Jeep project

[682bear]

get something onboard to drain those sinuses and see your fam doc asap!

Lots of bugs running around right now that cause sinus issues so you need to see the doc and find out what it is, asap.

I used to dread sinus infections when I was still flying. Nothing worse than a sinus squeeze at altitude. you can be on the ground and not know anything is wrong, but as soon as ambient pressure reduces….intense, searing pain!

Oh man... that sucks. My wife suffers from those... She has one of those machines that she uses for flushing to clear the ways... that helps. But if she does not get them under control quickly then the migraines follow and.... well... all goes down south from there....

Hope you recover soon.

Great to read on the progress on the Jeep.

I went to see the doctor this morning... got shot twice and an antibiotic prescription... now it's just a waiting game.

-Bear

 

[brino]

Well.... I am going to blame you for this impulse buy... Got it today. I finally have a Jeep (and a truck)!!!

Holy Crap, that is quite an "impulse buy"!

I'll have to show this to my wife so she knows I'm just a novice.... Thanks!

Brian

 

[wachuko]

Holy Crap, that is quite an "impulse buy"!

I'll have to show this to my wife so she knows I'm just a novice.... Thanks!

Brian

I had given up on the dream of owning a Jeep... I am not kidding you, the only reason we stopped by the dealer is that we were leaving a car for service (at another dealer) and figured I would take the opportunity to drive to the Jeep dealer for a test drive. I wanted my wife to test drive a Wrangler Rubicon and the Gladiator Rubicon so that she could see that these were no longer the rough driving, uncomfortable, etc, Jeeps of the past.... I did not care, I love all years of the Jeep (well, I never cared for the rectangular lights of some model years)...

She had a very bad experience when she was little. She was in a very, very old Jeep with one of her siblings. Uncle driving through the mountains (a coffee plantation) and the uncle flipped the Jeep... since then she did not care for a Wrangler...

As mentioned, through the years I have helped friends setup their rigs and that gave me several opportunities to drive them... Those times only fueled my want to own one...




So when she got in, then drove it and said "I think you should buy this." I just jumped at the opportunity...

 

[682bear]

The Jeep has a new windshield now!

Now to get started swapping the axle, suspension, and muffler/ tailpipe, and a few other odds and ends, and it will be ready to be inspected.

The next few days are going to be cold... so I think I'll clean up an area in the basement and do the rest of the work in there where it's warm... instead of freezing myself trying to work out in the shop.

-Bear

 

[wachuko]

So happy you are taking the time (and money!! ) to get it back on the road.

 

[682bear]

Ok... it's in the basement...





There is not a lot of room, and the lighting isn't great, but at least it's warm.

I did a full frame swap on the black Jeep (see post #4) in the basement, so it's doable... just not ideal.

I went ahead and dropped the belly pan and removed the front driveshaft, then bolted the pan back up. I have removed front driveshafts with the pan in place before... I discovered today that I'm not the contortionist that I used to be.

Next up... removing the bent front axle housing...

-Bear

 

[pontiac428]

How did you get the Jeep down the stairs to the basement?

Your setup with the hood up like that and the low beams overhead reminded me of a story of a friend who pulled his Jeep into his garage to install a lift kit... and couldn't get out, because his roof line was now above the garage door's height. Apparently, he needed to wait until I arrived to tell him to let the air out of his tires and to pile everyone into the Jeep like a phone booth packing contest so he could drive it out.

 

[682bear]

How did you get the Jeep down the stairs to the basement?

Your setup with the hood up like that and the low beams overhead reminded me of a story of a friend who pulled his Jeep into his garage to install a lift kit... and couldn't get out, because his roof line was now above the garage door's height. Apparently, he needed to wait until I arrived to tell him to let the air out of his tires and to pile everyone into the Jeep like a phone booth packing contest so he could drive it out.

My basement has wide steps...

...and a roll-up door to the outside...

I won't be able to lift the Jeep high enough with the hood up... I'll have to close the hood before setting it on jack stands. As far as I can remember, the only thing I will have to do under the hood is remove the front differential vent... it is mounted on the drivers side of the radiator support, so I can remove it with the hood on the prop rod.

My old black Jeep had a 4 inch lift and 33x12.50 tires... it would go under the steel beams... but not by much.

-Bear

 

[682bear]

It's been a long day...

I started removing the shocks this morning at 7am... then sway bar end links, wheels, brakes, etc...

I was worried about how difficult it would be to get the track bar loose from the frame... there isn't much room to work... but it came out pretty easy. The pitman arm put up a major fight... it refused to seperate from the steering link. I finally drove down to O'reillys and rented a puller and removed the arm from the steering gearbox.

The bent axle was out by 12:30...



I went ahead and removed the steering gearbox and swapped it for a remanufactured one... I had just put the old one in the jeep right before the accident (it was a remanufactured unit also), but it took such a hit in the accident that I felt it would be wise to go ahead and replace it while I had it apart.

Anyhow... I started putting the replacement axle back in this afternoon. I have all four control arms loosely bolted in, installed the springs, and installed the track bar.

And that's when I ran into a snag... there is always a snag, isn't there?

I was about to start installing the new pitman arm, when I noticed there were no split pins installed in the castle nuts on either end of the tie rod on the 'new' axle... and both castle nuts were loose. The passenger side nut tightened down and the joint looks to be in good condition.

The drivers side nut and stud are both stripped... so I guess I'll be shopping for tie rod parts tomorrow.

I've also found another issue... Jeep used two different front brake disks, one type has a deeper center than the other. I don't know if it is dependent on year or if one fits Jeeps with ABS and the other fits Jeeps without ABS... I'm putting an ABS axle in a non-ABS Jeep. I'll have to research that.

I'm hoping it's just a matter of swapping to the shallow disks... I'd like to keep the calipers because they were also just a couple of months old when the accident happened.

I decided that would be a good time to stop for the day...

-Bear

 

[pontiac428]

It might be ABS, but as a Jeep scavenger (I use Jeep parts on my Samurai, along with any other makes that suit the job) I know that there were differences in running gear and GVWR between hard top Wranglers and soft tops. So that's another possibility.

ABS wasn't needed in the US until 2012, even though the EU required it in 2004. The physics that lead to fatal crashes are obviously different here.