Captain_America

Awesome! I am definitely looking into the ram setup!

Spooner

Before you spend $300 on KC's I have a suggestion. I didn't have the money for KC's so i had to take an alternate route. I went down to the local truck stop and bought 4 "Truck-Lite"'s. I was very skeptical of how bright they would be or how they would hold up. They are a 4 3/4 inch Sealed beam bulb with a rubber housing so they are extremely durable/flexible. They are self grounding and have 18ga hot wire. My first reaction when i flipped them on was "WOW! These are bright!" They are actually used on trucks as back up lights. I am extremely impressed with them and best of all. They are CHEAP! I ended up paying like 15 bucks a piece. For the Money and the Performance, \I wouldn't go with anything but them. Look at my album if you want to check them out. Oh and here is a Link.
http://www.truck-lite.com/webapp/wcs...4146&langId=-1

gvns8

So here are some more updates on the jeep:

I removed the intake manifold in order to check for a cracked exhaust manifold yesterday. I have been getting 10 mgp recently and I have been noticing some loss in power when acceleration, and some sort of spitting exhaust type sound coming from then engine when driving at low speed.





I looked over the whole thing very closely and it turns out that I don't have any cracks in the manifold so that's good. I decided to replace the exhaust/intake gasket though to make sure the seal is good the old one may have been leaking.



When I took off the exhaust manifold, I noticed I could wiggle around the rear half section of it back to front and side to side.



Here is a video of it:

https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/phot...eat=directlink


I thought I might have broken the flange part of the cat, but I ended up fixing the problem just by tightening up the bolts holding the flanges together. It is actually a compression type flange fitting and because it was not tight, must have been leaking exhaust this whole time I thought I had a crack. So the good news is that this should fix the problem of the exhaust leak before the cat and I don't have to replace a cat or manifold. This was probably causing the o2 sensors to read more oxygen then was actually being put out and changing the mixture of the fuel and killing my gas mileage.

I did decide to replace the oxygen sensors while I have easy access to them. I tested them and they work fine, but they are supposed to be replaced at 82000 miles according to my hanes manual and I have about 85000 miles on the jeep so I bought all new ones.





There are four of them though-so they were expensive . My jeep should be running well after I get everything back together though.

While I had the intake manifold off it was clear that there was a lot of gunk built up in there near the injector ports.





So I spent about 2 hours cleaning all the ports along with the actual throttle body intake with some throttle body cleaner, a rag, and some brushes. Much better:









I have also read that bad motor mounts are the main cause of cracked exhaust manifolds. So as a preventative measure, I checked mine out by putting the brake on and putting the jeep in drive and watched the engine move about 3/4 of an inch. It is only supposed to move about 1/8 inch. So I decided to upgrade them to some Brown Dog motor mounts, since they have a lifetime warranty, look pretty strong and they sell a rubber version- I have enough noise already, last thing I want is poly motor mounts to be shaking the whole jeep when I am driving it around town. Those are in the mail now.



I also got a new rubber transmission mount. Comparing it to my old mount it is clear my old one is done for, I could move the old one around by hand and almost bend it half. The new one is very rigid and feels like a brick.



So today was filled with troubleshooting and luckily I think I solved my problem. Tomorrow I will be putting everything back together and hopefully having it drive great. Two of the 02 sensors that the shop sold me were the wrong part number so I will also have to exchange those for the correct ones and then get everything back together and running.

Thanks for all your guy's comments on the hydro steering, I plan to report back again on how it performs offroad as soon as I get this thing on some trials.

Captain_America

Your right on the exhaust. The loose flange/collector will not only let exhaust out but let air in causing the O2 sensors to read lean. Then the computer adds fuel making your mpg go to **** and also make for a stinky exhaust! haha

gvns8

OK so 5 days into the dang project I finally have my exhaust manifold tightened up enough to stop leaking. The stupid thing took 40 ft-lbs to make it stop leaking, which I found from research was about the norm. That is quite a bit more the 23ft-lbs it called for, but my father works with jets and he said usually there is a "running torque" that when working on planes must be added to the actual torque specification, so I think this may be the same type of thing. In other words you have to tighten up the manifold until it sandwiches the gasket in there, and take the torque required to do that and add it to the 23ft-lb spec(or whatever yours calls for) and that should be your final torque. Not sure if this is true, but it makes sense.

For anyone doing this in the future I highly recommend getting one of these u-joint sockets in 9/16" size along with a "wobble extension". If I didn't have it this would have impossible to tighten all these bolts without removing all the accessories each time.





So I now have the 4 new Oxygen sensors installed, a tightened connection between the minicat downpipes and the manifold, and a new manifold gasket installed.



After taking it on a test drive, I am convinced that I fixed my problem. When accelerating, I now have more power than I ever have, and for once I can hear my muffler (Due to actually having exhaust pressure on it now), and the engine sounds much smoother when I rev it. Now I just need to weld up all the small leaks I have in the exhaust pipes after the cat converters and I will finally have a great sounding exhaust system. Man its nice to finally fix this problem and hopefully my gas mileage will be back up to 16mpg or so instead of 10mpg.

switchskater90

i wouldnt worry to much about the tire if i was you. i mean idk. the side wall is the strongest part of the tire. but just me personally if i couldnt see the wiring id leave it go depending on how much high way driving you do. just remember you can never ever plug a sidewall. horrible idea. just trying to help.
-frederick

gvns8

Thanks for the input, but please try not to re-quote all the pictures it kind of clutters up everything. That was quite awhile ago that I posted that up though and the tire is still holding up just fine.

As far as updates on the jeep:

-I removed the muffler and tail pipe, cut off the old u clamps, sanded down the joints and put some jb weld on the joints, so hopefully that will hold up. I still need to bolt the section I removed back on and see how it sounds and if it fixes all the leaks.

-I also did a pretty cool mod that allows me to have an "Extended idle" option for my engine. Basically I just tapped into the grey extended idle wire in the ecu harness and ran a wire to a switch that connects it to a ground. I can now turn on that switch and it makes my xj idle at 1000rpms- good for running a/c while not moving, and running my air compressor, and lights when not moving.

-I also did the same type of thing by tapping into the wire for the electric fan and running the wire to a switch with a ground. This allows me to manually override the electric fan and make it run whenever I want it to by flipping on the switch, but it will still turn off when the engine is off. If the switch is turned off then the fan is just regulated by the ecu like normal.

Pretty cool cheap mods that will actually make a big difference.

gvns8

Well here is what I have done on the jeep recently.

I installed my new brown dog motor mounts:



You can tell the old ones are worn, when new there is not supposed to be that much a of a gap between the metal and rubber parts.



My jury rigged way of supporting the motor in the driveway man I love ratcheting straps haha.





Also replaced the tranny mount. This thing was impossible to find the right one. Turns out nearly every parts store in town lists the wrong part number for the 2000/2001 tranny mount. This one ended up being listed as one for a 4cylinder 93 cherokee.



Overall there is a noticable difference in the ride to the point that I thought there was something wrong with my transmission. I can hardly feel the transmission shift now. I came to realize though that it is just because these things hold the engine so rigidly in place that I can no longer move the engine at all with my hand. Previously I could move it around about 1/2", so the whole engine moving around with the torque changes was causing a jolt type of feeling that I no longer experience. Definately well made and a heck of a deal I think I paid $80 shipped for the mounts from brown dog.

-I also decided to finally have a muffler shop weld up all of the exhaust leaks I had at 3 joints. Only took about an hour and was totally worth it rather than trying to home remedy it. My exhaust is LOUD now. The stiffer motor mounts probably amplify it also though.

-Finally, I also changed my oil with the typical cheapest synthetic deal I could get, this time mobil synthetic.

gvns8

So, I made my way out to Texas from San Diego and the drive was luckily uneventful. With the full trailer on the jeep, I weighed in at 6040lbs. The empty weight of the jeep is 3840lbs so I am happy to say nothing went wrong even pulling all that weight.

Normal curb weight of a stock xj is 3,386 lbs max so my xj empty is a good 456lbs over the stock xj due to larger tires/truss/steering/rack/skids.

Since getting here I have had the opportunity go check out the base auto hobby shop and man this shop is nice to work in. I now also have access to a welder, plasma cutter, and dyno .

Here is what I got done there:

-Applied anti-squeal stuff to my brake pads (no more dang squeaking when driving around town)

-Tighted up the tie rod end which was loose for some reason (now I need to do Another alignment)

-Took off the junk upper control arms from Rough Country and Re-tightened the "x-joint" Again for the third time since buying these since they keep clunking.

Other than that I have done a lot of thinking about what type of bumper I want to go with. Here are some options I have been considering.

For the front I am kind of liking this bumper due to the high approach angle and kind of cool/different looking front bars. (plus I need something that will protect the side of my headlight bezel after already smashing mine against a rock once).



However, I also really like the idea of an integrated winch bumper where the winch is inside the winch like this one:



Bottom side view:



I am not too keen on the looks of the above bumper though. I will have to keep looking for something similar or maybe find a place to make me one that looks good.

For the Rear I basically want this bumper, I might get one made by the company if they still produce it or have something similar custom fabbed.



If I could get this bumper I would probably also consider some side panel protection/lights as seen in this picture:



I am also considering a cage so that I don't die in a rollover, like I almost had the other day out wheeling. Maybe some type of interior cage integrated with a new roof rack would be nice also.

Let me know what you guys think.

gvns8

Today I just bought some brand new larger 35" BFG Mud Terrain KM2 Tires



Had to special order them at discount tire, they come in Thursday. Pics to come soon.

Captain_America

That bumper is for sale Here:

http://www.xjsocal.com/showthread.ph...S-Winch-Bumper

tunermiket

very nice. esp. love the roof rack and sliders.

gvns8

Unfortunately it was sold an hour after he posted it haha good deal though thanks anyways.


Thank you, more pretty sweet changes will be going down in the near future.

For instance, I now have beastly 35 inch tires





I seriously feel like I am driving a monster truck around town now, I think I might even lower it back down an inch in the lift its so tall.

Here are the before and after pictures:

gvns8

I guess I also should throw up some pictures from wheeling the last two weekends which inspired me to buy the bigger tires. Texas wheeling is much different than in Colorodo due to having no traction on the rocks with all the loose dirt. Still a hell of a time though.

First here are the king of the canyons race pictures from when I went a couple weeks ago:

Some sweet bugies there:













I got to run the course also after the race:









Next here are some pictures from when I went to hidden falls adventure park last weekend and had a blast:

Here is a good picture of uhhh my jeep:










video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature...Jb3xPHO0#t=70s

another video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KjVBL...ilepage#t=103s

















http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature...&v=vJb7VEWLswg













another video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature...Hy1Al1OE#t=47s







And a video of that obstacle:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature...IYq7et0#t=111s

I am blaming this need for a tow strap on my bad tires. There was a line I was trying to take that I just couldn't hold to with the tires sliding off the higher rock ridge I was trying to hug. Oh well guess I will have to retry the obstacle with my bigger tires with new tread.


Anyways hope "ya'al" enjoyed these pictures of some good ol' texas wheelin' .

gvns8

I changed the transmission fluid and filter yesterday.

After swapping the filter I basically flushed it by turning on the jeep with the output hose from the transmission disconnected and feeding into a bucket while pouring about 10 new quarts into the tranny until it ran red again. I still have to throw on the tranny cooler I bought.

Here is what I have left to do on my priority list for the near future:
-install tranny cooler
-buy steering brace and inner steering bracket
-buy upper rear quarter panel protection
-replace fuel pump assembly
-have a shop clean and service my 4 hole fuel injectors
-buy a 35" spare and American racing rim to match my current rims
-buy a rear tire carrier maybe jcr's new one but with a fold and cut design when they finish designing it
-buy front winch bumper with extremely good approach angle
-frame plating
-hybrid cage with halo roof rack, exterior a pilar and bar connecting to front bumper and the rear part all interior