[Pizza Cat]

Hey Rabbit and Mrs. Rabbit, good to see you survived your stagecoach ride across the country:wave:

:laugh:

That was her 6th or 7th cross-country trip in a TJ or JK. Our second in less than a year for the current rig.


@Mexi-cant: Hnnnnngh

 

[AreBee]

2010 Unlimited on Chappaquiddick Beach a few years back. 99K on it now and still running strong.

 

[Heffernan]

Can anyone with some familiarity/personal experience give me some insight on the WJ? For the past few months, I've been doing some local searches on CL for 4Runners in my area. Choices seem to be sparse for decent Toyotas right now so I started looking into Jeeps. I found a pretty nice one about an hour from me. 2002 Grand Cherokee with 152k on the clock. It's eqipped with the 4.7L Power Tech V8 with a Selec-Trac NV242 transfer case. Seller is currently asking $5k for it. It does have some modifications done to it but nothing that would throw up any red flags. I emailed the seller to get some more information but in the meantime I wanted to see if I can get some suggestions from current or pervious owners about any shortcoming or things to watch out for from this generation. Pics for the actual WJ.

 

[ImHereForTheTaco]

Can anyone with some familiarity/personal experience give me some insight on the WJ? For the past few months, I've been doing some local searches on CL for 4Runners in my area. Choices seem to be sparse for decent Toyotas right now so I started looking into Jeeps. I found a pretty nice one about an hour from me. 2002 Grand Cherokee with 152k on the clock. It's eqipped with the 4.7L Power Tech V8 with a Selec-Trac NV242 transfer case. Seller is currently asking $5k for it. It does have some modifications done to it but nothing that would throw up any red flags. I emailed the seller to get some more information but in the meantime I wanted to see if I can get some suggestions from current or pervious owners about any shortcoming or things to watch out for from this generation. Pics for the actual WJ.

I owned and modified my WJ for a couple years and got to know it pretty well. I was ignorant at the time and didn't realize it was burning oil and it eventually spun a bearing and that's when I got rid of it. I definitely miss it from time to time and it was awesome off road.
The combo you found of V8 with Selec-Trac is definitely rare and desireable for off road use. Mine actually had Quadra-drive which did pretty damn good but it becomes less effective with larger tires, so I swapped in a NV242 for Selec-Trac
Mine did develop some death wobble but that was alleviated by front control arms, new ball joints, heavy duty tie-rods and drag link.
The radiator started leaking at some point so that had to be replaced which was a pretty big pain in the ass.
They did have issues with the front drive shaft and vibrations... there was a TSB on that.
Luckily I didn't have the issues with the blend doors on the dual climate control... Major repair for those if they go out and very common.

All that being said I now drive a Tacoma with 220K miles and I would not hesitate to drive it across the country at any given moment... I would not feel the same way if I was in the same position with my WJ

Here's a pic of my old WJ

 

[Baltimoron]

I don't own a WJ but a buddy bought an '04 Laredo 4.7 QuadraDrive last year and we have wrenched on it a bench of times.

Adding the following to WJ issues list:
-Central locking and power window issues usually linked to damaged passenger door wiring or failed control module
-Brakes are prone to warping leading to vibration and death wobble under braking
-Rust starting in the rear wheel arches

We did a 4 or 4.5in lift on it last month and it is every bit as capable as other midsized wheelers including non-locked JKs even though it was still on JK 32in highway tires.

 

[KitsonV]

Haha, Jdubya stuck in a rut. Thats okay, I was able to pull him out with this: 7.5" w/ 33's Warn Front Bumper, custom rear, looking for a D44 rear and 35's next.

Then I got stuck.

But I had to have a Unimog pull me out.

Notice the VW shirt I am wearing

Modified by Power5 at 3:21 PM 10-11-2006


Modified by Power5 at 3:22 PM 10-11-2006

Off raoding is something I have always wanted to do and it seems the XJ is the one to do it in! Awesome pictures and an awesome ride

 

[Cabin Pics]

Off raoding is something I have always wanted to do and it seems the XJ is the one to do it in! Awesome pictures and an awesome ride

I will say, I was never able to kill my XJ. So I let my friend drive it... Right into the side of a bluff. He killed it for me, brand new motor we built by hand, poof.

That was a very fun vehicle to own, I had a 3" lift on mine with 33" tires. It had the LSD rear end from factory which was nice, and it was a 4.0L. In the end it kind of ended up being an excuse to abuse something and it did get abused way more than it should have. Nonetheless, had a great time with it. Rolled it on it's side several times, sank it once or twice, and ultimately a dirt road ate it. No sway bars, 60MPH, gravel, and a hairpin turn.

Last words - "Dude I've never wrecked anything! Oh sh*t!"

Spin, spin, spin, smash. Rear axle was dropped from underneath the XJ, as in the back left wheel was under the bumper. Radiator was in the fan, overall a very nice goodbye party.

FWIW we grabbed a toolbox I had in the Jeep and dropped the drive shaft, threw it in 4x4 and managed to limp it into a nearby ditch to avoid any traffic.

 

[pasateando]

Earlier in the summer at Silver Lake Dunes, MI:

 

[Baltimoron]

That might be my ideal JKU - Tank Green Rubicon HardRock with half doors, looks great.

Any TCL Jeepers in the DC/VA/MD/PA area interested in hitting Rausch Creek this fall? I am planning a day trip at the end of Sept, let me know if you're interested.

 

[pasateando]

Thank you! I love my dumb toy! Best vehicle I have ever owned!

EDIT: It's actually a poor mans hard rock! :laugh: It was a "base" rubicon and spruced it up a bit, notice it's missing the hard rock hood :banghead:

 

[Gitcha Sum]

Once it was removed from this:

It was time to cut the fenders off & hammer the tub all to hell.
Now the sliders don't fit right.

 

[Volkl]

This thread dead?

We took our totally stock JKU, chrome side steps and all on some easier trails with a Jeep club this weekend. The fiance had more fun than she thought she would, and is already talking tires and a lift.

This is her second JKU, and the first one she wanted Hello Kitty everything, so I consider this way better!

 

[Baltimoron]

This thread dead?
We took our totally stock JKU, chrome side steps and all on some easier trails with a Jeep club this weekend. The fiance had more fun than she thought she would, and is already talking tires and a lift.

So tires and a lift, that's the gateway drug that leads to emptying your bank account, cashing in the 401K, and hocking your tv

I'm guessing you have a JKU Sport, so you're probably looking 2.5-3in lift and 35s without regearing and altering the factory geometry too much to require track bars and control arms. What options are on the Jeep now trans/diff ratios/open or LSD in the rear?

 

[Volkl]

So tires and a lift, that's the gateway drug that leads to emptying your bank account, cashing in the 401K, and hocking your tv

I'm guessing you have a JKU Sport, so you're probably looking 2.5-3in lift and 35s without regearing and altering the factory geometry too much to require track bars and control arms. What options are on the Jeep now trans/diff ratios/open or LSD in the rear?

We're not going crazy with this one. Before we bought the JKU, I was throwing around the idea of buying a 2 door for myself. I'm waiting for the JL 2 door to start hitting the dealers before deciding. Might just pick up a TJ or JK to play with off road.

The JKU is a 6-speed manual, 3.73, "anti-spin"

 

[Smooremin]

First time finding this thread.

Untitled by smooremin, on Flickr
02 4.7 limited 3 inch IRO lift 31inch Duratracs, Addco rear sway bar Bilstein 5100s

Im sure most have seen it. But I sure do love it.


Taking it down to Cabin Fest '18 this year, and am quite excited about it.

 

[chris86vw]

My last post in this thread was sometime in december of 2016 I think and I said I was going to tack up my tie rod the next day... well the next day turned out to be last friday.. so next day or 21ish months.. same thing

Got a bug up my butt to drive the jeep, only been 2 years :screwy: It helps when a Jeep shop moves in next to your shop and you get jealous of seeing stuff roll in an out all day. And they were 4 linking the front of a YJ Friday, that helped too.

So taking a break from rewiring a 39 packard I dug out the supplies and started messing with Jeep again... tie rod is tacked up, next step is confirming axle is where I want it, make some spring perches and then cut out tabs for the upper link.

 

[chris86vw]

Went into my shop saturday to finish up the wiring on that 39 packard I have in but couldn't find anyone with the connector I needed in stock so decided to make some more jeep progress.

cut out 4 tabs for the upper link, barely mocked up the upper link before just saying F it and cutting the tube , finished trimming the stock link mount on top of the diff housing and welded on the arch/brace. Tacked up the upper link tabs on the diff and frame side.

Being it has been so l long I Forget how level I Got the jeep on the jackstands so my angle measurements are only a ball park.

But with angle finder on top of upper ball joint ( not perfect but good enough for this) starting with +5deg of caster axle jacked up about 7" it changes to about 10degrees. I went with a longer lower link shorter upper link setup to maintain caster angle over pinion angle, which should be better on the street and light trails/overlanding which is what its used for. With the tummy tuck and HP30 the pinion/shaft actually seemed to stay very aligned the whole way anyway. Upper link is ~25" and lowers ~27 as they are currently adjusted, which seems to correctly place the axle so I can have the spring centered on top. Upper link starts off nearly flat with axle theoretically placed where it should be at ride height, lost my measurements (and didn't make lower perches yet).. but its close enough. Lower link is a few degrees down (frame to axle). I forget axle and frame separation on the link ends, maybe 8.75 at axle and 7.5? at frame.. pretty much just what it has to be.

7" of up in the picture here, ignoring tire would be in the fender, the first point of contact at this point is driveshaft hits a bump on the adapter plate from the cummins engine to GM style bell housing, not sure why the bump is there. Since I won't have 7" of up travel probably won't need to trim it.

Now to decide on a pitman arm to make the steering link, then need to order or build spring perches/buckets for the axle, and once I know where springs will be I can make the track bar. Basically only a ton more to do.

 

[chris86vw]

This place is dead. Where are all the new JL owners from TCL?

Did some more work on the front suspension this week:

Flattened the stock pitman arm (mapp torch and 20ton press), fit/cut the new steering link, started welding the frame side brackets in so that I trusted them to put weight on, made some circles out of 3/8 for spring perches, bought leaf spring mounts for 20 bucks for the bases since that was cheaper than my time/materials... but now I need to modify them :banghead:. Got frame off jackstands and have it under its own weight and sitting how it should be if the wheels/tires were on.

Unfortunately it is sitting much higher than planned according to some charts it would be ~5" lift from stock plus my current spring perches are half inch taller than stock so 5.5. I'm measuring 17" from lower spring perch to top of the rubber isolator (maybe its supposed to be to bottom? ) Unless I was measuring different before I didn't think I was over 4" on the stock axle with these springs so I"m not sure wtf is going on, shocks could have in theory been tugging it down a little but not really, maybe binding of the stock links? I'm at a loss for the moment but 5.5" of lift is too damn much. Jeep shop next to my shop has a bone stock TJ in right now so I'll measure/compare this week.

Once I sort the height I need to figure out the angle to get the springs sitting straight up and down at rest, I was using the upper link to mess with caster angle and watch it move so will just take some testing with that. After axle placement is confirmed I've got the track bar already mocked up same length as the steering link ready to get setup. Then lots of welding.

 

[Pizza Cat]

My Jeep is gone.


Goodbye, noble steed. You were tons of fun.

 

[Gitcha Sum]

Still twins after all these years.
Note my missing frame chunk though.
You want to steer right full lock and flex front right stuffed left front drooped all the way out.
As the knuckle rotates it also raises cause of the kingpin axis, so your drag link is closest to the frame at that point.

It's held up well. Cancer onset only 5 years in.