Friend came through... just need the bracket for the steering stabilizer. I might just make one.

 

New Duralast Gold battery. Last one survived 3.5 years. Not a very impressive lifespan, but the capacity, CCAs, and performance was impressive enough that I decided to go with another one. PLUS the battery was prorated for 2 years after the warranty expired, so I got about 50 bucks towards the purchase of a new one. Also had 20 bucks in AZ rewards points so I walked out of the store for $84 total.

 

Found the replacement bracket for my steering...

http://www.ruggedridge.com/bracket-s...-18040-50.html

Seems like I should be able to find a better quality one for a better price or at least make my own.... so long as I can find the u-bolts, I think I'll just do the DIY route.

Edit: Uhhh... yeah... I think I'll DIY...

https://www.fastenal.com/products/fa...U-Bolts%22%7C~

For sure.

2nd Edit: This is NOT a Rugged Ridge kit... it's Rusty's. I'm glad though... seems like the Rusty's setup is a little more beefy and uses standard TREs that you can find at any parts store. http://www.rustysoffroad.com/jeep-st...onversion.html

Now I'm even more excited.

Stabilizer bracket kit for the Rusty's steering http://www.rustysoffroad.com/jeep-st...ing-mount.html

Figured I'd post all that for anyone looking at crossover steering conversion kits.

 

Are duralast batteries AGM or sealed lead acid?

 

No, they're traditional lead acid, just higher capacity and better CCAs. The AGM batteries are the Platinum series

http://www.autozone.com/batteries-st...19463_929734_0

If I had thought about it, I probably would have just bought an AGM and paid the difference. Oh well, next time.

 

My buddy had all sorts of play with his Rusty's steering on his TJ, but he also had offset TREs to clear his OX cover.

 

Look into the ruffstuff the cure...should help if you have any slop after installing new ends...
Batman33165 had that same set up when the rod ends had slop, it was a SCARY drive for sure...easily a 1/4 turn before any movement

 

lol.... nothing I'm not used to. It was about that bad when I BOUGHT the Jeep. I've heard before that Ruff Stuff's "The Cure" is the answer to that.

The good part is, Rusty's supplies you with the parts store tie rod ends parts numbers. So if you want MOOG TREs or NAPA TREs or whatever, you can easily source your own instead of using the Rusty's.

In my case, if the Rusty's has too much slop, I'll just put my current steering back on until I get better TREs.

 

So my passenger side brake caliper has been dragging for quite a while. Jeep pulls to the right, yada yada yada. Been meaning to get around to checking to see how bad the groves were on the steering knuckle and finally got around to checking.

Well.....









Yeah they were grooved pretty bad.



Preheated the knuckles, welded some beads and ground them flush.

Don't pay attention to that sloppy bead on the right. I was testing it out to see if there was going to be any cracking or warping so I was tacking the entire time versus running a bead.





Good as new.

I also had some steal jackets for the tips of the pads where they make contact on the knuckle. Works MUCH better. Jeep still pulls to the right but it's not NEARLY as bad. The remaining "pull" I'm getting is now probably more because of needing CA bushings.

 

Almost forgot - went out to the gun range in the forest and decided to take advantage of some free AC on the way out. I was glad I did... weather was decent and it was a really nice ride.

 

Not nearly as bad as my 'new' ZJ but that'll Definitely cause some problems! Lol. Did I ever post pics of those? Also never thought to preheat the knuckles but didn't notice any cracking or anything.

 

Can't remember if you did or not. Didn't know yours were liked that too, though I'm not surprised. Seems like a very common problem with these types of front ends.

I definitely wanted to make sure I preheated the knuckles due to the welder I have. It's flux-core for one thing, plus there's only 2 temperature settings (min and max) so I didn't want to take the chance of too much heat at one time.

 

Yeah I've got a flux core Lincoln but 4 heat settings.

Here's where I posted a pic of one of the rears: https://www.cherokeeforum.com/f46/96-grand-cherokee-212947/index11/#post3389846
The rest where worse, really bad...lol

 

Haha... 3 months ago, no wonder I didn't remember

Yeah that's definitely a little worse than mine.

 

Finally got around to installing and wiring up the dash clock I got a couple years back. Works great except the middle bar on the number all the way to the right, doesn't work. 0 and 8 are indistinguishable haha



While I had the dash apart I decided to paint my gauge bezel white to match the exterior paint. Turned out good and looks really cool at night!