Drahcir495 Posted June 17, 2008 Share Posted June 17, 2008 [Fender installed and antenna screwed on: Close up of antenna: Pretty ingenious work there . I like it :cheers: - Rich Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mvusse Posted June 18, 2008 Author Share Posted June 18, 2008 Well, tried to tune the antenna. Could not get SWR below 3. So I dug through my junk and found this one. SWR is now 1.4, but I don't think it's gonna work. Gotta try some other antennas I think. And a picture of the CB radio installed: and on request, the bicycle rack: and flipped down for tailgate access: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mvusse Posted June 26, 2008 Author Share Posted June 26, 2008 On my way home from work, I was sitting at a stop sign, and the car behind me pulls alongside to tell me I'm leaking gas BAD. Got home, all the while watching the trail of gas behind me. In 3/10 mile I lost 1/4 of a tank of gas :mad: This is the last part of my trail: Turned out I had a pin hole in the rubber hose just after the filter, and the fuel was spraying out like a shower head. My old failing pump never put out enough pressure for weak spots in the fuel line to become a problem. The new pump puts out 75-80 psi. Quick fix, though, since the leak was close to the end. Cut off the bad part and push it back on. 15 minutes total. I then found a package on my front porch (USPS, as UPS leaves it on the back porch). It's my Firestik 3' Firefly antenna. I never could get my 4' Radioshack tuned below an swr of 3, so I decided to try another one. After messing with it for 45 minutes I got the swr down to just below 3. I'm thinking the problem is that the fender doesn't provide a very good ground plane, even though the 102" whip gives me 1.4. Might try the whip at Badlands,but take the 3' with me in case they don't like the long one. I'll use fishing line to turn the tip down towards the rear bumper. Later this year I'm going to try the suggested antenna cable before completely giving up on the fender mount. If that doesn't get me a better swr, I'll put the 3' Firefly on the center of the roof. Either that or 2 identical 3' or 4' antennas on both fenders. 60" separation is not ideal, but should be enough to work. Since dual antennas radiate off each other, the ground plane becomes a non-issue. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
89eliminator Posted June 26, 2008 Share Posted June 26, 2008 Dang! Thats like $30 worth of gas right there :eek: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mvusse Posted July 2, 2008 Author Share Posted July 2, 2008 Got my new rear springs on. Measured from center of hub to bottom edge of flare, the driver side went from 19" to 21.5", passenger side went from 18" to 21" . Pretty much a 3" lift just from installing better condition stock springs (old ones had 1 broken leaf each). Looking at it, I think I need to lift the front some to make it look right (I'm used to the a$$ end sagging 2"...), but I think I'll leave it alone for now. Instead of getting a 3" left next year I might just go with Motion's 1.75"/2" budget lift. I have brand new 235/75R15 tires and am afraid 3" more in the back may make them look too small. Then I turned the truck around and bolted a front skid plate on. Just have to do something with my CB antenna and I'm all ready for Badlands. Old (top) and new (bottom) driver side. Notice anything missing? How 'bout now? And old and new passenger side: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wildman Posted July 3, 2008 Share Posted July 3, 2008 Yea.....that made a big difference :roll: I guest your old springs were gone......way gone. Most all stock MJ's have the rear sitting a little higher than the front.....don't forget.....empty box.....no extra weight back there. Add some weight in the box, and it will lever out some. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mvusse Posted July 3, 2008 Author Share Posted July 3, 2008 Edited my last post (on page 2) to add pics. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wildman Posted July 3, 2008 Share Posted July 3, 2008 Yea......I notice something missing on your old springs........that little plastic slider on the tip of the spring. Oh :eek: ........And the steel part too. :D Glad it worked out for ya :brows: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mvusse Posted July 3, 2008 Author Share Posted July 3, 2008 Messed with the CB antenna set up again. Reinstalled the 102", this time with a length of fishing line tied to the top. Tested swr between 1.3 and 1.4. I then arched it down to the corner of the bed, and tested it again. Well above 3! Let it back up: between 1.3 and 1.4. So no go. Arching an antenna down affects the swr significantly. I'm planning to go a a nearby truck stop this afternoon that has a CB shop to see if they happen to have a roof mount on the shelf. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mvusse Posted July 11, 2008 Author Share Posted July 11, 2008 Well, I got a roof mount, but messing with the tip I did get the swr of the 3 footer down below 3. Not much below 3, but good enough for now. I'll drill a hole in the roof later. I also just installed 1.75" lift blocks in the front to get the truck closer to level again. Measured from center of wheel to bottom edge of top of the fender flare I have 20.5" passenger side rear, 21" driver side rear and 19" on both sides in the front. I do realize that will mess with my not too good already departure angle a bit, but after thinking about that I decided the added ground clearance was more important with the exposed gas tank and transfer case. I did snap off one of the sway bar links in the process of removing a nut, though. :mad: For the time being I installed a pair of 2" shock extenders on my current shocks, which seems to work. I can stuff the wheel to within 1" of the fender liner without the shock bottoming out, and droop to almost where the lca hits the top of the axle bracket with the shock fully extended. Will get new shocks later this year. My camera is on the fritz, so no pictures of the install. When I get it working again I'll post a picture of the new stance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mvusse Posted July 20, 2008 Author Share Posted July 20, 2008 Made it back from Badlands. 390 miles measured on the way back, 65mph the whole way, averaged 24 mpg And that's a stock Renix 4.0 on slightly oversized tires (235/75R15) running 41 psi. Anyway, here's what I learned I need from some new dents and a mangled rear bumper: -auxiliary fan and fan shroud. I missed the last 2 hours because I overheated. -transfer case linkage need some slight adjustment. It kept popping in and out of 4 lo under heavy load, so I had to use 4 hi all day. My transmission is probably hating me, and it may have been a factor in overheating. -LIFT! I need at least 3" before the next trip. -gas tank skid plate. I left some paint behind on a rock, but the tank survived the entire day. I do not quite know how. That's what I got for thinking I can go up where 89eliminator did. He's running SOA/6.5" and 10.50x33 on a short bed. -rock rails. I have a lwb Comanche, so may have to make them myself, but they would have prevented every dent with the possible exception of 1 that took me by surprise. The rear bumper will be fine after I back it into the tree a few times. Having a rusted/rotted but functional bumper you don't care about was the way to go. I was not the only one with bumper damage, as a U-channel bumper on a Wagoneer completely broke off the right side and almost tore off the left side right in front of me. And Lead-not-follow did a pretty good number on his in the same place. Bigger tires will really be helpful on the bigger ledges and rocks, plus help ground clearance, however my little snow tires surprised the heck out of me (P235/75R15 Wintermark, aired down to 20 psi). They were decent on the rocks, pretty good in the sand, good enough in the river, outstanding in mud and muck, and got me up every climb I tried on the first attempt without stopping with the exception of one that had a ledge taller than my tire. Looking at what everyone ran, I think I will go with 10.50x33 next time I need tires. I do not think 35" will fit without major surgery even with 6+ inches of lift. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
89eliminator Posted July 20, 2008 Share Posted July 20, 2008 even without all the stuff you just listed, you made it through everything. just goes to show that a stockish mj can go through a lot of things. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mvusse Posted July 21, 2008 Author Share Posted July 21, 2008 Yeah, but that orange trail almost got me in trouble and left the "surprise" dent behind the passenger door as a souvenir. Plus that's where I overheated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mvusse Posted July 30, 2008 Author Share Posted July 30, 2008 Well, I broke the second leaf from the top (directly below the main leaf) on the ps rear suspension. I'm guessing this is what caused it: Can you tell I'm used to dealing with full size trucks that can handle a lot more weight? Now I guess I'll take my old leaf packs apart, see which of the two has the most arch and replace it. May just take my old main leafs, cut the ends off and stick them in there as well, for a little more capacity.. Tomorrow I'm getting another load of dirt. Only putting half as much on the truck, though, and the rest on the trailer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mvusse Posted August 1, 2008 Author Share Posted August 1, 2008 Well, yesterday I only had about 500 pounds on the truck, but towing a 1200 pound (empty weight) trailer loaded with 4000 pounds of dirt. Going down a steep hill with a stop sign at the bottom, I blew the ds front brake hose and that sucker pushed me right through the stop sign about 10 mph. Luckily it's a township road without a lot of traffic. I guess it's time to put brakes on my trailer and wire up the controller. Never had to worry about stuff like that with the Suburban... Anyway, I just got done replacing the hose. Luckily it was the ds one, which cost $18, as the ps one costs $34 :nuts: And I finally found a nut on my truck I couldn't get loose. A @%^ 3/8 nut on the hard brake line. So now I had to buy a $0.72 nut and a $11 flaring tool to install it. But I'm all good again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mvusse Posted August 3, 2008 Author Share Posted August 3, 2008 No new pics at this time, but I put a new air cleaner box (actually, just the bottom half) out of a 93 Cherokee in. This one is in 1 piece without half a roll of duct tape holding it together. Also installed an aux. electric fan out of the same, but need to wire it up still. And of course I forgot to take the other half of the wiring harness off :wall: . No 4.0 shroud to be found in the jy this week, as this vehicle was the only 4.0 there and it was missing already. There were at least 15, maybe 20 of them last time; this time there were that many 2.5s, :mad: Even though they cleaned out and rotated through a lot of vehicles, and warned me it might be gone, the Comanche was still there for me to take the sender unit off. Noticed a 2.5 pump is quite a bit smaller, but the 4.0 pump fits just fine. The pumps come with different top brackets to make up the difference. Also noticed the arm on the float was a lot shorter (about 2" instead of 4" or so), but didn't worry about it. The entire installation of the new assembly: remove old, change pump over to new and reinstall took me less than 45 minutes this time, but I've had lots of practice lately. Start up the truck and with 1/4 tank of gas the fuel gauge fluctuates between almost full and half a tank past full :mad: :mad: Don't know if the problem is a bad sending unit, bad wire, or different system :???: So now I need to take it out again, move the sending unit over and put it back in again. No big deal, except that I'm starting to get sick of looking at the bottom of my truck! On a side note, if anyone is in need of a 2.5 pump that may or may not be working (but it spins when hooked up to a battery), you're free to have it for the cost of shipping. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mvusse Posted August 3, 2008 Author Share Posted August 3, 2008 Update: Got under my truck again, removed everything from the tank, changed over sending units, put it all back together and my gauge works again. Got some gas, and this one leaks just as bad as the old one. :mad: I guess I'll pay with a torch and some brass and see if I can seal the old one back up some time this week. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mvusse Posted August 3, 2008 Author Share Posted August 3, 2008 Update: Got under my truck again, removed everything from the tank, changed over sending units, put it all back together and my gauge works again. Got some gas, and this one leaks just as bad as the old one. :mad: I guess I'll pay with a torch and some brass and see if I can seal the old one back up some time this week. At least now that I have two, I can drive around with one while working on the other. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MiNi Beast Posted August 3, 2008 Share Posted August 3, 2008 that sucks. It's not good nowadays to be leaking gas :eek: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mvusse Posted August 3, 2008 Author Share Posted August 3, 2008 I knew I kept my old gas tank around for a reason. I originally was going to wirebrush it to see if it was salvageable, but there's no need to any more. I tried to seal up my old sender unit, and stuck it in there, and while tightening the lock ring a few chunks of rust fell off, leaving a hold in the left rear upper corner bigh enough to put my fist through. But, by putting a wood block under that corner, raising it, I can keep enough water in there long enough, despite more than 10 smaller holes on the bottom, to see if the sender unit leaks or not. I think I have the wire grommet sealed, and possibly even where the tubes go through the plate. I do have a more serious leak right on the weld where the piece of brake line goes into what's left of the return tube. No big deal, I'll remove it from my leak tester tomorrow, try to seal it back up and test again. No need to get under the truck until I have it completely fixed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MiNi Beast Posted August 3, 2008 Share Posted August 3, 2008 http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/NEW-86-9 ... enameZWDVW :shake: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mvusse Posted August 4, 2008 Author Share Posted August 4, 2008 I have no need for a gas tank. The one under the truck is just fine. The one with the holes I replaced a few months back because of the holes, but it still functions as a leak tester for sender units... I never threw the old one away, because I never got around yet to take a good look at it to see if it were salvageable. And now I found a use for it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mvusse Posted August 6, 2008 Author Share Posted August 6, 2008 Well, played with my "leak tester" again. I got both pipes on the sender sealed, now it's just leaking at the wire grommet (I'm guessing the O-ring didn't like the torch) and one pin hole I can't even see in the middle of the large flat part of the cover plate. Can't see the hole, but I can see it get wet when the tank is full of water. Anybody has an idea of how to best plug a leak too small for the naked eye to see in a flat piece of metal? Is there some type of urethane or something I can just spray the inside with that gasoline won't mess with? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MiNi Beast Posted August 6, 2008 Share Posted August 6, 2008 there is but can't think of the name. maybe? http://www.kbs-coatings.com/Tank-Sealers_c_7-1-0.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mvusse Posted August 7, 2008 Author Share Posted August 7, 2008 $35 for the smallest kit is more $$$ than I want to spend. I only need to cover like 1 square inch. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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