Louie4's YJ by Louie4

5 minute(s) of a 411 minute read

I just got back from my vacation with my new fiance. Went to San Francisco and drove up the coast, saw the Redwoods and swung by U of O and OSU. Finished up in Portland. It was awesome. Since I'm broke now I can continue doing cheap fixes to my jeep.

I painted my gas skid finally and put some pipe insulation tape as a cushion. I had some leftover from refurbishing the A/C.

8-9-2011

Well I figured I'd make my standard 3 month update.

I've only done a few things to the jeep. They were relatively inexpensive also.

First I finally got around to installing an electric Taurus fan. I didn't do it for power gains, I did it because my motor was overheating on the trails. The new fan clutch was garbage and after the 5th one I'm tired of putting new ones in and having a moderate cooling system. So I went this route.

I went to Pull-a-part in South Atlanta and snagged a fan for $16. I also found a 50 amp relay from a Volvo but ended up not using it. The Taurus fan I found doesn't seem like the most ideal from others I've seen but it's working good so far. I had to do a little trimming on the shroud just to get it to fit.



I installed it with a few hiccups but that was to be expected. The major concern was the clearance between the waterpump pulley and the fan motor. It's REALLY close but I was at my folks house Sunday and found a pulley from a '92 XJ. They have waterpump that doesn't stick out like my YJ's.



Here's the clearance.



I used a Hayden's adjustable thermostat I got from O'Reilly's for $17.62. I also bought a 40 amp relay for $5 or so since I didn't used the Volvo one. I'll probably upgrade to a better one depending on how this one works. As of now I'm only using the low speed. If I use the high speed I'll need to get a heftier relay. I also already had a switch in the dash for some lights I had years ago that I no longer have. I am using it as a cutout switch in case I go in deep water.

Pics of some wiring.



Another thing I realized when I was doing this swap was my lower radiatorhose. I replaced it at some point in the last 10 years. When I did I never swapped the coil out inside of it. This explained the overheating at high speeds. I believe the lower hose was collapsing from the high rpms. Anyway I took a stainless steel welding rod from work and bent it around my high-lift handle and worked it into the hose.

Today I finished up the latest mod. Well add-on I guess. I don't have any kind of rear bumper or recover except a tow hook through the frame. I also can't tow anything. A buddy gave me his old Curt trailer hitch. Since I don't have the dough to spend on a bumper/tire carrier (saving and there are other more important things I need for the jeep)this was the best option and it was free.

I put (10) Grade 8 bolts through the rear cross member and one in the tapped hole under each end of the frame. I also made some backing plates for the (8) bolts going through the rear cross member out of 3/8" steel plate.

This is not really related to my jeep but while I was at my folks house my dad told me to come look at my sisters old Honda. I walked over and looked and I was dumbfounded. My sister never complained about the brakesthough.