Steering box - check
Steering shaft - check (no more firewall gap!)
Smooth and heavy steering feel - check
Alignment and tires balanced - check
Oil change - check
Brakes adjusted - check
Wicked good deal on a sweet air compressor set up - check

She's ready for OBX!

 

Update time and photo bomb from October's OBX trip.

Not only did the Jeep make the 300+ mile trip there and back, but it clocked dozens, if not hundreds of extra miles running up and down the coast for a week. Needless to say, it earned its keep once again (but of course, not without struggles).

We loaded it down with all our swag and stuff, along with two cats, but kept everything inside. My wife is a Tetris master raised by a Tetris grandmaster, so I let her do the packing and she crushed it (as always). The Jeep rides so much nicer with weight that it somehow gets quieter too.



While I had the Jeep aligned and the tires balanced and rotated before I left, it developed a speed-dependent shimmy along the way. Right around 60 mph, I could feel what felt like the very beginnings of dare I say... DEATH WOBBLE! DW never did actually happen, but for anyone that has experience real DW knows, there's a feeling that comes right before it happens. I felt this at 60 mph for most of the trip but it was worse when unloaded and while traveling on spotty asphalt. When we got to our destination, I simply shook all the steering and suspension components. The track bar had a slight wiggle to it, so there's that. I also am a little iffy on the shop's abilities (this was a new place for me) so maybe the tires are just not balanced that well...

Anyways, I knew I wasn't in a position to really tear the front suspension apart or get the tires rebalanced, so I just went slow and/or really fast depending on the time of day and conditions.

The weather at first was not good for beach driving anyways and most drivable beaches were red-flagged for driving anyways.




After a couple of days, it cleared up enough that we could hit the beaches. We started with the most northern beach - Carova which has what's basically an interstate super highway that looks like a beach. You can easily hit illegal speeds up there.




The "side streets" are super cool up there but honestly, it's like you're driving in a private neighborhood. I could tell the locals that live up there don't want you up there...




As time went on, the weather cleared up and we could head south to Bodie Island, which is freaking epic (as always).





Beach driving in OBX is really all about money - you pay for the permits and you get the access. One of the more exclusive places is Ocracoke Island, which is accessible only by Ferry.









This was my favorite part of the trip - the island is just weird and the locals are weirder (they all seem perpetually intoxicated). Getting back took FOREVER given the Ferry schedule is more of a feeling than a schedule. By the time we got to the mainland, I was in no mood to keep it below 60 mph, so I employed some crime and 3rd gear a lot, and got back in record time. Like I said, the shimmy wasn't there if you're doing 70 plus...

The trip back to the mountains was easy expect for the last few miles. For some unknown reason, the temp gauge started reading very low, only to then immediately spike back up to operating temp. I could sometimes clutch in, rev the engine, and get it to read normal again (this also worked for the glitchy oil pressure sensor too) but otherwise, the Jeep ran fine. Knock on wood, it hasn't happened since.



All in all - another solid OBX trip for ol' RJ. Despite it's little niggles, it's still one of my favorite things in the entire world!

 

really cool trip update! The coolant issue could be a sensor same thing with the oil pressure? The shimmy could be alignment issue as well. You will need to have someone else turn the steering wheel lock to lock and get under the front and check the steering as well as the ball joints for any play. Also have your caster checked as well. My DW was due to caster issues.

 

My thought was the coolant sensor as well. I'm almost positive it's original and I'm nearing 200K. The oil pressure is definitely a sensor thing. I've been recently having intermittent problems with it and it's even dropped to zero and triggered the check gauges light a few times. The sensor literally came a part in my hands yesterday haha - I put it back together and unplugged/replugged it and it's been doing fine for the past few trips (knock on wood). I do think there might be a slight clog at the pickup for the sensor though - I might try to "flush it" next time I replace the sensor again.

I hadn't really thought about caster issues until you brought that up. My control arm bushings are original (on the stock control arms) and seem a bit worn out. I wonder if they have caused some bad caster that needs to be fixed with some adjustable control arms and new bushings (which I have waiting to be installed). Thanks for that suggestion!

I should get the Jeep realigned and have the tires rebalanced and rotated again. This really started being noticeable after I got it back from the most recent alignment/balance/rotation... I don't really want to point fingers at the shop that did it given they seemingly specialize in 4x4 alignments, but...

My track bar mount has been rusty for a while now and just keeps getting worse. My thought is it's finally wollered out enough that it's causing some play at the frame side. I've since ordered a better condition bracket from eBay to swap in soon.

Another update I forgot to add was fixing a misfire that popped up after I got back from the OBX trip. One morning, the Jeep started missing at idle and then it started acting up while driving. It threw a cylinder 6 misfire code. I did the math and realized my plugs and plug wires were about due for a change. I swapped the ACCEL plugs and wires out for some Champions and the most expensive set of plug wires my local O'Reiley's had in stock at that moment. The gap on the old plugs was off (whoops) and one of old plug wires ripped apart when I tugged on it. After gapping the Champions properly and throwing them in, the Jeep fired up with vigor and has been running great since (knock on wood)! I feel like some power was restored too, which is nice!



All better but still red plug wires

The culprit

Junk

 

When I bought my XJ from an auto auction, it was completely stock and had DW lol The trackbar axle mount had wallowed out. Welded a washer over the hole and it's been good since! About 15 years ago.