Jake's 99 XJ continuing build

Sway bar link parts came in yesterday. Finally getting a sway bar on is my project for tomorrow.. Assuming it doesn't rain too much before I get a chance to weld the link mounts to my axle. I would certainly prefer not sitting in a puddle with an arc welder lol.

pansy..what's the worst that could happen?? Haha just breakin balls...

Is that for front and rear sway? Seems like a lot of link pins? Awesome work on the XJ it's gonna look great when you're finished

Haha I miss being able to drive at normal speeds around corners.

Just doing the front, McMaster only had 10 packs of lynch lins.

Link mounts ended up being more difficult than expected so that needs to be wrapped up still.

Did an axle shaft u joint tonight though, it was definitely needed.. Check out the contents of this cap:

A little late to the party on this one, but that axle looks like a great buy, not to mention all the goodies you bought for it!   

Can't wait to see this XJ around because you've done a ton of great work to it! I'm right over the bridge in Salem, and ready for jeep season with the change in weather lately.

hobhayward wrote:

buahahahahaha!

Yeah it was bad..

To all you who have done 8.8 swaps, what axle shaft bearings did you use? I picked up SKF bearings at napa (turns out SKF only makes repair bearings for this axle?), but they were $50 a piece... I'm seriously contemplating returning them and finding something cheaper. Every other brand is wayyy cheaper, though I don't see any real brand names like Timken.

JAKE,, Is this what you are looking for ?
I LOOKED UP A 98 EXPLORER 4X4
Timken/Axle Shaft Bearing - Rear

   
   
   
 
AUTO ZONE
Part Number: TRP1559TV
Alternate Part Number: TRP1559TV
Warranty: 1 YR
Application: Without Independent rear suspension

Price: $31.99

You got it Mark.. Not sure why I couldn't find that.

Got one sway bar link mount on yesterday..



The bolt coming out of the back of my steering stabilizer sheared off when I went to take it off.. Stabilizer is find but no way to mount it, unless I can weld new hardware on lol.

Dropped it off for a smoke test this morning too, hopefully they can locate the source of the evap leak.. Need to get inspected this month.

That bracket isn't going anywhere any time soon, making progress!  

So troubleshooting my evap issue, took the filler neck out and bent down the filler tube to clean the top of it make sure it seats nicely, and this slid out... Is this supposed to be in there? what is it? It doesn't look right but how would someone get that in there?

Maybe someone along the way tried to siphon gas from the jeep and that fell off of the hose.

Yeahhh it's not in any diagrams I can find so I'm leaving it out lol. Smoke machine fitting maybe?

Maybe from a smoke tester.HMMM It's weighted brass so no spark.maybe?

I can't say for sure if it wasn't broken before but the flappy thing in the filler neck is busted now..

Finally added the sway bar bracket for the other side..



Now here's my dilemma, will really short links cause geometry problems? Obviously the shorter the link the more the angle of the link is affected during articulation, which afaik doesn't matter as long as the heims aren't maxed out. Luckily the brackets I made for the sway bar are so wide that I can easily position the upper heim where I need it to correct the angle (will be using nylon tubing as a spacer to locate everything). The careful observer will note and question why I put such a large jog in the bracket rather than bolting the stud the opposite way.. to which I confess that too few measurements were made and I didn't realize how far off it was til bolting up the stud. Also apparently I love to make extra work for myself and am a dumbass for not realizing that without jogging it, it would have been in the stock position. Oops.

Mark?

I would measure between the bump stop and contact pad, while rig is on all 4 wheels.
Mark the neutral position of sway bar at the end / point where the upper link mounts to it,
Then remove the sway bar lower link bolts and pull sway bar up to amount that you came up with between the bump stops, and take a look, making sure to take measurements at end of sway bar between link bolt eye and link mounting bracket eye hole!
Now jack up both sides by the Frame until front shocks are extended to max, then pull sway bar down and line up link and link mount eye hole and see what you get .
It doesn't really matter so much the angle of the sway bar while in neutral position, just try to get it in a neutral spot where it works with compression and extension by shortening or lengthening links.
I would try to get the link end of the bar in a slight upward position so you can use more of the sway bar arc for when shock is fully extended.
Hope this makes sense,   it does in my head but getting it to text is another thing,

Haha thanks Mark. So basically I should to make sure that the sway bar setup isn't preventing it from reaching full droop and full compression.. got it. For whatever reason that didn't even cross my mind haha. Suggested angle of the sway bar for cherokees is 15* from the pivot at the bushing to the the the mount hole, so I'll try starting there and see if that'll work

One year after buying this thing.. the first item on my to do list is complete. Its almost like driving a car or something... totally weird haha. I also have a shiny new steering stabilizer to replace the one I broke by accident.




The geometry is far from ideal but it didn't seem to create any weird issues, I get plenty of droop and no issues jacking up one wheel as high as I could get it. I tried to bash on it as much as I could during my test drive and nothing bent or broke, so that's a good start at least.

New exhaust manifold to replace my cracked one. Gotta do the valve cover gasket so I figured get em both done at the same time. Gotta redo the whole exhaust while I'm at it though, noticed the muffler has separated from the last run of tubing lol.



Got the 8.8 brackets tacked up in just the right spots, only to notice after the fact that the PO did a ghetto tcase drop by putting oversized nuts between the cross member and the frame. Went to remove those today and see how it affects the driveline angle (probably need to un-tack the brackets from the 8.8 and rotate them a degree or two  ). Naturally despite soaking overnight in pb blaster the stud nuts broke free inside the frame, so back to the drawing board.. plan currently is to drill a small hole next to the stud and tack the weldnut to the frame via said hole. There is progress, just slow, sooo slow.

So I got the cross member dropped and the spacers out. Only required cutting windows in the frame to access the bolts.. Welded new ones to the frame and then welded the windows shut. At least I don't have to worry about that next time I need to remove the xmember. Noticed that the PO moved the xmember about 5 inches towards the back, still haven't figured out why. Little bit of vibe was introduced on the highway which means unfortunately I have to 'un-tack' the 8.8 leaf perches and rotate them a degree and a half. Nothing can be straight forward haha.

Speaking of not straight forward, still chasing my evap leak as I was supposed to get inspected last month. The filler neck and filler/vent hoses have been discontinued for the 97-01 XJ. WHY!? Managed to find sources for both after extensive searching, but currently my tank is dropped in the driveway because the new filler hoses I got from a friend turned out to be for 84-96 XJ, which obviously I didn't bother to check until they didn't fit. 15 years old in MA means antique right? I have half a mind to pull the stupid evap system out.

Sounds like the Jeep is coming along, I too have an evap leak somewhere on my jeep. The engine light has been going on and off for the past 7 months. OBD2 scanner says its a "very small leak". I guess ill have to get a smoke machine hooked up to it at some point. The evap canister was new 7 months ago after the light came on, and im on my 3rd gas cap haha

Finally squared away the evap leak, put my hitch (drilling half inch holes in 1/4" steel is no fun) and rear bumper back on and got inspected. Didn't need emission though cause its a '99 *facepalm*. Got complaints about my tires and exhaust but oh well.

How is it that a '99 doesn't have emissions in the most stupidly legislated state, but I in Texas have to get my '95 tested for another 4 years? WTF?