What did you do to your Expo Jeep today?

[bldeagle10]

lol'ed at 6 and 8. id like some flat flares but the price just isn't right...

oh, and today, it has been raining the past few days so there are massive puddles of standing water on the roads, everyone else (even the lifted mall crawler trucks) are avoiding them like the plague so I made the point of bombing through them and spraying water all over the vehicles around me...gotta have fun.

 

[VanIsle_Greg]

Yeah, those flat flares are pricey...but, they look and work awesome. My little extend-o flares work pretty good, but I would like some more room for the flex without more lift. I think I will spoil myself in the spring with a set. As for the vents... well, I even have a second color matched hood off another Flame Red 2000 sitting in the shed. Better condition than my current stock hoods condition, so it is just plain lazy!!

I must say however, my Jeep is running like a new truck right now! Purrs like a kitten!!

A little tight on the front, and I am still not sold on how the rears look...2 years later. lol

 

[reece146]

If you are spending that kind of money I'd look at the Iceland Off-Road flares instead of the BWs. Much stronger/nicer.

 

[Dirty_Jeeper]

Another option is Rusty's Flex flares. They fully cover my 33x12.50 tires.

 

[MCObray]

Cruised over the Cascades to spend the weekend in Sun River!

 

[VanIsle_Greg]

If you are spending that kind of money I'd look at the Iceland Off-Road flares instead of the BWs. Much stronger/nicer.

Yeah good call... I forgot about those. I thought about the Rusty's flares, but really prefer the look of the flat style flares. Who knows, may just leave it as is and do a better job with the bump stops!!

 

[bldeagle10]

I've seen the Iceland flares, but not the rustys, I think I was turned off from rustys stuff when I saw a JK snap a brand new rusty's track bar while going around a curve on a mountain road doing 30mph and ended up testing out his roll cage (yea stock roll cages are junk) I need to ask the guy again though, pretty sure it was rusty's or IRO...

anyways, Greg I have to say I am jealous of your XJ, I love the color of mine (chili pepper red) but yours is so much cleaner than mine, mine has thousands of chips from spending most of its 330,000 miles on the highway behind semi's and there are scratches here and there, need to repaint it for sure. and get another 1.5" of lift and 31's

so not exactly to the XJ but read about another guys idea on JF,
most people know the automatic transmission is an AW4 (in most later years) but not to many know that this transmission is pretty much exactly the same as the auto tranny in the Toyota Supra's, the main differences are the output shaft (supras obviously don't have a t-case) and a few things with the valve body I think, it runs at a higher pressure for a more responsive shift (it is a sports car). most people want a manual shift set up in the XJ for off road purposes but it usually ends up throwing a CEL or putting the tranny into limp mode requiring a vehicle restart. well the guy thought about it and wants to throw an ECM from an XJ with the AX-15 (5spd manual) then get rid of the stock TCM and replace it with a stand alone unit that supras use, this will allow manual shifting with the auto tranny and it is programmable to have two shift maps you can select between, so I could program a street shift set up and then one for off road that would possibly hold first gear longer and/or not downshift from 2nd so soon, and if I really want I could just go into manual shift mode for whatever reason. sounds like a good idea to me...

 

[VanIsle_Greg]

Thanks man, yes I like the Flame Red, never thought I would but I do. My XJ looks great in pics, up close, lots of scratches, knicks, dents (small ones), it looks good, not great.

I like the AW4, very stout trans and the Asin Warner in general is a great product. There is a manual shift add on or mod (override) that allows you to lock it into first gear and or second for offroad crawling and maintaining engine braking in a descent.

http://radesignsproducts.com/14Shiftcontrollers.aspx

http://radesignsproducts.com/RockShifter.aspx

Some people use a rocker switch... kool.

Hows the motor there Bald Eagle?

 

[bldeagle10]

I have heard they trip CEL's and can throw it into limp mode so i am weary about them, still holding up, 330,000 miles so far, figured out the random miss is most likely a valve seating wrong, taking the head off next week and sending it to rick waters racing to have it gone over. pretty excited

 

[VanIsle_Greg]

Hmm... interesting. I am not looking to put one in, dont need one. If I actually ever got time to take my Jeep offroad, I might for the compression braking/descent thing as well as the climb-a-bility.

Glad to hear you are getting the head done. Mine was rebuilt 4 years ago (and only 15,000 KM's ago), runs like a top!

 

[bldeagle10]

yea I am pretty excited, I did a leak down when it was misfiring and it showed zero compression in cylinder one, the rest of the cylinders seemed to be a bit low on compression so the next step after the head is rings and all new bearings in the block, then run it like that for a few years while I slowly collect parts for a 4.7 stroker!

today I swapped out the home made relay I am using for my aux lighting (starter solenoid out of old ford pick up's mounted on the firewall) didn't affect anything, still no lights, usually when you flip the switch you hear the solenoid clunk, but nothing, so I am guessing now it isn't getting power to it at all. sooo after dinner I will mess with it some more

 

[Logans91XJ]

I saw a Jeep crash into another car so I shouldn't buy another Jeep because they are unsafe now?! Please don't trash talk a company you have never bought parts from or even used. That guys crash on youtube is one Jeep out of how many Jeeps with Rusty's parts have been sold. Yes, several years ago Rusty had a few issues with parts not holding up to the most extreme conditions but you don't know how the owners take care of their vehicles. Remember the whole issue with Firestone and Ford? Well people still buy Firestone and Fords. I'm just really tired of people trash talking companies when 99% of them don't even run their parts. Rusty's has taken a huge beating over the internet forums but I have several buddies who run Rusty's suspension and they DD, Wheel, Rock Crawl and have no issues.

OKAY OFF RANT BACK TO THE SUBJECT------

I've seen the Iceland flares, but not the rustys, I think I was turned off from rustys stuff when I saw a JK snap a brand new rusty's track bar while going around a curve on a mountain road doing 30mph and ended up testing out his roll cage (yea stock roll cages are junk) I need to ask the guy again though, pretty sure it was rusty's or IRO...

anyways, Greg I have to say I am jealous of your XJ, I love the color of mine (chili pepper red) but yours is so much cleaner than mine, mine has thousands of chips from spending most of its 330,000 miles on the highway behind semi's and there are scratches here and there, need to repaint it for sure. and get another 1.5" of lift and 31's

so not exactly to the XJ but read about another guys idea on JF,
most people know the automatic transmission is an AW4 (in most later years) but not to many know that this transmission is pretty much exactly the same as the auto tranny in the Toyota Supra's, the main differences are the output shaft (supras obviously don't have a t-case) and a few things with the valve body I think, it runs at a higher pressure for a more responsive shift (it is a sports car). most people want a manual shift set up in the XJ for off road purposes but it usually ends up throwing a CEL or putting the tranny into limp mode requiring a vehicle restart. well the guy thought about it and wants to throw an ECM from an XJ with the AX-15 (5spd manual) then get rid of the stock TCM and replace it with a stand alone unit that supras use, this will allow manual shifting with the auto tranny and it is programmable to have two shift maps you can select between, so I could program a street shift set up and then one for off road that would possibly hold first gear longer and/or not downshift from 2nd so soon, and if I really want I could just go into manual shift mode for whatever reason. sounds like a good idea to me...

 

[bldeagle10]

that really wasn't trash talking though, just saying I was turned off from the product and company, not necessarily that I would never buy from them, just that I will definitely be wary about it, and would do more research than I normally would before making a purchase...now if I were to trash talk I would have gone out of my way to warn everyone about a horrid product blah blah etc...

dug into some more wiring madness with my aux lights, I can't figure out why they wont come on, changed out the solenoid/makeshift relay deal, checked the inline fuses, one was blown, replaced that, checked the connection at the battery, all seems good now but it still wont turn on, what are the chances of a blown or faulty switch?

also saw that one of my relatively new sylvannia bulbs (bought in march) high beam is burnt out so I replaced that with one of two spares I have

 

[Dirty_Jeeper]

Hmmm better avoid Sylvania. OK, just being sarcastic now. Every company has parts fail, break and wear out. On the plus side of Rusty's, I've had one of their steering systems for many years. It's worked flawlessly in some extreme conditions across the country I have no intentions of replacing it anytime soon. I am pretty anal about maintenance too though. The Rusty's Flex Flares I recently installed are great. They take a beating and pop right back to the original shape.

 

[jeepdreamer]

Finally some "Me" time with the Jeep...

Finally got finished with another project I got asked to do and spent some time wrenching on my heep. Have been dying to see what was wrong that made it stop driving. The first thought was bad clutch/T-O brng. But as I pulled it apart it became obvious that it was the transmission that has gone south. I knew this was bound to happen so I brought the replacement with me here to Germany. Now I will order the parts and swap out the DOA T-5 for my NV4500, NWF Blackbox, and some other upgrades. Can't wait!!