What did you do TO your Gladiator today? [ADMIN WARNING: NO POLITICS, NO GUN TALK]

[WILDHOBO]

IMO they are far less important and typically not needed with naturally aspirated, and unless running a high performane N/A build they are more of a cool factor than anything. If someone is seeing high amounts of oil in the can with N/A they likely have other issues (usually a stuck PCV, removing the PCV, or not installing the system correctly). However they can be very beneficial with forced induction to reduce blowby.

That makes perfect sense. Thanks. I didn’t think about turbos.

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[Mightytalldude]

I obviously knew you had one, and I’m not a mechanical engineer either. So I’m just discussing. Not trying to tell people they’re not doing the right thing. Does yours also look like chocolate milk, indicating for me that water is in the can?

It does not look like chocolate milk. This is what it looks like, and general amount. I would say 1/4 cup on average. If there's excess moisture in the catch can, variables such as humidity, driving conditions can produce that. Check the PCV to make sure it's good.

 

[WILDHOBO]

It does not look like chocolate milk. This is what it looks like, and general amount. I would say 1/4 cup on average. If there's excess moisture in the catch can, variables such as humidity, driving conditions can produce that. Check the PCV to make sure it's good.

Yours looks much better. Like oil. Pcv seems to be a good thing to check. I know yours is replaced, as is mine.

 

[DanJT]

That was the first thing I noticed.

Maybe he does a lot of short trips, not getting it up to temp long enough to burn any condensation off.

Agreed, I do a lot of short trips, but recently a lot of highway as well. And that was my thought exactly on the condensation.

 

[DanJT]

It does not look like chocolate milk. This is what it looks like, and general amount. I would say 1/4 cup on average. If there's excess moisture in the catch can, variables such as humidity, driving conditions can produce that. Check the PCV to make sure it's good.

Well I do live in the humidity enriched south.
And I changed the PCV back in July with a Mopar one so I believe it is good.

 

[Bandit’s Lair]

Had a TPMS installed in the spare I cycled in with the tire rotation. Thankfully it was the sender and not the receiver. Now to figure out what’s going on with my backup camera.

 

[MrSmile]

I installed a cheap Amazon storage box in the center console and my Apex rapid deflate valves Beach season is coming and I can't waste time airing down.

 

[BlueScapegoat]

IMO they are far less important and typically not needed with naturally aspirated, and unless running a high performane N/A build they are more of a cool factor than anything. If someone is seeing high amounts of oil in the can with N/A they likely have other issues (usually a stuck PCV, removing the PCV, or not installing the system correctly). However they can be very beneficial with forced induction to reduce blowby.

I've thought about adding a catch can to my 4.0 with it's supercharger but I figured any oil blowby is probably just helping to seal the lobes...

That and it's a 4.0, I could feed it diesel and corn starch and it'll be happy

 

[BlueScapegoat]

I have the Crawl series like you. The only small JJ's are on the front upper arms at the rear. They're 2". The rest are 2.5".

On this topic, I'm about to press the new JJs into the upper mounts on the axle. These don't have a grease fitting.

Pressed them apart and this is how they looked. I haven't wiped anything

So that little ridge of grease on one side of the ball is presumably all of it, as I pressed it out. And a pretty clean groove in the bushing itself.

I just don't like their one piece joints. The act of assembling itself will push a lot of the grease out and they hardly use any to begin with.

Just plan on upper housing joints being replaced every other year. Or cut off the ear and weld on some bigger mounts. Which I'll probably do.

 

[BlueScapegoat]

Also the JJ tools are worth every cent. You could use a press and whatever you have laying around but after doing like 50+ of them you'll appreciate the self centering and ease of use of slapping one of these in a vise

 

[WILDHOBO]

On this topic, I'm about to press the new JJs into the upper mounts on the axle. These don't have a grease fitting.

Pressed them apart and this is how they looked. I haven't wiped anything

So that little ridge of grease on one side of the ball is presumably all of it, as I pressed it out. And a pretty clean groove in the bushing itself.

I just don't like their one piece joints. The act of assembling itself will push a lot of the grease out and they hardly use any to begin with.

Just plan on upper housing joints being replaced every other year. Or cut off the ear and weld on some bigger mounts. Which I'll probably do.

I got sick of maintaining Johnny joints so often and switched. Not for everyone, but I’ve been extremely happy with the IR bushings from teraflex. Zero maintenance and great articulation on both ends of the arms.

 

[BlueScapegoat]

I got sick of maintaining Johnny joints so often and switched. Not for everyone, but I’ve been extremely happy with the IR bushings from teraflex. Zero maintenance and great articulation on both ends of the arms.

I certainly get it. I don't think I'm willing to give up the unfettered unrestricted rotation of the JJs but the little joints suck. I've run their bigger joints for 75k+ miles in a salty environment without issue.

Imo the truth is there are a lot of great options right now. And depending on what you want, most of them are going to make you happy.

 

[WILDHOBO]

I certainly get it. I don't think I'm willing to give up the unfettered unrestricted rotation of the JJs but the little joints suck. I've run their bigger joints for 75k+ miles in a salty environment without issue.

Imo the truth is there are a lot of great options right now. And depending on what you want, most of them are going to make you happy.

Agreed. And I certainly didn’t have core when I was unhappy. Maybe I wouldn’t have been with theirs. I do have their crawl series rear swaybar links, and they’re super durable.

 

[BlueScapegoat]

Agreed. And I certainly didn’t have core when I was unhappy. Maybe I wouldn’t have been with theirs. I do have their crawl series rear swaybar links, and they’re super durable.

Tbf a JJ is a JJ. I don't think the arms manufacturers are assembling them, they're just getting them in a crate and threading them in.

The JJs are still the king of bind-free articulation, until somebody proves otherwise.

The most recent kit I'm talking about for pressing joints into the upper axle mounts is direct from RockJock, which for anyone unfamiliar, is Currie, the maker of the JJ.

Nothing but good things to say about Core4x4. If you're building your own suspension by picking and choosing like me, they're almost a cheat code. Great modular product.

I've said it a few times but I'll keep saying it; I think Core4x4 and Cavfab are making some of the highest quality products for the dollar in the market right now. Iron Rock Off Road deserves a mention as well, very affordable. They make literally the best lower control arm mounts for a D44 not to mention a spacer lift for a JT that last I looked did the same as the AEV for half the price. And I'm an AEV customer and fan too, but respect where respect is due.

 

[WILDHOBO]

Tbf a JJ is a JJ. I don't think the arms manufacturers are assembling them, they're just getting them in a crate and threading them in.

The JJs are still the king of bind-free articulation, until somebody proves otherwise.

The most recent kit I'm talking about for pressing joints into the upper axle mounts is direct from RockJock, which for anyone unfamiliar, is Currie, the maker of the JJ.

Nothing but good things to say about Core4x4. If you're building your own suspension by picking and choosing like me, they're almost a cheat code. Great product.

I've said it a few times but I'll keep saying it; I think Core4x4 and Cavfab are making some of the highest quality products for the dollar in the market right now. Iron Rock Off Road deserves a mention as well, very affordable. They make literally the best lower control arm mounts for a D44

I couldn’t agree more. I’m familiar with all except iron rock. I’ll check them out. Thanks.

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