Doing It The Hard Way - JL Steering Box and a Front Stretch
- Thread starter carrotman
- Start date
I got my whole A/C system changed out last weekend using all UAC parts from RockAuto, aside from the evaporator in the dash. In the end I got it done, but I would recommend trying one of the other brands to someone else. Just about every part had an issue with it.
I didn't want to take my dash apart, but I wanted to clean my evaporator. I stuck a plug in one end with a hole drilled through it and used a syringe to fill it with acetone. It took quite a bit, close to a quart I think.
- Condenser was made with 40 rows of fins instead of the 41 rows the factory unit had, so the mounting holes were about 3/4" off. This was a total pain and I ended up just mounting it with zip ties at the bottom. Not ideal.
- High pressure line needed to be bent away from the compressor so it wouldn't contact, and the mounting bracket was installed on it backwards.
- Low pressure line was too short, bends needed to be flattened a bit so it would connect on both ends
- Lines coming out the top of the accumulator were too tall/out of spec and got in the way of the line connecting to the evaporator
- The compressor itself did seem fine, though time will tell.
View attachment 560230
I blasted it out as well as I could with high pressure compressed air, this is what it looked like:
View attachment 560232
Then I stuck the air hose in one end, set the regulator to about 35psi and blew air through it for about 40 minutes. Hopefully this was enough to evaporate any remaining acetone in there.
View attachment 560231
To get the condenser out without removing the radiator, I replaced the radiator mounting bolts one at a time with longer ones, that way I could slide it back enough to get the condenser in and out. That worked pretty great, but I'd be extra careful not to put too much torque on those bolts given they just screw into those body clip things.
View attachment 560233
I forgot to grab a picture of the new condenser, but you get the idea.
Here is all of the oil that came out of my old compressor. Barely a few drops. I'm not sure if that's normal or not, there seemed to be a lot of oil everywhere else in the system. It definitely looks old and smells weird, but I'm thinking it was just a clutch failure.
View attachment 560234
While I'm not impressed with the components, it is still blowing ice cold after a week, so no major leaks or malfunctions yet.
Just so you know, they make A/C specific flush solvent & kits for doing it too.
https://www.amazon.com/Conditioner-...ng-Fittings/dp/B0BVZ5N3Y3/?tag=wranglerorg-20
https://www.amazon.com/TSI-Supercool-FFQ-High-Temp-Greater/dp/B00CFQQX5S/?tag=wranglerorg-20
But looks like you've got it handled.
HI @carrotman,
I just wanted to say thank you! I recently created my account, but I’ve been following your JL steering box swap thread for several months now. Thanks to your detailed work and pioneering, I was able to do a similar swap myself. I used a Motobilt front half kit, frenched the frame like you did, and installed a JL steering box at the front—it worked great! Somehow, I even got it driving before the next work week, which was a lifesaver since it’s my daily driver. Your thread was invaluable, and I really appreciate it! I cant figure out how to upload pics in the forum yet but there are a few pics of how I did it on my second most recent post on Instagram @prestonjaypalmer
That's awesome to hear! I can't believe someone else wanted to try this, but I do have to say, driving characteristics are great with the JL box. Good call on the Motobilt front frame, that probably saved you a ton of time and headache.
I'd love to see a build thread, I think you just need to get to 10 posts on the forum before you can post pictures.
Build thread is coming hopefully I can find some time to write it all up.
Had a bit of a type 3 fun weekend. Remember how I replaced every component of my AC system aside from the evaporator? Well, about 2 months ago, the evaporator popped. I remember it was the first cool day we had, and it happened within the first 5 minutes of a drive. I don't know if lower ambient temps would cause system pressure to go up, or if it was just a coincidence.
With temps rising I had to get it taken care of. Not a ton of pics, the bugs were making it a bit miserable.
Here it is all ripped out:
Found a bunch of nesting up above my steering column.
I had cleaned the leaves out of this as well as I could a few months ago through the blower resistor hole, but clearly I barely made a dent.
You can see the wet spot at the bottom right. Hopefully cooling performance will be better on the new one just with the junk out of the way.
Glad I bought a heater core too (why wouldn't you after going through all this work). It's looking like it wouldn't have made it much longer either. I'm just nervous about the cheap Chinese replacement parts lasting anywhere near as long as the factory parts did.
Made a fresh gasket out of some adhesive foam sheets. Shhhh that's not my wife's piping tips...
Turned out pretty good. I could have maybe fit it a little tighter but it'll work.
I also got some sound deadener and acoustic foam for up behind the dash. I didn't get any pics of it, and I don't think it will do much, but now was the time to do it if I was going to. That's what that foam is.
I got Four Seasons evaporator, heater core, and accumulator this time since I wasn't too impressed with UAC stuff I got before. I wouldn't say it is much better, but it is serviceable. The heater core pipes were not bent quite right so I had to finagle them into place. Evaporator was fairly decent. Accumulator was basically the same.
I've got a vacuum pulled on the system and will keep it that way until mid week when my r134a arrives. So far, no leaks!
With temps rising I had to get it taken care of. Not a ton of pics, the bugs were making it a bit miserable.
Here it is all ripped out:
Found a bunch of nesting up above my steering column.
I had cleaned the leaves out of this as well as I could a few months ago through the blower resistor hole, but clearly I barely made a dent.
You can see the wet spot at the bottom right. Hopefully cooling performance will be better on the new one just with the junk out of the way.
Glad I bought a heater core too (why wouldn't you after going through all this work). It's looking like it wouldn't have made it much longer either. I'm just nervous about the cheap Chinese replacement parts lasting anywhere near as long as the factory parts did.
Made a fresh gasket out of some adhesive foam sheets. Shhhh that's not my wife's piping tips...
Turned out pretty good. I could have maybe fit it a little tighter but it'll work.
I also got some sound deadener and acoustic foam for up behind the dash. I didn't get any pics of it, and I don't think it will do much, but now was the time to do it if I was going to. That's what that foam is.
I got Four Seasons evaporator, heater core, and accumulator this time since I wasn't too impressed with UAC stuff I got before. I wouldn't say it is much better, but it is serviceable. The heater core pipes were not bent quite right so I had to finagle them into place. Evaporator was fairly decent. Accumulator was basically the same.
I've got a vacuum pulled on the system and will keep it that way until mid week when my r134a arrives. So far, no leaks!
where did you get the stl file to print that. Id like to kinda do the same and that would be easier than messing with that heavy box.
I made it in Onshape. Dimensions are approximate but close enough.
Here are the files. I separated the STLs into more printable shapes and just hot glued it together.
Good luck!
So far so good on the AC system. It doesn't cool as well as I remember the old parts cooling, but I have a feeling I got the R134a charge wrong or something. I'll try taking it to a professional at some point.
Finally did a tuneup with the parts I've been sitting on for half a year.
Overall, it went pretty well. My last tuneup was basically when I bought the Jeep, probably close to 10 years ago and 50k miles ago. There was definitely some wear on the parts but overall that's pretty good life out of these parts.
I measured the APP 985 gaps at: .038, .036, .044, .050, .035, .035. Not sure what was going on with the middle two, but not that bad.
Accidentally snapped off my dipstick handle though...
Everything that was needed here. Those hose grip pliers I would say are a requirement, especially on plug #1.
Also busted one of the new plugs when installing it by putting too much sideways torque on the extension.. oops. Using a universal joint at the socket would have prevented that, and I used one on the rest.
Went with the Champion RC12ECC / 438 plain copper plugs this time, no real reason other than to see if there was any change with anything. Still once in a blue moon getting a misfire code, maybe it will be happier on the copper plugs.
Before the tuneup, I was getting 11.8mpg consistently across 3-4 fillups. I've only had one fillup since, but it was already improved at 12.6mpg. I'll update as I put more miles on. Not expecting much, but nice to see the tuneup did actually do something.
Also, earlier in the year I swapped out my rear rotors for the larger JK Big brake kit ones I got a while back. The rotors got destroyed when the garage got flooded, but I figured out that the non-vented rear JL rotors are the exact same rotor:
I also changed out the parking brakes because they were hardly working anymore after the salt water, but I didn't document any of it.
Next order of business is going to be my starter, been getting some failed cranks lately. Hopefully has nothing to do with my tuneup...
Finally did a tuneup with the parts I've been sitting on for half a year.
Overall, it went pretty well. My last tuneup was basically when I bought the Jeep, probably close to 10 years ago and 50k miles ago. There was definitely some wear on the parts but overall that's pretty good life out of these parts.
I measured the APP 985 gaps at: .038, .036, .044, .050, .035, .035. Not sure what was going on with the middle two, but not that bad.
Accidentally snapped off my dipstick handle though...
Everything that was needed here. Those hose grip pliers I would say are a requirement, especially on plug #1.
Also busted one of the new plugs when installing it by putting too much sideways torque on the extension.. oops. Using a universal joint at the socket would have prevented that, and I used one on the rest.
Went with the Champion RC12ECC / 438 plain copper plugs this time, no real reason other than to see if there was any change with anything. Still once in a blue moon getting a misfire code, maybe it will be happier on the copper plugs.
Before the tuneup, I was getting 11.8mpg consistently across 3-4 fillups. I've only had one fillup since, but it was already improved at 12.6mpg. I'll update as I put more miles on. Not expecting much, but nice to see the tuneup did actually do something.
Also, earlier in the year I swapped out my rear rotors for the larger JK Big brake kit ones I got a while back. The rotors got destroyed when the garage got flooded, but I figured out that the non-vented rear JL rotors are the exact same rotor:
I also changed out the parking brakes because they were hardly working anymore after the salt water, but I didn't document any of it.
Next order of business is going to be my starter, been getting some failed cranks lately. Hopefully has nothing to do with my tuneup...
"Doing It The Hard Way - JL Steering Box and a Front Stretch" -> Nope, you're just doing it the hard way (or the Jeep giving you the hard way) between the plug break, dip stick, etc...
Glad to see you back up on the forum with more recurring updates recently. I was amazed watching along on your fab skills on the steering. How's that steering treating you, since you went the hard way...
?
Honestly, everything has been working great! I haven't even taken it in for a professional alignment yet, it's just been completely fine on my tape measure job. Really this is the axle, but the extra caster is a huge change. No perceived bump steer. I think I need to set a stiffer sway bar setting for the street, definitely a little tippier on 4" springs. Can't really offroad it because I don't have any way of fixing anything right now, which is a bummer. Hopefully that'll change soon.
Glad to hear it's operating as you'd want.
Sorry to hear about the other issues limiting your offroad options. Hopefully they clear cleanly and soon!
So far there has been a bit of a mileage improvement on my latest fillups:
12.6 mpg
13.0 mpg
12.3 mpg
I wonder what it was about the tune up that changed it.
We've had a few pretty hot weeks lately and so far the JK radiator fan on low has been perfectly fine at keeping things cool.
12.6 mpg
13.0 mpg
12.3 mpg
I wonder what it was about the tune up that changed it.
We've had a few pretty hot weeks lately and so far the JK radiator fan on low has been perfectly fine at keeping things cool.
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