Jeep Inventory 2023

Worked 4+ hours just cleaning and organizing the Jeep (hasn't had a good cleaning since before Moab). Tomorrow will be another round...was feeling really sore and not moving well in the afternoon then I realized I just got up and started doing stuff this morning and never took a shower, which meant I never took my morning Advil :/

Part 1 of...I don't know how many :D

Screwdriver Bag:

-- Trim Removal Tool
-- Milwaukee small pry bar
-- Flathead Screwdrivers
-- Phillips Screwdrivers
-- Driver & Bit Set



Brush & Stuff Bag

-- Brushes
-- Hose Clamps
-- Baling Wire
-- Zip Ties



1/4" Ratchet Bag

-- 1/4" Ratchet
-- 1/4" Socket set (Metric & SAE)
-- 1/4" Extension
-- 1/4" U-joint



3/8" SAE Bag



3/8" Specialty Bag

-- Spark Plug
-- Torx
-- Hex
-- Flat & Phillips screw driver



3/8" Metric Bag

-- 3/8" Ratchet
-- 3/8" Extensions
-- 3/8" U-Joint
-- 3/8" Metric sockets



1/2" Bag

-- 1/2" Ratchet
-- 1/2" Extensions
-- 1/2" U-Joint
-- 1/2" 19MM sockets
-- 1/2" 36MM Axle Nut socket
-- 1/2" Metric & SAE Sockets

Not pictured here is a set of lug nut sockets, multiple sizes to deal with swollen sockets.



Tool Bag Bottom & Inside Pockets:



Recovery Bag Stuff:

-- Two soft shackles
-- 20' Static Strap
-- 30' Static Strap
-- Tree Saver
-- 7/8" Kinetic Recovery Rope
-- Velcro winch line protective sleeve

Since picture was taken, the hard shackle and pulley have been relocated out of the bag to save weight.





Eletrical Bag:





Grips Bag -- misc. stuff for electrical, rigging cameras, tape, etc.




Tire Patch Kit



Rope Fid tool -- now stored with the SAE wrenches.



Metric Wrenches



SAE Wrenches & Fid




U-Joint Tool



Some new stuff for the bottom of the bag --

-- Mechanics Hammer
-- C-Clamp (from the tools I got from Ed from his dad)
-- Punch & Chisel Kit




Yeah...
There's no way I'm lugging that in and out of the Jeep when it is fully loaded up :D
But having many of the tools in the zipper bags & rolls, I can put the on the seat as I dig for what I need.



Snap ring pliers



"Floor tools" to big to fit in a bag --

-- 25" 1/2" Breaker Bar
-- Extendable 1/2" Breaker Bar
(Noticed while working on the Jeep earlier in the month the 25" doesn't really clear inside the wheel wells easily; the extanble one was in my tool box, I think I got it from Ed.
-- Pry bar
-- Dead Blow hammer



Kind of blends in, but the Tire Kit is underneath the driver's seat.



Hard Points

-- Logging Chain in case I need to wrap around something sharp. I definitely wouldn't trust it for kinetic recovery.
-- Shackles -- these are high-grade ones.
-- Pulley rated for synthetic rope



Shackles will go under the tool kit, this will keep them from rattling against each other.



Rest goes under rear seat; will add the tow hitch here too.



All tucked away :)

Nice applied analysis based on Woodward's Eleven Nations theory

https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2023/04/23/surprising-geography-of-gun-violence-00092413
Soon as I started reading that article, I wondered if the other was the same as:

https://www.businessinsider.com/the-11-nations-of-the-united-states-2015-7

Which while the Business Insider article (that they've kept updating at least 2015-2020) isn't by the author, the Politico article is by Colin Woodward and I do own his book :)

For those unfamiliar, while Woodward uses 11 nations, other authors have used slightly different groupings like 9 or 13.

There is a tide...

There is a tide in the affairs of men
Which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune;
Omitted, all the voyage of their life
Is bound in shallows and in miseries.
On such a full sea are we now afloat;
And we must take the current when it serves,
Or lose our ventures.

-- William Shakespeare

Tires & Bumpers...

Wednesday night took a look at the tire that has had a slow leak to see if I could patch it...

Nope that's leaking from the rim. Dropped it off at Sorel's for Norman to fix on Thursday.



Low-pro antenna -- I don't have a lot of experience with it yet, but from moving the Jeep around this thing may work better than I expected. I doubt it is as efficient on the transmit side.



Took Friday off. It's 11:30am, time for the garage bar to open.




Huh, I didn't know mufflers have drain holes :/



Worked for about 3 hours -- lots of little maintenance checks, then lots of wrenching with things like my 2' breaker bar to remove the bumper. Came in for a late lunch, decided while I had the ambition to go back I really should let my arm rest.



Saturday morning...

Ok, last thing before I drill the frame is to remove the old tow hook. Well it's laughing at my Milwaukee, better break out the air tools...



Well...even the air powered impact is barely doing anything. Look at Harbor Freight...Good news is it's 30% off this weekend...



It...managed to break the welds of the nuts on the mounting plate :D But not before it at least got me enough working room...



I'm done asking...




New hole drilled and got the holes and factory bolts prepped with anti-sieze, and a generous coat of Fluid Film inside frame rails I had drilled through.



Jeep barely started to turn it around...will have to let that run a bit to recharge battery.

Get on tractor, it barely starts :D Ok, guess I'll leave it running to.

Sudden heavy shower as I'm getting the tractor is position with the new bumper :/






So the tractor wasn't level enough for me to get the bumper in position...but I got one bolt on and tied the other.



Set up bumper jacks so I could level and position it correctly.



Almost done -- hit the wall at 7.

Need to do a final check for the alignment and then finish tightening all the bolts.

Axle is Done!

Took the day off, it was gorgeous. Not a lot of photos from today.

But the differential is back together and filled up, and driver's side tire is on.

Turns out the "helicoils" I thought were backing out was actually a copious amount of gasket maker shaped into threads looking like a spring o_O.
Wanted to get the new bumper out of the way, which meant using the tractor. Bought the step stool last fall, finally set it up today -- had an old shower organizer in the scrap pile I snagged to make the handle.

This made it much easier on my knees to get up in the tractor, and with the handle I can just move it out of the way while still in the tractor seat. Gotta figure out a way to mount it on the backhoe area so I can grab it to have with me when working around the place.



The moment you realize just back out from under the vehicle...

Ended up resetting everything so the jackstands were as low as possible then I lifted the body again to give me more room to work.



A very incomplete list of next priorities:

-- Passenger front tire has a leak. Want to see if I can find and patch it myself.
-- Need to top up the rear diff (still need to replace the seal)
-- Want to vacuum the interior before I start re-loading my Jeep tools into it.

Then maybe I'm finally ready to start driving it for a bit...before it is time for the next round of work :D

-- Headlights
-- Need to wire in the license plate light
-- Remove old rear bumper
-- Install new rear bumper
-- Remove old sway bar
-- Install RockJock sway bar
-- Have a new winch line on order. I plan to replace the current one, but keep it as a winch extension. I'm just concerned about it's age and shape.

Axles are In

Made some progress on Saturday until it was time to go to Hollis' 40th.

Got the new speed sensor finished up, got the fender liner back in.



This worked pretty good, held the brake down and was able to **almost** torque the axle nut.

I did have to use the old fashion pry bar against lug nuts though to do the final bit to get the ratchet to click.



This whole odyessey began last September with me going, "Gee even if I winch over that gate keeper obstacle, it's going to remove what remains of my beat up factory plastic bumper..."

So we have this bad boy.

I actually ordered a different one first, realized looking at the description again the next day the hitch wasn't tow rated o_O but was "accesories only". Turned out this is an even better, US built one on sale for like $400 off so it was only $50 more. It is capable of getting a tire carrier.



Tuesday is supposed to be a really nice day, so planning to take it off. Cross fingers I can get the differential threads fixed up so the Jeep at least is back on the road.

And maybe start working on mounting the bumper. Thank goodness I have a tractor with forks to help get it where I can just slide it in where it needs to go :)

The Axle Saga Continues...

Made some progress at lunch and after work...but then started getting frustrated.

So...it turns out the original speed sensor doesn't fit the new bearing.

This wasn't an issue on the driver's side since I had replaced it already (twice I believe)





Speed sensor has a harness connector behind the shock tower. Which for me means taking off the fender liners :/



It's held in place by a couple "xmas tree" plastic connectors that come on the new harness. So I popped it out for easier to work on.


I got frustrated trying to take it apart. Came inside to research more.

Found this great site -- https://findpigtails.com and quickly found the connector!
Pretty sure looking at the photo now, what I was missing is it looks like a little black tab by the blue & white part that I need to lift up now that the red lock is pushed back. (Or push down much harder back by the big red tab; it looks like a see-saw design.)

Axles & Decals

Continuing to make progress...

It's Saturday and the Garage Bar is open at 11:30...don't worry, I sipped on it all afternoon so I maintained sobriety ;)



Sigh...guess I'll only do one side today. I'll run to NAPA Sunday morning and get a 2 replacement bearing bolts so I don't get stuck on a trail repair someday. Didn't notice until I was getting ready to re-install and I cleaned the bolts off.



Bearings on! Liberal application of anti-sieze -- I'll be damned if I ever want to sledge hammer off a rotor ever again.



Narrator: It was at this moment he realized he done messed up.

Go back and look at the last pic, I put the brake dust shield so it blocked the brakes :/ Time to dis-assemble and re-assemble.



Had to press the brakes back in, this is from Ed's Dad's tools -- I'll be adding it to my mobile kit to make sure I always have one.



Ok, can't finish the other bearing. Don't want to work on the diff until the axles are both definitely done. Let's work on some bling -- got a few more Jeep Badge of Honor awards and new hood decals.

First let's really clean up the work area -- bug & tar remover, detailing spray, clay bar it.



And then a 3M Eraser Wheel to remove the decals:





Not perfect, but heck it's a Jeep and I'm not perfect :) But close enough you'd have to look pretty close to see I might be off an 1/8" from getting the new row centered where I wanted.




So when I brought my Jeep last year to Ocean State Off Road to have the skid plates installed, the story the desk guy told me was when the tech dropped the factory transmission skid and saw the red dirt collected in it he exclaimed, "This Jeep's been places!" and went around the shop showing other techs.

And I decided my Jeep finally found it's name!