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Lo2aY's Chinook TJ

63K views 266 replies 54 participants last post by  autotrader 
#1 ·
Welcome to yet another build thread!

This Jeep is the first I have owned. Bought new in August of 2001. it was the Jeep I wanted since I was a little boy. I love this thing more than anything with gears in it. I'm being really carful with what i'm doing as I plan on using it in a lot of places and also be able to go back words to stock which will probably happen later. My little brother used the TJ for sometime and really abused the Jeep. so a lot of parts need to be replaced.

Here's what she looked like 2 years in to her life





aftermath after playing with a Nissan Patrol in the mud



Here's what Chinook looked like when I saw her this Feb. ( I haven't seen her in over a year before this picture).

The night I got there



I did not like how it drove. it had a really bad death wobble, so I pulled the rear axle apart and found that my spider gears where toast!! also rear bearings needed to be replaced. all the bushings for the arms and all the steering parts. and finally front ball joints were so bad I don't have to put any pressure on it and it would just fall.

Not too bad for a 10 year old TJ with 250K+ miles



Here's a shot of the interior



Rust free


Here's a shot of what was a (year old) set of tires. the Jeep was parked for over a year. and well,, summer decided that the tires should not be used again :( at 130F+ I don't blame any tire going bad! :mad:



I got a new set of sand tires for it. those Shaheen tires are good sand tires. their very light.

parts acquired for drivetrain rebuild





teardown begins





basically replaced spider gears and bearings in the rear.. the ring and pinion also need to be replaced but I want to put 4:10s in it. so I decided to live with that until my parts show up. a stupid mistake I had to learn the hard way was that I miss installed the rear axles. I thought they were the same size for both sides. as I was tightening the retaining plate. I noticed that one side was a lot harder to bolt up vs the other side.. checked the other side, and I noticed it had some play in the shaft (in-out) pulled both sides out.

Hard to see here but I actually stressed the steal and couldn't find a replacement part for it anywhere. (Jeeps are not popular vehicles in the Gulf region). so I had to flatten it back and just wait until I get a new one from my lovely US of A.



Moving to the front.

I had no issues with installing stuff except for ball joints. I had to work with what I had since I couldn't access any tool stores at 11pm and had work the next day. this was my solution to popping balljoints out.



no pictures to the new ones in.. but I basically had to make sure the were level and used a flat wood on top and then hammered them down or up. checked my "Cs" and play. and found no issues! I do need to get proper tools for this.

went out with some friends and played in the desert!











Next to a friend's Scout. there's only two in the country and both were with us lol.. we did roll the Scout in this run so this picture was after the rollover.. no real damage was done.. it rolled on soft sand.. so the sand basically formed to the truck lol



Saw this guy and had to take a picture with it the next day



After that I drove off to Dubai which was 1000+KM

Leaving my house (replaced the trailer to a single setup)



Half way there



Unfortunately, I didn't take any pics of the Jeep while I was there. I was to busy catching up with friends for a few days. here we are on our way back, dad decided to load the bike. he got tired from all the wind and sand flying at him.



To be Continued...
 
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#242 ·
took the J8 on a camping trip. we had a lot of fun



 
#244 ·
Thanks! here are a few more

Dancing Jeeps





Sheik J8



Here we are rescuing a Toyota



group shot



lunch spot

 
#247 ·
loving the Gobi rack. excellent quality.

Lets get this thread back on it's feet.

Chinook is officially under construction.

I pulled the T-case out last night.

doing SYE and Tera 2LOW.

Also pulling the Transmission out (hopefully today) for a much needed rebuild. I hope the dealership stocks parts for the TJ. they are not very popular in Saudi. at least not yet :rolleyes:

the trans will get rebuilt at the shop.

ARBs and 4:10s will follow the T-case surgery.

The transmission rubber mount is shot and needs to be replaced.

Engine/trans/t-case all leak. New seals are in order.

Check it.





 
#248 ·
Tranni is out. the parts for NV3550 are very expensive. anyone know where I could find new tranni parts for a good deal?

finished installing the body lift/Motor lift this weekend. SYE is installed with the Tera 2LO.

The rear main seal is leaking, so it's probably a good time to replace it along with a new oil pan.









Clutch is also getting replaced

 
#249 ·
Took the weekend off and did some camping and exploring near Riyadh.







 
#250 ·
Hey guys

It's been awhile since I updated this thread.

Chinook is on its feet and running again. I'm having some overheating issues. It started with my griffin rad leaking, temps got really hot and had to replace it back to stock. burped the system, still runs hot. So I thought the thermostat seized from sitting and decided to tackle that along with flushing the water system from the rad and motor. That seemed to help a little but it still runs 225 on average. It's really hot here. outside temps are somewhere between 105 and 110. The other TJs that I have run happy, somewhere in the (205/210), even at this outside temps.

The Jeep is re-geared to 4.10s and has a 1" body lift. The rad, clutch fan, fan and water pump are all fairly new. I tried every trick but couldn't get the Jeep to run cool. It's affecting the AC system as well.

I did notice once that while the Jeep was worming up from a cold start. the top rad hose was hot and the lower one was still cold. but it didn't get up to operating temps. So I'm assuming the thermostat didn't get up to operating temps to open.

thoughts?
 
#252 ·
I put in a Napa 190 degree stat. It's new, the one I removed is under a year old. :confused:

I'm starting to think that the radiator is clogged. not crazy bad, but bad enough to cause it to over heat. My eyes are pealed at the dash at a traffic light hoping it doesn't get really hot.


on another subject, my rear axle is leaking fluid from the breather hose. It has an ARB locker. if you guys recall, I had to drill drain holes for the oil to circulate. I assumed the holes were not big enough, so I pulled the diff cover off, pulled the shafts out. They are dry :confused::confused: meaning that it's not seeing fluid. this is so confusing. It's a rear axle, the seals are on the outsides.

After making the holes bigger, and had the Jeep on a level ground, it still freaking spits fluid from the vent. fluid level is where it needs to be. Maybe the fluid is too thick at 140? but even then, the front axle should act up the same way if that was the case.


On the bright side, I have some 35s and ATX slabs coming in for Chinook. I don't see any TJs run those wheels. very popular with the JK crowd.
 
#254 ·
I don't, it's still a semi new radiator with a 50/50 mixed coolant and distilled water.

I'm starting to think the motor is the issue. I have an audible knock with a cold start then it dissipates as it worms up. But I do recall this started when I replaced the water pump, fan and fan clutch.

What viscosity diff fluid are you running? Maybe i'm running to thick of oil (140)?
 
#257 ·
Yes! It's been sitting idling for offroad trips. And that's really the only time I drove it. Part of the problem is the overheating issue. It get's on my nerves and I didn't find to fix it.

Chinook is sitting on 35 Toyo MTs and has a Banks Turbo system waiting to be installed.

Full Genright Highline Aluminum kit just showed up.
Genright Full cage system

Atlas 4spd with a 1.50:1 Crawl Ratio (which will be great for the dunes). And a final crawl ratio of 4:1.

I'll dig up some pics to share of a few trips we did.

In one of the trips a few months ago, I almost hydrolocked the motor. It slid from a muddy bank and into the deep puddle. Damn Freaked me out! There's also a video of this that i'll send.
 
#258 ·
Pulled the motor out. And found 5 pistons to be cracked! :eek:

Looks like they've cracked a long time ago. Maybe 3-4 years back!

That explains the knock It makes. Sounds more like a rattle then a knock to be honest. Forged Pistons are inbound and probably refresh the engine while i'm at it.

Front fenders were test fitted. Great quality from Genright!

Rear corners are installed. Got some issues with the rear flares. the ones I got will not work without a stretch. So, ordered new 4" rear flares, and going to push them up to better clear the tires.

As I type this, I'm pulling the factory cage out and then prepping the Jeep for the new Genright cage!
 
#259 ·
#260 ·
#262 ·
About 190k the cylinders are good.

Here's the cage goin in

Tire Wheel Vehicle Automotive tire Car
 
#263 ·
Here is a video we put together. You can see my TJ in some action.

Who thought Saudi would have great rock crawling!

Enjoy it

 
#265 ·
That would be amazing!

JK is waiting on a PCM. The one I got had some software issues so another one is being made next week.

Chinook is at the bodyshop getting a new color. the cage is fully welded and PCd. Losing the lift when it comes back from the bodyshop. 0" and 35s will be the new setup.

should be great!
 
#267 ·
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