thecodemonk

Loving seeing the progress on this!

Bought!

Been using CO2 tanks for 6 years now and love the convenience. Used the tank off road for truck tires, used it to inflate the inflatable pool, used it on bike tires…it’s easy to pack and cheap to refill (until you need a new tank if you aren’t swapping them out). it’s also nice and fast with a high flow regulator (can use the hvac adjustable regulators) and hose rated for more psi. Filled my 37s on this last trip from 4 psi to 20 psi in about 20 seconds per tire.

Went wheeling this weekend in the snow for the annual Christmas tree run. Had lots of rigs on the trail. We weren’t able to complete the trail but we had a good time cooking chili and enjoying the snow before it got too deep for most of the rigs to do. Moved the rigs around in the garage and noticed the WRX tracks on the left were deeper than the truck tracks on the right. Pretty pleased with that as it should help me float better on the deeper stuff. Once we got everyone gathered (around 16 rigs, ranging from stock new broncos to JTs on 40s and a truggy) it was time to head to the trail. it snowed a lot the whole time we were up there. A few of those newer to snow wheeling got stuck but it wasn’t too bad overall. Most people were aired down to about 10psi and I was down to 4psi by the end (makes me nervous without beadlocks). once it got to mid day and it became clear we weren’t going to make it to the top, we pulled back to an intersection and setup to cook chili for everyone. After a great time in the snow, most people left but a few wanted to go further…I joined them (the truggy, a CJ, and me). Still on 10 psi, I found the truck dug too much when we hit a soft patch. The first strap the CJ used to pull me out snapped and took a lens out with it (no hard parts were used so minimal risk to safety). Switched to a newer strap and I was out and going again. Later decided to risk it and dropped town to 4psi and didn’t have any problems after that. We went much farther than the group did but turned around before the top still because it was going to get dark. I took some pictures after I turned around and waited for the other two to do the same. It was an uneventful but gorgeous crawl out of the trail and I can’t wait to go out again on new years. On a related note: My smittybuilt CO2 tank is just over 5 years old and the bottle had to go in to be recertified but wasn’t back in time. I was able to purchase and assemble a DIY 5lbs CO2 tank and adjustable regulator (apparently HVAC regulators are what you need for high flow) to get me by and I think it actually filled up my 37s significantly faster than the smittybuilt filled my old 35s.

I should get a family picture of my guitars sometime but here’s my main collection…it helps me get through the workday since it sits right next to my desk in my home office. from left to right: - Gretsch 5230t - Fender American Fat Strat (2001) - Squier Classic Vibe Telecaster - 99 Epiphone Les Paul Custom I revived from a shell - Fender Aerodyne PJ bass - A Yamaha acoustic a friend loaned to me 10 years ago that I’m still holding onto for her Not Pictured: - Martin DM12 12-string acoustic

Gorgeous! Can’t wait to see it on the truck!

Getting ready for a xmas tree run this weekend and nothing helps a project move forward like a deadline. This time, just opening up the wheel wells a bit for the new tires. The rears were stupid easy...just cut and hammer and avoid the spot welds (easily seen). I found it easiest to get the angle grinder in for the bottom if I got the truck on jackstands and let the axle droop. The fronts were a little more effort but still not bad to slice and hammer and it folds pretty much right on the crease. Just had to use a set of pliers to get them started since the front fenders aren't nearly as sturdy as the rears (same trick with the jack to get to the bottom of the backside). I'm a little less concerned with the fronts since it's possible to replace the front fender skins and try again in the future if needed. This next picture is as high as I could get my jack under the pumpkin to squish the tire into the wheel well. Here's the pictures of the underside...rather than cut it completely off (and leave sharp edges like I've seen some do), I trimmed the inner fender plastic and folded my cuts under similar to how I did the back. This allows me to keep the inner fender plastic and keep too much gunk from filling up the space between the fender and the door hinges. The plastic is pretty brittle so there are a couple of extra cracks but I hope I can replace them in the future with a fresh set from somewhere and can trim them while off the vehicle (instead of how I did things this time...shears and working at it while it was still loosely attached). Next week, I will sand the flaking paint and put on some bedliner or something like that which cures a bit quicker in the cold shop than regular paint. In the meantime, the WRX with snow tires has been unstoppable in the snow for daily driving duties and for parts runs.

I cut a horse mat to fit the bed of my truck. Heavy duty, comfortable, and cheap protection for any loads. As for what I did recently, just some temporary zip ties to hold the front inner fender lining up until I finish my timing.

Installed the headlight harness upgrade kit ice had sitting here for years. Lights seem a little brighter at a glance. Will see how it looks at night another night.

Don't worry. I was going through withdrawls from the site too haha. Definitely a jeep gone too soon...I still miss it.

That's awesome!

Somehow I missed the second half...they were 12.5's. Sitting Static: Out Wheeling:

I used to have the spectre system on my XJ. Worked fine and added a bit of engine noise to the cab (present but not overly obnoxious to me). I don’t think it really added any power. Just noise and moved the intake a little higher up. Changing air filters was more of a pita.

Yeah, 15” wheels are getting harder to come by. You could go 17”?

Amazing rig man!

Man this thing looks nice! I'm curious how your winters shifter is holding up? Mine is wearing down the shaft on the shift lever and it's starting to worry me. >.< Also curious how you're liking the ORIs. I keep looking at them but I've heard they change ride height when they're warmed up vs when they're cold from sitting.

Agreed...the factory breakaways are almost dangerously small for visibility. I went with the 97+ swap and it's a huge difference.

With those flares, a normal 15x8 wheel, you should be fine with 4.5 or even 4.0 backspacing for 32s or 33s. I ran bushwhacker flat flares on my XJ and ran 33s on 4" of backspacing and didn't have any issues rubbing (was running 3.5" lift at the time...think I even got away with 2" of lift for a while there, just didn't have much uptravel).

Sweet! I’m excited to see the build as you progress!

Unless your 5.3 is coming from a car, you’ll need all new accessory brackets (f-body or vette spacing). I tried to make it work with truck spacing and it ended up killing the space needed for the intake. You’ll likely also need a new power steering pump…a tiny thing, think it also comes from a vette. AC fitment is a challenge…down low where it’s stock on a truck doesn’t usually fit in the rails unless you trim your frame rails. Alternative is that you get something else as your AC pump…I went with a geo metro pump to fit (but it’s not hooked up yet…just placed in there. My truck wasn’t originally AC capable and I still haven’t torn apart the dash). Battery fitment under the hood is tight. Depending on your accessory config, you’ll have to rotate your battery or relocate it. Mine is in the bed under my bed storage box now. Those are some of the bigger items I remember from my swap. I highly recommend poking through the hardcore section to see how much is needed and what you’re in for with a V8 swap. Also if you do it, start a thread and document your journey! I’d love to see how you solve problems differently or similarly and see the journey! :)

Honestly, from what you describe, I'd go with the "regear it first" route and see if that's enough. Torque can make up for regearing but regearing to a better ratio will help *now* and it will help later too (I'm on 4.10s even with my LS and it definitely makes a difference, even from the 3.54s I was on previously before I swapped axles). As for stroker vs LS: The stroker has one thing going for it and that's the ability to reuse parts. No need for adapter plates to fit your transmission, no special motor mounts, no having to figure out new/custom piping for all your fluids and air, no having to change out your accessories like A/C or your power steering pump, etc... The LS has a few other pros that are sometimes not mentioned...which is that you need fewer custom parts for the engine itself to get more power (Stock LM7 or better yet, a LQ4 is going to be more power everywhere without modifying the engine at all). My only minor regret is not going for the LQ4 when I did mine...it looks like it would have fit just the same (not that the LM7 doesn't have more than enough power for everything I want to do...but you know how it is). On paper, a stroker is the same cost as an LS...in reality, it's still a fair amount cheaper due to all the little costs to fit the engine into the engine bay. Unless you're a pretty confident fabricator and have a LOT of time to throw at it, the price of a LS swap is going to add up quick. A glance at my spreadsheet, I spent easily an extra $5k in small parts to get it to fit well under the hood (accessory brackets, battery relocation, new fuel rails, different intake, guages to read the different ECU, novak headers, slimmer accessories, different radiator and e-fans, and on and on and on).

I assume you've done an alignment?

Oof, it's been over a year since I've updated this. Not much wheeling lately, the truck has just been doing truck things with errands to the dump and hardware store for housing projects (or to the playground as my toddler always wants to ride in "Blue truck". I did get hydro-assist steering installed through Hazzard Fab. They did an amazing job with the mount and I feel confident that the ram is well protected. With the hydro-assist, the steering feels a LOT more sensitive now and I noticed I developed a habit of automatically "correcting" when I went over bumps that was no longer really needed. The random inability to start issue was still present though...just less frequent. After a lot of tracing and frustration (because it was so intermittent), it was determined that it was wiring in the steering column that was shorting out! We replaced the steering column with another one and it's been 100% solid ever since. During the last Cabin Fever run, I won a lightbar in the raffle! (Technically, I won extra tie downs from Mac's and a guy who won a lightbar traded me prizes) I got the JCR lightbar mounts but I think the bolts that come with it are too short for the Comanche roof rails. I still need to get to the hardware store to pick up some longer equivalent's and see if I can make it fit. Recently, I realized my tires are over 10 years old now (since they came off of my previous jeep). Since it was time for new rubber, I took the fender flares off and went to 37s (I wasn't quite confident enough to jump to 40s without more fender trimming). Also, a long bed pretty easily fits 5x35's and a 37" spare back there with a bedbox. :) The LS doesn't seem to be bothered by the fact that I haven't regeared, so I just updated the software to fix the speedometer and will re-evaluate re-gearing when I go to 40s or get selectable lockers in the future. A byproduct of that is that the jeep seems to be staying cooler on the hill climbs near my house than it used to...seems counter to what I would expect but that's been the experience so far. Maybe it's just the cooler weather helping. Next planned upgrade: Hidden Winch and bumper (wife says that needs to be next to feel more confident when we go off roading). Was originally going to go with JCR but their low profile front bumpers only come with hitches now. Maybe dirtbound's front bumper can come flat or ready for a hawse fairlead.

I'm speechless. I've never actually seen a MJ tailgate that straight...ever.

Oh that's clever...way better than just throwing a tool bag and some straps back there!