Timeless

:popcorn:

A 90 deg shackle angle is not ideal, typically angled away from the fixed pivot point is the way to go. And I could be mistaken, but leaf springs should all have some arch to them regardless of SOA or SUA. Here's some tech that should answer many questions: http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/jeep-hardcore-tech/845026-leaf-spring-shackle-basics.html

Smelling gasoline in oil is pretty standard especially if the engine has not been warmed up and run for a while. Upon cold start some gas gets past the piston rings and into the oil. It accumulates a bit then evaporates out once the oil is nice and hot. If you take a lot of short trips, its entirely possible the gas is just accumulating into the oil. Otherwise, a slight gasoline smell is pretty normal and probably nothing to worry about unless the oil is thin/discolored or otherwise visually wrong.

It works just like any other auto-locker on and off road. You will feel a difference when on the throttle in turns and when you come off the throttle. Its the nature of the beast. Installing a lunchbox in the 8.25 is a real pain because of the c-clips. If you break a shaft on the trail, prepare for much cursing.

OP, the kit you linked to is the Iron Rock Offroad tow hook mount. Link: http://www.ironrockoffroad.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=IROR&Product_Code=IR-XTHM&Category_Code=XPA I can tell you from first hand experience, it is a nice piece of hardware. It ties the front frame rails together and is very solid. Outside of getting a legit bumper/hitch, this will tie the front rails together the best. It is mounted to the bottom of the frame rails and hangs down slightly below the bumper. I have hit it in the past once when wheeling, but the mount shrugged it off just fine.

Don't go lower than 4.56 with the dana 30 for the reasons mvusse states above. 4.56:1 is just fine for 33's or 35's. Your F150 width axle is significantly wider, about 5", than a stock dana 30. Unless you're going to a similar or same width axle upfront, you'll probably be better off tracking down an explorer width axle.

I really don't even think its worth tearing this motor open unfortunately. It would probably be easier to just drop another engine in. Thanks for the help everyone!

Update: the valve train noise has not gotten any better and I have put another 400 miles or so on the truck. If anything, since I installed the new rocker arms, the ticking at the front cylinder has gotten worse. I'm at a loss...

Your bump steer is likely due to wonky drag link to track bar geometry as you know. If you can, avoid getting a drop pitman arm as they put more strain on the steering gearbox output bearing. IIRC, an xj arm is 3" drop a zj arm is 4" and a yj arm is 2".

If the rig is put together, why not just measure the distance you have to work with? You could also check front driveshaft clearance by using a a standard floor jack up front to at the very least gauge whether the rig will be street drivable.

The valve cover and valve train is sludge free. When I pulled the valve cover, I was pleasantly surprised. But seriously, there wasn't a bit of sludge or build up any where. The engine was (allegedly) "rebuilt" by the PO about 4k mikes ago with a 97 xj block with 80 something thousand miles. The original head was cleaned and reused. That's when he put in all the performance internals.

I just put MMO in the oil last oil change, <300 miles ago. Was hoping that would resolve the clatter...but no such luck yet.

Re. increasing CPS voltage...getting it closer to the flywheel. I don't think its carbon buildup, though it is possible. I have run a few bottles of seafoam and techron through the fuel system since I owned the truck. This is a very audible/noticeable/distinguishable knocking coming from the valve train at the front cylinder. Its almost like the rocker arm is hitting the valve cover. It may very well be a collapsed lifter or something. But I'm not yet convinced its worth pulling the head off this motor.

The coil was causing the no-start condition. Its very strange that I was getting a low reading on the CPS though. In other news, while there valve train might be marginally quieter, there is a louder tick coming from what seems to be the front cylinder. This tick was there prior to me changing the rocker arms and now it is worse. With a screw driver on the valve cover, I can feel the knock/tick (whatever you want to call it). When I put the screwdriver on the head, the knock/tick is barely noticeable.

Cruiser, I'm getting fuel through the cylinders. Plugs are wet with gas whenever I have pulled them. I was able to get a friend over here to help me out and found that the coil is outputting, but the spark looks weak. Its very thin and orange in color. I'm hoping the problem is the coil is not outputting a strong enough spark to get through the distributor, plug wires and plugs. I have a line on one about a half hour away so I'm going to go out and get it shortly.

I am getting no spark at all and plenty of fuel.

Charged the battery this morning. Will not start. Measured CPS voltage and its still at .1Vac. This is the same as the old CPS which I replaced. Is there a sender on the flywheel that could have gotten screwed up? The truck was running fine (except for an intermittent long start time) prior to me pulling the valve cover and replacing the rocker arms so I'm at a loss on what happened here.

Cruiser, CPS voltage for the old CPS tested out to about .1V. So I thought that was the problem. After I got the new CPS in, it too tested out to .1V. Either I got a super dud CPS, my multimeter sucks, or its not the problem. I don't have a fully charged battery anymore from all the attempted starts the past few days, so that may be causing the low voltage read. Hopefully i will be able to charge it tomorrow. ICM/Coil contacts were recently cleaned.

I tested the CPS and the resistance checked out fine. The voltage reading when cranking was low so I replaced it with my new spare. The engine still would not fire. Resistance through the CPS was again fine and the voltage when cranking was no different. I'm not sure what this means. All fuses under the dash are fine. Distributor cap, rotor and plugs were replaced in the spring. ICM contacts were cleaned about a month ago. Grounds were refreshed and C101 was cleaned in the spring. My understanding is that the ICM cannot be tested. So the last thing I can check is the coil before I have to start throwing parts at this thing. Any other tips?

Got the new rockers, pivots and bridges in. Disconnected the coil to get some oil flowing and cranked the engine over a few times. Reconnected the coil...and the truck will not start. I'm getting fuel, the plugs are wet with gas, but I'm not getting any spark. I know I need to check the CPS. If it checks out, how can I check the coil and ICM?

start here: http://comancheclub.com/forum/8-your-project-mjs/ plenty of information available.

I pulled the valve cover this evening to take a look at the valve train. Nothing blatantly obvious was wrong and the valve train is very clean and sludge free. The rockers in cylinder 1 were no better or worse appearing than the others despite a lot of ticking coming from this area. Most, if not all, of the rocker arms will move forward and back (parallel with the axis of the bridges). There is no apparent lash in any of the rockers even at TDC. I did find what I can only describe as "wobble" on a few. The arms had some play if rotated perpendicular to the bridge axis (parallel with front axle center line). I don't know if this could be causing the noisy valve train or not. I'm figuring that I will replace the arms and bridges just to eliminate them as the culprit as they are reasonably inexpensive.

Thanks guys. Oyaji, great advice and will do. I am hoping this is rocker arm related because it seems most of the other upper end parts were replaced. Seems the high performance springs could be causing a problem with the factory rocker arms too. I will be getting to this sometime next week.

Cruiser, you're the best!

After the oil change today I checked various points on the head and valve cover. There is a pronounced tap from the front most portion of the head (assuming the first set of valves) on the drivers side. This tap can actually be felt when I put a screw driver on the valve cover or head, its that pronounced. Already ordered the valve cover gasket and expect that i will be ordering some other parts once I figure out what is going on with this thing. Once I get the valve cover off, can anyone offer some advice with how to best diagnose if I am dealing with a collapsed lifter, worn rocker, etc? Thanks!