Son of Stink

[Gjeep]

Got a few things done this weekend...mainly detail items.

 

Replaced front and rear differential pinions seals and yoke ends-- updating to the stronger driveshaft u-bolt style straps. Re-routed, consolidated, and wire loomed the front end wiring harness. Further trimmed the revised lower alternator bracket to work with the Nations 180A alternator. Torqued front and rear suspension to spec. Replaced the D44 Teraflex rear brake calipers with OEM 1995 Ford Explorer units. (Unfortunately I don't have a comparison photo between the Teraflex and Ford calipers, so I pulled an image from the internet to give you an idea. My Teraflex bleeders were leaky, and I just overall did not like the design as they were 1/2" taller and much squarer than the Ford units they were designed around). Finally bled the brake system once the calipers were installed (no leaks this time!).

 

 

 

 

 

Need to get the transfer case linkage and remainder of the exhaust system installed, in addition to hanging the driveshafts...Test all revised electrical items that I installed through the PDC box and then get to putting the interior back together for a test drive. (I have plans to go through the interior as well thereafter-- updating to 97+ XJ style windows, new speakers and radio unit, removing the carpet and seam-sealing the uni-body panels to prevent water from sneaking in during the (seldom) rainy days. (When I sealed the floorboard on my '89 MJ, I was surprised to see that the seam sealer dripped some on the garage floor...meaning the unibody floorboard panels had some decent gaps...And my '89 did not come from an abusive prior owner).

 

[Gjeep]

With an eye towards driving this truck around the block this weekend...Been playing with parking brake adjustment, and transfer case linkage as I wait for the Tom Woods driveshaft to arrive Wednesday this week. My original (Woods) driveshaft I had built when I converted to 4wd/ Dana 44 many years back is about an inch too long because the newer style NP231 case has a sealed end with a slinger/lip on it (for the yoke boot to attach to). 

 

Also, finally got the primary fan working with the SPAL controller having low and high temperature on/off settings. 

 

Finally, I'm replacing the MJ/XJ style transfer case shifter with a straight arm shifter with YJ ball knob so to match my Hurst short throw arm/YJ knob combo.

 

[HOrnbrod]

11 minutes ago, Gjeep said:

Also, finally got the primary fan working with the SPAL controller having low and high temperature on/off settings.

 

What did you finally end up with for your LO and HI settings?

[Gjeep]

For now, I've set the SPAL to 170* low and 200* high. I've done this because when I idle in the garage, I creep toward 260* after about 4 mins from a cold start. I'm guessing when the MJ is actually in motion I can adjust these up a bit. Will see how it goes.

 

[Gjeep]

Got the nose back on, cut the winch fairlead holes in the front bumper (chrome polished the bumper al la Hornbrod) and test fit the assembly of fairlead, winch hook anchor, and flip-up front license plate bracket...New Woods driveshaft painted and currently drying. Interior side there is much to do and reassemble.

 

 

 

[HOrnbrod]

       

 

But you coulda used a fairlead similar to this one. Polished up a bit more of course.  

 

[Gjeep]

Would be blinding...

[Gjeep]

Driveshaft installed. Believe it or not there's only a hair over 1" of play between the tip of the yoke and transfer case oil slinger cap. It looks like the driveshaft is barely hanging on the input shaft, but it's not. Got to get use to how this looks... Putting on old rims/ tires this weekend to take it around the block.

 

[fiatslug87]

What? Your first drive will be in this unhealthy air? 😷

[Gjeep]

I forgot to mention I'll be driving it within a plastic bubble.

[Gjeep]

Test drive was a flop unfortunately... in motion the truck had a screeching/ scraping sound at load (when driving). Didn't want to take it above 25-30mph. Though the belt may have been the belt at first, but I could rev the motor when parked to 3500 rpm for 5 mins with no noises. Under load seems to be when the noise happens above 7-10mph. Any ideas? Mind you it's new everything engine, trans, transfer case, bearings on wheels front and rear, new pinion yokes front and rear -- there were no crush sleeve shims only a large washer and torqued to spec. Don't see anything dragging for the brakes front or rear, they're not over heating. Have no idea... Idea's?

[Gjeep]

Found this video on youtube with an XJ that makes the same sound as my truck is...Unfortunately the person never posted a resolution. Have a listen, and let me know if you are familiar with what might be the cause of the noise.

 

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=6B2ry3AqK1Y

 

[Gjeep]

Found the issue yesterday...but haven't had time to fix it yet. I put the MJ on jackstands and turned all the tires individually to hear if it was hub/ bearing related. The driver's side front sounded like there were metal marbles in it scraping away. I pulled the tire off and found half of the hub studs had fallen out of the hub. This was a brand new Mopar hub. I had tightened all of the lug nuts to 90 ft/lbs and there was no spinning of cracking noise, but when I removed the tire yesterday 1 of the 5 had broken, and then 2 more at the time of removal broke/ fell into the abyss behind the hub.

 

 

This all occurred at my initial test drive after about 1000 ft of driving at 15-20mph. Very lucky it happened then and not at freeway speeds. I 'll be replacing the hub at some point this weekend and will have another test drive.

[Gjeep]

And a thanksgiving gift to the MJ -- Just picked this up from the local chrome plating shop. Chrome transfer case straight arm shifter to match the AX-15 Hurst short throw arm.

 

[Gjeep]

Here she stands just prior to test drive #2 (that's my neighbors Dakota in the background)...and yes, that is electrical tape on the front fender/ door as I have the bolts out installing my radio antenna. Old tires for now too.

 

 

Success! Drove it about 45 mins around the block and then the local expressway taking it up to 70 mph. Runs very smooth now that I reset the PCM according to Hornbrod's notes and replaced a bad Mopar oxygen sensor and front wheel bearing. The idle was a bit rough at first, but smoothed out to just about factory after the go-around. Had my 12 year old tinkerer beside me with an iphone stop watch app doing 0-60 timing. Only gave it about 3/4 throttle for the sake of break in and best time was 8.4 seconds. Have a feeling can get it under 8. Will see on a drag strip after about 1000 miles break in. Still a few issues to resolve -- parking brake adjustment, transmission leak at the topside mating surface of the shifter to the AX-15.

 

Moving on to interior refresh. Will start with floorboard seam-sealing, new carpet, radio, speakers, etc...Will then button-up the dashboard switch pods and general wiring clean up. 

 

[kryptronic]

Looks like you dodged a bullet with those studs.  Glad to hear it was nothing too major or drivetrain related.  I've been closely following this build, and I'm drawing inspiration from it for my trucks when I get to them.  Thanks for posting, and keep up the awesome work.

[Pete M]

for just a brief moment I thought the tape was holding the door on. 

 

dodged a bullet indeed!  that could have been horrible  

[HOrnbrod]

   Did the ZJ O2 sensor work okay?

[Gjeep]

ZJ was still too short for my comfort/ wire routing so I ditched the connector extension I made and got a 24” pigtail from the wrecking yard and neatly crimped it on (I read a couple places on line that soldering an oxygen sensor wire added resistance similar to the connector extension I made). Anyways, I crimped the pigtail extension on and plugged in a new XJ oxygen sensor. Flashed the PCM and life was good. 

[HOrnbrod]

Don't understand why you needed such a long O2 cable. The header bung I guess?

[Gjeep]

I routed my oxygen sensor wiring straight down from factory location with hesco relocated CPS wiring. Wanted to keep it neat and far from the header. 

[Gjeep]

Didn't have much time to work on the MJ today, but got a couple things done towards reviving the interior...Pulled out the bench seat (I have kids that I transport to school), all the interior panels, and carpet. I knew the seams of the floorboard were letting water in for at least 3 years as the carpet was getting damp. I tested and confirmed today it wasn't the antenna grommet or windshield, but the floorboard. Water came right in. Pulled the carpet back and that dreadful plastic bagged heat shield had held the water against the metal floor. The photo makes it look works that it is. The majority of the 'orange' wiped up with brake cleaner. There we a few crusts of metal that came up, but the floor is solid. And there was absolutely no rust or wet under the rubber mat that is behind the dashboard/ firewall.

 

 

 

Going to seam-seal and then POR-15 the hell out of it, especially since I have new carpet going in. While I had access to the Hurst shifter I popped it off. It's always been a real pain in the @$$ to access one of those 12mm bolts, so I tool the opportunity to trim a small piece of floor board for access. Will touch it up and make sure the cover plate is sealed nice and tight with butyl tape. Had a feeling I should have swapped out that little gasket that came with the new AX-15 that sits between the top of the trans and the shifter...this was the source of the minor transmission leak. 

 

 

 

Also figured out my parking brake issue... the aftermarket cables were not the same length though they were in a box each with the proper part number. Wish there was NOS available for these as I probably wouldn't have had this issue. Lesson learned...confirm the length of identical part numbered items before installing and Raybestos is an idiot. ;)

[HOrnbrod]

9 minutes ago, Gjeep said:

Also figured out my parking brake issue... the aftermarket cables were not the same length, though they were in a box each with the proper part#. Wish there was NOS available for these as I probably wouldn't have had this issue. Lesson learned...check the length before installing and Raybestos is an idiot. ;)

 

#headslap.  Never would have thought of that. I must have lucked out with the Wagner cables I bought. Glad you found it. 

[Gjeep]

Final posting for the night...got these yesterday from ebay. I think Hornbrod is running something similar. Mine is a 2 piece emblem -- the 4.6 and the 'stroker' badge. Don't think I'm going to put these on until after the paint job in the spring, but looking forward to it. (If anyone is looking at these as well, know there is a seller selling a 4" stroker badge and a 5" badge...the 5" is the one to get as it matches the width of the numeric.

 

[HOrnbrod]

I had mine made by a guy on the strokers forum years ago. He machined them out of a solid piece of aluminum. Unfortunately he doesn't make them anymore.