Nate's 2002 TJ, Not so simple anymore by gst95dsm

7 minute(s) of a 391 minute read

Just got home from the KOH qualifier in Prairie City.  Fun day.... good racing. Shearer, Healey, Campbell for the top three..... Wayland not Shannon. Shannon's transmission gave up on the first lap. That was disappointing!

Just took a few pics...

My son next to Goliath on 54's, haha.



Finish line jump.









First rock pile carnage.







Fun day overall. Tired from driving..... wheewww

4-10-2013

Been a little bored lately! I think im going to order a front upper JJ kit today, and some synergy sleeves for the D30. Should be about as stout as possible after that. I need a little project!

4-11-2013

Ordered the Currie JJ kit for the D30.....chickened out on the sleeves for right now. I'll save those for a rainy day. I'll wait and see how Beasley attacks that install. The instructions suggest pulling the entire axle and that's really not a challenge, I just simply don't feel like doing it, haha. I also gotta get my head on straight..... there are other things I should be worried about. I need to beef up my spares "kit", also need to take care of that pesky SYE I've been dodging for the last 5 years..... no vibes though! I just know it's got to be hard on the Ujoints when the axle is drooped. Never any issues though so I'm having a hard time spending the money there although I know I need to get it over with. And most importantly the Currie triple plated chrome grille I want isn't cheap.....

4-13-2013

Not jeep related at all..... spent the day beefing up security at my casa. Ordered a Shotlock wall mounted quick access mount for my Maverick 88. It Should provide me safe and quick access to it if needed. That install went well and I really like the design. Mounting my new safe to the concrete on the other hand went terrible! I hate drilling into concrete it never goes well. And manipulating a 350lb safe onto redheads is awful. Kicked my ***..... doing nothing the rest of the day!  

4-14-2013

Ordered these handy dandy little devices..... I never realized really how easy it was for crap to get inside the D30 housing. Now that I have the chromo shafts, the little plastic stock "seal" doesn't really have a spot to live.... I put it on the new axles but it's even more useless than it already was. These should help! And also I've made my decision on the sleeves.... I'll pass on this axle. Maybe on my next one. I think these axles are going to end up in my son's rig when we buy it in about 6 months.

4-16-2013

Time to do work!  

Well that little project went pretty smooth. I've heard the horror stories about getting that driver's side bushing out and when I first went at it I thought maybe I was about to be in for a fight! Instead of fighting it I just went to Harbor Freight and bought a new air hammer (my last one must have grown legs). I used my Ball joint press to press out the center. Then I whacked the bushing IN more just to get it moving since you can take some big swings from the outside. Then once it budged I just put the air hammer on the lip of the bushing and it came right out.  



The new one presses right in with little effort with the supplied tool.
Hacking the top of the passenger side one was no big with the angle grinder. My mount was collapsing pretty badly so I'm glad I took care of this.







All painted and purty.



And DONE!



Overall it's a pretty simple mod. I brought the ugly on the inside weld. Being out of position I couldn't find a comfortable spot! Technically I should have removed all the steering components and track bar to get in there easier..... but I managed.

Oh yeah, and with the weight on the axle the passenger side control arm bolted right up with no adjustment. That surprised me!

While welding today.... I started thinking about how much my welding helmet was a pain in the *** when in tight quarters.... then I starting thinking about why it has to be so bulky..... I figured they would have to make a "low profile" helmet... so I just did a little searching and came across this....



http://www.ebay.com/itm/Leather-Weld...-/110773896904

I think I might pick one up! Anyone of you guys have one???