1973 Wagoneer - Full Size Camping Goodness

[198950lx]

Dont Quit !!!

Loving your thread, check out My Buddy's Wag We just finished... OK, scratch that, it's never finished, LOL...



And, here is mine, 1/2 way through the 6" lift...



Had plenty of fights with brakes, I recommend the vacuum bleed, or if you can get your hands on a Power Bleeder (Or take it to a shop), this will ensure you are not fighting an air pocket or improperly bled master cylinder.

 

[Dr. Marneaus]

Well guys, thanks for the inspiration and comments.

It's a Disc/Drum prop valve, its not installed upside down. I promise.

A few weeks ago my girlfriend asked "can you PLEASE work on the jeep this weekend?" It seems she wants it done worse than me. I had lost motivation.

The jeep had sat for maybe 2 weeks since I last touched it. I went under the truck and the proportioning valve was wet at the front. weird. I pressed the brake pedal and it shot to the floor with the engine off. what the heck?! I opened the MC and the front reservoir was nearly dry. Okay, somethings weird. I had checked ALL my fittings 2 weeks before when i looked at it. I had no leaks, and the system had never lost fluid before. That last time i had really been working the pedal hard to check for leaks, and it was 100% sealed up. So where did the fluid go?

Well, i put some in the MC and pressed the pedal a few times. Prop valve was all wet at the front again. Okay. Had the girl come out and step on the pedal for me. Fluid was literally running out of the threaded area around the metering valve pin. This is what I saw (sorry i sound all messed up, flashlight was in my mouth):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_6xd0L2w7Qc&feature=c4-overview&list=UUpH6VogjLmxL58iuXhVKe7A

So, pulled it and have been waiting a few weeks on a replacement.

This may explain a lot. I had found the front slightly damp before but never thought about it. Also, the pin on the metering valve had never popped forward as it does on our Nova that has the exact same type of prop valve. It may be that for some reason on this PV the merting valve had not been functioning, or was letting air in or something. This would explain to me why the front wasnt braking correctly, since the metering valve only controls the flow to the front.

So, regardless of whether this is the be all end all of my problems, it's definitely something. I'm hoping to have the part in my hands next week.

 

[haminawag]

Proportioning valve fittings

AHA, you finally have results, negative results but results nonetheless. In your vid it looks like you have an adapter threaded into the lower part of the prop. valve, it adapts the pipe threads (1/4" NPT by the looks of it) to the flared fitting line that goes on up to the MC. Do you have teflon tape on all the NPT to prop. valve threads?? If you have to use thread sealant on ANY flared fitting to keep it from leaking then you have a problem. But you MUST use sealant on all NPT fittings or they will leak. If an air bubble was trapped in a line above the Prop. valve it could have dammed up the flow of fluid preventing it from draining downward toward the Prop. valve until you let the truck sit for awhile, THEN the air bubble gradually made its way upward in the brake line toward the MC. Once the bubble made it to the top and freed itself the fluid was then able to simply drain out through the line to the leaky prop. valve fitting.

I wouldn't sweat the details about what caused the problem, I'd wait for the new one to arrive and start over. What you have on your side is the fact that you're dealing with a closed system, if there are no leaks anywhere, and everything is bled properly, the braking system MUST work correctly.

One last thing, are you certain the NPT adapters female ends are designed to seal FLARED fittings? Critically important!

 

[Dr. Marneaus]

AHA, you finally have results, negative results but results nonetheless. In your vid it looks like you have an adapter threaded into the lower part of the prop. valve, it adapts the pipe threads (1/4" NPT by the looks of it) to the flared fitting line that goes on up to the MC. Do you have teflon tape on all the NPT to prop. valve threads?? If you have to use thread sealant on ANY flared fitting to keep it from leaking then you have a problem. But you MUST use sealant on all NPT fittings or they will leak. If an air bubble was trapped in a line above the Prop. valve it could have dammed up the flow of fluid preventing it from draining downward toward the Prop. valve until you let the truck sit for awhile, THEN the air bubble gradually made its way upward in the brake line toward the MC. Once the bubble made it to the top and freed itself the fluid was then able to simply drain out through the line to the leaky prop. valve fitting.

I wouldn't sweat the details about what caused the problem, I'd wait for the new one to arrive and start over. What you have on your side is the fact that you're dealing with a closed system, if there are no leaks anywhere, and everything is bled properly, the braking system MUST work correctly.

One last thing, are you certain the NPT adapters female ends are designed to seal FLARED fittings? Critically important!

Thart is the 1 and only adapter fitting i have on there, simply because that line was too short to cut and i'd have to rebend a whole line over to the passenger side. Not a HUGE deal, but a deal none the less. The only lines that are not new are the driver and passenger front HARD lines. Everything else is brand spankin new.

That adapter does not leak a drop, and its a specific brake adapter set up for flare fittings, so, it should be good to go.

Prop valve arrives today.

 

[Flickerator]

Fingers crossed on the prop valve!

Dealing with similar issues myself on a 97 xj now with rear disks from a kj.

Love the build. Trust your girl, its too sweet a truck to sit

 

[trailscape]

If theres one thing all us FSJeep guys can agree on it's... They're down more than they're up

I've had mine four years now and it's been towed more miles than I've driven it. But, I haven't been able to bring myself to let it go.

 

[Dr. Marneaus]

Well. Calling in the pro's.

I'm having it towed to Vegas4x4. I'm throwing in the towel.

 

[Josh Hixon]

Doc you are scaring me out of doing upgrades knock on wood I haven't had any real issues with mine in two and a half years. Been trail running a lot these last few weeks out hunting.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 4

 

[Dr. Marneaus]

Doc you are scaring me out of doing upgrades knock on wood I haven't had any real issues with mine in two and a half years. Been trail running a lot these last few weeks out hunting.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 4

Just dont do stupid crap like me. Got in way over my head on that.

Apparently judging by what the shop told me, I was alot closer than I thought. Anyway, it was there for a day and now I have brakes. See below.

Okay. So it runs drives and stops now. Dropped it at Vegas 4x4, they switched my vacuum lines around and adjusted the rears and bled the system (no air). Stops like 10x better and you can feel the fronts grabbin' good. With the dual diaphragm booster I can press the pedal all the way with 1 foot and scrub all 4 tires doin' 40mph. Pedal has a bunch of travel, but that seems to be the nature of the beast.

So, back to the action.

Replacing ALLLLLLLLL the rear brakes. Shoes, drums, hardware, and self adjusting components.


Got my new rear shocks in. Nothing fancy, Monroe Sensatrack Load Leveing shocks, should help big time with the camper, and also it leveled out the one corner that sagged a bit. And, they are the correct length for this application. (Yes, i know my shock mounts are crooked).


Still working on the steering wheel:


New front shocks arrive tomorrow (monroe sensatrack), new steering stabilizer as well. I've got my e-brake cables from the 73 axle connected to the 77 axle and all is well there.

After the shocks tomorrow, i need to do an alignment, and drain/fill my rear diff. Likely going to replace the cover with something beefy just because. Then it'll be back on the road until I get around to doing the rear wheel bearings.

 

[Dr. Marneaus]

So, back to your reguylarly scheduled build thread. If I get that crap wrapped up tomorrw night/saturday morning, I'll be hittin' the road and pitching a tent somewhere further north this weekend. About damn time, havent been camping since new years.

This will just be a quick trip sans camper though.

 

[rxinhed]

Yeah! :sombrero:

When you change the oil and plate, that's time to do the bearings on the rear axle.

 

[Josh Hixon]

Awesome! Sometimes it pays off to have someone else do it. As manly men we don't like to admit defeat (or read directions) but is it worth punching holes in things when you get frustrated? Glad it's up and running! Thought about getting those shocks too, you have a 6" lift right? Obviously they fit, which ones did you order?

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 4

 

[Dr. Marneaus]

Yeah! :sombrero:

When you change the oil and plate, that's time to do the bearings on the rear axle.

I know that would be ideal, especially since I have all the brake crap off right now, but I'm not going to let the truck sit for another week while I pull the shafts, drop them off, get the bearings replaced, pick them up, put them back in, etc. It'll be "next" on the list.

Right now, I just need to drive the big bastard.

 

[Dr. Marneaus]

Awesome! Sometimes it pays off to have someone else do it. As manly men we don't like to admit defeat (or read directions) but is it worth punching holes in things when you get frustrated? Glad it's up and running! Thought about getting those shocks too, you have a 6" lift right? Obviously they fit, which ones did you order?

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 4

4" lift. While I do have a lift, my shock mounts are moved up a few inches, This basically put it back to stock shock length. I'm running Monroe Part #58567. $65 for the pair on amazon. That works!

 

[grnhornetcustoms]

Nice FSJ. I have a 67 Super Wagoneer that had a 72 grill on it when I got it. I have since changed it back to the stock style but like you I have had a lot of fun with it.