What did you do to your jeep today?

[Brendon Holt]

Kind of a hasty paint job on some undercarriage components. Mostly just want to get it covered up before rust season returns in the Rockies.

Still need to jack the front up and get it done but that's more involved

 

[CherokeeLiberty]

I finally vacuumed and dusted the jeep out tonight. I have rediscovered that the interior is gray

 

[seafish]

I have rediscovered that the interior is gray

Are you sure that its not "Taupe" ??

 

[mercdudecbr600]

Kind of a hasty paint job on some undercarriage components. Mostly just want to get it covered up before rust season returns in the Rockies.

Still need to jack the front up and get it done but that's more involved

Reading my mind! I have the same job to do

 

[mercdudecbr600]

Finally took the plunge - 4.10 regear complete. And while I was there, replaced front differential bushings (totally shot), motor mounts (torn in half), trans mount (torn in half), and steering ram bushings (not terrible). Bushing replacements were front creative steel - never want to do this again - but mounts are just aftermarket.
And oh yeah muffler and tailpipe replacement.

But as soon as it was together, noticed strong vibration above 70mph. And then I rebuilt the rear driveshaft and replaced the junky front driveshaft with a balanced lifetime unit.

Having both driveshafts out, realized the front one is longer than rear. Both should be balanced, don’t get one that isn’t.

 

[Brendon Holt]

Noticed the lower radiator hose was leaking a bit where it connects to the T-stat housing. Loosened the worm clamp, repositioned and retightened the hose clamp. Checked the other hoses and noticed the top radiator hose was close to blowing off, so fixed that and avoided a fun "adventure" somewhere on the side of the road, lmao.

 

[CherokeeLiberty]

Are you sure that its not "Taupe" ??

It isn’t anymore!

 

[Hec In Omaha]

Today I changed the oil and oil filter on “Quackers” our 2009 KK 131,849 miles. I always use Valvoline full synthetic high mileage 5W-20 and a Mopar filter. On the previous oil change I used ATS 505 CRO as instructed just prior to the oil change. This is the first time I used it. I noticed that it turned the oil really black when I drained the oil. It is recommended to use it every other oil change so today’s oil change didn’t get it. When I drained the oil today, I noticed 5-6 little chunks of carbon/sludge in my oil drain pan which resembled a shape similar to finger nail clippings. Some were dark brown or black. If I rubbed them between my fingers they smeared like a thick paste. That stuff must have decarboned something in the engine! This is the fourth oil change I have done and first time I have seen these particles in the drained oil. I change the oil on Quackers at 3,000 mile intervals.

Hec

 

[Brendon Holt]

Today I changed the oil and oil filter on “Quackers” our 2009 KK 131,849 miles. I always use Valvoline full synthetic high mileage 5W-20 and a Mopar filter. On the previous oil change I used ATS 505 CRO as instructed just prior to the oil change. This is the first time I used it. I noticed that it turned the oil really black when I drained the oil. It is recommended to use it every other oil change so today’s oil change didn’t get it. When I drained the oil today, I noticed 5-6 little chunks of carbon/sludge in my oil drain pan which resembled a shape similar to finger nail clippings. Some were dark brown or black. If I rubbed them between my fingers they smeared like a thick paste. That stuff must have decarboned something in the engine! This is the fourth oil change I have done and first time I have seen these particles in the drained oil. I change the oil on Quackers at 3,000 mile intervals.

Hec

Nice! I'm thinking about running the Valvoline Restore and Protect after this OCI and maybe running another flush through at the end of the Valvoline, just to see what it does.

 

[REDACTED]

Nice! I'm thinking about running the Valvoline Restore and Protect after this OCI and maybe running another flush through at the end of the Valvoline, just to see what it does.

That restore and protect works wonders. It decreased my oil burning and increased my fuel mileage. And I no longer get that yellowy mystery sludge under my oil cap

 

[ikuo78]

As usual in the summer, we camped at a high altitude lake.
This year, the weather was unpredictable, so we gave up on trekking and went fishing instead.
We were supposed to catch rainbow trout with blue backs, but my kids didn't catch any.
I just drank beer, so I didn't catch anything.

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[Luke]

This year we went for the opposite of rustic Scorching on the shores of Lake Erie from whence I was hatched. Much sand and too much sun!

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[klc]

Looks like you've still got the 20+ year old spare tire. I'd recommend you replace that. Sick kayak mount though

I had to buy tires right after I got the Jeep and found that the spare was manufactured in 2001!

 

[CheddarGau]

Went to costco, didn't fight for parking, park as far away as possible, walk across lot all faster than waiting and using precious sanity...... whats left. Bought a bunch of stuff I didn't plan to get for lunches because I'm feeling lazy and don't feeling like preparing food. I didn't get the waffle iron because it wasn't the right one(whole reason I went to costco). Wife failed to mention it was out of stock when she checked hahahaha. Oh well.

Left, went in the round about, entered like a normal human, someone came in speeding from the left of me, honked, so I came to nearly a stop exiting (their exit too), then proceeded to drive slow while she was losing her mind in the rear view, but never honked again. By the time I got to the stop light, she calmed down and likely saw the error of her ways. No yelling, fingers or anything from me. Just a nice, super slow drive that caused her to miss the green light, resulting in more of her time lost. The lift, roof rack and bigger aggressive tires really make a difference on how people deal with you in traffic situations.

I had no where to be in a hurry so I was good.

Also bought new work boots. Easy day.

 

[burntkat]

Kind of a hasty paint job on some undercarriage components. Mostly just want to get it covered up before rust season returns in the Rockies.

Still need to jack the front up and get it done but that's more involved

Have you heard of Ospho?

 

[CherokeeLiberty]

New headlights since a low beam died on me this morning. One low beam was still brighter than the high beams in our ‘98 Dodge truck, though

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[burntkat]

I need to replace my bulbs. I only have one operable high beam. Fortunately the aftermarket driving lights are god awful bright should I need more light, and the factory low beams seem quite good, too.

Honestly, need to crack open the spare housings and do a projector upgrade, and see about putting a (selectable) DRL feature in as well. Basically, a toggle that, even should I leave it engaged, won't let the bulbs burn if the parking brake is on or engine isn't running.

 

[seafish]

I need to replace my bulbs.

I was so pleased with the Phillips X-treme Vision Halogen bulbs that Daniel Stern (a professor of 12v vehicle forward lighting lol) recommended for my 2005 Dodge Ram (headlights SOOOOO bad!!!) that I started placing them in ALL my vehicles for almost 25 years now. The Xtreme Vision bulbs are still available in a normal halogen light color, are in fact substantially brighter, and still last a long, LONG time.

Of course, I have all sorts of auxiliary lighting on both my truck and Jeep, but for using in OEM headlights, these bulbs are the real deal IMO.

While you CAN buy bulbs from him, you can also buy them Rallylights or from Amazon for even less, though of course from amazon then unfortunately you need to be aware of counterfeit bulbs. I do like the guys and customer service at Rallylights … they are more then happy to talk about your lighting needs and sell only quality products, htough their websitw is kinda hard to navigate.

Daniel Stern Lighting Consultancy and Supply

North America's Premier Automotive Lighting Consultancy and Supply House

danielsternlighting.com

 

[lfhoward]

Can a bad intermediate shaft sound like a clunking under your feet as the Jeep goes over uneven roads? This noise started recently and is getting worse.

I have eliminated a number of other things and am still stumped.
- All new OME springs & Bilstein struts this summer
- All new front suspension bushings and ball joints (everything) in the last 2 years
- wheel bearings are good and 5 years old
- steering shaft U-joint had play so I replaced it a month ago
- steering rack bushings were toast so I replaced those a month ago with Creative Steel bushings
- front inner and outer tie rods were bad so I replaced those and got it aligned a couple of weeks ago.
- rear CV on front driveshaft had play so I removed the front driveshaft this morning to take it out of the equation.

Everything steering and front suspension related is new or new-ish and tight, per my careful inspection this morning. Lug nuts are torqued to spec.

The passengers side front CV axle seal is leaking and there is some up and down play in the plastic axle bearing that should not be there when I shake the CV axle up and down.

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Motor mounts, transmission mounts, and front differential bushings are tired but still intact.

From my adventures this morning…

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Trashed. The rubber boot was intact but the covers did not seal properly maybe.

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This will be my third replacement of the rear CV of the front driveshaft in 232,000 miles. Easy to log into my DriveshaftParts.com account and re-order.

Not much grease left in there.

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And as an FYI to KK people, this is in the way and has to be removed to get the front driveshaft out.

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[burntkat]

I was so pleased with the Phillips X-treme Vision Halogen bulbs that Daniel Stern (a professor of 12v vehicle forward lighting lol) recommended for my 2005 Dodge Ram (headlights SOOOOO bad!!!) that I started placing them in ALL my vehicles for almost 25 years now. The Xtreme Vision bulbs are still available in a normal halogen light color, are in fact substantially brighter, and still last a long, LONG time.

Of course, I have all sorts of auxiliary lighting on both my truck and Jeep, but for using in OEM headlights, these bulbs are the real deal IMO.

While you CAN buy bulbs from him, you can also buy them Rallylights or from Amazon for even less, though of course from amazon then unfortunately you need to be aware of counterfeit bulbs. I do like the guys and customer service at Rallylights … they are more then happy to talk about your lighting needs and sell only quality products, htough their websitw is kinda hard to navigate.

Daniel Stern Lighting Consultancy and Supply

North America's Premier Automotive Lighting Consultancy and Supply House

danielsternlighting.com

Before buying any 'imaginative' bulbs (yes those are nice bulbs, but don't last longer in my experience), one should educate themselves on the impact of voltage drop on halogen bulbs... Especially when the current is run through 30 feet or so of barely-adequate wire that is 20 or more years old.

TLDR - by the time the voltage gets to your bulbs, you're probably only getting 10 volts to them. That means an enormous drop in lumens out the front.

Best thing to do? Run 8ga wire from the battery to a pair of relays behind each light assembly-1 each for hi and low beam. Use the factory wiring to toggle the relay. Use the high current side of the relay to feed the bulbs. I've been doing this to every car I've ever owned since roughly 1990, and it's never failed to make a huge difference. Obviously, you want to ensure good wiring practices (solder and heat shrink, good grounds - go right to the battery if you need to) fuse the feed to the bulb output of each bulb, etc)

As a bonus, (on some vehicles) losing a fuse doesn't mean you're left with no light output at all.

EDIT - similar actions can be taken with tired old door lock actuators, windows motors, etc. This is a well-known fix for slow windows on old XJs, for instance. Basically you're taking the 'heavy lifting' (current wise) off of the factory wiring and isolating it to the relays you've installed, and the heavy cable going straight to the battery (or to a distribution block). It does get a bit more complicated with Power windows motors and locks, because you typically have two wires and a reversing polarity arrangement in the factory switchgear, but some quick googling will provide answers.

As ever, if you don't understand electricity, leave it alone. Find someone that does (and to be honest, don't take their word for it - this stuff can get complicated, fast, and burn things down if you're not careful). Honestly, I used to install professionally (before the time of LANs and multiplexing in passenger cars), and I'm glad I got out of it when I did.