Not much to report on the Jeep lately. Havent been driving it that much. I will get around to refreshing the steering one of these days. Still drives fine. But I did take the Jeep out over the weekend. Nothing too crazy. Braytonia has been wanting to go to Cleghorn so we made a quick trip out there and did the first 3 hard sections. They werent hard at all. Just very rutted out. Its at the end of the trail when things get bad. But we are saving that for another day when we can get more Jeeps out there.

 

Like normal, not much to report on the Jeep. It has been great. Going to replace all the steering and brakes soon. Mights as well since I have no idea how long its been on. Then the steering box. Its got some play. Other then that, its been pretty good. And to top that off, this is post # 1000 for me!

 

Well here is my minor update. New steering box has been ordered and should be here mid next week. I also ordered a new steering box spacer plate thingy and it is already here. Its from C-rok and looks like a machine welded it!





Next up was the front brakes. Old ones still had half a pad left but the steering wheel wobbled when on the brakes hard. New pads and rotors should fix it.



When I popped everything off, I saw I had a minor issue. Looks like I have some welding and grinding ahead of me.



After that, I moved on to the rear drums. Popped the old ones off and had a look. New shoes didnt look the same. Sure enough, they are completely different. To make things worse, all the springs and such I ordered dont look right either. A big fail tonight for the rear brake change.

 

Great thread! Glad you've given an off road life to a vehicle that deserves to be off road.

 

Thanks! More to come tomorrow.

 

Went up to Big Bear over the weekend to escape the heat. Was over 100° at my house and a nice cool 75° in Big Bear. Didnt get any action shots of the Jeep but had a great time. We had a trail in mind that we wanted to do, something easy, but never found it. So we just found a random trail and took it. Ended up be a "most difficult" trail. In reality, it wasnt that bad. Just lots of rocks. I hate rocks. My clutch also hates rocks. Front and rear diffs got hit a few times and so did the trans cross member but no damage. I did however manage to blow a lower arm bushing and at the same time knocked one of the caster adjuster out of adjustment (D30 out of ZJ). It was a pretty hard hit so I am not surprised. Overall, had a great time and want to do a weekend of camping up there before the snow hits.

 

Time for an update. It all started with the steering box. Replaced the original one with a Delphi. Also did a spacer upgrade from C-rok 4x4. Was a nice easy swap.







Next up was front lower arm bushings.







Then I moved on to another ZJ steering setup. This one from Crown. We will see how it does.



Next up are the top axle / arm bushings. I should have a fresh front end after that. Well I guess besides front hubs and ball joints.... soon to come.

 

That spacer looks like pure beef

 

Pure beef it is! Should work a bit better then the factory one.

 

Took me a few nights, but finally read through your build thread as well as the road trip thread. Your ride turned out awesome. And you Cali guys are lucky from the lack of rust stand point. Great job.

 

Thanks jturbo! And ya rust out here is almost non existent. There is literally not one spec of rust on my Jeep. It makes taking it apart nice. I read all these horror stories about bolts being rusted stuck and snapping off but I havent dealt with one yet and I have had mostly every suspension related bolt out already! (knocking on wood) The odd thing is that my Jeep is actually from FL and somehow made its way out here.

 

Well looks like I am going to have a fun next couple of nights. I have to replace the front top axle bushings before the weekend and make sure everything else is good. And that is because road trip #2 for the year is about to happen! This time we are going out to Utah. So we are going to stop at the Grand Canyon, Zion, Sand Hollow and possibly the Coral Pink sand dunes! Should be a fun couple of days. Like normal, I will be sure to post some pictures.

 

Enjoy your road trip!!! Wish you a safe travels just like your first one and hopefully this time nothing happens to your steering. Again, nice Jeep and love the bug too! I don't recall but did you ever go with 33" tires on yours? I miss California for the no rust issues, I spent 4 years up in Orange County (Seal Beach specifically) during my military duties and loved every moment of the weather and beach life. Maybe one day I will get back down there only this time with my XJ. Up in Washington now so I have plenty of good places to go trailing with the Jeep once it is ready.

 

Thanks Irish! I will try to be safe out there. Once I get past Vegas, I should have a nice clear drive. All steering components are new so I really hope they dont give me any issues! And nope, didnt go to 33's yet. That will most likely be next year when I do the long arm kit. So I am still on 31's.

You made the smart move from here to WA. I have been up there before and it is a beautiful place. I wouldnt mind moving out that way. Shoot, mostly anywhere is better then CA. Also, thank you for your services!

 

So I have been driving the Jeep the past couple days to make sure everything is good for the trip. Well today it happened to be 95° out for no reason, so I went to turn the AC on and..... nothing. Compressor wont kick on. AWESOME! Going to throw some fluid in before I leave work and hope it last the weekend.