Andy's WK

[tirefoamcan]

First Jeep for me! 2005 HEMI QDII Grand Cherokee, bought from a forum member. He took good care of it, and had a lot of fun with it.

We are planning on using mostly as an overlander, to get some experience on the trails here. It's setup to handle some of the harder trails, too. I'll need to get my confidence and experience up to do those!

The plan is to sell our pop up and put a roof top tent on it. Looking at these 3.

https://www.4wheelparts.com/p/smittybilt-overlander-xl-roof-top-tent-coyote-tan-2883/_/R-DSBP-2883
https://tepui.com/products/baja-series-ultralite-xl
https://cascadiatents.com/pioneer-series.html

Currently rebuilding the front end, chasing down a whine in the power steering, and just general maintenance. Picked up 2 nails in the front and rear drivers side on the way home. Grrr.

Having a blast, and the kids have been adventuring in it every night.

[TyTheJeepGuy]

You have great taste in wheelers, can't wait to see it out on a run

[open_circuit]

Hey, I know that Jeep. Nice rig.

[tirefoamcan]

All back together and aligned!

[open_circuit]

I've been thinking a lot about roof top tents lately as well. I think I'll rent one (there are several on outdoorsy) for ~$50/night before I get to the point of spending $1-$3k on one. Have you considered some rentals before your purchase?

[TyTheJeepGuy]

By the way that air dam in the front pulls right off with 5 twist-locks or whatever they're called for some extra approach angle.

Trent, do you have one of those wrap-around steel racks that attach at the frame for your LJ?

[tirefoamcan]

We have talked about renting before buying, that's a great idea. Have seen some ads on FB for rentals. We were originally thinking of a 3-4 person tent for 2 adults and 2 kids. But, maybe a 2 person would be good with 2 other people sleeping in the back of the jeep or a ground tent.

[open_circuit]

Trent, do you have one of those wrap-around steel racks that attach at the frame for your LJ?

No, I could only use a tent on my other vehicles at this time. There aren't any "exoskeleton" cargo racks for the LJ that appeal to me.

[tirefoamcan]

By the way that air dam in the front pulls right off with 5 twist-locks or whatever they're called for some extra approach angle.

Perfect! I was going to take a look at how that could come off. There are people in a WK FB group that took theirs off and trimmed the plastic up to the fog lights. They added a different skid plate up front, too. I'm not sure if I'll take it that far.

[TyTheJeepGuy]

Perfect! I was going to take a look at how that could come off. There are people in a WK FB group that took theirs off and trimmed the plastic up to the fog lights. They added a different skid plate up front, too. I'm not sure if I'll take it that far.

Yeah it looked like some of the later years in the same gen got rid of that removable air dam and just made it permanent. I'm not sure if it was a trim thing or a model year thing. I was just glad the 05 pulled off easy

[tirefoamcan]

Idea for spare tire carrier. https://www.hkoffroad.com/products/hk-kratos-the-tire-carrier?variant=31813769822254

[Jim]

Interesting product / tire mount method.

[FINOCJ]

that tire mount is one helluva a blind spot....depending on the desired use, RTTs and high mounted tire carriers (some up on roof racks even) add a lot of top heavy weight for wheeling. Personally I am not a fan of RTTs - although there are some situations where they are quite functional. Mostly, when you are 'overlanding' and going to a new camp each night they work pretty well (although I would say a good tent on the ground is more comfortable and much easier to get in and out of - if a tent is even needed). But, they are kind of a PITA when you set up a camp (like in Moab or Ouray) and need to take your tent down every morning just so you can go wheeling with this heavy thing on your roof, and then get back to camp and set it all up again. Obviously, in such a situation, you could leave the RTT at home and bring a regular tent. I am more of a minimalist, and I also need my gear to be multi-use, so an RTT is too specific in terms of usage - so please don't take my comments too negatively. I just find it humorous when I am in Moab or Ouray and watch my camping neighbors have to take down and set up their RTTs every day - which also includes putting the sleeping pad and bag up, and removing any clothes bags etc....And my favorite style of overlanding camping, is just to throw down a pad and bag (or a cot if you prefer) on the ground and call it good - having grown up and backpacked/camped all across the southeast and Appalachians, the ideal weather and lack of bugs out here makes for great sleeping out. We all have what works for each of us....

[tirefoamcan]

I totally agree and don't want to bring my center of gravity up higher than I have to and that mount sure does kill the rear view and 3rd brake light.

I'm thinking of having the RTT on when we want to go on a camping trip. We have a pop up now, that I just don't see using it out here for where we want to camp. We'll end up renting one to see how it works for us.

I grew up in camping on the ground in the midwest in the middle of mosquito swarms and rain storms. Only woke up a couple of times with a wet sleeping bad.

[tirefoamcan]

Was going to run the WK on the trail cleanup run last weekend, but found the right CV Axle boot had a hole in it and was throwing grease. Ordered and installed a replacement, good to go!

Replaced the radiator hoses and flushed the coolant, and it's running cooler on the paved mountain inclines. Flushed out as much power steering fluid as I could, found it was pretty shiny, like it was full of metal flakes. Hoping it's just a P/S pump replacement.

Been looking into putting a superlift on it. Lowers the LCA's and front differential to maintain original angles. Any front diff drop requires the cross member to be notched for driveshaft clearance. That is out of my expertise. Looking at having these guys do that. https://hcp4x4.com/

[TyTheJeepGuy]

The PS pump that was on there was pretty cheap, whined immediately. I think its about time the hoses for the PS system get replaced too. How was the performance on the trail run for the new rig?

Edit: I see now that you didn't take it on the run. Whoops

[tirefoamcan]

I shouldn't have taken a look at the radiator hoses! We still had a good time in the F150. Got some new scratches on the paint and was still surprised how well it handled on the whoops.

I saw there was one PS hose that was replaced fairly recently. Nothing is leaking, figured it was an issue with the pump or maybe the rack. There is a slight knock when turning, maybe the rack, maybe something in the steering column.

Having a blast working on it, it's going to be a totally different machine next time you see it :) Glad I could get this beast from you to tinker with.

[TyTheJeepGuy]

Yeah I hope to see it soon. I'd recommend trying it out on a trail first to see if you want to change the lift but its your Jeep and you know what works best for you. I'm glad its still going to be used right!

[tirefoamcan]

Took my Mom and step Dad out on Virginia Gultch and Devil's Canyon Monday 9/28. The WK did great, had her up on 2 wheels over the whoops in Devil's canyon (sorry - couldn't convince them to get out and take a picture).

Found some oil spots after an oil change and a drive up to Silverthorne. Determined it was the front main oil seal. Replaced that and the damper pulley that was ready to go.

Replaced the power steering pump inlet hose, was sucking air causing part of the P/S whine. Pump still needs to be replaced eventually but still makes pressure. Secret is to tell everyone that it's the supercharger.

Here's more of the plan.

Decided to change the JBA 4" lift to a OME 2.25" lift. It was either go to an OME lift or have a superlift done. The superlift lowers the front diff, but requires cutting and welding a cross member for the front driveshaft and to cut parts of the front diff off. Figured that would be between 3K and 4K to have that done. The 2.25 OME lift will bring the CV axles close to the same as the superlift for 1K and something I can do in my garage.

Mid to long term plans are to put on rock sliders, hidden winch mount behind the front bumper, wilco hitchmate spare tire carrier.

[tirefoamcan]

Replacement power steering pump arrived today! And a new Bronco shirt :)

We'll see if I get time to put it in this weekend.

Noticing some issues with the upper radiator hose, getting leaks when the system gets pressurized. Apparently, the tangs for the clamp are supposed to face down. Mine are up. Not sure if that matters, only thing I can think of is interference with something when the hood is down. Also have a replacement radiator cap on the way. The pressure in the upper seems higher than 17psi. Squeeze test with my pressure sensitive hands.

[Steve-O]

Can you take a picture of the hose clamp? I'm curious about the leaks you're getting

[tirefoamcan]

I re-positioned the clamp on the upper , moved it back some towards the lip on the radiator. No leaks after a test drive. There is no space to have the tangs pointing down. We'll see how this holds up.

Power steering pump replaced, whine is gone, will have to continue to flush the fluid over some time. We're taking on a drive tomorrow to a farm to pick pumpkins. If only the pumpkins were at the end of a trail somewhere.

[tirefoamcan]

Well, the upper radiator hose wasn't the problem. The inlet connector was cracked and getting worse. Replacement ordered and spent some time to remove the radiator today. Pretty tight in there, but got it out.

Goliath front skid plate going in with the radiator, Steel Armadillo rear diff cover on the way.

[The StRanger]

Freekin plastic radiator...

[tirefoamcan]

It's been a bit since I've updated this thread! Have done a bit of work over the last 6 weeks on the "Beast".

Goliath front skid plate installed, OME HD lift in, Core 4x4 adjustable rear control arms and track bar, front differential drop and cross member notch. Have just taken on the road so far, but it is running great!

[tirefoamcan]

The Goliath skid plate install went pretty smooth. It is bolted to where the original front tow hooks are on the bumper, and at the bottom uses a bracket that bolts to the frame sway bar. I replaced the front sway bar bushings with some poly moog ones.

The front bumper cover needed to be removed in order to access the captured bolts for the tow hooks. I'll end up taking off again eventually to mount a plate for a winch. The hidden winch system is super clean!

The bummer is that the skid plate blocks the oil filter, so I'll have to remove the skid plate when oil change time comes. Maybe I can figure out a way to change the filter without removing it, maybe through the top instead. We'll see.

[tirefoamcan]

Now the big project starts! OME HD lift. The front struts were straightforward to install. Used the same clevis's for the struts that were on, was a little tough to get the Bilsteins out, but a little persuasion from a mallet helped.

Removing the front differential was pretty difficult, mostly in getting access to the bolts on the top end of the differential. I removed the front driveshaft first, and was able to get in enough to get them loose. The bushings on the mounts were gone, and I could tell because of some clunking when switching into gear. I replaced the bushings with superpro poly bushings which should last me for a long time.

I wasn't planning on taking the differential out. But, I ended up needing to since you can't take the cover off without at least tilting the differential down. Once I saw the shape of the bushings, I decided to just take it out and do the differential drop. I didn't want to do the drop originally due to having to notch a crossmember and welding in some support. Didn't have a welder, but I do now!

It really wasn't that bad.

[tirefoamcan]

On to the rear! TyTheJeepGuy came out one weekend to help with the rear end. We had to drop the fuel tank to access the bolts for the driver's side upper and lower control arms. We were able to get that side all set before the end of the afternoon. Thanks Ty!

The passenger side was straightforward, and the trackbar was easy, too. The difficult part is adjusting the arms so that the pinion angle was good. I'm not 100% sure I have it exactly right, I tried to keep it as close to stock as I could. There isn't much more of an angle for the driveshaft with the 2 1/2" lift. We'll see if I end up adjusting it further later.

I was able to center the wheel better at ride height. With the old lift at 4", you could tell the rear tire was closer to the front of the wheel well.

The picture with the red spring is the JBA 4" lift setup. Those springs were tight on the stops, even with the axle on the garage floor. When it was installed, the upper spring isolator had been removed, probably to get the spring in. I put in new isolators on top. That may have been the reason why there was some clanking at full articulation.

I also notched out the gas tank skid plate more than what was done to allow the driver's side upper control arm to clear better. It was tight, and may have also contributed to less articulation and noise.

[tirefoamcan]

This part I never planned to do, but glad I did. Dropping the differential.

1st step, get a welder. Just got a small Harbor Freight mig welder, I don't do much welding so it will serve me well.

The notch cutout in the crossmember is to give the driveshaft clearance with the front differential lowered. The cross member is a mount point for the front lower control arms. It's a pretty common thing to do on any lifted WK. Superlift had a 4" lift kit with a differential drop, so I used their template and instructions to cut out the notch and weld in a plate. Some owners don't weld in a plate, probably ok unless you live in a corrosive environment.

[tirefoamcan]

After getting the notch finished, I could wrap everything up!

Installed the differential drop brackets, pressed in the superpro bushings and lifted the differential into place.

Rebuild the rzeppa CV joint on the front driveshaft, it was probably original at 185K miles and the grease was looking pretty rough. Thought maybe that was the cause of a rotational noise when coasting. I'll end up putting in a Tom Woods double cardan front driveshaft eventually.

You can see where the driveshaft sits in the notch in the picture below.

Could also service the front differential much easier with it lower! I'll need to build a skid plate for the bottom as the stock one would have to be modified to accommodate the lower differential. And the notch is right where one of the bolts for the skid plate mounts and is low enough where it wouldn't be feasible to use that mount point.

[tirefoamcan]

After all that, I had some trouble getting the front end back together. With the differential lowered, the CV axles would contact the strut mount and I couldn't get the upper ball joint bolted to the steering knuckle without jacking the lower control arm up to clear it. It's OK for now, and I think that with the sway bar connected would keep one side from drooping far enough to cause interference.

I will be installing a lower control arm drop system to fix that issue.

The angles for the CV axles are back to stock with this drop! Much longer life on them now.

[tirefoamcan]

This was a fun project to work on. It's nice to have a project car that I can take my time on and not have to worry about getting it all back together to drive to work the next day. I think it turned out great!

The Beast rides great, feels like a sports car going through the mountain roads. Looking forward to getting it off road and seeing how it does!

The front suspension has settled in some than what's shown in the picture. Once I install the lower control arm bracket, I will put a spacer on top of the front strut to get it to where it should be.

Next up on the to do list is:

1. Lower control arm lowering bracket install
2. Rear bumper with a tire carrier
3. Hidden winch install
4. Engine / differential skid plate
5. Tom Woods front driveshaft

Probably some more stuff too.

[DaveO]

Nice work! Plating the cutout was definitely the right way to do it.

[Steve-O]

Awesome work man!

[TyTheJeepGuy]

Nicely done, its awesome to see the Beast reach its full potential.

[tirefoamcan]

Ended up deciding to go with an HK Offroad rear tire carrier. It mounts to the rear hatch and includes 350 lb gas struts. Definitely have a big blind spot now, but the WK is usually loaded up with adventure supplies and I can't see out of the rear window anyway. Glad to have the extra room in the cargo area.

[tirefoamcan]

Also needed to adjust the location of the rear axle. With the Core 4x4 track bar being thicker and the larger diff cover, they would interfere if compressed over bumps. This also brought the pinion angle to be more inline with the rear driveshaft.

[speedkills]

That is quite the rear view you have there. I imagine any time you are driving around and look in your rear view mirror you want to immediately veer off the road and start wheeling.

[TyTheJeepGuy]

Are you doing an upgrade on the PS pump or is it more or less OEM spec?

Just wondering because I went through a couple and they don't seem to like those high rpms :D