TJ Tech Section

[iaccocca]

What the heck?
Since I put the body lift on my Jeep the parking brake cable is out of adjustment loose! You would think that lifting the body (and hence the parking brake lever) would have tightened it. I'm sure the adjustment is easy, though I have not looked into yet, I'm just surprised this is the direction it went. Is this just a coincidence? Did this happen to you TJDave? Lud? My lever is up against the stop and the parking brakes aren't fully engaged.
Parked for an urgent haircut the other day, left it idling with the parking break on... imagine my two Jeeper chicks' surprise as the Jeep continued away from daddy down the hill (slowly mind you.)

[TJDave]

My parking brake is weak also. I have to crank it as far as I can to get it not to roll down our driveway. But, I have an autobananic so I have the luxury of putting it in Park. I have crawled around under there and it looks like a simple adjustment. Both sides meet in the middle to a slider thingy.

[iaccocca]

I did a little research and it looks like I have to do the adjustment at the brakes. Maybe it is because I have rear discs.

[TJDave]

could be---I forgot about your rear disc brakes.

[Lud]

No problems with my brakes after the lift and body lift. I have rear drums though.

[iaccocca]

You know, mine may have just gone out of adjustment (common complaint of the Rubis.) Just seems like such a coincidence that it was right after the lift. Maybe the tummy tuck is the problem. If I ever get out of my church clothes, I'll crawl under and take a look. Probably time to pull my rear tires / brakes and inspect the parking brake shoes anyways. Jeep goes out of warranty in 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 days, then all hell will break loose. Good thing I have the power train warranty, I was wailing on my transmission pretty hard on that last snow run. Time to get some new trans fluid in there and see if I can quiet down the grinding I get in four-lo.

[Lud]

Do you have an auto or manual tranny?

I know that the NV3500 manual trans is a heavy duty truck transmission and not exactly car-like in nature. Every TJ I have heard has the Nv3500 trans rattle slightly in neutral and hard to shift to 2nd in colder weather.


I switched to Royal Purple synthetic and quieted it down some and made shifting it a little smoother. Expensive stuff though.

[iaccocca]

I have the 6 speed. I think the build sheet refers to it as "6-Speed Manual NSG370 Transmission"; Mercedes transmission. Yup, rattles at idle, I had a tranny shop tell me it is normal, especially for the European stuff. I'll probably switch to the Royal Purple stuff when my power train warranty is up, but for now I'll stick with Chrysler approved stuff. If you have a tranny concern, and they drain the purple stuff out, they can void your warranty. Has to be DCX spec (MS-9224). RP Syncromax also gets good press on the Rubicon Owners' Forum, but it does not meet the spec.
Shifting is a little rough on a really cold day with a cold Jeep, but mostly I only get grinding problems when I am in four lo. You have to shift very deliberately and take your time. Tough to do when you are rocking it in the snow. Good news, with 4:1 transfer case not a lot of need to shift. Pick the gear you want and stick with it.

[Lud]

Yeah that's what I use, RP syncromax. I knew about the warranty concern but I figured since I replaced or upgaded most of the factory stuff I had, I wouldn't have much of a warranty anyway. Then again at the time they were not offering the cool lifetime or 7 year 70000 mile powertrain warranties like they are now.

Forgot you have the 6 speed NSG. Good tranny from what I've heard, could have had it had I waited till the '05s came out.

[iaccocca]

Are you happy with the RP Syncromax? At least one person I know thinks that will help him avoid having warranty issues.

[TJDave]

here's one for you TJ brothers: how the heck do I get these oversized, brittle bushcracker flares off of my Jeep!! The bolts just spin and will not back out. Is there a special nut-sert or fastener on the inside of the fender under the fender well??

[iaccocca]

So you are going to sell them before you break them... good call. The instructions for the install of my Rokmen corner armor says, "The rear wheel well liners also need to be pulled back to access the flare bolts..."
Have not done the install yet, so that is all I have. HTH

[TJDave]

The original plan was to keep them and use them for winter. But, it looks like it will be too much of a PITA to swap them out each winter & spring. The original flares are nice & soft. I am more worried of bending sheet metal on the Jeep if I hit something, than breaking a bushwacker. Those things are some hard plastic!! I will pop out the fender wells tomorrow after work and give it another go. The original owner lost the fasteners. Do you think the bushcracker ones will work? Maybe I should buy new ones so I can sell the whackers as a complete set. Is that something I could get at a hardware store, or do I have to go to the stealership? Thank-you, Dave

[iaccocca]

If you want to wait until I put my corners on, you could have my stock hardware (have to replace the stock stuff to put the corners on.) Unfortunately, I'm not sure when I'll get them on, maybe Memorial day weekend.

[Lud]

I've got sliders on the way and because they will get rid of the flare extensions you can have those and the hardware.

[Roman]

Brought this post back for Oddball
Need some info on rear axle pinion angle . . .

Vehicle specs:
Salvaged short wheelbase Rubi
TJ D35
Lee's LJ Rubi springs
33" tires
No spacers
Lots of room in the rear, even with 33"s

Problem is the rear pinion points up too much. does he need adjustable control arms?
Uppers?
Lowers?
Best deals?

[OldGreen]

Adjustable uppers. . .and NICE SIG LINE> > >

Our friends at www.4wheelinplus.com have the hookup on whatever is needed. Call him and tell him I sent ya!!

[Roman]

This is the link directly to the 4wheelingplus.com store

http://store.4wheelingplus.com/

And here's the adjustable UCA's
http://store.4wheelingplus.com/proddeta ... 95&cat=200

[abnormaloffrd]

lee alot of disc brake e-brake cables can be adjusted by pushing down on the brake pedal and then pumping the e-brake or repetedly ratcheding the hand lever.

[oddball]

Hey guys thanks for the link. I'll be talking to them tomorrow.

[OldGreen]

Don't forget to tell Ron that I sent you. It is actually a good thing in this case.

[Grumpy]

Ron's good people. A wheeler's wheeler

[oddball]

I've got a question maybe someone can take a measurement and answer. My upper control arms on the rear are 13 1/4" from center of bolt to center of bolt. What is the measurement on a stock rubicon rear upper control arm from same points?

[tobyw]

Rubi = TJ, no difference in the arms. I happen to have a set of Rubi rear uppers if you need them?

[SPR]

As far as I can tell, the rear pinion on Curtis' TJ is pointed upwards about 4 degrees too much. He has the springs from Lee's Unlimited Rubi and the rig clears 33" tire. I wonder if the springs off of Lee's Rubi (which may be heavier) result in more lift when installed on an older TJ Rubi.

It surpises me that the Rubicon TJ do not need slightly longer controll arms than a standard TJ due to the built in lift.

Lastly, does anyone know if the front and rear upper contol arms are interchangeable and the same length?