horse with no name
New member
Stan, your sig says you have jj all around. Do you have adj uppers or a mixed bag? I only say this because you could potentially cut out some stock arm bushings for cheap replacements
98 TJ Build from stock to finish and the futile pursuit of finality
- Thread starter stan98TJ
- Start date
stan98TJ
New member
OK. No updates in a while so I'm gonna bring this back up to speed.
Got my axles to Dan McPherson. He noticed my rear trac bar mount had not been set up correctly and not reinforced at all. He set out to reweld and reinforce it. The rear (upper?) control arm mounts had wallowed out holes so he repaired those as well.
Rear 8.8 has the ARB locker now and is all set as far as mounts are concerned. The front HP 30 is now sleeved but as he was setting to swap my Eaton e-locker from the old axle to the new, he discovered that carrier bearings are specific to the E-locker. Should be getting them today so, hopefully all will be done soon. On another note, he also discovered my front gears had been improperly set up as well. Luckily the gears were undamaged and I should still be able to sell them afterwards.
Got my axles to Dan McPherson. He noticed my rear trac bar mount had not been set up correctly and not reinforced at all. He set out to reweld and reinforce it. The rear (upper?) control arm mounts had wallowed out holes so he repaired those as well.
Rear 8.8 has the ARB locker now and is all set as far as mounts are concerned. The front HP 30 is now sleeved but as he was setting to swap my Eaton e-locker from the old axle to the new, he discovered that carrier bearings are specific to the E-locker. Should be getting them today so, hopefully all will be done soon. On another note, he also discovered my front gears had been improperly set up as well. Luckily the gears were undamaged and I should still be able to sell them afterwards.
stan98TJ
New member
Some other stuff came up and the project was put on hold, but the wrenching is back on as of yesterday. Got the Durango box set up and in place. Positioning the hardlines was a pain in the ass. The axles are ready to go in, just have to pick up a few parts today. Going to start getting the tummy tuck ready this afternoon.
stan98TJ
New member
Things got complicated in my garage tonight...more and more jeeps are losing axles 
Then at some point, in between a lot of beers and one too many and in the midst of an epic Mark Knopfler/Dire Straits playlist, my Jeep got a tummy tuck...
Muffler has good clearance, won't be an issue and shouldn't rattle on the skid.
I really lucked out with the clearance. I had expected to cut the exhaust and have to weld in some sort of "s" bend, or move the muffler back a few inches. In the end, it all cleared just fine and all I'll have to do is modify the rear hanger.
Then at some point, in between a lot of beers and one too many and in the midst of an epic Mark Knopfler/Dire Straits playlist, my Jeep got a tummy tuck...
Muffler has good clearance, won't be an issue and shouldn't rattle on the skid.
I really lucked out with the clearance. I had expected to cut the exhaust and have to weld in some sort of "s" bend, or move the muffler back a few inches. In the end, it all cleared just fine and all I'll have to do is modify the rear hanger.
bigdaddymack51
New member
The things we feel we must do instead of wheelin what ya brung. In 10 yrs. there hasnt been one of them where I was satisfied. Whens it gonna stop ? FjR68
stan98TJ
New member
Snags snags snags. Was getting the front axle ready for the RCV shafts. Had a hell of a time getting the boots to clear the knuckle. They provide a gauge tool, but even after grinding down as they prescribe, the bolts still come in contact with the boot. Spent a long time last night with James and Sean trying to get it to clear. They call for you grind down the walls of the bolt holes 1/16" in a 1/2" segment, but we found that the bolts still sat too high and therefor had to grind the top of the holes as well. I gave RCV a call and apparently they didn't send me all the hardware I needed, so they are air-shipping it to me tomorrow. Good service, I admit...but the process still sucks. Luckily I have a pair of extra knuckles I can use if I screw up. I'll post up pics later.
stan98TJ
New member
Took a trip to Bridgeport to Brian (RedtJ)'s shop and had him machine out my other knuckles. Sandblasted them and then painted the knuckles up, they clear the RCV gauge perfectly. Spent last night making a list of everything I need to get and spent today gathering the parts. So far as I can tell, should be good to get everything installed.
stan98TJ
New member
So, a few steps forward and some steps back. Got the front axle in minus the steering as we still need to do ball joints. The ball joints have to be done because we ruined the ones Dom had graciously left me behind when we took the knuckles off. Can't do the joints until we raise the front axle up a bit after we get the rear axle in. Rear axle got mocked up tonight, we went to bolt in the rear upper arms and turns out the bolts I got were too short.
A little more on that: While gearing my axles, Dan found that my rear trac bar mount was poorly set up and a failure waiting to happen. He bulked it up and also fixed my wallowed out bolt holes. I had purchased bolts that were a hair shorter than the stock ones (had to purchase new ones as the stock ones had to be cut off) and neglected to recall that the holes were going to require longer bolts given the repairs to the wallowed out holes. I'll have to take a trip out to the hardware store tomorrow for longer bolts.
I had recently cried victory on the tummy tuck for requiring a simple exhaust hanger modification. I cried victory too soon. The JKS adjustable rear trac bar now comes into contact with the exhaust pipe. We had to cut it off a few inches from the back of the muffler and I'll have to take it to an exhaust shop to get a new pipe routed.
Began the LOD bumper install the other day and found that the previous owner had snapped the lower underside driver side bolt. Drilling out the bolt was doing a number on the bits we were using. I borrowed my father-in-law's drill and hardened bits to continue to drill the bolt out.
Remaining tasks: Find new rear upper control arm bolts. Finish bolting in rear axle. Ball joints. Steering. New nutsert for rear driver side transfer case skid bolt (to be ordered by Jeep dealer tomorrow). Adjust rear pinion angle for the tummy tuck. ARB compressor install and run air line to rear locker. Alignment. Finish bumper install.
A little more on that: While gearing my axles, Dan found that my rear trac bar mount was poorly set up and a failure waiting to happen. He bulked it up and also fixed my wallowed out bolt holes. I had purchased bolts that were a hair shorter than the stock ones (had to purchase new ones as the stock ones had to be cut off) and neglected to recall that the holes were going to require longer bolts given the repairs to the wallowed out holes. I'll have to take a trip out to the hardware store tomorrow for longer bolts.
I had recently cried victory on the tummy tuck for requiring a simple exhaust hanger modification. I cried victory too soon. The JKS adjustable rear trac bar now comes into contact with the exhaust pipe. We had to cut it off a few inches from the back of the muffler and I'll have to take it to an exhaust shop to get a new pipe routed.
Began the LOD bumper install the other day and found that the previous owner had snapped the lower underside driver side bolt. Drilling out the bolt was doing a number on the bits we were using. I borrowed my father-in-law's drill and hardened bits to continue to drill the bolt out.
Remaining tasks: Find new rear upper control arm bolts. Finish bolting in rear axle. Ball joints. Steering. New nutsert for rear driver side transfer case skid bolt (to be ordered by Jeep dealer tomorrow). Adjust rear pinion angle for the tummy tuck. ARB compressor install and run air line to rear locker. Alignment. Finish bumper install.
oke:
