Muy bien

 

Once the tie rod comes in ill give you a shout

 

Sounds good. I'll lend a hand. Waiting to hear back from someone about a new d30 for me so I can do all my stuff

 

Thanks to Unidentifiedbomb for help today! We got the tie rod and drag link off the xj today. Took about 3 hours (but there was a bit of pizza and talking in between). The track bar is a bear right now though. Going to PB it over the next few days and try again on Saturday. Got all new stuff waiting to go on

 

Let me know when you get it free. It was great helping out, looking forward to next time. Maybe we will do a fender trim party soon.

 

BACK ON THE ROAD!!!! Got all of the componets put on today (drag link, track bar, and the upgraded ZJ tie rod. skyjacker Steering stabilizer, and better working teraflex swayer discos.) This was a long day. I started at 8 am, left to grab breakfast at 10. left at 5 for dinner. just came in and washed up at 9. well worth it!! no more DW.

Now to get back to more important things... like my honey do list I didn't get to :l

 

Here's pics today

 

Sweet RTI ramp! Ha looks good, happy you got it done before Saturday.

 

Go the alignment done today at a shop. I wasn't confident in myself after doing it in the driveway. I wasn't TOO bad off...

My Stats:
Left Toe - .27 degrees
Right Toe - .10 degrees

After:
Left Toe - .10 degrees
Right Toe - .15 degrees

Caster no change and camber no change.


The guy told me to consider new ball joints in the near future. Camber is -1.4 left and -1.0 right. This explains the camber issue I have been seeing. Ill tackle that in my father in laws garage this winter.

 

Went to Rausch Creek today. Was a lot of fun and a great experience. On the way home, I had an extra curricular event happen

 

Here is my trail report from Rausch -

Location: Rausch Creek
Date: November 28 2015
Notes:
On the 28th, I went with DEJA to Rausch Creek for a trail run. It was my first run and I learned quite a bit.

Setup:
1999 XJ with 197K. 2 inch lift, 31’s and no fender trim. Rear hitch added.

What I prepared:
I brought along the following items. Ones with a # sign are usually in the jeep all the time.

Pliers #
Adjustable wrench #
Basic screwdriver set #
Full ratchet set (standard and metric)
Full box end and open access wrenches (metric and some standard)
Spare Tire #
Hi-lift Jack #
Board for the jack #
Tow strap #
Lug Nut wrench & key #
Gloves
Tire gauge #
2 qts Oil
Oil filter
Propane torch
Torch lighter
Various Washers and bolts/nuts
Power Inverter
Work light
Drop cord
Handheld sledge
Rubber Mallet (before it broke… it was old anyways)
Zip-ties #
Duct Tape

What I lacked:
Spare Cotter pins
When I was prepping to leave, I aired up my tires and went to reattach sway bars. I had left the pins on the hood when I first took them off and never grabbed them. I had to end up buying a set from the store for $2 a pop. They are the kind that goes through and the ring slaps over it. I’ll consider it a Trail Upgrade/Battlefield Promotion. Also, I had to make a roadside repair and tighten my track bar. The bar had loosened in the mount and came “wiggly”. Luckily the pin was still there, luckily. If it had not been…. we would had a different story.

Small Bungee cords
I originally zip tied my sway bar to that triangle shaped metal brace at the front of the wheel well. Those snapped off pretty quick. The rig in front of me had cords I could use. Very handy little things.

Spare Tie Rod
Mine held up just fine, but my front skid took one heck of a beating on a particular rock. 3 inches lower and it would have bit the tie rod. I have the ZJ upgrade… but to be safe I should through the stock one with new TRE’s in back.

Wheel helper for the Hi-Lift
Didn’t need it on the trail, but would be smart to have. I have to jack up from the bumper quite high to get the axle up high enough to change the tire.

Rear Hitch Shackle
Again, didn’t need it, but would be smart to have in the Jeep. The two XJ’s in front of me had them.

OBA (that actually works)
Don’t use the mini pumps from Walgreens. It sounds like a good idea, but you’ll look like a fool. Just save and buy the Viair pumps. I didn’t even attempt to use it.

Power Steering fluid
I have a leak now. Perhaps a clamp came loose from years of neglect.

Various Clamps
See above

Cheater Bar
Because how much weight is a small aluminum pipe anyway.

GoPro memory cards and mounts
Because Jeep


What I over prepared:

Tools
I didn’t need every tool. A 12-19 MM wrench set would be great. A socket set to match would be perfect. This also added a bit of weight. I could keep the hammer and mallet.

Emergency Supplies
Honestly, don’t be a prepper here. You don’t need the 72 Hour kit of food and medical supplies. I should just pack a small first aid kit, a foodlion bag of snacks/food and a case of water. The water can double for the radiator if need be.


Next Steps:

Fender Trim, Fender Trim, Fender Trim
I blew my front passenger tire on the way home. The tire was probably cut in the middle by the fender rubbing. Since its all cheap sheet metal, I can trim pretty generously. The rear just needs slight trim work. All edges will have the soft plastic/rubber molding to keep everything nice and dull.

New Tires
Mine have dry rot in places and need to be replaced anyway. This will wait a while because of cost.

Deep clean
It’s a mess under the hood. Dirt everywhere. I also have some scrapes on the body. I will probably have to sand down and repaint in the winter.




All in all I had a great time and learned a TON! I will never go alone and couldn’t thank the people who stopped and helped me on the way home enough! What a blast, Go JEEP!

 

Some pics from Saturday. Thanks to Harkor for taking a few pics of my XJ

 

Got on the XJ today. Found some more damage on my skids. The t-case slid will need to be taken off, re formed and new bolts put in. The second cross piece kinda ripped out of the main cross member. No big deal... I'm sure it will be fun.

Drove it and noticed my wheel going back and forth from straight to about 45 degrees either way to keep going straight. Not death wobble like, more like a slow progression. Finally got home and got out to find smoke puffing like crazy from my driver front tire. Looked and saw orange so I grabbed my extinguisher from the cab and puffed it a few times. Don't have time to get out and start taking things apart, but I imagine there is crap lodged in there somewhere to cause it to seize. I've been meaning to change the calipers anyway... Just not this soon lol.

Pics and update tomorrow!

 

Pics