Deep in the heart of Comanche County

[Comanche County]

Yep, exactly 101F worth of hot air, so I'm sitting inside watching episodes of Lost with the AC on full blast. :brows:

 

 

So here's the worst, most ill placed CC intro ever, but that made my day! (grumble, stupid addicting Lost, grumble)

 

Welcome Brother!

[Incommando]

cool thread

[Comanche County]

cool thread

 

 

Thanks dude... :cheers:

[Comanche County]

Well I did it again...another Jeep is taking away from my MJ. :doh:

 

I bought another 5.9 Limited Grand Cherokee, this time in Deep Slate. I couldn't resist, its got 150K and the interior is showroom fresh - it even still smells new! Plus its got the three skid plate (front, t-case, gas tank) option that my white 5.9 doesn't have. :banana:

 

I got a great deal on it because the PO wrecked the front. It'll need a fender, hood, front cross member, and headlight buckets.

 

 

 

 

So this will be my new DD and I'm selling the white 5.9 and the 96 XJ ASAP! I'll get these on the classified section soon for a cc.com special!

 

 

So I start drilling out spotwelds to see how bad the damage is and I look over to the MJ all sitting lonely. I'm sure it's feeling a little envious and I swore I could see a tear coming down from the headlight,,,(could have been the light rain), but I knew I hurt its feelings, so I went over to smooth things over. I promised the MJ I'd get back to it tomorrow! ;) We are kinda close after all.... :D

 

Then I looked up and got a sign! A sign from above that I should get back to work on the MJ and stop messing with these other dumb jeeps.

 

 

A pot o' MJ at the end of the rainbow!

 

 

[tazjeeper]

I look over to the MJ all sitting lonely. I'm sure it's feeling a little envious and I swore I could see a tear coming down from the headlight,,,(could have been the light rain), but I knew I hurt its feelings, so I went over to smooth things over. I promised the MJ I'd get back to it tomorrow! ;) We are kinda close after all.... :D

 

Then I looked up and got a sign! A sign from above that I should get back to work on the MJ and stop messing with these other dumb jeeps.

 

 

A pot o' MJ at the end of the rainbow!

 

 

 

 

I know my mj looks all said at me most days and my wifes jeep is now doing the same thing... hahhahahhaaaaaaaa

[Comanche County]

Well I got back to the MJ today.

 

With the help of my brother I removed the NP 231 and the Ax-15.

 

After pushing and pulling I realized I forgot the two little flex plate bolts, then the transmission fell right out. Pretty greasy! It's nice to not have to jack the truck up to do this stuff. I can sit up under it and do this - :waving:

 

A close up shot of the greasy AX-15 and the flywheel. Tomorrow I'll have the flywheel reground for the new Rhino clutch that's going it. I'd really like to have an externally slaved bell housing but that may have to wait. I'll start to look but if I don't find one in a few days then I'll stick with the internal version, --- as much as I despise it.

 

Here's a pic of the old 231 (on the right) that came out of it and the NV 241J (on the left) that will replace it. The 241 is much beefier. Ah, my long arms are still sitting there too... :drool: Be patient my MJ... :(

 

Its a 4:1 version of the 241J. I'm not sure if this is the Rubicon case or not. But it'll work for me. :yes:

 

Its got an electronic speed sensor, perhaps its for a VIC? Not that the Manche has one, plus I know what gear I'm in anyway.

 

Ok, so once I get the flywheel reground, and external bell housing (maybe), and get the transmission and transfer case put back it, it will be on to the long arms - hopefully.

[kastein]

Awesome build! Wish I had a rust free truck like that one...

 

btw, I bet you can fix that door dent with a minimum of work. It doesn't look like it creased the metal anywhere, so just pull the door liner and use the flat of your palm to push the dent back out. You might even get away with doing it from the outside using a dent puller suction cup or (ghetto version) a plumber's helper.

[Comanche County]

Awesome build! Wish I had a rust free truck like that one...

 

btw, I bet you can fix that door dent with a minimum of work. It doesn't look like it creased the metal anywhere, so just pull the door liner and use the flat of your palm to push the dent back out. You might even get away with doing it from the outside using a dent puller suction cup or (ghetto version) a plumber's helper.

 

 

Good idea, thanks for the tip!

[Comanche County]

Yesterday it was raining so I took advantage of the reprieve from the heat and got the AX15 back in. Had a day long delay trying to get the pilot bushing out though. It was worn so badly that I thought it was fused to the I.D. of the crank. I tried drilling and prying but no luck, went and rented a pilot bearing puller and it wouldn't work either. There just wasn't enough left to grab onto. I finally got it out by sharpening a small chisel blade and chiseling it until I could get under it, break it and pull the pieces out with needle nose pliers.

 

Then after several failed attempts I finally got the AX15 heaved back in. Little hint everyone: It'll stab easier if you remove or loosen the exhaust pipe at the header. I just put the old clutch back it because it looked good. I'll save the new clutch for when I can find an external set up.

 

Next came the new 241J. I was planning on using my old rear flange from the 8.8 but it was the wrong bolt pattern and pilot size. So I just dropped it off at a machine shop awaiting a new flange. Not sure what company will provide the flange, the Spicer part number that fits the 241 is discontinued. A guy I spoke with on the phone did tell me that a flange off a Dakota rear axle will fit on the rear output of a 241. But either way its a 1330 series flange and my double cardon is 1310. So Monday or Tuesday, I should be able to pick up the 241 with a modified drive shaft with a 1310/1330 double cardon U joint on it.

 

Can't wait to drive it again... :driving:

[Rymanrph]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought we weren't supposed to resurface our flywheels?

[mule13]

Dude thats a sweet looking mj,i'm on Speicher right now, contracting, had my gf pick me up a mj can't wait to get home and start working on it.i'm reading up lol seeing what I'm in for :)

sucks about your leg man :(

 

John

[Comanche County]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought we weren't supposed to resurface our flywheels?

 

I think you're correct. I've read somewhere on here that the Service Manual says not to do it. But, when I last changed the clutch, which I had too because it was so bad, the flywheel was severely scorched. I scuffed it up with sandpaper, but that wasn't doing doing it so I used a wire wheel on a grinder. Plus, I left the old pilot bushing in.....not the smartest way I know! :dunce: I knew better. Anyway, I had a bad shaking when the clutch would engage and I think either the pilot bushing took a crap right after the install or I messed up the 'trueness' of the flywheel. I did it because I wanted to ensure it was perfectly flat.

[Comanche County]

Dude thats a sweet looking mj,i'm on Speicher right now, contracting, had my gf pick me up a mj can't wait to get home and start working on it.i'm reading up lol seeing what I'm in for :)

sucks about your leg man :(

 

John

 

I spent some time there as well as the old FOB Danger down on the River. I was also in Bayji at FOB Summerall for about 10 months. Speicher is a good place to be...Bayji, not so much. :no:

 

[mule13]

FOB danger wasnt that saddams old palace on the river? we gave that back to the Iraqi's about 3 months ago. not sure what i can write here with opsec and this being a public domain.but your right the worst experience3s are usually the small fobs.I should be out of here in a month or 2 ready to go got here in march of 08.to much time in the desert to much sir to much lol.we have given most of the fobs back now btw. very few left

[Comanche County]

I'm a little late updating the page. Over the last week I've made some good progress thanks to the help of Dylan (aka Exxon Valdez Jeep) and a couple of neighbors.

 

Dylan was gracious enough to spend last Friday in 100 degree plus heat wrenching hard with me...this was a real hard day of wrenching.

 

We started by removing the front 3.73 D30, the RE drop brackets, and cutting the lower control arm mounts off. which was slightly emotionally tough for me to do because they are unique to the Mj and that is really the point of no return when upgrading to long arms. Also, I'd have never got that much work down without Dylan's help. I'd probably still be working on it a week later. I forgot I had put my camera in my tackle box on a recent fishing trip and couldn't find it for most of the day, but I managed to snap a few with my phone.

 

We got the D30 out and were about to start cutting off the control arm mounts and a huge Black Widow ran across Dylan's hand when he moved the jack stand. This shot doesn't accurately demonstrate the size of this dang spider, its the largest Black Widow I'd ever seen. It was around 2.5-3" across.

 

 

And after several hours of wrenching in the heat that little encounter was worthy of a beer break.

 

 

I have to give super kuddos to Dylan. :cheers: :bowdown: This guy was awesome and can wrench with the best of them. He'd probably mow your yard for you too. I got the rear D44 in but had been looking at the front thinking about all the work that was involved and got a little stagnated. Anyway, it helped me get motivated to get the rest of the front done.

 

We actually worked out a deal, I sold him the 231 with SYE and 2 Low for 200 simoleons, but gave him a 4.10 LSD 8.8 for free....most of all I got a lot of help, thanks a bunch dude! That's gotta be what Comanche Club is all about. :D

 

We got the axle and all the front suspension components out of the way and almost got the long arm brackets installed. Here's one of the Rock Krawler long arm brackets that was installed later.

 

[Comanche County]

Here's a shot of the JKS ACOS. These were a little tricky to get properly aligned, and in retrospect, I probably won't do these on another vehicle unless there's a centered hole inside of the factory bump stop. On my MJ once you remove the rubber factory bump stop and cut off the bump stop holder, there was only a flat washer and almost an inch of material to drill through. I also broke about 50 bucks worth of drill bits and taps. The directions that came with the ACOS were very good and they addressed the different types of bump stop designs but it was still difficult to properly drill the hole and tap it at the perfect angle. The result was both ACOS are on "good enough" but not perfectly aligned. Its not hard at all, I just messed it up.

 

You can also see the Rock Krawler Long Track bar frame mount that I got installed also.

 

 

[Comanche County]

I also installed the NV241J . It fit like a glove, no issues at all other than adjusting the transfer case shifter linkage.

 

 

I'm going to get a Cable X system to drive the MJ's mechanical speedometer but right now I'm extremely low on funds so I'll just tape up the electrical connections on the T-case and use a GPS for now.

 

It was tight on the bottom of the case and I could have grinded about 1/8" of material off of it but all the Transmission mounts and cross member bolts went right in. The T-case sits flush on the tranny mount but everything bolted up tight. I thought it would hit the bottom of the MJ but it clocked perfectly just like a 231 and there's plenty of room on the top.

 

 

I'm waiting on a 1310 CV yoke to arrive to replace the flange mount on the 241. Thanks again to Adam from Motion for finding it for me.

[Comanche County]

All three of the set nuts for the T-case skid plate broke off so I dropped bolts through the holes and welded them facing down. I reattached the cross member and cut off the bolts almost flush with the nuts. I'd prefer to have set nuts just in case these get banged off of rocks but if that happens I'll just cut the bolts out and weld in some more. This is about the extent of my welding expertise.

 

[Comanche County]

Here's the front Dynatrac D44 ready to go in ---- almost.

 

I've got one ton steering and hi steer knuckles that I bought used from Cl. I understand this system is essentially WJ knuckes that only use the drag link arm. The drivers side is actually an export right hand drive knuckle. Both are remachined to accept 90' S10 4x4 brake calipers and the one ton tie rod ends. The thing I recently discovered I neglected was the drag link to track bar relationship :dunce: ...I'll have to relocate the track bar to the top of the axle to eliminate bump steer. That was the one thing I didn't get with the kit when I bought it,,,,until then I know I'll have some serious bump steer.

 

 

The Rock Krawler 4 link upgrade kit came with a heavy duty upper control arm mount. I took the axle to a machine shop to get it attached better than I could weld it. Safety first! :thumbsup:

 

You can see the rebuildable flex joints that come with the kit.

 

 

 

I also cut off about 1/3" of material off the shock mount to prevent it from binding on the lower long arm during down travel. I may have to cut some more off later when I test the travel.

 

[Comanche County]

It took me about a day and a half to wrangle the front axle under the MJ. I finally got it in using 2x4 levers, jacks etc. This freaking thing is a lot heavier than the D30. Once I get it road worthy I think I may end up taking it to a brake shop to get the rotors resurfaced....to be quite honest its wearing me out and I just want to take care of the steak and let someone else eat the potatoes.

 

I'll reuse the shocks I had and keep my new ones as trail spares.

 

 

 

Here it is installed...just need to fix that track bar location. I bled the clutch and the brakes....oh yeah. I'm a little worried about the stainless brake lines I bought because they've got a rubber o ring that seals the hose to the connector on the caliper which is a potential failure area. I've got plenty of o-rings but if they become problematic I'll put the stock YJ lines back on that I was using.

 

 

I think I lucked out with the ACOS adjustment. My old OME 6 1/2" springs were probably about 5 inches so I kept the same spacer adjsutment that I had and it looked to lift the front end up level with with the rear....again, I may make other adjustments once I get it out and road test it. The new springs are Motion's 6.5" coils.

 

Tomorrow I'll take the front driveshaft to have it shortened. With the longer pinion of the front D44 and the longer yoke of the 241 I'm going to have to shorten my front driveshaft approx 2.75".

 

[Motion Offroad]

Looks good Jay!

[Comanche County]

Looks good Jay!

 

Thanks dude!

[ComancheKrazy]

The mj is coming along nicely. Looks good. :cheers:

[88MJXLS]

Awesome truck man!! :thumbsup:

[DJM/78]

Thats some progress in a short amount of time . :thumbsup:

 

What are your plans for the track bar , I see you used the lower mount on the axle . Mine blew out in less than three months , so now I'm going with an over the axle track bar mount and custom made bar w/ Currie ends and brackets . The RE track bar brackets are great but the bushings suck .