My brother gave the Fox shock treatment to his last generation Wrangler. By all reports, it was transformational (in a good way). Seems as though that company has their product development act together.
My brother gave the Fox shock treatment to his last generation Wrangler. By all reports, it was transformational (in a good way). Seems as though that company has their product development act together.
In reply to einy (Forum Supporter) :
It is. I bought them based on Keith's recommendation. I was surprised at the difference they made.
I had a set of Truck Lites on my old XJ and I loved them. The lighting was fantastic and they look great, too. The Jeep is coming along nicely.
And the drivetrain vibration problem is solved. The joints in both shafts were tight and smooth. There was very slight movement in the slip joints, but I didn't think it was excessive. But two new drive shafts took care of all the high-speed vibration I was experiencing.
I will be changing the engine and transmission mounts when I replace the engine in the next month or two. It should be smooth as silk then.
Toyman01 said:I got a early start today.
Transmission serviced and no long pouring oil.
Radiator, water pump, thermostat, and hoses replaced. Temps are holding rock solid at 195-200.
The only thing left to do is the drivers door panel and it's going to wait for another day. I'm tired.
8 bolts drops the entire front clip off this thing. Makes it pretty easy to work on.
The factory radiator is a single core. The replacement is a all aluminum, 3 core. That should solve a lot of the weak cooling system problems. I hate babysitting a temperature gauge.
Sorry I am so late to the party...
What kind of radiator did you go with for your xj? Mine runs hot in the summer and it's on the to do list.. i was thinking about getting a mishimoto, but was curious what brand / model you got for yours?
Thanks,
Greg
Toyman01 (Moderately Supportive Dude) said:I've been chasing a driveline vibration. It starts at about 65 mph and gets worse as the speeds increase. I was going to take the driveshaft in and have it rebuilt and balanced but it turns out a new shaft is cheaper. Today that got installed. It took care of about 60% of the vibration.
Next up is the front driveshaft, which should be in next week. Hopefully, that will take care of the rest of it.
I have the same problem but i was going to try the slip yoke eliminator on the transfer case to see if it solves anything.
Greg
So, the radiator I used was a no-name Amazon 3 core aluminum. It cooled well but only lasted about 2 years and started leaking. I have since swapped it out for an OEM radiator. It works better than the all-aluminum did.
I also considered doing the SYE but they aren't really necessary until the lift gets over 3". I'm only running 2" of lift.
Consider dropping the driveshafts one at a time and taking it for a spin. That will narrow it down to either the front or rear.
In reply to Toyman01 (Moderately Supportive Dude) :
Good Suggestions. I can try that, And I will probably go with that Mi$himo Rad. I am sure it's great quality and will last.
Thanks!
Greg
Back on the XJ this weekend.
Last trip out, a front u-joint started squeaking. I'm a firm believer in "while you are in there," so I ordered a bearing set, seals, and Eaton TrueTrac LSD diff to install while I had it apart.
Old busted. Well, not busted but certainly old.
New Hotness!
Everything came apart nicely. I got the U-joint replaced and started with the install of the LSD. Unfortunately, the LSD carrier hit the pinion. 
After some digging, I found that the LSD won't work with the factory 3.55 gear set. That is the disadvantage to ordering parts from Amazon. Their page doesn't mention the required gear change.
That meant it was decision time. While the 31" tires work better with 4.11 gears, I hadn't planned to install those until after the engine rebuild and when I rebuilt the rear axle.
So, change of plans. 4.11 gear sets for both axles on the way as is the rebuild kit and a Spartan locker for the rear.
Unfortunately, the XJ will be sitting like this until the parts show up.
Finally got all the parts in.
As mentioned above, don't trust Amazon to know what parts fit or what will have to be changed to make them fit. The bearing set I ordered was for a Dana 30, but it was for a TJ Dana 30, not an XJ Dana 30. The YJ doesn't use a crush sleeve and the small pinion bearing is a different size. Amazon thought they were the same.
Anyway, done is done. Front axle regeared, LSD installed, as well as all new bearings and seals. I also changed the front cover for one a little more durable and with a drain plug. While probably not necessary, it will make servicing it easier, plus it looks cool. Not that you will be able to tell after it gets coated with South Carolina clay. It will be the same color as everything else under here. 
With the front end on the ground, I got the rear up in the air and stripped it. It had blown the driver's side axle seal and oiled down the shoes so I guess it's a good thing I'm in here. The temptation to order is disk conversion is strong but I'll probably hold off on that for now.
I'll start the reassembly tomorrow evening.
Screw it. The disk conversion is on the way. I really hate drum brakes.
I'll be waiting on a report on the 4.11 gears. I've been waffling on getting a set for mine but it never makes it into the top 5 of things in the fleet that need to be addressed.
I also have a disc brake conversion I pulled off of a Grand Cherokee, was waiting on the diff gears project to install them.
Toyman01 (Moderately Supportive Dude) said:Screw it. The disk conversion is on the way. I really hate drum brakes.
What kit did you decide to go with?
I hate the 9"x2 1/2" rear drums. Was thinking about swapping to some other chrysler 10" x 2 1/2" drums but the rear disc swap makes way more sense. Is thre any additions/ changes to the proportioning?
Greg
I bought a kit from 4wd.com. This one. https://www.4wd.com/p/g2-disc-brake-conversion-kit-natural-96-2049-db/_/R-FCNB-96-2049-DB
You can build your own kit using 97-98 Grand Cherokee parts for a lot less but I didn't feel like spending half a day laying in the rocks under a junk car pulling parts.
As to the proportioning, I've heard it several ways. Some say it isn't a problem, some say you need an adjustable valve. I've also heard using the valve off of a Grand Cherokee works. I'll let you know how it works after I get the kit installed. I'm going to try it without and see if it needs one. If so, I'll probably go with an adjustable one.
In reply to Toyman01 (Moderately Supportive Dude) :
Awesome. Thanks!
I have never heard of a disc swap that didn't require a master cylinder change due to the volume difference between a caliper and wheel cylinder. Or did the kit come with very small caliper pistons?
In reply to akylekoz :
None of the conversions require a master cylinder. None of the professional kits mention requiring a proportioning valve. I'll have to see how they perform once I get them installed.
In reply to akylekoz :
The last disk swap I did on a xj had good petal feel.
whats gonna be the E brake setup?
In reply to onemanarmy :
The e brake will be a small drum inside the disk. It's part of the kit.
This project is going to cause me to lose some hair.
I got started on the rear axle this afternoon. Or at least tried to. I got the old bearings and ring gear off the carrier and got it cleaned up so I could install new gear, the locker, and new bearings. For some reason, the new bearings were a slip fit instead of a press fit. I looked at the part number on the bearing kit to find out I have a D44 kit instead of a Chrysler 8.25 kit. Crap!
Well, I'll just get the locker and gear installed and figure out the bearing problem when I go in for the night. I get the locker box open and notice the splines look a little large. Sure enough, it doesn't fit either. The locker is 29 spline and I have 27 spline axles. Double Crap!!
Back to the computer to figure out where the berkeley up happened. I double-check the parts I ordered against the parts I received. So, the bearing kit was shipped wrong. I ordered the correct part, they just shipped the wrong one. Not a huge deal, I'll just send it back and get the correct one.
The locker, on the other hand, is right. It's the part number I ordered and Amazon says it fits a 2000 Cherokee. It's not the first time they have screwed something up so I'll just return it and order one for a 27 spline axle. No big deal, except it won't be in for over a week and I have a trip planned for that weekend. I'd like to put at least a few miles on the new setup before taking it 2 hours out of town loaded. I headed over to USA Standard Gear's website and sure enough, it says I should have a 29 spline axle too.
Ding, ding... It's not covered in this thread, but I've replaced this axle before with a junkyard axle because of a noisy gear set. The old axle is in a pile behind my shop. So I drug it out and stripped the carrier and shafts out of it. Sure enough, they are 29 spline. Locker problem solved.
The new bearing kit should be in Thursday and I should be back in business. I hope. I may be bald instead.
More to come if I ever get the correct parts in. And the stars align. And a meteor doesn't take out the shop. Or a tree fall on the Jeep.
I'm glad (despite the circumstances) that you got the axle situation figured out. The latter 29 splines are known to be much more robust than the earlier 27 spline units. It was an upgrade that I had planned for my '96, but never got around to it.
The last of the parts showed up today. Maybe, assuming we don't have a natural disaster in the meantime, I can get this thing back on the ground tomorrow.
Miracle of miracles, the disasters held off for today and all the parts actually fit.
All the bearings were changed. New gears installed. New diff cover installed. New brakes installed. Spartan locker installed. Done. Finally!
What a pain in the ass it was though. I fought the differential from step one. When I installed the carrier the first time, I could not get the damn threaded adjusters to line up correctly. I fought that for 45 minutes. I finally got everything installed to check the pattern and of course, the pinion was too deep. Everything had to come back out so I could pull the race and install a .015" shim. On assembly, it fought me again. That is a horrible design. The front axle was a breeze in comparison. It's done though and it's quiet running down the road at 70mph.
The gearing is perfect. It turns about 2500 at 70 mph. It will accelerate nicely and isn't downshifting every time you touch the throttle.
The brakes are superb. If you have an XJ, do the disk swap. It is transformational. I never have liked the brakes on the XJ. Yes, they stop, but it always seemed to take more pedal force than I thought it should. Not anymore, it stops as well as any other vehicle I own and better than a couple of them. The pedal feel is perfect.
The rear locker on the other hand is moderately horrible. I might get used to it but there is an 80% chance it will be coming back out. It clicks and pops and carries on like mad. It has also introduced a fair amount of play in the driveline due to the slop in the pin that allows it to unlock when coasting. I'm going to run it a couple of thousand miles and see if I get used to it, but I doubt it. I'm pretty sure it will end up with a selectable locker like an Ox or ARB.
Picture time.
Backlash.
Old and busted.
New Hottness!
Shiny new cover. Yukon doesn't make one for the back. This one doesn't have a drain, but it also doesn't have a stupid rubber plug as the OEM cover did.
Glad to get this thing back on the ground.
That's it, I'm pretty much done with the XJ for the foreseeable future unless the rear locker drives me crazy. There will be an engine replacement at some point, but that will probably be next winter sometime.
Nice. Thanks for the opinions and documentation. Did you have to order separate cables to connect the parking brake properly?
Greg
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