Hello From Northern California

Howdy everyone, I am new to the Jeep world and like most things I do I jumped in head first. I figure if I am going to get into something I go all in. So....I bought a 1999 TJ Sahara 4.0 with lots of things already done to it. It has a 5.5 Rubicon Express long arm lift, a 1" body lift, and sits on 35s. It has a D44 rear with the stock D30 front, both with ARB lockers and a Currie Antirock sway front with disconnects in the rear. I love the set up this has, but it is a Jeep and Jeeps need a lot of upkeep and maintenance if you use them, so I have been catching up on things that were neglected from the PO.

First off-road trip I found out that the t-case linkage was all screwed up. It worked when I test drove it but when I needed it of course it got all hung up. I was able to manually get it into 4-low which was a pain but it got us where we were going. I got home and ordered the Savvy cable linkage and got it switched out. I love this linkage, it was easy to install and shifts a smooth as butter.

I knew that a couple of the long arm bushings were loose when I first looked at the Jeep but I work on my own vehicles so I knew it would be something I could do. I ended up changing 14 of them, surprisingly enough the front axle UCA ones had been changed recently so I didn't have to do those. This ended up being a little more work than I had planned. I figured take out the old and put in the new easy peasy. Well getting the damn parts took longer than expected after having them ordered, tearing down the Jeep, then finding out they are back-ordered. I finally got all the parts and got the control arms back in to find out that my pinion angle and caster angle had changed, I didn't expect that much of a change but the UCAs are adjustable so I dialed it all back in and adjusted the toe while I was at it.

The next issue I had to deal with was the steering box, it leaks and has a lot of play so time for a replacement. After doing the research I decided to go with the Durango box and got one coming from Rockauto. It is cheap, but I have heard good things about them and really didn't want to pay too much. I figure being that this is not a daily driver and I will be not be doing any crazy rock crawling or extreme stuff, well not too extreme anyway, this box should do fine. And if it doesn't it is not that hard to change out later. The new box was due yesterday and I would have been in the Jeep and not writing this, but FedEx delayed it till Monday so here I am. The removal of the old box took just over an hour, I had to remove the Antirock sway bar for access to the bolts and I have a skid and support bar that also had to come off. It was pretty easy. It will only take about an hour or two at the most to get it back together and back on the road.

I also have a new oil pan coming in Monday, the one on there has been pretty beaten up. It is not leaking but I would feel better putting on a new one. Then I need to decide on a skid plate to protect it. It did seem strange to me that it had a skid plate for the belly, gas tank. and steering box but nothing for the oil pan? I am looking at the MORE Oil pan/transmission skid. Kind of pricey but it would be worth it for the protection.

Sorry for the novel, I get carried away talking about my new toy.

Shane

 

Welcome to North Central West Virginia

 

Welcome @Barkfire and great intro post

 

Welcome from Florida!