Spanky's YJ

One of the best upgrades I've done, and highly recommend to anyone running a lot of accessories, ESPECIALLY older rigs, is a full battery cable set. I bought a 2AWG kit from jeepcables.com. 4AWG probably would have been enough, but I liked the 2AWG, especially since I will be upgrading the stock alternator (mixed info, either 75 or 90 amps) to 136amp.

The stock stuff and the Interstate battery were causing some slow crank issues after a day of wheelin' Especially if I had done a lot of winching and lights on. The big thing I wanted was an AGM battery, and to get the best out of that I needed the cables.

I went with an Optima Blue. Multiple reasons. It is a startup and deep cycle like the yellow, but it comes with some extra posts and is technically marine rated. Sounds like a perfect win for an offroad vehicle.

Had to trim the stock alternator plastic piece wher ethe battery connection goes as the new cables are significantly larger. Also took out the factory jack finally. lol

She cranks up so much better now. Winch runs stronger for longer. I am VERY pleased with this.

Optima Blue Top D34M
JeeCables.com 2 AWG 7 Wire kit

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Next on the electrical update was a sPOD that i bought off someone off the forum. It was made for a JK I believe, but I made it work with my YJ. I really appreciate how solid the device is, and how simplistic it was to install. Since I had the bluetooth amp now, I just covered teh radio hole with the box. I also made a bracket to mount the brains to in the engine bay. Need to buy the correct switch covers for the accessories I plan on running, but it's a serious upgrade over what I already had.

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A Bilstein sale popped up. I picked up a complete set of Bilstein 5100s to match up with the new BDS Leafs. Man those Rough Country shocks were bone jarring by comparison.

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My speedo hasn't worked since I bought the Jeep. Have narrowed it down to a cluster issue. Had an Autometer Phantom tach lying around. Bought a speedo and the Autometer Jeep YJ cluster replacement panel. Then picked up some Spice interior paint, painted and put together.

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One of my little attention to detail things that I wanted to take on, was I wanted to reuse the center light section where the check engine light, brake light, shift light, and turn signals resided. The other thing I wanted to do was keep the stock body wiring harness. That way I could just plug it in like stock. I desoldered the factory connector, and created a new harness at the dash. I also had to get rid of the factory ribbon calbe as I removed all teh stuff for the speedo and tach. Picked up some pig tails to fit in the stock holes, some LED bulbs to go in the pig tails, and wired it all up. I am very happy with the outcome.

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December of 2021. Almost caught up. This was probably one of the biggest transformations to date.

Metal Cloak 4" Overline tube fenders front and rear
5 - 15x8 Raceline Daytona RT-81 Steel Beadlocks
5 - BFG KM3 35"x12.5"x15" Tires

Sooooooooo happy.

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The claim to fame is with these fenders you can run 33" tires on a stock non-lifted rig. I should be ok with 35" on 4.5" lift. lol

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One tire showed up 2 days before Christmas (lost in Fedex Hell). But I had to see how it would look. lol

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New Wheel and tire came in at just under 100lbs, which is about 30lbs more than the 33" ProComp per corner.

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The remain 4 showed up. Time to mount. First one took about an hour. The remain 5 took about 45 min each. 32 bolts, torquing about 6 different times, times 5 wheels. Yea. A lot.

Didn't mount the rear tire yet, and didn't have a picture of it once I did.

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Got a rear view camera mirror, appropriate switch cover plates, and rock lights for Christmas. Still have to install rock lights. Interesting note on the mirror. Wearing polarized lens mean you can't see the video during the day. lol. However, it is bigger than stock so still beneficial, and nice at night.

I have also since moved the rear locker to the far left, then moved everything else down one.

Release the Kraken is currently tied to a large relay for the winch.

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Alright. I think I'm all caught up now. The one thing I've realized while doing this is, I have a problem. My name is Rob, and I can't stop tinkering and leave well enough alone. lol I've done a lot in 2.5 years.

With that said, I had a little bit of maintenance that I finally finished last night. Had a radiator leak. Decided while I'm there I'll do some other maintenance and install that 136amp alternator. Funny, after doing all of this, I swear, she idles smoother.

Parts installed:

New Water Pump
New Water Pump heater tube
New 195 deg (factory) thermostat
New thermostat housing
New belt - AC Delco 6K710
New Idler Pulley - AC Delco 38042
Mishimoto MMRAD-WRA-87 Aluminum Radiator
Bosch AL6533X Alternator for a 2000 Dodge Dakota 5.9L 136 amp

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Since I had a couple bolts break, this turned into a multi day afare. While I had it out, I gave the stock fan a little coat of paint.

I'll get a picture of it all buttoned up later. It was too cold and dark last night when I finally finished up putting water in and burping etc. I haven't driven it in a week, but was glad to be able to drive it today.


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Installed 2/3rd of my rock lights. Still need to do the rear wheel wells.

The front fenders got drilled for the front one. The middle ones, I used my tap and die set and threaded a stock metal cross member underneath and used the stainless bolts that came with it to mount.

Last time we were out, someone broke on the last run for the day. "One more trail, come on guys." Yeah well, that made us recovering in the night. He had rock lights and that was an amazing difference. We knew where to hook to, we could see all of the obstacles around us. It wasn't about the driver seeing. Well worth the effort.


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On 33s, when my buddy was spotting me, he told me my drag link would bow pretty significantly. With 35s, I was afraid it might get a little worse. Either way, the ONLY piece of the suspension I haven't replaced since owning is the tie rod and drag link. Figured it was time to do that. I had been waiting 2 months for Barnes 4WD to get the pieces in stock. When they did, they didn't have tubing, so I sourced that from another location.

I looked into going Over The Knuckle. I'm planning to eventually go with a WJ knuckle giving me true crossover. For now, I decided to KISS it. Keep it just like it is. It doesn't sit below the differential as it is. The thicker stuff won't sit below either. Just don't see a need in refrabricating everything right now. Figured when I go with the WJ knuckles, I should be able to keep using what I have, I just won't use the hole on the Y-Link.

Bought Chevy 1-Ton TREs so that I can go to a local part store if needed. It's insane how stout they are comparatively. The shaft on the TRE is as thick as the stock Tie Rod. The tubing is 1.5" OD, 1" OD 1/4" thick DOM. Pretty sure with the light weight of my Jeep (comparitively) I can ride the bar and won't hurt it or the steering.

I borrowed a Reamer (thanks @WNDR-XJ) and plan to do the drilling tomorrow evening.
 
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Parts list for 1-ton Stuff, which I found out later, I should have just gone to ECGS. They have a "kit".
  • 1.5"OD x 1"OD .25" DOM
  • 2 Left Hand Hex 7/8"-18 Tube Inserts
  • 2 Right Hand Hex 7/8"-18 Tube Inserts
  • 2 Left Hand 7/8"-18 Jam Nuts
  • 2 Right Hand 7/8"-18 Jam Nuts
  • 2 Standard 1 Ton Right Hand Thread Tie Rod End (ES2234R)
    • Could have done 1 of the ES2234R and a ES2026R which give better angles. Lesson learned.
  • 1 Standard 1 Ton Left Hand Thread Tie Rod End (ES2234L)
  • 1 Y-Link Tie Rod End (ES2233l) For Over The Knuckle Or Under The Knuckle Depending On The Option That You Choose
 
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