spankrjs's Biloxi, MS '83 Scrambler
- Thread starter spankrjs
- Start date
- City
- Biloxi
- State
- MS
Too bad they can’t make those silicone gaskets like they make them for the SBC valve covers and such- with a steel core so they don’t flex in or out. Also, last time I installed one it was not “smooth” but had a series of ribs to aid in sealing.
I’m surprised that someone hasn’t manufactured a replacement valve cover that uses current gasket technology- o-ring style gaskets captured in a groove. Add that to my mental list of potential money making ideas that I’ll never act on.
The 4.0 head/valve cover gasket/valve cover is perfect, they finally got it correct!!
Post #512:
Another Scrambler Purchase/Road Trip - UPDATE- BODY ON FRAME AGAIN
Mine still look good if you need to borrow them
www.cj-8.com
My red Scrambler has a 4.0, and I use a Fel-Pro "Perma Dry" gasket on it. They work super.
The 4.0 head/valve cover flange is still smooth, BUT:
1) The gasket has a raised ridge down the middle, both sides, that seals
2) The gasket has a steel part sandwiched in the middle, metal around the bolt holes, and metal cross over pieces to prevent "blow out"
3) The OEM valve cover also uses little metal "crush sleeves" around all the bolts to prevent over torque
4) IIRC, 16 or 18 bolts secure the cover
My 2005 white TJ still had OEM gasket on it when I traded it in at 165,000 miles, no leaks
I changed the gasket on my 05 LJ at around 120,000 miles, minor "dampness" around seal
The 258 head is so narrow around the perimeter, none of the 4.0 head tricks will work.
The orange silicone gasket is still working on the green Scrambler, but I did go back and re-snugged the bolts, again last night. Not a fault with it, standard operating procedure on the 258's. That being said, it took 2-3 snugs on the 4.0 gasket on the Red Scrambler before they stayed "snug".
If this orange gasket had a thin metal piece in the middle, it would be about perfect IMO. Not sure they could do that with how they manufacture these gaskets? But, careful/even tightening, AND ensuring the gasket is in position correctly while you tighten it, it seems to work good.
Pretty happy with this orange gasket, so far, will report back. I do love the fact that it is a "dry install", so if do have a problem with it or the head, clean up and reuse is simple and painless!!!
- City
- Biloxi
- State
- MS
- City
- Biloxi
- State
- MS
Pretty sure it won't cause a vibration, too
I don't hear it rattling while driving, I only noticed it in the garage, engine off, turning the tire/wheel by hand. I have an older/used set of these hubs, same sloppy tolerance at the dial. I found some internet chatter about Superwinch hub noise on some other make forums, Isuzu IIRC.
I'm 99% sure the dial rattle is not a source of vibration. On a race car, maybe??
- City
- Biloxi
- State
- MS
Put the lock in hub back together, reinstalled the "good tire/wheel", no bad vibration.
Three hour test drive, Scrambler is fine. There is very very slight vibration, very slight, AND it will change depending on the road surface/type/condition. And, I am being super picky/anal about the very slight vibration. I am going to chalk this minor vibration up to the tire tread/road surface.
I am going to leave the four tires/wheels that are on the ground in place, consider this finished.
I took the "bad" tire wheel to the place where I bought the tires. They pulled the tire off the wheel, none of the people there can find an issue with the tire. BUT, the wheel does have very slight bend on the inside. Not at the tire mounting flange, but another part of the wheel. Not sure how the "expert wheel repair guy" missed this, whatever.
Is this the cause of the vibration? Who knows. I will have to obtain another wheel, ensure it is not bent, reinstall/balance the tire, road test to find out.
I'll eventually report back once I obtain a nice original non-bent 15x7 chrome wheel.
For now, it is fine for a spare. As long as I don't drive between 50-60mph!!!!!!!!!!
Three hour test drive, Scrambler is fine. There is very very slight vibration, very slight, AND it will change depending on the road surface/type/condition. And, I am being super picky/anal about the very slight vibration. I am going to chalk this minor vibration up to the tire tread/road surface.
I am going to leave the four tires/wheels that are on the ground in place, consider this finished.
I took the "bad" tire wheel to the place where I bought the tires. They pulled the tire off the wheel, none of the people there can find an issue with the tire. BUT, the wheel does have very slight bend on the inside. Not at the tire mounting flange, but another part of the wheel. Not sure how the "expert wheel repair guy" missed this, whatever.
Is this the cause of the vibration? Who knows. I will have to obtain another wheel, ensure it is not bent, reinstall/balance the tire, road test to find out.
I'll eventually report back once I obtain a nice original non-bent 15x7 chrome wheel.
For now, it is fine for a spare. As long as I don't drive between 50-60mph!!!!!!!!!!
You can try putting that tire and wheel on the rear and see if there is a difference in the rear of the jeep. I've had 4 BF Goodrich all terrain tires have a belt tear in the last year and a half on 2 of my work trucks. On the last 2 the tires had less than 2,000 miles on them. Both were in the front. Took the truck to a repair shop that all so balances. They said tie rods were a little loose and a ball joint was a little loose. Not enough to cause the tire problem but wouldn't align the truck with out the repairs. Got new ball joints, tie rods and tires (2,200. worth) with a alignment. After the work was done had very bad memory steer problem. After 2 trips to the shop and adjustments problem remained. Took the truck to my mechanic (he can't do alignments) and they couldn't see a problem. I finally told my mechanic the trucks not safe to drive and had him replace the ball joints. When I went to pick it up his worked came up and told me it drives like it did before the other mechanic. Another 500. and it's on the road in good shape. What started the problem was both front tires had belts that came loose. At least for my work truck I'm done with the all terrains. Sad to say since I've used them since 2003, somethings happened with their quality. Check the tire.
- City
- Biloxi
- State
- MS
Yep, I moved that tire/wheel from front driver to passenger rear to passenger front: vibration would come from the corner with that particular tire/wheel assembly. Either that tire is defective/damaged, or the minor bend on the inner side of that wheel. If I was a gambling man, I would bet tire
The tire people swear the tire is fine, but that is also in their best interest.
The independent shop that balanced the assembly the second time said the wheel was bent/excessive run out, causing the vibration.
The wheel repair guy said the minor damage to the wheel is NOT the issue, and it would be in his interest to repair it $$$.
From previous experience with tires that have broken belts (I am looking at you Goodyear MTR's, happened to two sets, one on a TJ, one on an LJ), the vibration I am feeling in the Scrambler is similar.
I could buy 5 new tires and test this theory, but that would be cost prohibitive. I could probably squeeze the 33" tires off the red Scrambler onto this one, test drive, see what happens. I have mentioned before, the tire/wheels on the red Scrambler have not been rebalanced since I purchased them (at least 10k miles), all four wheels are bent, they drive super smooth. Would be interesting. IF the vibration went away, how could I then leverage that into getting defective tires replaced, that would be the million dollar question???
As for mechanical issues on the green Scrambler that could cause this issue, I have checked and rechecked, plus two additional tire shops have checked all of the following, no issues found, and I am sure the shops would love to find an issue:
Alignment - fixed at one shop, verified at another
Wheel balance - balanced at one shop, adjusted/approved at another
Tie rod ends, ball joints, shocks, suspension bushings, wheel bearings (front and rear), driveline angles/balance, front brake calipers/rotors, etc, all are fine, most of these components are new with minimal to zero appreciable wear.
I hate to say it, but I am really being led to believe that it is a tire issue.
The BFG Mud Terrains on my red Scrambler are much smoother than the BFG All Terrains on my Green Scrambler
The belts would come loose in the center of the tread, length wise. I would get a pull to the right or left. On 3 of them you didn't see the bulge when the weight of the truck was on them. If you took them off and rolled them they would roll straight till it hit the bulge. I agree, I love the tires, 1,000 loss is a bitter pill to take. I hope they get the quality back, they're all I've used in the last 13 years.
- City
- Biloxi
- State
- MS
Thanks to @Kim Dawson, I now have a new frame cover to replace my shattered original plastic cover.
Kim made these out of cast aluminum, so they are not 100% identical to a plastic cover, but look great IMO. And, since I drive/use all my Jeeps, much more functional. Much like the original bumper end caps, my original plastic frame cover started falling apart do to age. If you touch it, pick it up, it just cracks to pieces.
Anyway, what the new cast aluminum cover looks like:
There is a weld seam on each side, which Kim did grind down. You could probably grind it down some more, I decided to leave it as is.
The only other major difference is the height of the "L's" cast into the cover. They are taller then stock. Again, you could mill these down, I left them as is, look fine IMO.
Original vs new cast aluminum cover. Close enough for me, and much stronger!!
ONE WORD OF WARNING - BEFORE TEST FITTING THE COVER. LOOSEN THE GRILL'S LOWER BODY MOUNT BOLTS AND THE 3 BOLTS ON EITHER SIDE THAT HOLD THE FENDERS TO THE GRILL. THIS WILL ALLOW YOU TO PUSH THE GRILL INWARD AND HAVE SOME FREE SPACE BETWEEN THE FACE OF THE GRILL/REAR EDGE OF THE BUMPER AND THE NEW FRAME COVER. DON'T SMACK IT IN THERE LIKE ME AND DAMAGE THE PAINT!!!
Quick mock up:
But, it would not fit correctly, side holes way off:
Two issues on mine. The first, one of the side pieces was not at 90 degrees, probably bent during shipping:
Put the frame cover in the press, carefully bent it back to a right angle:
The other issue:
The cast cover has recesses for these two upper steering box mounting bolts. I had to pull the washer out from under each bolt head, then the cover fit perfect.
Kim made these out of cast aluminum, so they are not 100% identical to a plastic cover, but look great IMO. And, since I drive/use all my Jeeps, much more functional. Much like the original bumper end caps, my original plastic frame cover started falling apart do to age. If you touch it, pick it up, it just cracks to pieces.
Anyway, what the new cast aluminum cover looks like:
There is a weld seam on each side, which Kim did grind down. You could probably grind it down some more, I decided to leave it as is.
The only other major difference is the height of the "L's" cast into the cover. They are taller then stock. Again, you could mill these down, I left them as is, look fine IMO.
Original vs new cast aluminum cover. Close enough for me, and much stronger!!
ONE WORD OF WARNING - BEFORE TEST FITTING THE COVER. LOOSEN THE GRILL'S LOWER BODY MOUNT BOLTS AND THE 3 BOLTS ON EITHER SIDE THAT HOLD THE FENDERS TO THE GRILL. THIS WILL ALLOW YOU TO PUSH THE GRILL INWARD AND HAVE SOME FREE SPACE BETWEEN THE FACE OF THE GRILL/REAR EDGE OF THE BUMPER AND THE NEW FRAME COVER. DON'T SMACK IT IN THERE LIKE ME AND DAMAGE THE PAINT!!!
Quick mock up:
But, it would not fit correctly, side holes way off:
Two issues on mine. The first, one of the side pieces was not at 90 degrees, probably bent during shipping:
Put the frame cover in the press, carefully bent it back to a right angle:
The other issue:
The cast cover has recesses for these two upper steering box mounting bolts. I had to pull the washer out from under each bolt head, then the cover fit perfect.
- City
- Biloxi
- State
- MS
After removing the washers, and bending the one side, it dropped right into place and all four holes lined up:
In the paint booth:
Primed, trunk paint, top coat:
Self etching primer coat:
I used the trunk paint to give the surface a light texture. I did the same with my cast aluminum rear bumper end caps.
This does not match the original plastic texture, but I was not really trying to match this. I did not want a smooth finish, had some of this stuff left over from the end caps, so I used it up.
Close up of the original frame cover's texture/grain:
I painted the top coat "Gloss Black", too glossy IMO:
In the paint booth:
Primed, trunk paint, top coat:
Self etching primer coat:
I used the trunk paint to give the surface a light texture. I did the same with my cast aluminum rear bumper end caps.
This does not match the original plastic texture, but I was not really trying to match this. I did not want a smooth finish, had some of this stuff left over from the end caps, so I used it up.
Close up of the original frame cover's texture/grain:
I painted the top coat "Gloss Black", too glossy IMO:
- City
- Biloxi
- State
- MS
I let the "Gloss Black" cure, then top coated it with "Satin Black". Still too shiny, especially next to my faded front bumper. I might come back and hit it with some "Matt Black".
Anyway, I am pleased with it.
And, if you look close, you can see a foot print on it where I have already stood on top of it to reach something on a top shelf!!!!!!! I wouldn't dare do that with an original plastic cover!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Anyway, pleased with the new frame cover, thanks to @Kim Dawson for manufacturing a suitable replacement part that will stand up to time, the elements, tools, beer cans, being stepped on, sat on, etc.
Anyway, I am pleased with it.
And, if you look close, you can see a foot print on it where I have already stood on top of it to reach something on a top shelf!!!!!!! I wouldn't dare do that with an original plastic cover!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Anyway, pleased with the new frame cover, thanks to @Kim Dawson for manufacturing a suitable replacement part that will stand up to time, the elements, tools, beer cans, being stepped on, sat on, etc.
- City
- Molalla
- State
- Or
The bolts for the steering bracket stick up and into recesses in one of the "L"s.
- City
- Biloxi
- State
- MS
- City
- Biloxi
- State
- MS
The two raised "L's" on either side of the "Jeep" stamp. I call them "L's", not sure what else to call them
Kim, are you still selling those covers? If so, I would be interested. Thanks