Budget Wheeler - 87' MJ

[tom_echo]

Forgot to post this from the axle swap.  It took me like absolutely forever to press in new u joints in my drive shaft.  The needle bearings just kept falling in and I'd have to take it apart, stand them up again and try again. I tried a hammer at first, which was super hard to get right although I think I did get the slip yoke onto the ujoint that way.  Eventually I switched to a ball joint press which was easier but I still had a ton of trouble getting things perfectly lined up, so I was still dropping the pins into the caps.  Really annoying I must say.  I certainly will not be putting ujoints in anything else unless I have to.

 

 

Once I got it in I noticed the rear end of the t case is leaking fluid.  Not cool.

 

 

Also I can tell from the wear pattern on the slip yoke that it sits about 3/4" further out than before.  Nothing bad about that, still plenty left in the receiver.

[tom_echo]

Bought this guy for $36 on ebay, shipped to the door.

 

 

I've read online they have these weird metric standard hybrid fittings.  The threads are metric but they are for a 3/16" brake line.

 

 

Also looking at the old ones these are bubble flares, so I'll have to figure that out.  I have a flaring tool in the barn, seems like it says that on the box it came in.  I'm sure I can watch a video or something and figure it out.

[tom_echo]

I have this roll of brake line left over from another project.  Luckily it's the right size.  I'll use it for the lines on my master/booster swap. 

 

None of those fittings will do the job though, I bought some m10-1.0 and m12-1.0 fittings off ebay.  $5 for a bag of ten.  So now I have 18 spares lol.

 

 

[tom_echo]

Starting to pull the old master/booster out.  I have to remove the airbox.  Luckily most of the bolts in it have rusted away over the years.

 

Surprisingly the open lines didn't drip that much

 

 

 

Here's the booster out all the way.  Not much width to the booster compared to the wj one.

 

 

 

 

I'm sure the master cylinder will push way more fluid than the 31 year old one 

 

 

 

[Pete M]

you're going to be thrilled once all those updated parts are in play.  

 

I recently discovered that my '00 Dakota has the metric-3/16"-bubble flare thing going on.  I wussed out and got pre-made lines.

[tom_echo]

On 6/28/2019 at 11:53 PM, Pete M said:

you're going to be thrilled once all those updated parts are in play.  

 

I recently discovered that my '00 Dakota has the metric-3/16"-bubble flare thing going on.  I wussed out and got pre-made lines.

 

I got it installed, braking is much better, I hardly ever press the pedal all the way down now.  I did end up flaring the lines myself.  It's not pretty but it's been a few months and no leaks!

 

 

That second one is a little weirdly shaped, I probably didn't shave the end evenly enough.

[tom_echo]

I matched the end of the rod on the master/booster combo.  Took a bit of playing around but it was actually really simple.  I just drilled out the hole to make it a bit bigger and ground it down so there was a matching flat spot on the end of the rod.  All so it could hold the sensor for the brake light.

 

 

I was a little afraid it wouldn't work as well: too sensitive or not sensitive enough.  Turns out it wasn't an issue, though, I got it on the first try.  To fit it in the jeep I had to bend the seam near the top on the firewall.  The old nuts didn't end up fitting either, I had to get new ones with different thread (M12).  

 

 

Unfortunately the lines exit the mc on the same side as the windshield washer fluid reservoir.

 

 

Routing them down here wasn't that bad.  The lines I had were really bendy, I just measured them out using a piece of string, flared the ends and bent them in place.

 

 

[tom_echo]

I never posted the pics but I went to this great offroad place in central ma.  Had a ton of fun and wheeled on harder trails than I ever had before but I ended up tearing the sidewall in one of my tires and denting the rear corner of my bed while sliding off a hill.

 

These general grabber at2 tires are really bad.  I aired them down to like 12 and tore a sidewall clean through so I had to put on my spare.  About a year later I tore another one, but not all the way through this time.

 

This trip was before I added lockers (it was the motivation for doing so).  There was this little muddy hill with a tight turn at the bottom, I easily would have made it up with lockers but I didn't because I was open front and rear.

 

 

 

 

[tom_echo]

That dent in the corner is new as of this trip. 

 

On another note, I'd love to bob the truck and make it a flatbed.  I kept getting hung up on the rear bumper, tow hitch or other body part beyond the rear tire.  I might have to switch the rear to coils or something other than leafs because the rear leaf hanger extends so far back.

[tom_echo]

Had to use this rear tow hitch a couple times on that trip, I got stuck a lot.

 

[tom_echo]

I've been seeing some low voltages on the gauge in the jeep when at stop lights and low reving off road.  I figure I might have the really weak 62 amp alternator or it's just tired after 32 some odd years.

 

Here's the voltage at when the jeep is off (two different times), not quite 12v but it's been going on for over a year like this and still keeps it at or near 12v.  

 

If I run the engine and step on the gas the volt meter in the cab reads up near 14 v

 

 

But idling it reads 12.51v at the battery.  Nothing too impressive.

 

I certainly won't try running a winch any time soon  or even plugging in those kc lites I have on the front bumper.  I dug around and found a 1994 or so c1500 alternator (low output) is a cs121 style 100 amp alternator.  I might upgrade to that 816576G (part number)

[Pete M]

corrosion in the cables and at the connection points can kill the voltage too.  don't forget to upgrade those parts when you install the bigger alt.  

[tom_echo]

3 minutes ago, Pete M said:

corrosion in the cables and at the connection points can kill the voltage too.  don't forget to upgrade those parts when you install the bigger alt.  

That’s right,  I keep forgetting to do cruiser’s renix tips.  I think the PO might have replaced the battery cables, they look newer, but I should at least check all the grounds.

[Pete M]

even if the cables are new, the contact points could be corroded.  cleaning grounds is never a bad thing.  

[tom_echo]

My friends dad had this seat in his shed, it’s a little dusty but looks to be in way better condition than my bench.  I’ll swap it in when I get the time for a much needed comfort improvement.  Looks like this one won’t cost me anything at all, he was just going to throw it away anyways.

 

[tom_echo]

Finally got around to installing that seat that I got.  It’s muchhh more comfortable and the bucket style seats make me less likely to slide around offroad and just taking corners fast.

Install wasn’t to hard, my seat brackets were rusted pretty bad but I managed to adapt them to the other seat with a few tabs I made out of flat stock.
 

Outside holes were about 37”

insides were about 20.5” apart

 

here’s one of the tabs on the seat, I put the oem rail on top of this with washers for spacers

 

the spacers were just some flat stock i had around, probably 1/4”.

 

here it is in the jeep.  I only bolted the rear in at first, then made the front spacers to match with the way the brackets were bolted in.

 

took some time to measure everything up and fenagle stuff, overall probably about 8 hrs total.

[tom_echo]

when doing front brakes (been meaning to do calipers and rotors for a while) I noticed both front wheels had play, looks to be the ball joints.

 

 

 

 

took a while to tear down but I’ve been in here a bunch of times lately so I'm getting used to it.  I went with the oem dana ball joints, they didn’t really cost that much ($102) and tbh I don’t trust the overseas brands at the parts stores.  

[billyjp2]

I live in Springfield and work in East Longmeadow. I hardly see any Comanches around here anymore.

[tom_echo]

3 minutes ago, billyjp2 said:

I live in Springfield and work in East Longmeadow. I hardly see any Comanches around here anymore.

most of them have rusted away at this point unfortunately.  Do you need a bench seat btw?  I have my old one available for free, has a rip in the drivers side but it works.

[tom_echo]

I replaced the power steering lines a couple years ago because they leaked but now I unfortunately have to do it again.  Last time I routed too close to the steering shaft and it wore through like this.  Luckily a new one is only like $20