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CompCrasher's 01 WJ Ltd

160K views 3K replies 64 participants last post by  compcrasher86 
#1 ·
Hey guys, I neglected doing this on my XJ so I want to start an in-depth build thread on my 01 WJ Limited.

It has around 107k miles on it right now, its always been maintained well and was completely inspected before it was given to me. Mechanic who used to do all the maintenance told me its in great shape. I'll be doing all fluid changes and any maintenance from this point on :D

Here comes some stock info!
(All the stuff limiteds come with EXCEPT heated seats)
Stone White Exterior
Sandstone Leather Interior
4.0L i6
Quadratrac-2 (NP247)
Rear D35 Front D30 geared with 3.55's
235/65/17 Michelin AT's on Silverblades
Factory/dealer applied protective undercoating
Aftermarket Remote Starter

Stock pictures:
Front:

Rear End:

Interior:


New Keys side by side with my XJ's :)


It was just recently transferred into my name right after I left for college so I wont be able to touch it until november :rolleyes:

Mods I'm doing right away are as follows:
Got myself tow hooks from a junkyard up here, I'm happy to have recovery points now:

Got a PIE aux in adaptor and then bought a dock connector --> 12v+RCA. I had to get one with a 5v transformer built in because I have an iphone and it only charges off of 5. This is a nice one plug solution and will charge and play iPods through the factory stereo. (Get to keep my steering wheel controls :highfive:)


For audio I've resealed a set of WJ infinity tweeters because the ones in my WJ are blown.
Edit: See post below, new tweeters instead.

Heres the sub setup that I built in my XJ, I'm ditching the trunk box and putting the subs+amp in the WJ. Amp is going under the rear drivers side seat with a little crossmember hacking ;) They're not for showing off (even though they can) I was sure my Polk Amp I bought had remote level control because I'm an audiophile and I tune it on the go to sound the best. I love good quality sound.


Repairs so far:

Side mirror autodim failed and leaked fluid between the panes, replaced that
Flasher module failed, pulled it apart and soldered the contacts again (works great)
Auto Climate Control blend doors fixed at dealer under extended warranty
Auto climate control knobs got stuck for whatever reason, pulled unit apart and cleaned a bunch of sticky iced tea out of it (not sure how it got there

Planned mods:
2" Rusty's BB
Bigger Tires
242 Swap
Westin Safari Light Bar (the low one because it mounts to the front skid holes not the tow hook holes) w/ 2x Hella 500ff's running 100w
 
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#1,709 ·
99WJdan said:
I have extra cotter pins laying around somewhere from when I did my cv's. By tie rod, you mean the tie rod adjusting sleeve right? Thats what Rock Auto calls it anyway. And yeah, I plan to measure everything/count threads then I'm going to have it alligned once I get my tires mounted...hopefully soon. This purchase was taken out of my tire fund so it set me back $200. Hopefully it will tighten my steering up a good bit. I can move my steering wheel a good bit before the wheels actually turn. Any idea what the torque specs are or did you just use an impact?
Yeah the adjusting sleeve is what I was referring to. I bought my adjusting sleeves from AAP and my TREs from rockauto because Both times I had my self convinced brute force could get both of the old ends off and reuse the factory sleeve. Didn't happen with the drag link one end was frozen in. The tie rod I got both ends out but the new ends wouldn't thread in.

My advice for easiest install: lift front axle of jeep throw it on jackstands and pull both wheels. Measure thread count of stock components and assemble new TREs and adjusting sleeves off the Jeep. Use a lot of grease (everywhere) and keep the clamps loose. Then undo the nuts for the old ones and you'll notice spots on the knuckle that are beveled. Slam those HARD with a hammer a couple times and the old ones "should" drop to the ground. Else you'll have to get creative. Then pop the new setup in and tighten both 3/4 nuts hella tight. Throw in cotter pins for now... Screw in the zerk for each end and grease her up. Then make sure adjustments look right and tighten The clamps down. After your first test drive pull the cotter pins then check all the nuts for tightness and then out new cotter pins in.
 
#1,710 ·
Bored... so the 32s are back on. I'm much happier with the way she sits now but my power steering system does not seem to enjoy the extra weight and stiffer components. Ah well... when its nice I'll have to take some pics... got home last night, had training for work tonight, working open to close Sat,Sun,Mon, so we'll see how much Jeep time I get in. I still need to go uncover the boat too, hectic start to the summer!
 
#1,711 ·
So, my Jeep has learned bad habits from parking next to Comptiger's ZJ all year. Just about everything that can go wrong is going wrong right now. Here comes the list!

  • A-Arm has gotten much worse since the drive home... I'm not feeling comfortable driving it with some of the noises I've been hearing lately
  • Idler pulley is making more shrill noises... time for that to be replaced
  • Which brings me to the last point, the power steering is on its way out I'm pretty sure. Check out this video which shows the idler pulley and the power steering during a drive then I pop the hood and you can hear the horrible noises the dying cat, I mean pump, is making
video should be up within an hour (still processing)
 
#1,712 ·
I would change the pulley first, and see how that may affect your power steering. Have you flushed your power steering fluid also? (I may have missed if you did)

As for the a-arm, hit up rockauto and price out what they got.

Bump steer/death wobble, you know the drill, time to get under her! I wish you the best of luck, everyone's jeeps go through a rough spot but once the bugs are worked out its soooo rewarding. Hang in there bro.
 
#1,713 ·
You're running out of things to replace for the death wobble, so once you do ball joints and adjust your steering box, and then make absolutely sure your trac-bar bushings are good, you'll have covered pretty much everything.

Is losing PS pumps a WJ thing? My mom's went a couple months ago... Definitely turkey baster change your fluid a couple of times and see if it improves before you spend money to replace the pump.

Also, if your Jeep was misbehaving on the trip home, it didn't learn that from mine! Mine knows better than to do that (it has discretion in when things break). The only issue I had was having to work to keep it cool enough pulling 6500lbs through the mountains on the way home. It made it 370 miles with no actual issues, even though I was pulling at max tow rating and picked the route with the most and largest hills.
 
#1,715 ·
Pulley is done... Something's still making noise the tensioner seems to be bouncing around a lot so might get to that next. I'm undecided on whether I should be doing a-arm or ball joints next... The a-arm is making a LOT of noise but I'm not sure how bad it can get... Whereas I want the DW gone and ball joints are a big deal.

I might get an allignment professionally; comptiger and I kinda just measured it by hand. No weird wear or anything everything looks good on the tires. Its kind of $70 I dont want to spend until everything is fixed.

So much for gettin those 32s in the beginning of the season....

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#1,716 ·
If the tensioner bounces a lot at idle, check your harmonic balancer carefully. That was the primary symptom when mine started to fail.

As far as alignment, I'd do that after you're 100% done replacing front end parts and won't be taking it apart again for a while. You could always try tweaking the toe setting a hair until then to see if you find a point where it drives better.
 
#1,717 ·
How do I know if theres something wrong with the balancer? I'd rather be replacing the tensioner than that....
 
#1,719 ·
yeah its not moving at all... I think it might be the tensioner. Well... this will really have to wait till my first paycheck (2 weeks) cus I cannot afford another one lol.
 
#1,721 ·
Nothing's slipping now but when accelerating every once in a while at one specific rpm 2100ish or so I get a jingling noise... Imagine: shaking a piece of metal chain. Im feeling that it's a Bearing on one of the belt components.
Edit: It was just a bad tensioner!

In other news I completely fixed my e-brake (nice and firm now, holds the jeep great!). The components were all in decent shape nothing needed replacement except maybe the clip pins. By the way those springs are a royal pain to work with. And I put the stock tires back on until I fix everything else and get a new set. I figure bad tires will do nothing but make any problems worse plus with all this around town junk the 32s were pulling me back big time. They also seem to make the ride a lot bouncier... Hmmm.

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#1,722 ·
Ride will be bouncier due to more unsprung weight, and your rear shocks don't seem stiff enough already.

I was thinking about your DW issues today, and realized why you have DW and I don't. Caster. You lose some when you lift the front end, and less caster means less stable steering. If you don't have enough caster, you can get death wobble, bumpsteer, etc. Unfortunately, on a WJ, the only fixes are adjustable front CAs (at least lowers) or offset ball joints (probably the better option, as these don't affect pinion angle like changing CA length does).
 
#1,723 ·
Comp is right. IRO's 3" springs netted me over a 3" lift from stock HTF (hub to fender) 18", to almost 22" just in the front. As soon as I went LA's, it pushed my axle forward by roughly an 1" maybe more, and on its first drive out of the garage all my issues were gone.
 
#1,724 ·
Thank gosh my crap isolators and 'b' springs netted me 2 inches of lift and not anymore. I think Matt was at 2.7 inch lift over stock in the front.
 
#1,726 ·
Ehhh caster's not the only thing that's wrong. The vast majority of people at 2-3" don't experience DW unless there is something else wrong. Caster isn't far enough out to be a major issue. Mine was only .50° out of spec at 2-3/4". Wobble free at the same lift with the same track bar and original TREs. If you've got bad ball joints, that's where I'd start.
 
#1,727 ·
Ball joints are next on the list but I can't decide which is higher priority, that or A-arm. After ball joints i wouldnt mind running arms eventually im sure my Jeep wouldnt mind. I think there's a good 1/2" of play in those a-arm bushings which is allowing the rear axle to slide around down there, creak, make horrible noises, etc. first paycheck in 2 weeks (missed the first pay cycle) allows for me to choose one of the above and the second will allow me to fix everything else. Then hopefully fingers crossed I can move onto tires next. Still have to look into the warranty on my michelins... The fronts are stress cracking like crazy at 17,000 miles. Perhaps I could get those replaced with tires of equal value aka 32s.

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#1,730 ·
Would it be smarter to get offset balljoints or adjustable lowers? Reason I ask is because offset balljoints for my jeep are upwards near $100 each iirc and x4 that's kind of an expensive job. And yes the ball joints are doing just fine around town my steering is great and everything feels fine up till highway speeds. With the 32s on I didn't feel safe that's why I'm back to stock tires. On the way home with stock tires she was stable but not rock solid on bumps which is my goal.

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#1,731 ·
compcrasher86 said:
Would it be smarter to get offset balljoints or adjustable lowers? Reason I ask is because offset balljoints for my jeep are upwards near $100 each iirc and x4 that's kind of an expensive job. And yes the ball joints are doing just fine around town my steering is great and everything feels fine up till highway speeds. With the 32s on I didn't feel safe that's why I'm back to stock tires. On the way home with stock tires she was stable but not rock solid on bumps which is my goal.

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I bought the moog, all 4 , for about $180 @ Rockauto... fixed ball joint should be fine....
 
#1,732 ·
For balljoints, I think you need 2 offset, 2 standard, but I'm not 100% on that. If your pinion angle is still pretty good after the lift, and you don't have vibes at high speed, I'd do the ball joints. If you add caster with control arms, you'll make your pinion angle worse. The ball joints don't affect pinion angle, so they'll give you extra caster with no negative effects.
 
#1,733 ·
comptiger5000 said:
For balljoints, I think you need 2 offset, 2 standard, but I'm not 100% on that. If your pinion angle is still pretty good after the lift, and you don't have vibes at high speed, I'd do the ball joints. If you add caster with control arms, you'll make your pinion angle worse. The ball joints don't affect pinion angle, so they'll give you extra caster with no negative effects.
Interesting point on the pinion angle from the Arms. It's nowhere near bad (most of it seems to be in the rzeppa (go figure) but let's think reversibility here. If I have to drop back down to stock height for whatever reason (ie if I go to sell it and the lift is killing the sale) will that extra degree of caster (castor?) mess things up at stock height? I know for your jeep jacking that up helped it feel much better but not sure about stock wj.

I'm also considering arms because those seem to do tenfold improvements for ride quality... Which, hate to say it, is more of a priority than handling on my lifted jeep. Especially when those 32s go on expect me to become a lot more conservative with my driving style.

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#1,734 ·
compcrasher86 said:
Interesting point on the pinion angle from the Arms. It's nowhere near bad (most of it seems to be in the rzeppa (go figure) but let's think reversibility here. If I have to drop back down to stock height for whatever reason (ie if I go to sell it and the lift is killing the sale) will that extra degree of caster (castor?) mess things up at stock height? I know for your jeep jacking that up helped it feel much better but not sure about stock wj.

I'm also considering arms because those seem to do tenfold improvements for ride quality... Which, hate to say it, is more of a priority than handling on my lifted jeep. Especially when those 32s go on expect me to become a lot more conservative with my driving style.

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I haven't heard ir read on here about WJ owner aadjustable ball joints to correct pinion or caster....if your ball joint are in decent shape....use thag money to get adhustable uppers...
 
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