agamble Posted March 9, 2020 Author Share Posted March 9, 2020 When the transmission cross member bolts tore from the frame it caused the drive train to shift to the drivers side. As the yoke ground against the upper control arm both of the "centering tabs" (not sure what the technical names of these are) broke off. As I see these as more of a centering device I have always been unsure of how vital these "tabs" are, especially as I prefer to use the u-bolt straps. My thoughts are the u-bolts are really what apply the pressure and prevent the end caps from flying off during rotation, but I don't really feel like testing this theory out. So in place of unnecessarily testing out my theory the yoke needed to be replaced. Earlier in the build I swapped out the original disconnect HP Dana 30 for a non-disconnect HP Dana 30 from a 98' XJ. This eliminated the weaker axle tube and the two piece axle for the single more "stout" axle shaft. The 98' HP Dana 30 uses a shim pack for pinion bearing pre-load adjustment, meaning the yoke torque is independent, as the bearing pre-load is set by the shims. So I didn't have to worry about a collapsible crush-sleeve that is tightened until the correct pinion pre-load is obtained. Regardless of how the pinion pre-load is achieved I've read multiple threads that recommend recording rotational drag of the pinion, however as I could not find a definitive answer to this I am thinking it is not necessary.To swap the yoke I went about it in a more crude manner as my torque wrench is broken and the slow turning with a breaker bar kept causing the Jeep to creep forward instead of breaking the nut loose. To keep the torque in the ball park I marked where the nut aligned on the yoke with a paint pen then removed the lock nut with an impact wrench. To a whole 5 seconds. With the nut off yoke slid right off with little effort. The new yoke was aligned in the same orientation, slid into place and I use the impact wrench to tighten the lock nut back down. While tightening I went at a "controlled" pace and torqued until the paint mark on the lock nut was in the "same" general alignment that it was previously. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
agamble Posted March 10, 2020 Author Share Posted March 10, 2020 Being under the Jeep I addressed another issue I was having. The Boostwerks Engineering 231HD Linkage was giving me fits. You would think with such a simple design (two FK rod ends, two jam nuts, and random nuts) to connect everything it would be simple to operate. No matter how much I adjusted and fine tuned the linkage I could not get the transfer case to stay in 4Lo while driving. It should shift into 4Lo, but as soon as I went to crawl forward it would pop out of gear. I've adjusted and played with the linkage length while under the Jeep, and it would go into 4Lo. But as soon I went to drive it would pop out of gear. It appeared that the transfer case lever would contact the center console before it could lock fully into gear so as soon as torque was applied it would pop out of gear. I was getting to my wits end when I stumbled on a simple solution. Who would think something as simple as swapping which side the linkage attaches to the shift lever and transfer case actuator would fix the issue. I did not change the linkage length. Ever since I swapped the sides the shift lever engages 4Lo and staysin gear while driving.Before After Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
agamble Posted March 29, 2020 Author Share Posted March 29, 2020 With all the down time from COVID-19 I've been taking care of my lunch list of items on the Comanche. First item that I tackled was the leaking brake line connections. The drivers side front and the passenger side rear brake lines were leaking at the connection point of the hard and soft lines. On top of the leak the flare nut on the drivers side front had been stripped at some point in its life, which required the use of some vice grips to tighten and loosen the nut. I've avoided reflagging the line as I did not want to remove the lines from the Comanche and didn't want to wrestle with the flaring tool in cramped quarters. While surfing the internet I came across an inline flaring tool by Titan Tools. I found one at the local O'Reilly's autoparts for about $40. The tool makes double flares on 3/16" or 4.75 mm steel, copper, or nickel brake line. Step 1: With the positioning bolt in the flaring tool, insert the brake line until it is stopped by the positioning bolt. Then tighten the two locking screws to secure the line in place. Step 2: Remove Positioning Bolt and insert the OP1 end of the punch. Tighten until the hexagon on the punch sits flush on the tool. Step 3: Remove the OP1 punch, reverse and insert and tighten OP2 end of the punch until the hexagon of the punch is flush with the tool. Loosen lock screws and remove the flaring tool, and viola; perfect double flares. I was able to replace the nuts and relate both lines in 30 minutes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
agamble Posted March 29, 2020 Author Share Posted March 29, 2020 The second item that I tackled was the parking brake assembly. The lever had too much play in the left/right direction preventing the parking brake from remaining engaged. This subject has been covered various times and I won't go into much detail as I followed two excellent write-ups: I started out by following the write-up done by A-man930. The only change was instead of a 3/8" stud, I was going to use a 1/4" stud. The stud would only need to compress the parts of the assembly together, as the arm would still rotate on the rivet. However, after drilling out the rivet, the 1/4" tap that I was using broke off. After a few hours of unsuccessfully attempting to get the broken tap out I gave up and started following the write-up done by ftpierceracker1. Here I was able to learn from his experience and instead of removing the rivet and hump on the mounting plate I cut the rivet flush on the front side (side that faces into the cab). Then I drilled out the rivet with a 1/2" drill bit. This still left the the back side (side that faces wall of the cab) of the rivet tac welded to the assembly. With the 1/2" hole I was able to see were the rivet met up with the mounting plate, this allowed me to use a 3/4" drill bit to drill out the backside face of the rivet until I was almost to the mounting plate. Then using a cut off wheel on a Dremel I made relief cuts in the remaining outer portion of the rivet. The areas not tac welded to the mounting plate fell right off. I then used a grinding bit on the Dremel to remove the remaining portions of the rivet. It was a bit more tedious but I did not have to repair the mounting plate. With the rivets removed the mounting plate was given a refresh. To reassemble the assembly I used a 1/2" x 2-1/4" Bolt cut down to about 1-1/8". This length was chosen as it allowed for the pedal arm to rotate on the smooth portion of the bold, while providing enough threads to thread on the lock nut. I bought low profile lock nuts for the 1/2" and 5/16" button screw that were used to reassemble the parking brake assembly. The low profile locking nut it about the same depth as the original rivet back was, so it won't affect the assembly when you install it back into the truck. Final product: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete M Posted March 30, 2020 Share Posted March 30, 2020 nice! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A-man930 Posted March 30, 2020 Share Posted March 30, 2020 I like your method better! Very nice! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
agamble Posted March 31, 2020 Author Share Posted March 31, 2020 On 3/29/2020 at 5:45 PM, Pete M said: nice! Thanks! 21 hours ago, A-man930 said: I like your method better! Very nice! I probably never would have attempted the repair if I hadn't seen it done before. I should be thanking you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
agamble Posted March 31, 2020 Author Share Posted March 31, 2020 The windshield has leaked on the passenger side for quite some time. Anytime that it rained or snowed, regardless of the amount, I was guaranteed a puddle on the passenger floor board if the Jeep was left outside. The easy solution that I had been doing was parking it in the garage and not driving it when there was precipitation in the forecast. I finally got a crack in the windshield from a stray rock the other day so it was time for a new windshield. I set up an appointment with Safelite, and when to the shop to have the windshield replaced. Figured I'd be in and out in the 2-hour window that they gave. 30 minutes into the appointment the technician asks me to follow him out in the bay, where it begins to show the rust running around the outside edge of the windshield. He lets me know that there is too much rust to put in the new windshield and I need to take it to a body shop or clean it up myself before they can install the new windshield. So I schedule an appointment for later that day for a mobile technician to come out and remove the windshield. Once it was removed I began the tedious task of removing all the previous eurathane and rust accumulated from over the years. I think it was a little rusty. Unsurprisingly most of the rust was on the passenger side of the cab. The silver lining in this is the rust was superficial. A days' worth of work with a wire wheel, wire brush, and 60 grit sand paper had all the rust removed. When only shiny metal was showing a wipe down with xylene and denatured alcohol removed any remaining grease, oil, or what have you. Then a nice healthy coat of auto primer was laid down to protect the exposed metal. With all the rust removed the mobile tech returned and installed the new windshield with the newer style molding. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Minuit Posted March 31, 2020 Share Posted March 31, 2020 How did you get them to install the newer style windshield gasket? Just tell them you know it'll fit no matter what their computer says? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
agamble Posted March 31, 2020 Author Share Posted March 31, 2020 31 minutes ago, Minuit said: How did you get them to install the newer style windshield gasket? Just tell them you know it'll fit no matter what their computer says? It is really luck of the draw on who the technician is. The technician I had had no issues, and in fact preferred using the newer gasket. I've heard of people battling with them about installing the newer style gasket, which I've experienced in the past. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
agamble Posted January 21, 2021 Author Share Posted January 21, 2021 Recently upgraded the battery cables in the Comanche. The goal was to upgrade the current battery cables with finer strand cables and replace the inline fuse to the alternator. When searching the internet for Big 3 battery cables most kits averaged >$110 and used 2AWG cable. 2AWG is overkill as it’s rated to carry 190-250 amps offer a distance <5ft. The limiting factor in most Renix systems is going to be the alternator. As 4AWG cable can easily handle up 190 amps it’s plenty big enough. Especially since at this point the Comanche still has the stock with the stock alternator at this point in time. In the end I decided to make my own cables using information found on other jeep forums. Here is a list of the specific parts I used to complete the project (totaling ~$75) - Copper welding Cable Flxible Rubber SGR Battery Cable (4 Gauge, Color Black) 8ft batterycableusa.com - Copper welding Cable Flxible Rubber SGR Battery Cable (4 Gauge, Color Red) 9ft batterycableusa.com - Battery Cable Ends, Lugs, Ring Terminal Connectors, Tin Plated Pure Copper, (Wire AWG Gauge size 4) Hole size 3/8" x 10 batterycableusa.com - Battery Cable Ends, Lugs, Ring Terminal Connectors, Tin Plated Pure Copper, (Wire AWG Gauge size 4) Hole size 1/4" x 3 batterycableusa.com - Battery Cable Ends, Lugs, Ring Terminal Connectors, Tin Plated Pure Copper, (Wire AWG Gauge size 4) Hole size 3/16" x 1 batterycableusa.com - Battery Cable Ends, Lugs, Ring Terminal Connectors, Tin Plated Pure Copper, (Wire AWG Gauge size 4) Hole size 1/2" 1 batterycableusa.com - Solder Slug Pellets - Flux Core to fit 4AWG Lugs/Top Post Terminals x 14 batterycableusa.com - CL-Flux x 1 batterycableusa.com - 1ft section Heavy Wall 3M ITCSN Heat Shrink Tubing Adhesive Glue Lined (0.80 in diam., Color Black) batterycableusa.com - 1ft section Heavy Wall 3M ITCSN Heat Shrink Tubing Adhesive Glue Lined (0.80 in diam., Color Red) batterycableusa.com - KOLACEN ANL Gold Plated Fuse 150 Amp + ANL fuse holder Amazon.com - Ampler Military Spec Battery Terminal End Amazon.com To make installing the cables easier, I used military spec battery terminals. These are nice in that they allow for ease when bolting on additional accessories. Making of the cables was straight forward. Remove existing cable, cut new one to similar length (for non existent cables I ran length of string to size them), solder on lug terminals, cover with heat shrink tubing. Here is the final specs of each cable: Battery Cable Cable Length Cable Termination B(+) to starter motor 40" 3/8" hole lug both ends B(+) to starter motor relay/distribution 16" 3/8" hole lug, 1/4" hole lug Starter motor relay to ANL fuse 14" 3/16" hole lug, 3/8" hole lug ANL fuse to alternator 30" 3/8" hole lug, 1/4" hole lug B(-) to engine block 40" 3/8" hole lug both ends B(-) to inner fender 8" 3/8" hole lug, 1/4" hole lug Engine block to firewall 12" 3/8 hole lug, 1/2" hole lug Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fiatslug87 Posted January 11, 2023 Share Posted January 11, 2023 Any updates? Have you been using the Wildernest? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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