Idaho Jeep Build - Page 9

**Idaho-Jeep** · 10-13-2008, 07:33 PM

Tonight I only worked for a couple hours.

I had painted the under side of my tube fenders over the weekend and decided to finish it off with a rubber skirting. I purchased a sheet of 1/8" reinforced rubber from a company that makes belts for different machines. The rubber is pretty tough and should work well for this purpose. I also purchased plastic rivets similar to the stock ones off of Ebay. This will help keep mud etc.. from getting into the engine bay and I like the way it looks.

I then added the diff fluid to my front diff and installed the rear OX cover & cable. I will add the diff fluid tomorrow to the rear once the RTV has completely cured. Here is a shot of the rear end.

Anyone need stock 30 or 44 diff covers - in excellent condition?

breckboarder55 · 10-13-2008, 07:55 PM

I have to say it is simply beautiful! Great build, Great picks!

One thing:
If (when) you swap in the oil burner, are the D30/44 going to be able to handle it?

And any chance your going to get "bit" again and more to 37"s?

Love the Jeep, Love the build. Keep it up!

**Idaho-Jeep** · 10-13-2008, 08:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by breckboarder55

I have to say it is simply beautiful! Great build, Great picks!

One thing:
If (when) you swap in the oil burner, are the D30/44 going to be able to handle it?

And any chance your going to get "bit" again and more to 37"s?

Love the Jeep, Love the build. Keep it up!

Thanks! The Cummins swap is more of a dream than anything else at this point. I suppose if I did the swap I would at least need to upgrade the 30. I love the look of Jeeps with 37s but I think 35s will be as big as I go since this jeep will always see a fair amount of pavement.

**Idaho-Jeep** · 10-13-2008, 08:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by thedirt

Are you planning to replace the stock skid? It's really flimsy and hangs down really low. I bent it to crap the first run I did.

I assume your talking about the gas tank? Yes I want to replace it as I hate it for the reasons you mentioned but will wait - I have gone beyond the money I had saved up for the project (not by a lot but enough to piss off the wife

). It would have been easier to replace with everything out of there but will do it next Spring/Summer I guess.

bluepower · 10-15-2008, 10:15 PM

what are you planing on doing with the muffler ,I just finish my RE try-link and I am locking for a place for the muffler .

**Idaho-Jeep** · 10-16-2008, 08:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bluepower

what are you planing on doing with the muffler ,I just finish my RE try-link and I am locking for a place for the muffler .

Not sure yet... That is actually one of the things I don't plan on doing myself. I am just going to take it to a shop and have them do a complete system. I am leaning towards the flow master 40 muffler. I am hoping I can reuse my cat.

**Idaho-Jeep** · 10-16-2008, 09:33 PM

Finally picked up my corners. Just like the fenders, I was quite happy with the prep and paint job. The final install was very easy thanks to the test fitting I did early on. I used a felt tape under the corners and then sealed the edges with a seam sealer.

I also decided to have my rockers painted to match my body color. The powder coat was sanded and painted over. I plan to apply a type of durable grip tape to the steps on the rocker - photos of that later.

Like the front fenders, I decided to add two LED running lights to the side of the flare:

I had to slightly sand down one edge of the gas tank filler surround for it to fit. Looks good though.

Here you can see the corner and rocker:

If you look back at my earlier photos of my test fit you would see that my corners did not meet the rockers and left a gap between the two. I decided to have a filler piece welded in to avoid having that gap as seen here.

As it sits now

**Idaho-Jeep** · 10-16-2008, 09:45 PM

After I finished the corners, I went ahead and installed the LitDots tail lights. This was really easy to do and I am really happy with the results. I don't have the battery hooked back up yet so no photos of the lights on yet.

Before - these are 3 holes I drilled into the TnT corner. I ordered the corners without any tail light holes so I could be sure that everything fit perfectly. The LiteDot kit comes with everything needed and again was really easy to install although I did follow this write-up: http://www.4x4xplor.com/ORO-LiteDOTs.html

After:

Here you can see the hinge bracket for my top rack. My Cargo Master roof rack uses these to mount on - rather than bolting them back on like before, I decided to just have them welded on and painted to match.

**Idaho-Jeep** · 10-16-2008, 09:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by thedirt

Looks good! Were they painted slightly darker than the rest of the body, or is it just the photos?

No - they were painted using the paint code and then matched. But for some reason some photos make the newly painted parts look slightly darker. Must be the flash - not sure since it is not noticeable in person.

mg2000xj · 10-16-2008, 10:04 PM

Im guessing it is cause the metallic shimmer goes in a different direction in the newer painted parts causing the flash to catch the light at a different angle. This jeep is a piece of art, frame it and you can hang it in my garage!

Dillonzj · 10-16-2008, 10:51 PM

Dude you have built one amazing Wrangler.. Its awesome how you have done it in your garage

Awesome Build!
Dillon

**-sean-** · 10-17-2008, 12:40 AM

Did you get your suspension dialed in yet?

cmoore · 10-17-2008, 08:38 AM

Almost there. Keep up the good work.

**Idaho-Jeep** · 10-17-2008, 08:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mg2000xj

Im guessing it is cause the metallic shimmer goes in a different direction in the newer painted parts causing the flash to catch the light at a different angle. This jeep is a piece of art, frame it and you can hang it in my garage!

Yea, I asked the painter about it and that is basically what he said. At certain angles a very slight difference is noticeable - not the color but the way the metallic specs look. It is nothing that bothers me since it is so hard to see. Thanks for the compliment - it is turning out well, I just want it done at this point. I have a trip to Mexico planned in two weeks (just work..) and I was hoping to have it done by then but thats not going to happen.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dillonzj

Dude you have built one amazing Wrangler.. Its awesome how you have done it in your garage

Thanks!

Quote:

Originally Posted by -sean-

Did you get your suspension dialed in yet?

Unfortunately not.... The next step in the process (I think) is to get the jeeps weight onto the suspension so I can determine what needs to be adjusted. I can't do that until I get my brake kit from VanCo as I have no rotors, knuckles etc.. Blaine (Aka Mrblaine) is reaming out the knuckles and a pitman arm for me (to fit with my OTK 1 ton steering) that goes with the kit and he is waiting on a reaming bit I guess. I suppose I could just jack up the axle so the springs and arms have the weight but not sure I like that idea as much as it sitting on wheels/tires. I still need to adjust my rear pinion angle - I have been told that as this dual triangulated suspension cycles up and down that the pinion angle will not change. If this is true, than I guess I can get it close right now and then final adjust when I have the CV shaft? I need to figure out exactly what angle that pinion should be at - right now it is aimed about 5* below the TC yoke. Any thoughts?

Quote:

Originally Posted by cmoore

Almost there. Keep up the good work.

Thanks - just seems like it is taking forever! I am at that point where a lot of guys get to in their build when they are getting tired of it. A lot of what is left to do are things I am not as comfortable with or know how to do... Exhaust, Suspension adjust, outboard shocks..

blacktjsport · 10-17-2008, 08:59 AM

Ideally you want the rear pinion yoke to be pointed approx 1* below parallel with the cv shaft. Hope this makes sense and this diff. of 1* takes care of the torque put to the rear under heavy load. I have had my rear set up this way for over a year and it has worked perfectly with no vibes. HTH

10-17-2008, 12:40 AM	#132
-sean- newb Join Date: Mar 2001 Location: Colorado Posts: 842 Profile Gallery Classifieds My Jeeps	Did you get your suspension dialed in yet? __________________ ... keeping an eye on you guys.

10-15-2008, 10:15 PM	#125
bluepower Registered User Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Fl Posts: 3 Profile Gallery Classifieds My Jeeps	what are you planing on doing with the muffler ,I just finish my RE try-link and I am locking for a place for the muffler .