98xj 5.3 swap (the poverty method).

[blistovmhz]

Well, did have the inlet and outlet correct, so just threw in the little stacked plate cooler I picked up. It's definitely radiating. Will see how it goes tomorrow.

Also tracked down and fixed one of my electrical gremlins. Bank 1 coilpack connector had several bad pins and bad wires. Replaced them all. Seems to be solid now. Sure will be less embarrassing to pull up to my buddies shop next time, and NOT start backfiring.
"Hey guys! Look at my 5.3 - BANG!". Every time, without fail.

 

[blistovmhz]

So FINALLY got out wheeling (first real off-road test since 5.3).
Got into the trail in 2H, decided to take a sketchy looking trail i've never been on. Threw in 4H half way into the trail. Slid off a slope and got myself wedged between a big stump (about 4" taller than my axle and about 3.5' wide) and a 2 foot drop off on the rear. Root wedged my steering right into the diff cover so couldn't turn at all. As it was angled both down and drivers, I couldn't get a high lift under anything and couldn't fit a hydraulic jack under the driver side. Had my buddy try to pull me back up over the drop off. This just made things worse and put me around 45 degrees on my side. Stupid thing is that I have a winch, but it's on the front where it almost never gets used. My buddy behind me in the k1500 has a winch, at home... And my other buddy in the other XJ has a winch but couldn't get around the k1500, otherwise we'd have just had him snatchblock me from a big stump 30 degrees behind and passenger side.

Look! I retarded!

I accidentally the whole thing.
https://plus.google.com/u/0/107332604694614599140/posts/JPjeLStLtRx?pid=6142490998697235282&oid=107332604694614599140

Then of course, XJ buddy backs up and goes around the obstacle and k1500 gets stuck because his front locker broke (and his 37" shoes are bald). Embarrassingly, a fleet of trackers came to the rescue. Towed the k1500 back and out, then winched me sideways far enough that I could get on the gas without flipping over. Of course I was still in 4H at this point and due to being wedged, couldn't shift into 4L, so just one embarrassment after the other, and then saved by a flock of trackers.

That aside, once we finally got out, I was the only vehicle to not break down. The other XJ took a bit of a dip in a puddle and soaked his dizzy, and his Alt stopped working on the way home (no problem, just plug in the booster pack into the cig lighter). The K1500 kept getting stuck in nothing, so we abandoned it in the bush and continued on with the Jeeps.

My Jeep however. Ho-lee-fack! 4L is ridiculous. When I stomp on it and get traction, 0-70km/h in about "nope". Did the math. I spend half my time shifting, and the other half accelerating. My total shift time from 1-4 works out to (average) 0.9s. Total accel time including shift time averaged about 2.2 seconds. Mustank ain't got shit on a locked 5.3 XJ with 35's and 4.56 gears.

I did find that I still hate the auto, but thinking I may get used to it. As this was test day, I did a few things a little dumber than I normally would have. EG: doing donuts on the road, and whoops, shifts to third so I lost spin and got up on two wheels. I think that's the first time I've done that in a Jeep.
Also, when climbing down a big long hill, I had it in second and just let it coast down, but at some point around a corner with a big drop off, the slope calmed down just enough to let me drop down to 1st and all 4 wheels just locked. Almost went over the edge, but hit the gas in time to get steering back before going over.
Got myself stuck again on a climb, couldn't back out because I kept sliding into a puddle with a big drop off at the bottom, so only option was up. Tied off to the other XJ and tried winching forward, but the climb was too steep and about 2/3 of my diff was buried in clay the whole way up. Pushing clay, plus winching pulling me down.
Then some drunks on quads decided to stop by, park their quads right in front of my winch line. The smaller guy was okay, but the big guy was being a douche. While we're winching, he (big guy) decided to try to stand on my synthetic line. Told him to GTFO, so he hops on his quad and tries to drive through the line. Had to crawl out my window to climb up the hill and shoo them away. I felt bad for the other guy. His quad wouldn't start and I think he thought I was going to start a fight (I was expecting the big guy to start swinging. Was surprised when he just sized me up and decided to leave). Finally got rid of them and tied my winch a few feet up a tree to try and lift my diff outta the clay. No problemo.
The whole trip was a bit of a bust. Between getting myself thoroughly wedged for an hour, then stuck again with the drunks, then the pickup blowing a locker or shaft, then the XJ dizzy and alt dying, and then finding out the water table was too high to get to where we wanted to go... We didn't get much wheeling in. Mostly just testing the skinny pedal for me. Skinny pedal works ... pretty damned well.

No idea on fuel economy on the trail, but I know it was mostly VERY poor because about an hour in, I realized my LTFT had shot up to 25%. Big vacuum leak in the booster hose (tore almost in half). On the way home though, I averaged 20mpg doing around 70mph. Highway is where I'm mostly concerned anyway, but I'll try to get a proper trail calculation next time I'm out.

Summation, I still hate autos, but now I know what to expect from it so I think the next trip will be better and a bit less stupid.

Also, I'm pretty sure I used the wrong ring gear in the t-case. 4L makes a lot more whine than normal. Probably due to gear cut differences between the old/new style planets/ring. Will swap out the ring at the same time I do the transmission pan gasket and filter.

 

[blistovmhz]

Welp, the motor is wreaking havoc on any un-plated parts of the frame. Time for upgrades.

I noticed this crack a few days ago before wheeling on Sunday. It was small and inconsequential at that point. I'm guessing it opened up while stuck in the above post, or possibly when we were winching out of a tank trap with the diff buried in clay.

What thickness should I be plating this with? All I've got laying around is 1/4" or larger, and maybe a little bit of 3/16". 1/4" overkill?

Plan is to plate the outside and bottom edges, and burn them in right to the track bar mount and bumper mount, with a bunch of rosettes in-between. Seems to me that most of the stress in the front end is right where that crack is, and I should be okay leaving the area between the rear of the track bar mount, about 16 inches to the mid-chassis reinforcement that's already in. I plan on tying it all in fully end to end soon, but just wanna make sure my Jeepy is ready for this weekend and without wheels to go pickup more steel, I've only got enough to do the track bar mount forward to the bumper at the moment.

 

[blistovmhz]

Crap. On second glance, I notice that the rail has slid about 1/4" in (toward the engine/passenger side), based on the marks made by the stock reinforcement plate. Not really sure how, as the passenger rail looks to be in the right spot.

What'd ya'll think? Just plate it as she sits and call it mad max, or try to bend the rail back over driver side?

 

[blistovmhz]

Life is horrible when all you have is a sawsall.

And are forced to weld in the wind with gas shielding.

Also, there are cracks all below the steering box as well, but couldn't see them till I stripped the paint. One crack under each bolt. Wheeled a little too hard methinks.

 

[GordoSmasho]

My guess is that crack was trackbar and steering related. Looks like a decent fix. Though i would plate the whole front from the midstiffeners forward.

 

[blistovmhz]

My guess is that crack was trackbar and steering related. Looks like a decent fix. Though i would plate the whole front from the midstiffeners forward.

Getting there. Just finished tying in the bottom and stuck the sway bar back on.
Will finish the rest either when I find a plasma cutter, or it becomes an emergency again .

Yea, my heep's been making strange noises for a year or so now, but I could never find any cracks till last week, and then it just tore right open on Sunday.

 

[blistovmhz]

Well, could very well be my imagination, but based on the location of the crack, and the mechanics of how it likely got there I think I'm pretty confident that my steering is WAY more responsive and much stiffer. I suspect my frame rail has been flexing/twisting at that crack for over a year, and causing my steering to feel a bit squishy, as well as causing the steering to pull a bit on accel/decel.
Took out for a quick spin today and everything just felt much better. Can't wait to see what it does when I finish the plating on both the front sides as well as the little bit left on the rear (mid is plated to about 8" from the front of the fuel tank to just past the stock lower control arm location, and the rear is plated from the bumper mounts to about the front of the fuel tank).

 

[Luke95]

Wow!?! Not plated and a healthy v8

 

[blistovmhz]

Wow!?! Not plated and a healthy v8

Well, very little was left un-plated. The heep was only on a 4.5" lift 2 years ago, and was otherwise pretty near stock at that point. I also didn't want to invest the time/steel into it because it had a few issues I'd never been able to find (creaking that had to be caused by frame damage I couldn't find, etc).
The plan was to just build it up until it broke, then pick up another Jeep, plate it, start proper, and THEN transfer my stuff over.
Somehow though, I ended up getting it to the point that it SHOULD've broke but it just kept surviving. When I did the rear bumper/carrier, that's where it started to really destroy the frame, as the bumper mounts go about 20" into the rear rails, but the rails weren't yet plated, so on articulation, the bumper wasn't flexing but the uni-frame was. That tore apart the rear cross member (the one that normally caps the bumper mounts, but I'd cut holes in to mount the bumper). So I figured I'd just do a little plating in the rear to keep it from flying apart, but that ended up meaning I could wheel harder, so I dropped in some 35's and added plating to the mid-section. Just kinda kept going from there, with the intention still being that I'd just build a new Jeep when I finally broke this one.
Engine was also always a little flaky, so when I decided to do the V8 finally, I figured I'd build the V8 in this Jeep just so I knew how it's done, then transfer it all over to another Jeep, but as always, I find myself just continuing to beef up what I've got and realizing that a new build just isn't necessary any more. The amount of non-transferable work I've done to this heep has pretty much made it indestructible (at least, anything that destructs, I can beef up and make better). The more I build, the more I realize that all the things I've broke would break on a new Jeep as well, so I just continue on.

Once the plating is fully tied in, I'll probably start looking at putting together an exo, and maybe cutting the rear hatch section out and truggying it assuming I can find a way to keep it street legal, and avoid constant VI's being thrown at me.

BC is weird. They're all super anal about pretty near everything, but somehow since I've been in Vancouver (approaching 4 years) I've only been pulled over once (racing another Jeep off the line) and despite the probably 15 obvious red flags on my build, I got away with "no mud flaps, and electrical tape x's on headlights (room mate)". Back in northern Alberta, I got pulled over every other week for inspections, and at that point the Jeep was nearly stock with the 4.5" lift.

Also, I'd be surprised if my v8 was "healthy". Previous owner said it'd just been pulled running outta his buddies 1500 a few months earlier, but I'm pretty sure either his buddy sank the truck in the lake, or the motors been sitting out in the rain for at least a year or two. I did not expect it to run as well as it does. Could definitely use a tune up and a dyno tune.

 

[blistovmhz]

Ha! Next issue is intake tube. Went out wheelin' again last night. Hit a small puddle but it was enough to hydrolock the motor. No idea how. The intake filter is sitting in the stock air-box location, and the ECU is right below it. Hit a puddle a bit sideways, stalled, tried to start, blew my main battery fuse. Luckily I only had one spare fuse, so I wasn't going to install it until I knew why it'd blown. First thought was hydrolock, but the ECU wasn't even wet and the filter was only mildly damp. Spent 30 minutes trying to come up with a better idea before I finally pulled the plugs and cranked it over. Sure enough, about 3L of water came out. Whoops. Sure wish I hadn't let it sit that long. Oil change now in order today.

That said, I've never managed to hydrolock an engine. I've no idea why this one did so quickly, but whatever. It needs to be fixed.
So, how in the hell do I get a 3" intake tube into the 2.5" cowl? What's everyone else doing (other than snorkeling) to keep the water out of their 5.3's?

 

[John D]

I don't go in the water, has worked pretty well so far with keeping water out :looney:

 

[blistovmhz]

I don't go in the water, has worked pretty well so far with keeping water out :looney:

East?

 

[John D]

Fuggin autocorrect, I already fixed it.

 

[blistovmhz]

We're in the water a lot whether we like it or not (we like it). On the west coast. Bombing around in the forest, even if we're trying to avoid water, there are always crossings and deep soggy pits with which to contend.
With the 4.0L, I sealed the front input of the factory air box and plumbed a 3" hose back into the cowl. Worked like a charm. Now of course, I've gotta get a 4" tube somewhere dry and there's just not enough room at the cowl to do a 4" diameter hole. I was thinking I might be able to oval it out and build some custom adapter, but nothing simple comes to mind. I think this is why guys run the intakes backwards . Just go straight through the firewall.
But, too much work. I've got some shields that came with the intake tube kit that I may try to burn into the driver side (factory air box location) and stick the filter in there. At least if it's sealed (mostly) from the bottom, I'm relatively safe until the water level gets over the hood, which I usually avoid. Long term though, I'll probably have to get my air from the cowl.
There must be someone out there with a 5.3 Jeep who's solved this...

 

[nosigma]

Loved your post on the first time out. Great writing. Every absurd event, crazy stuck, stupid break, embarrassing save and drunk passerby. Epic, no on second thought it rises to the level of being Homeric. A true Odyssey. A day to remember, a day to be proud of and a day never to forget.

John

 

[blistovmhz]

Loved your post on the first time out. Great writing. Every absurd event, crazy stuck, stupid break, embarrassing save and drunk passerby. Epic, no on second thought it rises to the level of being Homeric. A true Odyssey. A day to remember, a day to be proud of and a day never to forget.

John

Man, my whole experience with this Jeep has been a bit of a Greek tragedy. . It may or may not be getting better.

Realized last night that my rear DS splines and u-joint ate themselves due to the massively increased axle wrap. I think I've got enough power and such poor leafs that too much throttle on dry streets is wrapping the pinion up high enough to cause the u-joint to bind. Caps were split and had knocked one of the tabs off the pinion yolk.

So, ordering a new DS (cheaper to order a brand new DS from TomWoods than it is to get one repaired here, even if I supply the parts), but don't want to install it until I've addressed the axle wrap.

Looking for input on what will do the job. I've heard some guys say that a very "money" set of military wrap leafs will perform just as well as a moderately well built 4-link, and will deal with the excessive wrap just fine. My experience with leaf sprung rears though makes it difficult to believe that, but I should admit I've never splurged on "money" leafs.
I may just build an el-cheapo ladder bar to get my by for now, but ya know, if I'm building a ladder bar, I'm really not that far away from just 4-linking and calling it a day. The only thing that's got me waffling about the 4-link is that I JUST BUILT A NEW EXHAUST and I can't imagine any way I'll be able to get good link numbers without completely rebuilding the exhaust.

So, thoughts? Real good set of leafs, ladder bar, combination of the two, or 4-link? I can probably stay off the skinny pedal for a few weeks, so it's not a mad dash to the easiest answer.

Also, am I wasting time/money on my axles? The D44 will hold up to quite a bit of abuse under such a light-weight, and I've never managed to bust my D30, but I figure if I'm going through the trouble of 4-linking anyway, it may be time to consider adding some un-sprung mass?

 

[yossarian19]

The difference between four linking and a ladder bar is appreciable.
Throw a well designed ladder bar in there, fix your driveshaft and call it good.
As for high dollar leaves handling the wrap induced by your 5.3 - maybe but if they don't, you're out $$$. Ladder bar FTW.

 

[blistovmhz]

The difference between four linking and a ladder bar is appreciable.
Throw a well designed ladder bar in there, fix your driveshaft and call it good.
As for high dollar leaves handling the wrap induced by your 5.3 - maybe but if they don't, you're out $$$. Ladder bar FTW.

Well for what it's worth, my leafs are probably about done with life anyway. It started out with an RE 4.5 pack, but when I went to 6.5", I went through 3 sets of RC 6.5" leafs that only ever netted me 3.5" - 4.5" before I gave up and just stuck an extra leaf in the RE pack and dropped the shackle mount a few inches. This of course causes all sorts of nasty driveability issues.

So either way I'm on the market for a good set of leafs, or I'll build a 4-link.
Discussing this on another thread right now. Cliff notes version:
I really don't have room for a 4-link, and I can't think of a way to do one while still being even remotely street legal (ie: i have no room for exhaust/muffler, and I can't run it through the body legally).

This puts me right back to a good set of leafs and/or ladder bar.
The other option, and someone lemme know if this is dumb, would be to install a long arm setup (like rough country's kit) for the rear. I've heard people refer to their long arm as a radius arm, but that ... doesn't seem right to me. I know a radius won't work on the rear because of axle wrap, but i'm not really sure what RC's arms are called. Whoever knows what i"m talking about, would these work on the rear (with a track bar of course, which I also hate.. but oh well).

As for leafs, as I'm on the market anyway, who makes a good set of 6.5"?

 

[John D]

I bought a set of 6.5" Big Off Road leaves about 10 years ago. They still work as well as they ever did and it handles the V8 and 38" tires well on road, in sand and on the trails. I have no complaints at all with them, it was some of the best money I've spent.