Got the jeep back in commission. Disc brakes are great.

I did several hard stops from 30-40 to 0 and I could immediately notice the nose does not dive as hard. Also with the ZJ prop valve the rears don't lock up first.

Glad I did that, even though it took me half the summer..

I also replaced my giant ported sub box with a smaller sealed one. Glad to have some cargo space back.



And picked up a cowl intake on Craigslist

 

I also did the track bar bushing and can actually keep the jeep in my lane now, so that's good.

 

I haven't been able to work on the Jeep much because of school, like last year. I have been wheelin a bit with a couple local groups and clubs which has been cool but I've discovered there's not much for terrain around my school.

In better news, I just ordered the front, center, and rear frame stiffiners from Dirtbound Offroad for $280 with the Black Friday discount. Pretty stoked to have the Ruffstuff center section with the front and rear DB sections to match.

I'm taking another welding class next semester in school. It will be great to really be able to hone my skills before tackling projects on the Jeep.

 

Update: Currently getting 18+ inches of snow. Yesterday I drove the Jeep 3 hours to Sunday River and back in the snow. It did great.

I had my buddy's dad weld my sway bar mount back on after not having it for like two years. So that's nice.

Earlier today I hit a pothole and my exhaust broke off in front of the cat. There's a Lou's Custom about 20 minutes away that I'm going to have weld up a new system for me. Not sure what I'm going to put on it yet. I've wanted an aftermarket exhaust for awhile but haven't had an excuse to do it till now.

My radiator has been leaking for like a year now but its starting to get worse. I'm going to do a complete overhaul of my cooling system. Hopefully over spring break. We'll see what the weather is like.

Also over spring break I'm going to take my JCR frame plates off and bring them into my welding class to modify them into d-ring brackets with a brace between them.

Stiffiners came in the mail. Very excite! First impression was the RuffStuff centers are overkill. We'll see how install goes.

Stay tuned

 

Today I had a local custom exhaust shop install a new system. I had them install a Flowmaster 50, magnaflow cat, and 2.5" tubing from the header to the tip.

It sounds very similar to my leaky factory exhaust lol. Deeper tone right off idle and good throaty sound up to redline. In the cab it is very quiet and does not drone any worse than what was on there before. I kinda wish I went with the 40 series because its not as loud as I anticipated it would be. I'll get a video in a few days and post it up.

As far as any performance gains, I might've felt a slight seat of the pants improvement but that's probably from my wallet being lighter. I'm looking forward to installing my cowl intake now.

 

Home for the week on spring break. I have a list of things I wanted to accomplish this week but mother nature has different plans. We're currently getting a foot of snow. I'm definitely not going to work on the Jeep in this weather, but I will play!

 

Just read through your build thread. Nice work man, capable jeep you got going.

 

Recently I've been feeling as if the Jeep is falling apart around me. I just don't have the time or resources to work on it as much as I need to/I'd like to. I'm going to create a list of all issues and things I think need attention:

-Rear passenger door lock seized.
-Hood release cable very tight.
-Front O2 sensor bad.
-Brakeline rubbing tire.
-Radiator leaks.
-Broken vacuum hose/canister.
-Fender liners missing.
-4Hi grinds/does not stay in.
-Driver's unlock button does not work.
-Trans gear selector lights don't work.
-Driver's window regulator broken.
-Rear washer fluid doesn't work.
-Rear wiper does not work
-Parking brake cables not hooked up.
-Wiring nightmare under hood.
-Keyless locks/remote start don't work.
-Sunroof drains partially clogged.
-Passenger side speakers intermittent.
-Driver's seat badly torn.
-Driver's door check broken.
-Headliner cut around sunroof exposed.
-Driver's door trim missing.
-Passenger's door interior trim broken off.
-Driver's door storage broken off.
-Interior plastic trim all broken.
-Center console latch broken.
-Center console bracket broken
-Cargo light doesn't work
-Rear seat lights don't work.
-Fog lights loose/unaimed.
-Power mirrors button does not work.
-Multiple door seals torn.
-Hood not positioned correctly.
-Cowl cracked
-Swaybar disconnect missing cotterpin.
-Gas tank filler neck cover missing.
-Draglink contacts swaybar mount.
-Leaf spring bushings bad.
-Leaf springs fanned.
-Coil spring retainer missing.
-Rust beginning to creep in.
-Small trans fluid leak at connections.
-Swaybar mount captive nut broken.
-Longarm crossmember captive nuts broken.
-Outside temp sensor not accurate
-Power locks work intermittently
-Power steering fluid leak
-Exhaust rattles
-Sway bar link broken bolt
-battery tray hold down tab broken
-passenger tail light cracked
-aux fan broken
-AC doesn't work
-trans line rubs crank pulley
-Battery terminals broken
-Front pinion leaks
-Rear pinion leaks
-Oil pan leaks
-Driver's sun visor mirror broken


This list is in no particular order, just what I could think of. I'm going to continue to add to and organize this list because I need something to do haha. Ha. Ha... hmm...

 

DAMN thats a long list. Just start knocking them out one at a time.

 

I try to not make that list about mine lol

 

Thankfully the majority of those things are either cosmetic or don't effect me that much.

Yesterday I pulled my door panel off from the inside and lubed the lock up to get the door open. Works great now. Check that one off!

 

Moved home from school for the summer, I'm hoping to get some solid work done over the next couple months.

Yesterday I knocked out a couple small things off the list. I also did a coolant flush and put some chemical cleaner in there in preparation for my cooling system overhaul.

 

Installed my cowl intake today. I love it. Looks awesome, sounds awesome.




I also fixed some broken vacuum lines and JB welded my canister. Hopefully I can solve my vacuum issues.

And I also mocked up my coolant filter.

 

Started tearing down the cooling system today. Got the radiator out.

Also finally got this video of my exhaust:

 

Coolant filter! ****ing brilliant idea mate!!

Where did you get it? I shall get one too now