w0mps WJ Build Thread

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Finished up the front axle today.

Cover off and housing cleaned for new sealant:

POR15 wouldn't take to the painted differential cover, so had to grind it down to bare metal, prime and paint. I used Rustoleum primer and Rustoleum semi-gloss black paint:

Got some 5/16"x3/4" stainless steel button head bolts to finish off the look:

Now on to the rear axle!

 

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Did some more paint work on the rear axle today.

New shock mounts welded on after the Rough Country relocation brackets snapped my stock ones:

Axle Prepped for POR15:

Shock brackets and diff cover painted:

Tomorrow I just need to install the cover and I'm good to go. Really waiting on the weather to break so I can finish my under body paint. After that, everything will be put back together!

 

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Rear axle is finished and ready to go in!

 

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The goodies waiting patiently to jump in the Jeep:

 

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Now I'm just waiting for the weather to break so I can get the under body sprayed up. Axles are ready to go in:

 

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Finished up the rear today. Real happy with how everything came out!

The springs are Iron Rock's 4" springs. After measuring, the final hub to fender measurement was 24". Stock is 18", so I'm sitting at 6" of lift. Let's hope the ride isn't too bad with the angle of the control arms!

 

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Finished up the front end today, just need to slap on the steering, bleed the brakes and torque everything down and off to the alignment shop it goes!

 

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So, I went and had the alignment done. Specs are posted below. I am sitting at about 1.8* of caster and the Jeep has never drove better. I had the alignment done, front and rear pinion angle set and all four tires balanced. My alignment shop is about 45 minutes away. I had gotten death wobble about 5 times during the trip there, and took it easy the rest of the trip. After a couple hours, they got it set perfect. No vibrations, bump steer or death wobble. Just awesome handling and steering, not one shimmy or wobble the whole way home doing 85 MPH. Hats off to the guys at OK4WD in Stewartsville, NJ, they seem to really know what they are doing. Highly recommended shop and priced very reasonable!

 

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Ordered up my RAM mounts for my Jeeputer yesterday. I'm going to have a Google Nexus 7 mounted to the right of the radio using the following mounts:

Although the Nexus doesn't have cellular capabilities, I'll be using my iPhone as a wireless hot spot. I decided to go with a tablet/mount instead of a GPS because I love Google Maps. Also, the Nexus has GPS capabilities built in so I can use this to track trails and off road trips. Besides, who wouldn't want a computer in their Jeep?

 

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Finished up the tablet setup today. Happy with how it come out, but would expect a better quality powder coat job from RAM mounts.

 

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So, I've been thinking about adding some sort of rack in the cargo area of the WJ. The Olympic 4x4 Mountaineer Rack (spec'd for an XJ) measures out perfectly to fit in the back, as well as hold all three action packers up top so I can strap them down. I am also planning on mounting my Hi Lift jack on the face of the rack, as if it was mounted to a roof rack. I'd want to keep the Hi Lift inside to prevent rusting it up and that seems like it will work out perfect. I'm just hoping the mounting legs of the rack will land where I don't have to drop the gas tank to bolt it down.

 

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Went and did some trail riding down in the Pine Barrens with my buddy. Yes, that is a stock F-150 with a leveling kit tucking 35" Nitto's.

 

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So I've been using the adapter that came with my Optima to hold the battery down. Although it does do it's job, the battery still had some play sitting in the tray, so I decided to beef up the mount with a few parts from Napa:

I basically used the J hooks, drilled a couple holes in the battery tray, and held it down with the black bar. Battery is solid as a rock now.

I also kept rubbing my driver side tire on my washer fluid bottle at full flex, so went ahead and removed it and fabbed up a new one under the hood. It's significantly smaller than the stock (maybe a 1/2 gallon reservoir), but does the job and is out of the way. Credit goes to 85IrocZ-28 for the idea, but I changed my design a little.

First I picked up a universal coolant tank from Napa (Part #730-4514), and prepped a spot under my hood to mount it. I liked the idea of keeping it far away from the motor and out of the way. You can see in this picture the spot I picked. You have to cut a stud out of the way so the tank sits flush with the fender, and remove the plastic tray the wires sit in for best fit.

Drilled a couple holes on the right side of the tank, about three inches apart, as low as I can go. I used a small drill bit to get my exact starting point and then used a step bit. Make sure not to go too big. You want the grommets/motors to have a nice tight fit to avoid leaking fluid.

Then I popped the motors in place on the tank, sat it in place and shot a couple self tapping screws into the inside fender lip. The tank comes with a couple mounting tabs on it.

I then shortened my hose lines to a nice length and installed them on the motors. Now, it was time for wiring. I pulled back the electrical tape and wire molding until I had all the wiring exposed. There will be your three washer fluid connectors, fog light wiring and grounds. I snipped my fog light wiring a long time ago. I put some new wire molding on all the wires, taped it up real nice and re-routed it back towards my motors. Threw a couple zip ties in place, and there ya go. No re-wiring or splicing necessary. I opted to just connect the two motors and not install the fluid low sensor.

Make sure to place a cap of some kind over the outlet on the bottom of the tank. This will not be used.

 

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Had a slight pulsation and squeal while driving, looked into it and decided it was time to do my brakes. The pads were still pretty meaty, but the rotors were toast on the inbound side. I did the front pads and rotors with Mopar replacements. Also painted the caliper and mounting bracket with some silver caliper paint to top it off.

Tomorrow I will be doing the same in the rear. Won't be touching the parking brake shoes being that the parking brake works fine and apparently it's nothing short of a nightmare to replace and readjust them.

 

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Rear is finished. A mechanic buddy of mine had taught me a trick to bleeding brakes. If you're not using a power bleeder and just doing the pump-hold-pump deal, put a chunk of 2x4 wood under the break pedal. This prevents the master cylinder from maxing out when you're bleeding, which could possibly blow up your master. I've also got a much stiffer pedal now.