Outlaw Star

Yes. The state is trying to acquire a lot of these areas. You can see the list on FWC's website.

Basslicks

Kind of a good thing depending on how you look at it. Would mean more hunting areas and more free-wheeling.... as long as they allow it. They did a pretty good job with ONF and sharing the area with hunters, wheelers, camping, and hiking. I would imagine they'd do the same with an area like muddy hammock.

Basslicks

Routine maintenance on the jeep today. Trying to get my MPGs back to where they were. VERY rich exhaust fumes are coming from the tailpipe now. I kinda feel bad for anyone behind me. Figured I'd change the cheapest thing first... plugs. I was quite sure this wasn't going to solve the rich condition, I'm not really counting on much better MPGs after the swap either, but I've never changed them in the 4 years I've owned it and I don't know when the PO replaced them either. So I figured I may as well.

All plugs gapped to .035" - wires to follow in another paycheck.

Old ones weren't too horrible, but they were maybe running slightly hot, little bit of carbon buildup in the rear of the motor and a little bit of ash buildup on the front.


Here's the chart I used for comparison:



Here's the gap setting on the old plugs:



So for being in as long as they were, they're really not too bad. Makes me feel a little better knowing that INTERNALLY at least, the motor is running well.

So I guess injectors, inspecting the exhaust manifold, checking for vacuum leaks, and replacing the cat >meow< will be the next order of operations.

Also got a chance last week to shine her up a little. The black and white look pretty good when they're not all muddy.





She's comin' along.... slooooooow n steady.

Basslicks

Well, just got word from my friend that he finished installing his lift and the LCAs from his old lift are ready for me to pick up! Can't wait! Now, I just gotta make time to go get 'em.

Meanwhile, I've had it in my head to trim my front bumper for a while now, but I haven't see any pictures depicting what I'm thinking in my head... keep the bumper guards and trim all the way up to them or angled near them (like in pic below) and weld up the ends with thin steel plate.

I finally found a pic with a trimmed bumper and the bumper guards still on... whatcha guys think?




Pics came from a build thread on here "Project Roll Bar" - unfortunately the guy hasn't posted since 2011.

Here's a pic of the ends welded up.... looks much better if you ask me.

docmedpros

I really like that look. I want the ORS fab stubby hidden winch once I get some extra cash. Looks like we will be wheeling together relatively soon

Basslicks

Sounds good to me brosef

Basslicks

Went to a club social the other night with "Four Play 4x4" group on facebook. I guess it's a club... maybe it's just a group... I dunno. Anyway, good times with some good people. My two boys got to run around and play with someone else's boy that was there. Had to corral them up a couple of times, but they had a blast nevertheless.

Few shots of the festivities...

eat_sleep_jeepXJ

@basslick liking the build bro ..im trying to dona 4x4 conversion as well but don't really know to much at this point trying to get some advice u seem to know quite a bit about it if u can help would he great..I have a 96 2dr 2wd lifted on 4.5 rough county with 33 everything done but the 4x4 lol..I know I need front axle , transmission and transfer case drive shafts and whole 9 but any help on what years or type of tranny can use? Or any advice on the build

docmedpros

It's always nice to have the same year or a lil newer. Don't get a 00-01 dana 30, they are LP. In my experience I prefer a NP231 for the transfer case. Don't forget you'll more than likely need an SYE and "new" driveshaft. But besides that it's pretty strait forward. When you do find the dana 30 you want it MUST be the same gear ratio or at this time you can regear both axles. You're ideal years will 92-99 they are HP and non vac disconnect. If you're running an AW4 you'll need the TCM with it just for a spare/in case. Obviously replace all fluids on the donor parts and this is the time to replace an bad u-joints and Ball joints. Justin please tell me if I've missed anything

eat_sleep_jeepXJ

Tranny and transfer case have to be for a 2 Dr or will I be able to get one out of a 4 Dr and just get a shorter drive shafts for rear?

docmedpros

When it comes to drivetrain 2dr and 4dr models are the same. But you will need a new driveshaft. I'd highly recommend a SYE which will require an aftermarket driveshaft or you can use a front driveshaft out of an XJ if you are going to use an AW4 transmission.

eat_sleep_jeepXJ

Thank you for all the advice ..looking into a aw4 tranny and np231 t case along with a dana 30 front axle..sticking with the c8.25 rear been good to me so far been through some good mud even with 2wd

Basslicks

Thanks man.... see below

That's pretty much the long and the short of it, Doc. Eat/sleep/jeep - (love the name, btw - I have that sticker on my back window) make sure that the input on whatever transfer case you get is 23 spline (and by whatever, I mean NP/NVG 231 or 242... the 247, 241, and 249's are ok, but they don't have as many drive modes and aftermarket support as the other two). Make sure you also get the linkage and shifter gate from the inside of the jeep as well. Getting a 91 & down D30 with the vacuum disconnect isn't the end of the world if that's all you can get your hands on. There are modifications you can do to the disconnect mechanism to make it more reliable. Either a cable mechanism to lock it manually, some have figure out a way to put a bolt in it to keep it engaged all the time - which is fine, and I believe you can pull the passenger side axle shaft (it's two-piece so make sure you get BOTH sections of the shaft out) and replace it with the passenger side shaft out of the 92+ year. Good news is that it's still an HP D30 as well.

Yeah the wheelbase between the 2wd and 4wd is exactly the same. I agree with Doc, if you're already lifted 4.5" you're more than likely going to need an SYE - Slip Yoke Eliminator. Might as well buy one around the time you get your transfer case so that you can just throw the SYE kit on the TC before you get it all put on there. If you were 3.5" lifted or less, you could probably get by without it, but I haven't known of too many that have lifted their jeeps that high without driveline vibrations. You're not having the issue now because your rear driveshaft is longer due to the absence of the transfer case. Keep in mind, if you get the NP242 transfer case, you're pretty limited to a Hack and Tap style Slip Yoke Eliminator which involved cutting the output shaft down to a certain length and drilling a hole and tapping (threading the hole) it to bolt a u-joint yoke on to it. This is a perfectly viable option and many have had success with it so don't be afraid of this if you want the extra drive-mode of the np242. There's also the option to spend the extra couple hundred for the SYE from Tom Woods which comes with an output shaft, yoke, and rear driveshaft all ready to go.

With a 96 model year XJ you MAY have lucked out and gotten a 29 spline 8.25. If so, I'd keep that axle until you go up to 37" tires with a locked rear. The 29 spline 8.25" rivals the Dana44 rear in strength and has many options including a c-clip eliminator kit and plenty of locker options as well as axleshaft options. If it's the 27-splined little brother, you may as well have a dana 35 in it... some argue it's stronger than the d35 some argue it's weaker. Either way. If you're going to go with no bigger than a 35" tire, you should be fine with the 8.25"

Keep in mind, the driveshaft length is different between the d35 and the 8.25" because the housing is longer on the 8.25

By the way, I'm no know-it-all guru about all of this so Lee or anyone else that knows their crap - if I'm wrong please feel free to chime in.

Basslicks

Played a little bit this weekend...

Well, if anyone is in the Central Florida area, you may have heard of the Southern Offroad Adventure Rally at the Market of Marion in Summerfield, FL. Not sure what the full count was, but it's the same course and venue as is used for "Jeeptoberfest" - if you've never heard of that, can't help ya! - just kidding, here's the links -----> http://jeeptoberfest.com/ and http://themarketofmarion.com/souther...venture-rally/

It's a pretty cool off-road event with lots of parts vendors, 3 trails - stock, modified, and extreme rock-crawling - open to all makes/models of off-road vehicles with 140" or less wheelbase. It's funny - Jeeptoberfest is for Jeeps only - all models of Jeeps, that is... but Jeeptoberfest winds up having a bigger turnout than SOAR.

I hate saying it, but I think a lot of Jeep owners are so snobby that they won't go to an event that isn't "Jeep only" and I HATE that. Oh well...

Anyway, yes I did take my 2wd stocker on the stock course and no I didn't get stuck anywhere or even have a problem even though the lightly modified wrangler in front of me did (I'm a little proud, can ya tell?)

I did end up ripping my exhaust pipe off from the catalytic back. That was fun. Folded in half like a straw right underneath my jeep. Had to pull off the trail and yank it the rest of the way off 'cause I was dragging it. I don't have any pics of my Jeep on the trails yet 'cause I'm waiting on friends to get off their duffs and post pics... but I did take some pics of the action while I was there.

68-72 model k5 blazer - nicely built I must say...




There was a really nice 60's model Bronco in line behind him... wound up passing him on a bypass with a different obstacle - but it was even nicer than the k5 - had a dark green paint job that I thought was black at first. Sweet lookin. Didn't get a pic though, sorry.

Then there was this guy... you may have seen pics of this on the web. Custom CJ8, stretched wheelbase, SBC, rockwell axles with rear-steer. Lots and lots of money spent in the right places with this thing....




One of my personal favorites was this moderately built XJ from A1 Tire and Suspension - complete with a body wrap graphic.




Aaaaaand a really nice Yota truggy. 22r motor, real nice lookin' custom tube bed and tube front bumper. Didn't get a good look at the axles, but I don't think the rear is stock and of course, the front is SAS so it's not stock either.


This little 'Zuk is almost too nice to take offroad. But it did the whole stock course... I know for a fact it wasn't this clean at the end of it.


Also saw this handsome nugget... RAWR


And last but not least, my bendy-straw...


Got quite a bit of work to do on it this morning when I get off work... yay. I really really need to flip the tailpipe. Hard to tell from this pic, but it actually hangs down lower than the hitch.

I'm planning on cutting off the tip before the bend-down and rotating it so that it's as close to the bumper as possible. If I can get it a full 180 degrees, then great!

Basslicks

Well, got home this morning and went to town trying to salvage the exhaust pieces I had and piece together an exhaust pipe from my catalytic back. I forgot to take any pictures of the finished product but trust me, it ain't pretty. Plus, when I got done (even though I really just needed to go to sleep) I practiced a little on a couple of pieces of pipe. I guess it didn't turn out too hideous for joining two pieces of metal together with no backing plate in place. Was pretty much just working the electrode back and forth across the gap and building up welds on top of welds to fill the gap. I did snap some pics of those though.

>>>WARNING. WHAT YOU ARE ABOUT TO SEE WILL MORTIFY YOU TO YOUR VERY SOUL. THE PERSON ATTEMPTING THESE WELDS IS AN UNTRAINED IDIOT USING A HARBOR FREIGHT 90 AMP FCAW (WHICH ISN'T EVEN DCEN) WITH HF WIRE AND HAS ONLY WELDED A FEW TIMES. THERE PROBABLY HAVE NEVER BEEN SUCH HORRIBLE WELDS IN THE HISTORY OF NEWB WELDERS. OBSERVE THE FOLLOWING WITH CAUTION.<<<









Nevermind those random pieces of wire stuck to the side of the pipe. I was too lazy by that point to bend down and get my nippers off the ground to trim my wire so I just arced it against the side of the pipe to shorten it up. It worked and of course, I didn't really care about the piece I was working on.







In all seriousness though, I think I'm going to try Lincoln Electric or Hobart wire. I've heard from a few welders that even with a crappy welder like this one, getting a better wire can make a lot of difference. They also recommended the LE and Hobart wire so hopefully I can snag some money for some here soon. After that, I could spend the money on a bridge rectifier and capacitor to convert this thing to a true DCEN FCAW, or just buy a MIG (what I'm leaning more towards).