• NAXJA is having its 18th annual March Membership Drive!!!
    Everyone who joins or renews during March will be entered into a drawing!
    More Information - Join/Renew
  • Welcome to the new NAXJA Forum! If your password does not work, please use "Forgot your password?" link on the log-in page. Please feel free to reach out to [email protected] if we can provide any assistance.

Project "The Gray Goose"

Ok yeah bring it up
 
I know that I bled them with the old wheel cylinders with no change in braking.

Bled again after installing new wheel cylinders and feels better. I am pretty sure that I have bled enough recently that the entire bit of fluid has been refreshed or close to it.

I just haven't driven the jeep since September and might not be used to the poorer XJ brakes in comparison to my much newer and stock vehicles.

Double checked the front calipers last night while swapping my 33s back on and it seems that they are working.
 
I did a "panic stop" in my neighborhood last night and it stopped pretty well so I'd say they are fixed.

I didn't lock them up or anything but I am on stock brakes with only the dual diaphragm upgrade.
 
Almost another year down and not much has changed on the jeep.
I finally sold the 93 and just been wheeling the Goose.

I made it out to the Moab 35th anniversary event which was a blast and spent a week in wheeling heaven. I can't wait to go back.

Getting ready for Renofest this year and plan is to finally lower the jeep so it hopefully is less tippy.

In other news, I finally purchased a welder for myself. Multiprocess machine as well as 110/220 compatible. I'm super excited to learn to weld and do a bunch of projects that I've been wanting to do.
 
Last edited:
Well Renofest 2019 was a blast running on some new trails. Got to hang out with the crew again which is always fun and I cant wait til the next wheeling trip.

I got the front lowered down which made the jeep feel more stable but the rear did not get done before the trip. I also fixed a leaky lower radiator hose, installed some funky looking LED headlights, and swapped out my Rusty's steering for a stock style set-up with aluminum drag link.

I'm not sure if I'm sold on the look of the LED Headlights but I am sold on the light output; it is a world of difference.

I've got a lot of house projects happening this weekend which will keep me busy but I hope to get more done on this thing soon.

Maybe I'll actually download tap-talk and upload some of my Moab Pictures to give the three people that still use the forum something to look at.
 
Its that time again. Another Renofest coming up and basically no progression on the jeep from last year.

I did go on a solo run back in September. Found out that Cantina was canceled so CJMike and I were going to do some wheeling. I went and did Signal Peak on that Friday with intentions to meet up with Mike Saturday to wheel and camp on the Con.

He ended up having starter issues so he had to bail. Considering I only wheel 2 times a year typically, I decided to go to Rubicon by myself. I have always wanted to do the Wentworth Springs Loop so I went to the Wentworth entrance. If you have never been to that side, it is extremely hard to find and is not marked well at all.

I got to the trail head around 7pm and got to camp at Little Sluice around 11pm? Maintained camp there and decided to continue further on Sunday to check out the RTF Property since I had never been. Kevin was there that weekend too but he left early and I didn't get to meet up with him. I did happen to meet up with some other RoudyKrawlers Sean and Ryan who were having Starter issues as well. I have a brand new starter that I usually have on me for a trail spare since Moab; unfortunately it was forgotten in the garage on this trip.

After talking to the RTF crew (who was there working on the cabins), we were able to locate a starter on the trail and had the Sheriff deliver it to us at the RTF Property. We got the new starter in and still had issues (original wouldn't spin but it popped out, the new one would spin but not pop out). Finally got their jeep started after lots of tapping and I hung out with Sean and Ryan for the rest of the day. We had a few other issues (broken U-joint strap) that were solved by helpful people on the trail and we all made it home without issue.

Fun trip and I was able to help out a few new friends. Also, somewhere in there, I came across a flopped SXS which I helped roll back over.



As for the upcoming Reno trip, I need to do the following:

-Take my steering pump apart and replace the O-ring between the pump and tank (think thats where it is leaking at least)
-Figure out where my coolant is still leaking from and fix that.
-Swap AC compressor and get it re-charged
-Try to get my brakes fixed. Still seems like they dont hold worth a darn.(at least last time I drove it in September)
 
Last edited:
I am still drum in the rear. My new rig will be disc though.

What's weird is that the brakes worked well for a long time and would hold the jeep back when going down a steep slope. Then in the last few years, it seems like I'm driving through the brakes on idle.
 
Wholly Crap, I actually did some work to my Jeep.

Over the last few evenings, I removed the belt so I could swap out my AC Compressor and the rubber o-rings on the PS Pump. Got those taken care of along with hopefully fixing the coolant leak that I thought was coming from the lower hose/water pump connection.

Going to throw the air box back in tonight and hopefully take her on a short cruse around the block or something to un-square the tires and just get a feel for a lifted jeep again.

Plan for the weekend is to weld on a reinforcement piece to my trailer ramp, fuel up the Jeep, and start packing/organizing spare parts and tools. If I have spare time, maybe I will start figuring out and building the wiring for my tow dolly.
 
Well I didn't get to the tow dolly lights like I wanted but the jeep is ready for the weekend. I think the power steering is leaking worse now after I took it apart, cleaned it, and replaced the o-rings. Oh well.

Maybe I'll try to look up what size o-ring is suppose to be on there and install them vs just eyeballing it... or just replace the resevor tank. Might be leaking from where the two halves come together.

As for the coolant leak, it seems to be fixed but this weekend will tell.

Almost forgot that I also wired up an arb outlet for the fridge/freezer that I scored in Reno last week. Yuge thank you to Alan for picking it up for me.
 
Last edited:
Now that Reno is over, it’s time to look forward to the next trip.

Overall the trip was a success even though my tent broke the first night trying to set it up in the wind. Courtnie and Baby Penelope made it out to 4WheelParts for the raffle and it was a successful camping test for the baby. Next is a quick day trip up an easy trail to see how she does wheeling.

The coolant leak seems to be taken care of but the power steering leak was 4 times as bad as before I “fixed it"; I went though almost a full quart of fluid over the weekend. I think that I am going to remove and re-seal the reservoir before buying a new one to replace it.

The ARB Fridge worked great (Just a little learning curve on setting the correct temp) and I can’t wait to take it on all my future camping trips. However, I don’t know how much I like the slide that came with it. I am thinking about re-building a slide for it that has more functions for my intended use.

Next set of plans for the jeep are to repair the leaky PS, replace the tranny cooler line that is way older than should be on the jeep, and buy replacement bump stops for the front so my tires quit chewing up the fenders. I am also going to look into modifying the rear bumper to look and function more like an AJ’s offroad bumper.
Lots of little plans here and there to get the jeep working better but man it continues to surprise me with how capable it is. I know it continues to amaze and confuse a lot of you too with it being Open/Limited Slip with some of the lines that I choose to take. Haha
 
Didn't take too may pics but here is what I got. Courtnie was very jealous that the herd or horses waited until after she left with Penelope to show back up at camp.
80748468f6b4e690b772f3fd0d97254b.jpg
439ab78e60bd3824519c28e3ab1fc409.jpg
9d35f554de384949b564e9a540332f79.jpg
3d7258b1e52d38073877c8155a61878c.jpg
7f60fb15891c93e17cbeedd0689b694d.jpg
1e5e8a8c0caa4fd75ecd7b85ef8b7c36.jpg


Sent from my SM-N920V using Tapatalk
 
Man, I feel like I have so much to do before Sierrafest this year but in reality it isn't that much if I just do a little after work each night.

Swap power steering pump
Swap transmission cooler line (same one that has needed to be replaced since I bought the Jeep I bet...)
Smog
Build basic cargo storage area
Fix bump stops
Weld LCA skids
 
You can do it mang. Its coming so quickly. Ill probably change my steering pump the day before rubicon haha. It actually works fine but leaks all the fluid out of the reservoir in a week.
 
Man, I feel like I have so much to do before Sierrafest this year but in reality it isn't that much if I just do a little after work each night.



Swap power steering pump

Swap transmission cooler line (same one that has needed to be replaced since I bought the Jeep I bet...)

Smog

Build basic cargo storage area

Fix bump stops

Weld LCA skids
Get rrr done!!! You got this.

Sent from my SM-T820 using Tapatalk
 
So, got the ps pump swapped out, trans cooler line swapped, and the upper and lower radiator hoses replaced before SierraFest. Went to smog and failed but screw it, I'm going wheeling! Get the rig all packed up and head out Wednesday morning (a little late but still morning)

As I'm going up the hill to start Strawberry, I smell coolant so I pull off to inspect. Hose clamp is loose so I tighten it up and continue on. In trying to find my bay back to the freeway, I had to make a u-turn.

Well my rear end didn't like that too much and popped.i thought it was the normal binding that I get so I go to get on the freeway which is a loop around. As I am going around that, it feels like the jeep is stepping out on me. I thought I broke a u-bolts or centering pin so I pull over and stop on the onramp to check.

All looks good; nothing obviously broken so I continue on. Before I get to the next exit, the jeep is making more popping and banging so now I know there is something wrong and I pull off at the Shingle Springs exit off hwy 80. Any sort of slight turn on throttle results with lots of popping, banging, and lurching of the jeep so I limp it to the gas station.

I assume that it's a broken shaft (of course I didn't bring my spare 44 shafts). Start tearing into the drivers side and shaft is fine but there are a lot of fine shavings in the axle tube. So I remove the shavings, reinstall the axle shaft, and move to the other side. Pull the passenger side apart and same thing. Nothing snapped but shavings in the axle tube. Great! Ring and pinion or lsd failure of some kind.

Luckily I had been talking with Josh back and forth the previous week or so letting him borrow parts to get his jeep smogged and knew he was working from home so I called him up.

Josh saved the day and drove out to meet me and give me a second opinion. He reminded me that pulling the cover without a reusable gasket takes a good chunk of time for a new gasket to set so we went back to his house.

He let me borrow his truck to go grab my trailer and get the rig home. Once home, I pulled the rear cover and discovered that the spider gears in the lsd had eaten one of their own which caused the popping. Quick look at the r&p and they looked fine (further investigation needed).

At this point I'm not getting the jeep back on the road for this trip so I tun in for the night. In the morning I swapped all my camping stuff into the wife's car and headed for hermit. I mean, I already had the days off, why not go and enjoy the fellowship with my friends on the trail.

Had a great time at SierraFest and won some cool swag that I can't wait to get on the NEW jeep once it's up and running. Pics to come.
 
Minor update since Aug.

Bought a new house in December and moved in. We hosted the February Meet N Greet for the Sacramento area at the house and had an awesome time.

Jeep sat for the longest time until I finally bought the part that was busted on Josh’s blown up Detroit. Went over to Mike’s to swap the locker in and it felt good driving around in his cult-d-sac so I took it home. Once home, I decide to try and break it loose a little in the back yard and I have nothing… no forward movement on the slightest of inclines… great!
Now we are trying to pull it and there is so much bearing pre-load, we cant get the stupid thing out using the normal rag method. Got the rag in there but now the ring and pinion have separated enough that the rag got shredded by the pinion and it was only pushing out the ring side. I have a slide hammer rented and a hook attachment on order that I am going to try and use to yank the other side out at a more even direction.

If anyone has a case spreader that I can borrow in the Sac area, that would be awesome. Right now the one I tried to build out of 3/16” plate based on a youtube design just bent and failed on me.

With not much time between now and Reno, most of my weekends are already taken up by other plans. I’m almost at the point now that if I cant get the old locker out of this housing this weekend, I'm going to actually have to install Josh’s old d44 and convert it back to drum so I don’t have to jimmy a parking brake setup on it.
 
I've had good luck looping a ratchet strap around the carrier and hooking the ends to the bumper and carefully ratcheting the carrier out. Oh and make sure you have something soft for the carrier/gears to land on when they pop out. :roflmao:
 
Back
Top