I was posting about the fronts but TireRack has the 5100’s for the rear also.
Note: link is for my 08 KK
What did you do to your jeep today?
- Thread starter TheQ
- Start date
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Note: link is for my 08 KK
Rancho are OK... Ish.
They aren't what they used to be.
I prefer Doetsh Tech shocks, personally.
The rockers are structural in the unibody the thin outers cover some fairly substantial steelwork, there's a welded up box section inside that runs the full length, I wonder if loosing this has caused the failure?
Also maybe worn out springs make the suspension bottom out, maybe that's part of the issue??
Can you weld? If so it's repairable but I'd do all rusty bits at the same time too.
Today I worked on Jeepy to take the old shocks and springs off the front end. Hopefully tomorrow I can get the OME springs and Bilstein shocks assembled so that I can begin rebuilding the front suspension.
The first step was to remove the battery and TIPM from the drivers side engine compartment, along with the battery tray, to expose the four top-hat studs and nuts for the strut. On the passengers side it was a bit easier, with only the airbox to remove.
You can see the drivers side outer axle boot got shredded. I plan to refurbish this axle with a new boot and grease because there doesn’t seem to be any real damage.
There was so so much grease slung absolutely everywhere. What a pain to clean up.
Here is the naughty strut minus its springs. The failure mode was the shaft broke off at the threads that screw into the clevis fork. I guess 13 years of wheeling caused a bit of metal fatigue.
Here is the passenger’s side before taking it apart so you can see what it’s supposed to look like. The mud just makes it look more realistic. The rust on the rotors is from four weeks of sitting.
This side came apart more easily. There wasn’t grease all over everything, which helped. I loosely put the knuckle and control arms together again minus the strut while we wait for the struts to be assembled.
And here is the good adjust-a-strut, removed.
These can probably be refurbished at some point, using a new pair of Bilstein M7 coilovers. The top hats and clevis forks are still completely solid. The shocks will need replacing. Getting the broken shaft piece out of the drivers side clevis fork will be very difficult. But I am going to hang onto these and see what I can do with them going forward.
One snag is that the clevis bolts from my old lift are too short for the refurbished cast Mopar clevis forks I will now be using. I found one of my original longer clevis bolts in my parts stash, but needed to order a second from EBay. It should be here between Friday and next Thursday. These are discontinued so you can’t get them from the dealer’s parts department.
I’ll keep updating you on this project as I go along.
The first step was to remove the battery and TIPM from the drivers side engine compartment, along with the battery tray, to expose the four top-hat studs and nuts for the strut. On the passengers side it was a bit easier, with only the airbox to remove.
You can see the drivers side outer axle boot got shredded. I plan to refurbish this axle with a new boot and grease because there doesn’t seem to be any real damage.
You must be registered for see images attach
There was so so much grease slung absolutely everywhere. What a pain to clean up.
You must be registered for see images attach
Here is the naughty strut minus its springs. The failure mode was the shaft broke off at the threads that screw into the clevis fork. I guess 13 years of wheeling caused a bit of metal fatigue.
You must be registered for see images attach
Here is the passenger’s side before taking it apart so you can see what it’s supposed to look like. The mud just makes it look more realistic. The rust on the rotors is from four weeks of sitting.
You must be registered for see images attach
This side came apart more easily. There wasn’t grease all over everything, which helped. I loosely put the knuckle and control arms together again minus the strut while we wait for the struts to be assembled.
You must be registered for see images attach
And here is the good adjust-a-strut, removed.
You must be registered for see images attach
These can probably be refurbished at some point, using a new pair of Bilstein M7 coilovers. The top hats and clevis forks are still completely solid. The shocks will need replacing. Getting the broken shaft piece out of the drivers side clevis fork will be very difficult. But I am going to hang onto these and see what I can do with them going forward.
One snag is that the clevis bolts from my old lift are too short for the refurbished cast Mopar clevis forks I will now be using. I found one of my original longer clevis bolts in my parts stash, but needed to order a second from EBay. It should be here between Friday and next Thursday. These are discontinued so you can’t get them from the dealer’s parts department.
I’ll keep updating you on this project as I go along.
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So it appears that both Jeeps sort of in my possession have had the engine bay flex line fail. Starts leaking at the connection for the line from the tank. 50 some odd bucks later in each case and they're both fixed. Since I was sticking around in the garage today doing lots of cleanup for various reasons, I decided to take a look at the fuel lines and see if I could see why they were leaking. Lo and behold, the fitting on each end has two o-rings, and a hard spacer in between them. So I take them both apart, and figure out what size o-ring it needs. So now I have 100 pack of 011 viton o-rings on their way and I'm going to see if I can't refurbish both of these lines.
I didn't know they change the design from 2007 that much, what is crazy how that bolts up at the top, almost upside down compared to the older ones
Yes, the JBA adjust a strut coilovers are upside down compared to the OME spring / Bilstein shock combo that is going in to replace them. What you are picturing from back in the day is what I am going to install next.
I’ll be picking up the assembled struts at my 4x4 shop on Thursday and I’ll post a photo.
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Check with the tiny trailers forum, www.tnttt.com. That’s where I learned everything I needed to build my off road camper trailer. It started as a military trailer though, so I didn’t have to go through the home built registration. That said, it passes PA trailer inspection every year.
Johnny O
Just hangin' out.
Driving Bert today as wifey and kids stole the Rubicon to do Rocky Mountain National Park...and their other cars all suck.
