| Author | Message | ||
     Wolfridgerider |
POW POW!! Just ordered me a new fancy "SWAY" bar. Wish I had it for this weekend!  | ||
| Etennuly |
Keep us posted on your Jeep run this weekend Mark. I hope it is as much fun as it seemed like it would be, and the rain holds back. I found an engineering change that is needed on my front spring set up. Good thing I have been testing in steps  . The front spring eye is not forward enough. With the shackles in the rear, axle travel goes in that direction. The problem came in when the arch in the springs laid down a bit, making them longer than they were when installed. Of course this was never an issue with smaller tires. This changes a lot of stuff. Locations for the steering box, shock mounts, brake hoses, drive shaft length. Or go to a shorter stiffer spring. Or a 3" body lift. Or go to smaller tires(not gonna happen), This could take a few beers to make a decision. I am glad to have my twisty dirt mound course out back. I put it up on an eight foot high mound that had an immediate falling away dip that nearly had me rolling it on it's side when the left front tire bit into the fender. I wish I had pictures of the Jeep in that position, but I could not get out at that moment. Pictures to follow.....camera batteries are played out. | ||
| Glitch |
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| Etennuly |
YEAH! THAT'S WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT!  | ||
| Etennuly |
I hate it when the jeep is damaging itself. Trees and rocks are allowed to.  The rear wheel wells are not big enough either. Probably need a 2" body lift.  Front tire bending fender in twist. Note rear tire angle. It is in the hole that when the front tire was in it, nearly had me roll it over in the other day  This thing is so awesome at creepy crawling with these big tires!  | ||
| Wolfridgerider |
Got in a little deep this past weekend.... but ye ol' winch saved the day  | ||
| Wolfridgerider |
The Blueberry 12.... (AKA = FAIL)    Its all still there... and not bent. WOOT!  | ||
| Etennuly |
Damn! Rocks are tough! Good Job! Man I wish I had been there.....next time for sure! | ||
| 86129squids |
Looks like fun, Mark! With terrain like that, do you ever see trials bike riders out there? That's something I'd someday like to try... | ||
| Xl1200r |
Been giving serious thought to replacing my current ride (2002 Camaro SS) with a Jeep. At first I really wanted a Wrangler, but being the drummer in my band AND owning a PA, storage space is a bit short. I dig the regular Cherokees, but even the newest ones looks quite dated, and not in a classic way the Wrangler does. SOOOO, I'm leaning towards a WJ (1999-2004 Grand Cherokee), specifically a 2002-2004 Limited model with the 4.7 HO V8. From what I'm seeing, these still have solid axles and respond well to mods. I probably wouldn't do much serious off-roading with it, but I love the look...  | ||
| Wolfridgerider |
I am fired up... can't wait to get to do what is now on my plate. Throw out bearing has toasted itself. WHY the the transmission shop didn't replace it is BEYOND me. Heavy lifting while on my back rolling around on the garage floor.... woot! yeah.. sweet.. NOT!!  | ||
| Thumper74 |
Its like 80 pounds dry... man up | ||
| Wolfridgerider |
Going over the steps in my head.... support tranny remove skid remove drive shafts remove transfer case remove tranny replace bearing put it all back together sounds like a 30 min job... correct me if I'm wrong  | ||
| Etennuly |
 Jeep!Jeep!  | ||
| Wolfridgerider |
I made it to remove tranny.... then found the E-Torx bolts on top of the bell housing.... now I have to buy tools.... | ||
| Treefrog |
I usually pull them down with the transfer still attached to the tranny and the skid plate still under them too. Took a tranny/transfer with skid plate still attached down one time using a floor jack and a boot lace tied off on it to keep it balanced. The less you have to disassemble, the better IMO. | ||
| Etennuly |
The less you have to disassemble, the better IMO I could have not said it better myself. If it isn't broken or suspected of being broken, leave it together if possible. Best case you are not waisting time and causing problems like broken bolts, leaks, or misalignment of bearing surfaces that have been run in together. One thing I have found that I am quite happy with are these heavy half ton axles in my Jeep. I have really been crankin' on them to test for a break point. I might actually scare myself  before I break them. I want to have it fairly well tested before I load it up to take it to an event. | ||
| Wolfridgerider |
well that was a bitch!! One of my Jeep'n, rid'n, drink'n buds stopped by and gave me a hand. He saved me a HUGE amount of time. We finished pulling the transmission. Five minutes later the throw out bearing was in and we started bolting it all back together. Fired it up and it was still making more noise than it should. Raised the hood and low and behold... the idler pulley was froze. Its 9PM. Run inside and get on the puter, Advanced auto parts has on in stock. Jump in the car and make it with time to spare. First idler, wrong size. 2Nd idler, WRONG SIZE... I'm starting to get a little peeved... the the other counter jockey just walks to the shelf and grabs the right one without looking up any part numbers.... Run home, install and test drive!! WOOT!! I getta drive it to work tomorrow! what is gonna break NEXT?!?!? | ||
| Etennuly |
 What will break next?? Anything that moves or is attached to something that moves!   | ||
| Wolfridgerider |
I don't know how to act... its very strange to drive and not hear a ton of squeaks.... growls... whines... clicks and thumps... its about to explode. I just know it!  | ||
| Thumper74 |
Speaking of broken Jeeps, I'm wrapping up my first week at a Jeep dealer tomorrow. I'm having too much fun! | ||
| Etennuly |
You selling them or fixing them? | ||
| Thumper74 |
Service | ||
| Johnnymceldoo |
Are you seeing many pentastar head problems out of the new jeeps? I've got 1k miles on my wrangler now with no issues(crossing fingers). | ||
| Boogiman1981 |
There is so much I want to do to my XJ and no fundage to do it with | ||
| Thumper74 |
At the end of week one? No issues. The only thing I've been 'warned' about are the glow plugs on the diesel Grand Cherokees. | ||
| Johnnymceldoo |
Wow I didnt know they put diesels in the gc's. Wrangler guys would go nuts to get a diesel wrangler. | ||
| Etennuly |
Is it just me, or does my Jeep make these wheels look good?  The tires on them are about half used 38.5 x 16.5 wide, they are spare tires for my son's truck. I gotta give the tires back, I don't mind because I'll be putting my new 38 x 12.5's on the aluminum wheels. | ||
| Nukeblue |
JOHNNY, i've done five or six pentastar heads now. always the left head. burned valve issue, machine problem with the guides if i had to guess. shows up at about 20k-30k miles. chrysler says they fixed the problem.... | ||
| Dwardo |
Here's another dumb Jeep question. I want to buy replacement fender flares for a 2002 Wrangler TJ. The OEM flares are very expensive. A friend who works for an auto dealer says they use replacement parts from a company called "Keystone" and those are very expensive too. What brand of replacement flares (stock size for stock tires) will fit and look just like OEM and not give me a hard time with fitting them? Thanks. |
