drbandkgb Jeep

[drbandkgb]

Well I guess I can start a build thread now.. Ive been wheeling Nissan Xterras for a couple years.. I thought I might try my hand at the Jeep..

Started looking the First of December for a YJ/TJ.. Had my eyes set on a cool
TJ but the day I went to buy it GONE! So I found this 1990..

Mine and my brothers...

So I love the idea of the 35" tires that came with it.. But this thing needs re-geared to run them.. ZERO power! So gone is the 35s.. Hello 32s with some steel rims..

So the first thing I learned was that the Carter carb is junk... This was the 3rd Re-man...

So a buddy of mine had this old Holley off a Dodge of the same time period..

Other than a dial in zero issues..

Next.. I like heat but this Jeep had zero... So bye bye old Thermo..

Hello new.. And ta da.. HEAT!

When a man needs a beer opened he needs a beer opened..

Time to change the diff fluids...

And what did I find....

Damn Dana 35s... Im searching for a 8.8 now...
My next issue seemed to be a fading coil.. But after a change it Jeep would randomly shut off.. But thanks to JF.. I replaced the ICM.. and no more shut downs... So since the Jeep decided to run.. I thought Id treat it with a new battery

Now the front bumper had seen better days.. Looked like some one tested it on a tree.. So once again to JF I found this sweet deal on Amazon for 156 including shipping..

Was a PITA to remove the stock bumper. Damn you rust
With the new bumper on.. I thought Id trea my self to a day of wheeling at Coal Creek in East Tennessee...

I added a rear tire carrier Has really help the bouncy-ness of the Jeep... Why do people take these off???
Really made it wheel better too!

The first trip in the Jeep just sucked... The next one has made me enjoy the Jeep..
Takes some time getting used to the Leaf spring ride..

 

[drbandkgb]

Added some new rear shocks today.. Skyjacker 8000 Nitros and a new steering stabilizer

 

[jagular7]

Looks pretty good. You'll enjoy the performance with matching driveline changes.

May I suggest couple of things: disconnect the track bars, loosen and retorque both shackle bolts and go for a ride. See if the bars are necessary for your street driving. They provide lots of bind on the leaf sprung YJ. The shackle bolts need to be torqued correctly. From my experience, when a spring lift is added to a YJ, installers torque bolts down and squeeze the bushing against the shackle. It also marshmellows the bushing inside the spring. This provides a really rough ride.
Decrease the body lift to 1.5". The body bolts are standard bolts 1/2-13 and 7/16-14 and easily replaced. You really don't need it that high off the frame. If you need better tire clearance, look into using TJ flares. They are fatter and wider than the YJs.
Remove the tcase lowering spacers. Add in a motor mount lift. The lowering of the tcase skid reduces the amount of clearance underneath and negates the lift. Adding a large spring lift, there is an introduction of driveline vibes. To reduce the vibes, the lowering of the tcase is performed. By keeping that in its stock location, you can get nearly or better effect by lifting the motor. The driveline is held in by 3 mounts - 2 motor and 1 trans. Lower the rear or raise the front?
Lastly, after satisfied with the street performance/handling, look to disconnect the front sway bar and go for another street test. MTL, you won't be needing it. The front leafs will have a higher spring rate, leaf springs have integrated torsional resistance by design, and with the bushings in great condition and the bolts torqued properly, the amount of body lean on the street won't be noticeable. The big difference will be noticed when wheeling with better droop.
Lastly, look for a ramp to articulate the Jeep after all these changes. See if the shocks need to be corrected. Lift shocks and bump stops are usually not provided with a spring lift. The bump stops should be long enough to keep the tire off the body and to keep the shock from bottoming out. Finding a ramp can be hard. Look in industrial park complexes. Usually, there is a ramp involved with a dock.


Look for an 8.8 with the 4.10 gear ratio. You can swap in a 4cyl YJ axle to get matching gears, or look for a gear swap. If anything, look to remove the quickdisconnect from the front axle or fix the vacuum engagement to a mechanical (cable) engagement. For the 8.8, check car-part.com. Its a yard listing for parts. Or your local CL for parting or damaged Explorers. You're going to want to find a 95-01 rear axle. These provide rear discs and have the same lug pattern (5on4.5) as your front axle.

 

[silvElise]

Killer looking jeep!
Looks to be setup very nicely from the start I also am really liking that color.

 

[Black Dog]

Oh yeah, busted gears in a dana 35 YJ. Been there done that! My buddy got this old YJ one afternoon then that evening we were driving it out to take it wheeling when we went over a bridge over a canal. The bridge was kind of rough and we were moving pretty quick, so we bounced on a bump and when we came down we heard a loud thunk and came to a screeching halt. There was no power to the rear wheels at all, luckily we were still able to put it in 4hi and drive it on the front wheels back home, but every once in a while a chunk of gear would get lodged somewhere and would bring us to a stop again. When we took it apart we discovered that a spider gear inside the diff carrier exploded, the biggest chunk was only about a third of the gear and now I keep that as a momento. The best part of that outing though was that he only owned the jeep like 5 hours before having a serious break down! He called the dealer and told them what happened and the guy said to get it fixed and send him the repair bills and he would cut him a check for that amount, and he actually carried through with it which was good.

 

[drbandkgb]

Looks pretty good. You'll enjoy the performance with matching driveline changes.

May I suggest couple of things: disconnect the track bars, loosen and retorque both shackle bolts and go for a ride. See if the bars are necessary for your street driving. They provide lots of bind on the leaf sprung YJ. The shackle bolts need to be torqued correctly. From my experience, when a spring lift is added to a YJ, installers torque bolts down and squeeze the bushing against the shackle. It also marshmellows the bushing inside the spring. This provides a really rough ride.
Decrease the body lift to 1.5". The body bolts are standard bolts 1/2-13 and 7/16-14 and easily replaced. You really don't need it that high off the frame. If you need better tire clearance, look into using TJ flares. They are fatter and wider than the YJs.
Remove the tcase lowering spacers. Add in a motor mount lift. The lowering of the tcase skid reduces the amount of clearance underneath and negates the lift. Adding a large spring lift, there is an introduction of driveline vibes. To reduce the vibes, the lowering of the tcase is performed. By keeping that in its stock location, you can get nearly or better effect by lifting the motor. The driveline is held in by 3 mounts - 2 motor and 1 trans. Lower the rear or raise the front?
Lastly, after satisfied with the street performance/handling, look to disconnect the front sway bar and go for another street test. MTL, you won't be needing it. The front leafs will have a higher spring rate, leaf springs have integrated torsional resistance by design, and with the bushings in great condition and the bolts torqued properly, the amount of body lean on the street won't be noticeable. The big difference will be noticed when wheeling with better droop.
Lastly, look for a ramp to articulate the Jeep after all these changes. See if the shocks need to be corrected. Lift shocks and bump stops are usually not provided with a spring lift. The bump stops should be long enough to keep the tire off the body and to keep the shock from bottoming out. Finding a ramp can be hard. Look in industrial park complexes. Usually, there is a ramp involved with a dock.


Look for an 8.8 with the 4.10 gear ratio. You can swap in a 4cyl YJ axle to get matching gears, or look for a gear swap. If anything, look to remove the quickdisconnect from the front axle or fix the vacuum engagement to a mechanical (cable) engagement. For the 8.8, check car-part.com. Its a yard listing for parts. Or your local CL for parting or damaged Explorers. You're going to want to find a 95-01 rear axle. These provide rear discs and have the same lug pattern (5on4.5) as your front axle.

Yeah most of this has been planned... 8.8 is in the near future..
The track bar was going to be off on that wheeling trip but rain held me up...
I like to wheel a Truck a few times as is.. then make changes.. I had found a 8.8 with the 3.55 gears Im running for 150.. But the deals are always around when you have no play money Ill have to read up on the disco thing...


I bought the Jeep with the silly 3" BL... It had 35's on it when I bought it... (Would explain why the spider gear was broken) I think ill end up going to a 2" BL.

As far as the Shackles I plan on changing those out.. still running the stock ones.. I want some I can grease up with out pulling them apart..
I did the rear shocks Monday... Went with Skyjacker made for 4.5 lift. It had pro-comp es3000s some Im sure they were made for the lift. Ill add the fronts in a few weeks..

Its now starting to warm up here in TN so Ill be able to fix some of these minor issues

 

[drbandkgb]

Killer looking jeep!
Looks to be setup very nicely from the start I also am really liking that color.

Thanks man... Every one has a Red or Black Jeep.. I wanted something different

 

[sgt rock]

Thanks man... Every one has a Red or Black Jeep.. I wanted something different

RED only color a jeep should be! JK nice jeep!!

 

[bldeagle10]

my XJ is chili pepper red, but im a fan of yellow jeeps. pretty sweet lookin

 

[wardrow]

Have you considered switching to Fuel injection?

 

[Black Dog]

Fuel injection would be cool. I test drove and almost bought a YJ without fuel injection and was kind of disappointed with the lack of getupandgo.

 

[drbandkgb]

Have you considered switching to Fuel injection?

Yes I have... but at 1K for the F.I. its down on the list

 

[drbandkgb]

As of last Sunday SOLD

Bought a 2000 Xterra again

 

[86cj]

I can't help but wonder if a coil spring TJ would not have been sold.

I spent many years in CJ and a coil sprung TJ is so different I can't belive it is a similar Jeep.....

 

[bob91yj]

As much as I hate to say it, good riddance. Without dropping a few grand on fuel injection, that rig was always going to have a carbed 258 in it, and it's associated headaches.

Fuel injected 4.0L's will never be a power house, but they run great and are reliable.