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The
Decision.......My
husband and I have decided to buy ourselves a trail rig - Why??
Without
getting into boring details - here are a few reasons, point blank.
1)
Solid Front Axle
2)
3rd vehicle - not daily driver
Why
did we choose a Jeep?
1)
4.0L 6cylinder & solid front axle combined
2)
Parts availability (junk yards)
3)
LARGE offroad aftermarket support
Unfortunately
- Toyota didn't make a solid front axle and a 6cylinder in one machine.
The
Search..... We
couldn't afford to buy a 6cylinder TJ - although a TJ would've been
preferred. Gotta have a 6cylinder - no exceptions!!! We
started researching YJ's, prices, options, tranmissions, transfers,
axles, availabiity, mileages etc. We stopped over to visit Eric Kootte
at Skid Row Automotive
to get some serious answers on what to look for. After that,
we were ready to go shopping. Finding the right Jeep for the right
price is the hardest part. We spent endless nights looking
in the newspapers, searching Ebay, Autotrader.com, and Cars.com.
The majority of the Wranglers in our price range had too many miles
(athough we could've dealt with it) and major mechanical issues.
EVERY YJ with over 100,000 miles on it had a main oil seal leak.
ALL OF THEM!!! The search goes on.......
Good
things come to those who wait........ One
day I was looking in Cars.com and noticed a really good priced Islander.
Actually, I couldn't believe the price was so good. I thought
for sure it would be sold already. I took a chance and called
the guy. It wasn't sold..... Although we were a bit skeptical at first.
Why was such a good Jeep at such a good price? With only 45,000
miles on it, we ended up scheduling a (3-4 hour drive) trip to
go and see it. We looked under the hood, we looked at the fluids,
we looked at everything. BINGO!!! This guy took care of
it and he had every maintenance record. We offered him slightly
less than what he was asking.....HE TOOK IT!! SWEET!!!
My
husband named him IZZY - short for "Islander"
LET
THE BUILDING BEGIN!!!!!!
(and
the pockets go empty!!!)
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OUR
FIRST MOD!!! This
is pretty hilarious.....our first modification was a lovely learning
experience. We installed some mirror relocation brackets so we
can take the doors off in the summer time. Don't ask me
how this went.....all I can say is, WHAT was Jeep thinking when
they used TORX bolts and didn't weld the nuts on the inside??
I had to learn the fine art of Yoga while trying to reach the
nuts on the inside of the cab!!
We
left the mirrors in the stock location for now while the windows
are in (You can't see out of the mirror in the relocation position).
Every winter and summer, we'll swap them back and forth.
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Dana
44's from an 89 Jeep Grand Wagoneer
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Ahhh
New Legs!! We
want this Jeep to be a fully capable rig. We spent a lot of
time researching our options, comparing prices, longevity, and
our mechanical abilities. Our result .....AXLES!!
We decided not to spend anymore money on the stock axles.
Again, more research.
I
found a Grand Wagoneer in a local junkyard that was cheap and
still drivable. Thanks
to Eric Koote of Skid
Row Automotive
- who bought the Grand Wagoneer and sold me a set of Dana 44's
from a Grand Wagoneer he had at home.
This
is my husband Steve cleaning the grease and dirt off the axle.
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Ahhh
New Legs need Hubs.....We
definately needed to put some manual locking hubs on the front
so we ordered a set of Warn Premium manual locking hubs # 20990.
Unfortunately, the hubs are still in the box!! Ok, that'll
give me something to drool over for a while. Anyway, we're
not ready to install them yet because we've got the entire hubs
torn apart. It was a premature purchase - we were just excited
to get started!!
Front
hubs torn apart...still work to be done.
Ahhh
Lift lift lift......We
ordered a Rubicon Express 4.5" HD lift. Again, Thanks to Eric
of Skid Row Automotive
for ordering this kit for us. We asked several experienced wheelers
which kit was the best for someone just starting out (in the Jeep
world). This kit was recommended by all the folks we asked.
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Front
Rotors torn apart, with grease and seals intact.
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Frozen
Leaf spring bolt......Torched it to get it off.
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Lift
Install - Day 1:
We started tearing down Izzy in the garage after taking about
6 different measurements and several pictures. The prior
weekend we already removed all 4 shocks and both trac bars.
We started working on the passenger side by removing the leaf
pak. Problem #1, A frozen leaf eye bolt - we hammered, we
torched, we soaked it with PB and nothing. We had this same
problem in our truck. We did everything we could to break
it loose to no avail.
Lift
Install - Day 2:
#@!*!!*$%!! Leafspring #@!*!!*$%!! brake lines. I can't
decide to laugh or cry........That leaf spring refuses to come
off. We took a break from that and started working on the
brake lines. #@!*!!*$%!! Need I say more? Fortunately, we
did manage to get the extended stainless steel lines installed.
It feels so
much better when you see progress....progress is a good thing.
I get impatient when there's no progress. This is gonna be a long
winter project!
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Close
up of the Front suspension being removed
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Side
view of the front suspension taken off
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Lift
Install - Day 3:
My husband Steve did all the work today - I had a prior commitment.
With a little torch action and a really really big hammer, he managed
to get the leaf spring off!! YIPPEE!!!!
There are miracles!
He hung the new leaf paks in place and called it a night.
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