CrazyWJ242

removing of the cover can be a pain, loosen all the bolts, take the bottom ones out leavng the top one in place, and from the side try and prying it off, dont use anything sharp that will gouge the differential or the cover... a strong putty knife or a cleaning the old RTV silicone, using brakecleaner to make sure its spotless inside, Its a good idea to check the ebrake shoes, axle seals, and if you have limited slip, check the clutches to see if they need to be replaced... a heck of alot easier to do it now... once everything looks good, RTV and bolt it back up

if you have a limited slip you'll have to add a friction modifier first... then top it up... but on level ground fill until its coming out of the hole...

As for mods, i did a bigger 63mm throttlebody with a few mods to it... and spacer as the intake manifold on a ZJ is engineered too small and can actually benifit from the spacer (new 99-04 4.0's have the larger intake manifold) a custom air intake with K&N, injectors from a mustang, adjusted the trans cable for quicker kick down... 160F thermostat... Platinum 2 plugs and bigger coil and bigger wire.... and really cleaned everything so it ran like a top...

i think im forgetting some things... lol

trigger

...sent trigger in for an alignment...just waiting for a phone call to go get it.

trigger

seriously, WTF is up with the duplicate posts??

oldfart

perhaps you have a bouncing trigger finger. lol.

trigger

maybe...lol

i am amazed at the difference having an alignment makes! steering feels firm and responsive. new motor mounts are great, and the new coils and shocks make it ride like new again. i still have some vibrations, but don't think it's prop shaft related... more likely my tranny mount is shot. i know the t-case crossmember is rotted, the mount likely is pooched as well... at least the tranny mounts are affordable and should only take about a half hour to install it...

oldfart

The stock crossmember is pretty crappy. I've replaced a few on xj's with home made ones using 2" x 2" square tube, If your crossmember is rotted, it might be bending slightly and contributing to your vibration.

trigger

crawled underneath today with a small (14") pry bar to see if there was any movement between the transmission & the mount... i could move it a little better than 1/8th inch. this seems like a lot of play, but i don't know what's considered normal for this... any advice?

figured that since the 14 yr old motor mounts were screwed, the 14 yr old tranny mount is likely screwed as well. called around and part source said they could get me one, not sure when, and it would cost upwards of $140.

called overdrive automotive and they found me one for $64. that's a HUGE difference! so it's been ordered and should arrive after the weekend, friday afternoon if i'm REALLY lucky.

...just not sure how much i should be driving it with this vibration/grinding noise...

rnorwegian

Total cost so far is around $100 for the steel, I did the cutting and welding myself..

trigger

right on! that's a steel (pun intended, lol)

i may have to borrow a buddy's welder and rig something up for myself.

one question though... what about airbag compatibility? how will the air bag work with such a bumper?

rnorwegian

I removed both airbags.. Dont need the suckers goin off while im out ditch banging... Shhh .. Dont tell the DMV 😉