EgulAye's mild hunting build (is it an overland build?)

[EgulAye]

6/1/24 | 70,495
Oil change time, even a bit past due, since the Moab trip was 6,500+ miles.

Odd thing, the old filter looks a bit twisted. Did this happen when I removed it? Was it like this from the install? Or did it occur somewhere in between?

I think I'll be switching to the Wix brand from here on out, leaving the NAPA Gold in the past. This filter I just removed is an unknown brand, the one that came with the oil cooler replacement kit.

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[EgulAye]

6/22/24 | 71,191

I heard what I thought was a brake pad wear tab on Saturday last weekend (the 15th). So on Monday I called my local NAPA and ordered pads for the front and rear. I figured with 70,000+ miles on the clock it was probably time to change all of them.

The pads arrived the next day and I started at the front driver's side since that tire needed to rotate to the back anyway. The front pads were only about half worn, much to my surprise. So I left them on there and rolled the tire to the back.

I go to start removing the rear wheel and notice one of the lug nuts is missing. The stud had snapped off! Three of the lug nuts were only finger tight. So for a few days I had been driving around with one lug nut holding the wheel on...

I ordered some wheel studs and lug nuts from NAPA, the rear studs are different than the fronts by 1 mm btw. They were set to arrive Wednesday, so I figured I would at least have a look at the pads while the truck was in the air. Those pads probably have 40% life left. I'm really surprised considering the mileage. So I tightened down the four lug nuts, torqued them, then checked them all again. Then I walked around the truck and checked all the rest. The other rear wheel was also a bit loose. I _always_ torque them and then double check, so this is a bit perplexing. I'll be carting the torque wrench around with me for a while, randomly checking these things until I'm satisfied they are staying put.

Today I finally had time to replace the broken stuff. Getting the rotor off was a bit of a challenge. Seized a bit to the axle flange. At least backing off the parking brake shoes went easily, once I got the adjuster wheel going in the right direction. Pull the tool to loosen, push to tighten, on the rear driver's side.

The broken stud popped out without trouble and the new one pulled in easily.

I had watched a couple YouTube videos earlier in the week just to be sure that there weren't any tricks with the parking brake. The mechanic in one of the videos (1A Auto) had a really long 18mm wrench for the caliper bracket bolts. I thought to myself "that would make the job a lot easier". I found and ordered one via Amazon and it arrived yesterday, just in time to get the job done. The caliper slide bolts have a 10mm head (rear wheel), and the front calipers have a 12mm head.

 

[EgulAye]

7/13/24 | 72,824

I brought my wheel with the bent/pinched valve stem to a local tire shop. Tire Warehouse here in central Maine has consistently provided great service. Today they failed to disappoint yet again They swapped the valve stem out, kept my OEM TPMS sensor, and did it quickly. They also didn't charge me for the repair.

When I got the wheel home I installed it on the Jeep and it's been running great. Thanks Tire Warehouse!!

 

[EgulAye]

08/31/24 | 75,185

The rear brakes have been making a dragging metal-to-metal sound. This is a surprise since I looked at the brake pads in June and estimated another 20-30k miles of life left.

What I found when taking the rear passenger side apart is that the lower caliper slide pin was seized in place. There was rust, corrosion, and dirt in it. I had to heat the caliper bracket and melt the internal plastic sleeve in order to remove the pin. I applied liberal amounts of caliper grease and re-assembled with new pads. I only did this side since it seems I'll be buying more parts and performing a larger repair after the holiday weekend.

My local NAPA couldn't source the caliper bracket or the slide pins, but Quadratec has them:

QTY 1: Mopar 68376747AB Rear Brake Caliper Bracket; Quadratec Part #: 12112-3535; Mopar Part #: 68376747AB; $68.98
QTY 1: Mopar 68376748AA Rear Brake Caliper Pin Kit; Quadratec Part #: 12112-3716; Mopar Part #: 68376748AA; $4.87
QTY 2: NAPA Premium Rear Brake Rotor; Part #: NB 48882625; Line: NAPA Brake Rotors; $73.99
QTY 1: NAPA SilentGUARD Rear Disc Brake Pads Ceramic; Part #: PSG SG9472X; Line: NAPA Silent Guard; $60.99
NAPA Rear Brake Pads; Part #: PFB PF9472X; Line: NAPA Brake Pads; $48.99
QTY 1: NAPA Ultra Premium Parking Brake Brake Shoes; Part #: UP UP10941PB; Line: NAPA Ultra Premium; $91.99

I picked up all the NAPA parts the next day. Now I wait for the Quadratec shipment.

I also have an oil change to complete this month and plan to change the automatic transmission fluid. Check the differentials, transfer case, anything else? Power steering was not working for the first two minutes on Tuesday morning, so that's concerning.

 

[Jaxmax]

Dave, my wife’s old 2010 Jk went to 95,000 mikes on original brakes and even then they were not that worn but we decided to just do it as she loved that Jeep until
She saw her new JL in the lot in 2019 a month later ha!…..Jeep

 

[EgulAye]

Dave, my wife’s old 2010 Jk went to 95,000 mikes on original brakes and even then they were not that worn but we decided to just do it as she loved that Jeep until
She saw her new JL in the lot in 2019 a month later ha!…..Jeep

Yeah, I'm at just over 75,000 miles and there's a lot of life left on all the other pads. If this caliper slide pin hadn't frozen I'd still be riding the factory pads. Now I'll be doing rotors, pads, & shoes on both sides plus the caliper bracket and slide pins on the passenger side. If I'm going to have it all apart then I may as well do all the work.

How much does your wife love her JL?

 

[Jaxmax]

She likes it a lot better then her JK she had 9 years, better engine, more options, she jas the JL sahara and had a JK Sport so not much to compare, had it five years already still no problems....Jack

 

[EgulAye]

9/7/24 | 75,952

Tire rotation today. Front wheels to back, back wheels to spare, spare wheels to front, opposite the sides they were previously on. Six wheel rotation.

 

[EgulAye]

9/8/24 | 75,952

Transmission fluid change and an oil/ filter change.

I removed the fill plug and then drained the transmission oil pan. I got more than a quart just by removing the fill plug. I quickly realized I may have trouble filling it back up if it's full above the hole... (it turns out that the transmission fluid slowly drains back from the cooler, this is why you have to fill it as best you can, run it, then check / add more fluid)

The fill plug used an 8mm alien key. The pan bolts use a Torx ( T-40 ) bit. The torque on the pan bolts was pretty light and I was careful to not go too tight when I turned them back in.

All told I measured 5 1/2 quarts out of the transmission. This is obviously only a partial fluid change. I'm not sure how long I'll wait to do it again. Remember also that the transmission was replaced not about a year ago, so it's around 30k miles now?

I ended up jacking the passenger side up about 6" to be able to put a bit more ATF in. I also started the truck and shifted through the gears a couple times. Then I was able to get the whole amount of ATF back in.

I didn't get a photo of it, but I have a suction gun from NAPA with a 90° fitting (cheap dollar part from the hardware store) stuck on the end that I used to pull the rest of the fluid from the pan. This is how I avoided needing to actually remove the pan to empty it. NAPA BK 715245

 

[EgulAye]

9/18/24 - 9/19/24 | 76,764

I've been painting new shackle tabs for the front bumper. I ordered these from HK Offroad, It's called JK / JL / JT SHACKLE TAB KIT with the "keeping factory hooks , grilled fog light plates" options selected. The welding wasn't super clean, there was spatter on the parts, and some of the cuts were uneven. But all of the welds look like they've got good penetration and the steel is definitely beefy. Check out the dimensions on the product web site if you're curious. Also, important to note, they are way behind with production, it took about three months for these to arrive.

I've got them painted now and hope to install this coming weekend.

I've installed some Milwaukee PACKOUT mounting racks for the platform. There's just too much stuff to take with me for an upcoming hunting trip. I want space in the bed for a variety of gear. Recent additions like foot pegs and side mirrors for when i take the doors off, the portable jump start, etc. don't quite fit anywhere. I added a couple of braces to support the bottoms, otherwise they fit like I planned for these four years ago.

I have long wondered what the point is of having the fancy Rubicon hood vents. The back sides of the vents are solid except for a small weep hole. And the hood insulation completely covers them from underneath. I decided to open it up and see how the Jeep performs. I got replacement grommets for the insulation so that I can put it back as soon as I change my mind. I also got replacement hood vents from MOTOKU on Amazon. They were $70, so I had hopes the quality would be okay. In the meantime I've taken my hood vents out a couple of times and honestly they no longer fit snugly when re-installing. The new hood vents don't have the Mopar branding on the back but the quality seems very comparable. I test fit one of them in the hood and they will fit as well as the factory vents or better.

Since the factory vents are starting to not be as nice I decided to cut those up instead of the aftermarket vents. I used a multitool to cut out the bottoms, leaving just a bit of a lip for strength. I then pre-drilled three holes along each side near the retaining clips for screws. Overall this modification was easy to make and looks good installed. If I notice any problems with it I can switch back to the factory configuration easily enough. Note that the screws I used are not in the hood, only in the vent. The screw heads extend outside the metal lip enough to keep the vents captive.

 

[EgulAye]

9/1/24 | 75,500 +/-
Four of us took a trip into the North Maine Woods for the day. Among the many sights and roads we encountered a lot of mud. Everything was very wet and some of the roads were slick. At one point we happened upon a guy with a Toyota Tundra who had slid completely off the road. One of his tires had come completely off the bead and he couldn't get back up onto the roadway.

My brother backed up his Wrangler to warn oncoming vehicles and I set up the winch to pull the Toyota back up onto the road. All the recovery gear worked well. Warn VR12 winch with synthetic line, the soft shackle, and the new Mohawk 2" Receiver with Jowl Shackle. This was the first trip for the Mohawk and Jowl, they came in clutch and performed perfectly.

 

[EgulAye]

9/21/24 | 76,960

I installed a new Apex 2.5 ton drag link today. I went with the polished aluminum finish only because I didn't realize they sold it in black. The existing pitman arm end came out hard, but I was able to get it with a little persuasion.

The new drag link looks good, 41-1/4" was my distance to set.

 

[EgulAye]

9/22/24 | 76,960

The new shackle tabs are in. See above for details on where I ordered those from and the prep work.

I installed two of the Jowl Shackles. There are new LED lights behind the covers. The factory lights were full of moisture though still working. A fellow off-roader gave me a set of after market LED lights that I installed. I don't have much information on those lights since they were given to me in a nondescript cardboard box. But the wiring harness adapters that came with the lights and match the factory plugs were reversed polarity. I had to cut them and swap to get the lights working.

 

[EgulAye]

9/24/24 | 77, 077

Adjusted the new drag link to straighten the steering wheel a bit. The Apex "crows feet" are tough to fit in the steering links space when the truck is on the ground and all put together.

 

[EgulAye]

10/1/24 | 77,401

I fabricated some bumper covers for the front bumper. These cover the back side of the daytime running lights. Lots of snow, ice, slush, mud, and rain get in there when driving.

Two of the holes are factory locations. I added two holes towards the inboard edge through the factory DRL bucket. All of the bends and crinkles look a bit wonky but when installed they are fairly flush and shouldn't snag anything. There's also plenty of space for and water that does get in there to drain out.

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