Thanks for the input Chad. I am thinking I will hold off on the 4 link until down the road when I don't mind cutting into the floor to do a custom 4 link setup and get better angles maybe when my leafs wear out. I am pretty sure I am going to go for the Clayton 3 link though

Here are some updates on my jeep for anyone interested:

-I started hearing a squeeling noise last week after going through some muddy trails. I took the wheels off, cleaned the brake pads and spun the axle shafts to see if I could still hear it. Unfortunately it wasn't the brakes that were squeaking like I thought, but the front yoke bearing on my transfercase.

I decided to pull both driveshafts put the jeep in drive and get underneath to listen to the case with the engine on. There was another clicking noise coming from inside the case when in 2wd in addition to the bad front bearing. I am now driving around with only the rear shaft and have started to notice slight vibes at highway speed. So basically my transfercase is done for. I am not going to rebuild it again since this 231 has been nothing but trouble. So its between a crawlbox or tj 241j case if I can find one or an atlas 2 speed.

-I also installed my new fuel pump assembly this weekend to fix the long turnover issue I had and it solved the problem. I also have an accurate fuel gauge now which is a plus. Since installing it I now have smoother acceleration and a little more power. I have a feeling that the 10 year old pump was not functioning as well as it did new.

I doubt the new pump will fix my gas mileage problem (10mpg last fill up) because it is probably due to the bad transfercase bearing(s) that has slowly been getting worse over time.

Here are some pictures of the fuel pump install:

Bumper and skid removed:



Tank out:



Old assembly out:





Nasty filter:



Then I cleaned the tank out completely.

Nice clean new bosch assembly I put in:



I then filled it up with new gas to make sure no contaminants got into the tank. I also disassembled the old assembly and pulled out the pump to keep as a trail spare.

Overall this would have been a very easy install (especially if I had no gas tank skid) accept for one thing made it into a 2 day ordeal for me. I had to cut off/drill off one of the nuts holding the tank straps to the the hanger that had stripped threads. The manufacturer or previous owner overtighted the nut ruining the threads and instead of replacing the hanger/straps, just screwed on another nut behind it . Definitely glad to have it finished though.

 

Look what I just ordered:

 

Here are some quick updates since its been awhile:

-I received my Clayton 3 link kit in the mail and plan to install it soon.





-I installed some heat shielding between the injectors and the intake manifold and it stopped my heat soak problem. It really is a bad design to have the injectors so close to the extremely hot intake manifold.




-I also removed the rubber liner section running along the backside of the hood. According to somewhere I read (the gojeep website maybe?) its supposed to reduce underhoood temps by 20 degrees. That is a little bit of an overstatement, but it did made a noticeable difference for me.



-I went wheeling yesterday for the first time in a long time. It was a big meetup of a local club JeepNation, combined with a bunch of other groups at Hidden Falls Park. I had a blast. I actually got to meet up with a member on cherokeeforum (Evilpopcorn) out there too so it was cool to finally wheel with a cherokeeforum member...well we split off into groups and I technically didn't actually get on any trails with him... oh well next time we will. Here are a couple videos of that.

Skip to 0:56 if you want to see me on this one:


I am at 0:22 on this one:



In the last video, you will notice a creaking noise from my bad control arm joints (which will be replaced with the long arms soon) and an annoying squeeking sound which is from a bad bearing on my transfercase front output yoke. Rather than rebuild the case again, I am deciding between an atlas 2 speed, and a 231 box4rox doubler mated to a flipped 300. Then I would have twin sticks plus underdrive... I have done a lot of research, but I still haven't made up my mind on what I am going to do.

 

What level where those trails? I have been wanting to make it to Hidden Falls for quite a while.

 

They were a combination of different levels maybe a 5 for the first video. The highest they have is a six. You should go sometime though they have trails for all different levels we even saw a stock land rover out there. The harder trails all have bypasses if the obstacle seems too crazy.

 

I'm a big fan of these kinds of xjs- still can do quite a bit off road, but can be a good DD also- good work man

 

Thanks man it is nice being able to drive it around town and then do just as good off road as guys who have trail rigs only. The only thing is if I break it I have to figure out how to drive it home after haha.

 

I ordered some hood vents from genright to install. Should get them on by next week.



I also plan to install my Clayton 3 link long arms next week.

And one other thing still on the back burner is what to do about my tcase. I want to have this thing ready to wheel by feb 6 so I need to decide this week.

-Option 1: flipped dana 300 twin sticks maybe 4 low gears.

-Option 2: 241j rubicon case off a tj

-Option 3: 231 crawlbox mated to a flipped d300 with a triple cable shifter.

-Option 4: 2 speed 4.6 atlas maybe add a crawlbox on the front down the road.

What are your guys' thoughts?

 

TeraLo 4:1 FTW!!

 

Please post pics when you get those hood vents installed

 

I've been looking into buying a dana300 and flipping the beast. then, in the future, I'll toss a 4:1 kit in it. The reason I want to go this route is because I don't have 2k to throw out at once, this way, I can build it, piece by piece, take more time, and a little less money. But for someone in my situation. totally worth it.

 

Ya i am leaning towards at least doing a flipped 300. The big reasons for wanting to do the crawlbox before it is that i am pretty sure I wouldn't need a new longer driveshaft and this would give me even lower gears than the 4:1 300 kit for about the same price and i would have a four speed instead of just 2 speed. If I needed even lower gearing down the road I could also throw in the teralow 4:1 gears on the 300 and end up with something like 1:1, 2.7:1, 4:1, and 10.8:1if I remember right.

 

Here are some recent updates on the jeep:

I did the new boat on a roof upgrade which added a ton of horsepower:






Then I went wheeling to a local lake:




I got my new genright hood vents. They are great quality and are slanted just like my hood.




I test fitted them here:




However those spots aren't going to work due to the bracing on the back side of the hood. I will be putting them towards the center of the hood. I will take new pictures once I install them.

Next I installed all the bolt on parts of my 3 link clayton long arm kit yesterday. Here are some pictures of how I did that.

-Removed the crossmember:




-Comparrison picture. The clayton x-member weighs about 35 lbs.




-Here is what the rails looked like:




-I cleaned all that off and bolted on the x-member to prep it to be welded to the unibody rails:








Removed the old junk:




A comparison of the old RC x-joints vs. the Clayton Johnny Joints- huge difference in size and quality.




Put some angled grease fittings on so that I can actually regrease the arms. They fit just perfectly.






Here are the new lower arms bolted on:






I left the stock upper control arms on temporarily so that I could drive it to a shop to have them finish everything else up:



This is a 3-link setup, not a 4 link like the above picture suggests. I brought my jeep to a local shop (West Texas Offroad) today to have them weld on the uca mount/axle bridge, weld the cross member to the unibody rails, connect the upper link, and dial everything in. I also asked them to push the axle forward an inch to lengthen the wheelbase a bit. I am pretty stoked to have it all installed soon.

 

What advantages will get from lengthening the WB by one inch?

 

A little more tire clearance at the back of the fender (may have to trim at the front) and better approach angle.