Jeep Wrangler

erickpl

Thanks. I copied that down and printed it so I have it available when I look at it.

Sounds logical enough to do.

-Paul

wheelsdown

Looks to me like Tom just might be getting active again.

GREAT!!!

Terry

tsjay

Thanks, Terry.

Tomster
Have you hugged your Jeep today?

brazuca

Thank you guys, you're always there to answer questions. I changed the engine oil today and will do the rest of the fluids this month. I decided to go with Castrol GTX 10W30 and will change every 3,000 miles or 4 months.

brazuca

OK. I noticed this issue, however, the Jeep I tested the Jeep on 4 High and 4 Low, everything was fine for me, it was working, however, the light indicator in the instrument panel is not on when I engage it, could be just the light going bad or something more serious ? Another question, do you change the viscosity level (5W30) in the winter months ? I live in Indiana and I'm not sure if I should do it or not, any suggestions ? By the way, the Jeep is great, I'm really having a great time. It was raining today and the soft top worked like a champ, no leaks, no issues at all.

keats

Hi, Tomster, looks awesome. Did you have to adjust your drive line angles or did you get lucky?

mac24

Almost certainly the bulb or the switch. Neither is a big deal.

tsjay

Mark:

I had to use the transfer case drop kit. I drove her home after installing the lift and had some pretty bad vibes at low speeds. I installed the transfer case drop kit the next day, and a subsequent test drive indicated that I had cured the vibes. There is still maybe just a hint of some kind of vibration that was not there before, but not enough that I am going to worry about it.

I also noticed that my front axle is pretty badly off center now, so I ordered a JKS adjustable front trac bar. It should be delivered tomorrow.

I will also install a 3/4" coil spring spacer on each side up front to level out the ride. I guess the weight of that winch and winch mounting plate make the front sit lower. Those spacers should be delivered at the same time as the trac bar, since I bought all the stuff from the same place.

Man, I've sure been doing some wrenchin' lately! My buds did most of the work on the lift installation, but I helped a good bit. Within the last few days, I have also pulled both front axle shafts and had new U-joints put in them, changed the front brake pads, and changed fluid in both front and rear differentials.

Tomster
Have you hugged your Jeep today?

erickpl

Tom, let us know what you think of the JKS trackbar.

If you do a motor lift, you can get rid of that t-case drop. You'd just have to adjust the fan shroud placement a little bit.

-Paul

mac24

I'd go with erickpl on the motor mount suggestion. It's never made much sense to me to increase the ground clearance with a suspension lift, then reduce it again with a t/c drop. Another advantage of the m/m lift is that it doesn't cause any problems with the gear shift or t/c lever.

I used spacers in order to retain the original soft factory mounts. They're easy to make, but cheap to buy as well, and the only mod needed is to realign the fan shroud.

erickpl

I used the JKS spacer lift for my 2.5.

-Paul

mac24

Is that the one that uses red anodized alloy blocks? That's the one I would have used if I hadn't made my own. Installation was fiddly as I remember it, but not technically difficult.

erickpl

Yep, that is the one.



-Paul

cbeas

Do you still have to mess with the fan shroud if you do the motor mount lift & body lift at the same time?

Chad

mac24

It depends on the height of the body lift in relation to that of the m/m lift, but generally if it's a 1" body lift, then no.

tsjay

Might just do that, Mac. I was hoping that I wouldn't need any form of driveline angle correction, but it didn't turn out that way for me. Now that I have found out that I do need to do something, the MM lift would be a better way to go, and the t-case drop may just be my short term "fix."

How difficult is that MM spacer installation? What is your lifting point on the engine when you need to raise it to get the spacers in position?

Oh, I got the coil spacers in last night, but I had to make a trip to Autozone for an external spring compressor. I had gone at lunch time to an Advance Auto near my work place to get a spring compressor, and the guy gave me one that goes INSIDE the coil. I couldn't see how that would work, but I had never used a spring compressor. I just figured that since the guy knew what I wanted to do with it, he and must know what type I needed. WRONG!

I don't know if those spacers were enough to level out the ride or not, since I still have the front tires off, and Thelma Jane is still on jack stands. I still have to install the new trac bar tonight.

Tomster
Have you hugged your Jeep today?

erickpl

As Mac said, you should not have to mess with the fan shroud while doing it. I did my BL first, then the MML. I did not start the engine with the BL on w/o the MML. I DID loosen the fan shroud so I wouldn't have any stresses on the fan blades while doing the MML.

-Paul

erickpl

Tom, I used the housing for the engine/transmission mount point for mine. I put several 1x4's (all I had) together and screwed em together so they wouldn't come apart and then used this as a 'buffer' between the engine parts and the metal of the jack. The soft wood made a nice cushion.

When I did the MM install, I had to jack it up quite a bit, so I made sure the fan shroud was loose when I did it to eliminate bending forces on the blades.

The hardest part of the install is making sure you have long enough socket extensions to get to the bolts. It took some flexibility to get to some of the stuff, but I DID accomplish it by myself. If you are up to it, I'll help you, but I'm not sure if I'd get a chance to get up that way for a while. If you can wait until Tom and Denise have their picnic, I'm sure you could get LOTS of help installing it then.

Glad you got the spacers in! Hope I helped some on the phone last night!

-Paul
-Paul

brazuca

I bought a used '97 Wrangler with the 4.0 liter engine, automatic. The only record I found was a replaced radiator due to a stone damage in '04. I already changed the engine oil and filter (Mobil GTX 10W30). What should I do next. I will change all the fluids in a few months, but can't do everything at once, $$$$. I have to prioritize, the Jeep is in the garage for a few days and no leaks at all. My plan is the following:
- Transmission fluid + filter
- Spark plugs
- Diferencial oil change
- Steering oil change
- Brakes checking (it's working very well at this point)
- U-joints check

Anything else that I'm missing ?
Should I change the order above ? :confuse:

mac24

Anything else that I'm missing ?

Just of the top of my head:

Change coolant

Change transfer case fluid

Change brake fluid

Change plug wires/distributor cap/rotor arm

Change wiper blades

Check air filter (but preferably change it unless it's new)

None of the above is expensive compared to the cost of gas (or even coffee!). You might also want to invest $25 to access the Factory Service Manual online for a year here..

erickpl

To expand on what Mac said, if you can afford it, go with the high quality lubricants for the diffs and transmission. My 97 had a rough shift with the manual, but I switched to Redline MT90 and it is nice and smooth now.

I use synthetics in the differentials and things are a lot quieter.

I use synthetic oil and change it every 5k or so (Mobil 1).

The new radiator is a blessing. Stock ones tend to leak where the plastic meets the metal. Not a question of if, but when. So that is a good thing (easy to replace though).

Let's see some pics when you get a chance to post em!

-Paul

erickpl

Tom, any luck with that track bar install?

-Paul

tsjay

Had to work until after 9:00 PM last night, so no wrenchin'.

I hope to get that puppy installed tonight.

Tom
Have you hugged your Jeep today?

erickpl

I have my cell on if you need to get a hold of me. Warning, I broke my pickle fork trying to get my trackbar off. But I got it replaced. I was able to use the hammer and knock the old bar out w/o too much effort.

-Paul

stever

You broke a pickle fork? Wow. The one I borrowed a year ago was a hefty sucker.

brazuca

Thank you mac24 and ericpl for the tips on the fluid changing. I will try to avoid the dealer the most I can and do it myself. I will go with a high level oil on everything but will try to avoid synthetics, I'm afraid it will increase the risk of leaking on the differential, transmission and engine. Thanks again.

mac24

You're welcome. It's not certain that synthetic will cause leaks on your particular vehicle, and if it were new or low mileage then it would be extremely unlikely, but as mileage increases then the likelihood becomes much higher.

One other thing you should do is to adjust the front and rear bands when you have the pan off your transmission. It's a simple job, but does require an inch pound torque wrench. Oh, and make sure to use the correct transmission fluid, which in your case is ATF+3 or +4. ATF+3 is much cheaper and more readily available and will do just fine. Do not use Dexron, Mercon or any 'Universal' type fluid. The only place that belongs in a Wrangler is in the transfer case.

Have fun!

bigbri99

Does anyone have any suggestions on how to correct a shimmy. I have a 2004 Jeep Wrangler with a two inch suspension lift and 31" BF Goodrich TA's. I've already had the stearing stabilizer replaced at the dealer. The two front tires really start to shake at about 45 mph. Tires were balanced when installed, I'm wondering if they weren't balanced properly? Any suggestions?????/

mac24

Are you sure it's a front wheel vibration and not a propshaft vibration as a result of the lift? While you may have something loose from the fitting of the lift, your dealer should have checked that when fitting the steering stabilizer (assuming he knew you had a vibration problem).

The usual cure for vibes as a result of a lift is either a transfer case drop, or a motor mount lift. Both have been discussed here in just the last few posts.

An easy way to check if the front wheels are out of balance is to switch them with the rears.

bigbri99

Thanks for the reply. I will have the tires switched out ASAP. I don't think it was a result of the lift because it was doing it before the lift was installed. I'm going back to the dealer on Monday. ThANKS again.

brazuca

Hey Mac24, you did not mention fuel system cleaning on the list of things to do you posted. You and Erickpl are the two most experienced guys around here (at least that I have noticed). I've heard of a product from Red Line to clean the fuel system, is it worth it ? I don't feel any problems at this time. Would it be a good idea or unnecessary ? :confuse:

mtngal

I was on vacation for 2 weeks and I've been trying to catch up at work and my commute has been absolutely nuts recently, so there's been tons of things going on since I last checked in. I haven't read through all of the posts yet, but wanted to answer this one right away, since no one answered it before.

There are lots of off-roading in the national forests around Los Angeles and there's a number of guide books that have written about them. If you are interested in titles, send me an email (my addy is public). But you should watch out about that. We lived in Glendale, bought a Wrangler and while looking for trails found instead a house and moved to the mountains.

There's a very nice off-road area (Hungry Valley) at the top of the I-5 Grapevine, near Gorman. It offers trails for dirt bikes and 4x4s that vary from easy to extreme, and there are campgrounds both in Hungry Valley and the Los Padres National Forest that are lovely (well, Alamo Mountain was lovely, don't know what it will be like now). However, all of the Los Padres in Ventura, L.A. and Kern counties are closed, along with Pyramid Lake and Hungry Valley. As far as I know, the Angeles is still open east of the I-5 but you should probably check their website for current conditions.

There's another nice off-road area near Lockwood Valley Road, but the Day Fire burned through it recently, and who knows how long it will take them to rehab and reopen the area. Lockwood Valley is under a recommended evacuation and the road closed to through traffic.

Tom - I just read your post about Gil - I'm very sorry to hear that, and my prayers are with you.

Now back to the last couple of week's posts...

mac24

I'm a great beleiver in regular maintenance, coupled with "If it ain't broke don't fix it".

If you have problematic injectors then a professional fuel system cleaning might be worth trying before replacing them, otherwise it's just one of those things they try to add on when you go in for service. The only 'off the shelf' stuff I've consistantly heard good things about is Techron, but it wouldn't be high on my list of things to do.

tsjay

Well, Peeps with Jeeps, I FINALLY got that trac bar installed on Thelma Jane, but what a struggle! At every single step, there were complications, often because I am NOT a skilled mechanic. OK, I'm not a mechanic PERIOD.

Paul, that tapered, split bushing thingy was on the bolt down by the bolt head. I had not paid attention and thought that that was just the shoulder of the bolt. I was looking for something more substantial than that flimsy thing and thought it would be brass-colored, like the bolt and the nut.

It was late when I finished, I was tired, and I didn't have room in the garage to step back from Thelma Jane to see if the axle looks to be centered, or to see if she appears to be sitting level now that she has those 0.75" spacers.

I was so tired, and it was so late that I just left my tools scattered on the floor. I'll go out there sometime today and put my tools away and see if all my efforts appear to have done any good.

Tom
Have you hugged your Jeep today?

mac24

I was looking for something more substantial than that flimsy thing.......

It's better than the alternative, which is to drill out the previously tapered hole to take a regular bolt.....which means you can never go back to a regular track bar (and the regular bolt will tend to come loose anyway). However, that flimsy adapter doesn't fill me with confidence either.

The OE bar does a great job, fits tightly, but for obvious reasons doesn't adjust. I just redrilled the mounting hole, then strengthened it with a couple of washers welded on, but I appreciate that's not an option for everyone.

.......I didn't have room in the garage to step back from Thelma Jane to see if the axle looks to be centered.....

Ah well, the advantage you do have is that you can adjust it as much as you like until you're happy with it.

Even the best mechanics (and I'm not one of those) have their bad days when nothing comes easy. Here's a tip that usually works for me. Curse the offending part while striking the floor with a large piece of wood as hard as you can (won't damage you or the floor). Repeat forcefully as many times as is necessary to the offending part, "You will not beat me, you will not beat me!". This works, but only if you give thanks at other times when an apparently difficult job goes unexpectedly easily.

Strangely, as your experience increases you'll find that you beat the floor less and give thanks more often!

tsjay

But, I DID drill. The instructions called for the original hole in the frame bracket to be reamed out to 9/16", which I did.

I guess the lower part of the hole is all that is tapered, and I only enlarged the upper end that was not tapered anyway???

Well, just by eyeballing Thelma Jane, it looks like her front axle is centered now.

Also, by measuring to the floor from the front end of the rocker guard and at the back end, it appears that she is level within about a quarter inch over that distance, so even if you double it to allow for the extra distance from the front bumper to the back bumper, that would still be only about half an inch out of level, and that "ain't no biggie." Besides, she is topless and doorless now, so when the top and doors go back on, she may very well be perfectly level.

Now, I just need to center the steering wheel and get the toe in re-set. I could do the steering wheel thing myself, but I think I will get a shop to do the toe-in this time, and they would probably not charge any extra to center the steeting wheel. I was looking for some good way to measure for the toe-in adjustment, and I didn't really see anything that I would feel confident in. I know people do their own toe-in adjustments, and I will be doing my own sometime, but probably not this time.

Tom
Have you hugged your Jeep today?

goducks1

don't forget your power steering fluid too. I changed it in my 98 this year for the first time and was shocked at the almost black color of the old stuff.

tallduc

http://www.topspeed.com/cars/car-news/chrysler-at-paris-motor-show-ar13509.html

More Powerful and Fuel-efficient Engines

Available for the first time in a civilian model is a diesel engine for Jeep Wrangler, and this engine is also offered for the Wrangler Unlimited. Built by VM Motori, this all-new 2.8-litre common-rail turbo diesel engine is a 2766cc (169 cu. in.) four-cylinder, in-line engine, with belt-driven double overhead camshafts and four valves per cylinder.

The iron cylinder block is an open block design with a ladder frame bed plate and integral liners. The aluminium cylinder head features a side-entry swirl intake port and a directed intake port. A Bosch EDC 16 common-rail direct-injection fuel system is incorporated along with an electronically controlled EGR valve and variable geometry turbocharger.

The 2.8-litre diesel engine is available with a six-speed manual transmission or five-speed automatic transmission. Maximum power is estimated at 130 kW (177 hp DIN), and peak torque is estimated at 410 Nm (302 lb.-ft.) between 1800-2400 rpm


looks like it is the liberty 2.8 diesel and not the 3.0 crd

bummer!

brazuca

Yes, thanks for the tip, the steering fluid is on my to do list. I believe it was never changed on my '97.

brazuca

">See more Car Pictures at CarSpace.com

mac24

But, I DID drill. The instructions called for the original hole in the frame bracket to be reamed out to 9/16", which I did.

My bad, Tom. I'd assumed that they'd changed that design by now.

If you do decide to center the steering wheel by yourself, you can do it a little at a time (i.e. by trial and error) without damaging anything. Certainly if you're not comfortable adjusting the toe then have it professionally done.

With regard to levelling, I decided to stay with the same factory nose down attitude after I'd fitted my OME kit. Personal preference really.

erickpl

Tom, glad you found that sleeve! You sure sounded tired, but glad you accomplished it. With as hard as you've wheeled Thelma Jane over the last few years, I'm honestly surprised things weren't more difficult, not that they were easy this time. Coulda been worse.

The toe-in is easy to adjust. Heck I did it with Kermit on the trail by Sit Up and Beg one day during lunch! Your tires have a seam running around them generally right about the middle of the tread. Use that point front/rear when adjusting your toe in and you have a good consistent point of reference to measure. Having a helper sure helps.

I've also adjusted the steering wheel to be pretty much center. It took about 10 minutes with some trial and error. It is still off a bit, but not worth worrying about at this point.

Here are some references for the toe-in and steering adjustment if you didn't have it already:

http://www.4x4xplor.com/alignment.html

On another note, Kermit has new hood latches!!! I got tired of waiting for my body shop guy to fit me in to his schedule so I got a slide hammer and will work on unbending the hood hinge mount area myself. I also found a 7 piece body/fender repair kit, so I'll read up on how to use it effectively and see if I can get my hood into some form of better shape. Not looking for perfection, but I think I'll try this myself. Has tools for flat AND curved areas, so I think I can make it work. I'll go by the dealership with a 'template' to outline the back edge of the hood so I can see how far the sides of the hood bend down.

We'll see how it comes out... hehe

-Paul

koolbreeze2

Interesting and helpful post Paul. I recently had my fluids changed for diffs and transmission at one of those "quick stop places". Almost immediately after the change I began to feel a rough shift between gears that did not exist before. I could not understand why it was rough but you may have the answer. I will try Redline MT90 and see if the roughness goes away. Thanks, John

mac24

Almost immediately after the change I began to feel a rough shift between gears that did not exist before.

I don't know the year of your Jeep, but if it's not too recent you may well need a GL-3 spec transmission oil. The symptoms you have are common when a GL-5 is used, which is often mistakenly used instead, especially by 'quick stop' type places.

It's important to get the GL-5 out because it causes rapid wear of the brass and bronze components, which includes the synchro rings.

erickpl

I switched to synthetics after I got my TJ. It had over 80k at the time. I have had ZERO leaks after having done so. I did have a valve cover leakin, but that was before I put in the synthetics. Resecured it and all is well.

-Paul

stever

Btw, now that you have your windshield and lots of your other stuff fixed, I heard about another hill for you to climb. :shades:

Google video

(I read on Digg that the driver was experienced and didn't get hurt).

erickpl

Ahh, Tracy's roll at Moab. Seen it. I run some of the armor that she had on that rig. Notice that her grille didn't collapse. Good armor around the front of it to keep the engine intact. They righted her and she wheeled the rest of the day.

Here is the jeep afterwards...




Not perfect by any stretch, but the armor did the job.

Oh, and by the way, No Freakin Way am I running that!

I still have the hood hinge mount area to unbend and I'm going to try my hand and straightening out the hood a bit.

-Paul

stever

Amazingly intact for two and a half rolls, superficially anyway . I didn't see a debriefing anywhere - any idea what (or who) she blamed for her line?

erickpl

From what I gathered, she couldn't really see the spotter given the angle, so she basically blamed herself IIRC.

The spotter would have been more effective if he were off to the side a bit so he could be seen in the window a bit better.

If you do a search on Tracy Roll at Moab, there is a link to a thread on a Jeep board about how Insurance handled it, as well as Toys by Troy.

-Paul

brettz

Just got my KC slimlights and was mounting them on the window frame. I was looking for advice on the best way to run the wires under the hood. I tried the window hinge, but I could not see a way to run the wires through to firewall And I was also wondering where to mount the switch on the inside?