Mvigo's '04 Rubicon

[mvigo]

While @mrblaine performed the outboard of my shocks, he noticed and pointed out to me a few items that needed to be corrected as well as some deferred maintenance.. So, I spent the morning taking apart, cleaning up and re-greasing the johnny joints on the lower control arms and I had to rebuild 2 of them. I hope to get to the 3 uppers later this weekend. I hadn't lubed them since I installed the mid-arm 2 years ago.

These bushings were replaced:

I also ordered a new Barnett diff cover for the front axle. My Riddler that I currently have installed is interfering with the track bar, as just about everyone knew but me! Lastly, I still need to weld up the corners of each truss on the axles that I didn't know I had to do when I installed the mid-arm. I will tackle that this weekend as well.

 

[ranger101]

Just out of curiosity, how did you decide those bushings are bad? They don’t appear to be torn up or distorted. I’m getting ready to tear my JJ’s down also.

 

[mrblaine]

Just out of curiosity, how did you decide those bushings are bad? They don’t appear to be torn up or distorted. I’m getting ready to tear my JJ’s down also.

Something very odd that I've never seen before. The joint was loose and rattled on the ball. I've handled 100's and 100's of JJ ends and have never seen that.

 

[mvigo]

Just out of curiosity, how did you decide those bushings are bad? They don’t appear to be torn up or distorted. I’m getting ready to tear my JJ’s down also.

I had the watchful eye of @mrblaine, he is the one who noticed it when working on my outboard a couple of weeks back. The only thing I can say is this bushing was much "drier" then the others that I took off. The others were easier to turn, although they are all smooth now after the maintenance. Not too hard but not too easy either. I will keep these in my trail bag just in case...

 

[ranger101]

Something very odd that I've never seen before. The joint was loose and rattled on the ball. I've handled 100's and 100's of JJ ends and have never seen that.

Maybe dirt getting in there from a lack of grease and wearing the two materials down. The uniball seems to have dings in it.

 

[ranger101]

I had the watchful eye of @mrblaine, he is the one who noticed it when working on my outboard a couple of weeks back. The only thing I can say is this bushing was much "drier" then the others that I took off. The others were easier to turn, although they are all smooth now after the maintenance. Not too hard but not too easy either. I will keep these in my trail bag just in case...

Did you buy the Currie tool or use a different method?

 

[mrblaine]

Maybe dirt getting in there from a lack of grease and wearing the two materials down. The uniball seems to have dings in it.

The ball is fine.

 

[Vasq]

What an awesome build, love the trips! Dunno how I missed this one, I'm tagging along now.

 

[mvigo]

Did you buy the Currie tool or use a different method?

I ended up buying the Currie tool, it makes the job very easy and I justified it knowing I will be maintaining these JJ's on a regular basis for a very long time.

 

[mvigo]

In the spirit of you don't know what you don't know, and continuing to knock off the small items on @mrblaine list he gave to complete, I welded the creases of the front/rear truss on the mid-arm that I didn't do when I installed it a couple years back. Many of you probably knew to do this, I did not. I hope this reminds or informs those that install the Savvy mid-arm themselves. In fact, I think I now know all the do's and don'ts of this mid-arm kit that I can't wait to do it again...

I wire brushed off the paint to prep for welding. There are 2 spots/creases in the front and 2 on the back of the front truss:

welded up:

Although no pics, there are 2 spots on the rear truss as well that are on the forward side of the axle. When welding, be mindful of any wiring or brake lines that might get in the way if you do this after the fact. Hope this helps anyone in the future...

 

[mrblaine]

In the spirit of you don't know what you don't know, and continuing to knock of the small items on @mrblaine list he gave to complete, I welded the creases of the front/rear truss on the mid-arm that I didn't do when I installed it a couple years back. Many of you probably knew to do this, I did not. I hope this reminds or informs those that install the Savvy mid-arm themselves. In fact, I think I now know all the do's and don'ts of this mid-arm kit that I can't wait to do it again...

I wire brushed off the paint to prep for welding. There are 2 spots/creases in the front and 2 on the back of the front truss:
View attachment 185372

welded up:
View attachment 185373

Although no pics, there are 2 spots on the rear truss as well that are on the forward side of the axle. When welding, be mindful of any wiring or brake lines that might get in the way if you do this after the fact. Hope this helps anyone in the future...

For reference in case others want to know, you should weld up the whole split from top to bottom and in your case, get in there with a cut off disc and open it up slightly to clean out all the paint. Something like this.

If anyone is wondering why they need to be welded afterward it is due to the width just fitting past the ends of the Dana 44 center section where the tubes press in. Welding up the corners first would close up that distance and make it hard to fit.

 

[mvigo]

For reference in case others want to know, you should weld up the whole split from top to bottom and in your case, get in there with a cut off disc and open it up slightly to clean out all the paint. Something like this.
View attachment 185383

If anyone is wondering why they need to be welded afterward it is due to the width just fitting past the ends of the Dana 44 center section where the tubes press in. Welding up the corners first would close up that distance and make it hard to fit.

looks like I have a few more welds to do! thanks again!

 

[mvigo]

I replaced my Riddler diff cover on the front axle with a Barnett cover due to the track bar hitting the Riddler. I should be in good shape now.

I have now driven about 300 miles since @mrblaine completed the outboard and it just handles better and better. I am running the Rubicon at the end of the month and look forward to see how it handles on that trail.

 

[mvigo]

I spent the weekend running the Rubicon and it was the first time off-road with the outboard work @mrblaine completed on my Jeep. It has been said before, but I will say it again, an amazing difference in the handling and an absolute pleasure to drive! I have run this trail enough to know it pretty well and this last run was by far the easiest. I didn't seem to use my lockers nearly as much as I have had in the past. As I was driving through the mountain roads back towards Auburn, I found myself hitting the corners faster (or at least as fast as the 4.0 would go) and the thought crept into my mind again that I need more HP's. That is how much fun this TJ is to drive...

Here are a couple of pics, hope to have more soon...

Observation Point:

On the slabs above Buck Island Lake:

 

[bobthetj03]

When did they open the trail back up?

 

[mvigo]

When did they open the trail back up?

the trail opened back up last Saturday. There is still no dispersed camping anywhere on the trail unless you camp on private property. I was lucky in that I made a reservation in the Springs last April for this weekend so we camped there Friday night and Saturday night we camped on private property that a pal of mine who was with us co-owns. We saw a couple of other groups but mostly had the trail to ourselves. No fires of any kind allowed, even on the private property. I ate manifold burritos all weekend...

 

[TWiG01]

I am truly envious of your build. Thanks for documenting. Awesome rig!

 

[mvigo]

a few more pics from the weekend...nothing fancy, other than the sheer beauty of the Rubicon trail...

 

[mvigo]

been pretty quiet TJ wise until today, a few of us were thirsty so we motored up to Uncle Tom's Cabin for a beer or 2...hope all y'all are staying safe and healthy out there...

Stumpy Meadows Reservoir...

gorgeous day...

cold beer indeed...

 

[Nickgsjeep]

been pretty quiet TJ wise until today, a few of us were thirsty so we motored up to Uncle Tom's Cabin for a beer or 2...hope all y'all are staying safe and healthy out there...

Stumpy Meadows Reservoir...
View attachment 224181

gorgeous day...
View attachment 224182

View attachment 224186

cold beer indeed...
View attachment 224187

Awesome