Mudbug Adventures

Every Mile Is An Adventure

Replacing The Tail Lights On Our Jeep Wrangler

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For quite a while we have known about issues with our LED tail lights. People behind us on trails would often let us know one was flickering or only partially lighting up. Margaret saw it the last time we were out when she was filming from behind the Jeep. We’ve never really liked the tail lights. The ridiculous little LED spots just look stupid to us. I don’t understand why so many people are awe struck by LED tail lights and consider them an “upgrade” So we finally decided to swap them out.

At first I was looking at more LED tail lights. Not only were they quite expensive the styles were simply unimpressive. The more styles of LED’s I looked at the more unimpressed I became. This went on for a couple of days. I would find a couple that might look all right and show Margaret. She would frown about them clearly showing her distaste for any of them. Finally I just pulled up stock Jeep JK lights with a bulb. I liked it. Margaret liked it. So, for under $100 we ordered them from Amazon and they were delivered to our doorstep the next day.

Replacing them was very easy. 2 screws each and disconnect the wiring harness. I took about 5 minutes to replace both of them and that was even recording a short video. They light up well and provide better visibility than the LED style that was on the Jeep when we bought it. Here is a link to the short video if you decide to replace yours:

Here is a link to the short video:

 

Replaced The Radiator On Our Jeep

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Not a whole lot to write about on this. Our Jeep radiator has been leaking for over a year. Probably since we bought it. I always assumed the radiator fluid that was dripping was coming from the over flow tank. The splashes and drips came from the area of the overflow tank. It is really hard to see a lot of the seams on a Jeep radiator because of the plastic covers they encase it in. I finally was able to somewhat pin point the area of the leak and discovered it was coming from the drivers side towards the top of the radiator.

Removing the Radiator

You can see in the picture above the wet areas that show where it was leaking. This was with the Jeep sitting for over a week. The leaks are small and only leak droplets. Over time though it does make a mess on the under carriage and require a top off on fluid. High out door temperatures would cause it to leak quite a bit more when driving. Removing it was fairly easy. Take off all the plastic covers, the fan, hoses, overflow tank, air filter housing, Temperature wires, A/C coil, a couple of screws and it just pulls out. Took about 30 minutes to remove.

Replacing the Radiator

After researching radiator replacements I decided to go with an OEM Mopar radiator. There were some decent reviews for aluminum after market radiators and of some 3rd party exact replacements. Nothing however came close to the hands down comments, reviews, and recommendations as the OEM Mopar radiator. Price wise it was higher than any other radiator. It did fit without any modifications though. We ordered it through amazon and it was shipped from Mopar direct. It took 2 weeks for arrival. As I mentioned, it fit perfectly without issue and took about an hour to complete installation. I filled radiator until the anti-freeze was at the top and started the Jeep. I put the heater on full and let it run while I continued to fill the radiator until the bubbling stopped and the radiator would not accept any more fluid. Simply performing this process purged any air out of the line.

Test Driving

We took a couple test drives with it afterwards to check running temperature on the road. One of these was a 200 mile round trip to Loco Coyote in Glen Rose, TX for some BBQ. No overheating occurred and the temperature gauge actually sat a little lower than it used to. Our Jeep doesn’t have a digital display to know the exact running temperature so we have to go by the gauge. When the weather becomes reasonable again we will be ready to do some wheeling!

Repairing The Front Axle On Our Jeep

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After breaking down the front axle and accessing the damage we settled on the repair decisions. This was the perfect time to perform parts upgrades. When we had the rear axle upgraded by Redemption Offroad and the gear ratio changed, we did not upgrade the front axle. There were money concerns which prevented that upgrade. We knew there was a good possibility of the front axle breaking by not upgrading and it finally did.

Installing The Limited Slip Differential

First we had to clean all of the metal shards that littered the inside of the differential. Next we had to remove the Yukon ring gear from the old carrier and reinstall it on the new PowerTrax Grip Pro LSD. I then made a pair of SETUP bearings for adjusting the backlash of the ring gear on the new LSD. This was done by purchasing the bearings at Autozone and using a dremel tool I carefully ground the inside until they would slide onto the new LSD. This allowed me to install the LSD and shim it until the correct backlash was set. Once the backlash was set I removed the LSD and using a press, installed the permanent Yukon bearings onto the LSD. Now the LSD was ready for final installation.

Installing The Axle Shafts

Next came the install of the Ten Factory Chromoly Axle Shafts. This was very easy. It really only involved oiling the shaft and carefully sliding it through the axle until the splines set into the grooves of the LSD. Be sure to determine the groove count on both ends and the lengths of each axle before purchasing. We also took the opportunity to install Axle Shaft Seals to prevent water and mud from entering the axle shaft.

Final Steps To Completion

The rest of the rebuild was easy. Installed the hub assembly, brakes, wheels, differential cover, and tie rod. We finalized the rebuild by filling the differential with 90W gear oil. For testing I put it into 4WD and slowly drove it a short distance. I had to be easy on it because the rear axle still had to be repaired. Soon after we had the Jeep hauled to Redemption Offroad for the rear axle repairs. It was under warranty so it was the logical course of action.

Rear Axle Repair

The rear axle suffered a lot of damage as well. We snapped the driver side axle shaft. Pieces of it ground up inside the differential and destroyed the E-Locker. Both the axle shaft and E-locker had to be replaced. Redemption Offroad made the repairs which got us back on the road again. The picture shows the inside of the E-locker.

Final Thoughts

This experience was quite educational. Fortunately we were somewhat close to home when we broke the Jeep. It also taught us to make sure to upgrade everything necessary when performing initial modifications. Other than the rear axle shaft, the weakest components failed. These were the parts we had not upgraded. This could have easily happened on one of our out of state off road trips which would have been a complete disaster. For now though, were ready to wheel again and are planning our next adventure. This time with the front drive train upgraded as well.

The Front Axle On Our Jeep Wrangler

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Decisions To Be Made

At this point we had to decide what parts we were going to use for repairs. Cost would play heavily into this decision. The stock components had given out which means if we repaired back to stock it would probably happen again. Because of this we decided to perform some upgrades.

Axle Shafts

The first upgrade were the axle shafts. From the pictures on the last post you can clearly see the twisting that occurred. That twist was at the point where the axle shaft is inserted into the carrier. The stock shafts simply weren’t able to handle the level of wheeling we have been doing. I suppose we were fortunate they didn’t snap or there would have been even more damage. We upgraded the axle shafts to Ten Factory 4340 Chromoly axle shafts. This will be quite an upgrade from the stock axle shafts and hopefully be able to handle the larger tires and level of wheeling we are doing.

Differential Carrier

Next was the difficult decision about what to install in the differential. While it is broken down is a great time for upgrades. The only problem is it can get very expensive at this point. We wanted to install an E-Locker like we did in the rear axle. The Eaton locker runs right at $1000. As much as we wanted to upgrade to the Eaton locker, we simply didn’t have the finances at this time to do so. Another option was to rebuild the stock carrier with heavier spider gears. This would have cost us right at $200 and would have only made the carrier stronger. It would not have helped with traction to both tires when needed since it would still be an open differential. After researching heavily for a couple of weeks we decided on the Powertrax Grip Pro Extreme Traction System. This is a limited slip differential that will apply torque to the wheel that is not rotating. Basically if one wheel is slipping it will engage the other wheel so that both will be providing traction. This is an in between solution to an open differential and a locker. Cost did play into the decision. This carrier was $351 which was only a small amount over replacing the spider gears. The cost was also far less than the locker. It would also give us more traction in the front when off roading which will be an upgrade for us.

Miscellaneous Parts

Other parts were more common that we replaced or added. We had to get new bearings and races for the carrier. We also added axle shaft seals to keep water out of the axle. The inner seals were recently replaced when we re-geared the differential and suffered no damage. The Yukon ring gear and pinion also suffered no damage which I was very pleased about. It was nice that the few parts we had upgraded were not damaged.

What Comes Next

The rear axle still has to be dealt with. We did not build the rear axle. We had Redemption Offroad perform that work. They re-geared to a 4.88 gear ratio with Yukon ring and pinion gears, Yukon chromoly rear axle shafts, and an Eaton E-Locker in the differential. This was a costly upgrade but made a positive impact on the capability of the Jeep on more extreme offroading. At this point we don’t know exactly what is broke in the rear axle. We only know for sure one of the axle shafts snapped. After our next post on the front axle rebuild we will cover all the information about the rear axle.

 

 

Discovering What We Broke On The Jeep

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After towing the Jeep home and sleeping on what transpired we had to make some decisions. We knew a lot of parts were broken. We didn’t know the extent though. I decided to wait until the following Monday and call Redemtion Offroad for some quotes. They built the rear axle for us so we knew some of those parts at least would have a warranty.

Our First Option

I called Redemtion Offroad and told them what had happened and the symptoms resulting from the breakage. Wayne said we most likely broke a rear axle shaft since it wouldn’t move in 2WD but would move with the lockers engaged. The front however could be many issues. We knew all of the front axle components other than the Ring and Pinion gears were stock. We also knew it was only a matter of time before we broke those parts. Wayne gave us a quote for a few options based on the information I gave him. First option was to rebuild with used stock front axle shafts and replace spider gears if those were out. This was the cheapest way out but would put the Jeep back in the same shape as it was. This would not upgrade the front to handle the larger tires and heavy wheeling we have been doing.

The Next Option

The next option was to upgrade everything. Chrome Moly Axle Shafts and Electronic Locker. This option is what probably needed to happen but it was also costly. Now we were talking over $2500. That was only for the front axle. At that point he told us if we were going to spend that much to overhaul and upgrade our dana 30 axle it would be better to spend a bit more and just order a fully loaded upgraded dana 44 axle instead. Now with options we had to come to a decision.

Our Next Move

Because we did not know the extend of damage to the front I decided to drain the differential and see if there were any metal shards in the oil. Removing the drain plug revealed a lot. It was literally covered in metal shards. Now I knew there was carrier damage so I remove the differential cover. Now the extent of the differential damage was revealed. The spider gears in the carrier were almost gone. The teeth had shredded and were laying in the bottom of the differential. At this point I wasn’t even thinking about having anyone else perform the repairs. I was actually kind of excited to continue tearing apart the front looking for damages. It only took about 2.5 hours and I had the entire axle tore apart.

What Was Damaged

The spider gears were gone. We also found the axle shafts had twisted at the point they mated with the carrier. So new axle shafts were now necessary as well. The Yukon Ring and Pinion gears had no damage at all. The seals were still intact as well. We would need new carrier bearings for the rebuild as well. Now that it was in pieces I decided to go ahead and perform the repairs myself. The only parts under warranty in the front axle were the Yukon Ring and Pinion which were still good. Doing the work myself would void any warranty on those 2 parts but at this point that cost is negligible. This gives us the opportunity to upgrade the front axle. We will have Redemption Offroad repair the rear axle because of the warranty. The next post will cover the parts we used and the rebuild.

Jeep Exhaust Manifold Continued

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After discovering the broken bolt on the passenger side exhaust manifold I decided to go ahead and make the proper repairs. After removing the passenger side manifold I was greeted by a welcome surprise! The bolt was not broken into the block like the drivers side. There was still some of the bolt sticking out for me to grab. Using a pair of vice grips I was able to loosen it and even remove it by hand.

What We Discovered Next

The exhaust manifold on the passenger side also had a crack. It wasn’t as bad as the other side but we decided to replace it. Having gone this far it only made sense to complete the work properly. The crack wasn’t the only issue we found though. I noticed the rear spark plug had quite a bit of oil on it. After closer inspection I found the valve cover gasket was leaking. It only made sense to repair that as well. Upon removal of the valve cover I was unable to simply remove the gasket. It had solidified along the bottom edge and cracked into pieces. I had to dig out all the hardened rubber in preparation for the new gasket.

Getting the Parts

Summit Racing again provided the replacement exhaust manifold. I already had new bolts from the kit from the driver side replacement. The valve cover gasket came from Autozone. Then came the next problem. No auto store anywhere local had the manifold gasket. Summit could get the part but it would have been a month before it arrived. We had to order it from Amazon at a higher cost but it would arrive within 5 days.

Installing the Parts

It only took a couple hours to reinstall the new parts. Once again the Jeep is ready to go. We’ll take it out a couple times before our next off road adventure to make sure there were no issues with the install. The picture below is of the completed driver side install. I couldn’t get the camera on the passenger side manifold for a final picture due to lack of space but it looks essentially the same.

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!