Arctic Offroad Forums

Latest mods for my XJ:
Steel Libby (KJ) 16x7 wheels with Cooper CTD studded tires LT235/85R16 (new winter setup...works great!)

Darren? can it be?
How've ya been?

Atlas II Installed, Tummy Tucker Installed, Rear Driveshaft installed, Front axle out having R&P Installed. Should be on the road by this Weekend, which will give me a week to find and Fix any Issues before 33 mile.

Gears, Lockers and AGR steering installed. All I need to do now is plumb the ARB's and install a new power steering reservoir. Then Rackup 500 miles in a week and a few days.

Metal radiator and Optima yellow top installed :yes:

I guess it's not an upate if my rig status is unchanged since my last post in this thread on July 24th:eek:

Truck is still in the driveway, where it's been parked since May of 06'

-Front driveshaft needs repaired
-Leaking front axle seal
-hole in one of the downtubes of the headers on the passenger side
-figure out way my winch quit working also

Maybe I'll get to this by May

Also in my defense I was deployed to Iraq for 7 months last year, and working on it outside just wasn't in the cards for me this winter.

For a while my front hubs wouldn't engage. Then on the two Beaver Creek runs I did, they worked fine. The next day, only one engaged. SO I need to go through my hubs, clean and re-grease. I'm fairly certain this is a water/moisture/freezing problem. But it needs fixed before next weekend!

sevenslats Wrote:On the highway, in 2wd, when I change lanes, it's outta control. I need to have a firm, two-hand grip on the wheel or I'm in the ditch. It's manageable on the straightaways, and even around curves.
4wd is a whole other animal.
I wonder what kind of difference a rear locker (or spool) will make.

Spool is in. Made a great difference on the highway. No more wandering, no more automatic lane changes.
Parking lots are more fun, too.
I feel invincable with 2 lockers.:eek:
Oh, and vibes and wobbles are gone, now that I replaced a rear wheel bearing.
Next step, wheel spacers.

sevenslats Wrote:Next step, wheel spacers.

Should be taken care of soon.


As for me well the axle swap has begun.

I really need to get someone to help me adjust the carb and check the timing on the toyota sometime though as that is now the DD. And I need to check and adjust the rocker arms again.

Getting the wheel spacers this weekend. Then I think I'll be done with spending money on the TJ for a while.
I'm loving the spool. I can lift a tire on command. Like 4" or so. My coworkers are scared.
There's a lot of twist in my suspension with this thing, though. Greatly increased body roll in turns. If there's a little patch of loose traction, things get jerky and bouncy. I'm less and less worried about breaking axleshafts onroad, but am closely watching the rear springs for sag. I'm pretty certain it's gonna happen. But I have some give-and-take room in there anyway.
I'm considering selling the TJ after this summer. More to come on that, I suppose.
The ZJ is still there and still reliable, although it's overdue a tranny filter change.

Kev decided he didn't like the shape of my FSJ hood.

a thorough inspection of the front end tells me that the jeep is going to have to be shipped, not towed. Also it tells me I will be doing a front axle swap sooner rather than later.

I cleaned all the trash out of the XJ.
That's about it. waiting on wheel adpaters to put the D44 under it. then gears are next, but with no cash to spend it looks like either a long time for this or I'm going to have to remember how to do gears real quick and get some more tools that I'll need.

My XJ is out of commission for a couple weeks, not because of any problems. Going to give it a good look over and see if there is anythng that needs to be replaced before I start going on the trails more often. Also I have a lot of body work to get done to get rid of the midwest cancer problem it has.

Well, I put the old Waggy in low range for the first time today. I have to shift it from underneath with a 9/16" wrench as there is no shift linkage as of yet. Well, it worked good then, but after we left American Tire to go and play on WW, I felt a few slips in the transmission (or so I thought) and being that I have a slight transmission leak, figured I just needed to top off. I was low, so filled it up and it didn't get any better. It seemed to come and go, and I realized it was fine before I shifted it to AWD mode, but worked like crap afterward.

It literally came to a hault on the Rich just past Laurence. It seemed as if the tranny was in neutral, but when I put it in park, you could hear the park prawl scream. I was only able to get low range to engage after the issue, and it worked fine. After I got across the channel, I managed to get it to move in AWD again. It still was slipping occasionally, but I think that the viscous coupler is shot. Go figure.

I think AMCMike will be getting a call soon and a NP208 will get installed to alleviate this issue and to ensure I give Tony a vehicle that works.

I just hope this thing holds up until I get the time to swap the T-case and make a driveshaft which will have to wait till the 91 is done.

ARGH!!!

While installing my rear wheel spacers today, I noticed my track abr bracket wasn't attached to my axle anymore.
I fixed that for now, and installed the wheel spacers.
Haven't taken a test drive yet.

No wonder your rear axle had so much maneuverability. I bet the spool breaks the mount again though.

I'll pull a Nate and weld that bracket to the axle bracket.

I will have a spare trackbar relocation bracket in the near future if you still need one..

Don't do it.

Adjustable rear track bars are worth the money. The relocation bracket is a worthless piece of metal. I want to yell at manufacturer's that send those darn things out with their lifts instead of an adjustable track bar.

Putting the doors back on...need to find a good battery for my drill so I can install the channel, bought some weatherstripping adhesive to stick the stripping on the channel to the windshield frame, power steering fluid to cure the whine, then I need to break out the dremel to cut the York threads off, tap the inside, and install the compressor and my tank.

Going monday to get some Grade 8 bolts for the body lift...maybe find a drill battery and a drill bit at Sears to drill the hockey pucks. I need a piece of 2x4 so I can hilift the body off of the frame.

I still need to get that 3 gallon from flatblackXJ to round out the package.

Still want some LED turn signals, maybe some brake lights as well so I can flatfender.

Gotta get ready for summer!

Waiting on $#%&ing parts. They'd better be in the mail box tomorrow.

Found out that I put the parking brake together and it's not going to fit. So now I have to drain my t-case in the parking lot to get the brake off of it, tear apart the one I rebuilt, and hope I can salvage the new parts to put into it.

Also haven't had the time to assemble the rest of the 'case, I've been tripping over it in my room for a month now.

Looking highly likely that the most I'll get done before Juneau is assembling the transmission and transfer case into one unit and setting them aside to install when I get back

Advent Wrote:Looking highly likely that the most I'll get done before Juneau is assembling the transmission and transfer case into one unit and setting them aside to install when I get back

one thing at a time - and eventually...

Kyle, due to finances, time, and having a family my rig was down for 7 years once! Patience grasshopper. Glad to see you'r making some progress, even if it is 1 step forward, 3 steps back.

I don't feel so bad about having mine on jackstands for six months... never mind, yeah I do... I miss my pile...

Got the rear trussed up and ready to go

Got the threads cut off of the York, need to go out and get some drill bits, find a 1/2" NPT (it will work Kelly, I think. There's alot of meat to drill through. The hole to tap is just under 3/4") and a couple of fittings from Alaska rubber.

After I get it all assembled, I'll lay out the parts, find out where to put the manifold (already have a good idea), cut the tubing and test it out. I'll probably have this thing installed by the end of the week.

reworked the fenders on my trailer, stiffened the sides, will get some new lights, and putting on 33s.