flatlander757's 03 TJ build/update thread - Page 8

peeweeXJ · 09-09-2008, 01:55 PM

You jeep is looking great. For the paint on the rockers, use some rustoleum hammered paint. You just have to lay it on thick, really thick. Hammered is like that. I thought the same thing as you when I was painting my JCR bumper on my XJ. Then I put some hammered on. You'll have to hold the can pretty close, and lay on the nozzle.

jeep on

**flatlander757** · 09-09-2008, 09:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by peeweeXJ

You jeep is looking great. For the paint on the rockers, use some rustoleum hammered paint. You just have to lay it on thick, really thick. Hammered is like that. I thought the same thing as you when I was painting my JCR bumper on my XJ. Then I put some hammered on. You'll have to hold the can pretty close, and lay on the nozzle.

jeep on

Thanks! I sprayed them already with something else, I honestly forget, but next time I'll opt for the hammered stuff!

For the time being, today I got my driveshaft back from TW and it is reinstalled so I'm not in FWD anymore

It looks like this weekend is going to be pretty crappy, I may or may not get around to the bumper install, I think I'd rather wait for a nice day. Gotta drop the gas tank to get to a few bolts on the back of the crossmember, this bumper is bombproof

**flatlander757** · 09-20-2008, 02:04 AM

Got the bumper/tire carrier on! This thing is straight awesome... rattle free, ridiculously sturdy, and the little details are what really set this apart(gussetted frame tie-ins, extra mounting holes, the mount for the wheel, the way the wheel-mount attaches, the billet spindle cap, the zerk fitting for easy greasing, and the locking pin that keeps the carrier wide-open so it doesn't shut on you).

The D-ring tabs are welded all the way through, as is the hitch. The locking pin is my favorite part, you can keep it twisted one way so it automatically latches into the recess every time you open the carrier all the way and twist it the other way to entire disengage the locking mechanism.

I HIGHLY recommend this bumper to others, it's now my favorite piece of armor on my Jeep

1fastR · 09-20-2008, 08:47 AM

Looks good! Do you just pm BESRK on here or does he have a web site. I am going to look into it.

**flatlander757** · 09-20-2008, 11:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 1fastR

Looks good! Do you just pm BESRK on here or does he have a web site. I am going to look into it.

I PMed him, but his website is www.groundpounderfab.com

He's a great guy to deal with and makes these bumpers like they're going to be on his own Jeep.

Also I picked up a Hobart Handler 140 welder recently so I'm hoping to be making crap for my Jeep now vs just bolt-on stuff. I've got a lot of practice to do before I do anything my life depends upon, but I've got nothing but $$ holding me back from putting a GM 14 bolt and Dana 60 under my Jeep w/ 42s now

Practicing:

heyitsme · 09-20-2008, 07:40 PM

that's some good welding.

anyways, I have had the same kit you have since the first of august, and it's finally settled down a little. But, I have a few noises. In the front there's a popping noise like something under tension like a control arm or something. I figure it's expected with stock arms. Also, there's a squeak in the back. It kind sounds like it's coming from the driver's side...
Do you have any of these problems?

**flatlander757** · 09-21-2008, 08:35 AM

First off, loosen ALL of your control arm bolts and retorque them to spec. When it is lifted 3-4" w/o doing this it puts the bushings in a bind and will prematurely wear them out. Makes a HUGE difference in ride quality and will eliminate 90% of strange noises.

For the rear, make sure your track-bar bolts were tightened to spec while the Jeep is sitting at ride height. Same reasons the CA bushings make noise, in a bind while at actual ride height.

I've also had the rear swaybar links squeak on me every so often, I'll just spray a clusterfunk of WD-40 on them to get rid of any water or crap in them, then spray it off w/ an air hose and then put some grease in there to quiet them down for a good while. I use white lithium and then wipe off the excess.

My Jeep is normally noise free, but it just got the rear swaybar squeek again so I've got to do that as well

Again, make sure the swaybar bushings are torqued at ride height and if need be, unbolt them to shoot some grease in there.

heyitsme · 09-21-2008, 02:41 PM

So am I understanding that this also made a difference in how it rides and not just the popping and squeaking?

**flatlander757** · 09-21-2008, 09:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by heyitsme

So am I understanding that this also made a difference in how it rides and not just the popping and squeaking?

Yeah, it basically made the ride over small, quick bumps much better. Like potholes and crap in the road.

**flatlander757** · 10-04-2008, 10:54 PM

Today I got a 3rd brake light bracket made up, I like it, works really well and is pretty bright as well(pics don't do it justice)

Works really well, I'm happy with it! And I don't have to take the light off to remove the spare(a big reason behind why I made a bracket to put the light behind the wheel).

**flatlander757** · 10-26-2008, 03:23 PM

Redid the rock lights today since one of them burned out. I went to change the bulb and found that the negative contact screw had rusted and corroded off.

Last time I had the blue tinted lights, this time I opted for the white ones for no particular reason(figured they'd be a bit brighter or something).

I was pleasantly surprised when I opened them up to find that they were structurally much stronger that the old ones. The bluish lights have plastic lenses and plastic housing/body assembly. The new white ones have glass lenses(seems very thick too) and a metal housing/body assembly. A really cool added feature is there is a drain hole on one side so they won't stay full of water.

The white lights have a slightly larger lense so I'm hoping for more light output over a wider area than the blue ones.

Each light has slightly different mounting holes and slightly different mounting brackets to attach to, but both interchange with each other. For my purposes the new brackets allow the lights to be placed higher up out of harms way.

This time instead of bolting them in, I decided to just put a bunch of tack welds. Won't be hard to remove should I need to, and honestly I'd rather have the lights come off as a clean break than mangled into the tub should they get directly hit. The brackets will bend quite a bit by hand if forced so I'm not too concerned about the tacks being a weak point. Also I could place them further forward to be a bit more useful.

And here they are after painted and lights mounted:

One thing to note, is going from the blue lights to these white lights, the connectors are all bullet-style, but it seems the white lights are a bit larger in diameter. I didn't feel like running new wires so I just "crimped" the female connector of the old harness so it would fit snug over the new male bullet connector.

I'll post night pics when the time gets here

clmsnfan123 · 10-26-2008, 05:22 PM

thats a nice looking jeep

**flatlander757** · 10-26-2008, 08:39 PM

Quote:

thats a nice looking jeep

Thanks man!

One thing about the lights I forgot to mention is I put a dab of clear silicone over the little positive terminal screw to avoid the corroding that happened to the last lense.

Here are the night time pics I promised:

The one that best depicts the actual color is probably the 2nd to last photo. Maybe a tad more of a yellow hue but very close.

It has a pretty decent beam, and an additional "spot" that is a bit further out, not sure how useful it will be but they will get tested in a couple weeks at UNF once again

CaleTJ99 · 10-27-2008, 08:20 PM

Love the jeep build up, gave me some great ideas for mine, i was worried three inches wouldnt be enough but after seeing yours i know i will be happy. I was just wondering where you got your firestick firefly, and how those TSL's were on the road, and also how are those gears? I have 3.73's and am looking to do 33's but was thinking 4.56's.

**flatlander757** · 10-27-2008, 10:06 PM

I got all of my CB set-up from www.walcottcb.com

The TSL Radials are fantastic on the road. They're at 20k miles on them and are wearing nice and even and honestly there's still a ton of tread left as you can see from some of the rock-light photos. They're real quiet given how aggressive they are. Keep them rotated and balanced often and consistently and you'll be happy.

Gears are okay, 3.73s work fine on the road, a little sluggish in 5th on the highway if there is any uphill at all, and you gotta be going a good 50-55mph for it to be usable, but is livable. Off-road the crawl speed is a little faster than I'd like, but good enough. 4.56s would be nice, but I've got some BIG plans for my Jeep(read: 2.5 ton rockwells) so I don't want to sink a lot of money into stock stuff for the time being. I may regear it myself depending on how the 2.5 ton axles work into the getting married/buying a house or apartment/getting a second vehicle if it is going to be a while.