[kdick]

In May of 2011 I graduated from Purdue University with a degree in mechanical engineering. I accepted a position with the Orr Fellowship (orrfellowship.org if you are interested). The Fellowship encourages grads to stay in Indiana and work for start up companies. The company that I work for is in Bloomington, IN.

..blah blah blah... what about the TJ?!

Glad you asked - with a father working for Chrysler and 3 brothers, we all dreamed of Jeeps. I researched a bit and made the jump. I drove an 88 Comanche in high school, and knew that I wanted the 4.0 back. Here she is the day I brought her home and after a wash:

[kdick]

The Good

4.0 L
100K miles
Manual transmission
Rhino lined interior
$7,000
Clean
33" tires
Nice Sliders
Came with Hi-Lift across hood and KCs to wire up

The Bad (as I quickly learned)

4" Rough Country lift
Dana 35c
Piss poor steering (more to come on that)

I realize the built vs. bought debate, but at the time I was thinking that a lift and tires would be my only mod and I might as well get one that was already done.

The PO included some shock boots, so I took a few minutes and put those on:



(please forgive the ridiculous use of hi-lift ... i was young and dumb)

[kdick]

Shortly after getting her cleaned and broken in, my brother and I loaded her up and took her with some buddies to the Badlands in Attica. Here is us getting gas. Foreshadowing life as a Jeep owner.. forever at the gas pump....



The trip was going well...





Until I got a little crazy...



and it was going well....



until I goosed it coming down. It was in that moment that I became familiar with the D35



Overall - great trip. Had a blast grilling out with buddies and enjoying the Jeep. $200 mistake at the end of the day, but I learned something and that is worth it to me. I have a friend back in Peru with an 8.8 laying around. Looking back I probably should have made the swap, but I was still learning and just replaced the shaft. Next time...

[kdick]

Well the second that I drove it on a highway, I knew that the steering was jacked up. I had a dead spot from 8:00 to 4:00 and was white knuckle driving for dear life.

I crawled underneath and started looking at things. The PO had clearly played with it and forgotten the washer on the splined shaft of the pitman arm. The pitman arm never "set" on the splined shaft and was sliding up and down, effectively stripping the shaft. I had the gearbox replaced. (Note: learning experience - should have done it myself! Now I try to do almost all my own repairs.) by a local shop, but the driving was only slightly improved.

I called Rough Country and ran through my set up with them. Eventually, (over a 4 month period of reading, calling, tinkering - I am a bit of a slow learner) I ordered the stock pitman arm and put it back on. The PO had put a dropped pitman arm on there, and it took me longer than I want to admit to realize it.

It was a fairly easy swap. I didn't even need a puller because the arm had been so recently mated with a new splined shaft. I went ahead and replaced the TRE while I was in there. Steering is waaay better. Not as good as an upgrade, but it lets me enjoy driving the jeep again

[kdick]

Part of the problem with trying to update a build thread 6 months is that it is in no order at all. Here is another issue: battery. Back in November I ran the battery down while tailgating, and an overnight frost murdered what was left. It was a strange process overall, though.

I drove her home from the tailgate fields and parked her. Monday morning I got in to drive to work and she wouldn't idle. I had to tap the gas just to get her to catch. I got a ride to work with a buddy, and did some mild freaking out at work. Thanks to the JF guys who commented on the post and calmed me down. That night I took the battery in to AutoZone to get it tested, and was going to get some throttle body cleaner if the battery was good. Battery was bad, so I got a new one, and even got one with side terminals so that eventually I can add a winch.

She drove fine .. for 2 days. I came out of Bible study on Wednesday night and found her completely dead. It was like the battery wasn't even...attached. Further inspection showed that there was not a good connection b/c the new battery had smaller terminals and the connectors had a stopper that prevented tightening to the appropriate level.

I got a pair of shims and cranked them down, and she was good as new. I wish I could say that I was calm and level headed through the whole process, but it is very frustrating to have a dead Jeep and far from home with limited tools. I will admit that I got a bit worked up and it took longer that I want to admit to realize what was going on.

Oh well, all is well that ends well...

[kdick]

While home for Thanksgiving, I rolled under the Jeep to look at my back axle. It had been feeling funny and sure enough, my drivers side upper control arm bracket was ripped off the frame. I took it in to a friend's welding shop and he had me back in business in an hour. He did great work and had to put a plate over the frame first as the mount ripped out some of the rusty frame. We looked over the rest of the frame and didn't see any other bad spots... Looks like living in the rust belt is starting to take it's toll... Might be a POR-15 update in the future.

I wish I had pictures, but the crappy cell phone pics aren't even worth it. Will take some next time I am under there.

In other news, I am enrolling in a welding class through Ivy Tech in the spring. Hopefully I can start doing some of the work myself, or this is gonna get expensive!

[kdick]

Had a great Christmas at home. Got off the pavement a couple of times.

Took a quick trip through a field:



and also took it out to a local Peru place called Coon Hunters. It has plenty of hills and great trails. Little muddy, but the TJ did ok. Have been kicking around the idea of a lunchbox in the front and that trip made me want one even more!

Happy Holidays!

[kdick]

Mods in the near future (hopefully)

-Lunchbox in front
-Front bumper with winch
-CB radio
-Paint fenders
-Paint/patch soft top

Longer term

-Rear axle swap - do it big with a selectable locker and painted with disc brakes
-Replace crappy RC shocks
-Steering upgrade
-I think the rear shock outboard would be a fun project and maybe someday I will do that. Just for the experience.

Overall, my baby is mostly my daily driver and will remain as such for a few more years. I will update her as money/craigslist comes and goes, but don't expect D60s with 37s anytime soon (or ever). I plan to wheel her and enjoy her, but I am not setting out to buy an indestructible tank. I don't have the knowledge, time, or resources to do that anyways

[Bama_WJ]

Boiler up man! I graduated Purdue in December 2010. If you passed Cary Quad at all you probably saw my WJ.

I wheeled out at Badlands quite a bit. It's a really nice place. Kind of wish I drove further and found some new parks to wheel at though. Oh well.

Nice TJ you got going!

[kdick]

Well, I know these updates were short and boring, but I wanted to start some kind of a build thread.

Recently the bumper/winch combo got set back when I fell in love. Picked up a Ruger LC9 at a gun show in Kokomo, IN.



I need to stay focused if I want to get that on winch on there!!

Not to get too sentimental, but thanks to everyone that has made my leap into the Jeep world so enjoyable. I love JF.com and learning everyday. Many of you have provided valuable PMs or emails. Thanks to Stu Olson for the site and all he does and his email. I would love to make it up to Indy sometime and grab a brew with Imped or Bennetj13 and learn from them as well.

Here is to 2012: the breakdowns and repairs and looking forward to being able to take the top off again

Cheers

[kdick]

Thanks Daniel. I am excited about owning it. Hoping to never sell it

[Sgt.Fuzz]

I looked at the Rugers when I was shopping for a backup, it's a nice little point and shoot weapon. I ended up with a Sig P232 instead.

[Moose340]

Nice TJ!..... Oh and WOOOO Purdue lover! If your interested here is Indiana forum. http://bbb.jeepininin.com/index.php?...ce5353198f4cfb Hope to see you there!

[kdick]

DaFuzz - I just read your build today .. all of it... took forever but loved what you did! Thanks for the comment. The Ruger will make a real nice carry for now, especially for a 9 mm.

Moose340 - Thanks for the link, checking it out now! Always looking for new people to go wheelin with.

[Moose340]

We there's good guys and good times plus some good info. Always room for another Boilermaker!