Ratricha the 88 Pioneer

[1989commanche]

On 6/3/2020 at 6:17 PM, JMO413 said:

These are the cartridges in mine.

Jeep 1 connector

 

This is the Renix connector Jeep 1

I have a bunch of adapters but I don’t have the Jeep one. I’ll have to check my cartridge collection also. 

[JMO413]

I'm off this week for my birthday so the truck gets the new to me 4.10 front axle installed. The back went in nicely but the front is fighting back for sure. Good thing I have a whole week. 

Here is the starting point. The match to my rear from the same truck. It had seen better days.

Out with the carrier so I can install axle seals. Everything is marked and in a shoe box for safe keeping. And beacuse of this forum I have pictures if I have questions later.

Shoe boxes are awesome!

Some rust removed lots to go.

2" wire wheel on a drill bit extension makes cleaning the tubes easy.

 

Perfect fit.

The let's remove rust set up is a must.

Nice clean metal! That took forever!

 

[JMO413]

Thought this was cool.

Rust-Oleum to cover all that work. Hopefully it stays for a while.

Don't mind my fabulous paint stand.

Now my least favorite part watching paint dry.

Poly upper control arm bushings.

Bilstein shocks, Rusty's stabilizer ( it matches the Bilstein look), new dust shields and a guard for the diff cover.

Moog ball joints, bump stops, cups for the bump stops ( mine are MIA), spring isolators, new spring retainers, and bar pin eliminator.

Bye bye CAD.

Hello 4340 Chrome-Moly.

USA standard great makes a nice kit. Now for the paint to dry. I guess it's time to take out the old diff. Good part is it's all been off before. Wish me luck.

 

[JMO413]

More progress today but still allot to get done.

Axle seals installed. Carrier reinstalled.

Upper control arm bushings installed.

Bye bye 3.07!! Everything came apart fairly descent until the track bar said no.

Let's just say the bushing sleeve and the bolt are still one piece. 

This jack is awesome for what it cost from harbor freight. It's now been used for the tranny, gas tank, rear diff and now front diff.

The 4.10 axle is in its new home! And I actually have bump stop cups and bump stops.

I've seen allot of these outer axle seals it there and thought it was worth the $30. I'm glad they finally have black not just red.

Outer axle seals installed.  Hopefully they will keep the tubes cleaner. Now it time to play with the 5 year old. Till tomorrow.

 

[JMO413]

Moog ball joints installed.

I like that the lower is greaseable. Just have to make sure you follow the instructions and clock it correctly.

Waited two days to finally get these. Axle shaft oil slinger is the correct name by the way. O'Reilly's could order them. I read allot about just leaving them out but I just wasn't feeling it. They put it there for a reason from the factory. So it should be there in my mind.

Axles, dust shields and hubs installed. I still can't believe how easy the u-joints went in new axles. This is the first time since I have owned the truck that it had dust shields.

These are almost to nice for me. LOL

I got my bushings for my Trac bar today so that in also. Hopefully I can get some more done later. This has taken WAY to long!

[JMO413]

It's finally done! Just need to get an alignment. That should be easy since I work at a dealership.

To bad you can't really see all the work.

I still need to paint the cover and install the guard. I figure I'll put a few miles on it and then do it.

I like the Rusty's stabilizer. It matches the Bilstein's perfectly.

Little tip from the rust belt. Hot them with a little black paint and you can't even see them.

Plastic cap with a little grease and brake bleeders actually work when you need them too.

Need to drive it a while and retorque the lug nuts. Then I can put my center caps on. Glad I took the time to paint the calipers!

 

[Dzimm]

Nice work on the axle.  Looks really good! 

[JMO413]

1 hour ago, Dzimm said:

Nice work on the axle.  Looks really good! 

Thank you! I'm going to have to drive it up your way again and see how the 4.10 and the instate work out. 

[Dzimm]

32 minutes ago, JMO413 said:

Thank you! I'm going to have to drive it up your way again and see how the 4.10 and the instate work out. 

Heck yeah!  I doubt you'll have any issues on the interstate with your current tires.  

[JMO413]

2 minutes ago, Dzimm said:

Heck yeah!  I doubt you'll have any issues on the interstate with your current tires.  

The drive there last time with 3.07 gearing I never left 4th. This time should be about 2250-2500 RPM in fifth at 65-70.

 

 

[Dzimm]

3 minutes ago, JMO413 said:

The drive there last time with 3.07 gearing I never left 4th. This time should be about 2250-2500 RPM in fifth at 65-70.

 

 

Definitely a little higher.  It's not too terrible to drive that high.   With my small tires and 3.73 I run about 2650rpm at 70.  With my stiff suspension, loud exhaust, ect, it's not the most pleasant.  I certainly wouldn't want to drive it on the interstate every day.

[JMO413]

Just now, Dzimm said:

Definitely a little higher.  It's not too terrible to drive that high.   With my small tires and 3.73 I run about 2650rpm at 70.  With my stiff suspension, loud exhaust, ect, it's not the most pleasant.  I certainly wouldn't want to drive it on the interstate every day.

So far I love it. Much easier on the clutch also. The old 4.0 is happier above 2k RPM. I have actually improved my had milage going to 4.10

[JMO413]

I noticed Friday morning she started s little slow. Then when I went to lunch when slower cranking. When I went back to work from lunch it was still super slow. So I pulled it the battery and treated it. 12.68 bolts and 768 CCA. So I out it back in. Went to go home and starter does nothing. A few guy whacks with a hammer and she starts. Glad I work at a dealership, had one delivered and didn't have to pay the core. Really wish Mopar still made them though.

Hopefully a new one from AutoZone will last a while. LOL

All at home. It now starts faster than ever!

Then it was in to the again jumping speedometer. I had already pulled the cable or and used white lithium grease. That made it better but still not great.

Before

After

This so far seems to be the winner. It's smoother than it has ever been. Pulled the inner cable out. Sprayed through the outer cable until it ran out the other end. Then I sprayed the inner cable until it was coated. Then I let it all dry. Reinserted the inner cable and I am very pleased so far!

[JMO413]

Decided it was time to change the fluid in my new to me differentials today. They came from a junk yard so they were drained when I got them. So I didn't get to see the fluid that came out. They have both been in for a little while now so it was time. I also needed to install the freshly painted new front cover.

Gotta love Amazon. New soccer cover with bolts and rtv $20 to my door.

Primed

Painted and looking good.

Bolts got a coat of black. Got everything painted last weekend so it had plenty of time to dry.

The original in black just wasn't going to do. And thanks to this picture I can see I really need to paint my sway bar.

Looks so much better.

Changed the rear also note the covers match. Also installed some new lights for backing up in the boonies.

They are definitely bright!

They light up the pitch black garage quite well.

The view out of the rear window. 

Then it was washer pump time. The old one just didn't have much pressure. The new one actually sprays the whole windshield along with the roof and both sides of the truck. Not bad for $6 from Rock Auto.

Gave the washer jug a good scrubbing while I had it it to change the pump.

Then these had to go on. Special thanks to schardein for these!

Before

Very small item but they just complete the interior to me. Off to pick up the 5 year old. I'm guessing he won't notice the new chrome. LOL

[jdog]

looking good, those little pieces complete the truck nicely

[JMO413]

20 minutes ago, jdog said:

looking good, those little pieces complete the truck nicely

Thank you.

[JMO413]

Well what should have been a quick and easy job turned into a 2 day debacle. I have always had a problem with my master cylinder leaking on the rear brake portion. I thought it was the leaky wheel cylinder and then a less than great brakes line a PO had installed. But still again the pot for the rear was dry. So I decided it was master cylinder time. While I was at it I decided it was getting a booster also. That decision was made when I found you could buy them together.

Booster and master cylinder combo.

So yesterday I started in on what should have been a fairly simple job. Then it hit the fan.

Off came the master cylinder to see this nastiness.

Not sure what this sience experiment was.

With the master cylinder or if the way I was able to see that the PO had just pinched the line when the did the load sense valve delete.

Went and got the correct plug. Then I figured out why they just pinched it off. It was beyond stuck. So out came the distribution block. With it out I was able to remove the stuck line. Then I had to replace the line to the left front. It was replaced by the PO also and was no where near correct. The I replaced the right front and actually ran it correctly across the engine compartment. The PO had it basically straight across the back of the engine. 

Then I found this nice melted wire at the brake light switch. It came off okay and got a new connector end. The booster went in nicely along with the master cylinder after I bench bleed it.

Got everything installed and bleed. Then I noticed the brake pedal was horrible. Short story to a ton of bad words and repeated bleeding. The rod from the booster to the master was not adjusted correctly. After 3 or so adjustments it is almost perfect. I figured buying them together it would have been adjusted correctly. I now have the lightest break pedal ever! The pedal is easy to push and the brakes are more responsive than ever. Went for a test drive and got some gravel. She will now lock up all four corners.

Looks good and works even better.

[Pete M]

awesome!   

[JMO413]

Very happy to be fixing DD problems today. My parking brake pedal pad was in it's way out. So I got luck and found a GM that will work.

Looks a little different.

Fits like a glove.

PN#12338071 readily available from GM.

[Pete M]

nice find!   

[JMO413]

Today was more rust removal and repair.

Yay more rust.

The old and the new.

Bye bye rust.

[jdog]

15 hours ago, JMO413 said:

Today was more rust removal and repair.

Yay more rust.

The old and the new.

Bye bye rust.

Looking good, rust sucks

[Pete M]

good for another 30 years  

[JMO413]

I had been noticing a coolant smell coming from the truck. It was losing just a small amount over a long time. Half the pressure tank in 3-4 months. The only thing in the cooling system I hadn't replaced was the radiator. After allot of internet research I decided on CSF.

Bought it from Rock Auto $211 to my door.

All metal construction and 3 row sold me. I haven't had any cooling issues but added cooling and capacity is always a plus.

Yes I did stay with a closed cooling system. No need to fix what isn't broke IMHO.

Nice and thick at almost 2"

The one I took out was a plastic tanked aluminum. In guessing it has already been replaced once. It's was almost 1.3" thick. 

The upper support came out nicely it was only missing 3 bolts. Gotta love when the PO strikes again.

Added a few zip ties to clean up the wiring while the radiator was out.

Found my coolant smell and leak.

Took out my mint condenser LOL. I've never seen one just falling apart before.

Got new lower isolators. Glad I got them the old ones weren't very rubbery anymore.

New upper isolators. $8.33 each from Amazon.

Everything came out nicely and went back in just as nice. I also replaced all the missing bolts.

No more worries about air pockets. Every tech at work had one of these and they swear by them. $82 Amazon.

This thing works awesome.

Fits in the Renix tank perfectly.

It holds vacuum. 

Upper hose sucked flat.

I did overfill it just a bit. Got it down to perfectly on the molded line in the tank. It's about perfectly centered between full and add. Started her up and everything is good to go. Coolant level never moved. I did figure out I drained about 2 gallons of coolant out. It took almost 3 gallons to fill it with the new radiator. I am overall very impressed with the CSF radiator. The one problem I did run into was the fan shroud didn't want to fit between the fan clutch and the new radiator.

I forgot to take a picture of the trimming I had to do before I installed it. This picture sucks but you can see the part I trimmed.

No more coolant smell!!

[JMO413]

So I finally installed my REM. When I bought the truck I found an MT2500 on eBay. It was fairly cheap and good up to 96. I regularly hooked it up when I worked on the truck just to make sure all was still good. After a while I decided I need an REM. It is amazing! Thank you nickintime! Then I ran into my delima. Where to mount it. Then Dizmm came to the rescue. He 3D printed me an amazing insert for the console to mount it in.

It fits perfectly in the center console. The bottom insert guess in first. Then the REM sides in.

Top sides in to hold the REM and looks amazing.

Then I ran into my second delima. I have a factory Comanche insert in my console. To get the CAT5 cable to the REM you need to drill a hole. I couldn't bring myself to drill a hole in an actual Comanche insert.

So off to find a Cherokee insert. But then there the slot for the parking brake handle. I know my truck has holes in the bed sides but this wasn't going to be okay with my OCD. And then Dzimm came to the rescue again. He printed a filler for the Cherokee parking brake slot.

Bye bye parking brake slot.

Cherokee insert minus the parking brake handle filler.

Dzimm's insert installed with Norton two part epoxy. Looks almost factory.

Factory Comanche insert that I couldn't drill a hole in. 

Hole in the Cherokee insert for the CAT5 cable.

New Cheromanche insert installed.

REM plugged into the diagnostic port.

REM insert and REM installed. I absolutely love it. It truly looks like it should be there. Thanks again to Dzimm!!

I'm not sure how many people have an REM but the Bluetooth function is available and awesome.