SilicaRich's Overland TJ Rubicon Build

ITTOG

Well-known member
Congrats! That education will help you tremendously in everything that you do.

Sent from my Pixel XL using Tapatalk
 

SilicaRich

Wandering Inverted
Just want to throw an update into the mix. I plan to move back to Texas in May. Arizona hasn't panned out to how I hoped. Hardly was able to explore the beautiful areas around, the job has not been great, and I unfortunately did not get into the graduate program I wanted for next fall. Next step is taking surveying job I have done in the past and throughly enjoyed. That is until I hopefully get into a graduate program in spring 2020 or fall 2020.

The Jeep runs fine and drives fine for the most part. There is a nagging issue with it wanting to pull right during deceleration, braking, or shifting and wanting to pull slightly left during acceleration. Not sure what it is but it isn't a huge problem but again is a bit annoying. I think it could be a balancing issue with the tires so next rotation I plan to have the weights completely removed and reapplied.
 

iceaxe1967

New member
I have not read thru your whole posting but your current pulling left and right due to accel/decel can be associated to adjustable rear control arms not being the same length. I had the issue you described and it was my upper adjustable control arms and once I matched them to be the same length, issue was gone.
 

SilicaRich

Wandering Inverted
I have not read thru your whole posting but your current pulling left and right due to accel/decel can be associated to adjustable rear control arms not being the same length. I had the issue you described and it was my upper adjustable control arms and once I matched them to be the same length, issue was gone.
They are factory control arms so non-adjustable. Might be possible that the bushings might be shot.
 

SilicaRich

Wandering Inverted
Been lurking a bit, nothing important really going on. Simply been saving money, however I did get to visit Scotland for a few days and see a lot of the Highlands. Lots of Defenders to look at also. Saw some cool WWII batteries, visited 3 distilleries, castles, and even hiked to a B-24 crashsite. It was a fun short trip.

More importantly, I received some amazing news when I landed in Newark for my connecting flight to Scotland. I am proud to announce that I have been accepted into TCU's graduate program to pursue a M.S. in Geology with a focus in Physical Volcanology and Petrology. At this point I have two research locations to choose from, however, it is up to nature to decide whether one will fall through or not.
 

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Captain Texas

Adventurer
Been lurking a bit, nothing important really going on. Simply been saving money, however I did get to visit Scotland for a few days and see a lot of the Highlands. Lots of Defenders to look at also. Saw some cool WWII batteries, visited 3 distilleries, castles, and even hiked to a B-24 crashsite. It was a fun short trip.

More importantly, I received some amazing news when I landed in Newark for my connecting flight to Scotland. I am proud to announce that I have been accepted into TCU's graduate program to pursue a M.S. in Geology with a focus in Physical Volcanology and Petrology. At this point I have two research locations to choose from, however, it is up to nature to decide whether one will fall through or not.
Go Frogs!
 

Zeep

Adventurer
Congrats on the news. Perhaps in the near future, when you get placed. You'll be able to negotiate a new overland vehicle, as a work car!
 

SilicaRich

Wandering Inverted
Congrats on the news. Perhaps in the near future, when you get placed. You'll be able to negotiate a new overland vehicle, as a work car!
Thank you. One of the research areas is in Namibia and we would be using Land Cruisers for the better part of 6 weeks. That being said, this project is likely to fall through due to severe droughts.
 

SilicaRich

Wandering Inverted
Current situation: throwout bearing has gone out, confused computer that borderline stalls because it can't find a good idle rpm once warmed up, VERY leaky rear main, and a VERY leaky front pinion seal.

- new TPS and MAP sensor to help see if we fix our confused computer
- new rear brake rotors and pads (they were looking ruff)
- new National throwout bearing

I will not be doing the throwout bearing myself unfortunately due to time constraints and space so I have a shop doing the replacement. While the transmission is dropped I will also have him replace the rear main and also get the pinion seal done. Fingers crossed the pressure plate is not damaged from the worn bearing to avoid further costs.

I plan to replace the sensors when I get the Jeep back, I can replace those easily myself.
 

SilicaRich

Wandering Inverted
Jeep is officially back from the shop. New clutch kit, rear main, and pinion seal complete. Ended up needing to replace the entire clutch, the old throwout bearing had begun to tear up the pressure plate.

Prior to dropping the Jeep off at the shop, I did replace the rear brakes; rotors, pads, and emergency brake pads. The emergency brake still needs to be adjusted a little but otherwise everything works fine. Discovered an interesting problem while changing the driver side rear brakes. The coil spring was not properly seated. With a little pry bar action and lots forearm strength to rotate the coil, I managed to get it seated properly and hopefully permanently. Could possibly explain the pulling issue mention earlier. Seems to drive mostly straight now or I'm simply experiencing placebo.

Plan to replace those sensors this weekend hoping I can start to diagnose the funky idle issue. If it's neither the TPS or MAP sensor, I'll starting digging into the injectors and see if the injectors, injector harness, or both need to be replaced.

Hope everyone is safe during this COVID-19 situation. I'm lucky enough to be considered "essential", so I am at least getting a healthy 40 hours a week. That being said, Houston is doing a horrible job of handling the whole situation.
 

AggieOE

Trying to escape the city
Go Frogs! My wife graduated from there and I was up there every weekend for games and shenanigans all four years. Beautiful campus in the best city in Texas and a mascot that shoots blood out of its eyes. I mean that's kinda cool. lol Glad to hear the Jeep is continuing along too!
 

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