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Project Unicorn - a light duty trail rig

TRCM said:
Agree....but the ONLY thing changed was the shocks.......old shocks rode well but were old, new shocks ride bad, and were new

I fail to see how relo brackets can change the harshness in the front...change in back is kinda obvious
Click to expand...

Leaf relocation brackets arent going to change the way the front rides. Control arm angle and coil spring rates are probably most going to affect ride quality.

I went from RE 3.5" (240 lb/in) coils to 5.5" (184 lb/in) coils and the difference was incredible.
 
cal said:
Because its a feature that I like. Every other modern car I have owned has had it, and I've gotten used to it.
Click to expand...

Even my 93 ZJ has it... drives me nuts when i drive a car without it, especially something modern.
 
TRCM said:
Agree....but the ONLY thing changed was the shocks.......old shocks rode well but were old, new shocks ride bad, and were new

I fail to see how relo brackets can change the harshness in the front...change in back is kinda obvious
Click to expand...

Are you positive your shocks are specifically for your jeep? Jut because they fit doesn't mean they have the correct valving.

When i had a very similar setup to yours, it rode like a friggin Cadillac. In both my XJ and ZJ.
 
cal said:
I go back about 8 posts to mentioning needing the right shock and spring for your car.
Click to expand...

I agree with this.

Every rig is going to want/need a different shock valving.

I never liked how the 5100s rode on my rig.

7100s with a custom tune rode well.
fox 2.0s with more tuning are even better.

I put 5100s on my Dad's stocker, It rides better than any other stocker I've been in.
 
OME springs with .75" puck in the front. I've had 2 set of Bilsteins in the front both ride the same. Rear is better. No idea on valving but talked to Shane on both sets and said they'd work well on the XJ,
 
I still have Dan's old Bilstein 5100's on my XJ, running 4" tomken coils.
Rides nice, a bit on the soft side with no front sway bar but nice nonetheless.
I will eventually be running some Bil 7100's but for now they work good.
IIRC, 5100 for XJ are 255/70?


Sent from my SM-N910T using Tapatalk
 
Well hell if this is turning into a suspension/shock discussion.... I'm at 3.5" lift and stock JKU shocks. Rides a bit stiff but it's a street Jeep. Which is why I'm following this thread. Once I dial in my ride height and fully equipped weight, I'll worry about correct stroke and damped shocks. Until then its nothing but glossy fliers and salesman pitches. Nothing off a shelf is going to be perfect for all use cases.
 
Trcm: check the serial number or something related to that. It might be possible you got a set of swapped shocks that were meant for something else?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
cal said:
OK. It's time for automatic headlights.

I'm thinking this kit:

http://a.co/5iYkMHT

Anyone have any experiance on this front?
Click to expand...

That's exactly what I put on every vehicle I drive regularly . I've been using them since the 90s.
 
Gator Bait said:
Thanks for the feed back. The automated lights on with windshield wipers is a feature I'm interested in.
Click to expand...

Make sure the photocell comes with it- sometimes they fall out of the box in the warehouse, or something. Without it, the auto lights on at dusk doesn't work. It's something I've only run into once though.
 
Gator Bait said:
Thanks for the feed back. The automated lights on with windshield wipers is a feature I'm interested in.
Click to expand...

make sure you read the instructions. default installation has daytime running lights, you have to open the device and clip a wire to disable it.
 
cal said:
make sure you read the instructions. default installation has daytime running lights, you have to open the device and clip a wire to disable it.
Click to expand...

Good catch, I'd forgotten that.

An added feature is to run a pair of wires from that to a switch on the dash allowing you to selectively have DRLs.

Seems a bit pedantic, but it can be useful, especially if you like the utility of DRLs but occasionally park in place with the engine running and don't want to attract attention.
 
I need better photo hosting, imgur isn't going to cut it.


So my water pump started making noise. I could have just swapped it out, but decided it would be a good time to really get into the car, and lets be frank - my superduty has WAY BETTER AC, and its like 110 out right now. So a project spawned.

First some teardown.

evNgEYh.jpg


Get the pulley's and water pump out of the way and.. LOOK AT THIS MESS

I knew I had an oil drip but daaamn.

fVCgDWR.jpg


Pulled the radiator out and missing a lower grommet. If you look back up to the first picture one of the uppers is broken too.

EdBG0ez.jpg


Keep tearing down. The timing cover came off with no leverage tools - everything was finger tight.

When I pop'd it off, parts fell out..

qdRsJ70.jpg


Other than the dirt that i dropped, the timing chain looks pretty good though.

EMlJdnF.jpg
 
So, start soaking the timing cover in degreaser and make a trip up to Russ. Amazon had the gaskets and seals I needed for same day delivery, but the timing chain damper and harmonic balancer would take longer, and Russ had them in stock.

wc0HfwT.jpg


Lots of scrubbing. Its not perfect, but its hotter out than this is dirty...

QNATdf9.jpg


Pound a new front seal in and greased for installation.

1p2TfpZ.jpg


New Damper courtesy of Russ.

s8MIFWO.jpg


Very simple install.

AsOqVMA.jpg


Back in the car. GaskeCinch on the front side of the gasket and a light coat of grey rtv on the backside, since its difficult to get the block totally perfect with everything in the way.

ZmLR2LJ.jpg


Blue loctite and proper torque everywhere.

New harmonic balancer, also from Russ.

8jtWj6w.jpg

VWOQNqP.jpg


Walked into the garage and found a bolt and random ass chunk of metal that made a perfect installation tool. #lucky

EtokfJ1.jpg

a9x0CI1.jpg


All installed and torqued.

LNEniZH.jpg




That's as far as I got before the heat got to me. Probably won't touch it again until next weekend, its way way too hot out.

LKTm5da.jpg
 
That metal piece for the balancer install looks like a metal sleeve from RE lower control arm bushings. I have a few laying around that I find to be quite useful
 
cal said:
Walked into the garage and found a bolt and random ass chunk of metal that made a perfect installation tool.
Click to expand...

I've found my garage is very good at that....and people wonder why I keep things they call junk.......................when I put in the axle side bushings for my front axle., I found some washers/bolt & stuff that worked perfectly for installing them.....and that 'tool' is now in the toolbox for future use !!!


As to keeping junk....well, I did do a spring cleaning of the garage, and the junk man hauled off almost 5,000 lbs of scrap, probably 90% of it metal (3 engines, spare transmissions, old cast iron t-cases, rims., axles, etc).

He & his son were glad to help me out that day.....altho their old ford didn't like it....they always loaded it till the tires looked 1/2 flat.
 
cal said:
That's as far as I got before the heat got to me. Probably won't touch it again until next weekend, its way way too hot out.

LKTm5da.jpg
Click to expand...

Posted on my woodworking forum, by a guy in Yucaipa:

I'm not saying it's hot, but two hobbits just threw a ring into my yard.
Click to expand...
 
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