Trying to get it mostly right the first time: A 5.9 Magnum and 46RE swapped, Tummy Tucked Daily Driven Jeep TJ

[Dan_Goodwin]

It's been a minute since I've updated this thread, which is largely due to the aforementioned Seadoo project taking on a life of its own and not wrenching on the TJ at all. I ended up buying a total of 5 skis, 2 trailers and a dock and am almost through fixing and selling what I'm not keeping.

The TJ has just over 2k miles on the swap and has had its first real issue that had to be addressed. A few months ago I was out running errands, shifted to reverse to back out of a parking spot and was met with a grinding sound that makes nails on a chalkboard seem pleasant. The best way to describe the sound is like trying to shift a manual trans into gear without using the clutch. Oddly enough, I shifted to drive and the noise went away and the TJ continued to run and drive fine, except for the grinding noise which would occur fairly random. I learned through trial and error that I could shift the transfer case into 4wd when reversing and the grinding went away, so I was confident the transfer case was where my problem lied.

Long story short, the grinding got too frequent for me to ignore so I parked the TJ a few weeks ago until I could diagnose the issue. I pulled the transfer case this weekend and found the fluid to have some super fine metallic color to it, but no large pieces. I had the transfer case sitting on a table with the input shaft facing down and stared disassembling it to find the problem. Disassembly revealed that the gear that engages the planetaries for low range had wear on the face of the gear teeth, like was attempting to engage.

That didn't really make sense.

What also didn't make sense was how the shift collar that engages the front output didn't seem to have the travel to disengage the front drive, which I also knew didn't add up. I laid the case on its side, grabbed the input shaft and found 1/2" of play front to back.

That's DEFINITELY not right.

Look at the gap from the snap ring to the bearing:

I looked at parts diagrams and confirmed I wasn't missing a shim, so next was to check the bearing size on the Dodge transfer case (remember, don't throw ANYTHING away until you've been done with this swap for a while!) and sure enough:

Found it. I'd swapped the input shaft and hadn't verified that the bearing was the same which was causing the input shaft and planetaries to shift front to back. I reassembled the case using the Dodge front half and reinstalled the transfer case with no issues. A rigorous test drive will be conducted this evening in the form of an ice cream run, likely for Bruster's Southern Banana Puddin'.

The TJ is on deck to make a drive to the beach in September, so the push is about to be on get it road trip ready. If that trip goes well, the next outing will be a road trip in October to Ashville, NC then to Knoxville, to Nashville then back home. There should be a day of wheeling at Windrock in there somewhere, so this trip will be my goal to get the TJ completed (well, as 'done' as a jeep ever gets, right?)

 

[ridered3]

It's been a minute since I've updated this thread, which is largely due to the aforementioned Seadoo project taking on a life of its own and not wrenching on the TJ at all. I ended up buying a total of 5 skis, 2 trailers and a dock and am almost through fixing and selling what I'm not keeping.

The TJ has just over 2k miles on the swap and has had its first real issue that had to be addressed. A few months ago I was out running errands, shifted to reverse to back out of a parking spot and was met with a grinding sound that makes nails on a chalkboard seem pleasant. The best way to describe the sound is like trying to shift a manual trans into gear without using the clutch. Oddly enough, I shifted to drive and the noise went away and the TJ continued to run and drive fine, except for the grinding noise which would occur fairly random. I learned through trial and error that I could shift the transfer case into 4wd when reversing and the grinding went away, so I was confident the transfer case was where my problem lied.

Long story short, the grinding got too frequent for me to ignore so I parked the TJ a few weeks ago until I could diagnose the issue. I pulled the transfer case this weekend and found the fluid to have some super fine metallic color to it, but no large pieces. I had the transfer case sitting on a table with the input shaft facing down and stared disassembling it to find the problem. Disassembly revealed that the gear that engages the planetaries for low range had wear on the face of the gear teeth, like was attempting to engage.

View attachment 214551

That didn't really make sense.

What also didn't make sense was how the shift collar that engages the front output didn't seem to have the travel to disengage the front drive, which I also knew didn't add up. I laid the case on its side, grabbed the input shaft and found 1/2" of play front to back.

That's DEFINITELY not right.

Look at the gap from the snap ring to the bearing:

View attachment 214552

I looked at parts diagrams and confirmed I wasn't missing a shim, so next was to check the bearing size on the Dodge transfer case (remember, don't throw ANYTHING away until you've been done with this swap for a while!) and sure enough:

View attachment 214553

Found it. I'd swapped the input shaft and hadn't verified that the bearing was the same which was causing the input shaft and planetaries to shift front to back. I reassembled the case using the Dodge front half and reinstalled the transfer case with no issues. A rigorous test drive will be conducted this evening in the form of an ice cream run, likely for Bruster's Southern Banana Puddin'.

The TJ is on deck to make a drive to the beach in September, so the push is about to be on get it road trip ready. If that trip goes well, the next outing will be a road trip in October to Ashville, NC then to Knoxville, to Nashville then back home. There should be a day of wheeling at Windrock in there somewhere, so this trip will be my goal to get the TJ completed (well, as 'done' as a jeep ever gets, right?)

Glad to see an update and at least you were able to fix the grinding noise with parts still on hand.

 

[Dan_Goodwin]

I've gotten a few days to wrench on the TJ in the past weeks and have gotten several things knocked off the list.

First up on the list was to replace the current Magnaflow 12866 with the newer and much larger 12276. I picked this muffler due to the center inlet and outlet and the case size being the largest I could reasonably fit in the space that I had. Check out the size difference in the 2 mufflers. If size is any indication of noise level, this should be a step in the right direction:

Before I could install the new muffler I wanted to delete the trailer hitch and rear stock rear bumper in favor of a low profile rear bumper with an integrated rear hitch. I looked at several units and ultimately decided on a Barnes 4wd bumper. After scuffing it with a red scotch brite pad, a few coats of self etching primer and gloss black paint later it was ready to install:

The bumper looked great but now the tail pipe and gas tank skid stuck out like a sore thumb. First to fix was the tail pipe. The muffler install went surprisingly smooth – the old muffler and intermediate pipe were removed, intermediate pipe was trimmed down and new muffler was installed in its place. I'll post a better picture when I can get the TJ up on a lift, but trust me when I say that everything fits snugly in place. Eventually I'd like to re-work the intermediate pipe to fit a little better but it'll do for now. I wanted the tail pipe tucked up as high as I could possibly get it and after some creativity with the stock exhaust hangers, this was the result:

Bingo.

The exhaust hangers are temporarily permanent. The mount in front of the axle was clocked 90* to provide the lift that I needed. I'll drill and tap the second hole and this should work just fine.

The rear mount is currently sitting like this:

The plan is to swing the factory frame side exhaust hanger forward, use the stock rubber isolator and attach it to a new hanger welded to the tailpipe. Speaking of tailpipe – I plan to either cut the current tip down or weld on a new tip that tucks up closer to the bumper.

Next was to paint the gas tank skid. After a few minutes of prep with the Harbor Freight surface conditioning tool and a few coats of gloss black paint I had the back end of the TJ looking much much better.

The next items on the list are to add another layer of insulation to the tub and get the A/C operational. I plan to do a detailed post on the A/C setup that I landed on. It's not terribly complicated, but did take a lot of research to finally land on a good solution that didn't cost a fortune.

 

[ridered3]

I've gotten a few days to wrench on the TJ in the past weeks and have gotten several things knocked off the list.

First up on the list was to replace the current Magnaflow 12866 with the newer and much larger 12276. I picked this muffler due to the center inlet and outlet and the case size being the largest I could reasonably fit in the space that I had. Check out the size difference in the 2 mufflers. If size is any indication of noise level, this should be a step in the right direction:

View attachment 214704

Before I could install the new muffler I wanted to delete the trailer hitch and rear stock rear bumper in favor of a low profile rear bumper with an integrated rear hitch. I looked at several units and ultimately decided on a Barnes 4wd bumper. After scuffing it with a red scotch brite pad, a few coats of self etching primer and gloss black paint later it was ready to install:

View attachment 214705

View attachment 214703


The bumper looked great but now the tail pipe and gas tank skid stuck out like a sore thumb. First to fix was the tail pipe. The muffler install went surprisingly smooth – the old muffler and intermediate pipe were removed, intermediate pipe was trimmed down and new muffler was installed in its place. I'll post a better picture when I can get the TJ up on a lift, but trust me when I say that everything fits snugly in place. Eventually I'd like to re-work the intermediate pipe to fit a little better but it'll do for now. I wanted the tail pipe tucked up as high as I could possibly get it and after some creativity with the stock exhaust hangers, this was the result:

View attachment 214707

Bingo.

The exhaust hangers are temporarily permanent. The mount in front of the axle was clocked 90* to provide the lift that I needed. I'll drill and tap the second hole and this should work just fine.

View attachment 214708

The rear mount is currently sitting like this:

View attachment 214702

The plan is to swing the factory frame side exhaust hanger forward, use the stock rubber isolator and attach it to a new hanger welded to the tailpipe. Speaking of tailpipe – I plan to either cut the current tip down or weld on a new tip that tucks up closer to the bumper.

Next was to paint the gas tank skid. After a few minutes of prep with the Harbor Freight surface conditioning tool and a few coats of gloss black paint I had the back end of the TJ looking much much better.

View attachment 214706

The next items on the list are to add another layer of insulation to the tub and get the A/C operational. I plan to do a detailed post on the A/C setup that I landed on. It's not terribly complicated, but did take a lot of research to finally land on a good solution that didn't cost a fortune.

Always enjoy reading through the updates to this build and looking forward to the cool AC content.

 

[ridered3]

Got any updates for us?

 

[Dan_Goodwin]

Got any updates for us?

Absolutely! I need to make time to write it out this weekend, but here is a sneak peak:

 

[ridered3]

Absolutely! I need to make time to write it out this weekend, but here is a sneak peak:

View attachment 215144

:dblthumb:

 

[Bebop]

Absolutely! I need to make time to write it out this weekend, but here is a sneak peak:

View attachment 215144

Windrock overlook ?

 

[Dan_Goodwin]

Windrock overlook ?

Yep - that's the overlook on G9.

 

[Dan_Goodwin]

I've neglected updating this thread and am working on updates as there have been quite a few. Enter the last weekend in August and t-minus 4 weeks to get the Jeep road trip (and mild wheeling) ready.

I originally installed Noico 80mil sound and heat deadening mats and the product worked well, but with this TJ being a daily driver I wanted to add another layer of heat and sound insulation to the tub to really get it closer to Cadillac status. I went on Amazon and looked for the cheapest and thickest insulation I could find and landed on this AggSound 157mil Sound Deadner. 1 roll did 98% of the area from the dash to the back of the seats and made a huge difference on the floor temperature and some noticeable sound difference. Yes, this will be a nightmare if I ever get water or mud inside the tub, but we'll cross that bridge when I get there.

While I had the interior out it was a good time to actually install the console instead of it just sitting kinda in place. After a lot of in and out and finally cutting out the spare change tray / optional airbag switch, I finally had it bolted in for good. I haven't figured out what to do with this hole yet, but plan to clean it up and make use of that space.

Working down my punch list, I finally wired in the trans temp gauge and installed a set of Tuff Country extended brake lines that I got on super clearance from JustDifferentials.com. These brake lines are made by Crown Performance and are great quality.

Nope, still haven't bought new springs yet.

The TJ was getting due for an oil change and I haven't been thrilled with the oil pressure with the 10W-30, so I opted to go with Shell Rotella T4 15W-40, a quart of Lucas Oil Stabilizer and of course a Wix filter. I also installed a mechanical oil pressure gauge that is tee'd in with the stock sending unit so I can compare the 2 values. The oil pressure was substantially better after this oil change and the mechanical gauge verified that the stock gauge was within a few PSI.

A fire extinguisher that had been rolling around in the back floor board was finally mounted to the roll bar with a Synergy Mfg. Mount and a few hose clamps. I don't care if you have a daily driver Prius or a throw down rock bouncer, they all need the correct fire extinguisher and YOU need to know how to use it.

More road trip prep incoming....

 

[Dan_Goodwin]

This is a place holder for an air conditioning tech deep dive.

The short version: I'm using a stock pad mount style TJ receiver / drier mounted to the battery tray, a 96 Dakota line set and purchased a crimper to change a fitting on the Dakota line set and build a custom hose. The A/C has been working fantastic so far.

 

[Dan_Goodwin]

The first 'test' of the TJ was to go on skidder duty at the lake dragging cut trees onto the bank to be cut and hauled off. I loaded up my 5x8 utility trailer with saws, chains and a tools, cranked the A/C up and hit the road. The trailer and contents might have weighed 800# total and the Jeep didn't even notice it was back there...but the temperature gages told a different story as the water and transmission temp gauge read warmer than usual but not alarmingly high. About 40 miles in the water temperature gaged spiked to 260 and I immediately pulled off the road to see what was the issue. It hadn't blown a hose, wasn't puking its guts out and didn't show any visual signs of being as hot as the gauge showed, so I opted to turn the A/C off and keep moving until I could at least get to the next exit a few miles down the road. Less than a mile later (felt like 150 miles with the temperature gauge pegged), the gauge fell from 240 back to 220 almost instantly. Relief. That lead me to believe there was an air pocket in the cooling system that had collected at the sensor.

The rest of the day went without mechanical issue. I aired down to 15 PSI, bolted the front driveshaft back in and started pulling trees.
Found a soft spot:

Then I found a softer spot and made it worse:

The trip back home was, thankfully, uneventful.

The last few days before we left were spent packing all the little but really important items. Since we've never traveled in the TJ I wanted to see how well everything was going to fit in here, so I installed my Motobilt cargo rack and started packing stuff in starting from most important to least. Much to my surprise, there's a fair amount of room in the back of a TJ with the cargo rack... not saying it will be our new road trip rig, but for 2 people on a 10 day road trip it fit everything we needed.

To this point I haven't had a front driveshaft since I don't have adjustable front control arms to correct the pinion angle. I finally decided to bite the bullet and order Savvy and Core 4x4 front arms to match the rear along with a Barnes 4wd cam bolt eliminator kit. I messed up and ordered the wrong length Core 4x4 arms and was not able to use them on the trip. It is worth noting that the 9/16 bolt included with the kit is too small for the Johnny Joint included in the Core 4x4 arms and the plates had to be drilled out to accept the larger bolt.

With the Jeep packed and prepped (as it was going to get) it was time to hit the road to Maggie Valley, North Carolina. Keep in mind that the TJ has never left the state and hasn't done more than 100ish miles in a day up to this point. So let's go slam 1,000 road miles and a few wheeling miles on it in a week. Seems fine.

 

[ridered3]

@Dan_Goodwin always enjoy your in-depth updates.

 

[felipecj]

@Dan_Goodwin always enjoy your in-depth updates.

Always an entertaining read for sure. Hope it does well on the road trip and looking forward to the next update.

 

[Dan_Goodwin]

@Dan_Goodwin always enjoy your in-depth updates.

Always an entertaining read for sure. Hope it does well on the road trip and looking forward to the next update.

Thanks fellas. I'll have the road trip update in a few days. Overall, it was a good trip, some memories were made and even a curve ball thrown our way.

 

[ridered3]

Thanks fellas. I'll have the road trip update in a few days. Overall, it was a good trip, some memories were made and even a curve ball thrown our way.

Quite the tease...

 

[midnight_f150]

Look forward to the trip update.

 

[Dan_Goodwin]

It's road trip time!

After all the work I'd put into the TJ to get to this trip I was beyond excited. Maybe even a little giddy. My wife and I got loaded up and headed out about 2pm, dropped the dog off for boarding and hopped on I-459 headed east at (roughly) 70mph with the A/C going. It was in the 60s outside, so not that hot but warm enough to want some conditioned air. It was peak leaf season and we wanted to take the backroads route, so we chose to drive I-59 to Gadsden, AL and cut over to Blue Ridge, GA with Maggie Valley, NC being the final destination to meet up with some close friends to spend a weekend together. Did I mention that I was beside myself since this trip was actually happening?

About 20 miles in the temperature gauge starts creeping up again and eventually pegs at 260. Crap. I pull over at the next exit, let it idle for a few minutes until the temperature gauge slammed back to 210, hop back on the interstate and keep rolling.

Only for the TJ to overheat again in a few miles.

I find a gas station to pull into and let it cool down. Again. This time, I'm pretty frustrated and starting to feel defeated. We were far enough into the trip that I needed to make the call to either turn around and head home to get another vehicle or turn the A/C off, hope that fixes the problem, and send it. At this point, I'd come too far and put in too much work to call it quits so I made the call to run with the A/C off and deal with a little butt sweat.

We merge onto I-59 headed toward Gadsen and clicked off 120+/- trouble free miles until our first stop in northern Georgia. Bucees.

In Blue Ridge we spotted this rad VW suv turned rock crawler.

We rolled into (I'm guessing – don't remember exactly) Murphy, NC well after dark and came into 30+ miles of 2 lane mountain roads and heavy rainfall. The added weight in the back of the Jeep had apparently aimed my headlights directly at oncoming traffic and I was getting constantly flashed by making already poor visibility even worse. I hate being THAT guy, but that was an issue to deal with later. Add to that a little (okay, lot) of hanger, the little bit of drama earlier in the day, ZERO phone service and my nerves were SHOT. I'd never been happier to see a 4 lane road in my life.

The remainder of the drive went without issue and we pulled into the cabin at 9pm where our friends were already there waiting on us. We proceeded to stay up until well after 1am catching up on life. The next 2 days were spent exploring the area.

We rolled out Monday morning headed to the Biltmore house then to an AirBnB in Knoxville via Tail of the Dragon, a popular road among the sports car / bike crowd with 318 turns in 11 miles. I'm a bit of a construction nerd and really enjoyed BIltmore and would highly recommend that anyone go at least once.

The route from Asheville to Knoxville was almost entirely on backroads and man were the views worth it! The route took us through winding 2 lane backroads and spent a lot of time along the Little Tennessee River. The Jeep didn't miss a beat and cruised the backroads like a champ.
We completed the Tail of the Dragon as the sun was setting and pulled up to our AirBnB in Knoxville at dinner time.

 

[ridered3]

Thanks for the update and curious to find out what was causing the overheating issue with the ac on.

Also good to know on Biltmore having some type of interest for guys instead of it just being for girls and Hallmark movies :rolf:

 

[Dan_Goodwin]

Thanks for the update and curious to find out what was causing the overheating issue with the ac on.

Also good to know on Biltmore having some type of interest for guys instead of it just being for girls and Hallmark movies :rolf:

I'd recommend going and taking the self guided tour if you're remotely interested in construction and history. Its pretty mind bottling to see what and how they did it back in the day with the resources available. Can't say I'd make a trip just to see Biltmore, but you can definitely make a weekend trip out of exploring the Asheville area.

 

[ridered3]

I'd recommend going and taking the self guided tour if you're remotely interested in construction and history. Its pretty mind bottling to see what and how they did it back in the day with the resources available. Can't say I'd make a trip just to see Biltmore, but you can definitely make a weekend trip out of exploring the Asheville area.

:dblthumb:

 

[baldduck74]

We did a trip like that a few years ago, got on hwy 421 in Indiana drove it all the way to Virginia, Maggie valley was awesome to stay in. We did a little over 1300 miles, and only about 150 of was interstate to get home.

 

[ridered3]

We did a trip like that a few years ago, got on hwy 421 in Indiana drove it all the way to Virginia, Maggie valley was awesome to stay in. We did a little over 1300 miles, and only about 150 of was interstate to get home.

That's the way to travel for sure!

 

[felipecj]

Man I love these updates. Almost like reading a book and looking forward to the next chapter haha.
You definitely have an entertaining way of telling a story.
I am curious about this overheating issue also.

 

[Dan_Goodwin]

Man I love these updates. Almost like reading a book and looking forward to the next chapter haha.
You definitely have an entertaining way of telling a story.
I am curious about this overheating issue also.

Appreciate it! I plan to bring this rig down to your neck of the woods and hit BOP once the 8.8 is swapped in this spring.

I'm curious on that issue as well. The AC on with speeds above 65-70mph is the only time I've had a problem, so we'll see what I can figure out.

 

[Dan_Goodwin]

Road Trip Day #5 (aka Tuesday)
We had 2 days in Knoxville so I got to plan one and my wife the other. So I did the right thing and took us to Windrock, which was only 45 mins away. The general plan was to see the scenic overlook on G9, grab lunch at the prison and possibly hit Caryville Flatts if time (and the tone of the day) allowed. My wife supports this crazy hobby but doesn't have much interest in participating so I was well aware that I needed to 'read the room' and make sure we weren't broken on the trail past dark. I'm not a fan of wheeling alone and was banking on the park being busy enough to make me feel better about being solo since it's always been busy when I've been in years past.

Side bar - My last trip here ended with a 4 seat RZR breaking an entire corner off the rig and having to be towed up the hardest trail in the park (Trail 39 to Cadillac Hill) by 2 RZRs daisy chained together. I walked most of the trail a few times over helping pull cable for 5 rigs to get us home. At 3am. The most fun I'd rather not have again for a while.

We started the day getting passes at the new General Store and were greeted with a mostly empty parking lot – I guess I'd never been here on a Tuesday before! I also found out the prison was closed during weekdays so we picked up some snacks for lunch. We made it up to the overlook on G9 (which is a paved road...nothing to write home about). This stop included the obligatory poser shots too.

G9 is a main access road and a former mining road, so the top gravels have worn off and left the large stone base exposed. I've only ever ridden Windrock in RZRs and take for granted just how good the suspension and ride quality is on those rigs. With that as my reference, I was severely disappointed with how the Jeep rode - even aired down the trip to the overlook was rough. Really rough. G9 is a large loop that goes back to the General Store, so I made the decision to head back to the store and re-group.

We bounced down a few more miles of trail and I hear the Jeep chime, look down and see the fuel gauge on empty (which I knew wasn't correct since I'd just filled up), and then the Jeep started to sputter and die, thankfully not in a mud hole. Keep in mind, we're well into the park and have barely seen anyone all day. So this was going swell. Since the fuel gauge and fuel pump both died I figured the wiring harness had come unplugged and sure enough, the connector had come unplugged. I was able to get us back running with a few zip ties to hold the connector together. The Jeep fired right back up so I put it in gear and kept making tracks toward the General Store, only to have the Jeep randomly sputter for a few seconds at a time on the trip back. But we made it.

I knew at this point it was best to call it a day and head back to Knoxville with my tail between my legs and feeling quite defeated. I'd hyped this trip up in my head and this was NOT the way I wanted it to go, but such was my luck today. The Jeep sputtered a few more times in traffic while getting onto the interstate but didn't miss a beat while cruising so we continued back to Knoxville.

Once back in city traffic, the Jeep sputtered again except this time it lasted for 30 seconds plus and wouldn't take any throttle until it all of a sudden cleared up and ran fine. 30 seconds feels like an eternity while sitting still in traffic with a dead engine, in case you were wondering.
It was at this point I knew we had a serious issue and needed to figure some stuff out.

We made it back to the Air BnB, unloaded and I headed to the car wash to clean the Jeep up before going to dinner that night. The Jeep acted up twice on the way to the car wash and once on the way back and was getting to the point of not being drivable. We showered and headed to dinner at Not Watson's (highly recommended, BTW) and the issue continued on the short trip there. I did get a good picture from downtown:

I tried for our predicament to not dominate the conversation at dinner but it was hard for it not to be. The next day was a trip to Dollywood in Pidgeon Forge and back, then to Nashville and then home so there was a lot of road miles ahead of us and I didn't want to have to fight the Jeep and risk getting stranded with my wife so we started scheming our next moves. The decision was made to rent a car for the day tomorrow, figure out our plan on the road and enjoy the rest of the evening.

And yes, the Jeep sputtered and tried to stall on the way back to the Air BnB too.

 

[ridered3]

Your style of story telling makes me feel like I am right there with you on the trip until you leave us with a cliffhanger...

Will be curious to read Paul Harvey's "rest of the Story" with the next updates :rolf:

 

[Dan_Goodwin]

Your style of story telling makes me feel like I am right there with you on the trip until you leave us with a cliffhanger...

Will be curious to read Paul Harvey's "rest of the Story" with the next updates :rolf:

Appreciate that! I got the rest of the trip update written during lunch today and then its back to the regularly scheduled fabricobbling and tinkering.

 

[ridered3]

Appreciate that! I got the rest of the trip update written during lunch today and then its back to the regularly scheduled fabricobbling and tinkering.

:dblthumb:

 

[Dan_Goodwin]

There's less chatter and more build coming up, I promise.

The plan was to spend the next day at Dollywood since I'd never been and my wife had worked there for a summer. I knew the Jeep wasn't able to make the trip so I made the call to rent a car while we figured out what to do with a cantankerous TJ.

Wednesday summary - If you're ever within a 60 mile radius of Knoxville, stop and grab a biscuit at Matt Robb's. Yep, it's that good. Also, Dollywood is a solid 8/10 theme park.

We had 2 things that needed to be accomplished: get to St Louis by Friday and get the TJ home. After running through no less than 6 different scenarios, calling a friend that's a U Haul rep and trying to shotgun an IAC and MAP sensor on the Jeep as a quick fix, the final plan we settled on was to leave the Jeep at U Haul in Knoxville, drive a rental car to the Nashville airport to get to St Louis as planned, then come back and trailer the TJ home. I wasn't crazy about this option but it was the lesser of all the evils.

Time to execute. As we were packing up on Wednesday night, I just couldn't stop thinking about what might be wrong with the Jeep and on a whim figured I'd check for vacuum leaks with brake cleaner. I started on the driver side of the intake manifold and worked my way around the Jeep and sure enough – I got a reaction in the front of the intake manifold. I sprayed that spot a second time and the engine backfired.

And caught all the brake cleaner on fire.

Fire extinguishers are important, y'all. I snatched the extinguisher off the roll bar and put the fire out There I stood in the driveway of our AirBnB with the Jeep still running, a fire extinguisher in my hand just staring into the engine bay wondering what on God's green earth just happened. It'd been a long few days, the AirBnB, although really neat, had gotten SMALL for 2 people, and I'd had enough.

I took all of our planning from the day prior, wadded it up and threw it in the preverbal trash. We're towing this junk home tomorrow. We roll out the next morning headed to get a box truck and car hauler from 2 different stores, grab a biscuit and head back to Birmingham. Side bar – the new GM 6.6L gas engine and 6 speed tow really well.

We made it to Birmingham without issue, dropped the TJ off at home, hopped in my wife's car and headed to St Louis for the weekend. In all, we were on the road for 16 hours and 800 miles that day. The TJ sat untouched for a few weeks while I got caught up on some other projects I'd been neglecting.

Now, back to more mods and building stuff!