Chop chop! We want to see this thing on the road! ;)
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Chop chop! We want to see this thing on the road! ;)
It finally happened! We test drove it for the first time today! And it went pretty well! The tires are downright awful in the snow but otherwise it went ok. We also have to figure out why the charging system isn't working and fix a few other things. But it worked!!! That was so satisfying to drive it again! We'll have a video soon from today. I'll post it when I have it.
https://scontent-ort2-2.xx.fbcdn.net...20&oe=5ECE62BA
Congrats and great job on the posts. Thank you.
Yes, congratulations. Good feeling when you actually get to drive the truck after all of your hard labor.
Thanks all! It was a blast taking it for a spin yesterday!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wLNssrozmWU
Here's our video of the final engine rebuild and startup with the new exhaust! I should hopefully have the test drive video in the next few days!
Congratulations!
Nice. How many grins per mile did the first drive get?
Thanks all! A handful of smiles per gallon but a lot of apprehension. haha. I was trying to pay attention to everything and decipher all the sounds and sensations. But I absolutely loved it!
Here's a link to our first drive video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DczjiP3bUDs
It went well for the most part but there was a charging system issue (suspected dead cell in the 10yr old batter), steering wheel wasn't attached as straight as I thought it was, brakes need adjusted, my grille fell off, injector 4 broke, and the truck is idling kind of high (1250-1350rpm). I tested infinite resistance in the fuel injector so a new one is on the way; as well as a new idle air control valve. I think I broke mine when I tried to clean it.
While waiting for the replacement injector and IAC valve to get here, I've been fiddling around with some of the smaller projects. I finally was able to finish installing the windshield wipers and sprayers! I'm really happy how they came out. They have self-park and appear to be synchronized. Not too bad for $200 or so. I just need to finish installing the wires and they'll be good to go.
https://scontent-ort2-2.xx.fbcdn.net...75&oe=5ED65CEB
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While I was working on that, John was working on the gauges. He was able to get all the back lights working, the GPS speedo to work, and voltmeter to work. Once we have the sending units wired for the fuel, oil, and water temp gauges, they should work too.
https://scontent-ort2-2.xx.fbcdn.net...d0&oe=5F02DBBD
Then today I was able to modify the battery box to incorporate a radio and speakers. I went with marine ones so they should be fairly water resistant. I'm planning on running by the store tomorrow so I can get speaker wire and an antenna hopefully.
https://scontent-ort2-2.xx.fbcdn.net...85&oe=5ED1D57A
https://scontent-ort2-2.xx.fbcdn.net...69&oe=5ED5DFE5
Lastly, parts are also on the way to finally hook up the parking brake. We have plenty to do but I may be able to take it for another spin this weekend (weather permitting).
alright, so my new fuel injector came in Friday after work. I checked it's resistance with my voltmeter and it looked good. So I installed it, reinstalled the upper intake and started it up. it was running well for a moment then I started smelling gas and saw quite the cloud coming from the tailpipe. I hooked up the code reader and this time I had "Open circuit injector 8". So... the intake came back off. That injector tested ok so it has to be the old and brittle connectors. I ziptied all of the connectors to the injectors so hopefully this will keep them all firing.
https://scontent-ort2-2.xx.fbcdn.net...a1&oe=5EBE39CF
Next, I finally got around to hooking up my parking brake. I had to modify my handle bracket a bit but we made it work.
https://scontent-ort2-2.xx.fbcdn.net...13&oe=5ECBC335
After that, I finished my cover plates for the trans cover and seals.
https://scontent-ort2-2.xx.fbcdn.net...06&oe=5ECB0F15
I also fabb'd up a bracket for my radio antenna so that part of the project is finished!
https://scontent-ort2-2.xx.fbcdn.net...a4&oe=5EC0206D
At this point, the truck is a driver! The only thing keeping me from driving out of my neighborhood is my lack of seating. Hopefully the seats finish reupholstery this week but I'm not super optimistic on that one. That didn't stop me and John from making a run to the store at the end of my neighborhood. And now with the pavement drying I gave it some throttle. And WOW! The torque and power this thing has! It really takes off! It still feels a bit like a tractor from the bumpy ride and long throw on the shifter, but now it's a fast tractor! It should have no problem getting up to speed on Michigan's 45mph roads. I'm still not 100% on making it to 65mph but I'm going to need to if I want to make it to Utah. I might try to find a hood retainer of some sort. I really don't wan't that to fly up on the highway...
Next up are tent mounts, rock sliders, roll bars, and finishing the sending units for the gauges.
https://scontent-ort2-2.xx.fbcdn.net...c6&oe=5EC89691
There are some Jeep Wrangler JK hood latches that are all metal, no rubber, that would work and fit your build look. Here's an example.
https://wildrock4x4.com/products/1-p...ampaign=Google Shopping&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIuaaRt7jW5wIVFcpkCh2ZGgJ zEAQYBCABEgKD9fD_BwE
Nice work brother!
thanks all!
I was thinking more of a latch that is hidden under the hood. something like what a J10 would've used.
The first big accessory was added over the weekend! I finally got my tent installed after it has sat in the garage for a year! I spent most of Sunday fabricating my mount bars and they came out pretty ok!
https://scontent-ort2-2.xx.fbcdn.net...77&oe=5EFCAAF3
https://scontent-ort2-2.xx.fbcdn.net...cc&oe=5ECCEAAB
The next part was the tricky bit. getting the tent onto the truck and where I wanted. It took John and I about 2 hours but that was mostly us trying to be very precise with our measurements since I was going to be drilling into the bed rails for the load bars. I think it turned out great! Just like I pictured it! It seems like its quality is solid and I honestly can't wait to go camping with it!
https://scontent-ort2-2.xx.fbcdn.net...16&oe=5EFE8F81
https://scontent-ort2-2.xx.fbcdn.net...6f&oe=5F017A6D
https://scontent-ort2-2.xx.fbcdn.net...2f&oe=5EB95748
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Long time no update. I've been on the road for the past month and I'm finally home so I can start fiddling with the truck again. Unfortunately, due to everybody's favorite virus, Easter Jeep Safari has been cancelled. This is really disappointing and crushing. I've been working towards the goal of building my truck and driving it to EJS for 2 years now. We were really pushing hard here at the end but now the stress is off I guess.
The upside of no real deadline is a more lax work pace. So I'll focus on drivability, safety, sand usability. Here's my todo list at this moment:
1) Seats. need them
2) exterior lights to 12v
3) roll cage
4) hitch receiver
5) rock sliders
6) winch bumper
Granted this is all dependent on the strength of the economy after all this blows over. I'm due to get my seats back this weekend and I'm sourcing lights now. After that, I can coast if I need to.
Anyways, here are the fun pics! I got my new front turn signal housings installed. They don't match the patina but they have the added benefit of not being rusted together. I got the ones with the amber lenses since I figured people are usually looking for orange.
https://scontent-ort2-2.xx.fbcdn.net...62&oe=5E9A4FC8
I also was able to clean up the interior a bit. I gave the dash and door tops the boiled linseed oil treatment. It came out really nice! Unfortunately, the white paint disappeared a bit but oh well. I can't believe how much nicer it looks! I don't think I'll do the rest of the truck though. I like the rough and weathered exterior with the nice interior contrast.
https://scontent-ort2-2.xx.fbcdn.net...fe&oe=5E9A1777
Lovin the updates!
On the hood latch, the J10 style can be made to work BUT people often complain that the hook seems to be attracted to the skull of the person who looks under the hood...especially the dual hood latch hooks...they get ya every time one older member said...
I could see that. I might use one from an XJ. but I was able to take the truck up to 60 and the hood wasn't flapping around so it might be ok.Quote:
Originally Posted by brute4c
Alright, so here is what I've been waiting for for about 3 months now, my seats! they have new foam on top and what is rapidly becoming my favorite leather! It's so soft and the color is perfect!
https://scontent-ort2-2.xx.fbcdn.net...59&oe=5E9BA046
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https://scontent-ort2-2.xx.fbcdn.net...b5&oe=5E9DE47E
The fit is a little tight under the steering wheel but the foam should start to compress over time.
The truck works so well! The V10 is surprisingly tame but that's likely due to the gears. It's still mind blowing that it can start a 5th gear pull at 20mph! I was able to test it in highway conditions too! 60mph seems to be it's sweet spot. At 63mpg there is a wicked resonance that may be the heater box or something. but it sounds awful. And if you push up to 70mph, the engine doesn't mind but there's a lot of vibration and the truck feels a little uneasy there. So... 60mph it is! I think as long as I hang out in the right lane, people won't mind.
The bad news is that when I went to refill the gas tank, there was a wicked leak. As in, gallons of fuel on the road... I got home quickly then dove under the truck to see what was wrong. It turns out, the "fuel-resistant" rubber that I had used for a gasket, wasn't so fuel resistant. It weakened, expanded, then ultimately failed leaving a gaping hole between the module and the tank...
https://scontent-ort2-2.xx.fbcdn.net...36&oe=5E9E3877
https://scontent-ort2-2.xx.fbcdn.net...70&oe=5E9D60C3
Unfortunately, this meant the tank had to come out. So I borrowed a bunch of gas cans, drained and dropped the fuel tank, and I reset the module neck. I cleaned all the surfaces, and scuffed up the metal of the tank and the plastic of the neck. I then used some cork gasket material this time and a liberal application of fuel resistant sealant. I'll be putting the tank back in this morning after letting the sealant cure overnight. Hopefully this does the trick.
https://scontent-ort2-2.xx.fbcdn.net...1e&oe=5E9E9252
To end the post on a good note, here are some pictures I took of the truck while it wasn't in the driveway!
https://scontent-ort2-2.xx.fbcdn.net...6b&oe=5E9E2F4B
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yesterday I was able to finish my fuel tank leak repair. It seems to be holding for now. hopefully it can hold up to the fumes and gas exposure this time.
To test my fix, I did what anyone would do and filled the truck back up and drove around. while I was out, I stopped and took a pic with a Huey!
https://scontent-ort2-2.xx.fbcdn.net...0a&oe=5E9D2E91
While I was there, a gentleman approached me and started talking to me about the truck. He knew a lot about them and then he told me he had one in a nearby hangar. He wanted to show me it so I obliged and was greeted to a very clean forest service 715. Pretty cool stuff! My truck has been on the road two days and it's already making friends! haha
https://scontent-ort2-2.xx.fbcdn.net...4f&oe=5E9DFD22
Alright, it's been a minute since I've posted an update but I've got two things!
1) I welded on a hitch receiver to the rear crossmember so I can use a bike rack and tow my small boat!
https://scontent-ort2-2.xx.fbcdn.net...d2&oe=5EB1BCBF
2) John put together the video of us installing the tent! Give it a look if you're curious about what goes into installing one of these things.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=duw9wmq64FY
I probably won't make much progress for a while due to COVID and the automotive industry taking a nose dive... we'll see how this goes.
Another fiddly bit was addressed today; my brake light switch. The hydraulic one that came with my proportioning valve is too sensitive and turns the lights on even when I'm not pushing the pedal (or it will stay on). So I got a plunger style switch and made a small bracket on the pedal assy to hold it. Looks like it works so far.
https://scontent-ort2-2.xx.fbcdn.net...c3&oe=5EC686FA
Now I'm waiting on new tie rod ends to arrive so I can refresh the steering as well as some legs for my rock sliders. It'll be slow progress for a bit but the truck is almost done done!
What's left on the list:
- rock sliders
- tie rod ends
- winch and bumper
- roll cage
Well,
I don't have any pictures but I was able to install new tie rod ends a couple weeks ago. Drive's so much better now! No nasty wobbles! I've just been fiddling with it and fighting brake issues since then. I discovered my adjustable proportioning valve (that was hooked to both front and rear axles) was causing pressure to build and not release in the brakes. It would get bad enough that all 4 wheels would lock and not allow the truck to move. I tried replacing the master cylinder but that had not effect. Removing the prop valve entirely eliminated the issue. So now I'm waiting on a new valve that will install only on the rear axle line. This way I can keep the rear from locking before the front under hard braking.
Other than that, I took it to a friend's house yesterday. I drove about 90 miles on the highway at 60-65mph. It did really well aside from fuel consumption. I'm estimating 5mpg... woof. We'll see once I refill the tank but initial estimates are impressively bad. I may put different axles and gears under it sometime in the future. but for now, she's good! drives well and no issues!
Need the winch bumper and roll cage updates on here. Would love some up close shots of how you ran the front legs on the cage and if the windshield latches are still functional.
I didn't realize that I didn't have those pics! I'll link to them at a minimum (I'm trying to keep the build in ~3 different sites so it's a bit tricky).
https://overlandbound.com/forums/thr...-8#post-550531
This page has all the bumper and roll cage pics. The front legs of the cage don't allow for the windshield to fold over any longer. I don't do it anyways so I'm not heartbroken over that. I still need to tie the main hoop to the frame...
On the note of "projects never finished", I've started to address the 715's biggest issue: the tires. The Goodyear OZ's that came on the wheels that I got from Trailworthy never rode very nice. They're extremely loud, have poor damp road behavior, are about 20yrs old, and do not balance well. The balance is the biggest issue. they wobble bad between 50-60mph. I found a local shop that is willing to balance oversized tires (even with the double beadlock), but since I put ~4500miles on the unbalanced Goodyears, I'm not sure they will balance now.
So, I did what any self respecting offroader does and bought new tires! These are 37" BFGoodrish Baja T/A's that are NOS and only 3 years old! I got them from CSMarmytires and they got here quick for a great price!
https://scontent-ort2-2.xx.fbcdn.net...9a&oe=60CD15F1
https://scontent-ort2-2.xx.fbcdn.net...96&oe=60CB9EF7
https://scontent-ort2-2.xx.fbcdn.net...cb&oe=60CDB88D
I brought them home yesterday and got started immediately. I've messed with my wheels before but I've never had them fully apart. taking the outer ring off was easy enough, as well at the main wheel (tire spoons go a long way), but the PVC insert in the tire was a huge pain! I couldn't figure out how to remove it and every video I saw of people removing them, they just pulled it out with their hands! Well, the Goodyears must've been extra stiff or something because they didn't want to come out. I wound up looping a strap around the PVC and a garage rafter and used the weight of the tire to my advantage. That popped it out of there in about 30 seconds! Much easier!
Then reinstalling the tire and assembling the wheel was a piece of cake! I pressure tested it up to 80psi and didn't have any leaks! It's back down to 50psi and I'll take all 5 to the shop for balancing next week once I'm finished. I can't wait to have a "smooth" ride again!!!
For balance issues you need this. I have them on my truck with HMMWV wheels and tires from Trailworthyfab.
http://www.centramatic.com
For wobble you also need a VERY good single steering stabilizer or a double. Usually if you are over 35" tires you should get a double.
Sent from my SM-G781V using Tapatalk
I was thinking about getting a steering stabilizer to help with the front. the problem is, you can feel it coming in from all corners. and one of them was bad enough, that people have stopped me to ask about it because they could watch the tire wobble. my old NDT's never had issues like that. and they were 50yrs old!
That sounds like more than a tire and balance issue. If they can see the tire wobbling. Bent rim or front-end issue.
BTW those new tires are sweet! If they are a good as you say I might have to look into them as well. $$$??
Sent from my SM-G781V using Tapatalk
yeah, I had the same thought. but I never had any wobbles with the original NDT's and the axles are still original. I did get the wobble to follow tires so I am hopeful that this works. I also did a rudimentary runout test on my brake drum surfaces and they were flat. wheel face was flal, but the outer wheel rim wasn't. The idea I was told was if the tire bead didn't get seated properly, the tire would be on the wheel kind of wonky, creating the wobble.Quote:
Originally Posted by teking
This is where I got the tires. I thought they were a great deal! Especially for the size and the fact that they are all brand new.
https://csmarmytires.com/%e2%80%8bbf...12-5x16-5-235/
I got the tires mounted and boy do they perform! I 100x quieter ride and pretty sticky so far! We'll see how they age.
https://scontent-ort2-2.xx.fbcdn.net...57&oe=60D1BEA4
The downside is 2 of my wheels weren't made correctly. Luckily Trailworthy is replacing them for me. The wheels themself are out of whack and are the reason two of mine have wobbled bad. Even with that wheel, the truck is riding muuuuch nicer!
Those tires look great!
Wheel issue for wobble yep.Quote:
Originally Posted by Old_Red_Jeep
Sent from my SM-G781V using Tapatalk
Long time no update but this is a good one!
A little background and refresher with some of this info being in the thread. I've always struggled with vibration issues on this truck since I "finished" it back in 2020. There's been one major issue after another that we've found and resolved but the truck still had a vibration of some sort.
Here's the summary:
1) wheels. 2/5 wheels had the centers welded in incorrectly and were not true at all. big vibration there
2) Rear axle / locker, there was a lot of what I thought was excess play and when slowing down. the axle would shudder / jackhammer the driveline ~10mph. replaced axle sans locker, good to go
3) tires, went from ancient goodyears to nice BFG's. large improvement
But despite all of this, the truck persisted in a horrific driveline vibration above 55mph. I initially chalked it up to "max speed 55mph" on the dash and assumed that it was some sort of mechanical limit of the original truck. But that started to make less and less sense to me over time. This past summer I started wondering if my rear driveshaft was out of balance, or maybe the ujoint angles were bad? Maybe the driveline brake wasn't true'd or out of round? So a month ago once I finished checking the brakes for the winter I decided to look at the rear driveshaft. I tested the axle side ujoint, nice and tight. Then I went to the tcase side and the whole thing had tons of play! It looked like the rear output bearing on the tcase was smoked!
I then wondered if it was the vibration? If it failed due to the vibration? Did it fail from age (it was the original bearing from 1983)? Did I mis-install something?
We got the NP205 out this weekend and were quickly greeted with the cause of the vibration! The output flange was just plain loose! there was too much fore-aft movement! We took it apart a bit and the bearing and seal looked great (against my expectations)!
Attachment 3969
Attachment 3970
So we cleaned it all up, re-attached, and torqued the snot out of the output nut to ensure that it wouldn't loosen! We took the truck out for a test drive and were very pleasantly surprised that there is now 0 vibration! We even took the truck on the highway at 75mph! (and found out that the engine is spinning at 2800rpm at 70mph. not terrible!)
So it was fixed but one question remained: why was it loose? Was it the jack-hammering of the old locker that loosened it? The torque from the V10? The engine braking? My own improper install?
That last one stuck out to me so I went back through old photos of when I first rebuilt and installed the tcase. It was there that I found my smoking gun. In this picture of the drivetrain installed in the truck for the first time, you can clearly see the inner threads of the output flange retainer nut... NOWHERE near tight enough... Either I really failed at hitting the 130-150ftlbs or torque or, more likely, I forgot to tighten it! And I assume the pressure from the driveshaft kept the thing installed!
Attachment 3971
So, I messed up. But fortunately nothing worse happened and the truck is solid now! I'm honestly impressed that it held up for 5yrs and 16,000mi! I guess that shows the toughness of the NP205.
Glad you got it figured out!
Nice to get things ironed out!
Those discoveries are great. And even better to put behind you. Nice...