Htchevyii

You guys are old school. 😉

That sounds pretty typical. I got an average if 17 on our last 2000 mile trip, loaded down with 33's. That was everything from 75 MPH interstate to off road trails, but not much stop and go.

I kinda copied the theme on my XJ.

Hopefully you can find a complete assembly with the external slave cylinder from a later model. If you end up with an early ax15 or a brand new one and want to swap to external, my video might help. After my LUK internal slave failed 500 miles from home (10,000 miles after replacement), I replaced my ax15 with a brand new one from Advance Adapters along with their external slave conversion kit. Here's the video of me driving the MJ 500 miles home without a clutch. 🙄

I got worried for a second, I thought that you were wasting beer. 😁 The jars that I have seem pretty secure, I haven't had any issues. I've never thought about using the alcohol in there, but it seems like a good idea. I use a lot of it for cleaning instead of more toxic alternatives.

A small engine guy recommended throwing carburators inside of a sealed container of gasoline and then immersing it into the water bath. I've pretty much adopted that procedure for anything that will fit inside of a jar, ( I use screw on lid plastic ). It allows me to use hasher/faster cleaners, smaller amounts of them and is much easier to clean. The container doesn't seem to affect the ultrasound process. After I got two different driver's door latches clean, I found so much ear and damage that I just bought a NOS one. 🙄

Thanks! I've already changed this one 3 times. I've never had one that I replaced leak again until this one. The engine has a reground crankshaft and I'm afraid that their was excessive wear and polishing to even it out in the RMS area. It the Mopar one doesn't change anything, I'll deal with it until I build a stroker. We usually don't get too carried away on hardcore stuff on trips. We are usually hundreds of miles from home and alone, so it seems unwise to test the limits. The old MJ does have well over 300,000 miles (swapped clusters a long long time ago and don't remember). It belonged to two loggers before I took possession, so it definitely hasn't led an easy life. I doubt that the high speed washboard roads that I often subject it to help things. Hopefully the cracks haven't gotten much worse, we shall see.

Christmas tree cutting in the XJ.

I suppose that some shade tree could have forced it when it was misaligned or something?

It looks like an alignment piece that broke off of your torque convertor. I'd check the flexplate for cracks or damage that might have led to this? https://cobratransmission.com/aw4-torque-converter

Ha ha, I feel ya. I do have a front "frame" plate kit and a Mopar rear main seal to install. I'm not got to divulge how long I've been sitting on those parts. 😉 I slapped on an Amazon steering brace kit a year or two ago when I saw some cracks starting. It was just supposed to be a temp fix for an upcoming trip. It's time to fix it correctly.

That's a great gift!

Nice, I've been eyeing those Notch Customs flares for a while. If I ever move up to bigger tires, I'll probably go that route.

Oh man, that's frustrating! Something really abnormal is going on, hope that you can figure it out.

As long as he leaves car parts, he can have 'em! He'd better stay away from my bourbon, unless he leaves me something really good!

Assuming that it is a valvetrain problem you'll want to be darn sure that you don't have a flat lobe on the camshaft. If you do, you'll be going right back in even deeper to replace it. I did replace my camshaft with the engine installed, but getting the balancer off was a little tricky, I had to find a shorter bolt for my balancer puller so that it would fit.

Hope you and your Jeeps get something special for Christmas. 😉 Nothing for the MJ, the BFG MT-03's that I bought a few months ago will have to do!

I'm using the 4 wire Bosch in both of mine. As far as I can tell, they have been working fine. Both go into closed loop pretty quickly. The one in the MJ probably has 20k on it. I thought that I had a problem with the sensor on the XJ, but it ended up just being the relay. I still have the used OEM one that I bought when I worked at the Dodge dealer years ago. I had no idea that I would still own the MJ. I should have bought so many more parts! At least I replaced both manual window regulators when I worked there!

Gotcha. 😉

Thanks for watching! The old Comanche cruised up it pretty effortlessly. I should have been in 4LO 1st instead of 2nd and I wouldn't have stalled it. I really need to re-gear eventually, the 3.73's are pretty high off-road, but great for the long HWY drives. The JL is plenty capable, but that trailer is kind of like dragging around an anchor, but my parents are in their mid 70's and a roof top tent isn't in the cards.

Thanks for the kind words! The hubs have been on there for 4 or 5 years. I bought a front and rear axle at a yard sale several years ago from a TJ. The front had a Warn Hub setup, Poison Spyder steering setup, (now my drag link and both tie rod ends are the same), a Spartan locker and a diff skid plate. The rear had a Super 35 setup with a Detroit and 30 spline alloy axles. I was able to sell the rear end for enough to cover my purchase price. Honestly, we only use 4x4 a few times per trip, the Comanche is amazingly capable in 2wd and the front locker makes steering a chore. We sprung for a new set of BFG MT03's before this trip. At some point the toe got off and the Patagonias got pretty hammered. I didn't have any complaints about them before they got excessively worn and cupped, but they have increased in price so much that the BFG's weren't that much more. I was surprised that they are so full inch narrower tread width than the Milestars. Drivability with the new tires VS the old worn ones is vastly improved! It's probably going to be a while before we can get out in another big trip. Thanks for your support!

Our video on the last leg of the Mojave Trail is out. Thanks to everyone who watched! We encountered the roughest terrain of the trip, the penny can, some cool stone cabins, the best petroglyphs that I've ever seen, ETC. then we started our 800 mile trip home.

Man, as many bad ones that I have sitting around, that's a deal. Bad timing right now though.

There are many of these cabins in NV & CA. Most of them belonged to miners or ranchers before the government bought their land. There are various volunteer groups that adopt Them and maintain the cabins, mostly off road or Jeep clubs. Some are equipped with solar, battery systems, ETC. the best ones that we have found to date are in the High Rock Desert in NV. Link below if you want to see them. You'll have a difficult time getting anyone to publicly divulge the locations, that and the difficulty reaching the cabins is what usually saves them from vandals. There are dozens of cabins in Death Valley and the easier they are to find and the closer they are to "civilization" the worse they usually fare. They are free to stay in, first come first serve, usually with a 14 day limit. The flag raised indicates that the cabin is occupied.