Trucks Tv Xj build on Spike TV Sunday

muckleroy said:
Maybe I mentioned this already, but buying replacement axles and u-joints from the junk yard is cheaper than buying two new u-joints?!?!? My concern would be what condition the junk yard u-joints were in even if they were cheaper.
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They went from the small 260 sized joint to the larger and much stronger 297 joint.

One of the best upgrades you can do on a Turdy.
 
$6200 was what they aired. So many things to say...

At least they promoted Tread Lightly and getting involved. That was the useful bit of the build.
 
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Ha! They ripped off a fancy-ass Bu$hwhacker!

in2fords said:
$4500 is not really a budget build...
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And neither is $6200... hasta

I've probably got about $6k in mine, and that's pretty much everything I could afford over five years of building it up... And I know mine would walk away from theirs... :D

But I do have to give em props for even admitting the budget, most shows gloss right over it...

Robert
 
I liked it, and I liked how they popped off the fenders a couple times.

BTW, I have a '99 without ABS. Does this mean I have the 260 or 297 u-joints?
 
srimes said:
BTW, I have a '99 without ABS. Does this mean I have the 260 or 297 u-joints?
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Dana30 FAQ said:
Non-Disconnect, RS:

This axle first made it’s appearance in early XJs with the advent of the Select-Trac t-case. It does not use a disconnect, so the front driveshaft spins even in 2wd. The early axles came with 260 u-joints or an interesting CV design that tends to be somehwhat fragile. Sometime in the mid-90’s, the switch was made to 297/760 joints.
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Robert
 
JeepFreak21 said:
The early bird gets the worm ;)

:D Billy
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either that or the bird with the right technology gets the worm. I was out wheeling this morning :sunshine: but my DVR got it. It's the only way to roll, er, sit.:greensmok
 
Hey Guys, KT from Trucks here. We'll I've read through this entire thread and I have to say.... holy crap! To quote Ryan... "Tough Crowd" Thanks for watchng the shows, and giving your opinions. I'll try not to come on here and defend what we did or showed to you guys... you know what you like and you know these vehicles better than me for sure ( although ryan's been wheelin them for alota years) Here's my perspective:

I grew up around Musclecars, vintage trucks, snowmobiles, dirtbikes and bodyshops, and I've never owned an XJ, or any Jeep for that matter. For a newbie to Jeeps, this XJ blew me away... I used to look at them when they rolled into shops that I worked at with eyes rolling back so far in my head that I got a headache... I've fixed more XJ hinge pillars that I can remember, and for a body tech these vehicles are a real pain to fix. HOWEVER! This (relatively) stock Jeep kicked ass on the trails, pulled like a V8, and never even hickupped at any stage of our build or payofff. (BTW... fenders =$67.00 ea. Header = $99.00 Keystone online store...... for me, It's not worth it to do another layer of repair on shit parts that are going to fit like A$$ and fall apart again anyway, time = money and low budget sometimes means time well spent. JMHO :) )

As far as the tools, while you guys slamming us for the high dollar tools we used ( CNC cutter, frame machine, etc...) we were talking (yes, I know, talking instead of showing... there's just so much time in a 30 minute show) about alternate ways to do things that dont cost much. I talked on one show about the frame repair being about 4 anda half hours in a qualified frame shop.... at the labor rates around us thats about a $250 dollar repair, not so bad since it includes fitting sheet metal.... yes the Mighty pull cost about $1800.00..... a comealong cost about 50.00.... I've seen pulling chains break, ( let alone a wound steel cable) anybody that's worked in frame repair or bodyshops thats reading this probably has too.... I've seen a full size X-cab truck get launched off a frame rack when a chain broke and all that tension was released, it's violent and dangerous and almost took off the head and shoulders off one of my good friends.... I dont advocate pulling with improper equipment... period. call me a pussy, I like my limbs intact! (and I say all of this with no venom... honestly).... Bottom line we wanted a safe repair too, and we have an obligation to NOT show you how to use an oak tree frame rack.... of which I've done also.. when I was young and stupid..

Overall inteded message..... I'm now a huge fan of Jeep and XJ platforms since having the opportunity to work on them on this show.... that's one more guy in your corner.

Keep the comments coming! critisizm is how we learn... all of us..... we dont take if personally when the comments are heated up... that just shows us thay you guys are passionate about these vehicles and that you've been down these roads before. Besides, if you werent throwing rocks, how would we know that you're still watching? Even Stacey would agree with that.

BTW, thanks for the compliments on Copperhead, I did the paint & body for Stacey on that one.


Thanks guys....

Kevin Tetz
Co-Host, Technical Poducer
TRUCKS! TV.
 
You have to understand that NAXJA members are the cheapest bastards on the planet. And they all think they can do better then someone else. :D

Personally, I liked the episodes...It was a good refresher from the normal $100K builds you see on the Saturday morning shows.
 
I would like a little more info on the paint. I know it was $70, but what was it, how much prep went into getting it to look that good, etc. I'm getting ready to paint mine and could certainly use the info.
 
OK, here's the skinny on the paintjob..... I prepped it with a 6 in D/A loaded with 320 dry and a red scuffing pad for the corners.... as you know there's alot of them on these Jeeps. I removed NOTHING masked everything and did what I call a "scuff -N-Shoot" on it. It took about 2 and a half hours to prep, and if ya look close it shows.... kinda lumpy. It looks better on TV than in person, but still not bad up close. The paint is PPG's light industrial coating factory packaged color. You can pick it up at any jobber that carries PPG. Kirker is another MFG of inexpensive paint, Eastwood now has their own line as well, but the PPG stuff was the cheapest. It's Acrylic Alkyd Enamel, the cheapest automotive paint known to man with a catylist... basically trailer paint but the good part is that it has fantastic gloss holdout, and its VERY easy to shoot. I used a gravity fed HVLP gun with a 1.3 fluid tip. I hammered (yes, hammered) three coats on it , first a tac coat (half coat with large overlap) then two fat wet coats for color coverage and gloss. I had a full quart left over after I was finished, but I added the catylist to the gallon so it went to puddin' after a few days.

Enamel stinks.... the overspray gets on EVERYTHING so make sure you're in a booth and have a shoot suit of some kind, or really do alot of prep to your garage so you dont have to rub overspary off your tools for weeks and weeks.

Hope this helps!

Thaks for watching.


KT.
 
Speaking of hammered... its gonna be on out here in PA today... I'll tune in. I want to see some LeBaron hood vents go on this thing HAHAHA.

These shows (Power Block) are usually using lifts and stuff us Garage guys dont have... and or Parts / accessories Mr. Average Joe cant afford.

But I'll check it out. THEY NEED TO MAKE A REAL WORLD 4x4 / Junkyard Upgrade show.
 
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DuPont's Imron is a pretty good choice too. It's cheap, ends up glossy, and is a single stage epoxy paint. Just remember, you get what you pay for. Most of a paint job is prep and finish work, and quality of materials.
 
Dave, I respecfully disagree with you about Imron. Last time I used it it cost me almost $300.00 for all the components (there are three) for a gallon setup and I've still got some loft over, but I'm out of hardner.... so to use it again I've gott a buy even more stuff. One of my big complaints about Dupont has been that it's expensive to use, because you have to buy large qualtities of the different components and it ends up costing lots to get everything you need regardless of how much you have to spray.

For an offroad rig it GREAT paint because its so freakin strong! I used to paint desert buggies for a guy who wouldnt put anything else on his cars. He claimed he could roll over and not even scratch the paint. Imron dries diamond-hard, which is why Peterbilt uses it on their paint lines for their open road trucks, but it's also the highest concentration of polyicicyanates (sp?) in any paint I know about... which makes it a tad more dangerous to use. If you use IMRON please make sure you use a fresh air supply to paint in. It's nasty stuff.

KT.
 
kttrucks said:
Dave, I respecfully disagree with you about Imron. Last time I used it it cost me almost $300.00 for all the components (there are three) for a gallon setup and I've still got some loft over, but I'm out of hardner.... so to use it again I've gott a buy even more stuff. One of my big complaints about Dupont has been that it's expensive to use, because you have to buy large qualtities of the different components and it ends up costing lots to get everything you need regardless of how much you have to spray.

For an offroad rig it GREAT paint because its so freakin strong! I used to paint desert buggies for a guy who wouldnt put anything else on his cars. He claimed he could roll over and not even scratch the paint. Imron dries diamond-hard, which is why Peterbilt uses it on their paint lines for their open road trucks, but it's also the highest concentration of polyicicyanates (sp?) in any paint I know about... which makes it a tad more dangerous to use. If you use IMRON please make sure you use a fresh air supply to paint in. It's nasty stuff.

KT.
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Good point. I guess my view is a bit skewed as a close friend of mine does a lot of custom painting. I was comparing cost of materials to primer/base/gloss of a normal quality paint job. Then again...I sprayed 3/4 of my jeep with Duplicolor bed liner in a spray can. I'm one of those super cheap NAXJA guys. ;) I do agree though, the stuff is nearly indestructible.
 
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