derf

I've been reasonably happy with the ones I got at Lowe's or Home Despot (can't remember which). I wouldn't use them for a job as a mechanic but they get the job done the few times I use them.

So I found a place down in Castle Rock. Just got an offer accepted. We'll see how this pans out. Being near the outlet mall means it's an "easy" shot up I-25 to Lone Tree where our offices are moving or over to the main campus up Santa Fe and over. I hope this one works out.

That's awesome news.

The biggest issue is that it's an incomplete vehicle. If it were completed, running, and driving, you might be able to make an outside edge case to support a price that he's asking. But it's not. It's incomplete. It needs major components to be installed before you can drive it. And only after you do that will you find out what's wrong with some of the other stuff he's done. The most expensive Jeeps I've ever had were other people's half finished projects I picked up for "cheap". It's likely he's trying to get the dollar value of what he spent on parts back out, which will never happen in a million years. Either that or he's setting the price so high that no one will buy it because he doesn't really want to sell. Sure, a really pristine resto-mod with all the goodies may be worth what's he's asking for all the reasons you talk about. But his is nowhere near that.

I'm more of a computer guy than an EE but I do low level systems software. Embedded control systems and the like. I've been at it for a few decades, working in the trenches with other engineers bringing systems to life and have picked up a few things. That being said, I defer to the real experts for a lot of the detailed information.

There are some options out there for lights with the old school classic look but they are LED based. That's what I'm looking into for my MJ builds.

Yeah, I find that most stock replacement parts are never better. Maybe just as good. But, there's always "upgrade" parts. Someone good at marketing can sell parts for quite a bit more than factory replacements if they have a good gimmick. Sometimes they are actually better than stock. Sometimes.

It all depends on the hose. A simple rubber hose will collapse if the suction by the pump is too much. You can put a spring inside the hose to reinforce it. Or you can design your hose with the reinforcement built in, which is what a number of companies do. Technically yes, all lower radiator hoses need reinforcement of some kind. Whether they need a spring inside depends on the hose.

Think of it like taking a street car and turning it into a drag car. Double the horsepower in your engine and what happens? You start breaking things. Cast cranks don't hold up. Cast connecting arms fail. Pistons start behaving badly. Transmission internals won't like it. Even the transmission case can come apart if it's a light duty transmission to start with. U-Joints don't live as long. The driveshaft can twist. The axle shafts can snap. The ring and pinion start chucking teeth. You can spin axle tubes. Same thing with electricity. Double the power and things not designed to take that much power give out. A lot of what fails in an electrical system tends to be because of the excessive heat generated. But the same concept applies. Bigger power needs stronger parts.

Something like this would be a good option: https://www.mcmaster.com/slow-blow-fuses

One other thought. I seem to remember that automotive "slow burn" fuses exist. I don't know how easy they are to find but they should work to replace a fusible link.

One other option is to replace the fusible links with automotive circuit breakers. Some of them are "slow burn" style and will handle the startup surge without popping. Honestly though, I like fusible links. They don't take up a lot of space, they're easy to connect, and they do their job without any fanfare. You can find the gauge of the fusible link in the factory service manual wiring diagrams easily, and order the fusible link wire online for next to nothing.

I got my eye on that diesel manual if it's up for sale.

An electric motor is rated for a certain voltage and amperage. If you double the voltage, you're likely to double the amperage everything else being equal. When you double the amperage, you overload the wiring inside the motor that wasn't designed to take that much current. When you do that, things get hot and melt. Bye bye electric motor. As far as LEDs, there is the voltage for the LED being a factor. Again, too many volts will burn out something that can't handle it. Resistors are a convenient way to bring that voltage down. And sure, there is a little heat. But an LED has high resistance naturally so it's always a low current circuit. And like Dzimm says, the waste heat coming off the resistor is trivial. It's way less than an incandescent bulb generates. One other thing you may find is an LED turn signal bulb. Trouble is, with the low draw of an LED circuit, you don't get enough current through the the standard flasher so it won't trigger and the light will stay solidly lit. The right way to fix that is with an LED specific flasher module. But you can also wire a resistor in parallel to the LED bulb that will cause it to draw enough power to trip the flasher. Given the ease of finding LED flasher modules, the parallel resistor is more of a "redneck engineering" solution. But it does work.

I wouldn't spend any money on a 242 for a trail rig. Are you dealing with vibrations right now?

For a trail rig, I'd go Atlas. Once you add up all of the upgrades to the 300 (32 spline output shafts, 4:1 gears, etc.) you're better off going with the Atlas. As far as the 4 speed, I had one in my JK with the 11.70 behind the 6 speed manual. It was great for the Pentastar V6 with no low end torque. I took it all over the CO mountains and Moab. The 4.0 has better low end torque and the 11.70 may be overkill. Even with no low end I spent 99% of the time in 4.3 low. A Rubicon transfer case would be a good option as well and it bolts right up.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ME35sL_pDPA

Always sad to see one go. But it looks like an interesting project is about to start. Give me a shout if you need a hand with anything.

What kind of volume are you talking about?

If there ain't no oil under 'em, there ain't no oil in 'em.

Is it some kind of weaving loom?