Yep, 7.3L. I was a Ford guy long before I got into Jeeps.

 

Worked on my junk today and it was a royal cluster ****. Hands down, hated my xj today.

It's cold as hell out here and we towed it up to my friends work. Go to back it off the trailer and I don't have park or reverse. We push it off and head up the hill to his bay. Get half way up the hill and it gets stuck. Forget to install the vacuum lines to the tcase last weekend so I'm one wheel peeling. Crawl around in the snow and get the frozen lines on and crawl back up the hill in fwd (no rear ds).

Get it in the shop and rack it. Start to work on the brakes. Get the hoses installed and start on the hard lines. The flaring tool die breaks. Go out and buy a new flaring tool set. Get that done and then replace the drivers side hard line. Go to bleed the front brakes and the bleeder breaks off the passenger side caliper. Ugh. So we bleed it at the hose and continue on.


Yanked off my old winch and replaced it with a Superwinch. That surprisingly went well.


Figured out why I was missing park and reverse. Apparently part of the linkage fell off
last weekend. We welded up the x-member brackets and dropped the center section. Got everything back together and it shifted perfect. However, the shift interlock is messed up and it's a ***** getting my key out.

Next we moved the shackles back one hole, measured for my limit straps, replaced the rear shoes, and greased the Johnny Joints. Things went smoothly at the end of the day, but the beginning had me wanting to push it off a cliff. I was hoping to get more done, but it just wasn't in the cards.

 

Got more parts in today.


Yes, those limit straps say *** VAULT.

I was hoping to get more done this week, but been stuck in bed sick the past three days. No shop time this weekend, which sucks, but I should be back in there the following weekend. 5 weeks left till WF.

Updated list:

1. Install 231 - done
2. Figure out rear drive shaft
3. Figure out front drive shaft
4. Install long arms - done
5. Install coils - done
6. Limit straps for front
7. Re-do bumpstops
8. Install new winch - done
9. Install longer front brake hoses - done
10. Install shocks - done
11. Install track bar and bracket - done
12. Replace or rebuild leaf springs - done
13. Check fluids
14. Shake down suspension
15. Fix caster
16. Install steering

 

My friend just dropped this off for me. Drilled and helicoiled a billiards ball for my tcase shifter.

 

Wow, sounds like you had a busy day! lol. Is that an LP8500? If so, that's the same winch I have. I haven't really been able to put it to the real test yet though since my jeep is awaiting other upgrades before hittin the trails.

Gotta love those ones that start off with "figure out..." I've had a ton of those lol. Is that the Novak T-case shift kit? Stock T-case linkage is total crap. This is my current half-custom / half FST kit incarnation. Just need to redo that lever extension and make it stronger. I'm also eventually going to replace the stock lever with a ****. Would be much cleaner, IMO.

 

Busy and long! Yep, it's an LP8500. I was running a 10k Gorilla winch, but it shorted internally and the drum lock works intermittently. Can you say, no bueno. I was a bit worried about dropping down to the 8500, but they were on sale locally for a good price. Hopefully it works well.

Oh yeah, those "figure out.." ones can be a bear, lol. Yeah, that's the Novak shifter. I was looking at the FST ones, but with all the complaints of late, I was hesitant to buy from them. The stock linkage is a joke and I'm not sure who came up with that at AMC, but they should be ***** slapped. I like that the Novak kit replaces the stock shifter, I'm not a fan of that either. I'd prefer something that's easier to reach when I'm driving, since I shift in and out of 2hi, 4hi, and 4lo frequently when I'm wheeling. Your linkage looks good btw. I've gotten lazy over the winter as far as putting things together myself.

 

Did you install the winch yet? I'd recommend not using the bolts that came with it. I stripped 3 of 4 of mine. Looks like I'll need to angle grind 'em off under my bumper if I want to replace them at some point.

 

Yep, all bolted in. I did end up using their hardware, but everything went in good. I wonder if you got some bum bolts or the threads were messed up on the winch side? Are you running the steel hawse that came with it or a roller fairlead? I like the hawse, but I've been through a lot with my old roller, lol.

 

I might have just wrenched them in too hard, but I certainly didn't feel like it was unreasonable given the winch's duties. I don't think they are grade 8 bolts. I am running the hawse, but the black powdercoating is chipping off and rusting.

 

I know they do better with synthetic line, but I'm not ready to fork over the cash for that. Steel line has done me well thus far. I figure I'll see how the hawse does and if I don't like it I'll switch back to my trusty roller. Right now I'm trying to figure out how I'm going to set up my bumpstops. I was looking at the Prothane coil inserts, but it's another chunk of cash. I was thinking about using pucks again for the front and going with a progressive bump in the rear. I've thrown so much money into my junk of late, that I'm getting a little weird with things. How far down the rabbit hole does one go? That sort of ****.

 

When we installed the new leaf springs, the bolts had magically seized in the metal bushing since I had done my relo brackets. We had heated up the bolt, used an air hammer, and one of my friends finally decided to wail on the bolt with a 3lb hammer. Well, he love tapped my gas tank a few times and it has a slow gas leak now. So, I pulled this from the cab of a Ford truck crawler I was building before I got into Jeeps.



Ordered up some AN fittings and they should be here sometime next week. I have to stop adding **** to my list because I'm running out of time to get this thing back together! I'm not even sure if I'll have shop time on Saturday, which is getting me paranoid. So much so in fact, that I'm going to unearth two trucks from the snow, try to plow out two feet of snow from in front of my pole barn, load my camper in the truck, and go to work on the dirt floor with the propane heater. Not on my list of "fun" things to do in this freezing weather, but you gotta do what ya gotta do to get **** done.

Also had this made up for laughs. Kind of a running joke with my wheeling friends...



Another list update:

1. Figure out rear drive shaft
2. Figure out front drive shaft
3. Install limit straps for front
4. Re-do bumpstops
5. Check fluids
6. Shake down suspension
7. Fix caster
8. Install steering
9. Install fuel cell, fittings, fuel pump, etc.
10. Relocate spare
11. Figure out where to mount shock reservoirs.

4 weeks till WF...

 

Jeep is definitely a rabbit hole lol, I have to figure out my bumpstops too. When doing the lift, the stock rubber ones in the front crumbled away when putting coils in. Luckily my buddy had some extended Daystars he sold me on the spot, problem is, they are a MAJOR ***** to get into the factory location. We tried a pry bar, brute strength, etc and gave up on it after while due to time constraints / other commitments for the day. They're just hanging out inside my coils now until I try my next brilliant plan, which is to remove the coil and use a jack to try and press the new stops into place. Hopefully that works without putting an eye out, LOL

 

Sounds like a nightmare with those bump stops. Glad I didn't get those. I'm just running the empty metal socket right now for my bump stop up front D;

 

haha I know how you feel I still haven't been able to get in a garage to finish up my suspension
Sunday im going by brandonrcms to use his garage to paint my fender cuts and figure out my fender linings im hoping to do my extended brake lines to then next weekend provided my gfs parents let me use their garage to do the suspension work

 

Man, awesome progress. It's been a while since I've checked out your build. My pen ran out of ink taking notes for my build.

How do you like the Clayton Long/Radius Arms? I've been checking them out. I like the fact that you can pull the center section if you need to to tranny/transfer case work.

I'm also thinking about a true 4 link like BDS's kit to replace my short arms.

What is your total lift height, I saw you got 4.5" springs from Serious. Are you running any "pucks" or are you at a true 4.5"?

Sorry for all the questions (especially if you posted it & I missed it).