My '05 Rubicon Project

Finally ready to install the rear 44. I had to wait for a new rear trackbar relocation bracket to come in. The one that came with my springs didn’t have an angle and the one that came with my trackbar from JKS wouldn’t fit correctly. So I ordered one from Currie.

After I weld the bottom tabs to the axle tube, I’ll be ready to install the diff.

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You can see the difference here. The Teraflex bracket I’m holding doesn’t have an angled mount for the trackbar. That would cause the bracket to contact the gas tank in certain situations.

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Little update if anyone is interested.

Received my new Tom Woods rear prop shaft and got it installed while setting the pinion angle before attaching the control arms and locking down the jam nuts.

Tricky operation on the slight incline I have out on my driveway. I ended up drilling a hole in the center of a 2 x 4 and installing an eye bolt then placing it in front of the front tires. Then I connected a ratchet strap to the eye bolt and the other end to the axle on my ATV lift that I was supporting the axle housing with thus keeping the lift from rolling aft towards the rear of the Jeep.

Worked out well. Pinion angle looks great and everything went back together nicely. This evening I’m installing the rear sway bar, the two outer brake lines that connect to the center junction on top of the diff housing, and then I’ll start installing the new axles, backing plates, and brake assemblies.

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A little closer to getting to drive this thing. Just got done installing the drivers side rear backing plate, parking brake components, parking brake cable, and axle.
I’ll get to the passenger side tomorrow and if I don’t have any interruptions, I should get the rotors and calipers installed as well.

Finally getting her on the ground this week.

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Dave that Jeep looks great.
 
Dave that Jeep looks great.


Thank ya sir. It’s been a journey but it’s finally coming to an end. Can’t wait to start driving her.
 
Getting ready to hook up some ratchet straps to my Outlander so I can pull the front axle back up to where it’s supposed to sit and then set the pinion angle.

Just installed the steering system yesterday but haven’t torqued anything because I need to set the Toe after I get the axle situated. Then when everything is centered, I’ll mount and adjust the trackbar.

Doing this kind of work on an incline can be quite challenging with that gravity thing.

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For your frame... I’d recommend taking a look at this product from Eastwood. I just used it on the inside of my 82 CJ7 frame. Seems to do a nice job coating the full interior surface of the frame (sprays 360* mist at the end of a 24” tube). Check out the videos... If the adhesion on my concrete floor is any indicator, it sticks very well!

https://www.eastwood.com/internal-frame-coating-aerosol-black-14oz.html
 
With the help of my wife, just rolled it up in the garage so I can make the final adjustments to the pinion angles front and rear. Impossible to accomplish that out on the sloped driveway.

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A minor update for anyone that could care at all. Lol.

I’m all done with the front end, at least preliminarily done with the front. All of the joints are lubed and I just installed the track bar after centering everything in the air. The track bar and drag link/tie rods have not been torqued. Once I get it on the ground and check my measurements, if everything is where it should be, then I’ll torque the track bar and lock down the jam nut.

If things are off, I’ll raise it back up and make some adjustments. Then I’ll set the toe and torque all of the steering components.

I also just installed the rear track bar and am about to set the pinion angle back there again. When I dropped the rear the first time, I noticed the angle had moved with the pinion dropping below it’s correct position in relation to the prop shaft.

I’m hoping that when I’m all done, and I take it to a 4wd shop that has an alignment rack, no adjustments to the control arms will need to be done.

I’ll soon find out how accurate I’ve been with some wood blocks, a tape measure and ruler, chalk, and a magnetic angle finder.

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B3C787FD-6010-44A0-8B21-8853B3BB3112.jpeg She’s finally finished. I started it up last night and started the process of purging the air from the cooling system.

She started right up after the fuel system was pressurized, ran rough for about five seconds from moisture in the cylinders, then smoothed out and purrs like a kitten.

I was surprised that the check engine light didn’t come on after having the entire fuel system dismantled and mostly replaced as well as everything else but it didn’t throw any codes.

I’m going to finish getting the air out of the cooling system and set the toe on the front wheels this evening and then on Monday, I’m taking it in to get a 4 wheel alignment done on it.

It needs a good wash and wax as well.

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I’ve got some nice seat covers for the front and rear seats. But the seats are in good shape.
 
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Well up until yesterday, I thought I was finished with this Jeep project.

My wife was manning the brake pedal while I manned the brake bleeders. Couldn’t get the brake pedal to tighten up. Went thru 3 pints of brake fluid trying to get the air out of the system.

Then it hit me. I got under the front of the Jeep and looked at the front calipers. Everything is in order. Walked around the back, bent down and glanced at the driver’s side caliper:

There I discovered my first self-induced glitch of this project. I installed the rear calipers on the wrong side. Bleeder valves were lower than the brake line fitting going into the caliper.

Pulled both wheels and fifteen minutes later, had the calipers on the correct sides.

Talked my wife to come back down and man the brake pedal again while I tried bleeding the brakes one more time. Not many air bubbles came out of three corners but the last one I cracked open I got a bunch of bubbles.

Having a friend at a good shop I’ve had mutual business relations with over the last several years send down his roll back to pick it up and take to his place to do the 4 wheel alignment and an NC inspection.

I trust my work on getting the driveline in order so it can be driven out on the road. I took it for a test drive yesterday evening and it rolled true and straight with my hands off the steering wheel. Would rather it be professionally aligned however before I start rolling down the road.

I got lucky when I set the toe on the front end, after chalking the tires and the floor once I had both wheels centered, I made one adjustment to the drag link and one to the tie rod end on the driver’s side.

Had my son help hold the measuring tape and took a measurement on the front side then back side. 1/8” positive was my goal. I pulled up the phone calculator and subtracted the smaller fractional measurement I got at the front from the bigger fractional measurement I got from the rear side.

.0125 was what I ended up with. I couldn’t believe it. After eyeballing the front tires and making one adjustment, I got my 1/8”+ tow reading.:)

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Stunning!
 
Stunning!

Thank you sir. It turned out better than I thought it would. It was a mess when I brought it home but I knew I could make it a worthwhile project.
 
Great work Dave. It looks awesome
 
Having just bought a JKU a month ago, I have a new interest in this thread. I initially looked for an LJ, so I learned a little bit about the TJ/LJ’s. One thing I learned is that you don’t see many in this kind of condition! Nice work, good choice on the mods, all nice quality components, looks like it’ll be a great all around Jeep.
 
Great work Dave. It looks awesome

Thanks you bastard. Because of you pointing out that my lawn mower blades were installed upside down awhile back, I became cursed and installed my rear brake calipers on backwards.:D
 
Thanks you bastard. Because of you pointing out that my lawn mower blades were installed upside down awhile back, I became cursed and installed my rear brake calipers on backwards.:D
My work here is done :D
 
Just went and picked it up today after I had it hauled up to a shop I use on a rollback to get the 4 wheel alignment done and the emissions inspection completed.

I need to drive it some more and then take it back to get the inspection completed because the shop was getting a “Not Ready” error since it had no battery connected for a year or so.

It was about a 15/20 mile drive back home and it rides, runs, and steers great. First time it’s been out on the road since Oct. 2019. I couldn’t be more pleased and the alignment, both front and rear, surprisingly wasn’t out very much.

Now I just need to retorque a couple of rear valve cover bolts to stop an oil leak and she’ll be good.

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I refuse to read this post from this point forward. You make it look TOO easy!
All it would do is cost me a fortune, to only have to pay someone else another small fortune to fix everything! 😂😂

That is some fine work! I hope the pleasure you get out of doing it yourself equals the pleasure I got out of watching/reading about your project.
 
The deer seem fond of it too. :)

They’re not visible in the pic but there was 6 or 7 deer standing back there.😂
 
Man, what a beauty. It looks practically brand new!

I've a 2001 that I've had since 2005. It was my 'baby' and Daily Driver until about a year ago when I gave in and bought a big truck. Now it's in the garage with a bunch of parts waiting to be worked on.

Time to get grindin'!
 
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