mods you wouldnt do again ...

[Area56]

Nice running thread here...

Detroit Locker. Incredible off road, downright dangerous in the rain or ice on pavement. Should have saved my money and gotten an air, electric, or cable operated locker. I can't let my wife drive the truck for fear she'll forget it's in there.

Downey 22r header and magnaflow exhaust. The 'slip fit' of the header to tailpipe was just stupid and impossible to undo if you overtighten and need to take the header off. The magnaflow was just loud. More noise and no noticeable increase in power.

 

[SSF556]

Guys for a newbie like myself this is a great post. It makes me want to just get out there with what I have before I start modifying.

I do have a question about an air locker in the rear. When the air locker is disengaged would I feel it or hear it driving down the highway? I have a 2008 Jeep GC CRD with QTII. It would probably benefit from a rear locker, but I do not want to have it become a monster on the highway.

 

[Area56]

Guys for a newbie like myself this is a great post. It makes me want to just get out there with what I have before I start modifying.

I do have a question about an air locker in the rear. When the air locker is disengaged would I feel it or hear it driving down the highway? I have a 2008 Jeep GC CRD with QTII. It would probably benefit from a rear locker, but I do not want to have it become a monster on the highway.

With an air locker, it's simply a normal diff and you won't know it's there until you engage it (my detroit only clicks on the corners). Lock it up and you've magically got traction. After having a locker, it's the second most important upgrade mod to me after tires. It makes that much of a difference in my opinion.

>>just get out there with what I have before I start modifying.<<

Exactly. Just keep it stock, use it, and when something breaks either replace or solve the problem with minimal changes.

Tires slipping in the mud? Street tread ain't gonna cut it. Ripped off your stock running boards? Maybe something a bit stronger is in order. Need to pull yourself out? Get a couple tow straps and a come-along.

I used to have a stock little 86 2wd toyota with a 22R that got 30mpg on the highway (with shell and AT tires) and by going slow and choosing the right line I would take on trails that would make the 4x guys drop their jaws. I sold it thinking I needed a real 'off road' truck and the ability to carry more than one passenger.

In hindsight, I wish I still had it but with a rear locker in it and maybe a slight 'desert runner' style lift. It would be practically invincible.

 

[Backwoods Rambler]

Guys for a newbie like myself this is a great post. It makes me want to just get out there with what I have before I start modifying....

That's what this thread is all about right?

....I do have a question about an air locker in the rear. When the air locker is disengaged would I feel it or hear it driving down the highway? I have a 2008 Jeep GC CRD with QTII. It would probably benefit from a rear locker, but I do not want to have it become a monster on the highway.

I don't think there are any lockers available for you Trade-up for QDII :snorkel:

 

[SSF556]

That's what this thread is all about right?




I don't think there are any lockers available for you Trade-up for QDII :snorkel:

No trading for me...actually there are a couple of guys who have fitted ARBs Chrysler 8.25 rear lockers on the QTII system. My QTII CRD has the 10 bolt cover which should indicate a chrysler 8.25. The Dana44 has 12 bolts. And of course ODII does not need an air locker.

 

[eagle1]

for me a catback dual exhaust on a 3.9lv6 w/o a muffler insanely louad at shiftover from 1st-2nd and droned horribly at highway speeds went back to a single pipe with a magnaflow and much better

 

[hansonian]

I used a piece of "diamond plate" to replace the rotted out dash in my old CJ-5. Looked all nice and shiny in the barn but as soon as I drove it the bright Florida sun coming off of it blinded me and I almost wrecked.

I won't even get into the myriad of bad wiring jobs I did when I was younger.

I personally have never had a problem with the K&N filters but I don't use a lot of oil on mine either. I might be in the minority but then again I don't live in a dusty climate.

 

[01tundra]

Running Wilwood calipers on all four corners and Wilwood rear rotors. It's kind of hard to find replacement parts out in the middle of nowhere when you're runnning a bunch of custom stuff......learned that one the hard way.

I now run 12" GM rotors on all four corners and GM 1/2-ton calipers, all parts are identical and readily available just about anywhere.

 

[Root Moose]

Pro Comp anything on any vehicle. Their stuff sux.

Running Wilwood calipers on all four corners and Wilwood rear rotors. It's kind of hard to find replacement parts out in the middle of nowhere when you're runnning a bunch of custom stuff......learned that one the hard way.

Agree with this. That said, I use Wilwood spot calipers on my Jeep as a parking brake. If a parking brake fails it's not the end of the world.

 

[R_Lefebvre]

Running Wilwood calipers on all four corners and Wilwood rear rotors. It's kind of hard to find replacement parts out in the middle of nowhere when you're runnning a bunch of custom stuff......learned that one the hard way.

I now run 12" GM rotors on all four corners and GM 1/2-ton calipers, all parts are identical and readily available just about anywhere.

What's the story there? Man, I love my Wilwood stuff on my car, and would do it to the truck in a second if I could afford it. Sure, you have to order parts, but then... it never needs parts. It's perfect. They last forever. I don't think I'll ever need to replace the pads or rotors. Well... ok, the rotors are starting to show some signs of heat stress. But it's been 5 years and 15 trackdays.

 

[Root Moose]

I was really tempted to use Wilwood parts on my main brakes but thought better of it.

Off-road usage is much harder on the physical components than on-road usage. A couple of bad bounces, tree roots, submerged fence, rocks, whatever can end your day pretty quickly with a ripped line or larger scale failure as the fall out of a mechanical issue elsewhere in the driveline. Hell, just getting rocks and mud stuck between the pads and rotor can toast them in very short order (Bt/dt).

Also, sometimes preventative maintenance doesn't get done or when you make custom stuff the duty cycle does not align with your expectations.

The most odd ball part on my Jeep's primary braking system is the Suzuki Sidekick 4 door front calipers and rotors used on a Scout II rear axle. It's a real mongrel combination but relatively common to source in NA. If I was leaving NA I wouldn't have used those parts. Well, maybe the Suzuki stuff. The big issue now is forgetting what parts go where (front axle is a similarly mongrelized setup).

 

[R_Lefebvre]

Sounds like you need a log book for your truck? I've been working on one, but am often negligent in keeping it updated. But the idea was to track maintenance, and any part numbers or changes I've done.

I guess the fact that I drive a Land Rover, and could never find any standard brake parts anywhere in Canada anyway, colours my judgement about the wisdom of using custom Wilwood parts. In fact, I probably have a better chance of getting Wilwood parts in Canada than Land Rover parts.

 

[Root Moose]

There may be some truth to what you are saying regarding the LR vs Wilwood parts. At least with the Wilwood stuff you could call Wilwood directly and get it shipped over night. With the LR stuff... depends on who you get on the other end of the phone whether you will get the correct part or not I'd imagine.

I've got stuff pretty well documented on the rig. It's just matter of bringing it all together into one document. I already forget the specific brake rotor that I need for the front setup though. I was toying with the idea of making little plaques to be riveted into the inner fenders that listed component -> make/model/part number. A feeble attempt at permanence I guess and being able to have my wife deal with repairs if I am not around.

 

[01tundra]

What's the story there? Man, I love my Wilwood stuff on my car, and would do it to the truck in a second if I could afford it. Sure, you have to order parts, but then... it never needs parts. It's perfect. They last forever. I don't think I'll ever need to replace the pads or rotors. Well... ok, the rotors are starting to show some signs of heat stress. But it's been 5 years and 15 trackdays.

Well the rotors kind of self destructed on me during the '08 UA. They cracked between ever wheel stud hole. Also one of the calipers sheered off the light weight aluminum mounting brackets (happened to both rear corners at different times and ripped the brake line off both times - first time happened while getting off the interstate on an offramp at about 60 MPH......good times!). And the pads are proprietary, so if you're in the middle of no where and something happened that would require a new pad (not likely, but anything's possible...trust me !) then you're S.O.L., unless you carry spares with you.

Wilwood makes some awesome parts, but IMO they're more geared toward the hot rod community and not really as much toward the abusive off-road stuff. PartsMike experienced the exact same problems as I did while running Wilwood stuff on his Jeep and ended up removing it all. I was running the Superlite 4-piston calipers in the front and Dynalite 4-piston calipers in the rear.


I've had the pleasure of driving home from Rangley, CO to Hendersonville, TN (1,441 miles) with the rear calipers and rotors in the bed of the truck. Had I been running what I am now (hindsight's a beautiful thing, isn't it?), I would have been able to pick up replacement parts at any parts house......of course, if I had been running what I am now.......I wouldn't have had broken brake parts in the first place .

The heat marks on the rotor is where we attempted to weld them on the back sides, both both rotors broke in the same manner.

My mindset is now K.I.S.S. - keep it stupid simple .

Which brings me to another point, I keep a parts list in my glove box at all times. I also made a spreadsheet that lists maintenance tasks that I keep in the glove box.

 

[john101477]

My mindset is now K.I.S.S. - keep it stupid simple .

Which brings me to another point, I keep a parts list in my glove box at all times.

yeah thats pretty much brilliant. I might have to start doing the same thing