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When I had the workhorse as far as power it didn't have any problems but more power adds to more gas....
But the 2 door I got now from 31s to 32s wasn't much of a power difference....same power and as long as I don't stomp on the skinny peddle gas mileage is pretty good....and I'm still with 3.07s....
I'm curious how it will feel with 33x10.5s. If it's a little too sluggish, I'll just have my current axles regeared unless I can find a set of 4cyl axles. I like not being too slow.
Time for an update. I'd been wanting to change my trans fluid for a bit as I'm pretty sure mine was original and, when hot, the trans would make a groan sound upon take off - especially if I just used the clutch to move. After researching, I discovered how particular the AX15 is which led me on a wild goose chase for Redline MT90. Found some locally and picked up four bottles, a fluid pump and a 24 mm socket.
I also replaced my serpentine belt with a Gates belt as the old one squealed at start up and whenever I engaged my A/C, it would screech. Started it up, A/C blew icy cold and my trans shifted great. Took it down to ACE hardward and that intermittent lack of power, bad idle, stalling problem decided to show up again. It hit me that it could still be the upstream o2 sensor as the one I replaced a few weeks ago was the downstream one triggering the CEL. I unplugged the upstream one, and it drove like a stabbed rat albeit with a CEL. Broke down and bought a second o2 sensor, replaced that in like 10 minutes (unlike the downstream one) and went on my way.
All this was in preparation for Sunday's group ride with my local club. 15 rigs went to Windrock's Panther Rock on G1, Trail 33, G8, Trail 7, G31, Highway 116, G66, Trail 51 (Panther Rock location) G53. No mishaps, everyone made it (some rigs needed spotters) and we all had a blast.
My rig was running warm on the slower sections though - at one point it was cruising around 220. I'm going to wire my electric fan to a toggle switch, replace my fan shroud and flush my coolant and see where I'm at before I upgrade to anything. I also need to get a new A/C pulley or clutch as while it blows cold and is quiet at idle, any applied throttle makes it squeeeeeeeeeellllll like the family pig.
Well fellas, time for an update. Last weekend I had to use our trailer to take some of the GF's furniture to the dump. Now, I'm not saying I'm the best trailer backer upper, but I'm not terrible and have practiced enough to have safely and successfully backed up a massive trailer up my GF's very steep and very slick driveway using her dad's fullsize Chevy van. Well, my Jeep isn't fullsize, doesn't have an automatic and our trailer is a small and very light utility trailer. Needless to say, it was VERY difficult to back that thing up her driveway. Not only did I HAVE to use 4wd to even get up in reverse, I apparently jacknifed (I had no clue). But sure enough, there was a big dent in my rear quarter panel.
I took the cap off to the pop the dent out and was annoyed to find rust. I lost one favored car to cancer once, I wasn't going to repeat it again so this weekend, I did what I really didn't want to do and did the rear cut and fold.
Here's the before of both panels. One was way worse than the other
This was my first real time using an angle grinder and I got to say, I did not enjoy this job. Getting the angles cut right to removing the dead material was pretty difficult and I had to use a multitude of tools to get it right. I also cut too much off my first one and have a small hole because of it. Oh well.
It's no the prettiest job but I sanded and sprayed the areas with rustoleum paint so they should be protected now. I'm going to have my local welder build me a wrap-around bumper soon the week after next. I showed him HS00XJ's bumper build and he's going to try and replicate it.
I also scored some brand new RE super flex upper and lower adjustable control arms and a NP231 SYE kit from a local guy who bought them for his TJ but then got relocated to a wheeler unfriendly city. I'll install the SYE first and then wait to do the control arms at the same time I replace my springs. I've decided to run PAC 4" springs to give it better handling and level it out a bit. My raked suspension is a bit too much.
Replaced the thermostat and cleaned the radiator yesterday. Easy but very messy job. The spout you get from those flush kits is terrible and the crappy water/coolant mixture just ended up going everywhere. Plus, the drain plug on these things is stupidly designed. Not only is the plug pretty much impossible to turn by hand, when the fluid gets low, it just dribbles and gets on the body and skid plate.
Whatever, on to the picks.
Drained the coolant, removed the housing and found, what I firmly believe to be, the original thermostat. It has an old-school Chrysler logo on it.
The gasket was TOAST too - ended up having to sand the remains away.
I knew I had bought a thermostat a while ago but wasn't sure if I was going to find it at the house, so I just bought another one (Murray brand). Sure enough, I found the thermostat I already bought - a Stant.
^^^OEM, Stant, Murray
Both are 195 stats but the Stant appeared to be different in height and design. It looked to be higher quality too so I went with it.
I also wanted to flush the radiator real quick (full flush didn't seem necessary) so I put the tee fitting on but couldn't get the garden hose to reach where I was parked. I didn't want to the start the truck and couldn't push it due to an incline and my personal limitations. So.... Civic to the rescue!
Flushed it until the water in the radiator went clear, recharged the K&N, and now she's running at a proper temp - about 195-200. Much better.
My aux fan still isn't coming on though. I switched relays and fuses and nothing. I'm going to test it to see if the motor works and if it does, I want to run a switch so I can keep temps cool while wheeling or in traffic.
Welp, finally go around to installing the header I bought off craigslist a while ago. It's a Gibson GS400S-C. I never would have bought this but the guy dropped the price down to $200 so it was a score! This was the second time I removed the Jeep's exhaust manifold to replace it with a cooler one - first time was an APN that didn't fit and I had no tools at the time to fix the fitment issue so I just installed the old one again. That event took me nearly three days to complete (I replaced the injectors and had to replace the manifold studs at the same time) but this time around, the removal and install went like butter! Not sure what the difference was. Oh well, on to the pics.
Intake removed. Took me right around 2 hours. Could have been faster but I was working off memory.
My intake ports were slighted coated with sticky black residue. I'm not sure what's the cause other than crappy gas. I used some degreaser and shop towels to get the majority of it off but I didn't completely clean it because, well, the quality of gas isn't going to change.
The old manifold didn't leak but it was starting to develop a crack. Old vs New:
Pretty
Intake fit like a clove. Plugged everything back together and took her for a test run. I have a 2.25" Flowmaster muffler but it's still so quiet. Idle burbles more and it does sound a bit different under load but the big difference is the smoothness of the power delivery and butt dyno results. She hauls now! I would like to ditch this muffler and step up to a 2.5" as there's no reason this rig needs to be quiet.
Other updates - I tested my e-fan by putting 12 volts to it. The motor did nothing so it's off to the junkyard. Also got my cut n' fold bumper on. It's AWESOME! My fabricator really goes out of his way to accommodate requests. Went to the dragon the day after my GF left for a month of rotation (med student) to have a "think"...
I'm sure some of you know about BleepinJeep or at least their videos but the main the guy, Matt, lives in East TN. Well yesterday, I met him and picked up the bumper and winch from his old crawler. It's stubby but well built and looks sweet plus, it'll be an honor to rock a piece of that legendary rig. I really couldn't beat the price too!
Dang bruh I love Matt's videos! thats so cool that you got a peice of his crawler!
Update time. Biggest thing was I finally did the Advanced Adapters SYE swap that's been sitting in my room for months. Decided to do it with the case in the truck - honestly it just seemed easier. The only issue I had was the snap rings. Either I need more practice with these or they're just that awful to work with but every time I went to take one off, it blew my install time. Oh well.
I got that all buttoned up: here's the only picture I have during the install just to prove I did it instead of a shop haha:
The V8 ZJ front shaft I picked up fit but just barely - there was about a quarter inch of slip left so I had it lengthened and balanced at a local shop for $134. Fit like a glove and drove off into the distance with such smoothness. My clunks, bangs and even bad locker behavior pretty much went away. Plus, I can let her eat in first gear and there's NO vibrations - just 4.0 awesomeness.
After that install, I went to my club's first "crawl". We went to Outdoors in the Smokies for a weekend of camping and wheeling. Easily the best weekend I've had in a long long time.
It rained hard the entire time which put everyone's winches to good use. I had to help pull a FJ out of a ditch and a WK with no factory low range off a cliff edge (he followed me down a nasty trail and didn't make it). The Mile Maker winch ala BleepinJeep may be old, but it works.
Next up is a new roller fair lead (mine got damaged in winch fest 2015) and some 4" PAC springs to go with the super flex control arms that have been in my room for months.
07-23-2015, 06:48 AM
