old ones werent that bad but they came off so might as well replace



lower BJ zurk hit the U joint because I used ****ty amazon BJs, only screw in parts store that fit was a Honda Rotor bolt of some sort

 

All my steering ends were worn out and even though I am only on 31s I wanted to upgrade. I really like my SFR shackle brackets so I went with their steering. I also bought their Pitman arm already reamed to the 1-ton taper Aswell as the tapered inserts. I started drilling my knuckle to 7/8 with a normal metal bit and battery power drill and it walked way to badly to be safe. So, I had to order a Tapered bit. It worked really well, and, on the side that I didn't mess up with the normal bit everything was perfect. On the side I molested prior there was an oval hole about an 1/8-1/16" but it was a good circle the rest. The insert sat at a slight angle but fixed itself a little when the TRE was tightened.






pitman arm was hard to get because i couldt get my pitman arm puller on top


insert not sitting flush

Very happy with this angle.

 

4 Brand new 31" KM3, rear shocks, and needed to clean my Tb and IAC, I had bad idling issues after it sat for a couple months when I was at school. With my death wobble fixed I drove 6 hours with it to Mammoth Lakes no issues at all. But when I got home, I noticed my driver side U joint is bad, very bad.





That brings this thread up to speed. I guess I need to replace U joints, I want to dial in rear bump stops and brake line length before I go offroad, and I will probably get Lunchbox lockers F/R soon. My only concern is unpredictably in the snow but i likely won't see snow for a year and I dont need to take this jeep when i do. I brought it that time to test all my repairs and upgrades.
Im also starting to get an idea of my long term with this thing. Thinking D44, JK or Ford, 9 inch? or 8.8 rear, with 35,36,37s. 3link front 4 link rear? Not sure but Im exciting to keep working on this and will keep this thread updated.

 

Replaced my front driver U joint because I had a clunking in the front end. It was really hard to get all the C clips out as the rusted in there, but the caps came out pretty easy with sockets and a hammer. When i went to test drive there was still a front-end clunk coming from the driver side. i have replaced everything in my front end except for the passenger u joint, and control arm bushings and steering box. I will probably get a steering box brace and spacer next unless someone else has an idea on the clunk/ clank.




bent my screw driver!

 

i took a video of the wheels turning to try to diagnose my front end clunk. I took the sway bar off to isolate that theory. Yes, lots of tie rod roll but that doesn’t bother me. Maybe control arms, the uppers seem to love a lot.

 

Well i’ve been having some problems with this thing. One being since I took my jeep to school with me in Santa Cruz the rain have been doing a number on my leaky sunroof. I was going to re caulk it but I forgot. Also I don’t think this is a dealer installed roof, previous owner hack job.

Number two is a new noise at idle, when I drive it’s not there and when it warms up it’s gone. But it sounds like a knocking. I changed the oil to 15w-40 Rotella a couple weeks ago and maybe that thicker oil doesn’t like the colder start ups? I don’t drive until the temp gauge starts to move and always let it warm for a long time.

And I still have that front end clunk. Only when I turn right/passenger. Everything is tight down there, i shook all steering and tie rod and it has new U joint ball joints and hubs

 

I took a video of my jeep idling and you can hear the noise pretty good.

It’s not letting me upload videos i’ll try later

 

Sunroofs were a dealer option. So you would buy the jeep and then they would send a licensed installer to do the upgrade either at the dealer or at the new owners home. So still not factory. They are notorious for leaking, but I would still love one in mine if it worked correctly since they are so rare!

The sound to me is coming from a pulley somewhere and not internal to the engine. I would not run a thicker weight oil. These XJs are best run on stock spec oil. Make sure to run something with zinc or use an additive since the 4.0 was designed with older oils in mind. A shop with a microphone diagnostic tool could point it out pretty easily.

A front end clunk is usually a bushing worn out somewhere that shifts under pressure. Control arms?

 

Im pretty sure it is my control arm bushings as well. I have new axle side uppers, but I never got around to putting them on. And those are the only thing I havnt replaced up front. I still have stock upper control arms! As for oil I am using 15w 40 diesel oil.
Thanks for reply and insight

 

Got new rear bumpstops installed. Broken the front bolt off on both sides so they are only attached with one bolt right now. Sturdy enough for daily driving but ill need to drill and tap the front before I go off-roading.
Also got my steering box brace and a set of used Cavfab upper control arms for 80$. These holes are drilled to 9/16 so i will need to use JK axle bushings. Getting the bushings and steering box spacer and I will install this stuff sometime in spring.

 

Own a rivnut tool?
When I busted one of the 4 doing mine I just punched the broken bolt into the uni-body and used a 5/16-16 rivnut there.
Was a little awkward getting my rivnut tool in there, stock height by the way, but the hole there is the correct size for a 5/16-16 rivnut
and that is what size the bolts are so.......

 

I have a riv VET tool, its what I used to attach my light pods, but not a rivnut/ threaded insert tool. That looks alot easier to do, did your tool have enough strength to go through the frame rail thing? Also is that broken bolt just rolling loose in your in the unibidy?

 

While my OCD does make it so things have to be just so even I have my limits.
Yeah that broken bolt is probably still kicking around in the uni-body.
I don't hear it, at least I don't think so, and for all I know it found its way out at some point.
Don't understand your "did your tool have enough strength to go through the frame rail thing" question.

 

Yeah, that was a stupid question, obviously it was strong enough because it worked.
I'll look into this, Thanks

 

Just been driving the jeep, it drives from my school to home no problem on one tank of gas so happy about that. But some things:
MAJOR F up on my part (a regular occurrence when i work on my jeep) but I never painted my SRB brackets. I was burnt out of cutting and grinding for 3 days straight and the last thing i wanted to do was look for paint at 1 am. So i threw them in without paint. They are pretty badly rusted, and I am debating taking them out at cleaning them up and painting. But it was super hard to get my bolts to grab the nut strip in the frame rail and I don’t want to do that again

Flash makes it look a little worse then it is, and I did just drive out of a wet dirt lot


Another thing: I am strongly considering getting OME 2” lift springs and using a 1.5 lift shackle in the here. The stock shackle doesn’t play well with these brackets. But that would defeat the purpose of why I got these brackets in the first place. To make my existing leaves ride better.
Anyway just some thoughts, maybe someone can chime in with advice

Also, this clean XJ parks in the same lot as me everyday