What did you do to your jeep today?
- Thread starter TheQ
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jharrisliberty
Full Access Member
Ordered my Smittybilt XRC 9500lb synthetic line winch to go on my detour backbone when it gets here. Ended up getting a good deal for it due to the fact that the box was damaged and it was about $60 off of the normal price. Also ordered a winch cover with it. My KJ will finally be just about where I want it this spring to go hit the trails. Also finished up removing all of the rust from one of the jerry cans I got from the swap meet and got some fresh red paint on it.
Royy
Full Access Member
Feel free to make fun of me... I spent about 8 hours (yesterday and today) getting the old rear upper control arm out... :favorites68:
I don't think the parts back there have ever been replaced in 140k miles, and the previous owner apparently never washed the undercarriage because everything was covered in rust.
It quickly became clear that the pinch bolt holding the ball joint in place wasn't coming out, so I decided to take out the entire bracket. I had to take off the weird vibration dampener to get access to those bolts. That went pretty well, the bolts for the dampener came out without any real issues. But those three 21mm bolts for the ball joint bracket... ugh. Big bolts, coated in loctite from the factory, and rusted over on top of that. Plus, because there's not much space to work back there, I couldn't get my long breaker bars in there.
After I eventually got the control arm (with attached bracket) out, it still took me more than an hour to get the ball joint to pop out of the bracket.
Hopefully I'll be able to get the new arm in tomorrow before I have to go to work in the evening.
Going to do one more thing tonight... take a wire wheel brush to those three 21mm bracket bolts, and get all the remaining :favorites68: loctite off...
I don't think the parts back there have ever been replaced in 140k miles, and the previous owner apparently never washed the undercarriage because everything was covered in rust.
It quickly became clear that the pinch bolt holding the ball joint in place wasn't coming out, so I decided to take out the entire bracket. I had to take off the weird vibration dampener to get access to those bolts. That went pretty well, the bolts for the dampener came out without any real issues. But those three 21mm bolts for the ball joint bracket... ugh. Big bolts, coated in loctite from the factory, and rusted over on top of that. Plus, because there's not much space to work back there, I couldn't get my long breaker bars in there.
After I eventually got the control arm (with attached bracket) out, it still took me more than an hour to get the ball joint to pop out of the bracket.
Hopefully I'll be able to get the new arm in tomorrow before I have to go to work in the evening.
Going to do one more thing tonight... take a wire wheel brush to those three 21mm bracket bolts, and get all the remaining :favorites68: loctite off...
dude1116
Full Access Member
Yeahhh I left that bracket attached to the control arm when I threw it in the trash :happy175:
Royy
Full Access Member
I seriously considered it, but a new one is like 350 bucks... Plus I need my car to go to work (50 miles away) the next 4 nights, so I can't wait for parts to get here.
I think he did something custom or got the tri-link extension for the rear, takes the place of that whole POS rear factory UCA setup.
I got tired of looking at this everyday so I decided to do something about it finally:
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End Result:
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I can do a write up if anyone wants, I didn't want to post all the pics I had and crowd the page.
Make sure to put some loctite back on
dude1116
Full Access Member
Yep understood.
Knowing that price now I would have tried getting it off so I could send it to a forum member had I known.
Royy
Full Access Member
Well, the new rear UCA is in... mostly. No matter what I try, the pinch bolt just won't go through. But the ball joint stud seems to be in there pretty well, even wacking it with a big hammer didn't make it come loose. And since I don't do any offroading or anything I figure it'll be fine.
I ended up leaving the sway bar out (had to remove it to be able to get the ball joint bracket off). I had planned on putting it back in, but I just couldn't get it to align properly. After about 20 minutes of fighting with it I decided to hell with it. Drove about 50 miles on the interstate with 60+ mph wind gusts, and didn't notice any difference.
I ended up leaving the sway bar out (had to remove it to be able to get the ball joint bracket off). I had planned on putting it back in, but I just couldn't get it to align properly. After about 20 minutes of fighting with it I decided to hell with it. Drove about 50 miles on the interstate with 60+ mph wind gusts, and didn't notice any difference.
sway bar back there is useless anyway...and for the pinch bolt you can install it backwards with a piece of bar or even small piece of wood at the end of the bolt ( blocking it from going through the other side) to open it up.....cant think of how to describe it best....theres a picture floating around somewhere for the front clevis but same idea...might be in the westway lift thread. anyhow id recommend having that bolt in there
edit:: http://www.jeepkj.com/forum/f202/how-purchase-install-wesway-lift-43781/#post454160
its about 3/4 of the way down or so, i think hes using a padlock
Last edited:
Royy
Full Access Member
There are no threads on the inside of that pinch bracket, so the trick he used for the clevis won't work. Anyway, that's not the issue. The bolt is supposed to slide through the two holes in the bracket and the notch on the ball joint stud, then you just tighten the nut on the end of the bolt that sticks out. But for some reason the bolt won't go further in than maybe half an inch or so.
Next time I have a day off work I'll see if I can figure out what exactly is going on with it, but this will have to suffice until next week. I'll just keep a careful eye on it until then.
yep now that i think about it i used a chisel in the gap to keep it open the hand full of times i did it. and hmm thats strange.....just be real REAL careful...thats not a part you want to come loose at highway or any speed
GunnerSchenck
Full Access Member
Drove the Jeep to Ford Lincoln and bought myself a new car today 
kept the libby though, of course. She'll probably still get a majority of the mileage.
kept the libby though, of course. She'll probably still get a majority of the mileage.
IslanderGU
Full Access Member
Removed the tailpipe from the thrush turbo muffler, sounds nicer[emoji1360][emoji1360][emoji1360]
islandLifeGu
islandLifeGu
Cardhu
Full Access Member
dude1116
Full Access Member
Is that yours or a carbon copy?
I wouldn't back it out of the driveway without that bolt in there. I would say you don't have it all the way down in if it doesn't go through. I've had at least 30-35 apart including mine and never had any issues when everything is together right. But again be very careful if it comes out in the middle of a turn etc, FUN RIDE .
I know from experience when doing testing for a new design tri-link what can happen, scary when the back swings out at 50 MPH
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