Joecam18

Are the LEDs superior to the H4 upgrade with 100/80 bulbs?

Plummer

I'd say that the LEDs shoot light farther, but narrower and the H4 with glass lenses shoot a wider, more clear beam, but are a bit more expensive.

Jalebate

Can we get some pictures of the pattern at night please? Do they throw light everywhere? Some ****ty headlights I see throw light high up and blind oncoming traffic and light up upcoming street signs.

Plummer

Yeah I'll try to find a nice, dark patch to get some good pictures. I live on an Air Force base, so almost all of our streets are lit with the gross amber lighting.

WyoCherokee

Just a question, but why didnt you pull off the intake and exhaust manifolds with the head on the block? Makes it so much easier to pull out of the engine bay.

Plummer

The Jeep has a Gibson header on and and because of a poor design, cylinder 4's exhaust pipe partially covers the retainer bolt right there. It's just enough so I couldn't get a socket on it, but to tighten I was able to get a ratcheting box wrench on it. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose.

Plummer

For those interested, here's the light pattern that my LED setup has:

<a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/65297183@N04/28833683072/in/dateposted-public/" title="IMG_2001"><img src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/8/7476/28833683072_a65ff4e086_c.jpg" width="600" height="800" alt="IMG_2001"></a><script async src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

We hit our first mileage milestone today.

<a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/65297183@N04/28319998484/in/dateposted-public/" title="IMG_2003"><img src="https://c5.staticflickr.com/9/8577/28319998484_9f91c6a6bf_c.jpg" width="600" height="800" alt="IMG_2003"></a><script async src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Yesterday I had a bad enough shimmy that it freaked me out enough to really dig into the suspension to find the wiggle. All my links and bushings are fine for OEM spec. My swaybar bushings are shot so I'm getting some movement there, but nothing to cause a shimmy. Weird. I looked into the steering a bit and sure enough there's my problem. All 4 tie rod ends are worn out. Instead of spending money to do the V8 ZJ tie rod swap plus all new TREs, I decided to buy Rusty's inverted T conversion. I'll probably get flamed by Rusty's haters, but whatever. I'm going into it as unbiased as I can be. I'm familiar with the natural downfalls of the inverted T (roll), so I bought polyurethane spacers from JCR to see if I can get rid of that nasty dead spot. I also bought Rusty's steering spacer and brace combo for a full refresh of the steering components. Stuff should get here Monday, so I'm excited.

unidentifiedbomb

looking forward to seeing how you like it. Most of the hate I see on Rusty's deals with their customer service and their cheap track bar.

Plummer

Agreed. From my dealings with the people at Rusty's is their sales department rocks and their customer service is shady at best. All of the parts I've purchased from Rusty's (3" lift, rocker guards, brake lines, and shackles) have impressed me so far. Haters gonna hate. Potaters gonna potate.

cbs_24

I did the same thing with my manifold when I was replacing my cracked exhaust manifold. I actually broke the tab that sits on the dowell and had to replace my entire intake manifold. Good thing you caught it before you did any damage. I'm enjoying your build. Good luck getting your steering sorted.