Project: Not a Project

[MBood82]

Originally Posted by Jeepin Jason

Yeah, that's just a Detroit being a Detroit. The one in my XJ behaves the exact same way. Letting off the gas then blipping it at high speeds feels like I just got rear ended, lol.

Originally Posted by bbaCJ8

^what he said. The "added backlash" isn't the part I'm worried about, it's physically unlocking and shifting the vehicle sideways

Originally Posted by 6DoF

142%

they do weird chit

That's good to now, I guess I won't spend forever trying to trace it down. It also possibly explains why going into drive it doesn't clunk but it does going into reverse. If it was purely ring gear backlash then I would expect it to be an equal opportunity bang. And it's a big bang, people regularly ask me if the truck is broken.

I do also notice sometimes when on and off the gas that it feels like it's pushing the truck sideways from the back. The rear leaf spring bushings are the only ones I haven't replaced, I've already done all of the front ones and the rear shackles, but I guess I can stop blaming them. I may still replace them, but they were going to be the hardest so I'm OK with not...

If all goes well I'm taking it to SMORR this August, I'll find out if all that weird behavior is worth it then!

[bbaCJ8]

You guys are giving me a whole lot of confidence about the Detroit being friendly....

[xj_man_646]

Some of the wheeling group in Western MI have started using Super Duty rear e-lockers in their wheeling applications and they seem to hold up pretty well to your average 1 ton on 40s stuff. It's too bad there aren't more OEM e-locker applications out there.

[MBood82]

Originally Posted by bbaCJ8

You guys are giving me a whole lot of confidence about the Detroit being friendly....

Remember too, mine is a big heavy K5 with a three speed slush box (albeit with a shift kit) and an anemic TBI 350.

[bbaCJ8]

Originally Posted by MBood82

Remember too, mine is a big heavy K5 with a three speed slush box (albeit with a shift kit) and an anemic TBI 350.

Pretty sure a shorter, lighter, softly sprung TJ with an anemic 4.0 and a 5 speed isn't going to help any of that

Whatever, I'm still gonna be driving it over mountains in 2 weeks, the rest is future Sean's problem. Screw that guy!

[bbaCJ8]

Happy reassembly day. Should be a driver again by this afternoon.

[bbaCJ8]

Well she's together and running and driving!

Only drove it about 2 miles because we had some plans this evening, but the Detroit was almost imperceptible so I'm happy about that! Got a couple minor kinks to work out but nothing major. Minor driveline vibe is probably just a pinion angle adjustment, going to take out the 3/4" rear spacers because it's very tail high and only going to get worse with the winch, and the speedometer isn't working. Fortunately I think I found the fix for the speedo on this handy new website I've definitely never heard of: https://www.jeepin.com/features/speedogear

[wrath]

It looks like it belongs. So when does it go up for sale?

[bbaCJ8]

Originally Posted by wrath

It looks like it belongs. So when does it go up for sale?

Now that the wheeling bug has bit again I'm kicking myself for selling the last one, it was dialed. No plans to sell this one but for the right price everything is for sale.

[6DoF]

driveway flex!!

now it's an official jeepin project

[Jeepin Jason]

The suspension and wheel/tire combo looks great.

[bbaCJ8]

Thanks. Taking the back apart tonight to ditch the spacers and adjust pinion angle, then I just need to install the winch and it'll be ready to go. Leaving for Windrock a week from tomorrow.

.....Buuuuuut Monday evening the turbo on my truck decided to stop turboing. Just when I was feeling good about the Jeep readiness the tow rig went down for the count. VGT is locked up solid at full exhaust brake, so it's not just no boost but also blocking flow. Can't get it over 20mph, rolling coal like mad, and EGTs spiking in a hurry. Towed it home and new turbo assembly will be here Friday, so looks like I've got my Friday evening project all lined up.

And yes Matt, I did upgrade while I'm at it. I kept the VGT though, I like the throttle response and exhaust brake too much to eliminate them, I don't have time to dikk with something like a 2nd gen swap or compounds, especially since getting the tunes updated is damn near impossible these days. I've got the supporting mods already, so the Fleece Cheetah should wake it up nicely. It really didn't need any more power(should already be making 1050+ lb-ft on the spicy tune, 950+ in tow/DD mode), but my excuse is even better throttle response, lower EGTs, and reduced chance of future VGT issues compared to a stock rebuild for half the price.

[6DoF]

Originally Posted by bbaCJ8

And yes Matt, I did upgrade while I'm at it.

more spooly = more better

[6DoF]

seriously though, just the lower EGT's alone while towing are a huge reliability upgrade. worth it. easier breathing can also help MPG for that DDing

[bbaCJ8]

Originally Posted by 6DoF

seriously though, just the lower EGT's alone while towing are a huge reliability upgrade. worth it. easier breathing can also help MPG for that DDing

Exactly. I already have 5" turbo back exhaust so EGTs really haven't been an issue, but I can get it to 1100-1150 if I lug it up looooong grades with the camper. I've never seen it even try to bump over that, but it's still close to max of the comfort zone so I'll be glad to drop it a bit. I wouldn't have felt a need to change a thing if the stock turbo hadn't failed, but couldn't convince myself not to upgrade since it did. Fleece also opens up the tolerances for the VGT so it should be less prone to future issues as well.

[bbaCJ8]

As much as I've spent most of my life making fun of Rough Country, I have to admit that their stuff has come a long way in recent years. Most of it. This TJ is, has been, and will continue to be a low-budget spare vehicle/beater. I bought their 3.25" suspension a year and a half ago and have been really impressed with it for the price. My friends own a shop and get ~25% off Rough Country so after doing some research I went ahead and ordered their SYE, rear driveshaft, HD balljoints, and winch plate for dirt cheap. Best I can tell most of their non-suspension stuff is just relabeled from other companies. Most of it was fine, well worth what they charge......but don't buy their driveshafts.

I got the Jeep together last weekend and have been fighting a driveline vibration ever since. I adjusted pinion angle all over the place, went high until it got worse, went low till it got worse, and set it in the middle where it was least severe. It wasn't terrible, but enough to be annoying and give me mechanical sympathy for the bearings. The offset pinion on the 8.8 complicates things but still shouldn't cause this. I drove it 35 miles to work yesterday, then end of day threw it on the 4 post lift to look over and take some measurements. Pinion was where it was supposed to be, everything is tight and aligned, then I eventually found the problem.....the u-joints/yokes were out of phase. Awesome, easy fix, right? Pull the slip yoke off and re-clock the splines.


But noooooo, of course it's not that easy. No clocking of splines would line them up, the damn thing was welded together about 10-15 degrees off from ever being aligned at best case.

So naturally, I pulled my driveshaft off, ground down the weld, re-clocked it (fortunately there was a pretty snug press fit so it stayed well aligned), re-welded it, installed, slapped on some paint, and drove 35 miles home



It's not perfect, but it's at least 60% better than it was. Not bad for a benchtop cut/weld on a rear driveshaft. Good enough for now, I'll take it to a local driveshaft shop to get checked/balanced after my trip. The rear 8.8 flange may be a contributing factor as well since it wasn't on there when it was originally "balanced" by the sweatshop kid in China.

[6DoF]

[bbaCJ8]

Truck is all buttoned up. Played hooky this afternoon, ripped the truck apart, then put it back together. Most of it was pretty easy, but the motor mount and a heat shield that was riveted to it damn near doubled the length of the job. Oh well, got it done. Only drove it about 5 miles, initial reaction with new turbo was meh. Has a bit more whistle, didn't notice much difference in performance or unloaded EGTs, seems like it may have a hair more lag which I didn't want. We'll see how it does with more seat time and more importantly towing. I'm just glad it's fixed regardless.

[6DoF]

dang, that's decent access with the fender liner out

[bbaCJ8]

Originally Posted by 6DoF

dang, that's decent access with the fender liner out

Mostly. About 90% of it was a piece of cake, the other 10% was still a pain and my hands looks and feel like they went through a meat grinder as a result.
I've still only put less than 100 miles on it since install, but it's growing on me. I don't think there's any more lag off idle, if I roll into it it definitely boosts harder. Mileage seems to be a bit better. Haven't done a full pull yet but it was no slouch before so we'll see. Once the converter locks around 45-50mph is when it really lights off and only so many places I can take advantage of that without breaking laws, because it goes from 45 to 100 in a hurry at that point. We'll see how it does Thurs towing the Jeep in the mountains, I can't imagine it'll be anything but awesome.