SilicaRich's Overland TJ Rubicon Build

[SilicaRich]

Good News!

Well my dad drove the Jeep to Austin going about 60-65 mph and then drove back last night cruising 75 mph and had no issues. "Smooth as butter"-my dad

He drove over plenty of harsh bumps and un-smooth road while cruising on I-10 and never had an issue. He said the new brakes worked fantastic and were very smooth. At many times he mentioned if it wasn't for the wind noise he could have forgotten he was driving a Jeep. I guess the OME suspension is getting praise from more than just me:sombrero:. He said the new ST Maxxs actually really impressed him. Very quiet and drove very smooth.

That being said, I should be getting the Jeep back next weekend. Conveniently enough, I will be in Denton, TX (outside of Dallas) next weekend for a frisbee tournament (if it wasn't already mentioned before I do play for my university's club frisbee team) which will make the trade off very easy.

 

[SilicaRich]

The Jeep is Back!

Picked up the Jeep Friday night and drove it around all day Saturday in Denton for our frisbee tournament and just drove it back to Fayetteville tonight. After driving around 400 miles this weekend with the new ST Maxxs and I can't help but love them. They are insanely quiet and ride very smooth. They are very similar to that of my old KOs with noise but the Maxxs have a much stiffer sidewall and honeslty handle much better. Not to mention they look far more ************ in person than they do online. Drove 70-75 mph consistently the entire ride back and was as comfortable as can be.

Also the new front brakes are awesome too. Can't believe how well the Jeep stops and how smooth it is. One hell of an upgrade I would say.

Next weekend I'm deciding whether I want to do a little kayak fishing on a local lake or head down to Crater of Diamonds State Park and do a little prospecting and/or hiking and fishing. Going to keep an eye on the local weather and make my decision based on it

 

[jscusmcvet]

SOunds great, congrats on finding and eliminating the DW. Nice work

 

[SilicaRich]

SOunds great, congrats on finding and eliminating the DW. Nice work

Thanks! Love being back in the Jeep again

 

[SilicaRich]

Well I guess I should actually post a picture of the Jeep and how it sits now so here you go.

Something you see that I have never mentioned before is the Front Runner jerry can mount on the rack. I have actually had it for a year now but it turned out to not be as universal as I previously thought so I bought a matching Front Runner jerry can. Surprisingly it hardly affected my milage on the drive back (got 11-12 mpg). Also brought back my new sets of LightForce lighting and plan to find a weekend to get those installed and mounted.

Something I also forgot to mention that we fixed back before I came back up to Arkansas was what was causing my Jeep to throw misfire codes. For some reason one of my injector wires had been resting on the hot manifold so we went ahead and wrapped and isolated it from the heat. If any codes pop up in the future I might consider replacing the injectors in case the heat damaged the wires permanently. Not sure how quickly injectors go bad if age is influenced but these are currently over 12 years old

 

[SilicaRich]

A Big Step

An old idea that I have brought up in past posts. I've been sitting around and really thinking the last few weeks and have decided to make an executive decision on the Jeep when the time and money presents itself. I will be doing the Cummins 2.8l Repower Kit.

Why the decision? I want something with plenty of torque, easily tunable, simple design, and can get solid fuel milage. Theoretically the cost of the kit by itself will probably be around $10k alone (praying that it's cheaper), however an additional $1k-1.5k (not including potential labor costs) will be added as I will ditch the current NSG370 6 speed transmission in favor of a 5 speed NV4500. Why ditch the 6 speed? The transmission is a good little transmission for what I use it for but it does not have a high torque rating (incase I decide to tune the 2.8 in favor of more power) and is stupid expensive to repair, not to mention difficult to get parts for. The NV4500 is a proven reliable transmission, cheap to repair, higher torque rating, easy to build up, high OD (perfect for hitting the sweet spot on a low rpm loving Cummins), and bolts up to just about anything. I have a decent amount of prior knowledge dealing with the NV4500 while searching for one for my old FJ40.

Now there's the idea, "That's a $15k investment that will never pay for itself. Sell the Jeep and get something else". Truthfully, I'm not in it with the expectations that it will pay for itself, my Jeep is already an investment that will never pay for itself and I don't intend on getting rid of the Jeep. That being said I did some general math with the investment being paid off in about 15 years. I bought this giant Lego set of a Jeep to modify and make me happy, and this swap will make me happy. We are talking about incredible fuel range, averaging say 26 mpg that's almost 500 miles on my standard fuel tank not including a spare 5-10 gallons of extra fuel being carried. That just tripled my range. That means less time focused on my fuel gauge and more time enjoying the views and adventure.

Let me know what yall think and feel free to express your opinions, good or bad. I will always be partial to the 4.0 but I feel that for the sake of making the Jeep superior to my standards, this is the route I should take. In the meantime, it's time to start saving up and get a job over the summer.

 

[gixxerphil]

An old idea that I have brought up in past posts. I've been sitting around and really thinking the last few weeks and have decided to make an executive decision on the Jeep when the time and money presents itself. I will be doing the Cummins 2.8l Repower Kit.

Why the decision? I want something with plenty of torque, easily tunable, simple design, and can get solid fuel milage. Theoretically the cost of the kit by itself will probably be around $10k alone (praying that it's cheaper), however an additional $1k-1.5k (not including potential labor costs) will be added as I will ditch the current NSG370 6 speed transmission in favor of a 5 speed NV4500. Why ditch the 6 speed? The transmission is a good little transmission for what I use it for but it does not have a high torque rating (incase I decide to tune the 2.8 in favor of more power) and is stupid expensive to repair, not to mention difficult to get parts for. The NV4500 is a proven reliable transmission, cheap to repair, higher torque rating, easy to build up, high OD (perfect for hitting the sweet spot on a low rpm loving Cummins), and bolts up to just about anything. I have a decent amount of prior knowledge dealing with the NV4500 while searching for one for my old FJ40.

Now there's the idea, "That's a $15k investment that will never pay for itself. Sell the Jeep and get something else". Truthfully, I'm not in it with the expectations that it will pay for itself, my Jeep is already an investment that will never pay for itself and I don't intend on getting rid of the Jeep. That being said I did some general math with the investment being paid off in about 15 years. I bought this giant Lego set of a Jeep to modify and make me happy, and this swap will make me happy. We are talking about incredible fuel range, averaging say 26 mpg that's almost 500 miles on my standard fuel tank not including a spare 5-10 gallons of extra fuel being carried. That just tripled my range. That means less time focused on my fuel gauge and more time enjoying the views and adventure.

Let me know what yall think and feel free to express your opinions, good or bad. I will always be partial to the 4.0 but I feel that for the sake of making the Jeep superior to my standards, this is the route I should take. In the meantime, it's time to start saving up and get a job over the summer.

I think it'll be badaas.

 

[SilicaRich]

So I've been noticing this pulsing when I brake, usually something associated with warped rotors. Initially it was minimal but it has only gotten worse, in fact it gives me a headache every time I have to brake. Is there a chance that my rotors are already warped, like they are brand new! I haven't been doing any crazy braking or anything of the matter. I've already had one opinion saying that there's a chance that the shop that installed them likely ****ed up the bedding the process, whatever that means. Looking for other second opinions, because it's currently a royal pain in my *** although I really don't want to have to pay to have them resurfaced already, not to mention the cost of labor to remove the wheel spacers and such.

 

[Zeep]

When I bought my '05 in '07, it only had 8k on it. After using it a couple months, I had the same problem you're having. When I inspected my rotors, I found that they were galled beyond repair. It looked like the cause was lack of use, hence the low mileage. So much for the "dealers used vehicle inspection".
So I decided to make a investment. Not unlike the one your are considering for your powertrain. After some research, I decided on a upgrade to Black Magic Brakes. While not the cheapest option out there, it seems to be one of the best upgrade decisions I've made.

http://www.blackmagicbrakes.com/

Check out the site, the quality is top notch.

 

[SilicaRich]

When I bought my '05 in '07, it only had 8k on it. After using it a couple months, I had the same problem you're having. When I inspected my rotors, I found that they were galled beyond repair. It looked like the cause was lack of use, hence the low mileage. So much for the "dealers used vehicle inspection".
So I decided to make a investment. Not unlike the one your are considering for your powertrain. After some research, I decided on a upgrade to Black Magic Brakes. While not the cheapest option out there, it seems to be one of the best upgrade decisions I've made.

http://www.blackmagicbrakes.com/

Check out the site, the quality is top notch.

The front brakes are now Power Stop and like I said, are brand spanking new; rotors, calipers, and pads. I might see if they are warrantied, my dad decided to get them installed while waiting for the new tires to arrive. I don't currently have the money to replace them, especially BM brakes and their cost (trust me I know their reputation). I remember considering investing in a set of BM sometime last winter, but opted to invest in my OME suspension. Currently bittersweet about my decision. Plan to inspect them in the next few weeks when I rotate my tires, might take a few pictures as well.

 

[SilicaRich]

So I was doing a little look over on the Jeep today and I noticed something that seemed a little odd. Seems that the front tires are toe'd out a bit, enough to be noticeable without really looking that hard (tried to get a picture but it doesn't do much justice). Any idea if this might also be influencing my braking pulse?

 

[Mitch502]

Take the front 2 to an Orielly or somewhere that will turn them. They should be willing to check them for free, and turn them if needed. At least it would rule that out.

Do the proportioning valves go back in these things? I've never specifically heard of them going bad, but that could always be a chance.

 

[SilicaRich]

Take the front 2 to an Orielly or somewhere that will turn them. They should be willing to check them for free, and turn them if needed. At least it would rule that out.

Do the proportioning valves go back in these things? I've never specifically heard of them going bad, but that could always be a chance.

Trying to find a weekend where I can get a little help to do that. My issue is that I don't have jackstands at this house (which I can easily buy some) and finding a weekend where I can get some assistance from friends to drive me where I need to go. Also have the extra work of removing and then reinstalling my spacers. Technically I could just take it somewhere to get it done but that's extra money that I don't want to spend.

 

[SilicaRich]

Managed to find time today to run into a local reputable shop to take a look at the Jeep. Rotors were warped and turned and she brakes smooth as butter now. Noticed my steering had been real loose since I had gotten it back earlier in the year and asked for them check the alignment and adjust if necessary. Turned out my trackbar was extremely loose on the passengerside and likely contributed to the cause of my excessive toe out. Anyways, got everything tightened up and straightened for $150 and couldn't be happier. I honestly expected it to be a lot more.

 

[cvanhook]

Hey great looking tj! I was wondering how much lift and what tire size you are running hoping to lift my tj this summer and I like the way yours sits.
Thanks
Chad