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Thursday decided to go poking around one of the boneyards I go to.
Have a list of stuff I told people here on the forum I would keep an eye out for.
Picked up a couple things for them.
Found a 2WD '01 with a hitch on it. Looked like a Mopar one. Asked what they wanted for it and they said $40.
Ran the VIN when I got home and it did come with the towing package.
So went and got it today.
The Mopar ones I usually see say Mopar on a label. But they also have that little box for the connector from the trailer. I notice aftermarket ones don't usually.
The relay and whatnot for the harness is in that little sponge box. It was wired and the wires were run very well making me think it is factory.
Except for one thing.
See those 2 little blue pieces on either side?
Those are those wire splicing things. Driver's side was spliced into a wire in the tail light harness. Which I decided to grab.
Passenger side one was spliced into a main harness just before it connects to that tail light harness. Tail light harness was gone on that side other wise would have grabbed that too.
Seems like a cheesy way to do something from the factory.
Then there is this that says Mopar.
Specs.
Does anybody think the dealer installed these when ordered by the customer?
It would explain that one cheesy wire.
So thinking I did OK. The hitch appears to be in pretty good shape. Could use a bit of a refresh.
Don't know if I am going to use it or not. Not sure if it will play nice with my factory gas tank skid and my two factory rear tow hooks.
But figured for $40 I should grab it.
Today was spent swapping out 26 year old battery cables from KSuspensions. Thinking it was going to be a easy day. Ha Ha But all the cables are done except for the firewall to block cable. That will be done when I change the valve cover gasket. Will still need to fab up a mount for 150 amp fuse. But for the time being it's mounted to the top of the PDC.
Mean the little eyelet? LOL.
That is power to the relay for my fog lights.
I put aftermarket factory fogs in my '00 that did not come with them.
They look factory in the passenger compartment cause I used a factory switch.
Look factory up front but are wired like aftermarket ones would be.
I reattached that to the battery but my plans are an aux fuse box and a central location for most of my relays.
Was going to put the headlight harness upgrade relays there to, wherever there might end up being, but now
thinking I am going to leave those 2 alone.
Cause I have lights for that brush guard and am toying with the idea of some lights in the back.
Thursday decided to go poking around one of the boneyards I go to.
Have a list of stuff I told people here on the forum I would keep an eye out for.
Picked up a couple things for them.
Found a 2WD '01 with a hitch on it. Looked like a Mopar one. Asked what they wanted for it and they said $40.
Ran the VIN when I got home and it did come with the towing package.
So went and got it today.
The Mopar ones I usually see say Mopar on a label. But they also have that little box for the connector from the trailer. I notice aftermarket ones don't usually.
The relay and whatnot for the harness is in that little sponge box. It was wired and the wires were run very well making me think it is factory.
Except for one thing.
See those 2 little blue pieces on either side?
Those are those wire splicing things. Driver's side was spliced into a wire in the tail light harness. Which I decided to grab.
Passenger side one was spliced into a main harness just before it connects to that tail light harness. Tail light harness was gone on that side other wise would have grabbed that too.
Seems like a cheesy way to do something from the factory.
Then there is this that says Mopar.
Specs.
Does anybody think the dealer installed these when ordered by the customer?
It would explain that one cheesy wire.
So thinking I did OK. The hitch appears to be in pretty good shape. Could use a bit of a refresh.
Don't know if I am going to use it or not. Not sure if it will play nice with my factory gas tank skid and my two factory rear tow hooks.
But figured for $40 I should grab it.
Mine didn't come with the tow package, and I had the dealer install it. I think everything just went up the driver's side back corner and plugged in there. No spliced wires involved. I'd guess that extra wire was a PO projects. Maybe patching failed internal wiring. The only wiring spliced to mine was a large red wire running to my brake controller. If I had kept it longer, I would have also ran a +12v line up through a relay to the battery.
Mine didn't come with the tow package, and I had the dealer install it. I think everything just went up the driver's side back corner and plugged in there. No spliced wires involved. I'd guess that extra wire was a PO projects. Maybe patching failed internal wiring. The only wiring spliced to mine was a large red wire running to my brake controller. If I had kept it longer, I would have also ran a +12v line up through a relay to the battery.
Poking around I found a schematic of sorts for the harness in my '01 FSM.
No indication of that one wire.
So I agree that it was probably Mickey Moused to fix some issue.
Over the weekend I ordered some Skorpion roller rockers. I spent some time watching some youtube vids on installing them, and it doesn't look too difficult. I'll be replacing the pushrods as well. Thinking I may need an engine hoist after all if I ever get serious and want to replace the lifters. That head looks heavy as all get out.
Hoping it's not quite as hot this weekend for this project. Actually still have the Brown Dog MM, the window regulator and this, so now I need to budget my time accordingly.
I would still do this a lot faster and a hell of a lot more eagerly than going to work
Took a crack at some balljoints. The upper fought for about an hour but got it out. Lots of cranking and hammering. Gave up on the lower after 10 minutes of getting nowhere with it. So i left it sit with tension on, hoping that will help. Even if its only a mm or two, ill take it. Its something.
Took a crack at some balljoints. The upper fought for about an hour but got it out. Lots of cranking and hammering. Gave up on the lower after 10 minutes of getting nowhere with it. So i left it sit with tension on, hoping that will help. Even if its only a mm or two, ill take it. Its something.
This was one of my most frustrating repairs on my XJ. All I can say is, use leverage wherever possible and make sure your press is oriented correctly when extracting. I know I spent hours in frustration with that alone.
In the end I went to the hardware store and bought a 3 foot section of gas pipe to put on my beefiest ratchet and just went to town.
Took a crack at some balljoints. The upper fought for about an hour but got it out. Lots of cranking and hammering. Gave up on the lower after 10 minutes of getting nowhere with it. So i left it sit with tension on, hoping that will help. Even if its only a mm or two, ill take it. Its something.
Originally Posted by Remo73
This was one of my most frustrating repairs on my XJ. All I can say is, use leverage wherever possible and make sure your press is oriented correctly when extracting. I know I spent hours in frustration with that alone.
In the end I went to the hardware store and bought a 3 foot section of gas pipe to put on my beefiest ratchet and just went to town.
Got it out! I wont use a ratchet for this unless it was already broke loose, and the jackhandle i use on the breaker bar wouldnt fit the wrench. I knew my uncle had a breaker bar, but i couldnt find it, so i waited for him to get off work. It was in his truck. Breaker bar, jack handle, a couple hits with hammer, and it was out.
08-07-2020, 12:10 PM
