GS-MW 2008 @ the Badlands!

[OverkillZJ]

Looks like a great time as always!

[ajmorell]

Well, the ARB is toast.
3 teeth missing from each of the spider gears.
The drivers side gear is fused to the carrier, which allowed me to make it home with the passenger side gear useless.
The locker is now a paperweight, and will likely be replaced with a Detroit by next weekend.
Tearing it down at the park would not have saved it, as the side gear seemed to fuse as I came down, and never released. I am assuming some spider gear metal got under it.
Otherwise, and even so, it was a great weekend with some great new friends.
I won't go name by name, but some people took care of me all day on Saturday, and I appreciate it greatly.

Damn that sounds horrible. The way home revealed a horrible grinding sound for me. I'm not sure what it is yet as I really haven't had time to look into it yet. It sounds like it is coming from the front end, but I have no idea. All I know is that I can feel it as soon as the engine cranks over and it is a decent grinding vibration.

[OHIOZJ]

i had a blast, it was great meeting all you guys. im glad to finally make it to one of these runs. and i totally wasnt expecting to come home with a new track bar. now i can get rid of my old rubicon express one.

[aaronsh2rcvry]

some time when i was down there i bent both of my rear leafs, (MJ)

there is my reason to do the rear 4 link

[bgcntry72]

All I know is that I can feel it as soon as the engine cranks over and it is a decent grinding vibration.

It vibrates/grinds in park or neutral?
Does it change pitch with change in RPM?
So the noise is engine based, and not driveline based?
You are sure about that?
Thats a good thing, because it's easier to diagnose in most cases.
Thats a bad thing because...well...its the engine...
Things that can grind up there are water pump, fan clutch, alternator (water), harmonic balancer, etc.
Need more info to diagnose.
...
OBTW...my ARB was a first gen unit, and gave 8 years of service.
I put it back in for the 30 mile trip to my friend's shop, so God willing, it will give me just a little more love.
For my next trick, I have decided that I tire of switches, and am moving to a Detroit for the rear, and it should be in by this weekend and broken in by Memorial Day.
I will leave the switch for the rear ARB in, but just never turn it off.

Wyfe is less than pleased.

[ajmorell]

It vibrates/grinds in park or neutral?
Does it change pitch with change in RPM?
So the noise is engine based, and not driveline based?
You are sure about that?
Thats a good thing, because it's easier to diagnose in most cases.
Thats a bad thing because...well...its the engine...
Things that can grind up there are water pump, fan clutch, alternator (water), harmonic balancer, etc.
Need more info to diagnose.

It grinds in all gears. It isn't so much a grinding noise as it just sounds like there is excessive friction between 2 things, I'm not sure what. 2 things that came to mind were A) Motor mounts and B) Clearance between exhaust and body. I'm actually going out there right now to check it out and see what the deal is. I'll report back one way or another.

[ajmorell]

Well, I figured out the problem. It turns out that I bashed my t-case skid/x-member so hard that it was in contact with my transfer case. The vibrations from the motor and transmission/drivetrain were being transmitted back through the cross member and into the body. I'm not sure if it was a result of that bolt coming out of my crossmember, but looking at the design, it seems pretty likely that it will happen again. I need to find a way to stiffen the rear support arm....look below.

Originally there was no gap between these two surfaces.



The bracket attached to the unibody was mangled. I pounded it out best I could.



Final Result:




I'm going to contact Kevin and see if anyone else had this problem. I think the main problem is that rear bracket that attaches to the unibody rail is just too thin. I'm thinking of modifying it so that it is 1/4" u-channel instead of that thin plate and having 2 bolts running through the frame rail in addition to the 2 tapped in from the bottom.

[SirFuego]

The skid row skid is built differently than Kevin's, but I had the same issue with mine after high centering on a rock. Those self-tapping bolts just don't seem to hold up too well.

Looks like a great time. I'm hoping to make this next year. Might be going to the Badlands later this year, too.

[10achik]

Dove into the caliper job today, thought it would be relatively simple...not.

Pulled off the wheel and found this:



Notice the sheared bolt still in the back:



Only way to get to it, was to remove the axle shaft an the dust cover.



Drilled a hole and used some ezouts and removed it:



Went to the store and found some new bolts and went to put everything back together and found out the caliper bracket was actually bent. Took the bracket off and put it in a vice and beat the crap out of it. Used a little heat, a wedge and the vice to finally get it bent back right. Cast aluminum parts are not fun to bend. Anyway got it all back together, then the ABS light wouldn't go out, messed witht he wires and got that fixed.

Here's a few pic's of the other damage I found today:















The skid plate held up well considering the whole jeep was being supported by it: