The Jalapeno STILL Isn't Running, Updated 3/16/12

[ELLLLLIOTTTTT]

The death machine is back in action... sweet!

[FortCollinsZJ]

Lookin good. That front shaft vibe any more than it did before you lenghthened it?

[SuicideTireZJ]

Yeah I'm thinking about changing the name from the Jalapeno to The New Cesspool since that kid in Boulder (forgot his name) got rid of his. She actually did pretty well, all things considered.

Neil, the driveshaft didn't vibe any more than before because, well, it wouldn't fit before (look how much I had to extend it!) I had heard that XJ shafts were about the right length for a ZJ and I hadn't had a shaft since the exploding transfer case event a couple years ago. So I picked up an XJ shaft, but even fully extended it was 2" too short to fit. That's when I read that 93 V8 ZJ's were oddballs and had far longer (~3") front shafts because of a different transmission layout than all the other years.

That having been said, I did notice a vibe after I put it in under engine braking (Np231 and auto-hubs) but it was so slight I couldn't actually blame it on the shaft. And today it's gone anyway.

FWIW, a 1.75" .120 wall hrew to0b fit's very snugly inside a 1992 XJ shaft.

[FortCollinsZJ]

Good to know, I will likely be lengthening my own sometime, I plan to stretch the front out a few inches more.

I am going to be building new front LA's soon, going for a true four link front. That means the Claytons radius arms are going bye bye. I may have to offer them to you for a low price, you seem to need them, and I wouldn't have to ship them

[SuicideTireZJ]

My once-a-year upgrade bug has hit again, and now I'm kind of at a crossroads as to what to do to this thing. I have a Moab trip planned for the week after EJS (and maybe GSW???), and my tax return will be substantial enough that I can throw ~$1000 or so into this thing in the next 6 weeks.

The tires are worn out, so I've had my eye on a set of 315/75/16 or 315/70/17 Treadwright Guard Dogs (old MT/R tread). Problem is, I'd need new rims for either of these. 16's are easy enough to come across with the ZJ bolt pattern, but the tires are backordered 5-6 weeks from treadwright. 17's are hard to find for my bolt pattern, the only thing I can think of without buying new is KJ wheels, and they're not cheap.

In addition, to be running (metric) 35's, I'm not going to put up with the Dana 35c anymore, and I would like to run a locker of some sort. Again, there is no ideal solution here. A junkyard not far from my house has a good selection of axles for $150 each, but deciding what to run is proving to be a challenge. I COULD grab an aluminum 44 out of a ZJ, truss it, and buy an aussie. That would be the quickest solution, but it's not much of an upgrade. I could ALSO grab an 8.8 from an Explorer, run a mini-spool, and have a much stronger axle, but I'd have to fab up a bunch of brackets. This would be slightly cheaper but more time consuming.

I also have to do a bunch of work just getting it able to make the 6 hour drive. Fix my cooling issue (fan clutch gone, maybe e-fan upgrade?), fix my falling off front bumper, finish installing my in-dash CB, install t-case skid, fix steering/death wobble, maybe fab a gas tank skid, fix my busted-ass liftgate, maybe new front shocks, better tool/gear storage... crap.

So, what should it be? Run easier to find 16's, wait for the tires (jeep's gonna be in the garage until Moab anyway), polish a 44a, and hope for the best? Or drop some coin on the rims, get the tires now, and spend some time whipping up an 8.8 swap? Or just say fuck it, pony up, get new tires for the existing 15" rims?

Oh and here's some recent pictures to thank you for reading and helping me out with the dilemma.

[FortCollinsZJ]

Sean, come get my gas tank skid, 30$ if you want it.

I vote stick with 15" rims, and just find some tires for 15's.

Oh, and for the 8.8, if you need somebody to burn on some brackets, let me know.

[biggoofy]

Stick with a 15" and I have an e fan ill sell cheap it does have a broken tab though.

[SuicideTireZJ]

Neil, I'll definitely take you up on that gas tank skid! 4 Wheel Parts has an $80 mail in rebate for Kevlar MT/R's so I'm thinking I have a set of 35's on the way pretty soon.

I'm also thinking since I'm spending more money on tires, I'll have to be a little cheaper with the rear axle plans, and since a mini-spool is vastly cheaper than an Aussie... probably going to be an 8.8. It's long overdue anyway. Not sure if I'll spend a bunch of time fabbing my own brackets or spend a bunch of time cutting the ones off the 35c (or if I'd trust these to hold up). I know I WON'T be buying the grossly overpriced bracket kit from Claytons.

Lotta work going on in the next few weeks, most of it boring, but I'll post pictures up if I do anything worthwhile and to get this thread to multiple pages since I'm sick of looking at shit I posted 6 years ago.

[FortCollinsZJ]

Clayton is vastly overpriced for what it is. I'd just get upper and lower brackets from ballistic, and make your own spring pads, and shock mounts.

Are you going to keep it on short arms for the 8.8? Or do the wise old triangulated uppers? Building a truss is much simpler than building upper mounts, a tracbar bracket, and a trackbar too.

[SuicideTireZJ]

Honestly, I'm totally fine with my suspension as it currently sits. I'd love to upgrade, but with all 10 of my links adjustable, it's dialed in pretty well right now (see flex pictures above). Although 6 weeks seems to be plenty of time to do everything I need to do, I work and usually sleep 75 miles away in the mountains, so I'm really not around enough to get in over my head fabbing a new suspension. I've got enough on my plate so I'll probably buy some tabs off diy4x, reuse the coil buckets on the 35c, and try and burn it in over a weekend.

[SuicideTireZJ]

The to-do list as it currently sits, in approximate order of importance:

1. Replace fan clutch
2. Tie front bumper into KOR rad support and unibody
3. Fix oval'd out front axle side trackbar bolt hole (actually was loose bracket)
4. Purchase and mount new rubber
5. Cycle suspension with 35's to find out where they rub, trim and add bumpstops as necessary (In progress)
6. Replace front brake lines with longer ones (shocks limit downtravel within brake line length)
7. Install t-case skid and gas tank skid.
8. Buy and install Ford 8.8 rear axle (probably weld tubes and truss if possible) (not gonna happen before Moab)
9. Install mini-spool into said 8.8 (See above)
10. Finish putting together dash around new CB
11. Add auxiliary electric pusher fan in front of radiator (probably not necessary with new fan clutch)
12. Buy and install new front shocks, or maybe just new bushings
13. Weld liftgate back together (again)
14. Find and mount spare tire
15. Tweak winch mounting
16. Change fluids in t-case and axles

That ought to keep me busy. Oh, and IOP2 woot!

[downtowncb]

Neil, I'll definitely take you up on that gas tank skid! 4 Wheel Parts has an $80 mail in rebate for Kevlar MT/R's so I'm thinking I have a set of 35's on the way pretty soon.

I just compared 4 Wheel Parts' prices to Tire Rack and for the size I need, (315/70R17) Tire Rack is $30 cheaper per tire. And they also offer the $80 mail in rebate. Should save a lot of money.

[biggoofy]

I got my 35 MTRs from discount tire with free shipping for a great deal maybe give them a look as well

[SuicideTireZJ]

Thanks guys, I'll check them out. I do have a 4 Wheel Parts relatively close though so I won't need them shipped. We'll see what the other places can do.

[SuicideTireZJ]

Tire rack sells them for $202 each, discount sells them for $235. Trying to see if Discount will price match and I can just pick them up. That would be rad. Might also have a buyer for the old LTB's too.

[biggoofy]

sounds awesome man! I had to have mine shipped since there is no close store location.

[ElkyRacer]

Treaddepot.com has 35in MTR-Ks for 195 plus shipping. And offers the 80 rebate. They dont have any in stock right this second but they may get them in soon.

[SuicideTireZJ]

ElkyRacer- Thanks for the tip. Went and picked up the new rubber today. Discount matched treaddepot's $194/tire and with all-around mounting and warrantee, the set of 4 ended up just over $1K. It will be just under with the rebate. Definitely a bit more than I originally wanted to spend, but smart money management was never my thing anyway.

Progress is moving a bit slower than I'd like it to with this thing due mainly to work, but also to a little birthday present I got from my buddy, who won a cat-snowboarding trip at Monarch with guys from Never Summer and Snowboardmag.com that he invited me to. Moab should still be achievable, though, and I'm really looking forward to the end of my ski season to start cranking shit out on this thing.

Besides the tires, I have ordered a new fan clutch, front UCA bushings (crazy death wobble, hopefully this is the cure), and a new battery, so I can cross those off the list when I slap them on tomorrow and get to trimming for the new tires. Here's some shots... really looking forward to putting a new rear axle in now!





And a couple shots from last weekend.

[FortCollinsZJ]

Looking good mang. The 35's look bad ass!

Let me know if you want that Gas tank skid soon. I can bring it by.

[BigDaveZJ]

Dude that Terraliner bumper has seen some better days!

[SuicideTireZJ]

Neil, I've been meaning to take you up on that. You gonna be around tomorrow or Saturday? It's gonna be a full wrenching weekend and I'm kinda bummed we still haven't met. I'd like to talk to you about your 8.8" swap too as that's hopefully in my near future.

I agree, the Kevlars look sweet. I've got my work cut out to make the rest of the rig look worthy of them.

[jfowlzj95]

SHHHHHHHHHRRRRRRRRRRREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEDDDDDDDDDDD DDDDD-D-D-D-DDD-D-D-D-D-D-D-D-D-D--DDDD-DD-DD-D-DDD!





The new tires look good!

[SuicideTireZJ]

Dave, didn't see your post. That Terraliner bumper, I've said it before, was a major disappointment. I'm really starting to regret keeping my winch on the hitch mount since in the 8 years I've had the bumper on there, I've never wired the winch for the rear. The mounting is starting to peel the bottom of the unibody rail down like a tin can, and the rotation of the bumper (especially when winching my buddy's 7,500lb Suburban out of 3' of snow) has totally fucked up my fenders. As a result, the entire undergrill section that the lights and grill mount to is completely destroyed. I pulled it off today and it came out in at least 4 different pieces.

Tomorrow I'm heading to the junkyard to get a new undergrill (hopefully there's still one there), some D35c shafts in case I don't get the 8.8 swapped in time, and some other little things if I can think of them (rear bumpstop, spring retainer, other little shit). Then it's flex, trim, flex, trim, bumpstop, do the bumper right this time, skid install, put dash together, and weld the shit out of my liftgate in hopes that it holds up this time. You know, if the day is long enough.

[SuicideTireZJ]

A quick update:

35s are fucking huge when they're brand new and you're comparing them to nearly bald 33's. Even compared to my roommate's worn 37" TSL's, they measure about the same. I'm going to have to bumpstop more than I'd like, which is going to limit my flex more than I hoped. Also, I need to slide my front axle backward ~3/4" and/or redrill my upper trackbar bracket because the bar is contacting my pumpkin. I may also need to back out the steering stops to keep the tires from contacting the brake line at full stuff and lock. Spacers have crossed my mind, as have wheels with less backspacing. Suffice it to say that the ~4" of lift I'm running is pushing the limit of where you should be with 35's, but we all knew that already. Haven't even started on the rears, but I'm hoping that won't be as bad.

New header panel ($42 shipped from eBay) should be be here today, can't wait to get it all put back together so I can try driving it to work.

[UTChavok]

A quick update:

35s are fucking huge when they're brand new and you're comparing them to nearly bald 33's. Even compared to my roommate's worn 37" TSL's, they measure about the same. I'm going to have to bumpstop more than I'd like, which is going to limit my flex more than I hoped. Also, I need to slide my front axle backward ~3/4" and/or redrill my upper trackbar bracket because the bar is contacting my pumpkin. I may also need to back out the steering stops to keep the tires from contacting the brake line at full stuff and lock. Spacers have crossed my mind, as have wheels with less backspacing. Suffice it to say that the ~4" of lift I'm running is pushing the limit of where you should be with 35's, but we all knew that already. Haven't even started on the rears, but I'm hoping that won't be as bad.

New header panel ($42 shipped from eBay) should be be here today, can't wait to get it all put back together so I can try driving it to work.

Yeah I had 4.5 in the front for a couple days with the 35s and they rubbed a good bit. Would of been able to make it work with a lot of effort with the sawzall though. I like how mine sits now with the 5.5 coils.