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[ShadowsPapa]

I remember like 20 years ago, when I had my '96 Grand Cherokee in for repairs...needed a new timing chain because the distributor (the second one I put in that lasted around 75K miles) had practically seized up..couldn't even turn it by hand...and that had stretched the timing chain.

That'll tear up distributor drive and driven gears - won't "stretch" the timing chain. they don't stretch, they wear. Each pin and each hole wears, causing an effective change in length.
That is normal for 80K miles or so to have timing chain wear.
Because it's a sort of worm gear drive, the camshaft distributor drive gear has crazy advantage over the driven gear on the lower end of the distributor. Tension will tear up the gears, but not cause chain issues.
Making it worse is the fact that on some engines over the decades, the camshaft sprocket was lined with nylon - the teeth were nylon to make it run quieter, reduce chain against sprocket noise. The nylon wore down some, the chain wore, and in some cases, the nylon literally shed from the cam sprocket.

But I'd bet a steak dinner the timing chain wasn't the result of a tight distributor.......
it's like "my neighbor fell and broke her hip".
No, she didn't. Her hip broke causing the fall. Low bone density - weak hips, joint gives out, they fall.


Lack of oil changes, or excessively high oil pressure, or tight distributor, binding, etc. - will cut into the teeth. Yes, high oil pressure is a BAD thing, not good. It eats up oil pump drive components.
So the first thing excessive pressure or a tight distributor (which is the same net effect) will cause is gear wear. It would take a damned tight distributor to cause any damage because the resistance of the oil pump is really high if you've ever primed an older engine and felt the resistance as pressure built up as you primed it.

The 4.0, among others, used a double-roller design to make it quieter, smoother, reduce friction and heat and help reduce wear to some extent -

I checked around before installing mine a couple of months ago and the cheapest quote was $150 an hour and they said they could install them in 4 hours. Had they been closer than 2 hours away, I’d have let them do it. I am as slow as anyone you’ll find and was scared of the body bolts so I was very cautious and took my time. I did it in the driveway on a weekend but probably had 10 or 12 hours in them altogether.

Having installed them on two Jeeps - I strongly doubt they could do it start to finish and do a nice job in 4 hours. Just getting the rocker panels marked and keeping things straight and lined up takes time. Then there's removing the interior panels, running the wiring through the floor plugs and sealing those back up making them water tight again, positioning the magnets and switches. Naw, no way. Not 4 hours.
Heating the body bolts, sometimes having to file a bit off the bolts to get the brackets in (because they have some knurling to keep the big washers in place on the bolts - brackets don't always slide over the bolt without "adjusting" the bolt a bit)
Do they just tighten the crap out of things, or properly torque things - each and every bolt?
I'd love to see one guy do JT RSE power steps in just 4 hours start to finish - and then I want to check their work.........

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[Labswine]

@ShadowsPapa It was the distributor that killed that timing chain. I meticulously changed the oil every 5K miles and used Mobile 1. When I tried to replace that distributor (it was the second one I replaced) I had everything lined up...top dead center, the whole schmegeggie...but I could NOT get the engine to catch. I tried moving one or two teeth in either direction but to no avail. That's when I decided to finally take it to a dealer for service and, they said the timing chain was shot.

By the way, that second distributor, I could not turn it by hand which is why I think it wore the timing chain to the point that it wouldn't align properly with everything else. The engine could turn it but I couldn't.

The first replacement I could turn it by hand but, it squeaked like crazy as the bearings were going bad and it was a known problem for the '96 ZJ with the I-6. Over the course of ~240K miles, it went through three distributors (it was on it's third when I finally donated it to charity...engine and trans were still strong and tight but, the second AC went out and it had serious electrical issues like windows would go down but not up, headlights and running lights wouldn't always come on, and the like).

 

[Rocksalt]

If folks wish to buy American and support American businesses they cant expect 3 rd world labor rates

 

[Idlethunder]

Having installed them on two Jeeps - I strongly doubt they could do it start to finish and do a nice job in 4 hours. Just getting the rocker panels marked and keeping things straight and lined up takes time. Then there's removing the interior panels, running the wiring through the floor plugs and sealing those back up making them water tight again, positioning the magnets and switches. Naw, no way. Not 4 hours.
Heating the body bolts, sometimes having to file a bit off the bolts to get the brackets in (because they have some knurling to keep the big washers in place on the bolts - brackets don't always slide over the bolt without "adjusting" the bolt a bit)
Do they just tighten the crap out of things, or properly torque things - each and every bolt?
I'd love to see one guy do JT RSE power steps in just 4 hours start to finish - and then I want to check their work.........

I was a little leery of that 4 hour quote but was told they’d honor it regardless of how long it took. What actually stopped me from going any further with them was when I asked how they would handle the body bolts. He said their impact would loosen anything, I decided to do it myself. I talked to two Jeep service departments and an offroad shop and was quoted 8 hours at both dealers and 4 at the last place. Once I decided to do it at home and got started, it wasn’t too bad. Getting them into place was a little more than I could handle alone so I had help for a couple of hours the second day.

 

[maSS-hole]

$200 an hour here. ??‍ even with the disposable cash to have someone do it…. It’s easier to justify the next mod when you eat the work yourself.

When things break in the field, it’s a hell of a time to try and figure out how it was assembled… This new JT/JL platform is different in so many little ways from previous generations that going through the hassle in the garage installing things, allows for those quirks to be sorted within close beer fridge proximity…. Not trying to figure it out laying on rocks in the middle of nowhere. Also makes putting together spare parts/trail repairs parts kits easier to sort.

I get that these are just steps….. but still.

This. I see so many dudes on the Toyota groups on on who just bring their stock truck into a shop and have it fully built for them and don't have a damn clue how or what was done. Then when both tie rods snap on the first trail they are stuck.

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