Louie4's YJ by Louie4

9 minute(s) of a 411 minute read

Had a friend come over and I modified her lock box so she could put it in her new 2016 JK. She took a pic to show what it looked like from her perspective.

5-25-2016

Pics of how it sits now. I'm thinking about just going with rear springs.

5-31-2016

Got my new blower motor in Saturday and put it in Monday. I still had the fuse melting issue so I wired up an inline fuse and I think it's good now. One of the clips in the use panel was loose and causing a poor connection and thus melting the fuse.

Edit: I finally attached the pic.

6-8-2016

Bought some new upper skins for my TJ frames. I had to wire wheel some rust off and I put some paint on the frame that was about it. My old ones were worn and the drivers side had a crack from This past winter.

I also noticed my oil pressure sending unit was a little oily near the wire and determined it was leaking. Luckily, I had a spare that I've kept in my toolbox for over 10 years. I swapped them out and it's good to go now.

6-12-2016

Well, I had hoped to get some new rear springs for going SOA from Alcan but instead we needed a new dining room table and we started to remodel our bathroom also. So I need to be more thrifty.

Anyway, I found some more stock YJ springs on CL for $60 and I plan to use them for the rear springs. I had a set I took apart but didn't realize all the clamps and rivets were gone and I didn't want to bother finding some.

6-19-2016

Thanks Scott. Based on my build thread, thrifty is the name of the game for me. I could drop some cash and get the best of the best but it's hard for me. Anyway, I went to Uwharrie National Forest today and had a great time. I did some light trail riding and hit some more gritty trails with a buddy who never has gone 4 wheeling. We enjoyed it and the jeep performed very well. Front springs did great. Properly setup bump stops were a big factor in that. My buddy got one pic. I'll try to post it later when he sends it to me.

6-21-2016

As stated, the jeep performed very well Sunday. So Monday morning I got in it to drive to work and it did not turn over. I suspect it's the starter motor but I haven't had time to dig into it.

I'm just glad it didn't quite on the trail.

6-26-2016

Ignition switch was bad. I picked up a new one for $13.99 at the Zone. Didn't take any pictures and I didn't see why the switch was bad after taking apart...but it was bad nonetheless.

7-3-2016

Finished assembling my bastard pack rear springs. I made 7 leaf packs. I added a second main and another leaf on top to help with axle wrap. I slapped some paint on them but need to put more on.

I may tackle the SOA.

7-17-2016

Been keeping the jeep up in the garage while I do the headlight relay mod. I mainly did it out of necessity since my headlights were cutting out. I finished today and I can't believe I didn't do it sooner, what a difference! Anyway, I'll throw up one pic until I can get them on photobucket.

Some wiring.

7-24-2016

Did some work on the springs. Removed a leaf.

My work space per usual.

8-2-2016

I had to replace my ignition switch again. The original Autozone special failed. I swapped it out for another and this time I dropped the steering column to make sure everything was installed proper and tightened up. Seems to work fine for now.

I'm hoping to get my rear SOA going in the next few weeks. My build is getting slow and boring so I need to get something going. On a different note, my headlights are really bright after the relay upgrade.

8-11-2016

I don't know if anyone has been following this thread I started but I've been having an intermittent problem with my jeep starting. I think it's the crappy switch from Autozone (Duralast) but I'm still trying to narrow it down. Since it's intermittent, it's hard to pin down. I have my voltmeter and jumper wires in the jeep for testing. Here's the thread in case anyone is interested:

http://www.jeepforum.com/forum/f12/starting-circuit-conundrum-3835673/

Since I think it's the switch, I went ahead and got an AC Delco. I don't plan to put it in just yet until the problem arises again so I can try and troubleshoot more. Once I get this fixed I plan to do the SOA on the rear.

8-28-2016

Well I finally began my rear SOA project...finally. Today was a free day for me so I started at 11am this morning after getting groceries. I was surprised how much progress I made before I realized I'm not as young as I used to be and stopped. Anyway, here are some pics.

Here's how it started. I got the jeep in the garage and started unbolting everything. I haven't had this axle out since I did my 8.8 swap years ago. It's somewhere back in the build thread. I also didn't realize how much salt had been put down and how much surface rust accumulated over the years.

It wasn't too long before I got the axle out. I need to get new hard brake lines and fab some mounting points for the soft brake lines.

One of the biggest headaches was my frame side spring bolts. They had rusted to the metal sleeves in the springs. Luckily I dealt with this earlier on the front springs and figured out a way to "press" them out with my handy Mac Vise. I love that thing.

Here is the 8.8 with the shock tabs and spring perch cut off on one side. Notice there are (3) tabs. I didn't mock up the shock with the upper shock extensions and ended up having to move the shock over. So I just welded a tab on the other side and left it like that. Of course I paid for it today with all the grinding and cutting.

So much grinding today

I got to the point where I could put the new spring perches on just for kicks and giggles. Had to cook some pork tenderloin for dinner so I stopped after this.

My old Black Diamond springs. The bushings are really worn out and the metal sleeve just falls out of the bushing.

Here's some of my parts. They all need a coat of paint. Not the shocks though. I will replace them once I measure my new mounting points after flexing.

And here is how I left it tonight. More to come maybe next weekend. I ordered a traction bar kit from Ruff Stuff as well as some mounting tabs and bushing sleeves to make a cross member for the traction bar.