Good deal!
Looks great man!

 

A few days late. Replaced the muffler and tailpipe on my 95 xj, saturday.

RUST SUCKS

 

Had to do some work on the new daily driver so I pulled out the xj for some more road time I miss driving it its probably the most dependable vehicle I've ever owned.... but he needs some much needed tlc soon

 

What's the difference from stock? Looks oem. Comparison pic?

 

I assumed he meant new, as in switched from XJ to JK

 

It is OEM, it just has a different colored emblem and factory trim in the grille slots and headlight cutouts.

This was the original. Plain and bland with chrome emblem.

 

After a drive this morning and the Jeep pulling to the right under braking, I pulled into the driveway to a very strong brake smell and smoke coming out of the driver's side wheel well. Pulled the tire and saw a lot of brake pad residue on the inner part of the rim, best assumption is the caliper has seized, so off to replace that.

 

Broke a weld on my exhaust hangar

Grr, no time to get it fixed till tomorrow evening probably. Local exhaust guy usually fixes me up for $20 which is nice

 

How old are the hoses? Aged ones can collapse creating a check valve effect that holds pressure on the caliper.
Bummer, man.
Replaced trans mount today and was hoping I wouldn't snap the hanger on the down pipe. Looks like it's barely hanging on. Didn't break, score and now my down pipe isn't trying to bear hug my crossmember. Down to just the typical BD engine rumble in the cab. I wonder what new noises I'll be able to hear...

Also: drain and filled the trans pan and t-case. Just did it last week but I lost that stupid np242 check plug and we had a couple good doses of rain (~20 inches) while I waited on a replacement so I wanted to make sure no moisture found its way into the case. Unlikely, but better safe than sorry.

 

Brilliant me, replace the hose as well as the line, but figured...wtf I dont need to do the caliper as well. Well that came back to bite me, and as cheap as the calipers and hardware are, kicking myself for not doing it. Live and learn

 

Finally got a start on the rear disc brake conversion on my XJ! Got most of one side done. (You young guys who can breeze through this whole job in an afternoon will probably laugh!) The procedure has been very well-documented so this is not a detailed step-by-step, but I took a few pics.

I started on the passenger side and of course found the brake drum was stuck. A 12-ton hydraulic puller is the ticket for this problem...




Whoever last put the diff cover back on really slathered it with RTV, it was all over the place. Looks like it will be a real PITA to clean up. The bolt threads are lousy with the stuff too, I might just buy some new ones. On the plus side it never leaked a drop...





So I got the axle out, revealing the drum brake assembly in all its hideous glory. I'm really happy to be getting rid of that mess.




Had to take it all apart to get to the parking brake cable...




Then the backing plate needed a little "persuasion" to break free...




Here it is down to the axle housing flange. Studs have been hammered out since I'll be installing the disc brake brackets using new grade 8 hardware.




Grinding out the center hole in the brackets was time consuming, about 20 minutes each. I did both while I was at it to save time when doing the other side. It took 2 Dremel grinding stones to do both. Basically you just keep going around and around keeping steady pressure, grinding away a bit at a time. I think Big Dave offers these already reamed out for an additional charge. Might be worth it if you don't want to bother doing this.




Here's the bracket mounted with new hardware. Parking brake was assembled first, off the vehicle. Unfortunately I found that the new axle seals Rockauto sent were not the right ones. They were a little too large to fit. I'll have to stop at a local parts store to get the correct ones. (The old ones in there look pretty sad though they were not leaking.) Also it was starting to get a little late so I did not mount the caliper yet.




I did take some time to install new wheel studs in the axle. It was a pleasant surprise to see "Made in USA" on the box. I purchased a Lisle installer to make the job easier. It helped but I still had to pound the studs in from the back side to get them in all the way.








This stuff is now scrap. Good riddance...



I have to work tomorrow, so am hoping to continue with this on Thursday or Friday, weather permitting.

 

Wait until it's done. You'll be kicking yourself you didn't do it sooner. One of the best mods I've done by far.

 

Picked up a 242 with a Tom woods sye in it for a steal.

 

I'm looking forward to how it works out, especially since the XJ is going to be my primary vehicle for a while now that the trans in my DD has puked. I splurged and ordered a new diff cover and a gasket to save time (and my aching joints!) from having to deal with that RTV mess.

 

Wish I'd done this instead of dicking with drums. I replaced seals and bearings at the same time so I was already halfway there... ugh