Little Red Wagon

[eaglescout526]

havent done much, attended a couple car shows and still havent done the new labels yet. 

 

But thats not the reason for this post. Apparently the retainer for the shifter finally had it and broke. Luckily I still had Chunks assembly with the broken threads laying around. Spent 30min separating both handles, swapped the retainer rings over and now were back in business....but for how long is the question.

[Pete M]

and that's why we never throw parts away  

[eaglescout526]

Having fun with @SoCalJeepComanche's sticker reproductions

 

One for the scannable barcode on my radiator crossmember, 

 

And the Olympic sticker 

 

While showing off the 50th anniversary decal. Also put the 50th and Olympic on Chunk as well.

[eaglescout526]

Damn.  Its been a bit huh. Well she still lives. Duh, runs like a champ. But im here today to show this gem:

 

My key in chime failed. Ok thats fine. Ill order a new switch for the column cause that usually brakes from the stress. 

Plot twist. The switch isnt broke. Ok thats weird. Did some power tracing. Found I had no power, weird. Found a popped fuse. I think I did that when the switch contacted the column. Replaced it, still nothin. Ok. Busted out the MJ electrical manual. Found the chime circuit, went to the dome lamp as well. Decided to take the switch out and found the 40 year old switch is broke. Alright, thanks for your service switch. Dug out my NOS one, put it in and We are back in business with a new switch too. That is all. I need to add some stickers to her from boxyjeep still. Been lazy.

[Salvagedcircuit]

1 hour ago, eaglescout526 said:

Damn.  Its been a bit huh. Well she still lives. Duh, runs like a champ. But I'm here today to show this gem:

 

My key in chime failed. Ok thats fine. Ill order a new switch for the column cause that usually brakes from the stress. 

Plot twist. The switch isnt broke. Ok thats weird. Did some power tracing. Found I had no power, weird. Found a popped fuse. I think I did that when the switch contacted the column. Replaced it, still nothin. Ok. Busted out the MJ electrical manual. Found the chime circuit, went to the dome lamp as well. Decided to take the switch out and found the 40 year old switch is broke. Alright, thanks for your service switch. Dug out my NOS one, put it in and We are back in business with a new switch too. That is all. I need to add some stickers to her from boxyjeep still. Been lazy.

 

Oh man, I wonder if that's the mysterious source of my ignition chime module not working.

I was welding in the door hinges last weekend and I removed the door ajar switches so nothing melted. I cleaned up the terminals on the door ajar switches with a fiberglass pen and applied ox-guard for good measure. After everything cooled off, I assembled everything and for the first time, I head a buzzing sound when I put the key in the ignition and turned the cylinder. It did it about 3 times and then I could not replicate it.

Crazy. I wonder if it's the same point of failure.

[eaglescout526]

23 minutes ago, Salvagedcircuit said:

Crazy. I wonder if it's the same point of failure

More than likely. I was actually surprised as I have never removed my switches from the door jambs. But it looks like the nylon clip that holds the terminal to the switch has just failed to hold the terminal to the switch. I’d give it a look. Maybe soak it in some vinegar to remove any corrosion if it still is in good shape. 

[eaglescout526]

 

250,000 miles 

[pizzaman09]

Woohoo!  Welcome to the quarter million mile club!

[eaglescout526]

On 3/24/2024 at 6:39 PM, pizzaman09 said:

Woohoo!  Welcome to the quarter million mile club!

Thanks! Shame it all wasnt me. 

[89 MJ]

At the Cactus Cruisers Car Show in Glendale. You just can’t beat an AMC era grille guard and chrome tow hooks.   

[eaglescout526]

Hahahah I love this pic! Thank you Carter and thank you for driving her home too!

 

Sadly I was not able to make it but I made sure she was there though....stupid Ford inventory. (ignore my friend back there, he had a blast for me while I suffered haha.)

 

Lets go for next year!

[89 MJ]

Let’s see if we can get a few more MJs there next year! Thanks for letting me drive it!

[eaglescout526]

35 minutes ago, 89 MJ said:

Let’s see if we can get a few more MJs there next year! Thanks for letting me drive it!

I agree! Next year I will post on both the Comanche groups on FB to get their butts out there. Love to reach out to the SJ, XJ and CJ guys too.

And of course!

 

Now I gotta replace the ebrake cable. Yay...

[eaglescout526]

Had to replace the ebrake cable. I ordered one a couple weeks ago and got an XJ one. Ok I’m not that mad as I have an XJ so that kind works out haha. But I got the right one yesterday. Raybestos one for the long bed. I think I had been rocking a short bed one for a bit. But it worked till it snapped. 
 

I did find out why I broke the cable and it’s because I put one of the drums back together wrong and the bar for the ebrake fell and thus there was no tension on it and resulted in me having to adjust and tighten the ebrake till it snapped. Whoops. 
 

But I did manage to get it out and installed in under 2 hours without having to remove all the interior. Bench came out, kick panel off and lower sill/scuff panel had screws removed but flexed out of the way. Thank you AMC for that one. 

[eaglescout526]

On 7/26/2020 at 12:04 PM, eaglescout526 said:

The ZJ gear box upgrade should be labeled as dangerous lol. I had a blast only turning half the wheel for a full turn. This is a fantastic upgrade! I spent about an hour driving around, getting the steering wheel as straight as I could get it and got comfortable with how she feels and got damn does it feel like I'm driving a new truck!

Seriously?! Only 4 years that rebuild box lasted me!? UGH! Well $200 later, one reman unit in and she is back up and going. This reman one feels tighter than the one I had rebuilt...Little concerning but moving on. It also is a ZJ one so it is not an XJ/MJ steering gear. Makes me so mad. And theres nothing wrong with the old box other than it just leaks out the steering pitman. I have no idea why either. Not like I hit the trails or anything rough. It has a skid plate too so protection is without a doubt there. 

 

Thats the only update I have. She has been attending car shows, last one was June 8th so they are all done until september/october. Even the cruise in is done till it cools off.

[MississippiComanche]

Whats the main difference between the ZJ gearbox and the OEM MJ one? I'm looking to upgrade anything I can on my 2.5 so you have my interest. 

 

[eaglescout526]

1 hour ago, MississippiComanche said:

Whats the main difference between the ZJ gearbox and the OEM MJ one? I'm looking to upgrade anything I can on my 2.5 so you have my interest. 

 

Faster turn ratio. 

[eaglescout526]

So I decided to tackle my bizarre issue with my front sway bar. Replaced the links and decided to ditch the poly greasable bushings in favor of just regular ole rubber bushings.

 

 

So these are not the original mounts by any means. These are newer style from Chrysler that actually cradle the whole bushing which is pretty nice. Whats odd is I remember fighting to put the poly bushings on but these hardly fought me at all other than aligning the bolt holes to tighten the bracket down. 

 

 

As for the links, well I put them on first then the bar and it is all lined up pretty well so I have no idea why I had any issues with the links. Probably the poly bushings but we shall see how she drives. 

[eaglescout526]

Welp, the AZ heat finally got to me and has tasked me to address my headliner. The tweed headliner we did back in ‘16 is finally sagging badly to where it’s bothering me. You know, I’m surprised it held up for so long. I did notice it starting to sag in ‘20 but it just got worse. Time to slather more glue on and hope it sticks another 10 years haha. I might have to look into a new headliner board at that point. 

[eaglescout526]

Oh wow, I forgot to update that the headliner has been done and is sitting in my truck fantastically. That was easy to remove without having to remove the B-pillars.

 

Now I have a PSA

Here is normal brake pad wear

 

Here is abnormal

 

I have only one explanation for this. I went to address my steering and alignment issue one night by checking my ball joints as I cant suspect it being the track bar....but it could be at this point. Not the point. I found that my brake caliper was loosey goosey. Thats odd I thought. Turns out I was missing 3 of the 4 brake caliper alignment pins. How? Why? I do not know. I can suspect someone stole them as its not like they come out super easy. But they could have also wiggled out.

 

So make sure you guys check those and prevent the uneven wear and bring on panic about braking.

[Salvagedcircuit]

2 hours ago, eaglescout526 said:

Here is abnormal

 

I have only one explanation for this. I went to address my steering and alignment issue one night by checking my ball joints as I can't suspect it being the track bar....but it could be at this point. Not the point. I found that my brake caliper was loosey goosey. Thats odd I thought. Turns out I was missing 3 of the 4 brake caliper alignment pins. How? Why? I do not know. I can suspect someone stole them as its not like they come out super easy. But they could have also wiggled out.

 

So make sure you guys check those and prevent the uneven wear and bring on panic about braking.

One of my brake pads started separating like that when I noticed one slide pin was longer than the other.. .

[eaglescout526]

24 minutes ago, Salvagedcircuit said:

One of my brake pads started separating like that when I noticed one slide pin was longer than the other.. .

Yikes! How did you end up with a longer pin? Did it not still not do the job of keeping the caliper in place?

[eaglescout526]

 

That time of year again to start goin to the cruise in every saturday, showin her off and happily educate people on the MJ and hear some stories and share memories. Yes I know its not saturday but I just remembered I had this pic haha.

[Salvagedcircuit]

On 9/17/2024 at 12:55 AM, eaglescout526 said:

 

That time of year again to start goin to the cruise in every saturday, showin her off and happily educate people on the MJ and hear some stories and share memories. Yes I know its not saturday but I just remembered I had this pic haha.

 

Very cool indeed!

[eaglescout526]

5/1/2017

 

Found this absolute oldie. This is a great example of what happens when it becomes an addiction and an obsession. I wish I could find some of the older stuff from '16.