neohic

I absolutely love seeing updates on this truck. The dust and dirt is all a part of having a vehicle sitting for a while and I can completely relate. Thanks for getting back on the wagon!

Back in the shop today. The air cleaner “solution” after the brake booster upgrade has never been right. The plastic spacers cracked almost immediately after I threw them in there, and the weight of the actual air cleaner housing is always wobbly perched up 1.5” from where it would’ve lived. Here’s the solution. I made up a steel ring to replace the crack/taped/terrible parts store spacers. Everything got welded together to have absolutely zero slop. After a quick coat of paint where it needed it and some fresh foam under the lid?… … Perfect! Can’t even tell I was in there. Next on my list was the rear pinion angle. These leaf springs had a… ugh… CAST ALUMINUM spacer in with the pack. Here I thought the whole time that these were steel! Can you guess how many pieces they came out in? Once again, folks… friends don’t let friends have cast aluminum angle shims anywhere near their leaf springs! With the shims out, I made up a spacer for the center pin to locate the u-bolt plate better and then put it all back together. Much happier pinion and I got rid of another little vibration. The angles of the transfer case output and the pinion yoke are dead on to each other. This got me thinking about long term spring options and then what to do with my front axle. Right now I’ve got .5° of caster and I thought about (proper) shims to correct it. I don’t like what they’d do to the front pinion angle so I think an inner C cut/turn is in order… eventually. Another piece of the puzzle are my crazy short front shackles. They measure 2.625” from hole to hole and I put them on there originally to get my caster at least in the proper direction. Now that I’m thinking about potential spring options, I’d like to get around a 3.5-4” shackle and adjust from there with the inner C’s. For reference, here’s where my springs measure out to at ride height… Now I’m wondering if I should look into a BDS kit that would bolt in or if YJ or rear XJ leafs might be a better (cheaper) way to go after getting spring hangers and all the accoutrements that’d go with it. I highly doubt there’ll be any decisions made this year.

Heck yeah! Obviously not much for pictures but the CJ got rad in a few spots!

Trail day! Just went up into the hills close to town but it was the first time out with the wife and I. It’s been a long time since she was out in a bouncy Jeep. It was short but we had a wonderful time this morning!

YES!! I love this build already!

Very cool article about the birth of the Eagle. https://www.hagerty.com/media/automotive-history/how-the-amc-eagle-blazed-a-trail-through-a-giant-government-loophole/

I love everything about this except for the 2.5/auto with AC. Throw on a set of turbines and cruise! https://cosprings.craigslist.org/cto/d/early-1986-jeep-comanche-xls-4x4-truck/7620715863.html

Big fan of Threadwrights.

Radio?

Back on the road! I got the axle back late last week and picked at it a little each day over the weekend. The old carrier had a crack in it so the TrueTrac absolutely made sense to upgrade to. While it was down, I had the driveshaft re tubed. Looking at it now, I need to check my pinion angle. The transfer case got new bearings in the output assembly also. Everything went back together fine and I put some fresh miles on it today. It’s so quiet! Without all the calamity coming from the rear end I now notice new noises from other corners of the Jeep!

Just got off the phone with the 4x4 shop: "... .130"+ of backlash and a few of the ring gear teeth were missing or chipped." Yup... it was time.

IMG_4903.MOV Well… Yesterday I was out having a great afternoon in the woods. Once I got back to pavement there was definitely a new vibration. Shame on me for knowing that the pinion bearing was on its way out but I didn’t expect it to go so fast. Five years ago I knew that the gears themselves were very rough but I just put the cover back on and covered my eyes. It has always made noise but I guess enough is enough. Going with a TrueTrac limited slip while I’m having it gone through.

28° in my happy place.

I doubt we’re done with snow this year, but the weather was too good to pass up. For a while now I’ve wanted to make up some roll up safari sides for the tin top. I’m sure I’ll get to it at some point… maybe. In the mean time I made up some supports for the top for when the sides come off. These were more scraps of material plus a couple of exhaust clamps. Not sure if I’ll continue with this route, but I like that I have top-tions. Why stop there? This was the perfect time to get back to the trail cover. What I wanted to be able to do was to just leave the bikini top on this year and throw the new cover on when it’s parked. Right up until my bikini top decided that it had enough. Bummer. Well?… guess I’ll figure a new top that stays with the roll cage and I can put the windshield down. That’ll be another day. As for the trail top… … it fits surprisingly well for being intended for a YJ. My roll bar sits a but higher than most so it takes up a little material, but the angled rear gets a little weird. It doesn’t sit quite right and there’s clearly too much material. The sides get wavy and move around with the wind. My plan is to reshape it and to add or move the straps to where they make more sense. Until then, I think it’ll do.

Um… enjoy it?

Looks so good.

For real. We were out for a few hours and hit dirt within ten minutes of leaving my place.

The amount of trust I have in this little CJ just went way up today. My buddy’s birthday is tomorrow and he wanted to get out for a day of Jeep things. Okay! There wasn’t anything technical at all, but we put on about 30 miles of off pavement enjoyment. This really would’ve been the first opportunity to see what kind of flex there is in the suspension too. Survey says?… … some on the rear and almost zero in the front. It’s all a super old setup from Superlift. For how clapped out everything looks, I was surprised at how little the front springs move. Still, had a great day toodling around in the woods.

No idea! I was driving home last night and there it was when I kicked on the high beams. Goes to show that you really don’t need things that aren’t self solving when it comes to old Jeeps.

Hot dog!

I can’t imagine it would be any more difficult than choosing an appropriate thickness flat bar, drilling, and tapping a couple holes for the new location. Might need a slight bend to it to match the frame.

From Comanche County in 2012:

I did this same swap in an ‘86 a while back. Ended up using the entire wiring harness from the ‘94 ZJ I used as the donor and then cut out everything I didn’t need.