Tinky Winky: A Build Thread

[5spd_xj]

free bump via my post #4500


and yeah. I'm pumped to gear my sexy new axle. stupid money hurdles....hasta

 

[MoparManiac]

Brown Santa came today

 

[Begster]

Nice. What he forgot to mention was that when he pulled one of his current shafts the end of last week, the splines were twisted. So its a good thing he got alloys.

Hey Colin, why don't you tell everyone how we went and pulled high steer knuckles from that Chevy in a swamp, and you proceeded to crack one of them the same day. [size=-2](or better get pictures up, I want to see it)[/size]

 

[MoparManiac]

Damnit, I already threw out that knuckle.

So basically, to make a long story short, Mark came up to help me get flat tops from a 70's chevy at a JY in Billerica. Took us like 2-3 hours to sawzall the ball joints and get the knuckles out.

Oh, and the axle was completely under mud. You could just barely see the U-arm on the driver's side knuckle.

Thanks to Mark for being a pal and getting down on his knees for me .

 

[MoparManiac]

Slowly coming together...

This one's for Adam...CAST BLAST! :roflmao:

Monday is the day it's going in. Gotta do some smaller stuff and get the tires switched to the new wheels.

 

[asp]

i say that on your first run with that you're going to shear the head of that bolt off on the diff cover and the drain will be useless. i love the idea of having a drain... but i think that's a poor execution of it.


edit: for those that didn't see it... look what the axle is sitting next to.

 

[MoparManiac]

i say that on your first run with that you're going to shear the head of that bolt off on the diff cover and the drain will be useless. i love the idea of having a drain... but i think that's a poor execution of it.

I've yet to shear the head off the one of my D30, but I have mangled it enough to be almost useless.

I thought a good idea would just be another countersunk bolt :dunno:

 

[foxwar71]

when he's not looking, i'll weld it shut:shhh:

 

[asp]

I've yet to shear the head off the one of my D30, but I have mangled it enough to be almost useless.

hmm, that's surprising.. you should see what my riddler looks like.

I thought a good idea would just be another countersunk bolt :dunno:

i thought of that too, but then you lose a lot of wall thickness and thread contact.

 

[5spd_xj]

looks good Colin If I wasn't able to get 8 hours of overtime on Monday, I'd have loved to come down and help ya out...

 

[MoparManiac]

looks good Colin If I wasn't able to get 8 hours of overtime on Monday, I'd have loved to come down and help ya out...

No problem man, gotta rake in the dough somehow!

 

[5spd_xj]

yeah. well, its not like I need any money to put into my Jeep though, so that's the thing...

:dunce:

 

[MoparManiac]

Ross came over yesterday and fabbed up the steering for me as well as replace the axle end trackbar joint with the 2" JJ I had ordered.

End result...

And the Presidential Seal of Approval...

 

[jeepcomj]

nice build...


bad name

 

[5spd_xj]

I'm glad you posted that 3rd picture










...someone else may not be so thrilled.

 

[RCman]

...someone else may not be so thrilled.

:dunno:

Looking good Colin!

 

[MoparManiac]

So the break in ended up being at NAC-fest...400 miles from home

Everything worked flawlessly, dented in the gas tank skid, my drivers side doors, stock rear bumper, etc etc.

Also have a nice creaking/popping noise coming from the front end. Everything is tight and I don't see any cracks in the unibody so I'm suspecting the steering box right now but we'll see.

Assist is in the works over the summer as well as possibly high steer (I have flat tops already).

Had a great time with a great group of people!

Pics here...

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2038566&id=41902041&l=4380d2a34b

And here's a few good shots...

Thanks to Bill and Angel for the company in my XJ and the awesome pics!

 

[RCman]

Thanks to Bill and Angel for the company in my XJ and the awesome pics!

Thanks for the seats! I owe ya one!
The pictures are free, now we are even.

Glad everything worked smoothly. Ever figure out that creaking/cracking noise? Was it the spring due to the axle misalignment (side to side) after all?

 

[MoparManiac]

Thanks for the seats! I owe ya one!
The pictures are free, now we are even.

Glad everything worked smoothly. Ever figure out that creaking/cracking noise? Was it the spring due to the axle misalignment (side to side) after all?

Not sure, haven't had too much time to play around with it yet. I'm not convinced that's what it is though but I'm going to check it out tomorrow evening after an interview probably.

However, I just tossed in a J10 spacer under the pass side TRE at the knuckle last night and the steering is 10x better. What little dead spot I did have is now completely gone.

Still pulls to the right though :rattle:

 

[MoparManiac]

So I figured I'd update this thread after having not posted in it for over 2 months and being bored .

Figured out the creaking noise and the pulling to the right. Welded on some front stiffeners I bought from some friends on here and the creaking disappeared, so apparently my unibody was flexing quite a bit up front.

Also, I swapped my tires front to back and the pulling went away. When I bought the MTZ's I forgot that Greg had mentioned some uneven wear on one of the tires, and it was causing some weird wandering when up front.

Finally, after a recent wheeling trip, the XJ was overheating way too often. Last week I swapped in a new CSF 3-row radiator from DPG Offroad, Flowkooler waterpump, new upper/lower radiator hoses, heater hoses, and brand new coolant. Started it up, and the heater core blew out :flamemad:

Spent Friday night replacing that and ended up ripping out the front portion of the carpet to reveal a few minor rot areas that will need patching. Also replaced the dented to hell stock muffler with a nearly new dynomax courtesy of Bill (RCMan).

Jeep is ready to get it's @$$ kicked again...:firedevil:

I'll try to get some pics up this week of the progress made.