Secondhand Tin Can.

Well I got the jeep picked up from Rev Limit Fab where it got new gears. After a shake down run I have an AEV skid to install on it to help protect the pinion

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Well I got the aev skid installed after a quick trip to URE. Then the following weekend I went back to URE for a spontaneous camping trip. This is where things got interesting.

Around lunch that Friday I was taking my mom to her eye appointment. I slowed down in her car for a construction site that had equipment in our lane of travel and we got plowed into by another car not paying attention. Everyone was fine but both cars are totaled.
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My plan was to just wheel easily since the plan was for her to drive my truck and I would daily the jeep till she got a rental. I get to URE after everything we could do on Friday was squared away. I mention I'm going to take it easy since I might have to drive the jeep the next week. So I take it easy on the trails Saturday morning. At lunch we decided to hit Daniel. No big deal right!?!? I usually pop right up it. Right before we leave I decide I'm going to just put tires on it to see if it wants anything I'm offering. If it doesn't I'll take the bypass. The first attempt on the ledge crawled till I bottomed out on it. So I backed up and tried a different line same thing I just stop making progress when the rear tires are about to crest. At this point I know I can make it. I pop the front tires up on it and back up some. I bump it and right when the rear tires where about to crest they broke loose. According to on lookers you could see the tires rippling trying to grabe then the 1310 joint on the rear drive shaft just snaps. Then almost immediately the front passenger axle shaft ears decide they were done. I backed off the ledge in neutral and got winched off to the side out of the way. On my last attempt a big group of rigs had pulled up. When two guys from my group got to the top of Daniel word was some grey xj had broken both axles on the ledge. Once they got back with my spare axle shaft we had already gotten my spare drive shaft in. We threw the spare in and I drove off of the trail.
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My plan next year is to swap in an ultimate 44 or east coast 489 into the front. I honestly think I cracked one of the ears replacing the joint and that's what led to this failure. The rear 1310 was a greseable because that is all the parts stores had when it needed to be replaced.
 
It's been awhile since I've updated this thing. Nothing major has been done to the jeep. I've had to replace the grizzly lock do to a front shaft being snapped off in the carrier from August. I didn't pull the shaft after wards but I did spin the tire and it would spin the drive shaft so I didn't think it was broken. I wheeled and drove the jeep for 3 weeks that way so I decided to replace the locker since I had one.

Since I swapped the 44 in the rear locker hadn't been working right. Turned out the Magento was worn down so it wasnt fully engaging the locker. I just did that today. When I went to pull the jeep out of the garage it had an extremely rough idle and would die. It then threw the code p1391. Which is either the cam shaft or crank shaft position sensor. I decided to replace the cam shaft position sensor since the cps is only 4ish years old and was a mopar sensor. After replacing the cam shaft position sensor it won't die but will idle rough so I have disconnected the battery for the night to let the computer fully reset after the new sensor. Hopefully this will fully alleviate the problem so I can fully test the rear locker.
 

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Keith1138 said:
It's been awhile since I've updated this thing. Nothing major has been done to the jeep. I've had to replace the grizzly lock do to a front shaft being snapped off in the carrier from August. I didn't pull the shaft after wards but I did spin the tire and it would spin the drive shaft so I didn't think it was broken. I wheeled and drove the jeep for 3 weeks that way so I decided to replace the locker since I had one.

Since I swapped the 44 in the rear locker hadn't been working right. Turned out the Magento was worn down so it wasnt fully engaging the locker. I just did that today. When I went to pull the jeep out of the garage it had an extremely rough idle and would die. It then threw the code p1391. Which is either the cam shaft or crank shaft position sensor. I decided to replace the cam shaft position sensor since the cps is only 4ish years old and was a mopar sensor. After replacing the cam shaft position sensor it won't die but will idle rough so I have disconnected the battery for the night to let the computer fully reset after the new sensor. Hopefully this will fully alleviate the problem so I can fully test the rear locker.
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You're going to need someone to sync the new cam shaft sensor to the ECU with a really good scanner tool. Chris probably has the right stuff.
 
77GreenMachine said:
You're going to need someone to sync the new cam shaft sensor to the ECU with a really good scanner tool. Chris probably has the right stuff.
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If with just replacing the top piece of the assembly? I didn't remove the entire assembly.
 
Keith1138 said:
If with just replacing the top piece of the assembly? I didn't remove the entire assembly.
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I believe so. If you have coil packs that is. I could be wrong but I’m pretty sure it’ll need to be synced
 
So after getting the jeep sorted. I think it was a combination of things that was causing the idling issues. During the replacement of my coil rail I broke my dipstick handle off. I discovered taking a hot glue stick and heating it up with a torch and pushing it down the tube will allow you to be able to remove the dipstick.
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The rear locker is completely fixed and didn't cause any issues on my trip. The jeep ran great during it. I did however cut two sidewalls.
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The jeep is back up and moving with two new tires. In true xj fashion I'm running to different brand of tires.
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Now on to figuring out why my efan only was working every once in awhile. It would kick on when I wiggled the wiring by the relay so I'm thinking one of my connections isn't good.
 
Well I finally decided to get some armor and do something about always breaking tail lights. Many of the big brands have stop making rear quarter pannel armor with tail light boxes. Luckily I was able to find Ares Fab which still makes them. I ordered theirs with no tail light holes so I could do my own set up. 20230211_102443.jpg20230212_103535.jpg20230212_103519.jpg

I thought a 3/4 round clearance light would work for a turn signal but I was incorrect. It looks good to me but isn't bright enough to be easily seen durring the day. So I have some eagle eye style lights on there way. If those aren't bright enough I have one more idea.
 
I decided it was time for the jeeps yearly maintenance. I changed the oil even though it had been less than a 1000 miles since the last one. Which was last year. I also took time to address an emissions leak and to put a new fan clutch in. I noticed the jeep had been running warmer than normal and the ac wasn't as cold. Since the water pump is fairly new and doesn't run hot I decided the original fan clutch was probably on its way out. So I upgraded it to the 4cl/zj fan clutch.

I also decided it was time to address the muffler hitting the "frame" rail. The tail pipe was contacting the leaf spring also. I then began hunting for the clunking I had going over bumps. Turns out 3 of my shocks were loose.
 
The front axle build is beginning. I decided to go with a mopar create housing for a jeep jk. The center section is a rubicon center section with j8 axle tubes and brackets. Part number is (p5160036). This means it has 3/8 tubes and stronger C's. The other brackets are 1/4 inch but the majority of them will be stripped off to put a barnes truss swap kit on. I'm also going to put barnes c gussets on as well. My current plan is to run factory elocker with chromos and after market high-steer knuckles.
I'm currently trying to decide if I want to keep 4.88 gears or go up to 5.13s. It's currently on 37s. 5.13s would require regearing the rear.
 
I would go 5.13s to account for inevitable tire size increase.
 
NickMaul said:
FIFY

Serious question. If you plan to regear why not go super duty 1 tons instead? A new crate 44 housing seems pretty expensive, but I am poor so maybe that isn't an issue.
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My plan with this Jeep is it won't ever see any tire over 37s. The diff clearance of a 44 over a 60 on a 37s is the main reason. I also already have a jk rubi 44 in the rear. The deciding factor of a create housing is to avoid the possibility of getting a bent housing. Since the factory rubi 44s are prone to bending if not sleeved or trussed. After pricing everything out its cheaper to get an empty housing and build rather than getting a ecgs 489 or an ultimate 44. In the end I will have the same exact thing.
 
Keith1138 said:
My plan with this Jeep is it won't ever see any tire over 37s. The diff clearance of a 44 over a 60 on a 37s is the main reason. I also already have a jk rubi 44 in the rear. The deciding factor of a create housing is to avoid the possibility of getting a bent housing. Since the factory rubi 44s are prone to bending if not sleeved or trussed. After pricing everything out its cheaper to get an empty housing and build rather than getting a ecgs 489 or an ultimate 44. In the end I will have the same exact thing.
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If you want to hang your hat on needing ground clearance then may I suggest this. You could probably get a dana 50 for...free and a sterling 10.25 for $100

Shit, selling the JK44 alone would cover most of your swap

irate4x4.com

Lets hit the dumbfuck sauce and build a stupid front axle( Shaved narrowed Dana 50)

Over the last couple years it's become more clear that the dirty 30 just isn't gonna cut it anymore, as much as I've tried to work around the numerous weaknesses. Between the Harlan trip cut short by a busted R&P and a pile of broken shafts(a new one nearly every trip) and constantly changing...
irate4x4.com irate4x4.com
 
NickMaul said:
If you want to hang your hat on needing ground clearance then may I suggest this. You could probably get a dana 50 for...free and a sterling 10.25 for $100

Shit, selling the JK44 alone would cover most of your swap

irate4x4.com

Lets hit the dumbfuck sauce and build a stupid front axle( Shaved narrowed Dana 50)

Over the last couple years it's become more clear that the dirty 30 just isn't gonna cut it anymore, as much as I've tried to work around the numerous weaknesses. Between the Harlan trip cut short by a busted R&P and a pile of broken shafts(a new one nearly every trip) and constantly changing...
irate4x4.com irate4x4.com
Click to expand...
I've thought about going that route but after researching ring gear and axle shaft sizes the jk 44 is extremely similar to a dana 50 and just slightly smaller than a 60. The axle shafts are either the same size or a tenth of an inch larger on a 32 spline dana 60. Ring gear wise the 60 is larger by 1.25 of an inch over the 44. As the 50 is only half an inch larger. For my intended purpose I think the 44s will work great.
 
Keith1138 said:
I've thought about going that route but after researching ring gear and axle shaft sizes the jk 44 is extremely similar to a dana 50 and just slightly smaller than a 60. The axle shafts are either the same size or a tenth of an inch larger on a 32 spline dana 60. Ring gear wise the 60 is larger by 1.25 of an inch over the 44. As the 50 is only half an inch larger. For my intended purpose I think the 44s will work great.
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Except for needing to be gusseted at every joint, to keep the tube from banana'ing? 🥸
 
Caver Dave said:
Except for needing to be gusseted at every joint, to keep the tube from banana'ing? 🥸
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Yup. Thats the exact reason why im not getting a used one. That's where the j8 tubes that are 3/8ths come into play. It will help to keep it from bending plus the truss.
 
NickMaul said:
FIFY

Serious question. If you plan to regear why not go super duty 1 tons instead? A new crate 44 housing seems pretty expensive, but I am poor so maybe that isn't an issue.
Click to expand...
Because he likes to wheel more than once in five years :D
 
BigClay said:
Because he likes to wheel more than once in five years :D
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Speaking of that.......

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Here's a picture of it wheeling from this weekend.
 
I started off Saturday by having the goal of stripping the jk brackets off of the axle. That turned into well why don't I go ahead and mock up the truss and figure out where I need to clean the paint off at. Since the truss was now put together. The axel has the paint stripped off and replaced with weld through primer. I decided to set the truss in its finale resting place and double checked everything with an angle finder and using barnes directions. That turned into tacking it in place and welding by jumping around from side to side then letting it cool to the touch and welding somemore. I then proceeded to preheating and welding it to the housing. After that had a chance to cool I decided I might as well weld the c gussets on too. I did only tack the track bar bracket on for now because I'm afraid it might have clearance or geometry issues. I did leave off the factory style track bar and steering stabilizer since those are not utilize on my current axle. My plan is to set up my ram off of my track bar bracket again. So once the track bar bracket is welded on it will receive a gusset or two.

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Well after some trail body work it was time for some redneck body work. My corner armor did its job protecting my tail lights. Only down side is the tube kickers stick out past the tires. This caused them to nail the bank before the tires. This caused the rear quarter pannel to get caved in. I was able to pull the quarter pannel most of the way out. The kickers are going to get cut off and shortened to still protect the window but not hit the bank before the tire.

Before
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Durring
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After
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