RockTracXJ
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- Colorado Springs
My wife was out of town this past week so I decided to get some work done on the Jeep. Originally, I was going to pull the front axle shafts and replace the u-joints, and do the front brakes. After I got the shafts out, I decided the u-joints were fine, but noticed grooves on the knuckle mounting rails from the brake pads. Perhaps you have seen that thread:
http://www.naxja.org/forum/showthread.php?t=911655
The Forum was a good source of info for me to read about the problem. While I was at the junkyard the previous Saturday I noticed a 97 XJ that was about to be put out into the lot so I decided to head back out there and pull the knuckles. Perhaps you've seen that thread:
http://www.naxja.org/forum/showthread.php?t=912034
Lucky for me they were still in good shape so I grabbed them. I also grabbed the side view mirrors.
Because I was replacing the knuckles I decided I had better replace the ball joints as well. At 6" of lift my angles are all hosed, so I wanted to give the offset (adjustable) upper ball joints a try. I was originally going to buy these from NAPA, but they didn't have them in stock and it was going to take them 3 days to get them. So I decided that I would see what I could find on the internet. I had recently seen an ad in one of my 4wd mags for RockAuto.com (http://www.rockauto.com/press1.html), they claimed to have really good prices. I ended up ordering the ball joints Wed around 4 pm MST, paid $50 for overnight shipping so I would have them Friday and still paid around $40 LESS than I would have if I bought them through NAPA! Friday morning at 9:30, there's the UPS man with my joints. Sweet. Spicer, of course, even though they are rather spendy. I don't want no cheap, crap joints on my Jeep. There's $268 worth of joints:
Putting the upper joints in was interesting, the ball joint press kit I had didn't seem to have a way to handle the offset joint. I managed to press it in a ways, but then a BFH had to finish the job. Replacing the joints was easier than I would have thought, even with the offset problems.
After I got my new joints in I put my 'new' knuckles on. The bottom castle nut was 33 mm (1 5/16"). WTF? Had to run to the parts store and buy a $14 axle nut socket. That sucked. Put the axle/hubs back in. Forgot the rotor gaurd thingy. DOH! Pop the hub back out so I can put that in.
A while back I was at the junk yard pulling some spare shafts from an XJ and I noticed it had nice new front brakes. The poor bastard was probably driving home from the brake shop when he was in the accident that landed his XJ in the yard. I pulled all of that and installed it on my Jeep. Sweet. I guess it could be cheap pads and rotors, but it stops better than my old brakes, so I'm happy.
While doing all of that I somehow found time to put the '97 sideview mirrors on my '94. Those original mirrors were archaic, I couldn't see a damn thing out of them. Holy crap, what an improvement the new ones are! They're actually useful. The fit wasn't as clean as I would have liked. The 97s had a different electrical plug, so I just cut off my old one and spliced it to the wires of the 97. The colors weren't a direct match, so I just guessed. I guessed wrong, I push side to side the mirror goes up and down and vice versa. Whatever, they worked so I was pumped. I tested them both out before I buttoned everything up and they worked, but later while I was driving the side to side adjustment wouldn't work on the pass side mirror. Damn that sucks, I hate removing door panels. It might just stay that way.
Also, while the Jeep was on stands I decided to have the 241 looked at. After I bought it it was run without fluid for awhile. DOH! I took it to a shop in town and it checked out OK. Sweet.
Now doesn't that look beefy?
I seemed to have picked up a slight shudder/vibration while accelerating between 25-30. Not sure what that's about. I'm wondering if it could have anything to do with the offset balljoints.
I must have jacked up the axle seal when putting the passenger side shaft back in because I noticed today it has a very healthy leak. That really pisses me off. That shaft is hard to get in, I'm not surprised I messed up the seal.
I think that's about it. Even if it's not, I'm tired of typing and you're probably tired of reading, if you didn't stop half way through.
http://www.naxja.org/forum/showthread.php?t=911655
The Forum was a good source of info for me to read about the problem. While I was at the junkyard the previous Saturday I noticed a 97 XJ that was about to be put out into the lot so I decided to head back out there and pull the knuckles. Perhaps you've seen that thread:
http://www.naxja.org/forum/showthread.php?t=912034
Lucky for me they were still in good shape so I grabbed them. I also grabbed the side view mirrors.
Because I was replacing the knuckles I decided I had better replace the ball joints as well. At 6" of lift my angles are all hosed, so I wanted to give the offset (adjustable) upper ball joints a try. I was originally going to buy these from NAPA, but they didn't have them in stock and it was going to take them 3 days to get them. So I decided that I would see what I could find on the internet. I had recently seen an ad in one of my 4wd mags for RockAuto.com (http://www.rockauto.com/press1.html), they claimed to have really good prices. I ended up ordering the ball joints Wed around 4 pm MST, paid $50 for overnight shipping so I would have them Friday and still paid around $40 LESS than I would have if I bought them through NAPA! Friday morning at 9:30, there's the UPS man with my joints. Sweet. Spicer, of course, even though they are rather spendy. I don't want no cheap, crap joints on my Jeep. There's $268 worth of joints:
Putting the upper joints in was interesting, the ball joint press kit I had didn't seem to have a way to handle the offset joint. I managed to press it in a ways, but then a BFH had to finish the job. Replacing the joints was easier than I would have thought, even with the offset problems.
After I got my new joints in I put my 'new' knuckles on. The bottom castle nut was 33 mm (1 5/16"). WTF? Had to run to the parts store and buy a $14 axle nut socket. That sucked. Put the axle/hubs back in. Forgot the rotor gaurd thingy. DOH! Pop the hub back out so I can put that in.
A while back I was at the junk yard pulling some spare shafts from an XJ and I noticed it had nice new front brakes. The poor bastard was probably driving home from the brake shop when he was in the accident that landed his XJ in the yard. I pulled all of that and installed it on my Jeep. Sweet. I guess it could be cheap pads and rotors, but it stops better than my old brakes, so I'm happy.
While doing all of that I somehow found time to put the '97 sideview mirrors on my '94. Those original mirrors were archaic, I couldn't see a damn thing out of them. Holy crap, what an improvement the new ones are! They're actually useful. The fit wasn't as clean as I would have liked. The 97s had a different electrical plug, so I just cut off my old one and spliced it to the wires of the 97. The colors weren't a direct match, so I just guessed. I guessed wrong, I push side to side the mirror goes up and down and vice versa. Whatever, they worked so I was pumped. I tested them both out before I buttoned everything up and they worked, but later while I was driving the side to side adjustment wouldn't work on the pass side mirror. Damn that sucks, I hate removing door panels. It might just stay that way.
Also, while the Jeep was on stands I decided to have the 241 looked at. After I bought it it was run without fluid for awhile. DOH! I took it to a shop in town and it checked out OK. Sweet.
Now doesn't that look beefy?
I seemed to have picked up a slight shudder/vibration while accelerating between 25-30. Not sure what that's about. I'm wondering if it could have anything to do with the offset balljoints.
I must have jacked up the axle seal when putting the passenger side shaft back in because I noticed today it has a very healthy leak. That really pisses me off. That shaft is hard to get in, I'm not surprised I messed up the seal.
I think that's about it. Even if it's not, I'm tired of typing and you're probably tired of reading, if you didn't stop half way through.
