IntrepidXJ's Adventure Blog

After removing my doors, I needed a way to keep legal by adding a mirror to my driver’s side. While I was doing that, I figured it would be a good idea to get a bigger and better mirror. I managed to pick up a used YJ mirror pretty cheap.

I decided that the best place for the mirror would be on the front fender. In order to mount the mirror so that it was pretty sturdy on the sheet metal fender, I got a piece of 3/16″ scrap steel.

Then I set the mirror mount on the steel and measured where I wanted to cut it……and cut it.

Next it was time to measure and drill the holes in the backing plate.

After that was done, I painted the backing plate to prevent rust.

While the paint was drying, it was time to drill the three holes in the fender.

….and paint those holes to prevent rust.

Now all that’s left is to get the proper mounting hardware (if you didn’t get any with the mirror)…

…..and mount it up!

That’s it. I can put my mirror on for driving on public streets, but when I hit the trails, I can remove the mirror only leaving the small mount behind. Couldn’t be simpler.

Since I am running rear Old Man Emu ZJ long travel shocks, I had to use the JKS Bar Pin Eliminators on the top to make them work. I also wanted to run the JKS BPE’s on my XJ OME long travel shocks I am running up front. According to JKS, OME shocks will not work with their BPE’s. However, they are wrong. Here’s how.

First thing you want to do is remove the end of the shock you want to add the BPE’s to. In this case, I am doing the bottom of my front shocks:

Removed:

Next, you want to remove the original bar pin from the shocks. What I did was take a screwdriver and put it through one of the bolt holes. On the opposite side i applied some brease to the bar pin to make it slide out easier. Then I took the screwdriver and twisted it back and forth while pulling on it at the same time. It took a little force, but wasn’t too difficult to remove. Here’s the original OME bar pin next to the new JKS BPE:

Now you want to assemble one side of the BPE and apply some grease to it. Push the other end of the BPE through the bushing until it is all the way to the assembled block. In order to assemble the other side, the BPE needs to be rotated 90 degrees from the way it should be installed. This allows you to insert the bolt through the block without any interference from the shock tube. Here it is installed:

Last, you just have to reinstall the shock again:

I had heard of people relocating their front brake lines to get more length, but after installing some Rubicon Express Stainless extended lines, I figured I had no need. Well, I was wrong. After a few wheeling trips, I noticed that my tires were catching on my brake lines at full lock. This was not good! I am glad that I hadn’t ripped the line before finding this out. So, this is how I relocated my front brake lines.

First thing you want to do is remove the bolt holding the line to the “framerail” Just make sure to keep that bolt, because you will be reusing it!

Next, you want to CAREFULLY bend the hard line to the location you want to install it. Then mark that location and drill a 1/4″ hole in the framerail.

Then, you want to reuse the original bolt that you removed from the hard line and mount it in the new location. The bolt will act as a self-tapper. Just make sure you do not over-tighten it and strip the new threads:

Now my tires no longer catch the brake line at full lock, and I gained a few more inches of brakeline for articulation:

If you want a cheap way to get some of the heat from out of your engine compartment, adding hood spacers is one possible option, and it is very easy to do. Here’s what you need:

• 6″ of 3/4″ square tube
  
• 4 grade 8.8 screws m8x40mm
  
• 5/16″ drill bit
  

First get all your materials:

Then you need to cut the 3/4″ square tube into 2 pieces that are 3″ in length:

Next you need to drill two 5/16″ holes that are 50mm apart, and centered on the tube:

Here’s how your hood mounts:

You can add the spacers yourself by doing only one side at a time. In order to keep control of the hood with one side unbolted, I used a piece of wood to stabilize it:

Then install the new spacers with the new bolts and tighten them up:

…and now you have hood spacers to allow heat out of the engine compartment. Don’t forget to paint them! (I painted them after checking their fit):

One of my best and favorite modifications to date. Adding a Lockright to my rear axle has definately improved my wheeling. When I was looking for a locker, I spoke to many people to help me make my decision. In the end, I ended up going with the Powertrax Lockright locker. I got it for a hell of a good price, and it should serve me well until I’m ready to swap out my front axle. Unfortunately this article doesn’t have as many pictures as I would have liked, but I was distracted during the install and forgot to take a lot more pictures.

Let’s get started. First things first, you need to remove the cover and drain the gear lube. If you can’t do that, maybe you should have someone else install your locker for you.

Next came the most difficult part for me. You have to remove the carrier. Remove the four bearing cap bolts. They are torqued to 70lb-ft. I suggest marking the caps so that you can remember their orientation (left-right and up-down) as they are line honed with the axle tubes. I also kept the bolts in order as well.

To remove the carrier, I was told to use 2 large pry bars and to pry on the inside of the ring gear and a ring gear bolt on the back side. However, after trying this process for many hours, the only thing I accomplished was to mangle the inner edge of the housing and break 3 pry bars. Next, I was told to turn the pinion with a wrench and feed a rag into the ring gear. This would cause the carrier to pop out. It kind of worked a little, but not enough to get the carrier completely out. The process that finally worked for me, was I had to take a come-along and attach it to the carrier and to the hitch on my Jeep. Using the come-a-long, I was able to pop the carrier out, finally!

Once the carrier is finally out, the install of the Lockright finally begins. First you have to remove the ring gear. Before doing so, make sure that you mark the ring gear and the carrier so that you can install it back the exact same way it came off. Now you can remove all the ring gear bolts (I used an impact wrench which made this process quick) and the ring gear. You will probably need to use a flat screwdriver to seperate the ring gear from the carrier.

Now you need to remove the roll-pin so that the cross-pin can come out. For this I used a hammer and a 4″ long hex drive to hammer it out. Once it is removed, you can now drive out the cross-pin.

Once the cross-pin is out, remove the spider gears. You can then push the side gears out. Do not forget to remove the thrust washers on the side gears. These will be reused unless damaged or cracked. There are also some cupped washers that were under the spider gears. Remove these, they will not be reused, but save them and the side/spiders as the Lock-Right does have a 2 year warranty and you can reinstall them if you have to.

To begin the assembly, you need to apply some medium weight grease to both sides of the thrust washers, the teeth of the couplers and drivers, as well as in the small holes in the drivers. Also, fill the small oval “window holes” in the drivers with grease. This will be used to hold the pins and springs in place during assembly. There are two window holes on each driver, on opposite sides. Slide the shear pins into the small holes on the face of the driver that have a window hole. You should end up with 2 pins pushed in flush with each driver.

Assemble the spings. Apply some grease to the larger springs and slide the smaller ones inside. The grease should help hold it all together.

Place the thrust washers on the back of the couplers (side gears) and install into the carrier. Place the driver halves together with the spacers inside them, teeth out. Slide the drivers into the carrier. You will need to place one half at a time.

Now comes the fun part of installing the springs. I have heard this can be a pain the ass, but it went pretty smoothly for me. Line up the drivers as best as possible. Using a small flat screwdriver, slide the shear pins from the window into the other driver. You may need to “wiggle” the other driver to get the holes to align. Slide all 4 pins over, 2 going left to right and 2 going right to left. Then, insert a spring set into the window hole and carefully compress it with the screwdriver to fit it into the hole. It should seat nicely behind the shear pin and be completely below the edge of the driver.

Next install the cross-pin, making sure to carefully align the roll-pin hole to the carrier. Tap the cross-pin into the carrier and when the hole is nearly in the carrier, use a small center punch or pin to finish aligning the holes. Tap the cross-pin until flush with the carrier. Inspect the alignment of the holes and then install the roll-pin again.

Finally, place the ring gear lossely onto the carrier. Turn the ring gear until the marks you made line up. Using three ring gear bolts, in a triangle pattern, pull the ring gear onto the carrier. Install the remaining bolts using the thread locker and torque to 55 ft-lb. Install the rear gear bolts in a star pattern to avoid warping anything. Remove the three bolts originally installed to seat the ring gear, apply thread locker and torque to spec.

Next you have to reinstall the carrier back into the housing. In order to get mine back in I had to put a block of wood on the bearing races and hammer the carrier back in.

Last, test the locker’s operation according to the manual and then put the axle back together! Enjoy your new locker!