2008 JKU "Argenta" Build Thread

[pc1p]

For me the YJ was the most fun to wheel (though not necessarily the best or most comfortable wheeler!)… mine was a ‘95, so it had all the fit and feel of a CJ, but with just enough touch of modern (EFI) to be enjoyable on hills and in the mountains. The leaf spring suspension, manual trans, and simplicity of it all made for fun line picking and finding the balance point while hanging tires in the air! It was the wooden rollercoaster of the off-road world: just safe enough to not worry, just rough enough to kick your a$$ while you enjoyed it

The LJ and even the TJ were much better wheelers and much more comfortable at the same time. Better seats, better dash ergonomics, an A/C, coil springs, etc. certainly made it easier to convince the Mrs. to come for ridealongs.

 

[tJKrider]

A few weeks back, I finally turned the heat on and the distinct smell of mouse pee/poop came out.

A bit different environment but I just got done riding my shed of mice "evidence", sealing all the entry points, cleaning, disinfecting, and painting. We'll see how long it lasts! For such small creatures they sure leave an impact.

 

[Danarch]

For me the YJ was the most fun to wheel (though not necessarily the best or most comfortable wheeler!)… mine was a ‘95, so it had all the fit and feel of a CJ, but with just enough touch of modern (EFI) to be enjoyable on hills and in the mountains. The leaf spring suspension, manual trans, and simplicity of it all made for fun line picking and finding the balance point while hanging tires in the air! It was the wooden rollercoaster of the off-road world: just safe enough to not worry, just rough enough to kick your a$$ while you enjoyed it

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The LJ and even the TJ were much better wheelers and much more comfortable at the same time. Better seats, better dash ergonomics, an A/C, coil springs, etc. certainly made it easier to convince the Mrs. to come for ridealongs.

Mine was a 87, first year. It had a carburetor, which was a pain. They had to fix it three times under warranty. Then it was fine just difficult at time when off roading.

Mine was a manual as well and much simpler to work on, very basic. The LJ is a 6sp too.

I think the TJ / LJ are a nice break between the CJ and JK. Better suspension fuel injected etc. But not too many electronics. The LJ doesn’t even have ABS, that alone made me smile from ear to ear.

 

[pc1p]

Now the full begins…

It’s a 2010 5.7 Hemi with ~108k miles. Ran strong when running, came out of a wrecked truck. The PO said it had a check engine light for cylinder 8 misfire, but it ran fine and had great compression.

I’ll pull the heads and give it a once over, likely replace the cam and lifters while I’m at it (maybe even drop in something with a little more zing). The engine came with everything, p/s, alternator, a/c, starter, PCM, harness, etc.

 

[pc1p]

Got to working on getting the housing stripped down a bit and prepped for welding the truss. The first step was to matchmark the carrier caps to the housing, then remove the shafts and carrier:

After that, I turned my attention to removing the vent hose fitting. Note for anyone needing to do this, you’ll need to completely remove the adjusting collar as the hole is covered up (see red arrow):

A few quick whacks with a long punch and it popped right out:

The hole that the fitting is pressed into is just about perfectly sized for a 1/4” NPT fitting. I’m gonna run a 7/16” drill bit down just to clean up any edges, but it’s probably not required.

Should have this all done this week, which means I can weld the Artec truss in place this weekend.

Also this weekend, I’ll be picking up a brand new in box Gamechanger 3.5” lift kit from someone about 2 hours away (we are meeting halfway). I already have the 2.5” Dual Rate MetalCloak kit, but wanted to get the full set of arms and rear track bar, and a set of 3.5” springs. I was waiting on a Black Friday sale, but for $2000, this is basically the same $$ I would be spending, plus will let me save my 2.5” lift for Charlotte’s Jeep next year (which will also get my current axles with a fresh regear, and a set of 35”s).