[Fropleyqk]

Figured I'd go ahead and start a build thread for my wife's little red Jeep since we all like build threads so much. The end goal of this little guy is a very capable mild build on 33s. She's new to the world of wheelin and not so aggressive but definitely enjoys it.

Story: picked it up last fall. Its a 97, 4.0 auto with 149K miles. Purchased for $5000. Pretty much bone stock. The PO said it had been wreck and repaired (salvage title). And as we all know how these things go, theres always more to the story that comes out later. We were told it was hit in the front passenger fender, which had been replaced. Found out later it actually flopped. No biggie.

On the way home.


So, we got it home and had to take care of just a few things right off the bat.





All the stuff we took off.



Had to get rid of the ugly yellow sticker

[Fropleyqk]

Progress: oil change, replaced thermostat, flushed heater core (MUCH better heat inside now), put fuse back in door defeat, adjusted TCase linkage (4-lo works again)... now still trying to figure out why the vent selection wont go to the front vents. Right now we only have floor and defrost.

[Fropleyqk]

Coming soon to a little red Jeep near you:

[Fropleyqk]

Met up with a friend this morning and picked up a spare axle shaft (and 2 more, :ty. (Turns out the drivers side shaft was bent during the flop) Swapping a shaft on a D35 is a piece of cake:

pull the wheel
pull the drum
open the diff
unscrew the center pin retainer bolt
remove center pin
push shaft in
remove C Clip
pull shaft out
install in opposite order





(Looks like Im pooping :fu



Lessons learned:

When you put the new shaft in and youre turning to line it up, the spider gears (2 little ones?) will go for a walk right out of the carrier. When you find them and put them back, make sure to find the shims they ride on too. Otherwise, its a real PITA to put the shims back in after youve bolted everything back up and re-sealed the diff.... Hey, atleast I didnt fill the diff before I noticed them laying on the oil catch.

Also, its an extremely bad idea to hit the brakes after youve removed the drum. Again: Putting 13 year old drums back together is not fun.

I basically turned a 30 minute job into a 3 hour job. But hey, its all back together and no more bent shaft :clap:

[Fropleyqk]

We got a bunch done today. Pics dont really do much but we installed a JKS 1.25" BL and started to install the belly and engine skids. Once we got the stock skid off, the transmission mount fell to pieces so that put a stop to that until tomorrow. Anyway, new tranny mount will be in tomorrow and we should have the belly and engine skids on soon... Pics:

[Fropleyqk]

I replaced the leaky radiator hose this morning. Also added 2 bottom bolts to hold the radiator in place... apparently the PO didnt think they were necessary . So far so good, no leaks and holds temp just fine. I also chopped up my stock LJ Rubi rockers and we're retro fitting them to Kims Jeep. The cool think about the LJs and TJs is the only difference is the extra 11". Everything else mounts exactly the same. So short work with a grinder and my rockers will fit like a glove!





Dont have enough nutserts or time to finish today... Maybe tomorrow...

[Fropleyqk]

More goodies:

[Fropleyqk]

We got the rockers finished and installed my old swaybar disconnects I had on my Jeep before I got the Anti rock. We really like the way the rockers turned out. Fought with the nutserts on the passenger side but the driver side went on like butta!

[Fropleyqk]

We spent all day today doing the slip yoke eliminator. Not bad just extremely time consuming. Everything went good except for when I resealed the TCase halves, got most the bolts in and realized we forgot to put the oil pump pickup in before hand. I was cussin up a storm . MAN THAT PISSED ME OFF!!!! :grin: Got it all back together, installed the drive shafts and called it quits for the night.

[Fropleyqk]

We got a bunch more done today. Finished up the SYE install and got the skids mounted back up. Its amazing how much belly clearance she has even at stock height. There are always a few weird things you run into when doing a tummy tuck and we have one: the muffler is rubbing on the passenger side upper control arm now. Not sure if its going to effect anything. We're just going to leave it and see what happens. Also, the bad news, I was hoping to get away without needing new upper rear control arms but it aint gunna fly like it is. The tummy tuck is the equivalent of a 3" lift when it comes to driveline angles. The rear pinion angle is pretty bad. We took her for a test ride and got serious vibes at 30mph. Going to need some adjustable CAs to rotate the pinion up before the next ride. Pics:

[Fropleyqk]

Also started on the locker install. It went really easy. Followed instructions on 2 different sites:

http://www.4x4xplor.com/aussielocker.html

Its an Aussie locker install but all the steps are the same until you get to the locker itself. When it came time for that, we just used the Spartan locker site:

http://www.ringpinion.com/Content/Ho...structions.pdf

It was actually really easy. We got to the point where the locker is installed in the carrier and called it quits for today. Got too much other stuff to do. We'll have the Jeep back together in about 45 minutes tomorrow. Kims going to go test the locker on some little crap right here in the neighborhood since we cant really go anywhere with the rear pinion be all jacked. Pics:

[Fropleyqk]

Finished the locker install today. Very easy. I didnt take any pics really. Locker installed:




I finished installing a new oil pump and replacing the rear main seal on Kims Jeep today. Thats not something I want to again anytime soon... but I might have to. I had to wrestle the oil pan back on and Im not sure if the seal sat correctly. When I filled the engine back with oil, I spilled a bunch... so of course it collects and runs down the back of the block and looks exactly like a rear main seal leak... I have to wait till all the residual drips or gets cleaned up until Im sure. Either way, Im moving on the the rear control arms tomorrow.

[Fropleyqk]

No pics but today is kind of bittersweet. The new oil pump works like a champ... but theres still a leak. I either didnt get a good seal with the rear main seal, oil pan gasket or the valve cover is leaking and dripping down the back. Im thinking more on the lines of its me... the leak seems to be worse than before I pulled it apart. Aaaaand it started pissing antifreeze again. ... but it was actually just a loose clamp. On the other hand, got the new Rokmen CAs on. Tham things is BEEFY!!! The JJs use a different size bolt than the stock CAs so I had to run to Lowes for some hardware and drill out the stock mounts. Nothing too bad. Took her for a test ride: got up to 60mph and smooth as butta! And contrary to popular belief, the Spartan up front is actually really quiet. I only barely heard it lightly chat pulling a tight U-Turn. Probably wouldnt have noticed if I wasnt listening for it. Oh... and its got an exhaust tick somewhere now. I need to go back through and retighten all the exhaust stuff.... So all in all... Im not really sure I did much good... :huh:

[Fropleyqk]

Finally got a working stereo going. Not sure what the PO did for his full time job but car audio was not it. Added a new deck and speakers. Didnt trust the stock wiring ran all new speaker wire as well. Stuffed everything with polyfill and, holy crap, its sounds damn good for the $$$ invested.

I also went ahead and gave Kim one of her B-Day presents early... neoprene seat covers! She's been wanting to cover those eye sores for quite a while:

[kelso1337]

Lookin good!

Guess you need some control arms to fix the pinion angle. Any suspension lift in order?