This is a long time coming, but we told ourselves we would not start a thread until all the paperwork was done. Little did we know it would take this long.
In 2021 we started looking for another off road vehicle, something that would be more capable on the trails than the Xterra and would add an extra layer of safety by having two vehicles on our trips (always wheel with a friend!). I've always wanted a first generation Jeep Wrangler Unlimited, and Kiki agreed it would be the perfect size - not as big as a 4-door Wrangler and more stable than the short 2-door Wranglers. In June of 2021 we drove to Wyoming to look at a Jeep that clearly needed some love, but it was the right spec - a 2005 Jeep Wrangler Unlimited Rubicon that hadn't been too molested. Clean and low-miles examples were ruled out, as they could run in the $20,000-$30,000 range, thanks to only being produced for 3 years - and only 2005 and 2006 were built with the Rubicon trim that includes a heavier front axle, lifted suspension and modified steering and suspension geometry, and lockers on both axles. This example is Electric Lime Green, according to some old forum posts there were only 99 examples of the Rubicon Unlimited built in this color for North America, another source claims 291 globally. Either way, it's not exactly common.
The Jeep clearly needed some love, there's overspray on the turn signals, the headlights are cheap knock-offs... I don't know what the hell was going on with those shackles. The front and rear bumpers are Smittybilt junk, but that's a solid Warn winch. It's already lifted and rolling on 35"s.
Getting it home I noticed the bumper was struggling to hold up that big tire.
So the rear carrier was removed until we figure out what bumper will fit the build - which is a bigger decision than one might think. Do we go with all suspension lift, or do we do a body lift? Are we going to raise the transmission and transfer case in a "tummy tuck" to get better clearance down the middle? All these decisions affect every other.
Yup, that's tweaked. Damn Smittybilt.
Oh, on the way back from getting the car, the Check Engine Light of Doom came on. This would be the beginning of a very long problem of trying to get the Jeep past emissions (which Wyoming doesn't have). But we will get to that in a minute. First, let's bring this beast to a stop with some new rotors and pads. We have some time to work on the emissions, the Wyoming tags don't expire until February and it's only Summer of 2021 right now.
Time to get that farm jack off the hood. These proved very difficult to remove and I ended up having to cut a few of them out. The brackets did finally give it up and the hood was reattached with stainless hardware
Well, it's idling high and I found a vacuum leak on the intake manifold. The OEM part is unobtainum, but I was able to match a generic vacuum fitting at NAPA.
This is how the old one failed. It's also how the new one failed in a week, I guess this isn't the correct size. At this point I just went to get some small fuel line and made my own adapter.
It's been solid now for a year and it's way more sturdy than OEM. So go me.
Work now began to stop for the winter as we researched the hell out of why the computer would never show as ready to test.
First step is to replace the O2 sensors. Jeeps are actually picky about their sensors and work best with NGK, we had no faith the previous owner used the right ones since every other decision on the Jeep was done based on "what's the cheapest way to do this?" New O2 sensors were purchased and installed (I won't post photos of that, they're boring) - but no luck. The system would still not show ready. Back down the rabbit hole of 20 year old forum posts Kiki went. She learned more about O2 sensor cycles than most actual mechanics, we broke out the multimeter to make sure every sensor was getting the correct current and Kiki plotted the sine wave of each sensor's cycle by hand because we don't own an oscilloscope (although I was briefly tempted to buy one).
(If you're noticing a pattern of Kiki doing all the big-brain stuff and I do things like removing seized fasteners and apply Gorilla-levels of torque to things, you're not wrong.)
The next thing she learns is the Jeep is not running the OEM computer and no OEM computers exist anymore. They were prone to failure and, while you might find one in a junk yard, chances are the computer failing is why the Jeep is there in the first place. The computer in the Jeep is an aftermarket replacement, but it hacks around the check engine light by simply not looking at some of the data. Ahh, so that's why the system will never show as "ready". With more digging we find a guy in Florida who takes other Chrysler computers (I think off a PT Cruiser) and flashes them to your VIN - and they are guaranteed to be fully functional for emissions!
So out with the old computer and in with the new one. We did have a few issues with the immobilizer, because the VIN wasn't entered correctly in the computer, which we noticed with the OBDII scan tool. A quick call to the seller and a new computer was on it's way.
Should fix the problem, right? Oh yeah, we really need to de-bro-ify that hot-air intake at some point, but first, we need to get it registered - and that means passing emissions, which still isn't happening. Back to the research and we find another potential problem relates to a TSB that was never done in the fuse box.
This doesn't seem so bad, apparently we just need to move a wire or something?
Oh fuck...well, we got it done, the results test as correct, but the photos aren't too interesting. I'm sure you've all seen a properly done wire splice before.
Maybe that Bro intake is causing a problem, let's address that and source an OEM intake and airbox. I'd rather have the OEM one anyway, it's better for water crossings and it actually filters dusty air better than these crappy oiled filters.
In between each of these steps is months of research - all done by Kiki. She also did the brakes, O2 sensors, two computer replacements, and more drive cycles than either of us care to imagine. The amount of research she put in is astounding, and figuring out what information on various forums was real and what was bullshit was not an easy job. She cataloged everything she found and cross-referenced it to various Jeep service manuals, other posts, photographs, and even YouTube instructional videos. She even sourced the original internal TSB documentation for the fuse box wiring and she's the one who traced all the wires and then said "Cut this one, Shop Sasquatch".
For the vast majority of this, I was simply her helper.
In 2021 we started looking for another off road vehicle, something that would be more capable on the trails than the Xterra and would add an extra layer of safety by having two vehicles on our trips (always wheel with a friend!). I've always wanted a first generation Jeep Wrangler Unlimited, and Kiki agreed it would be the perfect size - not as big as a 4-door Wrangler and more stable than the short 2-door Wranglers. In June of 2021 we drove to Wyoming to look at a Jeep that clearly needed some love, but it was the right spec - a 2005 Jeep Wrangler Unlimited Rubicon that hadn't been too molested. Clean and low-miles examples were ruled out, as they could run in the $20,000-$30,000 range, thanks to only being produced for 3 years - and only 2005 and 2006 were built with the Rubicon trim that includes a heavier front axle, lifted suspension and modified steering and suspension geometry, and lockers on both axles. This example is Electric Lime Green, according to some old forum posts there were only 99 examples of the Rubicon Unlimited built in this color for North America, another source claims 291 globally. Either way, it's not exactly common.
The Jeep clearly needed some love, there's overspray on the turn signals, the headlights are cheap knock-offs... I don't know what the hell was going on with those shackles. The front and rear bumpers are Smittybilt junk, but that's a solid Warn winch. It's already lifted and rolling on 35"s.
Getting it home I noticed the bumper was struggling to hold up that big tire.
So the rear carrier was removed until we figure out what bumper will fit the build - which is a bigger decision than one might think. Do we go with all suspension lift, or do we do a body lift? Are we going to raise the transmission and transfer case in a "tummy tuck" to get better clearance down the middle? All these decisions affect every other.
Yup, that's tweaked. Damn Smittybilt.
Oh, on the way back from getting the car, the Check Engine Light of Doom came on. This would be the beginning of a very long problem of trying to get the Jeep past emissions (which Wyoming doesn't have). But we will get to that in a minute. First, let's bring this beast to a stop with some new rotors and pads. We have some time to work on the emissions, the Wyoming tags don't expire until February and it's only Summer of 2021 right now.
Time to get that farm jack off the hood. These proved very difficult to remove and I ended up having to cut a few of them out. The brackets did finally give it up and the hood was reattached with stainless hardware
Well, it's idling high and I found a vacuum leak on the intake manifold. The OEM part is unobtainum, but I was able to match a generic vacuum fitting at NAPA.
This is how the old one failed. It's also how the new one failed in a week, I guess this isn't the correct size. At this point I just went to get some small fuel line and made my own adapter.
It's been solid now for a year and it's way more sturdy than OEM. So go me.
Work now began to stop for the winter as we researched the hell out of why the computer would never show as ready to test.
First step is to replace the O2 sensors. Jeeps are actually picky about their sensors and work best with NGK, we had no faith the previous owner used the right ones since every other decision on the Jeep was done based on "what's the cheapest way to do this?" New O2 sensors were purchased and installed (I won't post photos of that, they're boring) - but no luck. The system would still not show ready. Back down the rabbit hole of 20 year old forum posts Kiki went. She learned more about O2 sensor cycles than most actual mechanics, we broke out the multimeter to make sure every sensor was getting the correct current and Kiki plotted the sine wave of each sensor's cycle by hand because we don't own an oscilloscope (although I was briefly tempted to buy one).
(If you're noticing a pattern of Kiki doing all the big-brain stuff and I do things like removing seized fasteners and apply Gorilla-levels of torque to things, you're not wrong.)
The next thing she learns is the Jeep is not running the OEM computer and no OEM computers exist anymore. They were prone to failure and, while you might find one in a junk yard, chances are the computer failing is why the Jeep is there in the first place. The computer in the Jeep is an aftermarket replacement, but it hacks around the check engine light by simply not looking at some of the data. Ahh, so that's why the system will never show as "ready". With more digging we find a guy in Florida who takes other Chrysler computers (I think off a PT Cruiser) and flashes them to your VIN - and they are guaranteed to be fully functional for emissions!
So out with the old computer and in with the new one. We did have a few issues with the immobilizer, because the VIN wasn't entered correctly in the computer, which we noticed with the OBDII scan tool. A quick call to the seller and a new computer was on it's way.
Should fix the problem, right? Oh yeah, we really need to de-bro-ify that hot-air intake at some point, but first, we need to get it registered - and that means passing emissions, which still isn't happening. Back to the research and we find another potential problem relates to a TSB that was never done in the fuse box.
This doesn't seem so bad, apparently we just need to move a wire or something?
Oh fuck...well, we got it done, the results test as correct, but the photos aren't too interesting. I'm sure you've all seen a properly done wire splice before.
Maybe that Bro intake is causing a problem, let's address that and source an OEM intake and airbox. I'd rather have the OEM one anyway, it's better for water crossings and it actually filters dusty air better than these crappy oiled filters.
In between each of these steps is months of research - all done by Kiki. She also did the brakes, O2 sensors, two computer replacements, and more drive cycles than either of us care to imagine. The amount of research she put in is astounding, and figuring out what information on various forums was real and what was bullshit was not an easy job. She cataloged everything she found and cross-referenced it to various Jeep service manuals, other posts, photographs, and even YouTube instructional videos. She even sourced the original internal TSB documentation for the fuse box wiring and she's the one who traced all the wires and then said "Cut this one, Shop Sasquatch".
For the vast majority of this, I was simply her helper.
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