How would you outfit this custom LJ?

[jscherb]

A couple of maintenance items to take care of when I get home - the 4wd light in the dash isn't illuminating so I'll have to troubleshoot that. Also it sounds like a pinhole leak has developed in the front section of the exhaust. I'm due to replace the front catalytic converters because I've been getting a 0431 code from time to time (Warm Up Catalyst Efficiency Below Threshold - Bank 2), so hopefully the leak is in parts that will be replaced, but anyway I'll fix it when the cats are swapped. With about 195,000 miles on the clock, I don't feel too bad about needing to replace the cats.

Maintenance update...

I ordered a new transfer case switch, it arrived yesterday and hopefully I'll get time to install it tomorrow. I'll try to post photos of the process in case anyone else needs to solve this problem.

I had the cats replaced today (these are the cats that hang right off the exhaust manifold). Two interesting things:

- One of the cats was empty. Apparently the guts of that cat had burned out and disintegrated. Obvious now why I was getting occasional 0431 cat below efficiency threshhold codes. BTW I had the cats replaced on my 2006 Wrangler pickup (125,000 miles) about two months ago for the same 431 code reason, and one of those cats was empty too. Must be a common failure mode.

- The pinhole leak sound turned out to be the cat pipe connection at the manifold being loose. That must have happened on the rough trail because I first heard the sound on the pavement after the first trail day. Not sure why it took 195,000 miles for it to happen, this Jeep has literally thousands of miles of trail/off pavement miles on it in Colorado, Utah, California, Alaska and other places and many of them rougher than last week's trails. But anyway it's fixed.

 

[jscherb]

One of the maintenance items that came up on the recent Colorado trip is the 4wd light on the dash - it wasn't illuminating when in 4wd. When I got home I disconnected the plug from the transfer case switch and jumpered the connections in the plug and the light went on, so the problem was not the light bulb or the wiring, so it must be the switch. New aftermarket switches are about $18 on eBay so I ordered one. It's pretty easy to swap, here's what's involved.

The new switch:

The old switch is on top of the transfer case on the driver's side. It's visible and accessible from the front of the skid plate:

Once the plug is disconnected, a 7/8" socket is used to remove the old one.

The new switch is threaded into place and tightened, the plug is snapped on to the new switch and it's ready to go. The light now works. I didn't have to even jack up the Jeep and it was about a 10 minute job which included the time to gather the correct tools and a flashlight. Problem solved.

After installing the new switch and verifying that the 4wd light on the dash worked, I tested the old switch. In this photo I'm pushing in on the ball plunger and there's no continuity. The switch has definitely failed.

 

[jscherb]

I posted this photo of one of the Devil's Slide trestles a week ago when I was in Colorado:

The tracks were removed in the 30's but up until sometime in the 50's you could drive all the way across Rollins Pass, including driving through the Needle's Eye tunnel and driving on the Devil's Slide trestles. I found this photo on the 'net, it was taken in 1954:

In the '54 photo there's a slightly lighter color large rock to the left of the Jeep, I was standing on that rock when I took my picture.

 

[billiebob]

Love the railroad pics.

We have a similar grade loop in BC called Loop Brook. No tunnel but the rail crosses the brook loops round and crosses the under the trestle. The stone towers are still there , unused since the Conaught Tunnel under Rogers Pass bypassed them. In the 1980s when I was into climbing we would pass the day climbing the towers.

I'll have to find some pictures..... or drive 100 miles and take them.

If you drive the Trans Canada Highway thru Rogers Pass..... Loop Brook Campground is right there, 100 yards off the highway.

 

[billiebob]

My Granddad was General Managerbof the PGE Railway, heres my Mom on tour with the railway inspector in a 1937 Ford on the tracks. Somewhere near Whistler, BC.

Stockings and a skirt, suit and tie, man have we ever regressed.


Same trip, Mom and Dad just south of Whistler, BC.

 

[jscherb]

Love the railroad pics...

Thanks. One of the main reasons I like exploring off-road in Colorado is for the history - abandoned mines, ghost towns and especially the railroad history. Back in 2013 I wrote an article for a railroad magazine about exploring the historic railroad sites in Colorado in a 4wd vehicle.

Over the years I've done several dozen articles for railroad magazines, mostly on narrow gauge railroads. I've explored and written about narrow gauge railroads on three continents and been published on several continents as well. It's more fun exploring when you have a purpose, like doing photography for a magazine.

I also have a family connection to Colorado history - my great uncle was a mining engineer and had a mine on Kendall Mountain on the south side of Silverton. He died in 1986 and I managed to visit him in Silverton before he died. Some years later I found the location of his mine and visited it as well. He's resting in the cemetery in Silverton...

 

[billiebob]

Thanks. One of the main reasons I like exploring off-road in Colorado is for the history - abandoned mines, ghost towns and especially the railroad history. Back in 2013 I wrote an article for a railroad magazine about exploring the historic railroad sites in Colorado in a 4wd vehicle.

Over the years I've done several dozen articles for railroad magazines, mostly on narrow gauge railroads. I've explored and written about narrow gauge railroads on three continents and been published on several continents as well. It's more fun exploring when you have a purpose, like doing photography for a magazine.

I also have a family connection to Colorado history - my great uncle was a mining engineer and had a mine on Kendall Mountain on the south side of Silverton. He died in 1986 and I managed to visit him in Silverton before he died. Some years later I found the location of his mine and visited it as well. He's resting in the cemetery in Silverton...

I wonder how small the world is.

My Uncle was a mining engineer to and managered a mine in Casper WY. He retired to Denver 40 years ago and passed away at 92 8? years ago. Uncle Bill was one of those big into clubs, Lions and Masons and University Alumni Groups. I inherited some of his "ceremonial" gear.

Wonder if these guys ever met.

 

[jscherb]

I wonder how small the world is.

My Uncle was a mining engineer to and managered a mine in Casper WY. He retired to Denver 40 years ago and passed away at 92 8? years ago. Uncle Bill was one of those big into clubs, Lions and Masons and University Alumni Groups. I inherited some of his "ceremonial" gear.

Wonder if these guys ever met.

View attachment 678271View attachment 678272

Uncle Alfred went to the Colorado School of Mines, which is in Golden - if your uncle went there maybe they did meet.

The only relic I have from Alfred is a stock certificate for 50 shares of the Silverton Mining Company. When I was a kid Alfred came east for Christmas one year and he gave me a silver dollar and the stock certificate. He said it would be worth a lot some day.

When I visited his mine a few years ago the adit (" a horizontal passage leading into a mine for the purposes of access or drainage" for you non-miners) was blocked off so I couldn't go inside but the tailings pile outside wasn't too big so I don't think Alfred ever made much progress. And he certainly didn't find the mother lode so my stock certificate is just a pretty piece of paper to hang on the wall.

 

[jscherb]

At the Smokey show Overland Outfitters got a lot of requests for a TJ version of their HD Molle Tailgate Panel so they asked me to design one. I did the design this morning, in this photo I'm checking out the pattern on my LJ tailgate:

I don't plan to install the final product on this tailgate though, for years I've had a MORryde Storegate there and that best fits my needs. I removed the Storegate to check the pattern and having done that, the Storegate is reinstalled.

They plan to do them in leather and canvas and the same colors as their JK and JL tailgate panels, seen here at the show:

 

[jscherb]

In my last post in this thread I wrote that Overland Outfitters had decided to do a TJ/LJ/YJ tailgate MOLLE panel. They told me they'd like to do some other things for the TJ/LJ and they asked me for some ideas.

I've always liked the factory YJ Sahara seat back pouches:

And about a year ago I did a version of the same for the TJ. I did the first one in the same colors as the YJ Sahara seat band even though my interior is not tan/spice:

And instead of a fixed bag, I added a PALS/MOLLE strip to the back as well as a zipper for OO Zip & Go bags:

In this next photo a Grab & Go bag is hanging on the PALS strip:

Quadratec liked the idea so much that they asked me to do a version for the Corbeau seats in their anniversary Jeep build:

So I'm trying to decide if I should try to get OO to pick up the seat band. They tell me they've done very well with their Zip & Go bags and their Backpack bags, both up with zip onto the seat attachment they have for the JK and JL, and they also plan to release the "Cool Bag" cooler I've been using for all of our picnics this year:

I've prototyped three versions of band, two of which are in the photo above. At left, the Zip & Go leather bag is hanging on the "YJ replica" version of the band in gray, and on the right the Cool Bag prototype is hanging on the "headrest version" of the band. Those two versions are for the later model TJ/LJ ('03-'06) and the third version is for the early TJ ('97-'02), that one is a lot like the headrest version but shaped for the early TJ seats.

Because OO's current JK/JL seat back products seem to have done well and because Quadratec liked the idea enough to incorporate it in their anniversary build, I'm thinking I should recommend to OO that they pick up the seat band for the TJ/LJ, which would make their current bags usable in those models and/or allow MOLLE stuff to hang on the seat backs too.

Some MOLLE and Zip & Go examples of how the band can be used...

Let me know if you think this is a good idea or a dumb idea. If everyone thinks it's a dumb idea I won't recommend it to OO.

 

[jgaz]

The picture of your LJ with the grab and go bag attached to the PALS webbing on the passenger seat is something that would interest me.

My LJ does not even have the pocket built in to either of the factory seat covers.
I’d like to have a bag in that location to keep books, maps, a trail atlas, passes, etc. organized and secure yet easily accessible from the drivers seat.

I don’t see much of a down side to OO offering a product for the TJ/LJ that works with products that they already sell. Just my .02.

 

[jscherb]

I don’t see much of a down side to OO offering a product for the TJ/LJ that works with products that they already sell. Just my .02.

They're a fairly small business, so they have to think about things like opportunity cost (is there a product that would sell better that they could sew instead of this product?), manufacturing cost (they cost something to make, and if they don't sell that's money sitting on the shelf).

These aren't a huge investment for them so even if it isn't a fast seller they probably should do them but after the past year and a half of reduced manufacturing capacity due to the pandemic they're just getting caught up. Plus they tell me a major online/catalog retailer will shortly be starting a multi-month promotion of some of their products so they need to manage production capacity for that.

Just some of the reasons I'm not in business - I don't want to have to think about any of that, I just want to design stuff .

 

[jscherb]

Email today from Overland Outfitters - they're in the middle of production for the TJ HD Molle Tailgate panels, they sent me a quick photo of one in black with brown leather:

They're doing this color and they're doing tan canvas with brown leather (the tan one will look great in Saharas).

They'll be sending me one or maybe two to test install, probably will arrive next week.

 

[jscherb]

Dodged a big bullet. I'll post about it so hopefully others with a TJ/LJ can dodge the same bullet.

About 2 months ago, it felt to me like the ignition switch operation wasn't right - it felt a little "soft" and less "notchy" than normal. Two years ago the lock cylinder in the pickup failed (also a 2006 LJ), so thinking that might be the problem in this Jeep, I replaced the cylinder (an easy job BTW). It felt a little better, but still wasn't right. Everything was working ok other than the "feel", so I decided not to diagnose it any further at the time.

Since then I did the Colorado trip and lots of other miles in the LJ.

The other day the key release pushbutton stopped working right - I couldn't shut off the engine without pushing in the key release button, so I decided it was time to do some further diagnosis. I removed the cover from the steering column and looked at the mechanism of the key release button - it's connected to the ignition activator.

For those who haven't had their steering column apart, the lock cylinder connects to the ignition switch activator and the activator turns the electrical ignition switch. The activator also performs several other functions, such as the key release button and the steering column lock.

I decided the ignition switch activator was failing and if it failed completely, the Jeep would not start, so this was becoming urgent. Turns out Autozone carries the activator, so I went out and bought one.

This is what the activator looked like when it came out:

The rod that turns the ignition switch is a pot metal casting and prone to breakage, mine was broken in the typical failure mode. Luckily it was still able to turn the ignition switch. The end of the rod goes in the recess in the center of the switch:

With the activator replaced, it's working fine and turning the key feels "notchy" like it's supposed to.

This has obviously been broken since it first felt soft to me a few months ago, and could have let us down 20 miles from the nearest road in Colorado.

The lead Jeep mechanic at the dealer tells me this is a common failure mode for the ignition assembly and the potmetal rod is the weak link. He says he's replaced quite a few over the years.

So forewarned being forearmed, if the feel of turning your key starts to feel a bit soft, your activator is likely heading for failure. Don't ignore it for too long.

 

[jscherb]

Overland Outfitters sent me one of their first production TJ/LJ HD MOLLE Tailgate Panels to test. Since my LJ has a MORryde Storegate on the tailgate, I installed the panel on a test tailgate I have on hand. Fit is great.

I think they will be releasing these in the next week or so but they haven't given me a date.