TMC'S project: "Fire-Road Runner"

[TMC-XJ]

I had time to finally install the RC Shackle Relocation brackets I got from a CF member. Thanks again Chad!

Now if youve been following my thread, youll remember that I mentioned my shackle boxes only have one hole facing the front, when the RC brackets need two.

Here is a shot of my driver side for reference:

A fellow member (RedJeep2.0) had the same problem only his was a Renix-era 88.


Any options......? Drill it out!

I started with the passenger side. You reuse the factory shackle bolt plus the supplied two front bolts.

Here it is with the top bracket bolted in:

Then you bolt up the bottom bracket to the top, as well as set the shackle with the supplied bolt. I think RC recommends trying the middle hole.

Here is another angle. (I know, I gotta change/adjust the exhaust)

Now on to the driver side. You have to remove the gas tank line "skid plate" cover. Get ready for a POUND of dirt to fall when it comes out. Haha!

Unfortunately the gas tank filler hose/vent tube are right in the way of drilling the upper hole.

My solution....? Unbolt the filler neck and unhook it from the inside of the body panel, and push it down and out of the way.

Here it is with the driver side drilled and upper bracket bolted in, and I hadn't reinstalled the filler neck at this point.

So after installing the lower bracket and lowering the Jeep back down the shackle was bottomed out on the bracket. So I had to reinstall both sides on the next hole back.

So install took me about 6 hours since it was raining off and on and I had to re-adjust the shackles. Now I did receive a slight lift from the brackets like RC states, but unfortunately I still have a slightly-under vertical shackle angle. Mainly due do to the fact that its the stubby/wide factory shackles, with longer/narrow ones I could put it back on the middle hole and have a much better angle and a better ride.


After install thoughts?

-RC made this a pretty sweet and easy install product, just had a little more time in mine

-Still no driveline vibes (even thought I still need a SYE)

-The back bounces around a little more (obviously cause of the shackle angle)

-I need longer rear shocks/brake line (duh! haha)




NEXT!

Since I dont have rust anywhere I want to avoid getting it anywhere so I removed my factory chrome roof trim on the drip rail. Also the Jeep was missing several whole and pieces of its badges/emblems, so I removed the ones remaining for now. (still deciding what to do about the paint)

Only found small surface rust on the spots where the trim's clips attach. Cleaned and just primed them for now, they're only 1" x 2" spots.




NEXT!

Found a guy selling a bunch of random Jeep stuff and got these stock Jeep Turbine center caps.

Complimentary before/after:



Hot/dry September '14:

Rain soaked April '15

I think its coming together pretty good so far. Especially since its on a budget and isn't being built for stuff it will never see/use.

More to come before the little one arrives.

Thanks for reading!

 

[TMC-XJ]

I got new rear shackles! I followed the advice of several members and went with the 13-4100's "Lowering Shackles" from O'Reilly's. I got them for $31 after a coupon!

They work great, I just had to trim down the bushing because they were slightly wide for my RC relo-brackets.


Before:

After:

So with my setup, I had to put it on the highest setting on the shackle cause my leaf eyes would hit/rub the shackle cross piece. I also had to put it in the most forward position in the relo-brackets.

So the above image makes it look like my leafs have a reverse arch, but they don't. Its just the weird angle.

Also I will be building a dakota pack later in the summer and that would replace the AAL and should allow me to adjust the shackle to the next settings.



New stance (with slight rake) but I dont have my spare in at that moment.

Thoughts?
Rides better than ever! (Still need longer rear shocks lol)

Will probably be awhile until the next update, my daughter will be here in 9 days!




Thanks for reading!

 

[NW-ZJ-SCOTT]

So with my setup, I had to put it on the highest setting on the shackle cause my leaf eyes would hit/rub the shackle cross piece. I also had to put it in the most forward position in the relo-brackets.

So the above image makes it look like my leafs have a reverse arch, but they don't. Its just the weird angle.

Also I will be building a dakota pack later in the summer and that would replace the AAL and should allow me to adjust the shackle to the next settings.





Thoughts?

I'm very concerned you might be a broken leaf spring victim shortly..

The main leaf needs more support then that.. I've witnessed many springs snap right at the shackle because of that exact problem.

Congrats on the new baby!

 

[Demonoid369]

I'm very concerned you might be a broken leaf spring victim shortly..

The main leaf needs more support then that.. I've witnessed many springs snap right at the shackle because of that exact problem.

Congrats on the new baby!

X2 get a full length leaf under there, either a Dakota or upcountry main leaf.

 

[Devilfrog]

If you cut the Dakota main right it will go under the mains eyes and support the whole main leaf.

 

[TMC-XJ]

Congrats on the new baby!

Thanks Scott!

X2 get a full length leaf under there, either a Dakota or upcountry main leaf.

If you cut the Dakota main right it will go under the mains eyes and support the whole main leaf.

Yep. Thats exactly the plan. Plus, I dont drive it hardly since its not our main car and the baby/family visiting will prolong driving it even longer. Thanks for the input guys!

 

[TMC-XJ]

Well got some time in on the Jeep this past weekend.

First up, finally got some rear shocks to replace my "stretched out" ones. Found a pair of Zone Nitro 4" lift shocks online.

What can I say? The old ones were literally fully extended so it made for one bouncy ride.

Now? Shoot....."rides like a caddy"

:thumbup1:





Next up!





After having the Jeep since last september, I finally got some new tires for it!




They're nothing special, just a basic all terrain in the 31x10.50.15 variety. But they drive great and "fill the wheel-well" compared to the 235's.



This photo makes the front wheels look out of center in the wheel well...

But as you can see, its still close to centered....

Thats all for now, but I hope to take my son up in the mountains this weekend.

Should be a blast!

 

[TMC-XJ]

Im still having that strange squeaking front driver wheel noise that increases as speed increases. Its more pronounced turning the wheel slightly right and less when turning the wheel left. It almost disappears while braking.

I did the "12 & 6" and "3 & 9" test while it was up on stands and there is no movement what-so-ever.

I also felt both front wheels after driving for awhile and there is NO heat at the hub or rim.


I feel like its not my hub assembly based on those tests. I also know its not the tire/wheel since they were just mounted/balanced.



I also took off the wheel to check the rotor/caliper. It seems to spin normally with the normal amount of slight drag disc brakes have. Nothing seemed loose or bent that I could tell.

Could it be my brake rotor or caliper since it seems to go away while braking? Warped rotor? Worn pads? Caliper slightly sticking?




I also checked my front driveshaft, u-joints, and axle shafts at the hubs and they all still seem tight and correct.



Just trying to test some things before I go paying for a bunch of replacement parts. :huh:

Any thoughts?

:dunno:

 

[Demonoid369]

You need to remove the unit bearing completely and rotate it by hand to verify it's good. My bet is that as I know mine made that same noise. The unit bearing should have some resistance when spinning if it free spins it's toast

 

[SPECFab]

Unit bearing.

 

[TMC-XJ]

Whoa...its been awhile....

Sorry its been so long. Since having our second kid/first girl AND recently moving to a new place in town, there hasn't been much down time for anything.

The Fire-Road Runner FINALLY got to stretch it's legs on its first shakedown run with the small changes recently done to it.



WARNING! PIC HEAVY!



With my son as my co-pilot, we headed over into Idaho up past Laird Park and up towards Little Sand.

Right off the bat we came across a "tough" decision:

Honestly, who wouldn't choose uphill over downhill?

We were then greeted with a surprise:

WHAT!? An open-gated uphill cutout?! This honestly seems to rarely happen, at least that I see, since most are closed and locked. Or sometimes the FS do several "Kelly Hump" burms to discourage misuse.

I for one DON'T misuse the land. If its close-gated or blocked off, I move on.

So onward and upward we went. The road rose quickly through a recently logged/burned area. Then it started to get real pretty real quick...

We crested over the "top" and started down towards the next climb.

Gotta love the views from a Jeep on a deserted mountain two-track...

Well after going for more than an hour in, with no closed gates or road blocks, I decided to turn around and started heading back the way we came.

Final thoughts on todays trip?

I really do love living and wheeling in the Pacific Northwest.

Thanks for reading!

 

[TMC-XJ]

Well, its time for another update my fellow XJ owners!




I found an absurd deal online that I could not pass up. After all the parts arrived via FedEx, USPS, and UPS I finally had a chance today to start the swap.

By now you probably know where Im going with this, and no its not a radiator replacement.




I got a screaming deal on a brand new 97-01 fiberglass header panel! The grille, headlight surrounds, and obviously the markers/turns are plastic.

Now I tried to to some research before I bought it and before it got here, but there really isn't to much to it. I would consider it a fairly straight forward swap. However, there are a few differences between the 96- and 97+ that aren't really mentioned too often.



First off, the 96- panel has a center mount under the radiator, where as the 97+ looks to have two mounts at the end of the "frame-rails." There is a small bit of a gap between the new panel hole and where the rails are.

(see picture)

For now, I just used two small pieces of metal to make some temporary brackets until I can make it to the junkyard and see if the newer ones came with some sort of bracket from the factory. If not, then I will just make mine more secure.

Second difference, the 96- headlight buckets have to swap sides to fit the 97+ header panel. So the left side bucket is used on the right and visa-versa. You have to do this because the holes for headlight adjustments on the 96- are on the outer sides of the headlight and the 97+ are on the inside.
Obviously if you have the 97+ headlight buckets, then you don't have to deal with this.



Third difference, you obviously want to swap to 97+ front fenders because the new header panel fender bolt holes don't line up to the older fender bolts. Also, on a purely aesthetic note, the curve on the top corners of the new panel doesn't match the angle on the top of the older fenders.

Fourth difference, the turn signals on the 96- have just one bulb/socket, while the 97+ have spots for two bulbs/sockets. I think you would have to just splice in the second one into your old harness, but I tested mine and it doesn't look bad with just the one. I place my bulb on the outer sockets.



Fifth difference, my new panel was shipped without any hardware, brackets, and clips, so I had to reuse the clips from the 96- grille and you obviously reuse the old panel bolts/nuts to mount the new one.




So overall, it was a fairly easy and quick swap. I just had to reuse most of my 96- hardware and clips. I need to paint the new panel, but I also should probably paint the rest of the Jeep as well. I've tried several different options on different occasions to bring back the factory paint, but it just doesn't want to be saved I guess. At any rate, I've always thought the 97+ front clips look "cleaner" or more "simple" and I love the new look of the front now!

As always, more to come and thanks for reading.

 

[GordoSmasho]

Did you get the header panel assembly locally or interwebs. I need a new front assembly and fenders. To lazy to go to the junk yard.

 

[TMC-XJ]

Did you get the header panel assembly locally or interwebs. I need a new front assembly and fenders. To lazy to go to the junk yard.

I got them off of Amazon. The closest PnP is over an hour away in Spokane and the 97+ XJs are always picked clean.

The seller must have been kinda "shady" cause they were offering the panel, markers, and headlight bezels for like $9. I thought, worse case scenario, I lose $9. Best case, an almost complete front end. I was contacted by them saying they dont offer those parts, even though Amazon sent me a shipping email with tracking. The seller apologized and said they'd credit my account and I could keep whatever was shipped.

I ended up recieving both headlight bezels and the passenger marker light. :clap:


I had ordered seperately from a different seller the grill and turn signals. So I just had to "repurchase" a header panel. I found one for $62.


I still need to get a driver marker light. (I have a feeling it'll take awhile the front fenders lol)


Sorry for the novel, but it was a kinda long story. :looney:

 

[GordoSmasho]

Thanks for the info. Ill check out amazon. Did it come already painted or primered?

 

[TMC-XJ]

Thanks for the info. Ill check out amazon. Did it come already painted or primered?

Sure thing!


The header panel I got was not primed or painted, I still need to.



Im trying to decide if I want to repaint the Jeep or just paint the front.

 

[TMC-XJ]

Well yesterday morning I decided to take off my RC Relo brackets. They just gave my too much lift and I don't want to be over 3" over stock height. I had quite a rake with them installed. Now Im measuring 21" hub to flare on both axles.


Im really happy with the stance and the ride currently. Those new shocks in the back are working great.

I had a chance to throw some primer on the new header panel. Im also really happy with how that turned out too.

And last but not least, I took my son and my father-in-law up past Laird Park towards Little Sand (pics in past post) and we had a blast. The new rear set-up handled great, possibly better, than with the Relo brackets. They just made the back feel too bouncy. Im sure they are great with different or aftermarket springs.

Nothing like wheeling and hiking in the PNW!

Stay tuned!

 

[GordoSmasho]

Ther relocation brackets should not change lift height. Only arm angle. Did you change springs as well?

 

[Demonoid369]

Is the first pic before or after you removed the relocation bracket? Your shackle is standing straight up and down. The shackle needs to be angled to a 45 degree.

 

[TMC-XJ]

Ther relocation brackets should not change lift height. Only arm angle. Did you change springs as well?

They are the shackle brackets, not the control arm drop brackets.

They do add lift. I believe its either Ironman or HD Offroad has the "No-Lift" shackle brackets.