XJ Mods VSB 14

[Tyvokka]

You could always take the rear tire carrier off. Problem solved.

[alexbrown64]

Hmmm, i could do that Tyvokka, and if the powers above dont like it, i may have to, but that opens up new cans of worms... new bumper, where to put spare etc... The protofab cost over a K and i think i can make it legal for $130 so i will give it a go.
On a side note, spent 5 hours changing all the suspension over this morning. The original shackles gave me a hard time as the bolts were pretty solidly attached to the leaves. Had to grind a half inch off these bolts as they interfered with the tyre carrier bracket as well. Got them off and with some anti-seize, they were serviceable again. Also had to disconnect all my airbags.
As it sits, it is 1750mm from roof rack to ground. Its also sitting a little high at the front.
I am not going to risk installing an add a leaf as i may go over my height limit of 1780mm. I can bring the front down about 25mm at the front as the ACOS is wound out a bit from previous lift.

So the plan is to drop the front down a whisker to balance it out, and then refit my airbags and add some air to bring the rear into spec. Hopefully it should work out OK.
My quick disconnects connected up really well again and i still have some adjustment, so even when i lower the front down a tad, they should still fit nicely.

OK, pic below is of XJ with 6 inches of suspension lift and 235 tyres... This setup would still need engineering and a swerve test....



Now, pic below is of the XJ with about 2.8 inches of suspension lift over a Limited model, plus 10mm in extra tyre height. The roof rack height is now 1750mm which is 30mm below the 1780mm height of a Sport (1730mm + 50mm) limit for a lift that does not need a lane change test etc.. In pics below, i just need to balance up suspension.

[alexbrown64]

Balanced it all out today. Got the airbags reinstalled and inflated them to 50 PSI. Rear end now sits nicely at 1760mm. I took her for a small test drive. Steering wheel needs centering which is only a 5 minute job. However, not sure what is going on with the rear end. Lots of noise coming from the rear drums. Never touched them but perhaps lowering the suspension did something. The right rear makes a fast ticking sound when reversing and the left rear makes some rattling while driving. I will have to jack the arse end up, put it in drive and have a listen.. might just need the rear brakes adjusting.
So, next on the list will be centre steering wheel, fix rear clunks and clicks, install rear lights on carrier and take the HID spotties off the roof....

[alexbrown64]

Investigated back drums and found the problems. I have Superior axles in the D35 which are stronger than the originals. For some reason, the wheel studs had backed themselves out. Some were hitting the ABS sensor causing it to bend. The bent sensor was touching the tone ring and causing a ticking noise in reverse. OK, so used red thread locker on all 10 studs and tightened them back up. Straightened and tightened up the ABS sensors. While i was there, i greased up the drive shaft. Took it for a test drive and all running quiet.
Next on the list was to relocate the track bar which was a 5 minute job, and then centre the steering. Another test drive and all good.
I then removed the 4 HID lights off the roof. I am putting a light bar on the bull bar.
I told the Dept of Transport that i wanted to put a winch behind the bull bar and in their reply, they want a consulting engineer to address that the bull bar construction complies with CI-112C. Its the factory Jeep supplied bull bar so i cant envision any problems but they do tend to waffle on a bit.
OK, i have to put this project to bed for a few weeks, but in the meantime i am going to order a yellow box V5 speedo recalibrator to get the speedo accuracy to -0 +10% as according to the ADR's. I cannot get a speedo gear for the combination of tyres and diff ratio's i have.
I will also order the LED ADR approved lights for the tyre carrier.
The old girl is getting closer to full compliance.....

[alexbrown64]

Not really related to VSB14, but just some stuff i thought i would add.
Had a mobile aircon guy come around today to service the Grand Cherokee. All good and now icy cold, but he said the compressor was a little worn.
While he was there, i thought i would get him to look at the XJ thinking i would have all sorts of problems. This is what he did:

Inspect 2 x Jeep

Evacuate and pressure test

Insert Oil, dye and full gas

Inspect for leak

Replace valve core.

At first, he said the compressor was just about knackered as it was reading 45 on his gauge and he said anything over 40 was getting tired and would not cool a car at idle. Anyway, he said he would add 30ml of compressor oil and gas it right up and it may come good. It did! The gauge started reading 25 which he said was like a brand new system. Said it was cooling better than the GC.
Total price was $300 for both cars fully serviced and running icy cold.
If your in Perth, then give Mac a call. Great friendly service and he comes to you which saves a heap of hassle.

facebook.com/macautoair

MOB: 0432350256

http://www.gumtree.com.au/s-ad/succe...ice/1097501457

[alexbrown64]

Received the LED Autolights in the post and set about installing them. I thought they were Australian made, as they are $100, but opening the packet, they are made in Taiwan. I rang LED Autolights as i thought i may have some fakes. They confirmed that they have a Taiwanese factory... Anyway, the lights came with no mounting hardware and only a few hundred mill of wire. Of to the shops to get some trailer wire and stainless hardware, as well as a good 6mm hardened drill bit to get through the thick steel tyre carrier. Installation went well and fitted up good. I wired the lights up splicing into the trailer plug wiring and soldering and heat shrinking all the joints. All lights working well, and as you can see from the pic below, lights are visible from a 45 degree angle (original lights are blocked by tyre), so this should now be legal.

[alexbrown64]

The Yellow Box speedo recalibrator arrived the other day. I read the instructions on how to calibrate it after a bottle of wine and it made no sense at all. The next day i re-read it and it all came together. You can get one of these from http://yellr.com/ . I got the plug n play version so i dont have to worry about splicing wires. Their customer service is great and the product looks high quality. The reason i need one of these is because according to Go-Jeep, with my 4.88 diffs and 29 inch tyres, i would need a 47 or 48 tooth speedo gear... which they dont make. So this calibrator solves the problem and i can change tyre sizes any time and simply recalibrate.
I will fit the yellow box up next week and do a write up, but i thought i would write up on how the yellow box v5 is calibrated. Firstly you need to work out how much your current set up throws the speedo out. Do this by [new diff ratio/old ratio]x[old tyre diameter/new diameter]. My calculator said 1.3460 which is 134.60% which is 34.60% fast.
You then hold down the two buttons on the yellow box (pic below), for 5 seconds to go into adjustment mode. There is a + and - button. For each second you hold down the + button, you adjust forward 1%. So i needed to hold down the + button for 34 seconds. You tap the + button to get thet smaller 0.6 increments. So i tap the + button six times. Then you wait a few seconds for it to go into memory and then turn it off to store the data.
After that, use a gps, road markers, etc.. to check it and make small corrections as necessary.