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Decided to try out this paint from Tractor Supply. It’s pretty tough and has a similar sheen to POR15. After 2 coats Black powder base coat cooling after a flash cure Close-up of the finish with the copper flake clear coat Bit of a learning curve here for me. I didn’t pay attention to where my wire was hanging during powder coating. Left an ugly mark in the finished product. The second one came out better. No wire marks. Shackle brackets installed
Finished the shackle bracket install a while back. I had to shave material off my bushings to get the IRO shackles to fit. Finishing the installation was otherwise pretty straight forward. I’m pretty happy with these brackets. The Jeep takes bumps a little smoother now that my springs are moving like they should. I almost got stranded at work a couple weeks ago when the Jeep wouldn’t start. I thought at first that it was my NSS, but after tapping the starter solenoid with a hammer it fired up. I went ahead and replaced the starter just the other day.
It has been super hot in my neck of the woods the past couple weeks. This unfortunately resulted in a vulnerability in my cooling system that I wasn’t 100% confident on. I overheated climbing a long hill last weekend. I had a feeling something still wasn’t quite right with the cooling system.
The pic above shows where my temp gauge had been riding before it overheated. A little higher than the normal 210, but not quite super concerning. So I just kept a close eye on it to make sure I didn’t get above 220.
Since it never went a tick over 220 for months even under load, I thought maybe the coolant temp sensor was faulty. I’ve been delinquent on replacing my coolant and oil sensors (hence the zero oil pressure in the pic). Unfortunately there is something else going on making it still run hot.
I tinkered with it the following day and took it for a ride. It started to get hot again so I pulled over and started feeling around in the engine bay. The radiator cap wasn’t even hot. That led me to believe either my thermostat is stuck or the radiator is clogged.
I took a little while to come up with a plan to tackle this, but to help cancel out any questions with the thermostat, I ordered an OEM Mopar thermostat. Come to find out, they’re actually made by Motorad now. I also ordered an OEM radiator cap.
I’m currently looking for a replacement radiator to try. The severe duty OEM radiator is now a discontinued part and I cannot seem to find any new old stock radiators online.
Additionally, I threw in a KSuspension electric fan override switch and harness. I did something similar in my old XJ so I could control heat soak and found it super useful. This harness was super easy to put in. It took me maybe 25 minutes.
Mounting location for the fan override relay
I’ve always found quick splice connectors to be kind of chinsy. I used the one that came in the kit anyway, at least for the time being.
For now the switch is hidden in the center console ash tray. I will eventually get a switch panel to put here.
Last edited by mikecorrell; Jun 29, 2024 at 10:29 PM.
I found an OEM style rocker switch on Ebay for a more permanent solution to my fan override switch. I swapped out my fog light switch for it.
I ended up buying a Spectra replacement radiator because I couldn’t find an OEM Mopar one. Hopefully it holds up. I’m about halfway done installing it.
I have a feeling the old radiator was clogged. When I drained it, the little coolant that came out was rusty and gross looking. I flushed the block and heater core again once the radiator was out. All the coolant that flushed out of the block still looked brand new.
Last edited by mikecorrell; Sep 1, 2025 at 07:54 PM.
The rest of the radiator/thermostat install went well. Put some fresh coolant in and burped the system. The pic below shows where my operating temp is now. Even in the summer heat with the A/C on, it runs right where I’ve always wanted it to.
Still paying close attention to coolant levels and making sure I don’t run past 210, but fingers crossed, it looks like the radiator did the trick.
Ordered a new fan shroud. My zip tie fix is starting to sag and hit the fan.
The Jeep is currently put up for winter. In this pic I had pulled it out of the garage to work on my daily driver. I have plans to continue picking away at this build, but it has gone on the back burner. I have been renovating a house and finishing up a bachelor’s degree, while trying to fix up my winter beater.
I drove the Jeep as a weekender until the first snowfall. After all the work it has taken, I am really reluctant to let it ever see road salt.
I will continue to update this thread as I continue this build.
I realized that my downpipe probably broke due to vibration stress. It was resting against the crossmember with no support from the hanger bushing. I want to replace the bushing before installing the new downpipe.
Someone gave me a drop pitman arm like a year ago and I never got around to putting it on. Might as well do it now! Been wanting to correct my drag link geometry.
I love that IRO’s long arm design makes the transmission crossmember so easy to drop.
Pulled this transmission mounting plate off to address the worn out exhaust hanger bushing
Drilled out the bracket spot welds
The original pitman arm was so stuck that I had to cut a relief to get it to pull off
Drop pitman arm vs OE
MOOG replacement drag link end
Drop pitman arm installed
Transmission mount plate and hanger bracket sandblasted
New hanger bushing installed on mount plate I had to cut one of the bolts short to clear the bottom of the transmission I also powder coated this little tailpipe hanger I made a while back. Everything is reinstalled. I am happier with this down pipe than the previous one, but by the time I tweaked it to line everything back up, I ended up with the same issue that I think caused the other one to break. The bottom of the pipe just barely rests on the crossmember. I will leave it like this, though I won’t be surprised if this one fails in a couple years.
When I found my center exhaust mount bushing was slowly failing, I bent the hanger slightly to raise the exhaust. That gave me enough clearance to no longer hear the exhaust hitting the crossmember. It's been many years since then, no issues, and I still haven't had to replace the bushing.
When I found my center exhaust mount bushing was slowly failing, I bent the hanger slightly to raise the exhaust. That gave me enough clearance to no longer hear the exhaust hitting the crossmember. It's been many years since then, no issues, and I still haven't had to replace the bushing.
