ob1jeeper 849 Posted October 10, 2025 21 hours ago, theksmith said: a little different type of repair for Gadget... so apparently i made this brace on my rear bumper too close to the body. a couple of times i've come down really hard on the tail and the body pinch seam slammed into that brace. the age of the body mounts probably isn't helping any either. so this has happened on both sides at different times and now the seams between the rear corners and the rear side panel has cracked. i assume it's some sort of panel bond material. minor crack on passenger side, bigger one on driver side: i decided to fill the cracks with Sikaflex 221 which is a paintable poly sealer/adhesive - not really sure how it will hold up long term, but we'll see! filled the entire line, finger smoothed it, then removed the tape. let it cure a few days and then re-taped the area and painted. i still need to remove the bumper, cut those supports and re-weld them a bit lower to prevent continued corner-abuse. a project for when the weather finishes cooling off. Looks like a reasonable approach to me... FWIW: This and some similar body panel joints are known as a "pinch welded seam", where the panels are fastened together with spot welds. A "weldable" sealing material is applied prior to welding to help prevent moisture intrusion, then the body is "E-dipped" prior to painting to increase resistance to corrosion. 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
theksmith 5,778 Posted October 21, 2025 some shots from the Hole in the Rock Trail in Utah (more photos here...) these 3 are thanks to @Michael Trapschuh's wife Carol: 5 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
theksmith 5,778 Posted October 30, 2025 installed 4 new Synergy TRE's. handling isn't up to par lately and i can't find any single loose component, and i haven't changed any geometry lately... so i'm going with the theory that everything being worn in combination might be the issue. i think all but one of these TRE's had over 100k miles on them. i also relocated the axle-side mount point for my steering stabilizer. this RSO stabilizer is designed to mount to the original track-bar bolt, but that put it too low for how i have my tie rod sitting, causing the mounting eye to rub at full turn. it's now up a little higher, sitting nice and level (and no longer rubbing). obligatory flex-test photos! 6 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
theksmith 5,778 Posted October 31, 2025 (edited) i haven't had a chance to test higher speed handling on a crappy road yet with the new TREs. however, they did eliminate a slight shimmy i was getting when hitting a pothole or bump while in a turn, so definitely an improvement. after more digging, i found another issue. my frame-side track-bar bracket holes are wallowed out. this really surprised me as i have a 1/4" thick Synergy brace over the factory bracket. and when i put that on not long ago the factory holes were still fine. i was also using an SAE size bolt which is just a hair bigger than the OEM metric size to help eliminate any slop, and it's a fine thread bolt with a prevailing torque nut so it should stay nice and tight. it wasn't detectably loose or anything, yet somehow the holes in both the front and back side of the OEM bracket and the Synergy brace were ovaled-out! i welded extra thick washers on as best i could without removing the whole brace. the front came out OK, but i should have taken the time to remove it to get at the back side - instead i was being lazy so the welds on the back came out like you'd expect welding somewhere you can't reach or see - lol! Edited October 31, 2025 by theksmith 4 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ob1jeeper 849 Posted November 4, 2025 What specific Bolt & Nut (size, grade, thread) did you use, and at what torque value was it tightened? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
theksmith 5,778 Posted November 4, 2025 (edited) 9 hours ago, ob1jeeper said: What specific Bolt & Nut (size, grade, thread) did you use, and at what torque value was it tightened? 9/16"-18, Grade 8, yellow zinc coated, can't remember length but longer than factory to fit with the increased thickness from the Synergy brace, standard shoulder (i.e. not full thread), and a matching Grade 8 prevailing torque lock nut. did not use a torque wrench :(, probably around 120 to 150ft-lbs Edited November 4, 2025 by theksmith Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ob1jeeper 849 Posted November 5, 2025 11 hours ago, theksmith said: 9/16"-18, Grade 8, yellow zinc coated, can't remember length but longer than factory to fit with the increased thickness from the Synergy brace, standard shoulder (i.e. not full thread), and a matching Grade 8 prevailing torque lock nut. did not use a torque wrench :(, probably around 120 to 150ft-lbs The reason for my initial question about bolt size, grade, torque, etc. are: 1- Torque is Not the end-all, but is used to secure sufficient clamp loading to keep these types of parts from moving. 2- It's obvious from the elongation of the hole, that the clamp load ("squeeze pressure") created by the original fastener was not sufficient to keep the parts firmly clamped/squeezed together to keep the parts secured, from moving against each other, incrementally as it had been initially installed. IF the clamp load had been properly set for this location, it would have not allowed this movement. I recommend that you ensure it is torqued to between 150 & 160 ft-lbs, and check it after a few rides to ensure it is holding that torque. FWIW: a 14 mm fastener is essentially the same diameter and clamp load carrying capacity of the 9/16... 3 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
theksmith 5,778 Posted November 17, 2025 (edited) also while trying to solve the poor handling, i found that the passenger upper ball joint had developed a lot of play. Joe at @OnPointOffroad changed out all 4 balljoints for me this past week. i managed to get 130k miles our of these joints so i went with Teraflex again for the replacements. i still had a mild clunk that i could feel in my steering wheel even after the new balljoints. so after more aggressive pushing/pulling on everything while laying under the rig, i noticed the frame-end joints in the front upper control arms were loose too. i ordered 2 Teraflex joint rebuild kits for those and took care of that project over the weekend. i had replaced all 4 of these joints in the rear upper arms back in January, so i guess i should have checked these front ones back then too! as you can see, the old joints were pretty trashed. i think this was the final piece to the puzzle for solving that "clunk" i could feel in the steering wheel. so now i have all fresh TRE's, ball joints, these upper control arm joints, and that wobbled out track-bar hole is fixed. i can't tell yet if my overall handling issues are fixed though... the Teraflex ball joints are so tight when first installed that the steering is just plain weird right now. i experienced this when the first set was installed back in 2018 and it took several hundred miles for them to loosen up to the point that steering felt normal again. Edited December 9, 2025 by theksmith 7 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
theksmith 5,778 Posted November 24, 2025 (edited) i got the P0369 DTC (intermittent camshaft position signal) again on my last trip to Utah. i'm still running the thicker 0W-40 oil which keeps it at bay most of the time. but i was pushing Gadget a little harder than normal while going up the 17 after Black Canyon City and the prolonged higher RPM's seem to trigger the code yet again. so about a week ago, i changed out the "oil control valve" on that exhaust cam. the only thing left if this doesn't cure the issue is to change the actual camshaft (in order to replace the reluctor wheel that is pressed on). all other mechanical and electrical items that i think could possibly relate to the problem have already been replaced or bypassed. Edited November 24, 2025 by theksmith Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
