its renix.
also, do plugs and plug wires. clean all grounds. check for loose exhaust flange bolts at the manifold and collector.
consider getting injectors cleaned by a local injector cleaning place. Backfiring can be too lean or too rich. My old willys used to back fire when the carb wasn't adjusted right . it could also backfire with a bad enough exhaust leak, but that would be obvious.

do one thing at a time to see what fixes it.
 
Thanks guys for the suggestions and complements... Now that my Construction Management Competition is over, I'm going to post a little bit more into the back-story of my rig.

Next chapter began with a snowboarding trip

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Then went to Last Chance Canyon with some friends in Jan 2011.

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The FJ in the V-Notch

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The damage after having to back out

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and my new paint job after the trip

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Then i got my last fill of mudding in Feb of 2011. My buddy just got new 33" m/t's that he wanted to try out.

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Decided to clean the windows so i could see..lol i liked my new shade of brown on the XJ.

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Then we headed back up to Hollister for my 21st in April of 2011, a month late...
Didn't really get to wheel much. I was the tail end of the dust kicked up by my friends and screwed up my alternator and JeepinSeal thought he fried his alternator in his first jeep from the mud pit. But all it needed was a good wash (just like I told him). While trying to get the alternator out, Seal broke my power steering pump so I had a 3 hr drive home with no power steering which sucked.
just showing up

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Seal's new jeep on the moagls

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Flex with connected sway bar again..lol

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This guy almost rolled

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our three Jeeps

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Mine is on the right, JeepinSeal's freshly cleaned one on the left

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Side-by-side repair

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Summer of 2011, I went on a camping trip with AJTorris and our friends just above Kernville. Had a blast, just sucked because the only wheeling that got done was at the camp site. I was able to finally get my cb equipment installed though.

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What is up with me and swaybar flex? haha

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mine and AJ's jeep (before the teal paint)sitting with our human tape measure...lol, hes 6'3" and we use him quite a bit for visual reference.

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all three of us

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some beautiful scenery

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Ok, guess I should just go on a posting spree to get this up to date finally.

Next wheeling trip i went on was to Hungry Valley in October of 2011. Went AJtorris, and MaxxXJ.
The night before, the human tape measure and I prepped and painted my spare hood that i got for free with some "matching" paint and the added the 280z hood vents i had gotten at the JY to replace the ugly cowl hood that was on it.

the three of us

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the new one (might just need to be buffed to get the same color...)

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way too easy

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AJ going all the way through the rocks. Time for limiting straps and a softer rear end..

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oops

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And this guy just bounced his way through....

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he still had more trouble than AJ getting through this last part

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one of the guys stuck in the mud that smelled like sewage

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and the nasty engine bay afterwards

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Why dark tinted windows can be a bad thing, you cant see crap while backing up..lol

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then he goes and knocks both axles off and goes for a float in the mud... where did those 33s go? lol

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the main group we came with

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and then the other xj guys around the area saw the gathering and joined in.

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Christmas 2011 break. I went home and did the rear lift on the jeep. Ended up having to trade shackles with AJTorris who had MJ shackles because my 3"+ shackle lift that was already on the jeep in addition to the spring lift was too much.

Headin off to AJ's house with some toys.

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New rear lift compared to the old front lift... ~2" more and its all spring, no more lift blocks.

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side to side comparison of the rear lift. Was more noticeable in person.

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The new droop on the rear. Cant remember if thats with or without shocks.

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Sittn with the Tape Measure

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Birthday 2012 Hungry Valley. Day one was fun and dry with JeepinSeal, day two was when everyone else showed up and it was raining all day.

Sitting at my place getting ready to leave

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Me on the pipes that were fairly new

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My JeepinSeal going through

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Day 2 stuck in a ravine we call Henry's Crack

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AJ trying the waterfall

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Aaron going through the Sluice Box

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I dont think anyone broke anything besides a 2nd gen 4runner breaking an axle shaft and me getting stuck in the same place in the Crack and getting pulled into the wall breaking my mirror clip.
 
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