The Frog Blog

[rocknxj]

Glad to hear things are moving forward for you, Kelly.
Are either of your lunchbox lockers under warranty at all? Even tho you are not going to use them, if they are couple probably make some cash to compensate your rebuild.

And another thought, markw from so cal talked about using a "paintball" Co2 tank for the air locker. Not sure exactly what that is all about. But he seems to know what he is doing so maybe hit him up if you are interested/have questions about that.

I've nearly got my Viair onboard air system installed and it came with a 2.5 gallon tank. The ARB locker will be installed next. The spartan lasted 4 years and im happy enough to go with a full case Grizzly that i wont pursue any warranty issues. The Powertrax failed early but i dont reallly want to seek a warranty. I cut it up for fun and no longer have the pieces.

 

[eric@morris4x4cent]

Holy cow dude! Just browsed this thread from page 1 all the way to the end. With my upcoming house purchase, building an LJ will not be happening as I can purchase, and build an XJ for less than what LJ's are going for. This thread definitely made that decision easier to make. You're Jeep is sick, and inspiring my own build.

-Eric

 

[rocknxj]

Holy cow dude! Just browsed this thread from page 1 all the way to the end. With my upcoming house purchase, building an LJ will not be happening as I can purchase, and build an XJ for less than what LJ's are going for. This thread definitely made that decision easier to make. You're Jeep is sick, and inspiring my own build.

-Eric

Thanks Eric. If i built another XJ i would start with frame stiffeners or a sub frame and build from there. Then i would start with strong axles with air lockers and deep gears. This incremental build with all the changes is a time and money suck. Begjn with the end in mind.

 

[rocknxj]

I ended up needing to replace my rear ring and pinion as my yukon 4.56 gearset was too warn to be used with the ARB. The crappy part is that i wanted to go with 4.88 but decided against that after thinking my rear set was still good. Too bad i couldnt do both axles at the same time...anyway now i have two new 4.56 gear sets and a grizzly up front and ARB in the rear. I should be set for a few years.

I installed the 8.25 under the jeep tonight and am down to my last bit of work before breaking in the new equipment. Oh and i still need to finish wiring up the Viair OBA. That part sucks.

I killed my redtop and bought an optima charger on amazon. Pretty sweet machine and was able to recharge the batt from <3volts. Looks like im around 5k in new parts after breakage at sierra fest. Not bad...

 

[GordoSmasho]

Way to hang in there man. It will feel better once you get it on the trail.

 

[rocknxj]

I got the Viair compressor working and attempted to finish up the ARB air locker switch installation this past weekend. Everything checked out good after I installed the two ground wires, installed the power wire to the compressor solenoid, and wired up the lighted switch. However, I instantly flew a fuse after installing the keyed power connector to the switch. I lost all dash lights but still had ignition, radio, and dome light.

I replaced fuse 19 under the passenger kick panel and then probed under the dash for a different keyed wired. This time, I had a more catastrophic electrical failure. I have absolutely no dash lights and no ignition, radio, etc. and believe I fried a fusible link.

I checked for continuity on the switch and discovered I have a short between the ground connectors and the keyed power wire input. I'm not electrician, but that doesn't seem right, and certainly the cause for the blown electrical circuit.

Not knowing what to do, I downloaded an electronic FSM for 8 bucks from jeepFSM.com. It's not as handy as a book, but I can't argue with the price. Hopefully I'll find out what fuse/link/wire I blew and get this pig back on the road.

 

[Skipper51]

This can't be good Kelly. Good luck working out the electrical problem.

 

[XJensen]

Mine had a few open spots on the inside pass fuse panel. I tapped in there. Doesnt help you find the fuse but food for thought in wiring it back up. I hate electrical stuff...

 

[rocknxj]

Mine had a few open spots on the inside pass fuse panel. I tapped in there. Doesnt help you find the fuse but food for thought in wiring it back up. I hate electrical stuff...

Looks like I fried the ignition switch, so that's an easy fix. Cheap, too.

I'll definitely tap into one of the open fuse slots on the passenger side. Thanks for the hint.

 

[blondejoncherokee]

good luck Kelly, sounds like you have it figured out man.

 

[rocknxj]

Wasnt the ignition switch but at least i have a spare now ha ha. I have no power at the red 12 guage wire that comes directly from the batt. More troubleshooting on saturday i guess.

 

[smokinu]

This could be a long shot. But maybe the battery shorted with everything else? It could still read 12+volts. But not be able to carry any load.

 

[rocknxj]

Got the Frog up and running. I took Josh's advice and wired the ARB switch to an open keyed fuse and it works great. Rear locker engages with a simple flip of the switch and the 2.5 gal air tank has plenty of capacity for numerous locker applications. Compressor runs fairly quiet when it recharges the tank to 150 psi. Im mostly impressed wifh the Grizzly locker up front.

In retrospect, im glad i btoke at sierrafest and rebuilt with better parts. I will post pics when i gdt around to finding a new photo host site.

Next upgrade needs to be a long or mid arm...

 

[Goose_XJ88]

I just use Facebook for my photos. Works well enough.

 

[rocknxj]

Here are a few select photos from Sierra Fest back in August. I towed the Frog behind Yeti 400 miles to Rocklin, dropped off a custom work bench for the kid, then drove another 120 miles to Hermit Valley.

Home sweet home...

Views from Friday's Deer Valley run...

My rear PowerTrax was making noise and failed on the trail. I barely made it mid way.

 

[rocknxj]

Views from the top

Prepping for the Saturday run on SlickRock.

This is about where my front Spartan locker began failing...

 

[rocknxj]

Still heading down with a broken rear diff and a failing front locker. Not..uh...good.

There was a ton of carnage during the trip.

As soon as we started back up the hill, my front Spartan locker shattered. I later learned the cross pin broke into four pieces, sending shrapnel into the ring and pinion and cracking the carrier. I was a good locker for 4 years and provided great results on the trail. Eric and Tim took turns hauling my butt back up Slickrock, as I was down to one wheel drive. Thankfully I was able to unlock my front hubs and limp back to camp.

I had about 30 minutes to read Tim's rear window sticker. Funny guy.

 

[rocknxj]

Here are a few shots from the fun I had after towing my Jeep 12 hours back home. I rebuilt both front and rear diffs and added on board air and a few other fun parts.

The Spartan has been in my D30 since 2010 and performed pretty well. It was a good locker for the money, but I'd probably not go with a lunchbox locker if I were to do it over again.

My first step was to remove the D30.

After a month of painful ass-hattery by a local gear shop, I finally got my D30 back with the Grizzly locker and new ring and pinion installed. I don't do gear. Not sure the gear shop did either...

I thought about installing a ProRock D44 but I decided to keep the Turdy since I have sleeves, OTK knuckle, chromo shafts, and the hub kit. I also added some 5" Prothane bumps, Synergy ball joints, and painted the knuckles.

I also added a new steering stabilizer to replace the OME stab that was on the Jeep when I bought it in 2009. This one is much narrower and does not interfere with the Currie steering like the OME did.

 

[GordoSmasho]

Nice work. Good execution on the repair/upgrade. Enjoy it man!

 

[Goose_XJ88]

Its funny how small Alan's 40s look yet Tim's 42s look huge in the Sierrafest pics