How much fun can you get for $500? - Jeep Edition

[BerserkerCatSplat]

Wow, thanks for all the comment, guys! You rock!

Hopefully I can get the hooks and plates on this weekend, but midterm exams are making that less and less likely.

[nsx_23]

Those lights look powerful enough to light up a battlefield

[Mark355]

Not much into trucks, but you can definitely have a lot of fun with a Jeep!

[BerserkerCatSplat]

So, I've only been doing small stuff lately, not much in the way of updates.

Installed the front tow hooks:

One of the brackets was a bit bent, ended up doing a lot of whacking with the ol' BFH to get it straightened out but now it mounts perfectly.

Also installed the front skidplate, no pics though. Seen one skidplate, seen 'em all.

Yesterday I also cracked the front and rear diffs open and changed the oil in them, the rear looked to have been done recently but the oil in the front one was pretty black. Much better now.

Finally, got bored and compared my headlight vs lightbar against my house. I think my neighbors love me now.

Identical camera settings.




Transfer case skidplate remains on the to-do list due to Fastenal not being open on weekends, making it difficult to get those stupid nutserts. Also, upon pulling the grille to remove the bumper to install the hooks, I discovered that my radiator is FULL of gunk, so a trip to the ol' dollar carwash is in order.

[JipJopJones]

Starting to look more and more trail worthy!

I can't wait untill I get the time to install my towhooks on my cherokee..

[BerserkerCatSplat]

Yep, she's getting there! I'm looking at a F>R swap lift in the spring with some much better tires, but she'll be OK for some fun in the impending snow for now.

[NooDle]

dammit it's starting to look real badass.
How much did you spend in total in "doing it up". I'm guessing about as much as the car cost itself?

[BerserkerCatSplat]

Originally Posted by NooDle

dammit it's starting to look real badass.
How much did you spend in total in "doing it up". I'm guessing about as much as the car cost itself?

Not as much as you might think. The suspension parts and hooks/plates cost me in the neighborhood of $125 from the boneyard, the lightbar was about $45 worth of components (already had most of the wires and connectors on hand), and everything else has mostly been just the usual maintenance bits like oil, fluids, CCV breather, etc. If I had to total it up, I've only put ~$250 into it so far. I think all that's left to do for this season is the mid skidplate (already have it) and rear skidplate ($15.99 from the boneyard).

Junkyard jeeping, man.

[deltableh]

Woo! You're gonna have fun in the snow this winter, that's for sure! I know there's nothing I enjoy more in the winter than finding a nice empty parking lot and going crazy

[BerserkerCatSplat]

All is not well in Jeepland. I was driving back from my folks' place tonight and the Jeep was making an alarming whunkwhunkwhunking noise that started at like 20kph, varied directly with speed and vibrated the whole vehicle. Upon arriving home I went out with my torque wrench to check the lugnuts and discovered that my right rear wheel smelled like burning.

I think my axle bearing is shot.

[JipJopJones]

that sucks.

Hopefully it won't be too difficult to fix. Or too much $$$

[BerserkerCatSplat]

Good news! I got distracted by the burning smell (that I now attribute to adjusting my e-brake the other day), and didn't finish checking my lugs - turns out the lugnuts on my front left wheel were totally loose, some of them weren't even finger-tight. I swear I torqued those things down twice like a month ago, so I'm wondering if someone undid them as a prank, since there's been a bit of car vandalism in my neighborhood lately.

[JipJopJones]

Were you driving when you noticed this?

Or did you just happen upon it. I hope it's the latter. I know someone who's wheel fell off while driving, not fun.

[BerserkerCatSplat]

It suddenly became noticeable when I was on the highway doing 110 from Airdrie to Calgary. I slowed it down to about 80 for the rest of the trip because I wasn't sure what the hell was making the noise and a look around the vehicle on the dark side of the road didn't give me any clues, I didn't even think to check the lugs until I'd got it back home. I really do consider myself lucky the wheel didn't fall off. Scary stuff.

[deltableh]

Check for plastic hub rings. It's entirely possibly you torqued down the wheels properly, but an improperly (or not needed) hub ring might have caused them to loosen. It happened to me! Cost me $250 in repairs by the time I had it diagnosed (and has to be towed to a shop, I almost lost my left rear on the highway!).