snivilous
Senior Member
Update (147,590 miles):
So I got back from Moab and have been putting in a few hours on the Runner everyday getting it fixed up and ready for school. So my list of stuff to fix in about a week:
Inner CV Boot
CB Antenna Mount
Hi-Lift Mount
Reinforce Rear Bumper
Engine Oil/Filter Change
Transmission Fluid Change
Finish Front Bash Plate
Repaint Bumpers/Sliders in Bed Liner
Tune CB with SWR Meter
Rotate Tires
I changed the oil/filter and tranny fluid (what's in the pan at least) right away, no point in pictures. Though I must say that having an aftermarket bumper (or mine at least) makes the oil filter FAR more accessible. I don't get a single drop of oil on myself through the whole process versus the normal spill half of the filter contents on your arm; I can just reach up from the front instead of under it.
Next was the rear bumper and CV issue, as those were the primary things to fix. The rear bumper had been bent in the past when I hooked a stuck Jeep up to one of my rear hooks. The bumper held, and the Jeep came out, but the load path was this flimsy 'L' shaped 1/8" steel plate that just bent out a bit. To reinforce it, we took some 1/8" square tubing and welded it into the frame and then had a 1/4" plate come off that the bumper bolts to. There is then a diagonal gusset to resist the moment when the bumper is pushed/pulled. Additionally, there was a gap/seam on the top of the bumper where the plate that creates the "floor" of the bumper (horizontal part near the tail gate) was welded to the 2x4 steel backbone of the bumper. The original plan was to cover it in either hydroturf or diamond plate. Instead I cut the welds out and pounded the gap down and put a weld down the seam and then ground it down, so the plate seamlessly transitions into the 2x4 section with a radius.
We then coated it in bed liner.
During this process I also removed the CV and rebooted it and reinstalled it. This was my first time ever dealing with a CV though it was much easier than I anticipated.
The inner (differential side) boot was torn and needed replacing. NAPA got me a boot replacement kit for around ~$25. It came with the boot, clamps, snap rings, and grease.
I don't know what aftermarket CV axles are like, but this was definitely not what I expected to see. Maybe the inner and outer CVs are different types of joints, because I was expecting balls and grooves and "cages" as I've seen them referred to. Even when looking at CV design online I've never come across three arms on roller bearings. Regardless, same procedure I'm sure.
Cleaned parts:
Then just slid the boot on, greased it and clamped it down. Went back on super easily. I didn't have a torque wrench that went up to 174 ft-lbs, so I just used our 2 foot breaker bar and did some simple physics to calculate I needed to stand with my full 140 lbs weight at 1.25 feet out. Basic physics and torque calculations for the win! :bigok:
During all this, some differential fluid leaked out which we then added back. Looking around online it sounded like a ***** to pull the front differential drain plug, and as it was the filler plug was bad enough so we just added some fluid. Also rotated the tires while I was at it.
Here is an old picture of the new bash plate:
Some additional supports have been added at the main weld between the front and rear halves. If something were to hit the bash plate then a moment would occur at the weld. Other aftermarket skid plates don't compensate for this so not sure how well they do, but this should put up a good fight. Semi boxed from 1/8" steel. I just need to add some stand offs for the mid bolts and paint it and it's ready to go.
Then the Hi-Lift mount needs to be rewelded, and probably add a tab to the front bumper to help hold it up. The Hi-Lift after all was sitting a good 3" out from the bumper with only a 3/8" bolt. A tab will help reduce the moment that the bolts get loaded with which may be what caused the failure in the first place. The CB mount just needs two plastic bushings machined, which I can easily do at home on our mini mill/lathe out of Delrin and then tune the antenna after that.
All in all the truck has been torn down more in the past few days at one time than so far this summer, and I will be driving to school in less than four days and working still. Luckily everything is straight forward and simple for the most part. The main rush was to have the truck driving tonight so I can go to work tomorrow and then get smog tested. Will post more updates this week as I finish more tasks! Thanks for reading.
So I got back from Moab and have been putting in a few hours on the Runner everyday getting it fixed up and ready for school. So my list of stuff to fix in about a week:
Inner CV Boot
CB Antenna Mount
Hi-Lift Mount
Reinforce Rear Bumper
Engine Oil/Filter Change
Transmission Fluid Change
Finish Front Bash Plate
Repaint Bumpers/Sliders in Bed Liner
Tune CB with SWR Meter
Rotate Tires
I changed the oil/filter and tranny fluid (what's in the pan at least) right away, no point in pictures. Though I must say that having an aftermarket bumper (or mine at least) makes the oil filter FAR more accessible. I don't get a single drop of oil on myself through the whole process versus the normal spill half of the filter contents on your arm; I can just reach up from the front instead of under it.
Next was the rear bumper and CV issue, as those were the primary things to fix. The rear bumper had been bent in the past when I hooked a stuck Jeep up to one of my rear hooks. The bumper held, and the Jeep came out, but the load path was this flimsy 'L' shaped 1/8" steel plate that just bent out a bit. To reinforce it, we took some 1/8" square tubing and welded it into the frame and then had a 1/4" plate come off that the bumper bolts to. There is then a diagonal gusset to resist the moment when the bumper is pushed/pulled. Additionally, there was a gap/seam on the top of the bumper where the plate that creates the "floor" of the bumper (horizontal part near the tail gate) was welded to the 2x4 steel backbone of the bumper. The original plan was to cover it in either hydroturf or diamond plate. Instead I cut the welds out and pounded the gap down and put a weld down the seam and then ground it down, so the plate seamlessly transitions into the 2x4 section with a radius.
We then coated it in bed liner.
During this process I also removed the CV and rebooted it and reinstalled it. This was my first time ever dealing with a CV though it was much easier than I anticipated.
The inner (differential side) boot was torn and needed replacing. NAPA got me a boot replacement kit for around ~$25. It came with the boot, clamps, snap rings, and grease.
I don't know what aftermarket CV axles are like, but this was definitely not what I expected to see. Maybe the inner and outer CVs are different types of joints, because I was expecting balls and grooves and "cages" as I've seen them referred to. Even when looking at CV design online I've never come across three arms on roller bearings. Regardless, same procedure I'm sure.
Cleaned parts:
Then just slid the boot on, greased it and clamped it down. Went back on super easily. I didn't have a torque wrench that went up to 174 ft-lbs, so I just used our 2 foot breaker bar and did some simple physics to calculate I needed to stand with my full 140 lbs weight at 1.25 feet out. Basic physics and torque calculations for the win! :bigok:
During all this, some differential fluid leaked out which we then added back. Looking around online it sounded like a ***** to pull the front differential drain plug, and as it was the filler plug was bad enough so we just added some fluid. Also rotated the tires while I was at it.
Here is an old picture of the new bash plate:
Some additional supports have been added at the main weld between the front and rear halves. If something were to hit the bash plate then a moment would occur at the weld. Other aftermarket skid plates don't compensate for this so not sure how well they do, but this should put up a good fight. Semi boxed from 1/8" steel. I just need to add some stand offs for the mid bolts and paint it and it's ready to go.
Then the Hi-Lift mount needs to be rewelded, and probably add a tab to the front bumper to help hold it up. The Hi-Lift after all was sitting a good 3" out from the bumper with only a 3/8" bolt. A tab will help reduce the moment that the bolts get loaded with which may be what caused the failure in the first place. The CB mount just needs two plastic bushings machined, which I can easily do at home on our mini mill/lathe out of Delrin and then tune the antenna after that.
All in all the truck has been torn down more in the past few days at one time than so far this summer, and I will be driving to school in less than four days and working still. Luckily everything is straight forward and simple for the most part. The main rush was to have the truck driving tonight so I can go to work tomorrow and then get smog tested. Will post more updates this week as I finish more tasks! Thanks for reading.
They seemed to just be overall slow up the scree-pileish section (they both have some kind of front locker, but maybe traction control is better when you are throwing rocks everywhere? Though at the first group stop the Cherokee was practically overheating as seems normal for it haha). And then on the essentially dirt road sections, which was most of it once we got up the canyon, the IFS behaved like a charm, course once I got going fast enough the IFS just soaked it up while they had to crawl over everything. There were multiple times I had to stop and wait for minutes for them to catch up, gave me time to navigate though. Anyhow, pretty fun, never been that far up since it was too snowy in the past.
