Jeep caught on fire...

[Ice_Man]

We had a guy do this to his girlfriends Jeep in the winter if you can believe that. I responded to a call for a car fire at the PD that I work for and this drunk had taken his XJ into a farmers field with about two feet of snow. Once he got it stuck he kept revving it back and forth from drive to reverse in his infinite drunk wisdom, trying to get unstuck. Eventually he over heated the trans and the thing burnt to the ground. Nothing but a shell and seat springs left when it was done. Rather than arresting him for drunk driving, I brought him home to his girlfriend after a firm talking to and left him with her..... did I mention it was her Jeep? Surprisingly enough, I never got called out later that night for a domestic.

 

[DanMan2k06]

I've been doing some reading, and holy smokes I didn't realize how common it was.

I've always heard that if you engine is overheating, your trans is too. Well I guess in my ignorance I figured if the engine is cool, the trans should be too. Wrong. I should have installed cooler long ago.

My plans now are to convert the entire line system to AN fitting/line and add as diesel of a cooler as possible in front of the rad. If not there I have no problem making room or routing to an alternate location. I'll have to pick up a cooler and do some test fitting first.

 

[kastein]

Make sure to not route the lines as badly as the factory did - the spot that I crimped right where they pass along the engine over the passenger UCA mount on the axle housing is a very common location for cooler line damage. When I fixed it (aside from the trail fix to get me home) I rerouted the lines so that they went up and over the mount instead of under it.

 

[xcm]

Make sure to not route the lines as badly as the factory did - the spot that I crimped right where they pass along the engine over the passenger UCA mount on the axle housing is a very common location for cooler line damage. When I fixed it (aside from the trail fix to get me home) I rerouted the lines so that they went up and over the mount instead of under it.

Worn or non existent front bumpstops?

 

[kastein]

worn. I actually liked the amount that was left, it resulted in slightly more uptravel (obviously at the expense of the trans cooler lines) and I still cleared 33s with some fender cutting and inner fender massaging.

I don't think it was a wise design choice to put the lines where they could be smashed with 100% stock suspension geometry (I had all stock control arms at that point) if a wear item (bumpstops) was worn out - but then again, we push XJs/MJs a bit harder than the factory intended.

 

[DanMan2k06]

What type of line are these things made of? I'd love to just bend up some new lines and route them where they'll never be disturbed, then throw on the AN fittings at each end.

 

[GrimmJeeper]

I would get yourself a coil of 3/8" steel brake line tubing and have at it. remember that it needs to be flexible between the body and the transmission so you're going to need some rubber in there somewhere.

NAPA part number for a 25' coil of 3/8 line is 641-4003

 

[kastein]

it's hard steel line on the factory ones but as Mike said, any 3/8 oil-proof line is fine. They aren't under all that much pressure.

 

[DanMan2k06]

Fantastic, you guys are the best. Thanks for the help fellas.

 

[Shorty]

it's hard steel line on the factory ones but as Mike said, any 3/8 oil-proof line is fine. They aren't under all that much pressure.

I'd steer away from as much "soft" line as I could-- there's not a lot of pressure and the resistance to flow in rubber line is greater than that of metal. I don't know how much of a difference it would really make in the "real world," but I'd hate to find out the hard way that steel line was used for a reason.

 

[DanMan2k06]

Not certain, but I think they were both referring to any oil-proof hard line. I remember it being discussed in Grimm's thread that you only want soft lines where flexibility is needed. I.e. at the trans case and at the cooler up front.

Soft line would also be quite a pain to route and keep secured against the frame. A lot more bracketry would be needed to keep it from drooping and moving around.

 

[Talyn]

"oil-proof" is not necessarily transmission fluid proof. Make sure you verify that it can work with transmission fluid.