Daless2 Project Rebuild - TJ at 98,000 miles

[Daless2]

Daless2 Project Rebuild - TJ at 98,000 miles

In March of this year I decided I would be giving my daughter my TJ soon.

Before doing so I wanted to go over it extensively and make sure everything was in proper (read that top notch) working order.

Being I work kind slow these days, napping more then wrenching, this took some time and then ended up being an even bigger project then I intended it to be.

But here goes.

Here are my efforts to remove those few extra few thousands of an inch here and there though out my entire Jeep that have come up due to wear over the years. My efforts to make it new again.

This project was extensive, expensive, and yet to my mind worth every penny.

I intend to documenting the entire rebuild which occurred over the last 8 months but will start today with the engine.



My TJ has 98K miles on it. It is super charged (about 12K miles ago) and has seen nothing but Mobil 1 Synthetic oil since it was new. It was in perfect running order as far as I could tell without tearing it down.

I have used only Fram or Super Tech (Wal-Mart brand) filters since new but I do have an Oil Guard micro by-pass filtration system on it.

Here is what I found after 98,000 miles on the engine once pulled and torn down.


Main Bearing and Connecting Journals

There was NO appreciable wear!!!

This was measured using Plasti-gage between the Bearing and Journals for all bearing surfaces.


The Crankshaft Journals were then measured with the crank out of the engine and each fell 100% within spec. This after almost 100K of service.

I had the crank journals micro- polished and put standard size bearing back in out of principle, but in reality I could have put the old bearings back in place.


Cylinder Walls

The cylinder walls looked great! They mic?d out with just 0.002-inch worn but still within spec.

The ridge at the top could hardly be felt. There was no need to use a ridge reamer to remove the ridge as it came right off with a horning stone.

Each cylinder was honed out and the old pistons re-used as they mic?d out within factory specs.

I did put new rings in out of principle, but feel confident I could have reused the old rings as well.


Cam Shaft and bearings

Once again a very pleasant surprise. No appreciable wear.

I did replace the bearings and installed a Crane Low RPM Hi-Torque cam, mild but nice.


Cylinder Head

I sent the cylinder head out to a friend shop for a complete rebuild.

It came back with the all the original valves cleaned (de-carboned) and reseated,
but
Not one valve needed to be replaced.

Not one valve steam bushing needed to be replaced.

All were 100% in spec.

The Valve Stem Oil Seals were all replaced.

Springs were all within factory spec.

I did replace the Valve Rocker with a new set out of principle.

There was a bit of wear on the end of each rocker but I had no way of determining how much this was. So I just replaced them all.


Oil Pump

I could not determine if or how much wear there was in the oil pump. My pressure was always fine.

It worked great but I elected to replace the oil pump with a Melling Hi-Volume pump for $60.


Other Engine Work

While I had the block out it was boiled out and new freeze plugs put in.

I had the block decked, taking 0.040 off.

This was by my request to increase compression ratio a tad. It wasn?t necessary to level it out. 0.004 was all that was needed to level it. Same is true of the cylinder head. 0.004 to level.

Original pistons and rods where all reused, as were piston wrist pins and bearings

New Timing Chain and gears out of principle, but again, I don?t think they where needed.

New water pump

New Clutch assembly.



After the complete rebuild and a 1K mile break in period I ran compression tests and leak down tests on the engine, all of which were only slightly better ( 4%) then these same tests before the rebuild.

Oil pressure is on average 5 PSI higher after the rebuild, yet it does seem to hold more steady between high and low engine RPM?s.

In truth, I don?t believe this engine rebuild was needed in any way, but it makes me feel better giving the Jeep to my daughter.


I attribute the outstanding condition of my engine, after 98K miles to the use of Mobil 1 and regular oil changes. I also believe the Oil Guard Filtration system contributes greatly to this condition as well.

Thought I would take the time to share this info in this post.

There is a lot more on this rebuild coming, next will be the AX15 transmission and Atlas II transfer case.


I hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving, we have so much to be thankful for.

God Bless,

Frank

[Daless2]

Other Engine Compartment work

I almost left out quit a bit of other under hood activity.

Distributor

Being mine is a 97 TJ I have a distributor to have to worry about. When I pulled it and took a look at it I notice some side play in the shaft, more then I thought should be there so I order a new one.

I was right to worry about this, the new unit had NO side play of any kind.

I don?t know if I could have obtained the bearing or not to rebuild the unit but at least this way I know I shouldn?t have to worry about it any time soon.

I did install a new cap, rotor and camshaft position senor. More on the sensors later.

I had a set of Jacobs Ignition wires on the Jeep and was happy with them, but being I was doing all this other replace/rebuild activity I ordered a new set. My luck, they?re still on back order.

The Ign coil is an MSD unit, working great with only about 20K miles on it so it stayed.


Sensors

Have I ever mentioned how much I hate Jeep sensors?

For years I have been running around with new replacement sensors protected in ?foam padding? just in case I needed one on the trail.

Well I got the bright idea, why not put all the new sensors in and keep the used one?s as trail spares!

So, I replaced them all, TPS, Crank Position Sensor, Cam Position Sensor, Coolant Tempo Sensor, Air Intake Temp Sensor, even the under the battery temp sensor. (but not the MAP sensor as mine is a special unit that reads pressure for the SC.)

Well, after doing this my Jeep ran like, pooop!

Turns out, there is a considerable amount of variance between the new sensors, and the used sensors I had in my Jeep. Enough of a variance, that when you replace them all the Piggy Back Split Second Computer, which I use to tune by wire, got all confused!

I ran the Jeep and my sensors up to my friends shop in Indy and he verified this for me.

I could have taken the time to retune, or remap the piggyback computer on the dino, or put the old sensors back in.

I elected to put the old sensors back in and all was back to a very nice state of normal power and running conditions.

I did do some minor tune by wire to compensate for the new camshaft grind.

I should have known about the sensors from my past experience in sharing my Split second Tuning tables with others who have elected to install a super charger and a split second computer. In every case, my fuel and timing maps failed to produce anywhere near the same results on their Jeeps as on mine.

Bottom line, the inputs to the Split Second tune by wire computer are highly dependent on the sensors. Change the sensors and you have to change the tuning. I know this now.

As well intended as this was, it wasn?t a good idea.


On Board Air

My Jeep has a huge dependency on compressed air, not only for the lockers, but also for the suspension, which is an ORO AirRock System.

I have both and ARB and Kilby/York OBA systems, which are plumbed together, to create a redundancy, or backup should one system fail.

I pulled the ARB unit and replaced the tank seals and also replaced the solenoids. Did a basic clean up and replaced the unit.

Seems I pinched the large O-ring when I re-installed the tank so I had to replace that a second time. That?s all fixed now.

I pulled the York compressor and rebuilt it with all new seals, gaskets, and a valve plate.
While it wasn?t giving me any trouble I feel a lot more confident it will work well into the future without any concerns now.



Belts and Pulleys

Way back in March I had a squeal under the hood. It sounded like belt squeal. After replacing booth the serpentine belt for the engine accessories and the SC and the York drive belt I still had the squeal. It was quit loud at times.

Turned out to be Idler Pulleys actually starting to disintegrate!

I mean that. Think of like a star pattern traveling out from the bearings toward the belt surface on the pulleys. One of my Idler pulleys had star pattern pieces actually missing!

I found this problem by accident when my finger ran across the front of the pulley. You can?t see this problem until you take the pulley out.

I checked the other Idler pulleys and they had cracks in them.

I replaced them all with unite from Napa.

Take a minute and get under your hood and check these idler pulleys out. Run your finger across the front of the pulleys. If you feel anything other then total smoothness, pull the pulley and inspect it.

I really have never seen pulleys disintegrate like this before in my life. The bearing where fine, it was the actual steal of the pulley that was failing.


Cooling System

My Jeep has a three-core aluminum radiator in it, which had about 60K miles on it. I pulled it, along with the intercooler for the Super Charger. They looked fine but I ran them into a shop for a complete boiling out and power flush and painting. They look so pretty now!

I replaced all hoses, using Stock Jeep parts. I like having them bent exactly to fit.

But I ran into a problem with the Heater hoses. I neglected to do this right and ended up breaking the heater core nipple off getting the hose off!

Big mistake!!!

If you change these hoses, after you remove the hose clamps, CUT the old hose off the heater core with a utility knife. DO NOT twist it like I did, thinking you will break the connection. The only thing I broke was the heater core itself.

To say this is a pain to replace would be an understatement. Please learn by my amateur mistake.

I used a stock, Jeep part number thermostat.

And I replace the water pump with a stock Jeep unit. I figure the old pump was working fine but it had a lot of miles on it. So new I went.


Electrical Under Hood

Not living in Southern California I have to deal with road salt during the winters here, and the corrosion it causes. I elected to disconnect and clean every under hood electrical connector. This takes some time, but I thought necessary to help insure no future problems.

Radio Shack likes me, I bought out their supply of Electric Motor Cleaner. (I should have bought stock in radio shack first!).

Each connector was disconnected and sprayed four times very liberally to remove any and all dielectric grease, and junk that has built up in them over the years.

Then each was repacked with Dielectric grease and tested for continuity and in some cases voltage drop.

I also did every connector in the Power Distribution center. You wouldn?t believe how dirty some of these were after 10 years of wheeling, yet also maintaining the Jeep.

While I was not having any problems in this area I do believe this was time well spent to perform such a menial task.

I paid particular attention the ?gang ground? on the passenger side of the engine. If this ground is faulty all kinds of problems can and do happen. I have had at least three problems caused by a bad ground at this location. I?m now like Pavlov?s Dog, whenever I have a problem with the jeep the first thing I do is check this Gang Ground!!!

I?m sure there?s a few other things I did under the hood but this is all I can think of at the moment, it?s been a long 8 months.

Frank

[Daless2]

Drive Train

Clutch and Transmission

While I was having no problems with either unit I pulled them both.

The clutch assembly was replaced with a stock Jeep Unit, including the hydraulic linkage assembly. I figured the original worked good for almost 100K, I would expect the same out of a replacement.

The tranie is an AX15, with no problems but I wanted to take it apart on the bench and take a look-see inside.

I did not find any appreciable wear, but I did elect to replace all the snycro rings and hubs while I had it apart.

This was a learning experience for me. I always wanted to take one of these apart and now I can say I have.

While I was at it I ordered and installed a B&M short throw shifter. WOW! This sure is nice. Wish I had done this one years ago.


Atlas II Transfer Case

This unit only has 22K miles on it so I saw no need to service it other then to drain and change the Torco MTF, which I did.

My normal street tires are 32-inch BFG M/T?s. I will soon be ordering a new set of these tires, but 35?s. I have a new Speedo gear on order to match these tires up.


Drive Shafts

My drive shafts have been rebuilt and rebalanced so many times I felt it was time for some new ones.

One call to Tom Woods and a few days later and now my TJ has some shiny new shafts. The old ones will be spares for the spares.


Differentials and Axles

I have put more then 90K miles on both my Front D30 with ARB Locker and Rear Super 35 with Air Operated Ox Locker. It was time to replace these.

Being I have more ambition then I have energy these days I took my Jeep down to see my friend at MIG Off Road in Lexington and had Conn and Jessie do this work for me.


Rear


In the rear we removed the Air Operated Ox Locker and replaced it with a 30 spline ARB. I retained the OX Locker Diff Cover for protection. If you have never seen one of these covers, they are massive. At least ? inch thick Machined (not cast) steal.

Also replaced with the locker were the ring and pinion and all bearings and seals.

I did retain the Super 35 axles, which showed no sign of wear at all.

Inspecting the Ox Locker I could find nothing at all wrong with it. It will be kept as a spare.

Rear brakes are disc out of a 95 Grand Cherokee. The calipers and disk are in great shape, but I did replace the pad with new ones and did a complete rebuild of the emergency brake parts mounted to the backing plate.


Front

The Front D-30 received a similar rebuild, only I ordered and had installed the Superior Evolution Chrome Molly 30 spline axles and matching ARB locker.

These axles are considerable bigger then the stock units. I have some pictures side by side with the stock axles, which I will post later.

In addition to the new axles, u-joints, and locker I put in a new ring and pinion and all bearings as well.

The front also received new Unit Bearing, Ball Joints, disc and brake pads.



Steering

My Jeep had a Currie Heavy Duty Steering system and track bar.

I rebuilt the adjustable track bar with a new Johnnie Joint kit, but replaced the Steering system with ORO?s U-turn.

Having the AirRock suspension, and the ability to change ride height I felt I needed the U-turn Steering system, which keeps my steering geometry set where I have it set regardless of, ride height.

This was the only reason I changed this out.

Read that, I like having a straight steering wheel!!!

I have some pictures of this as well to post when I get them out of the camera.


Frank

[Daless2]

Did I mention how mush easier it is doing Differential, Axle and Suspension work on a lift is?

Well it is!!!

Control Arms

The single best think I did in this rebuild was to rework and replace the control arms completely.


My Jeep had a set of adjustable TeraFlex Upper in the Rear and adjustable TerFlex Lowers in the front, I used Stock control arms with no problems at all for the others. Remember it is only a 4-inch AirRock Lift.

Those stock arms are incredible if you can use them.

I have had a suspension ?Clunk? for the last 20K miles or so. In truth it was driving me nuts.

I had rebuilt the control arms four times and the the track bars, front and rear, replace all body to frame mounting bolts, and still I had a clunk.

Finally I just ordered eight New JSK Control arms and NEW Control Arm Bolts, took my Jeep to my friends with the lift at MIG Off Road and Jessie and Conn got rid of my clunk for me.

Seems the frame mounts had worn just a tad.

There not suppose to, but mine did.

I had Jessie weld in some 10.9 grade metric washers to the frame where the control arm bolts go through.

Then I held him up while things cooled so I could paint the new washers so they wouldn?t rust. (Drove him nuts, but he?s my friend so he forgives me.)

Installed the JKS control arms and took it for a spin!

WOW WOW! (Double Wow!) Should have done this a long time ago.

Tight is the only way to describe it.

Like new might be another way.

The Jeep tracks firmly in a way I never expected it ever would again after a lift and 98K miles. I am very pleased with this upgrade.

It really is the best part of this entire effort. Clearly noticeable.

If you have never seen or held a JKS Control arm I your hands you need to. While Pricey they are really incredible heavy and strong. They also use rubber bushing which softens things up a bit.


I think part of the ride and control difference can be attributed to the JKS arms, but I think most of it is a result of welding those washers to the frame to eliminate the elongated holes that the control arm bolts go through.

Next time you pull your control arms, check these frame boltholes out.

Put a NEW bolt in them and see if it moves side to side.

There shouldn?t be much movement at all.

If there is, you might want to weld in some 10.9 grade washers. I really do think this is what made the most difference of all.

Responsive, is another good word to describe the difference this made.

The Jeep tracks straight as can be, and responds when I turn the wheel without any sense delay or of extra play or understear as it did before.

Best of all, No CLUNK anymore (and I have my sanity back.).

That?s about it for tonight. I will get some pictures up hopefully tomorrow. I?m sure I?ll have a few more things to share about this rebuild as well, when my mind isn?t so tired.

Once again I hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving.

God Bless you and yours,

Frank

[Jeff Weston]

Wow Frank, that is quite a list! I'll buy you a ticket an you can come out and rebuild my '65 Mustang fastback for me. Your lack of engery is greater than my ambition.

Your daughter is lucky to have such a dedicated father. Hope you and yours have a wonderful Thanksgiving as well.

[Jason L Williams]

A big list you have there Frank. Kept you busy for awhile I bet. I too am in the middle of just replacing/fixing things I've neglegted over the years. You Daughter is very fortunate to have a father as yourself.

[Tumbleweed]

Very ambitious my friend. Wanna adopt me? You are going to have a new, "old" Jeep. It just struck me Frank-you are now going through what every CJ owner that wheels his CJ has gone through. I can relate.
Frank, as thorough as you are I did not see it mentioned. With your mileage and winter road maintenance-check the rubber brake lines for cracks and wear. May or may not need attention.
Have a wonderful Thanksgiving Frank.

[Daless2]

Hi Folks, and thank you for your kind words.

As for my daughter? I know I?m the lucky one.

Most of the time I run BFG MT 32-inch tires off and on road, but I do have a set of 35-inch super swappers that I run off road when the area I am going to requires them. The Ox Locker and Super 35 axles have been in the Jeep for 80K miles, and all have worked flawlessly.

I have wheeled it fairly hard with no problems other then 80K of wear.

I replaced the Ox Locker with an ARB only because I wanted to have the same technology in the front and rear, and the front migrated to the 30-splin Evolution axles.

So front ARB was replace with bigger unit for bigger axles.

Rear OX was replaced with ARB for the 30 splin axles back there.

I have inspected (taken apart) both the old front ARB and the Old OX locker, both are in fine shape. There is some wear on the side gears and spiders, but not abnormal wear at all.

Same was true of the ring and pinions, front and back. Wear yes, but not really abnormal at all. I did find one minor chip in the front pinion gear, maybe the size of the ?o?. Nothing else wrong that I can see.

I?ll keep the rear Ox as a spare locker, the front ARB I have already given to a friend.

Hi Ron, thanks for the reminder on the rubber brake lines. I do have a complete new set sitting on the shop bench to put on. They just arrived last week in the Brown Truck?.

Can?t have the brakes failing now cause of me getting cheap at this stage of the game.


As for cost??

I haven?t added them up based on receipts, but a quick tally in my head has it at about $8K, give or take $500.

But please know, 90% of this work was without labor costs, either by myself, or with the help of many good friends.

Maybe I paid a total of another $1,000 for labor, mostly for machining, head and block work, stuff I had to send out to be done by professionals.

So I?d say I?m into this for less then $10K.

I?ll add t all up some time and post it.

As was shared, to each there own. To me I wanted to have ?as new? a Jeep as I could get with a caveat, it needed to be ?MY JEEP!?

There are many many Jeeps far better built then mine, but you know how the saying goes, ?Mine, all Mine!!!? LOL


I still have a few items to finish up.

I am breaking the diff gears in now. Once I have 1,000 miles on them I will pull the covers and inspect everything. Then I will put the front Ox Locker cover on, replace the rear Ox Cover and fill them both with Mobil 1 synthetic gear oil.


I use only synthetic in all my vehicles. They are pricey, yes, but I think they outperform the dino juice in just about every category.

Maybe it just makes me feel better, who knows.

It?s also due for it?s annual deep paint cleaning, polish and 7 coats of McGuire?s Gold Wax! You wouldn?t believe how good a 10 year old Jeep can be if you wax it frequently and put on lots of coats of wax.

The wax buildup prevents the paint from being scratched by brush. Instead, the wax gets scratched, not the paint. The scratches (Not the creases) wax right out!

I expect to get some pictures out of the camera today and will get them posted.

I?m stuff from yesterday?s meal, and tired from my ?O-Dark 30? trip to Circuit City?s Black Friday Sale. And yes I did get that $499 GPS for $150!! Now I have more savings to put into my daughter?s future Jeep!

Have a great day folks.

Frank

[Daless2]

Hi Folks, I promised a few pictures. Problem is most of them are not so great, but here?s a few.

As I said I installed an OffRoadOnly U-Turn steering system so that my steering geometry would always remain the same, regardless of air suspension height.

The U-Turn mounts two Hub Brackets directly to the Jeep Front Hubs, using two hub bolts. A third bolt goes through the steering knuckles, one on each side.

This is a fairly hardy system, no doubt about it.

Here are a few pictures.

Passenger side



Drivers Side




Here is a shot with the suspension lifted.




As I said, I replaced all front-end components, including the Superior Evolution Axles and matching 30 splin ARB.

Here is a shot comparing an original axel to the new Evolution 30-splin unit.



And a shot during the installation at the knuckle.



Here?s what pretty new stuff looks like. Look fast, it won?t last long. This was prior to installing the U-Turn steering system.




In the rear I removed the air operated OX Locker and replaced it with a 30 splin ARB.

I retained the Ox Cover for Protection and to help stiffen up the housing. That cover is indeed rather massive. I have another to put on the front after I break the gears in.



And one quick shot of the rear JKS Control arms. I also replaced the rear sway bar bushing with Daystar Poly units.




There is something a bit annoying when you do a project of this type, with all this work and expense when you can?t really see (with my eyes) any improvement. So humor me.

Here are two pics of my Jeep nice and shiny anyway!! LOL






I took a walk out to my shop and went over the shop bench for items remaining. I have new soft brake lines to go in this week, then the diff cover in the front, and a few small odds and ends like fixing the screw that hold the footman strap on the drivers door that holds the door limiting strap that has been broken for 10 months now. Those kinds of odds and end that keep me off the streets! LOL

Oh yea, I installed a set of ORO LiteDOTs. I like them, as with all else from ORO, First Grade Quality all the way. But Pricey!

Anyway, it has been fun.

Thanks for humoring me folks, I know this wasn?t a very hi-tech or fancy project, but to me it was a lot of fun and a lot of work. I feel I have my Jeep as ?Like New? a I can make it, and is what I was after.

I hope some of my reporting as to the condition of parts at given mileage reading will be helpful to others with your own Jeeps.

If anyone has any recommendation for other areas on my Jeep to take a look at please let me know. I really want to do this as right as I am capable of doing.

Soon my daughter can add this Jeep to the one she already has and can decide which she wants to go break on any given outing! LOL but True!!

God Bless,

Frank


PS: If anyone will be at the Clayton, OK New Years Eve weekend run (Trail Chasers) , I will be there. As will my daughter. I sure would enjoy meeting up with you.