Chocolate Thunder’s Most Excellent Build Thread!

[Chocolate Thunder]

Any noticeable improvement in steering feel?

Appreciate the thread...

Fortunately my steering has always been pretty good. I got a noticeable improvement when I had the aluminum steering gearbox changed out for the steel one. It seems like the brace may have made it a little more stable, but I haven’t driven it a lot. That could be placebo effect because I expected it to help. But I expect that it can’t hurt anything, it’s not expensive or difficult to install, and it strengthens the factory frame end track bar mounting point which is very suspect on some early builds (mine seems OK) so why not?

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[CarbonSteel]

I’m still gathering parts for upcoming upgrades - RCV front/ChroMo rear axles, F/R Artec trusses, Reid knuckles, Teraflex ball joints, 4.88 gear swap. I just got my gear sets back from GearFX having REM isotropic finishing. Wow. It’s kind of a shame that they aren’t seen inside the differential.

I also picked up a brand new SteerSmarts Yeti drag link for a good price from @Izzo93 that I didn’t really plan on upgrading right now but couldn’t pass on the price. Thanks man!

Bam! Makes a huge difference in break-in. I'll have a set of low mileage polished 4.88's up on the chopping block in early May if all goes according to plan.

 

[Chocolate Thunder]

Bam! Makes a huge difference in break-in. I'll have a set of low mileage polished 4.88's up on the chopping block in early May if all goes according to plan.

Those will be great for someone doing a self install but most shops around here won’t install used gears. Some won’t even do brand new gears that aren’t purchased through them. I’d take them if I didn’t already have mine.

 

[CarbonSteel]

Those will be great for someone doing a self install but most shops around here won’t install used gears. Some won’t even do brand new gears that aren’t purchased through them. I’d take them if I didn’t already have mine.

Yep; I pass on shops like that as they are looking to mark up the price of the parts on top of the labor and/or will not warranty the parts (which is stupid--especially on new still in the factory box parts).

 

[Chocolate Thunder]

Yep; I pass on shops like that as they are looking to mark up the price of the parts on top of the labor and/or will not warranty the parts (which is stupid--especially on new still in the factory box parts).

I brought that up to a shop. Some shops definitely do mark up parts to make it a profit item. The local shop I talked with had other takes on it. He said that they don’t mark up parts, and with very few exceptions they can get them cheaper than customers can, saving the customer a little money. Their reasons for refusing customer sourced parts are multiple.

A customer sourced part might be a counterfeit. It’s quite common. A customer sourced used part could be worn, weakened, defective, etc. and they can’t warranty it (understandably) but customers get upset and blame their labor if something goes wrong. Sometimes customers want poor quality parts installed that the shop doesn’t like or trust and they don’t want to fool with it. Customers sometimes buy the wrong parts for their application and get pissed at the shop if it delays their work, or worst of all don’t notice it until the Jeep is broken down and it’s about to go in.

If you can find one that’ll take customer parts that’s great. But he helped me understand better why many won’t and that it’s not necessarily just a money grab. If you can DIY that’s always best, but not everyone is able to.

 

[CarbonSteel]

I brought that up to a shop. Some shops definitely do mark up parts to make it a profit item. The local shop I talked with had other takes on it. He said that they don’t mark up parts, and with very few exceptions they can get them cheaper than customers can, saving the customer a little money. Their reasons for refusing customer sourced parts are multiple.

A customer sourced part might be a counterfeit. It’s quite common. A customer sourced used part could be worn, weakened, defective, etc. and they can’t warranty it (understandably) but customers get upset and blame their labor if something goes wrong. Sometimes customers want poor quality parts installed that the shop doesn’t like or trust and they don’t want to fool with it. Customers sometimes buy the wrong parts for their application and get pissed at the shop if it delays their work, or worst of all don’t notice it until the Jeep is broken down and it’s about to go in.

If you can find one that’ll take customer parts that’s great. But he helped me understand better why many won’t and that it’s not necessarily just a money grab. If you can DIY that’s always best, but not everyone is able to.

I get that and agree--but only to a point. Of course, if you do not know what you are buying then that is totally on you, not the shop. Counterfeit parts are not that common when purchased from reputable shops, but ebay and Amazon...well, all bets are off--especially Amazon where 50 different vendors are selling 50 different brands of the same knock-off part.

 

[psucanary]

Fortunately my steering has always been pretty good. I got a noticeable improvement when I had the aluminum steering gearbox changed out for the steel one. It seems like the brace may have made it a little more stable, but I haven’t driven it a lot. That could be placebo effect because I expected it to help. But I expect that it can’t hurt anything, it’s not expensive or difficult to install, and it strengthens the factory frame end track bar mounting point which is very suspect on some early builds (mine seems OK) so why not?

Thanks for the reply..

Same here on steering being "pretty good", esp after steering gearbox change. Just was hoping that you were going to say something like, "completely changed it"...haha

Thanks again for the feedback. Plan to head down the 37s path and full steering upgrade in the near future and following your upgrades as they progress as I'll be in a similar boat. (on 2" Dynatrac and 35s now..similar to your past phase) Trying to stack the cash and do everything at once.. patience...patience... I keep telling myself

 

[Chocolate Thunder]

Thanks for the reply..

Same here on steering being "pretty good", esp after steering gearbox change. Just was hoping that you were going to say something like, "completely changed it"...haha

Thanks again for the feedback. Plan to head down the 37s path and full steering upgrade in the near future and following your upgrades as they progress as I'll be in a similar boat. (on 2" Dynatrac and 35s now..similar to your past phase) Trying to stack the cash and do everything at once.. patience...patience... I keep telling myself

I find that buying all the various parts when they’re on sale somewhere or getting lucky and finding a forum member selling something new or barely used has saved me a lot of money. Also it keeps it from stinging so bad as purchasing it all in one big buy. It keeps my wife from screeching “OMG how did you spend another $4000 on a new Jeep!!!”

Just RCV front axles, Teraflex ball joints, and Reid knuckles left to go.

 

[Chocolate Thunder]

4/3/2022 41,433 miles

Today I added a few things that are small “convenience” mods that aren’t really necessary but serve a useful purpose nonetheless.

1) I put in a couple of clothes hanger thingies that I found for a few bucks on Etsy. Another place to hang the dry cleaning. The finished surface is pretty raw and not aesthetically great. I really didn’t need them because I just use the grab handles.

2) The same Etsy seller has a bracket to house my Tazer. This is something I did need because no matter where I seem to stow it, it always seemed to end up hanging down below the bottom of the dash. The surface finish on it is ugly too, but it’s out of sight so I won’t worry about it. This I can recommend.

3) Lastly, I installed a pair of rear LCA frame side skids from Rusty’s Offroad. They are well made. They come unfinished which is not a great thing considering these small 1/4” metal plates with a couple of bends and one 1” weld cost $110. They do include quality partial thread zinc chromate grade 10.9 hardware that’s strong and won’t rust, unlike some companies provide (I’m looking right at you RockHard 4x4). I finished them with a few coats of satin black Krylon Rust Protector enamel.

Installation was pretty straightforward and easy with one exception. The smaller (forward) bolt and nut have an interference issue with the fuel tank, at least on my 8AT 3.7 non eTorque spec. The nut in particular. For proper fit, this lock nut needs to be thin rather than full height. Correspondingly, bolt needs to be about 5mm shorter. This would be perfect. As it is, I used a little garage engineering and made it work. Instead of using a washer in both sides I used both under the bolt head, essentially shortening it’s reach a couple mm. I also used a bench grinder to grind off a mm or two of the nuts height. I probably should have taken off a bit more, maybe half the nut height but I was impatient. This gave about 1mm clearance between the skid hardware and the fuel tank. It may not be enough, I’ll check it after several hundred highway mikes and a day of wheeling this weekend. Results pictured.

 

[Chocolate Thunder]

4/6/2022 41,481 miles

I had a couple of packages that arrived today so I got a couple of things done. I got some keyhole escutcheon caps from @Threedom and put them on. I only bought them because they are fairly inexpensive and the design matches my wheels and tires exactly.

Last week on my way to the store I saw the immediate aftermath of what looked like a relatively minor rear end crash. But the car that crashed into the one in front sustained enough damage that the engine was on fire. The young woman driving was grabbing stuff out of the car as I passed. I feel bad for not having an extinguisher in my Jeep because I have one in my other vehicles. So today the mounting straps arrived from Amazon and I got two installed.

 

[Chocolate Thunder]

Each time I work on suspension I’m unable to locate the larger sized wrenches that are necessary. Well that ends today.

Tekton to the rescue.

 

[blnewt]

Each time I work on suspension I’m unable to locate the larger sized wrenches that are necessary. Well that ends today.

Tekton to the rescue.

Nice, but you know there's a 25mm (or a 1 1/16") bolt out there that's just needing to be snugged up now!

 

[Chocolate Thunder]

Nice, but you know there's a 25mm (or a 1 1/16") bolt out there that's just needing to be snugged up now!

 

[MilkSteak]

Awesome Jeep. I saw in another thread that you used some of that sound deadening spray for the insides of your fender flares. Were you happy with how it turned out and how is it holding up?

 

[Chocolate Thunder]

Awesome Jeep. I saw in another thread that you used some of that sound deadening spray for the insides of your fender flares. Were you happy with how it turned out and how is it holding up?

Thanks. I just sprayed it on last night and I haven’t reinstalled the fenders on the Jeep yet. So far it’s holding up awesome!

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