Why is it that the last 20% takes 80% of the time?

[87Warrior]

You know what I am talking about. When working on the Jeep I always seem to make great progress until the job is near completion. Then everything starts to go wrong and takes 5x longer to complete the job.

 

This weekend I had ambitious goals for the front of my TJ:

1. Remove steering, brakes, knuckles and axle shafts

2. Remove ball joints and install new

3. Install tube seals and new Axle Shafts

4. Install Vanco Brake kit/knuckles

5. Install U turn steering system

 

It came apart slowly, yet easily, even pressing out the ball joints. Heck, even installing the new ball joints was uneventful just a slow and tedious job. At this point I figured the rest of the work would be cake. After all, it just involves installing parts and the ball joints were supposedly the 'hard' part of the weekend.

 

I clean the axle tubes out and push on the seals. I notice one of the zerks look cracked and sure enough it was. Luckily the axle going into the MJ has the same seals so I stole a good zerk and installed it.

 

While I am dealing with Zerks I figure I should install them in the new ball joints. Straight forward and simple, right? 1, 2,3 go in... The the passenger side lower, #4, decides to play hard ball. Get it nearly in and SNAP. The head of the zerk breaks off leaving the threads in the joint. 6 hours later the threads come out. It looks like the wrong zerk was sent with that ball joint and was too long allowing it to bottom out.

 

Tired of looking at the pasenger side I decide to start on the driver side brakes. Knuckle goes on, shaft goes in, unit bearing is ground down, rotor/caliper bracket/ caliper goes on, then I go to attach the brake line. Won't fit, the end of the Jeep line is a bit different than the Ford caliper. Massage the end and get it to fit.

 

Torque the Uturn driver side bracket and go to attach the rod end at the Pitman arm. The castle but will not go on the rod end. I got the setup used and when it was removed, they must have smashed the threads on top of the rod end. After declaring it trash I go online to order another. Realize it is the same rod end on my V8 ZJ steering and stick it on.

 

By this time the weekend was over and had to leave my rig on jackstands.

 

Anybody else have a similar weekend in the sweltering heat?

[kyleag89]

Sounds like any project I take on! Almost everything I do to my Jeeps turns into a headache and becomes way more complicated than it should be. After swearing and throwing lots of tools around the garage I get it done then I swear I'll never do it again. Little do I know... I'll do it again! :fs2:

[Rymanrph]

I started to replace the slave cylinder on the '88 this weekend and every little thing that could go wrong did. What gets me is crawling under the Jeep to realize, you need a different tool, crawling out, back under and you left something on the other side of the Jeep so you have to get up again. I don't pay anyone hardly at all to work on my vehicles, but I'd almost pay someone to just hand me tools.

[Blue88Comanche]

I had to leave my bug free car on the patio for 3 days while I waited for new parts... I now have an army of ants in the car...

[Car RamRod]

Any project is like that. That's my the vast majority of "project cars/trucks" are only 80% finished. Nothing against the owners, it's just a b*@$£ to get a 100% job done. Lord knows my mustang and jeep always have a list of things to be done.

[Comanche County]

Nah, it wouldn't be as much fun or as rewarding if everything went together perfectly. Victory is sweeter after minutia rips your day apart. Trust me I know...took three hours just to make a double flare in a brake line today. Freaking tube kept splitting and the crappy flare tools I had were junk,'but finally got it done and no leaks. I then rewarded myself by thinking about Mila Kunis, and if she would go on a date with me in the MJ if I asked her on YouTube like that Marine did. :banana: