Another Scrambler Purchase/Road Trip - UPDATE- BODY ON FRAME AGAIN

[spankrjs]

This is not one of the major repairs I need to do, but I have been needing to fix my windshield wiper linkage for a long time. I have an aftermarket WS frame and the wiper pivot holes are slightly off. I have been running used OEM linkage and pivots and it has been holding up OK due to me slotting out the mounting holes in the wiper motor itself. But, you can see in some of the above pictures that my driver side wiper arm is bent due to over extending, getting bound up, and having to reach out the window to push linkage back up. After trying to clean bugs off the glass with shitty wipers finally fixed them.

Bought these parts from the GA swap meet a few years back, finally installed them. They are/were available on eBay, too.



Two adjustable linkage arms, a spacer, and some lubricant.

Compared to stock:



You will need two driver side pivots, I purchased two aftermarket pivots, two OEM driver side pivots will work, too. And THREE of these little clips!!





I tightened down my motor, installed and tested short arm first, removed it, installed and adjusted long arm next. So, long arm first, spacer and clip on passenger side pivot, then short arm and clip(s) - one on arm to motor link and the other on driver side pivot. It took me longer to find a third little clip in the parts stash than it did for me to adjust/install the linkage!!

Quick picture of driver side pivot: long arm then short arm then clip.



So far seems to be working great!!!!

 

[spankrjs]

Now my bigger problem AND it might be the cause of my brake sticking issue, too, but not 100% on that yet.

I have been hearing a "clicking noise" when I push the clutch pedal down, just every now and then. Well, when I got off the interstate it popped loud and pretty much clicks every time I push in the clutch now. It is NOT clutch or linkage related.

This body has the original firewall and both lower front toe board supports. No rust damage. The body shop installed new front pans but not sure exactly how they did this. Still no rust damage, but time/miles/use/abuse finally rearing it's ugly head. Both front floor boards have small stress cracks at the back of the toe board supports. Not too worried about that. My problem is that the under hood junction of firewall/toe support/floor board is separating/moving, more so on the driver side due to clutch and brake pedal forces exerted here.

On the driver side, when the clutch pedal is depressed you can watch this joint move, and watch the body mount shift!! So, not good.

IIRC this Jeep had around 160,000 miles on it when I bought it from Mr Beep, I have added an "interesting" 82k to that. So, 240k miles causes some metal fatigue issues.

Best repair, after consulting with @Jeeperdd, would be to spot weld it back together. I have been meaning to figure out welding, but no time right now with work and this close to SandBlast. I might bolt this back together temporarily with some small like #10 bolts, OR just remove both fenders/associated parts and tow it to a body shop and let them burn it back together. I'll take some pictures and figure out a course of action later on.

That's it for now

 

[John N]

A couple of trail pictures from my viewpoint.

 

[spankrjs]

Couldn't leave it alone, removed a bunch of stuff from driver side firewall/fender area to have a look.

It appears to me that the firewall flange, floorboard, and toe support all meet here. Whatever little spot welds that were here have broken:





Another clue I noticed a year or two ago. Not the best picture due to glare but there is a hole in lower firewall to the right and up from the parking brake cable grommet in the floor:



The hole is from this, broken factory stud that was welded to firewall that holds the evap canister bracket in place (upper stud, lower studs are in toe support):



Spot welds through floorboard into toe support have broken free, small stress cracks around broken welds:



Looking up at the back of the tow support where it meets the floor is still intact/solid:



Stress crack on toe support where indention meets the flat, near body mount:



Looking up into/forward where toe support meets floorboard and firewall, slight gap:



Toe support where it meets the side of the floorboard, bigger gap where spot welds broke:



Now, probably the correct way to fix this would be to remove all the paint, new spot welds. I don't have time for that right now, but need to reattach this stuff to prevent further damage/annoying creaking sounds.

 

[spankrjs]

So, I got a block of wood and a hammer, tapped the three pieces of metal back together, drilled through all three pieces of metal with a 5/32 bit and bolted it back together with #8 nuts and bolts. First bolt in below:





Added two more for a total of three:





Similar operation for the floorboard, used two #10's here after drilling through the weld into the toe support flange.





And yes, installing nuts to the bolts up above the OEM heat shield was a major PIA 😆



So, this is kind of butch but serves two purposes: it is holding it tight together to stop movement, and by clamping it back together tight it can be welded back together more easily/better.

Quick test drive, it works, no more noise, feels solid again, all clutch pedal movement goes toward disengaging clutch and NOT flexing firewall.



Now that that is sort of fixed, stupid front brakes are dragging a little bit again. Not bad, but they are. So, will blow up the brake system again next weekend, gotta drive it to work this week.

That's it for now.

 

[spankrjs]

Late yesterday, both front brakes dragging.

This morning, no brakes dragging until i got close to work, and according to the old "smell test", driver side front ONLY.

Drove to post office, no brake drag, until heading back, and according to the old "smell test", driver side front ONLY.

But, I'm sure if i jack it up, both fronts dragging.

Through my back out getting out of office chair this morning, so first ever chiropractor appointment this afternoon, no Jeep work for a bit

When I get back to it:

1) two new front rotors and pads (pack front wheel bearings since hubs have to come off to swap rotors)
2) maybe another set of front calipers
3) new flexible lines, two up front, one in the rear
4) remove proportioning valve, blow out ALL hard lines, including lines from master cylinder
5) might as well swap in new rear calipers, too
6) MAYBE swap in new proportioning valve
7) MAYBE swap in another new master cylinder

Only "clue" is the driver side front flexible line is seeping a bit where it meets the caliper, probably from reusing the old crush washers.

 

[spankrjs]

Back feels a bit better today, traffic was a bitch on way to work, stopped to get gas, felt brakes dragging again. Pumped gas, went to leave, brakes free. So, on a hunch, drove over to NAPA, stopped on slight incline in front of store, brakes dragging Jeep would not roll free.

So, $6.93 pack of these:



Went outside, Jeep on slight incline, transmission in neutral/NO parking brake, Jeep sits still. Loosened up the two nuts that secure master cylinder to booster, Jeep started to roll. Inserted one shim on each side between booster/Master cylinder like so, tightened up the nuts, Jeep still rolls free:



NOTE - these are pretty thin shims, 1/16"

So, far brakes work fine AND they release fully. This could explain why I had issues when I swapped an O'Reilly Master Cylinder on to a NAPA booster, BUT would probably not/maybe could explain major sticking issue a few weeks ago, but hypothesis:

1) major sticking caused by trash in calipers/calipers extended out far due to 82k miles on brake pads (they still had meat when swapped)

2) when I installed new thick pads it exacerbated an issue I already had with the original NAPA matched MC and booster that did not show up because when I swapped to power brakes I used the original pads, they had like 50k miles on them, so MAYBE

3) this Scrambler feels a bit "freer" then it ever has since I swapped to power brakes, so maybe I had slight rubbing all the time, leads to #4

4) my Green Scrambler, with factory power brakes (disc front/drum rear), always felt freer AND has a bit of initial dead space when you push pedal down before brakes grab, Red Scrambler never really had this dead space, I always chalked it up to Green Scrambler rear drum brakes vs Red Scrambler rear disc brakes

So, maybe they always rubbed a hair, but something else caused the major sticking? BUT, this does not explain why the brakes worked fine all the way back from Hot Springs and just now started acting up.

For now, they work perfect, and since my back really isn't up to pulling the entire brake system apart right now, I will continue to drive it and see if they start dragging again.

So, in conclusion, for now on whenever I mess with a Power Brake Master Cylinder and/or Booster:

1) Install and bleed like normal
2) test drive
3) park on slight incline and make sure Jeep still rolls free
4) if NOT, loosen master cylinder nuts and see if it rolls free
5) if so, shim master cylinder/or adjust booster rod (if possible)

 

[xatu40]

I was wondering if that might have been the issue, though seems like it should have been a problem from the start. I found this tool for checking the fit.

 

[xatu40]

Try again with pic

 

[spankrjs]

I was wondering if that might have been the issue, though seems like it should have been a problem from the start. I found this tool for checking the fit.

I kind of half way looked through FSM/Googled for a booster rod clearance specification but I never found anything

I guess you want just enough free play for the piston to clear the return ports but not so much that you have a lot of pedal slack space before the brakes start to engage. With the way replacement parts are now days it will be something I look for going forward.

 

[xatu40]

I kind of half way looked through FSM/Googled for a booster rod clearance specification but I never found anything

I guess you want just enough free play for the piston to clear the return ports but not so much that you have a lot of pedal slack space before the brakes start to engage. With the way replacement parts are now days it will be something I look for going forward.

We have been down the same path and come to the same conclusion. I appreciate your u shaped spacer, makes a lot more sense than the washer idea I had.

 

[wm69]

This is not one of the major repairs I need to do, but I have been needing to fix my windshield wiper linkage for a long time. I have an aftermarket WS frame and the wiper pivot holes are slightly off. I have been running used OEM linkage and pivots and it has been holding up OK due to me slotting out the mounting holes in the wiper motor itself. But, you can see in some of the above pictures that my driver side wiper arm is bent due to over extending, getting bound up, and having to reach out the window to push linkage back up. After trying to clean bugs off the glass with shitty wipers finally fixed them.

Bought these parts from the GA swap meet a few years back, finally installed them. They are/were available on eBay, too.

Safe to say this is what you installed?

FITS JEEP CJ5 CJ7 CJ8 WINDSHIELD WIPER LINKAGE KIT 1976 -1986 NEW! | eBay

Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for FITS JEEP CJ5 CJ7 CJ8 WINDSHIELD WIPER LINKAGE KIT 1976 -1986 NEW! at the best online prices at eBay! Free shipping for many products!

www.ebay.com

I have a fiberglass windshield frame on my Tan CJ7, and the factory linkage is "iffy" with that windshield frame.

 

[spankrjs]

Safe to say this is what you installed?

FITS JEEP CJ5 CJ7 CJ8 WINDSHIELD WIPER LINKAGE KIT 1976 -1986 NEW! | eBay

Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for FITS JEEP CJ5 CJ7 CJ8 WINDSHIELD WIPER LINKAGE KIT 1976 -1986 NEW! at the best online prices at eBay! Free shipping for many products!

www.ebay.com

I have a fiberglass windshield frame on my Tan CJ7, and the factory linkage is "iffy" with that windshield frame.

YES

 

[spankrjs]

83k miles, time for some pre-Michigan trip maintenance!!!

Oil change
Rotate tires
Greased steering, clutch linkage, all suspension fittings and both driveshafts
Cleaned the K&N air filter
Checked all the gear box oil levels



Everything checked out OK, should be ready to head up to Michigan on Friday morning. Cleaned the inside of all the wheels while I had them off, then washed the whole Jeep.



That's it for now