Hello all. short term lurker that is thankful for all of your postings, and finally made an account. I do have intentions of supporting this forum, but have been laid off for a bit and am budgeting accordingly.
I bought my first TJ on whim as a Christmas gift to myself just a few months ago, and committed the cardinal sin of any used vehicle purchase... I bought a rusted out POS, but I am in loving every minute of it.
If anything, I was adamant on the point of the impracticality of Jeeps (Wranglers, specifically). I do love impractical vehicles, but was by no means a jeep guy, and often argued against the purchase/ownership of such a vehicle. Nothing specifically changed, but on December 24th of 2023, I bought I '97 moss green Jeep wrangler sport, manual transmission, soft top, slider soft top doors, pretty much stock from a used car lot selling on behalf of the original owner.
I am roughly $3800 all in and pushing 105k miles, with all new brakes (excluding ABS controller, but all lines, wheel cylinders, pads shoes, calipers, backing plates, etc...), new shocks ( went with rancho 5000x based on reading from this forum), new skid plates (tranny and gas tank) and bolts/hardware,new fuel sending unit and lines, full tune up ( cap, rotor, wires, plugs, coolant flush with thermostat and hoses) recoated the frame and body with rust reformer while everything was out, new front wheel hubs, new to me but used rims and 30x9.5 rims and tires. I'm sure I am forgetting something.
I haven't done the differential or tranny fluid, but that should happen this weekend.
I was just so excited after tonights test drive that I had to post something. Obviously there is a cumulative effect, but after I dropped the gas tank a second time and replaced the whole sending unit today, this thing feels amazing. There was so much drag that I had attributed to suspension/brakes that was actually fuel related that with all the new components, this TJ now is probably my current favorite vehicle ( of the 6 I currently own) . I am very much looking forward to attending my first jeep event in the area in May, and thankful for all the experience and knowledge on this forum (specifically Chris & blaine. I don't know how to tag, or if I can)
One major concern I I have, with all the brake work, I do still have a brake light and a ABS light. All the fluid has been flushed through, and is coming out clean, but the rear brakes lock up before the front. I do have a scan tool that actuates the abs module, and did bleed accordingly, but the bias still seems wrong. any help on this would be appreciated. I did go with "performance" drilled and slotted rotors and ceramic pads up front, and matching set for the rear ( I believe Powerstop???I shopped between rock auto, extreme terrain, and 1aauto for price)
I did replace the whole parking brake assembly too, and that functions great now, but as a side note, portions of the rear drum brakes in the set were machined horribly. I spent too much time mixing and matching and reassembling just to come to the conclusion that two of the shoes and one drum weren't "perfect"... I ended up running the Tj on jack stands in first gear to seat the shoes to the drums just to prevent them from overheating and improperly bedding in. Under any normal stopping, everything is great, but brake light is on, and heavy brake pedal/emergency scenario will allow the rear wheels to lock up before the front, with a slight pull to the right.
Thank you again to everyone here.
I bought my first TJ on whim as a Christmas gift to myself just a few months ago, and committed the cardinal sin of any used vehicle purchase... I bought a rusted out POS, but I am in loving every minute of it.
If anything, I was adamant on the point of the impracticality of Jeeps (Wranglers, specifically). I do love impractical vehicles, but was by no means a jeep guy, and often argued against the purchase/ownership of such a vehicle. Nothing specifically changed, but on December 24th of 2023, I bought I '97 moss green Jeep wrangler sport, manual transmission, soft top, slider soft top doors, pretty much stock from a used car lot selling on behalf of the original owner.
I am roughly $3800 all in and pushing 105k miles, with all new brakes (excluding ABS controller, but all lines, wheel cylinders, pads shoes, calipers, backing plates, etc...), new shocks ( went with rancho 5000x based on reading from this forum), new skid plates (tranny and gas tank) and bolts/hardware,new fuel sending unit and lines, full tune up ( cap, rotor, wires, plugs, coolant flush with thermostat and hoses) recoated the frame and body with rust reformer while everything was out, new front wheel hubs, new to me but used rims and 30x9.5 rims and tires. I'm sure I am forgetting something.
I haven't done the differential or tranny fluid, but that should happen this weekend.
I was just so excited after tonights test drive that I had to post something. Obviously there is a cumulative effect, but after I dropped the gas tank a second time and replaced the whole sending unit today, this thing feels amazing. There was so much drag that I had attributed to suspension/brakes that was actually fuel related that with all the new components, this TJ now is probably my current favorite vehicle ( of the 6 I currently own) . I am very much looking forward to attending my first jeep event in the area in May, and thankful for all the experience and knowledge on this forum (specifically Chris & blaine. I don't know how to tag, or if I can)
One major concern I I have, with all the brake work, I do still have a brake light and a ABS light. All the fluid has been flushed through, and is coming out clean, but the rear brakes lock up before the front. I do have a scan tool that actuates the abs module, and did bleed accordingly, but the bias still seems wrong. any help on this would be appreciated. I did go with "performance" drilled and slotted rotors and ceramic pads up front, and matching set for the rear ( I believe Powerstop???I shopped between rock auto, extreme terrain, and 1aauto for price)
I did replace the whole parking brake assembly too, and that functions great now, but as a side note, portions of the rear drum brakes in the set were machined horribly. I spent too much time mixing and matching and reassembling just to come to the conclusion that two of the shoes and one drum weren't "perfect"... I ended up running the Tj on jack stands in first gear to seat the shoes to the drums just to prevent them from overheating and improperly bedding in. Under any normal stopping, everything is great, but brake light is on, and heavy brake pedal/emergency scenario will allow the rear wheels to lock up before the front, with a slight pull to the right.
Thank you again to everyone here.
