johnpa 755 Posted April 12, 2021 Okay, glad it's just not me. I guess I will keep the jeep 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
theksmith 3,852 Posted April 21, 2021 (edited) some shots @aimee got of Brady driving Gadget from our Pyeatt Draw weekend... i'm super proud - he absolutely owned that trail! this is my "good line, but go super slow now, you're about to come down off the ledge" spotter pose Edited April 21, 2021 by theksmith 5 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
theksmith 3,852 Posted April 29, 2021 (edited) Gadget must be hungry for rockers/lifters - she's ticking again. got on the schedule with Joe at @OnPointOffroad for the 12th. not driving her till then to hopefully minimize damage (i.e. not eat a camshaft too). Edited April 30, 2021 by theksmith 2 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
shellback91 1,756 Posted April 29, 2021 1 hour ago, theksmith said: Gadget must be hungry for rockers/lifters - she's ticking again. got the schedule with Joe at @OnPointOffroad on the 12th. not driving her till then to hopefully minimize damage (i.e. not eat a cam too). That sucks, best of luck getting that ironed out. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
theksmith 3,852 Posted May 13, 2021 photo update from Joe during Gadget's surgery: btw, i blame @mynr1 - Gadget was fine till she hung out with his cursed rig at camping a few weekends ago! 1 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Stacey and Scott 1,176 Posted May 14, 2021 52 minutes ago, theksmith said: photo update from Joe during Gadget's surgery: btw, i blame @mynr1 - Gadget was fine till she hung out with his cursed rig at camping a few weekends ago! That just looks expensive! 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mynr1 185 Posted May 14, 2021 Yes it is! Had the same problem...replaced both cams, lifters & rockers. Kris told ya not to get to close! Al 3 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
theksmith 3,852 Posted May 16, 2021 (edited) Gadget's back home and my wallet's a little lighter! but for realz, Joe at @OnPointOffroad is always honest and more than fair with his prices. he finished ahead of schedule, and took great care of Gadget. she's got all new rocker arms and lifters on the passenger side. we fortunately caught the issue early enough to escape needing new cams. in other news... this morning @4x4tographer let me tag along on a little photo-shoot of his rig, "Oki". i think he wanted to document it looking badass with the new lift and wheels/tires before he gets any more trail rash from drunk side-by-side drivers! 😆 Ryan brought out his professional photo equipment and also did some test video using his new DJI gimbal. i grabbed this exclusive behind-the-scenes shot of the artist at work: he also took several shots of Gadget. here's a teaser photo from my phone of one of the locations - i can't wait to see all his finished pro-level photos! Edited May 16, 2021 by theksmith 1 2 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
johnpa 755 Posted May 16, 2021 Kris, is Joe putting in new/ corrected rockers? Just trying to understand why it keeps going bad. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
theksmith 3,852 Posted May 16, 2021 6 minutes ago, johnpa said: Kris, is Joe putting in new/ corrected rockers? Just trying to understand why it keeps going bad. Joe replaced all of the rockers and lifters on the passenger side with new Mopar parts. i had one rocker that was completely toast, and a couple more that were just starting to get loose. the bearings in the rocker arms just seem to disintegrate over time, then you get a sloppy roller on the arm that is smacking around and you hear a ticking sound. you also get poor performance or even a misfire DTC since a valve isn't opening completely. the bearing failure lets the edges of the rocker arm eat grooves into the edges of the cam lobe, but the camshaft is still usually salvageable in that case. however, eventually the roller will freeze up and then it wears away the entire width of the cam lobe and you need a new camshaft. the problem can occur any time, though it seems to happen more often on high mileage vehicles from my casual research. i think it happened to me the first time at under 20k miles, and Joe has also seen it on rigs in the 20k mile range. i don't know if it's still happening on the 3rd Gen 3.6L that's in the JL/JT platform or not, but apparently that engine has quite a few design differences. no-one has offered any theories as to why it happens to some people's engines more often than others. the current Mopar part number for the rockers ends with "AH" - meaning they've revised the design or changed manufactures 8 times! no-one seems to have a proven long-term solution. there's no aftermarket rockers that claim a better or even different design, no add-ons to direct oil onto them differently, just nothing really. Joe suggests that it may help to do 3k mile oil changes using a thinner 0w20 weight synthetic oil along with Mopar filters and overfilling a 1/4 to 1/2 quart. i've been doing all of that for a while and still had the problem... though mine could have started wearing out before i switched to his recommendations. i always had the dealer do the oil changes at 5k mile intervals beforehand. i've never missed or prolonged any service interval. i think this was my 4th time needing one or more rocker arms replaced. the first time Jeep gave me an entire new head assembly on one side. after that i think they only replaced the actual worn-out rocker arms and lifters each time under warranty. Joe always replaces all of the arms and lifters on whichever head he has to get into. i don't remember which times were in which head previously, but this time it was the passenger side. sorry for the long response, hopefully it helps other people that might be looking for answers. 3 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
