Mudbug Adventures

Every Mile Is An Adventure

Jeep Exhaust Manifold

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Since purchasing the Jeep we have had a dreaded heat shield vibration at around 3500 rpm. It’s quite annoying and makes you assume something is wrong mechanically. After a trip to Crossbar Ranch in Oklahoma I decided it was time to find the cause. I started with the exhaust header heat shield. That seemed to make sense being attached to the block and subjected to any rpm changes. Upon removal is when all the trouble began.

What We Found

Taking off the heat shield was easy. I lubricated the exhaust manifold bolts that secure the heat shield for a couple days with thread penetrant. Then carefully ratcheted them out by hand. Upon removal of the heat shield is when we found the cracked exhaust manifold. This is a common issue on Jeeps and I really had no issue with having to replace it. If only it was that simple. I decided to soak the bolts every day for a week with thread penetrant to make sure of the best chance of successful removal since they were rusted. It was during one of my daily applications that I found a real problem. Someone in the past had tried to remove one of the bolts and broke it off in the engine block. They didn’t bother to repair it. Now it was my problem to deal with.

Extraction

I continued lubricating through the week in preparation for removal. First task was to get the manifold off to see how problematic the broken bolt was going to be. All of the manifold bolts came out easily by hand. The penetrant had worked its way completely in the threads making for simple extraction. It was obvious whoever broke the one bolt off had no mechanical experience. They just stuck a wrench on it and began turning as hard as they could until the bolt snapped. Instead of repairing it they left the broken bolt in the engine block.

How We Extracted the Bolt

I decided to lubricate the broken bolt for another week. Every day I would go out and apply more thread penetrant to it. This was done to maximize our chance of successful extraction. I ordered a left handed drill bit and bolt extraction kit along with a 90 degree drill handle. The bolt was in the furthest position against the vehicle firewall which made it impossible to get a drill close enough to start a pilot hole. Other than the inconvenient position I had to get in to use the tools the bolt came out quite easily. I drilled a hole in the bolt. Drilled in the extraction bit and the bolt just threaded out without issue.

Repairing the Manifold

After removing the broken bolt we went to Summit Racing and purchased a new Exhaust Manifold. We also purchased a new gasket and mounting bolts. Total cost was right at $100. I couldn’t have been happier. I replaced the manifold and repaired an issue we didn’t even know about. Along with that we found the vibration as well. It was a heat shield on the exhaust that had a broken weld.

What Happened Next

All of this took place over a 2 week period of time. I was careful to lubricate the bolts well because I know how hard they can be once rusted to remove from an engine block. When we purchased the replacement bolts they came in a set of 12. Six for each side. Yesterday I decided it might be a good idea to go ahead and just replace the manifold bolts on the other side since we had extra. I began lubricating the existing bolts with thread penetrant same as before. That is when I discovered someone had broken a bolt off on the other side as well….

Tires on the Jeep

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A completely unplanned for upgrade took place last week. We had to get new tires on the Jeep.

What Happened

A few weeks back we went to Crossbar Ranch in Oklahoma to run some trails. The Jeep performed well and we didn’t see that anything had happened to it. The rear passenger tire has always had a bit more wear on it which is common on most vehicles. The off roading took its toll on that tire while we were there with the rocks taking out some pretty good chunks of rubber. When we got home I decided to rotate the passenger side tires to put the lesser used front one on the rear. That is what began the road to replacing the tires.

While We Were Out

The day before heading out with a group of off roaders from the North Texas Jeep Club we decided to take the Jeep out and have Car Toys install a new radio. The old one that I hated finally stopped working. While driving I noticed some shaking of the steering. This was not happening before I swapped the tires. The shaking is a common issue with balancing. After Car Toys installed the radio we headed over to National Tire and Battery who had balanced them before. That’s when the manager told us we had a slipped radial belt and it could not be balanced. I could only assume with the excessive wear that was showing on that particular tire and the excessive use as the main drive wheel that it had been damaged the previous week while off roading.

Decisions to be Made

It was late in the afternoon and this brought us to a new problem. Money. We had just spent quite a bit on drive train upgrades. We had 33″ tires on the Jeep and have been building it to handle 35″ tires. Moving to a larger tire is more expensive though. Then came the expense of the 33″ tire vs the 35″ tire. There is a significant cost increase between the two. We also had to get 5 tires so we would have a spare if we moved up to the 35″ as we had been planning. Another factor was a small amount of dry rot on our tires. They had dry rot when we got the Jeep and we new they would need  to be changed soon. It was just bad timing for us.

What Tires Did We Get

We asked what brands of tires and pricing NTB had available. We asked a lot of questions about the characteristics of the different brands as well. The final result was the NEXEN Roadian MTX RM7. It’s not one of the big popular names of tires that most people seem to run but the specifications of the tire equaled or exceeded even those. The price was also manageable. Each tire was about $50 less than the average of the big name tires. Here is a breakdown of the specs for comparison to other tires.

Size: 35×12.5xR17
Diameter: 34.8
Tread Depth: 21/32
Load Range: “F”- 12 Ply
Max Load: 3195

When it comes to the numbers the tires rank with all the popular brands most people gravitate towards. Only time will tell how they hold up on the road and trails.

How Did They Perform

On the road the Nexen’s were a bit rougher than the tires we had. This is partly due to the “F”-12 Ply rating where most other off road tires are “E”- 10 ply rated. The noise level was the same as before, maybe even a bit less. Off road they seemed to perform flawless. We got into a variety of terrain. Mud, rocks, loose dirt and gravel and the tires grabbed perfectly. We did notice quite a bit less slipping while climbing rocks than before as well. Some of that could have been from the new rubber. For the first run with the new tires we were completely satisfied.

Jeep Wrangler Ball Joint Upgrade

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The final upgrade on this last round we did was to install heavier ball joints. When we purchased the Jeep it was still running the stock ball joints. That’s not necessarily a bad thing but since someone had put larger tires on and did hardly any mechanical upgrades to handle the extra rotational mass and weight we decided an upgrade was in order.

Why New Ball Joints

Looking at the stock ball joints really won’t tell you much. They might be good but who knows. There was no play in the wheel due to the ball joints. We also didn’t know how hard the previous owner had driven the Jeep or what terrain it was used on. The decision to replace them came where financially it was the time to do it. This was because when the regearing was taking place the axle shafts would be removed leaving the ball joints completely open for replacement. This was the perfect time to take care of a ball joint upgrade. The reason we went with Teraflex heavy duty ball joints is for our future plans of running 35″ tires. The new ball joints will be able to handle the extra weight of the heavier tires.

What Are Our Future Plans

All of these upgrades are being performed for a reason. We want the Jeep to be mechanically sound when we go off roading. Monster rock crawling is not an interest to us but being able to run some moderate trails is. The end result is I want to have new heavier than stock components to handle more than we are going to use them for. Basically over building is our goal. A lot of this round of upgrades was to properly handle 35″ tires. Larger tires means more stress on components.

What Upgrades Will Be Next

The next round of upgrades will consist of an adjustable rear track bar, drive shafts, and possibly control arms. We installed a winch a couple weeks ago to help with self recovery on the trail. This came in handy on our last outing where we high centered both axles and had to winch ourselves out. This will pretty much make the Jeep ready for the 35’s.

Jeep Wrangler Axle Shaft Upgrade

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This weeks topic on our upgrade is axle shafts. This was not a planned upgrade but one we made anyway.

What Went Wrong

Since purchasing the Jeep we have had a few repairs to make. Those have been outlined in various posts over the last couple of months. One of the repairs I did not make was from an oil leak in the rear axle. I knew about it and had taken a look at while we put the lift on the Jeep. The passenger side hub area had a lot of old oil build up. It was thick and dry. I thought it might have been an old brake fluid leak that had been repaired before we acquired the Jeep. Because I did not see fresh oil I let it go. During the regearing though the problem came to light. The oil I had seen was not from old brake fluid, it was from a leaking axle shaft seal. It was a small leak that needed to be fixed.

Why New Axle Shafts

The decision we had to make at this point was do we replace the seals or go ahead and replace everything. Axle shafts are not cheap. Especially if your having someone else perform the work. This was not something we had planned on seeing and it took us by surprise. Most older vehicles are going to throw surprised at you though and you have to understand that or your better off just buying a new or almost new vehicle. Because of the ELockers we were having installed in the rear axle we decided to replace the axle shafts instead of just replacing the seal. This decision was not made lightly because of the cost.

What Benefit Would This Provide

Lockers put a lot of added strain on the axle shafts once they are engaged. Without the differential slip to allow one wheel to rotate slower when cornering the axles can snap. Off roading in itself puts added strain on the axles components due to the stress involved in pushing the vehicle over obstacles. By installing new axle shafts the bearings and seals would also be replaced. This would mean a complete rebuild of new parts was done to the rear axle. We went with Chromoly axle shafts which provided more strength to handle the stresses of the locker and off roading. Because the axle was already disassembled we also saved the labor cost of replacement if we ever decided to upgrade the axle shafts at a later time.

Moving Along

So another repair was made that we did not expect. I am happy the issue was found though. It could have ended badly for us if something went wrong in the rear axle due to the oil leak. Especially if it happened somewhere remote like when we went to Big Bend National Park. It’s nice to have another upgrade too! Even an unexpected one. This leads us into another upgrade we made while the Jeep was in the shop that I will write about in the next post. I want to thank Redemption Offroad again for the advice and great work they did on our Jeep!

E-Locker Upgrade

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Last post we covered the initial upgrades we decided to make as a result of some of the off roading we have been doing. In this post we will continue with other upgrade decisions we made.

Axle Lockers

When we went to Barnwell Mountain Recreation Area we tried the jeep on some harder trails than usual to see what it could do. As mentioned in an earlier post, we met an obstacle that we couldn’t get over due to not having lockers for the extra traction necessary. While on that obstacle, stuck, the NTJC leader said “this is where you need lockers”.  That got us thinking.

What Type of Driving We Do

At some point we had to be realistic as to what we wanted the Jeep to handle. Everyone knows you can get as extreme as you want if you spend enough money. I don’t want get stuck every time we run trails or  be told your Jeep can’t make it through. At the same time I don’t care to be able to climb cliffs or use my Jeep as a submarine. I also don’t want weak links to break on easy to drive trails either. I do want the ability to drive more than dirt roads. The ability to lock the rear axle will help with that.

Why Only Rear Lockers

Because of these thoughts, we decided to add rear lockers to the Jeep. It makes perfect sense to do this while regearing since the differential will be completely disassembled. This saves on the labor a second time later. We only had rear lockers added. Because of the Dana 30 front axle and the stress lockers can put on the differential we decided against lockers on the front. I suppose they would have been ok depending on how hard we wheel and how careful I used a front locker but for now were not doing it. Eventually if we keep the Mudbug we might upgrade the front to a Dana 44. There is quite a cost association with just getting a new axle and components that we are not willing to spend money on right now. If we do upgrade we will add front lockers at that time.

Rear Lockers

Redemption Offroad installed Eaton Electronic Rear Lockers on our Jeep. We read a lot of articles about lockers and know that only having rear lockers will be enormously beneficial in off roading. Were hoping this will give our Jeep the edge we need to take on some harder trails.

Re-Gearing to 4.88 Ratio

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Hot Springs ORV Park was a blast. It did however push us to make some more upgrades to the Jeep.

Redemption Offroad in North Richland Hills, TX is who did our upgrades. The upgrades were beyond my level of competence and even if I knew how to do the work I don’t have the tools for it. We knew what upgrades to make but some of the details we weren’t sure about. The first of these was regearing the differentials.

Current Gearing

I had done my homework on differential gearing based on the engine size and tire size we eventually want to run on the Jeep. We have the 3.8 V6 in our Jeep with a 6 speed transmission. The front axle is a dana 30. The rear differential is a dana 44. The gearing was still the stock 3.21 gear ratio. The problem we were having was 6th gear was unusable. This was because the previous owner had installed 33″ tires without regearing for the change in size. Doing so brought the rpm’s so low that even doing 80mph in 5th gear the engine was still only sitting at about 2800rpm. I also feel quite sure this affects 4 high and 4 low when off roading lending to some power and torque loss on the trails.

What Gearing Did We Go With?

I had settled on a 4.56 or a 4.88 gear ratio before we made the call to Wayne at Redemption Offroad. He said bring it in and we would talk further about gearing. His expert advice was to go with the 4.88 ratio. With our future plans to run 35″ tires and the fact we were actually using the Jeep for off roading he said we would get more performance with that ratio. If we were to ever pull a trailer this would give us the necessary torque to do so as well. I went with his recommendation. Wayne and his staff not only build extreme off road vehicles, they wheel them hard as well. So in my opinion, their advice is golden.

Front Axle Upgrade- Yes or No

This would be the time a lot of people might upgrade that dana 30 front axle as well. We decided not to. Other than the axle ring and pinion size, the dana 30 front axle diameter is the same as a dana 44. From what I’ve read, outside of the gearing, there isn’t a strength difference between the two. If we were to put lockers on the front that would be a different story and an axle upgrade would be a good idea. If we decide not to change the axle for a dana 44 we will probably install chromoly axle shafts later which will strengthen the front axle. For now were not ready to invest in a complete front axle upgrade.

This was the beginning of more upgrades. Next post will cover another upgrade that Redemption Offroad performed to the Mudbug while it was on the lift and disassembled.

Hot Springs ORV Park- March 2020

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It’s spring break time and that meant Margaret was out of school for a week! It also meant we wanted to do something fun! That led us to Hot Springs ORV Park in Arkansas!

The last time North Texas Jeep Club went there we were unable to make it. That was disappointing because they ran all 3 Badge of Honor trails. We missed out. So we decided to do some solo wheeling at the park and see what happens!

The park was great, and quite empty. That surprised us because of it being the first weekend of spring break. While rolling along trails we hardly ever saw another vehicle. There were no lines for trails, no waiting, it was just go go go without hindrance the entire time.

While signing in and filling out the damage waivers we talked with the park manager about the Badge of Honor trails difficulty levels. She began asking the questions about our rig that always sticks us in that stock category again. What size tires? What size lift? Do you have a wench? Do you have lockers? Ugh. After answering she said “so you have a stock jeep”.

I am grateful she was upfront about our Jeep build though. She said The Snake would be fine but kind of turned her head sideways as she told us we might be able to complete Fun Run. As for Rubicon Ridge, she said definitely not. Due to the previous rain, not having lockers, a wench, and at least 35″ tires we wouldn’t make it. She said once you go down the first hill your committed and recovery is difficult. So Rubicon Ridge was out for us.

We ran some 2 diamond trails the park manager recommended that she drew on the map for us. The route would take us through most areas of the park and allow us to run The Snake and Fun Run along the way. We really like the trails and the scenery. There were some small challenges but nothing we couldn’t handle. The Snake was nice, great scenery for the winter time. Interesting trail too. It was very tight to the point we often had to watch our mirrors to fit between trees. And as its name implies, the trail weaved back and forth a lot. Overall it wasn’t that much of a challenge until close to the end where we encountered a steep rocky incline with some obstacles. We managed without too much difficulty though and felt a bit of victory upon completion.

That was pleasing because we didn’t know what to expect and we didn’t have a group for support. Shortly thereafter we hit Fun Run. At this point things changed for us. This was a 3 diamond trail. We had only put the Mudbug through one 3 diamond trail since we’ve had it and that was the previous weekend with NTJC at Barnwell Recreation Park. Where this might be of no concern to regular wheeler’s or beefed up rigs, it was for us. I won’t say it was easy, it wasn’t, at least not for my driving and our rig. The first obstacle was a large rock slab on a very steep incline. We took it easy and surprisingly just kind of crawled right up it without issue. The second slab incline was a different story though. Not only did it incline quite steep, it had obstacles halfway up you had to overcome. As I wrote last week about the lockers, they would have helped quite a bit. We got through it though. It was a bit rough. We didn’t just roll right through it making it look like a Sunday drive. It was exciting though.

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After this we ran some more trails that were newer to the park. They weren’t as well marked and we took a couple of wrong trails due to lack of signage. One of them was a 3 diamond and was a very extreme hill climb with a drop off on the top unless you turned right away. We made it though and had a good time doing so.

Hot Springs ORV Park is a place we will be returning to so we can get our Rubicon Ridge Badge. It was also the park that secured in our minds some upgrades for the Mudbug. The Jeep is now at a local shop, Redemption Offroad, having some upgrades done to it that I am unable to perform because I do not have the proper tools to do the work correctly. Redemption Offroad is in the Fort Worth, TX area, their work is excellent, and that makes us proud to support local business. The next post will cover the upgrades along with some issues that were found during the tear down.

Barnwell Mountain Recreation Area- March 2020

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Two weeks back we rolled into Barnwell Mountain Recreation Area in Gilmer, TX to do some wheeling with North Texas Jeep Club. We’ve been putting the Jeep through different scenarios to determine what type of driving and level of off-roading we want to do with it. At this point I have to admit my pride may have been a decisive factor in the upgrades we have the Jeep in the shop for right now.

 

Until we wheeled at Barnwell the Jeep did everything we put it through. I will admit that since we purchased it though, it has been very sluggish. This is due to the previous owner putting larger tires on it without regearing to accomodate the larger rotational mass. For example, 6th gear is unusable. I am not exaggerating. Unless you get the vehicle over 80 mph, 6th gear will not pull the vehicle down the road and it slowly creeps down in mph until you have to shift back to 5th before it lugs out. Honestly, with the gearing issue I don’t even know what proper gearing will do for off-roading. Remember, were new to this.

Because our Jeep is basically stock except for the 3″ lift and 33″ tires, were always put in the easy group. That means the trails we run with the group are 1 or 2 diamond trails. I admit, my pride is hurt every time were placed into that group. I want to run the Mudbug through some harder stuff to see what it can or cannot do. Barnwell gave us that opportunity. Actually in all honesty, NTJC’s leader gave us the opportunity. During the lunch break I was telling him that I wanted to run some harder trails because as of yet the Jeep had not been challenged. To my surprise he said SURE, come along with us, if you get stuck well get you out! And that kicked off a whole new era for the Mudbug.

The trail he took us on was a 3 diamond. There were some obstacles we did well on, one that challenged us but we made it, and one the Mudbug was not able to overcome. It was this obstacle that Justin said “That’s what you need lockers for”. It was good. This gave us a lot of understanding that we did not have until that point about the value of specific upgrades.

We had a fantastic day with the group and are looking forward to the next event. Until that time though, we decided to do some solo wheeling and made plans to go to Hot Springs Arkansas for some wheeling. That experience will be in our next post.

Changing the Type of Lift on our Jeep Wrangler

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Changing the Type of Lift on our Jeep Wrangler

 

The Decision to Change Our Jeep Lift

As we adventure forth on our adventures in the Jeep we decided it was time to change the type of lift that is currently on our Jeep. When we purchased the Jeep it had a spacer lift on it. This is also sometimes referred to as a budget boost lift. It lifts the Jeep but doesn’t provide any extra suspension or flex capabilities. The spacer lift uses the stock coil springs that come with the vehicle. We were also concerned about how well those rubber spacers would hold up. Would they slowly collapse or dry out leaving us lower in some areas of the Jeep than others? Would they fall out under a heavy suspension flex situation? These were questions and concerns we had so the conclusion was to just replace them with a proper coil spring suspension lift.  [Read more…]