New jeep guy alert

[haelon]

Heya Fellas,
New Jeep YJ Sport Here.
2.5l AMC in a 93.
Jeep has a 4" Shackle Lift and 3" Body Lift.
33" Tires on 15" Rims. Also an extra set of 30s on 15r.
Looking for Input.
I just purchased this YJ and want to learn as much as I can as fast as possible. I drove it home over an hour with little to no incident
The 33s are pretty worn and need replacing, but I wasn't able to push it over 55.
I wasnt trying to push too hard as it was all 55MPH Back roads anyways, but it definitely fell on its face so to speak. It didn't feel like anything was too wrong, just wouldn't go. This is what I need to work on. I have someone coming to help me check the compression tomorrow, and will update when I have results, but am hoping the tuneup and some other stuff will help, like figuring out a better set of tires for cruising, and get off the mudders.

I've ordered a new cap, rotor, and plugs+wires for a basic tuneup, and will replace the valve cover gasket as it was also cheap and I could tell it was needed. Heater Core is also on order as I was told that is bad and it is clearly bypassed.
I am also looking for the PROPER guidance for suspension parts, because I am not clear on what I can use,/need, due to the lifts, and I would like to explore my options of possibly removing some lift, as well as get better street performance. ie; wheels/rims tire size suggestions etc.

I am looking for Insight, suggestions, and feedback about everything so fire away. I know the value of a forum like this, so Thank You all in advance for whatever help you can offer. I will be uploading all my photos as soon as I find a good photo resizing app, as this forum wont accept photos directly from my phone.
Thanks Again,
Haelon

 

[mark sr]

Jeep has a 4" Shackle Lift and 3" Body Lift.

For 7" total lift ?? or is it 4" in the back and 3" in the front?
Larger tires change the gearing. You'd need to change the front/rear gear to bring it back to factory specs or go back to stock size tires - but that might look stupid with the lift.

​

 

[JPNinPA]

Welcome.

What are your plans. daily driver or rock crawling or both....,?


Wow what s set of pics! Don’t know where go start. Is that a crack in the block? Forget gasket or tuneup.

Personally the first thing that I would change is the body lift. Three inches is a lot and can be dangerous. There is a lot of stress placed on the bolts as you go up. One to 1.5” max body lift.

Second check your gear ratios. The 2.5 has its limits but the gear ratios can keep you from hitting 65. Include the speedo gear. The speedo corrects the speedometer and odometer. With larger tires only, the speedo may be off 3 to 10 mph @ 70mph. Use roadway mile markers as a check. They are accurate. Reset trip odometer or note reading at a marker and the marker mile.Travel 10 or more miles and note the reading on both odometer and mile marker. Compare deltas. Mine is off less than 0.5 mi in 600 miles. That could be tire pressure or thread wear.

Smaller tires will also give back some hp for highway speeds


Tune ups are good. If it is running well now you might leave it. Until you could verify the speedometer and get a mpg calculation on a full to empty tank. At a minimum clean battery terminals and ground points at chassis and engine. Clean TB and IAC. Along with your list.
Use only OEM sensors if you need to change.

Heater core. Did they say it leaked or is it plugged? The heater core is part of your cooling system. It is a loop that bypasses the thermo and radiator. Without it proper circulation is not happening. The engine will be more prone to overheating.


Never look down on anyone unless you are helping them up - Jesse Jackson

 

[haelon]

this is just how I got it. I do not know if it is 7" total.I do want to switch to street/smaller tires, but I dont know if I can just do that. im also not sure i can remove the body lift by myself, but it seems theshackle lift may be more of an immediate remedy as Ive been told to get rid of the shacke lift and go with boomerang shackles. I will need more info before I can do that because Id like to change suspension and that may include new leaf springs just to be safe along with the new tie rods ball joints etc. he disnt say exactly what was up with heater core just that it didnt work so I know its relatively easy to replace and a cheap part so i ordered it anyway. plans for jeep are 90% street and 10 % that wants to go offroad adventuring but within reason. I am not looking at crawling and going looking to het stuck. i like being alive and not willing to die for fun just easing into it. i relaize its setup for mostly offroad right now but I'd like to tip the scale in the opposite direction without too much alteration I do like the idea of being lifted but don't think I need so much considering less will give me back more of my street performance. Thank you guys for your responses if I missed addressing any of your questions I'll go back over at after I've had coffee I was up until 4 a.m. reading about Wranglers and suspension and other stuff I have tons of other questions and I'm super super appreciate you guys being here

 

[haelon]

are my pics above showing up?

 

[JPNinPA]

Yes I may have scrolled past.
Now seeing the pics, I would be sure you could STOP, steer and go. Then change lift and tires... some you could do along the way.

Is that a crack in the head? First few pics?

Videos on install body lift. Can be done by one with correct tools. I inch is easy three may want more than one guy or use a lift.

Leafs look upside down or really flat last pic. Maybe blurry. I ll let the YJ owners comment on spring vs shackle lifts.

Are the pics of the joints noting they have play? That drive shaft yolk is offset or the shaft is pic 5.

Pic 13 is either a vac line or breather for the axel. Long so they may have submersed the vehicle.


Are pics 10& 11 your trans cooling line(s)?



Never look down on anyone unless you are helping them up - Jesse Jackson

 

[haelon]

The first few pictures you're referring to there seemed to be holes where the manifold meets the engine I was planning on at least taking a look at this when I change my valve cover gasket which was cheap so I decided to get anyway as far as the Leafs Go I definitely am going to replace them anyway and yes they are flat Pick 10 and 11 I do not know what those wires coming out of the transmission are or what they should look like but one looks disconnected from something and I just want to make sure of how it's supposed to be and get it that way. And yes the pictures with the circles of the tie rod ends and ball joints was just noting that I knew which one's the tie rods were and the ball joints were and that they all need replacing due to being beat they do have a lot of play. I am available to video chat via video call or whatever for a more comprehensive tour of the engine and suspension components, though I am not asking anyone besides myself to be on camera. I am not on any time crunch and I am doing my best to get as much info as I can before asking for anyone elses time. Thanks!

 

[JPNinPA]

If you are looking to keep and project look to make a solid platform.

Buy a factory service manual!!! You will not be mislead with fixing issues.

As mentioned I go for stop, steer and start. In that order. Check fix or replace frame. Verify axels brakes and parking brake work and are sufficient for future. Bigger tires and taller more weight makes it harder to stop. Replace steering you note. If going with > 33 id be sure to beef up TREs and drag link. For my TJ using Cherokee parts is an improvement. From tube to thicker tube and solid.
When you are planning and doing just make sure the drag link snd track bar are parallel. Some YJs run without a track bar cause the springs keep the axel centered but if you are doing mostly highway you may consider keeping it.
If large tires add a steering box bracket. It will minimize stress on the frame and wandering.



Never look down on anyone unless you are helping them up - Jesse Jackson

 

[JPNinPA]

Usefull info for some of your issues.

How To Check Your Gear Ratio Without Removing The Cover | Quadratec

Gear Ratio Guide for Larger Tires | Quadratec

Tire & Gear Ratio Calculations | Quadratec

Tire Fitment Guide for Lifted Jeep Applications | Quadratec

Leaf Spring Shackles Explained | Quadratec

https://www.quadratec.com/c/reference/jeep-speedometer-gear-tooth-chart

http://www.novak-adapt.com/knowledge/transmissions


Never look down on anyone unless you are helping them up - Jesse Jackson

 

[Jeepergeo]

Check your gearing. My guess is your gears are too short for the tire height. You will likely need to be at ~4.10 to ~4.50 range to balance engine RPM, Torque, and Speed. Having the right gears will make a huge difference. That's most likely a shop job... labor is high but parts not too bad.

What are you tacking at 55 mph?

For suspension improvements, do one thing at a time and drive test between changes to avoid introducing Death Wobble or Shimme Shakes that are hard to later diagnose!!!!

Consider removing the body lift. That should be an easy half day garage project.

Check those shackles. It looks like there might be some flexing/twisting going on....could be they are too long or the bushings are shot.

Get that engine and other drive and suspension components steam cleaned so you can better see what is going on.

Change all fluids and start fresh in that department. Generally, that is an easy if not messy home garage project.

Older Jeeps can keep you busy, but that is part of the fun.

 

[haelon]

ok, so heres whats gone on since my last post here.
I cleaned up the engine as best I could, then drained the oil and I pulled the valve cover and replaced the valve cover gasket with a Felpro, cleaned the cover pretty decent while i was at it. After that, I did a full tuneup to the best of my ability with new dist cap, rotor button, and new, properly gapped plugs and new wires.
I have a new heater core on the way (rockauto being slow as molasses), but I have the coolant drained and heater box taken out and ready to pop in the core when it gets here. That will wrap up the engine work, for now, as it was running decent before this.
Suspension - I will be removing the 4" shackles, and replacing with 3" boomerang shackles, picking up some lifted springs, and dropping the body lift from 3" to 2" pucks, and suspension parts for a 3" lift. I got all this info from a reputable local jeep guy who owns a shop.
Anyone care to weigh in on this is welcome, I am just pondering these suspension parts before ordering and I appreciate any input.
Any recommendations on parts/sites for parts I am all ears.

Edit:Also I am looking at a 90 yj for parts (cheap $500 for whole thing) tomorrow, and hopefully figuring out what I have for gear ratios and stuff. the parts yj may have better parts than what i have, so we will see. I will update here when I know more.

Thanks!

 

[JPNinPA]

body lifts should be no higher than 1.5 in. Typical is 1-1 1/4"


Regards,
JPNinPA

Never look down on anybody unless you're helping them up. -Jesse Jackson

 

[JPNinPA]

BTW. What kind of puck. Please don’t say hockey pucks.


Never look down on anyone unless you are helping them up - Jesse Jackson

 

[haelon]

I think I am confused. I already have a 3" lift and I am considering dropping it back an inch, or am I missing something?
Speaking of an inch to an inch and a quarter, thats the only size boomerang shackles I have been able to find.

 

[JPNinPA]

I think I am confused. I already have a 3" lift and I am considering dropping it back an inch, or am I missing something?
Speaking of an inch to an inch and a quarter, thats the only size boomerang shackles I have been able to find.

So speaking body lift only. Above 1.5 in is considered dangerous. The stress the bolts see from body wanting to move is rather high. Many aftermarket body lifts come in 1 inch, 1.25 inch and 1.5 inch.

The body lifts come in many materials. Metal, polymer... I've seen people use hockey pucks. These degrade and fall apart. Often they just crack in half and fall off the vehicle when you hit a bump.

I wasn't commenting on shackles.


Regards,
JPNinPA

Never look down on anybody unless you're helping them up. -Jesse Jackson

 

[haelon]

OK I getcha.
Yea they're definitely 3" polymer. I've watched several videos of guys doing this project and although I have looked mine over, and see that they look in decent shape, its far too risky for me to consider undertaking that at this stage, because I dont want to run into a potential new issue. I'd prefer to handle the suspension stuff, and revisit the body lifts a little later.I am not out gallivanting in this and WILL NOT until I am 1000% sure its safe. As it sits in my driveway and belongs to me, it brings me enough satisfaction knowing that it's mine and I will not be cruising for fun until its all correct.

 

[haelon]

I just realized how grainy my photos are, it took me awhile to figure out how to upload them correctly, but is there a more simple way to put photos here from high quality cameras without having to shrink them all? Just curious.

 

[haelon]

just got word the Gear Ratios are 4.10 front and back. I finally got a call back from the guy I bought it off of, and he told me. He also told me I can call any Jeep Dealership and they can tell me all the info based off the VIN, does anyone know anything about this, and what I should ask for exactly?

 

[JPNinPA]

I just realized how grainy my photos are, it took me awhile to figure out how to upload them correctly, but is there a more simple way to put photos here from high quality cameras without having to shrink them all? Just curious.

Upload to a photo website and link them.
Dropbox
Icloud
Photobucket
Flickr
Amazon prime

First make sure you take a high res in focus photo.
I snap them and many times go back to retake them because the camera focused on something else.



Never look down on anyone unless you are helping them up - Jesse Jackson

 

[JPNinPA]

just got word the Gear Ratios are 4.10 front and back. I finally got a call back from the guy I bought it off of, and he told me. He also told me I can call any Jeep Dealership and they can tell me all the info based off the VIN, does anyone know anything about this, and what I should ask for exactly?

There are free websites for VIN info.
Jeep VIN Decoder - Jeepz.com
And manual way to check gear ratio.
First link in list i put above.


Never look down on anyone unless you are helping them up - Jesse Jackson