- Location
- Bountiful, land of rocks
More of that Willys wagon, please. (they're becoming a weakness for me)
Jeep Building the RockyMountainExtreme.com Jeep Wrangler
- Thread starter Greg
- Start date
Vonski
nothing to see here...
- Location
- Payson, Utah
I really like the way the Jeep turned out! Of course, Greg did alot of the intial work, so we can't take all the credit.
It will really be sweet once the body/paint work is completed. I'm assuming that it'll get an "RME themed" paint scheme or something, eh Greg?
Vonski
nothing to see here...
- Location
- Payson, Utah
Marc, I'll see if I can find/add some more of the Willys.
- Location
- Grand Junction, CO
Thanks Von, I also think it turned out quite well. It's amazingly capable, the sum of it's parts make for a very fun rig and there's not much I'd do different if I were to do it over. The Chevy 5.3 is fun, the TH350 works great, and the Atlas is amazing... I love doing front digs! The TeraFlex LCG suspension works well, the Maxxis tires get traction when most tires wouldn't, etc, etc.
The BHR fenders and cage really set it apart in a crowd, seems like the Jeep gets attention everywhere it goes. You guys did some great work, I'm quite pleased with the work I had done at BHR.
I'm planning on having it painted this Fall sometime, it will be painted with a redrock color and have the RockyMountainExtreme.com site name pasted in a few select locations. Matter of fact, I'll need 2 more of those plasma-cam cut RockyMountainExtreme.com logos, if you guys still have them saved. I think they'll need to go on each side of the hood.
Vonski
nothing to see here...
- Location
- Payson, Utah
Yeah, I'm sure we saved the file. Let us know when you need 'em!
- Location
- Grand Junction, CO
I thought I'd post a follow-up on how the rig has been working, some of the issues I've had, what needs to be addressed next and any desired additions.
Staun Beadlocks- They were a huge PITA to mount, but seem to work well... when they are working. Within a few months all of the Stauns lost pressure, I installed them at the maximum pressure, 45 PSI and was running the tires themselves at 4 PSI. 2 of the Stauns had 25 PSI, one had 15 PSI and the last had NO air in it. The tire with 15 PSI was a front tire and it was burping air out the bead, causing the tire to go nearly flat on the last trip. The Staun that had no pressure in it must have had some internal movement because now I cannot air down without taking all the pressure out of the Staun first. Now I cannot check the air pressure in the tire because the valve stem is being blocked by the Staun tube. It's a pain to work with, I really need to breakdown the tire at some point and fix it.
Engine running on after being shut off- Those that have seen this Jeep run know it has an electrical problem where once you turn the ignition off, the engine idles down, then back up, then grudgingly shuts down. The guys at BHR wired the engine and said it was done right, but weren't sure why it was doing this. After thinking about this, I realized that the fan is creating voltage and the fan itself becomes a generator once the vehicle gets shut off, feeding electricity to the engine until the fan stops spinning or there's no more fuel to burn. I'll need to wire a relay into the power wire to shut off the fan's power with the key switch.
Engine oil pan- The engine oil pan is my Achilles Heel. The bottom of the pan is very low, matter of fact the bottom of the pan is level with the centerline of my front axle housing!! This is due to the low lift height (3" lift) and running the truck oil pan that came with the Chevy truck 5.3l motor. It's also aluminum, which is quite brittle. I have already scraped it a couple times (Including last weekend) and I have to be very cautious and mindful of where rocks end up when straddling them. I need to buy the parts for the Camaro oil pan which is shallower and then I need to build a beefy steel skidplate to add more protection for the engine and transmission oil pans.
Rear bump stops- I have some urethane bumpstops, just need to fab up the mounts and weld them in place. Until then, I'm hammering my shocks and probably destroying them. I just haven't had the time to get them on the Jeep. :sick:
Air bumps- I really want to get a pair of air bump stops on the front of the TJ. I have about 2" of uptravel before I get into the factory bumpstops and while it's fine for slow crawling, if I'm hauling arse and hit some bumps, the front bottoms out pretty hard. I'd like to have a 2" travel air bump with about 3" of axle up-travel before getting into the bump stop. I think that would be a good setup.
Transmission leak- The Jeep is leaking ATF pretty badly, I think it's coming from between the Atlas and the TH350. I need to pull the skidplate, verify where the leak is coming from and probably drop the Atlas and reseal the surface.
So far I've really been happy with the Jeep. It is way more capable than I'm willing to be. Last weekend I climbed this nasty hill that I though was nearly impossible... the Jeep did it without slipping a tire. Having the V8 is too much fun, it will bark the tires shifting into each gear on the street! And offroad... oh how I missed having a V8. I love it... never going back to a 22RE! :greg:
The transmission works amazingly well, I'm extremely pleased with how it turned out. If I need some wheelspin, I put it in 2nd gear and hit the throttle. The full-manual valvebody w/ engine braking, 2000 RPM stall converter and over-all gear ratio is perfect. It was a gamble, but turned out even better than I hoped.
The Atlas is real fun, being able to do Front and Rear digs is a lifesaver. Just last weekend that ability got me out of what would have otherwise been a difficult situation. And the 4.3 to 1 ratio is great, I wondered if it would be too low, but it's great. It crawls along in 1st gear perfectly.
The suspension works great, I recently added a TeraFlex S/T Dual Rate sway bar and it's honestly one of the best things I've put on this Jeep. Before without any sway bar the Jeep was just plain sketchy driving on the road over 25 MPH. Offroad it was alright, but seemed to flop around a bit. It wasn't really noticiable before, but now that I have the sway bar on, you can tell how it helps stabilize the suspension. And driving on the road... wow. The Jeep is comfortable at 60+ MPH... yeah, with 40" bias ply Maxxis tires at 4 PSI, full hydro and a soft, long-arm suspension. The S/T Sway Bar has made the Jeep very streetable. Twist the locking hub and it's ready for offroad travel. I like it!
That's really about it, nothing that's really a big deal, just minor items that need to be addressed. I'll probably wheel it thru the Fall, then tackle all the issues this winter. Nothing like using the cold time of year to fix the Junk!
Staun Beadlocks- They were a huge PITA to mount, but seem to work well... when they are working. Within a few months all of the Stauns lost pressure, I installed them at the maximum pressure, 45 PSI and was running the tires themselves at 4 PSI. 2 of the Stauns had 25 PSI, one had 15 PSI and the last had NO air in it. The tire with 15 PSI was a front tire and it was burping air out the bead, causing the tire to go nearly flat on the last trip. The Staun that had no pressure in it must have had some internal movement because now I cannot air down without taking all the pressure out of the Staun first. Now I cannot check the air pressure in the tire because the valve stem is being blocked by the Staun tube. It's a pain to work with, I really need to breakdown the tire at some point and fix it.
Engine running on after being shut off- Those that have seen this Jeep run know it has an electrical problem where once you turn the ignition off, the engine idles down, then back up, then grudgingly shuts down. The guys at BHR wired the engine and said it was done right, but weren't sure why it was doing this. After thinking about this, I realized that the fan is creating voltage and the fan itself becomes a generator once the vehicle gets shut off, feeding electricity to the engine until the fan stops spinning or there's no more fuel to burn. I'll need to wire a relay into the power wire to shut off the fan's power with the key switch.
Engine oil pan- The engine oil pan is my Achilles Heel. The bottom of the pan is very low, matter of fact the bottom of the pan is level with the centerline of my front axle housing!! This is due to the low lift height (3" lift) and running the truck oil pan that came with the Chevy truck 5.3l motor. It's also aluminum, which is quite brittle. I have already scraped it a couple times (Including last weekend) and I have to be very cautious and mindful of where rocks end up when straddling them. I need to buy the parts for the Camaro oil pan which is shallower and then I need to build a beefy steel skidplate to add more protection for the engine and transmission oil pans.
Rear bump stops- I have some urethane bumpstops, just need to fab up the mounts and weld them in place. Until then, I'm hammering my shocks and probably destroying them. I just haven't had the time to get them on the Jeep. :sick:
Air bumps- I really want to get a pair of air bump stops on the front of the TJ. I have about 2" of uptravel before I get into the factory bumpstops and while it's fine for slow crawling, if I'm hauling arse and hit some bumps, the front bottoms out pretty hard. I'd like to have a 2" travel air bump with about 3" of axle up-travel before getting into the bump stop. I think that would be a good setup.
Transmission leak- The Jeep is leaking ATF pretty badly, I think it's coming from between the Atlas and the TH350. I need to pull the skidplate, verify where the leak is coming from and probably drop the Atlas and reseal the surface.
So far I've really been happy with the Jeep. It is way more capable than I'm willing to be. Last weekend I climbed this nasty hill that I though was nearly impossible... the Jeep did it without slipping a tire. Having the V8 is too much fun, it will bark the tires shifting into each gear on the street! And offroad... oh how I missed having a V8. I love it... never going back to a 22RE! :greg:
The transmission works amazingly well, I'm extremely pleased with how it turned out. If I need some wheelspin, I put it in 2nd gear and hit the throttle. The full-manual valvebody w/ engine braking, 2000 RPM stall converter and over-all gear ratio is perfect. It was a gamble, but turned out even better than I hoped.
The Atlas is real fun, being able to do Front and Rear digs is a lifesaver. Just last weekend that ability got me out of what would have otherwise been a difficult situation. And the 4.3 to 1 ratio is great, I wondered if it would be too low, but it's great. It crawls along in 1st gear perfectly.
The suspension works great, I recently added a TeraFlex S/T Dual Rate sway bar and it's honestly one of the best things I've put on this Jeep. Before without any sway bar the Jeep was just plain sketchy driving on the road over 25 MPH. Offroad it was alright, but seemed to flop around a bit. It wasn't really noticiable before, but now that I have the sway bar on, you can tell how it helps stabilize the suspension. And driving on the road... wow. The Jeep is comfortable at 60+ MPH... yeah, with 40" bias ply Maxxis tires at 4 PSI, full hydro and a soft, long-arm suspension. The S/T Sway Bar has made the Jeep very streetable. Twist the locking hub and it's ready for offroad travel. I like it!
That's really about it, nothing that's really a big deal, just minor items that need to be addressed. I'll probably wheel it thru the Fall, then tackle all the issues this winter. Nothing like using the cold time of year to fix the Junk!
That oil pan swap seems fairly straightforward, especially with the part numbers Kiel posted up for 'em.
Airbumps work even better than you think they do, and I imagine you think they work pretty well. (what?) They'll seriously make a big difference, you might consider them front and rear if you have a few extra bucks to spare.
What did you end up doing to fit the S/T swaybar where it wanted to get friendly with the front tubework?
Airbumps work even better than you think they do, and I imagine you think they work pretty well. (what?) They'll seriously make a big difference, you might consider them front and rear if you have a few extra bucks to spare.
What did you end up doing to fit the S/T swaybar where it wanted to get friendly with the front tubework?
- Location
- Grand Junction, CO
Yeah, I had seen Kiel listing the part #'s and prices (Meat actually mentioned the Camaro pan early on in this thread, but I didn't realize how much difference there was), it's just one more thing to spend money on when I thought 'the build' was over. I've been trying to recover after spending in a year, what some people make in a year.
So, yeah... I'll get the new Camaro pan on the way when I'm financially prepared. Hope I can make the current pan last until then. I remember when you just got the air bumps on your buggy and the difference it made at that XRRA event. I think they will be great, the grin you had told me all I needed to know.
If I can do all 4, I will but I'll probably do the front air bumps first, then the rears later down the road. They're a lot of $$$! Hopefully air bumps on my TJ won't mean it will get driven like your buggy right after it got air bumps. I ended up chopping the front grill bar hoop in order to fit the S/T swaybar. I'm planning on putting it back on at some point, but the bottom of the hoop will have to be far forward, making the grill hoop sit on a rake. If I do this, it will still clear the S/T swaybar.
soda blaster
Active Member
- Location
- Saratoga Springs
Check your schrader valves on your stauns.
- Location
- Grand Junction, CO
I pulled the valve core out of the stem, air was still blocked on that one tire. Or are you referring to the leaking?
soda blaster
Active Member
- Location
- Saratoga Springs
Yes, the leaking.
Last edited:
- Location
- Grand Junction, CO
I'll check into that, perhaps swap out all the valve cores. That makes sense, you'd think new tubes would have good valve cores.
-sean-
L-TJ
- Location
- Highlands Ranch, CO
How is the single sided full hydro working out? Opinion?
- Location
- Grand Junction, CO
Honestly, I can't compare it to a double ended ram because I've never driven a vehicle with a DE ram. But I'm happy with the tractor parts.
Everything in the steering system seems to be well balanced, the full hydro is a bit sensitive driving on the road at speed, but as long as you're aware of that, it's fine. I reallly haven't pushed my speed over 60 MPH, so keep that in mind. I didn't build this rig with high-speed pavement driving in mind and that may be the difference in a DE ram and a SE ram. Offroad I have no complaints, it works well. I saved a lot of money with the single ended ram and at this point I don't regret it. Best part is that if I ever thrash that ram, I can get a new one on the local Cal Ranch, Murdochs, the Co-Op, etc. :busted:
Honestly, I can't compare it to a double ended ram because I've never driven a vehicle with a DE ram. But I'm happy with the tractor parts.
Offroad I have no complaints, it works well. I saved a lot of money with the single ended ram and at this point I don't regret it. Best part is that if I ever thrash that ram, I can get a new one on the local Cal Ranch, Murdochs, the Co-Op, etc. :busted:
Same here, I can't compare but we're running close to the same setup. Love it! Mine seems very stable at high speed. It just takes a little to get used to, the difference between mechanical and hydro feels weird at first but when you get used to it, it's awesome.
- Location
- Grand Junction, CO
Yep, I put together my steering based on how pleased you have been with your inexpensive full hydro setup.
I've run both and for recreation use, the single end is more than adequate. For that reason I put a single end on my new buggy. If I was running WERock or XRRA I'd go with the dual end ram for the high end reaction time, and speed of events.
- Location
- Grand Junction, CO
Just updating this, I finally swapped out the truck oil pan for the LS1 or Camaro/Firebird oil pan. Overall I gained about 3.25" of ground clearance. The bottom of my oil pan is now much higher off the ground. Before it was 17" from flat ground to the bottom of my oil pan, now it's over 20". It may not sound like much, but it is. The engine oil pan is level with the transmission oil pan, and they both sit just above where the Belly skidplate is. Eventually I'm going to add a steel skidplate to protect the engine and transmission.
Kiel posted this on here first, so thanks to him here's the part numbers and approx. costs to swap on the LS1 oil pan. You can buy the parts from www.gmpartsdirect.com
12558251 - SCREEN
Part#: 12558251
Manufacturer Part#: 12558251
(Qty: 1 x $33.91)
12558253 - DEFLECTOR
Part#: 12558253
Manufacturer Part#: 12558253
(Qty: 1 x $17.83)
12558762 -1998-2003 Camaro/Firebird LS1 Oil Pan Pan
Part#: 12558762
Manufacturer Part#: 12558762
(Qty: 1 x $164.95)
12551577 - TUBE
Part#: 12551577
Manufacturer Part#: 12551577
(Qty: 1 x $7.04)
12551581 - INDICATOR
Part#: 12551581
Manufacturer Part#: 12551581
(Qty: 1 x $9.99)
I do have some exhaust work to do still, since the oil pan sump on the LS1 pan is a few inches further forward. My original exhaust isn't going to work, the crossover interferes with the oil pan. :sick:
Here's how it looks-
ChestonScout
opinions are like Jeeps..
- Location
- Clinton, Ut
I hate oil pans
Looks good tho Greg!
Looks good tho Greg!
waynehartwig
www.jeeperman.com
- Location
- Mead, WA
That is a good bit of clearance! Sucks about the exhaust though