2008 JKU "Argenta" Build Thread (plus an Islander side project)

[pc1p]

One of the rear shocks was so hard to compress that I could barely make it move. It didn't feel that stiff on the road but I'm guessing it is a big contributor to why the Jeep feels like it's jumping across the road when you hit a pot hole or bump...

Back is in and break-in done. It rides so much better already that my daughter is going to think it's a new Jeep. The brakes feel much better too and it's only the rears that are new. The parking brake works 100% and it holds the Jeep still even on the steepest part of my driveway. The gears make cruising the hills in the area with OD on possible now. It adds a little bit of 'oomphf' off the line, but it's certainly not a V8 by any stretch of the imagination. My only wish was that the 42RLE wasn't so poorly programed - I swear it will shift into OD as low as ~20 mph.

Switching to the front axle today. The OTC adapters (#7894) arrived and boy, I'm not sure why I have never bought these before. That stupid little angled cup makes installation a breeze.

With the balljoints installed, the only thing that remains is finding the correct U-joint for the short-side shaft. I checked the axle that we removed and it also has a smaller joint than the passenger side. Once the old axle was out, I tackled the scale rust on the front of the frame. It looks worse than it is - there is absolutely no cancer anywhere but the person clearly parked this rig on a lawn or never rinsed this thing off in the winter, but all the chunky stuff has been knocked off and I'll give it a thorough coat of Eastwood Rust Encapsulator Pro.

 

[pc1p]

These were up on Marketplace for a few days and have already sold... either I listed them too cheap ($800), or I just got lucky. I'm going to assume I just got lucky lol...

Despite the freezing AM temps, the midday highs still allowed me to get some paint on the cleaned up frame, brackets, and parts:

I ordered a set of new jounce bumpers but they were delayed in shipping, which means I couldn't get the front end fully assembled yet. I figured "no big deal", I'll just get the rest of the axle back together. Since my axle shafts have two different sized u-joints, I had to go down to AutoZone to get one that worked. As I started smacking it in place with my small brass hammer, one of the ends of the cap popped off! I could hardly believe it...

In a somewhat fit of rage, after getting extremely frustrated with these axle shafts (note that the long-side shaft needed the caps to be tack-welded in place since I could not get the clips in place at all locations!), I said f$#$ it and ordered a new set of Revo Discovery Shafts from Quadratec. Oddly enough, the 1350-joint shafts were on sale for cheaper than the 1310-joint shafts, plus they let me apply a 10% discount code. Looks like I grabbed the last set too, as they are now listed as "temporarily out of stock".

Putting CM shafts in a baby Dana 30 on 32" tires is 100% silly, but even the cheap eBay replacement axle shafts are over $500 for the set. These at least add some beef and have a warranty that I know Revo is good for...

Seriously I can't wait to be done with this side-quest project and get back to working on my JKU!! It will be nice having it all done before winter though, and I'm sure my daughter will appreciate the nice handling and ride, but I swear I ran into less headaches building the 14 Bolt than I did rebuilding these baby axles...

 

[pc1p]

While waiting for the axle shafts to be delivered, I tackled another issue that's been plaguing the Islander - a leaky roof! With 1-2" of rain expected in a few days, I figured this was a good time to get this done...

Based on where the water was constantly coming in, I suspected it was the rear seal. According to the internets, this is a common issue. I ordered the Crown version from Quadratec (https://www.quadratec.com/p/crown-automotive/hard-top-seal-wrangler-jk-unlimited-68088040AA) a few weeks ago and got to work.

Many YouTube videos show people using Goo-Gone and a plastic scraper. Looking at the tape, it looked just like your typical emblem and trim 3M Adhesive Tape. I grabbed my rubber wheel and the material came off quickly and as expected. No issues with grit or rubbing the paint off the top either - it worked perfect and took just a few minutes.

I used some acetone and wipes any remnants of old adhesive and oils away. Again, there weren't any issues with paint and the acetone quickly softened and removed any remaining residue (you can see the black "specs" on the paper towel below).

Install was easy - I started in one corner and pushed in the plastic clip. I then peeled the adhesive tape cover away slowly, while pressing the seal in the groove that it sits in. Once I got to the center, I peeled a little bit of tape cover away so it wasn't going to get snagged by the two retaining clips, then followed the same process, being careful not to touch the exposed tape to the top without it being in place.

Install took about 20 minutes and you can tell how much thicker the seal is compared to the old one. I actually had to use the panel "screws" to help pull the Freedom Panels in place enough to allow the little "arms" to click into place.

 

[tJKrider]

Man I love those rubber wheels! Long ago I had to remove decals from a cargo van I purchased. That made quick work of it. I've found numerous uses for it since that time. Just not on any softer plastic unless you have a really soft touch!