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Some days - it's two steps forward, one step back - others - it's one step forward, two steps back
Today was the later.
It was supposed to be in the 60s today - what they said earlier in the week. They revised it down to 59. Something about that one degree ..
I hoped to take advantage of the warmth and start looking at the front suspension, u-joints, brakes, put my eyes on the steering box - etc. - just wanted to jack it up and poke around under the front end.
Well - my little 1.5 ton light weight aluminum floor jack was not up to the challenge - it only goes up to 14-inches - which is about 1/2-inch higher than my frame rails. Don't have too many blocks of wood laying around.
So - I'm looking at a new jack from HF.
anyway -
so I thought I would try the blower motor resistor.
Thanks to https://www.cherokeeforum.com/f2/199...s-high-103155/ -
so I took the glove box off - removed the shroud (which didn't have any bolts (warning?)
and could easily see it - unscrewed the two screws - pulled it out - nice and easy.
Could easily tell it needed replaced - and particularly made sense why level 3 on the fan wasn't working.
so - I went to plug the new one in....who can tell where is going?
This is what the plug looks like:
Yeah - that's not looking too good. Question is - did the resistor going cause this - or the fan - or something else? Since the fan still works on the other speeds - I guess this happened when the resistor went bad.
Anyone else had this happen to them?? Do I splice in a new plug or do I go back farther to this green plug?
So i got the Pittsburgh jack this morning, two more 6t jack stands, and a pair of chocks.
I was under the jeep last night and discovered the front left u joint is SHOT. So i also stopped at Advance and got a set of MOOGs to replace both. Seems that if one is bad, i should do both.
Now that I can lift the front wheels, I can see about fixing this. Never done this before.
Got the new jack home and lifted the front of the jeep
Set it down on the jack stands
Got both front wheels off - and started with the driver's side where the known bad U-joint is located.
Rotors look original and are flaking around the edge pretty bad - so now I'm researching those
(seems everyone has a different go-to)
Forgot I needed that big socket - video said 36mm
$20 for just the socket at the auto parts store or a set from "cheap tool store" for 50... - I went that route.
Got cotter pin out - cap off (and washer) then 25" breaker bar with the end of the handle of my new jack -
pry bar through the lugs against the ground - and a screw driver stuck in the edge of the rotor...
No Go
SO - another trip to the store for some PB Blaster
and apparently I'm going to need a torque wrench for putting it back together.
I also got the pigtail to finish the blower motor resistor from O'Reilly's for ~$30 and some butt connectors - so I can finish that.
No one said this was a cheap hobby.
Wife is gone this week so I'm on full time dad duty - so will slow my progress.
If anyone wants any pictures of any of this - let me know.
Here's the update -
Broke the new breaker bar
Bent the replacement breaker bar
Bent the screwdriver I was using to hold the rotor from spinning
Totally destroyed the screwdriver I was using to hold the rotor
got a cheap propane torch from ACE - piece of crap - could not light easily - etc.
anyway - tried to heat it up and do the wax trick I saw online - but I'm too impatient
Dremel - dremel dremel cut off wheel - grinder - chisels (albeit wood chisels I had on hand)
destroyed a couple dremel bits
destroyed chisel
More heat - more grinding more beating on it - DID IT JUST MOVE???
breaker bar - IT MOVED!!
GOT that sucker OFF
Removed the 3 bolts holding the wheel hub on
bent my 1/2 drive socket wrench
beat up pretty well that thin metal flange piece trying to pry the axle out
12" wonder bar - and poof it's off - I have removed the front axle
Someone tell me this is one of the harder jobs to do on the XJ - WOW
Maybe I'll invest in a crazy powerful impact wrench for the other side - I can't keep breaking all my tools.
All suspension jobs can be easy or turn into utter nightmares depending on the amount of rust and corrosion the jeep has. My 400km jeep parts just pull off with no issues(very little rust) my wife's jeep fights every step of the way. good quality tools, penetrating fluid, a propane torch to heat up bolts and nuts, and a few good hammers. I will soak the areas i need to work in penetrating fluid a few days before so it gets good and deep!
A few tips. The battery is cheaper if you have a NAPA nearby. Break loose the axle nut before jacking up. Use a propane torch with a turbo tip. You could jack it up by the axle instead of the frame rails. Husky tools from Home Depot are reasonably priced and haven’t failed me yet. Liquid wrench or pb blaster is a must. That’s all I got right now. Also parts geek, Amazon and eBay often have oem sensors.
Sounds like you would be able to handle doing all those repairs no problem.
I finally got the U-joint replaced -
one direction turned really easy while the other direction is a bit stiffer - not terrible but noticeable
next day I took that apart again - just to make sure nothing funky was going on - but it looked fine
Started putting it back together and got the wheel nut tight - when I realized I forgot the washer
I just reinstalled the damaged brake dust shield - will address that later (maybe)
said heck with it and went to HF and got the 20v cordless impact
zipped off the nut - installed washer and got it put back together.
I thought I'd try to leave the wheel spacers off - since they are the stock rims
but I see at full turn - the tire is rubbing the (lower control arm)
IT"S out of the garage anyway -
Was nice to hear it run again after so long working on this stupid wheel joint
anyway - I have all the right tools now and should be able to do the other side in a fraction of the time.
@Waynerd - I already have replaced the battery
probably could have used more patience with the torch on the wheel nut but ended up cutting it off.
Can anyone identify the leaf springs pictured above? - Thanks
I have not had a full weekend at the house to get much done since Feb - or earlier -
So progress is snail slow.
Tonight I put the wheel spacers back on the front wheels -
maybe tomorrow I will splice in the blower motor relay replacement harness - we'll see.
Couldn't find my wire cutter / stripper tool yesterday
but got out there tonight and got the new plug spliced in
the wires on the new plug were much heavier gauge than the wires that I was connecting into
which didn't have very much room to connect to - but the job is done
and all the fan speeds work!!
So I'm driving the jeep tomorrow!!
Power steering pump starting whining like crazy -
so hmm. nothing on the dip stick - topped that off
(and then used a baster to get it to the proper level - SIGH)
but it quieted that right up - we'll keep an eye / ear on that.
So today - nowhere to go today and mid 60's and sunny
Replaced the passenger front axle u-joint.
New Harbor Freight impact wrench took the wheel nut right off
(I can't believe it was as tight as the other one - but who knows)
I don't think the U-joint was bad - but wanted to do it while I remembered - just do do it in pairs
took all of about 3 hours I think - including lunch - much better than the other side
much more fun when it moves right along right?
I keep looking at suspension and steering components - researching what's next
and it seems that so many things are tied to how much LIFT you have.
(well - obviously suspension provides the lift)
but track bar - which might help tighten up steering
and lower control arms
and shocks
and ... it seems like I need to start with getting the Height Right
before I see about any of these other items that may or may not be required.
SO what's on there now? I did my research and saw (2) ways of measuring
The quick "clean" way and the "dirty" way - for now I just did the quick way.
- Center of wheel to fender flare. 17.5" for stock front / 17" for stock rear
If my measurements are at all close - the rides a bit cockeyed:
4.5 FRONT 3.5
3 REAR 2.5
so there's 2 inch difference between the front left and the right rear
03-14-2019, 06:13 PM
updates
