jeepcoma

I just moved my office and thought I would share the view out my window. It's full of MJ goodness.

I don't recall, but I'll check my taps when I get home. I used a new kit so it'll be the only one with grease on it so I should be able to tell. During the process, I stuffed the hole with grease and cut very slowly, backing the tap out often to clean shards off and re-greasing. When finished, scoop all the grease out and hopefully any filings left come out with it. Keep greasing and cleaning it out until it's clean.

I had the same problem when I swapped my stock '91 D35 for an '88 D44, the breather was different (though thread vs press seems inconsistent; maybe it's related to MT vs AT?). I had to secure the brake splitter with zip ties as a temporary solution. I ended up tapping the breather hole on my D44 to fit the threaded breather/brake bolt. Seemed like the right decision, just hope I got all the metal shavings from tapping out.

Just got my jeep back from the body shop. Course it was dark when I went to pick it up and then snowing, and of course the roads are salted so from day 1 the rust attack begins. :fs1: Anyway, not a job for the faint of heart (or wallet). These are not plug-and-play replacements, they will require quite a bit of work. If your fenders are totally rusted out you should expect the wheel wells to be as well, which will need to be fabbed. Once I get out from under the snow and get it cleaned off I'll take some more pics. Between the floor pans, rocker panels (inner and outer), doors, and the bedside panels, it turns out to be a very expensive way to save an MJ from the junkyard. :cry:

I went the RSS route and got the countersunk holes but skipped the drain plug. It was a bit of a pain to install because the bolt holes weren't all 100% perfect, and that sucker is heavy to hold up with one hand and try to start some bolts to hold it. Unless you have a helper, you'll smear the RTV gasket maker all over, and it'll leak. Then, it's really really hard to get the cover off. If you're going to spring for a fancy cover, don't cheap out on the gasket, get a LubeLocker. I skipped the drain plug option but if you need frequent maintenance, it's probably worth it. Don't forget the RSS coupon code "FACEBOOK" for 10% off (if it still works).

Mods, sorry if this type of post isn't allowed and please do delete, but I got a "special offer" email from RSS today that they are doing a 20% off sale today only until noon on Sunday. In case anyone is buying some last minute xmas items (or just shopping in general), it might be handy. I usually do a google search and check forums for coupon codes before ordering anything, so maybe this will help someone. I bought their D44 cover and couldn't find a discount then so this would have been a good time to order.

New battery

As I was reading I was thinking of the body-to-line clips along the frame. But wow. Then I saw the pic. Just... wow.

I still have mine... $99 :brows:

All the brake line tools were from Eastwood. Click the name for a link. From top to bottom: The flaring tool (stuff in the black box) is Professional Brake Tubing Flaring Tool Item #25304. List price $250 The "pliers" (blue handles, sitting on cardboard) are Eastwood Brake Line Forming Tool Item #49074, $25 The rolling tube bender (black handles, sitting on white plastic) is Tubing Bender Rolling Item #49041 $90 The prices are not cheap, but I knew that going in. If you're patient there are better deals through ebay and sales they run. I tried to find some used, but no luck. I figured I could sell them after I finished my project, but they were so nice I'm going to keep them for now (which explains why there isn't a used market) since I can use them for future projects as well. The brake line and nut packs are from FedHill. After much research, I chose their "Cunifer" material over stainless steel. It was very easy to work with, bend, cut, deburr, and flare. I'll be able to report on corrosion resistance after this winter.

ANCHOR 2625 Transmission Mount Regular Inventory $10.31 Rockauto

Along those lines, I'd agree and recommend putting money into the "less glamorous" aspects: shocks, bushings, u-joints, ball joints, belts, hoses, mounts, swaybar links,... all the stuff that gets overlooked. But it is vital stuff often overlooked that really makes for a nicer driving experience. Rust prevention is always good to get a handle on. Quality tires can make a world of difference as well. Also if you're using it for hunting/fishing, maybe some neat accessories for the bed? Some kind of storage organizer, a tonneau cover or cap depending on your preference. Maybe a hi-lift jack with the winch kit mounted in the bed to aid in recovery if you travel down muddy trails.

Oh crap. I just looked at this photo full sized instead of the thumbnails I use while uploading, and it IS leaking. I mush not have gotten the seal on 100% straight when installing. D'oh! It never ends...

I put the driveshaft in and took a few pictures along the way. Old and new. I think I like how the sliding section is covered, but there is no way to grease it. It does have a grease fitting at the centering yoke, which the old one did not. Some casting numbers. Everything appears to be Spicer components. Here it is installed and greased up. Ugggh. Grease makes such a mess. I also needed to fix my leaking D44. After replacing the axle seals which were leaking, and then the cover that was leaking, I got around to replacing the pinion seal that was leaking. I got a new yoke while I was at it to avoid trashing the new seal, and "upgraded" to the u-bolt style. I don't know why it's better, but at least it was more expensive! It's nice to not leave a mess behind when I park again. While I was under there, some shots of my repaired floor. Here is the ChroMo steering link. The gorillas at firestone love to use those damn teeth vice grips instead of the nice slot for the wrench. :fs1: Steering box support. And here it is all dressed up for Christmas!

I finished up my brake upgrade, details and pics here. Complete Brake Overhaul I also did a lot of miscellaneous stuff while I was at it which is why the whole ordeal took so long. The front floors were done this summer and rust proofed, and I did some of the same for the rear. When I bought the truck, I knew the body needed some work but overall the frame was in great shape, and I want to keep it that way. I ended up getting a kit from Wilwood. 3 stages, rust converter, rust encapsulator, and chassis paint. It seems to have worked pretty well. I'd recommend brushing on the converter for better coverage, or a paint gun if you have it. I used a squirt bottle and it was hard to get even coverage. Not fully done yet but I got the worst areas. The last piece in my pursuit to solve death wobble was the steering link. For some reason when I did the rest of the front suspension I overlooked this. I got a used Chromoly link and new Moog ends. Size comparison. The weight difference was substantial as well. After an alignment, the truck drives great. I still get a high speed vibe over 65mph or so, some blurring in the rear view mirror, but I think that's just my crappy tires. I've had the truck off the ground and running in gear, and the tires are pretty obviously not even all the way through the rotation. I haven't had any signs of death wobble since replacing the steering link, but I don't think I'll ever be certain it isn't lurking around the corner. With the heavy duty suspension and steering components, and upgraded brakes, it handles and stops great. (I also added a steering box brace but don't have a pic yet.) With the floor repaired, using the t-case shifter is actually quite nice. I bought a new front driveshaft from RockAuto last winter, and installed it last weekend to get ready for winter. It added a huge vibration on the highway so I took it out to discover there was a lot of play. Called rockauto and they said it was under warranty, so I got a new one in the mail this week. It looks like an upgraded design, with a boot covering the sliding shaft part. It's rock solid so I'll be putting that in today. Next up is replacing the bedside panels. I bought replacements from zmjeeps but haven't had them shipped yet. I hope to get that done before the snow really flies. Here's a somewhat recent picture of how bad the wheelwells are getting. We also had a ton of rain the other day and I finally discovered that I was getting water leaking through the windshield. That explains why the driver floor was so bad, and a lot of the stains on the seat and carpet. And why there was no headliner left, since it was coming through there.

But it IS. Quite simply, you are wrong. Perfection has nothing to do with it, it's physics. Do you have personal experience to the contrary? Most days 65mph in OD is 2000 RPM and other days it's not? You may notice that you push the pedal down and the torque converter will unlock and/or it will downshift, but that's not what we're talking about.

OK this has been done for a while but I'm finally getting around to pictures and details. First things first, this is a GREAT upgrade over the stock system, which to be honest I felt was adequate for light/medium usage with a functioning rear proporting valve and otherwise decent braking components. Part Summary: [*:1y21odcx]Required Parts for Upgrade: [*:1y21odcx]CARDONE SELECT 133180 Master Cylinder. This was listed for a 95 Cherokee 4.0 The big difference here is that this uses METRIC line fittings. It takes a 10mm and 12mm double bubble, as opposed to the SAE fittings in the 91 system and all the other components I used. I went to autozone and picked up the lines I needed, since I could not make bubble flares. [*:1y21odcx]Cardone 54-73152 Booster. Following hornbrods suggestion it's for a 95. I got this at Advance Autoparts. It did not include a spacer but I improvised. [*:1y21odcx]Wilwood 260-11179 Combination Proportioning Valve. This unit replaced the stock height-sensing valve in the rear AND the distribution block under the hood. The two outputs from the MC feed directly into here and then there's a single output to the rear and one output to each front caliper. The rear bias is adjustable. [*:1y21odcx]FedHill CNF-3 - 3/16"/4.75mm OD tubing x 25 foot coil + 10 feet misc line. Working from a coil SUCKED. Big time. Unless you have the special tool to straighten out coils, this is an exercise in frustration and wonky brake lines. It was great quality stuff don't get me wrong, but impossible to get nice and straight by hand. I ended up using all 25' for the rear axle all the way up to the new distribution block, plus the front calipers into the hood. I think I wasted only a few inches, so I pretty much used it all up. It did cover all the areas exposed to salt so I was pleased. This bent and flared like butter, very nice to work with besides the coiled aspect. I used autozone line to finish up under the hood. [*:1y21odcx]FedHill #2 Nut Packs for 3/16 line. I used up most of these and got some additional union pieces to make it easier to work with. [*:1y21odcx]10mm DIN to 3/16 SAE and 12mm DIN to 3/16 SAE. Any 12" section from autozone will do, as long as it has the proper flare and fitting on ONE side. I cut the other side to length and SAE flared it. [*:1y21odcx]Various replacement parts to finish my refresh: [*:1y21odcx]Wilwood 260-3279 Residual Pressure Valve. Holds 10 PSI in the rear drums. Probably unnecessary but I was curious to try it out, since I was going to such lengths anyway. I'm hoping it gives a bit more consistent initial bite out of the rear brakes, which is more useful with a loaded bed. [*:1y21odcx]RAYBESTOS FRC10185+FRC10185 Calipers. Cheaper, easier, and faster than rebuilding myself. [*:1y21odcx]DORMAN W17507+W17508 Wheel Cylinders. The right side required some slight grinding to fit into the space in the axle. [*:1y21odcx]RAYBESTOS 2515R (2515) Drums. I already had the rest of the rear hardware and shoes from previous work. [*:1y21odcx]RAYBESTOS 780444PR+780444PL Premium Rotors. Turned out these are drilled and slotted. [*:1y21odcx]RAYBESTOS ATD477M Premium Brake Pads [*:1y21odcx]RAYBESTOS BH38894+BH38895 Front Hydraulic Hoses. These are for the front calipers. I might replace with stainless, I didn't read the directions about how to straighten the hose properly so it rubs the tire a bit on full lock. [*:1y21odcx]RAYBESTOS BH38845 Rear hydraulic hose. Not running a lift so stock was fine with me. The Wilwood flaring tool was AWESOME. Flares took literally seconds. None of them leaked. Really fun to work with. Just keep in mind that you need a good 2" or so of straight line to fit in the flaring block, so you can't make teeny tiny lines. This is important in the master cylinder area where sometimes you want teeny timy lines. The Wilwood roller bender was... a mixed bag. My brain had trouble with the geometry sometimes and I invariably bent in the wrong direction. It was tough to use on the coiled line that I didn't have perfectly straight. It was also really hard to measure or eyeball the correct length and angle to bend it. If you don't have a lot of time and patience, just stick with repairing short sections of line when they look like they need it. Bending the entire brake system sucked. It did work great for tight bends around the master cylinder, but do remember that there's still a pretty large bend radius. However tight you think you can bend it, you can't. It will always take up more room than you thought. I think if you had good straight line and this mounted in a vice, it'd be ideal. The Wilwood "pliers bender" was invaluable. Once I got the lines mostly in the correct place and length with the roller bender, this was great for the final adjustments in tight locations, without having to pull the whole line out. Big downside is that it pinches the line AND leaves a mark on it. For this reason I only used it on the uncoated FedHill "Cunifer" line, since it's not coated and the material itself is rust resistant, rather than the coating. Cleaned and painted. Hmm, still need those bump stops. Surface rust on the drums from just one day of sitting. But ,the new block and lines all hooked up. I also took some time to drill and tap the axle vent to accept the combination block hold-down/axle vent fitting from my 91 style axle, which my 88 D44 did not have. I also did a lot of cleaning and rust prep before winter, especially areas that I would not be able to easily get to again later (like behind the gas tank). Here's a comparison of the two boosters. I "fabbed" a spacer plate by using some stainless nuts and a washer. I did nothing to the rod. Here was my first test fit of the MC and distribution block. I really liked the location and access to the adjuster, but it blocked the washer tank and I just couldn't reach the rear line coming up from the trans tunnel. I gave up on that, moved it to the other side, and had a workable solution which let me put the tank back in and not have to add more brake line (I was all out of the good stuff at this point so I really didn't want to have to do that). It's a bit harder to reach the adjusting knob, but oh well. It's not like I need to change it all that often. Passenger front routing. I moved it slightly, in front of the emissions can. Rear lines and tank reinstalled. I ended up cutting the main rear line into two sections. One goes from the flexible hose to a union just forward of the tank, and the other piece runs straight to the proportioning block. It's really hard to work with long line and get the bends all correct, so if you're comfortable with flaring don't be afraid to cut it up into workable pieces. A note on the gas tank, I got these ubolts for an XJ but they are too long. I ended up tapping them the entire length and then cut to fit. Worked great, with new tank straps and stainless locking nuts to hold everything up. Well, there you have it. Upgrade complete.

Cheapest I have found is Quadratec, $10 each and $5 shipping is $25 for the pair. http://www.quadratec.com/products/52422_01.htm

You must live in a perfect world with no hills and no wind... How so? With an automatic that has a locking torque converter (which is all of them, unless you bought and installed a non-lockup for drag racing) or a manual that's not slipping the clutch, there's a linear relationship between road speed and engine speed for any given gear/tire size combination. 50 mph in 5th gear will always be the same RPM, no matter what. It might take more or less throttle to hold that speed depending on wind and incline, but you'll never have a different RPM at that speed unless you shift gears or change the size of your tires.

Why should you be concerned about haters? Gotta do what you gotta do. Looks fine to me. Just happy I never have to plow. :cheers: I agree, Jeeps and MJs were made to work. Since when is playtime offroad "good" and utility "bad"?

Mine is broken too, but pegged on full. The warning light does come on, but at about half a tank. It was working properly before I did a cluster swap from the dummy gauges to the full cluster, and that's the only gauge that doesn't work right. Was there something else I needed to change? I've been too lazy to fix it, so my poor man's fix is to just use the odometer like on the motorcycle. To be honest I've never missed not having a fuel gauge, you just need to pay attention to the miles and always top it off when you fill.

I would for sure go with the lowest gearing you can (highest number). I'm running 3.54s with my ax-15 on stock size tires and it's way nicer to drive than it ever was with the 3.07s (I can't even remember how horrible that was). If I ever need to regear, I'm going with 4.10s. I would not be afraid of overgearing this thing, even for a DD (which mine is). It's far nicer on the highway at speed with the RPMs north of 2k than dogging along, and probably more fuel efficient too unless you live on totally flat roads with no elevation changes.

I removed mine and redid my whole system with the upgraded booster and an aftermarket adjustable proportioning valve. I have part numbers and everything worked that I listed. I ended up needing more than 25' of 3/16 brake line, 25' was enough to do the full rear-to-front system but not for the front brakes (which you might not care about). viewtopic.php?f=2&t=32143 I finished the swap but haven't put the final pics up yet (maybe tonight) or install steps. Anyway, on pavement I've been running with full rear bias with an empty bed so I don't think you'll have a problem with the T-fitting solution for a semi-permanent fix. Once it snows I'll back off the rear bias but you might not care about snow in your location and driving habits. Alternatively, I saved my load-sensing valve and it seemed to be in OK shape, if you want it.

Drive it till it breaks, sounds like a plan to me! I was under the impression that the D44 used some kind of preload shims to set the bearing preload, and that the pinion nut was only to secure the yoke? Not only did it come off easily, but it went back on easily too. I put it back on and off several times as I was working to remove the seal, in order to plug the hole. I didn't have any trouble sliding it nearly all the way back in, and then back out. Would I be able to notice this in any way, i.e. vibrations under certain conditions, or noise?

I replaced my leaking pinion seal today. I'm not sure the exact spec, but the nut on there didn't seem very tight. I got out my 3/4" ratchet, put the 1 1/8" socket on, and expected a struggle but was surprised when the nut turned right off without much effort. Now, granted, it was a 3/4" ratchet so I had plenty of leverage on the long handle, but still I expected some initial torque to have to break with some effort. And then the yoke slid right off by hand. Installing the new yoke and seal was much more difficult than removal; I couldn't push the yoke on the splines really at all, and had to tap it in (ok, pound) with a socket deep enough to get the new nut on and tighten it the rest of the way. Is this normal? I tightened until it seemed tight (and I had no prior reference for feel), and at that point I checked and there was no fore/aft play left. What would the effects of a loose pinion nut be on a D44? If I overtightened, what problems would that cause? I left the rear in the air and everything turned nicely by hand, and then in gear running in 1st, and that seemed OK so I followed up with a test drive and it seemed fine, and no leaks!