Louie4's YJ by Louie4

6 minute(s) of a 411 minute read

Getting more done today. I got my dropped pitman arm off and put the stock one on. I had to get the heavy duty puller from Autozone. It was beef and I also got the stabilizer out of the tie rod. Not sure why I took it off since they are both junk. I guess I wanted to make the most use out of the $90 puller I rented. I also got a good shot of how bent the drag link is.

More progress.

I got the old rod ends off the used tie rod, cleaned them up and stuck them on my new tie rod. Pure beef. Speaking of that, the old slightly bent tie rod I also got was a solid rod that was drilled and tapped. Soon I'm going to work on the drag link once the sun goes down. My deck faces the West and the sun comes right in and makes it feel like an oven when I'm out there.

5-21-2012

More progress. I took my knuckle to work and drilled it out. It was pretty intense and I got two other guys to help me out. The tie rod connection seems pretty thin but it should be fine once I put the sleeve in. I also got the drag link TRE's off. Strangely enough, I pulled a muscle in my ring finger. I was pulling down on vise grips to loosen the jam nut while it was in the vice. It broke and I fell on my a$$.

5-28-2012

Well I got my inserts this past weekend. I came home from Knoxville and found them in the mailbox. I plan on welding them in tomorrow. I may weld the tie rod insert in all around and just put three solid tacks on the drag link insert in case I want to change it up in the future. I also painted my drag link. Wasn't a good idea doing that after a rain. The moisture made some bubbly spots.

I also have this small solar panel my fiance got me in Africa a few years ago. The kids there make them from donations and keep the profits. I use to power a small fan with it in my window for fun. I thought about hooking it up to my battery on the jeep for a little trickle charge but I don't think it will do much.

Suggestions? Whether it be for the jeep of other stuff.

5-29-2012

Great things are going to happen tomorrow.

A few better pics of the knuckle. I had one our retired welders put three tacks on each just in case I need to change something. I also took a flap disk and ground the excess insert flush with the other side of the knuckle.

5-30-2012

Got a good bit accomplished this afternoon.

Here's how it started. Those ball joints are the original ones from 1993. The lower one was a little wobbly but there was no movement when the knuckle was on. I never realized the top ball joint only went up and down so I originally thought my old one was seized.

Well I went with some Moog ones from O'Reilly's and also rented the press. I was dreading having to do this but I actually knocked it out quicker than I thought.

I'm getting a little excited after I got the knuckle on. I put the drag link on to see how the clearance was. Not that bad.

Well ain't this a b****. I've done this on more than one occasion.

Here's the almost finished product.

I think I will need to get the Ford Ranger pitman arm in order for the drag link to clear the tie rod.