Reminder--per Pirate, here are some extensions that work for Firefox and Chrome. I can personally vouch that the Chrome extension works.
https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/photobucket-embedded-imag/ogipgokcopooepeipngiikdkpmcpkaon
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/photobucket-fixer/?src=cb-dl-recentlyadded
http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/gene...refox-google-chrome-see-photobucket-pics.html
I tried stripping the winter wheels, and that failed miserably.
So at the end of August I took them to a local shop to get blasted and repainted.
In the meantime, I noticed a fairly bad coolant leak from the timing chain cover, which meant I had to drop the oil pan (one piece steel/rubber gasket, unlike AMC where you can cut the cork), and drain the coolant. If the oil pan was dropped, I was going to do the RMS. With the timing chain cover off, I was going to do the timing chain. With the coolant drained, it was a good time to do the heater core (heat output has been miserable). And with the HVAC box removed, it was a good time to replace the evaporator, just so I wouldn't have to do it again anytime soon if it decided to leak.
Oh, and I wanted to replace the oil pan heater.
With very little lift, and the addition of the truss, I had to pull the front axle most of the way out to get the oil pan off. I also couldn't get the Y-pipe loose from the cat (even heating it with my torch), so I gave up and pulled the transmission mount to drop the whole thing. While the engine was apart, I went ahead and put on a new timing chain, and I'm VERY happy I did! The old one was super loose, and we definitely gained some power back by getting the cam into its proper mechanical timing position. I also installed a new oil pan heater. The RMS change went just as it should, and there are no more leaks!
Because the engine took so long, it had to sit a whole week before I had time to tackle the dash. This is the only pic I took, after spending most of Saturday afternoon getting to this point. On Sunday I got the heater box apart, cleaned, installed the new core and evaporator, and reassembled the dash. But I still took Monday after work to reconnect the heater core and evaporator lines, and get the engine started.
And I got the wheels back from the painter. The color match . . . wasn't. But I did provide him the paint code that I found, and he didn't mix the paint himself, so I'm not upset at him. He gave me a smokin' deal anyway so I can't complain. And these are WAAAY better than what they were. Plus these are just the winter wheels anyway.
This last one shows the comparison to an OEM UltraStar.
On the Jeep!:
I also had to track down a grinding noise that only manifests upon turning left, or hard accelerations. I found a bad front right hub, but just to be safe I checked the diff too, and everything looks great! Even the pattern turned out beautifully after break-in:
That being said, after a week, the grinding came back. The other hub was questionable, so I swapped it out, but that made no difference. I may just need to suck-it-up and buy some Timken bearings for both sides. I'm also wondering if maybe it's related to the driveshaft, so I'll pull it out and inspect the double-cardan carefully.