theksmith 3,402 Posted March 1 23 hours ago, dzJeepChic said: What in the world happened to your driveshaft? i started getting the tell-tale "angry sparrows" when i'd hit about 20mph on the trail. in my experience this is most often a dry double-cardan centering ball in one of the drive shafts, or sometimes a dry or bad u-joint. you can tell by the speed of the chirps whether it's in the DS or the front axle shafts - in my case sounded like a DS and i figured it was the front since that aftermarket shaft has been in for a couple years with over 30k miles on it. pulling the entire front shaft on the trail is a PITA due to a couple of my skid plates, so i put it in 2wd and just unbolted the pinion end, then tied it up out of the way with a zip-tie and some bailing wire. the noise went away, so that confirmed it was indeed the front shaft and then i was able to get home without worrying about damaging it further running it dry at highway speeds. once i got home and removed the DS, all the joints and the center still felt good (no play) and there was no evidence of spinning end caps, so i just greased the center and called it good. this 1350 front shaft does not have a grease-fitting on the center, but you can wedge a long needle tip between the boot/seal and the ball area in a few spots to grease it. 4 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
theksmith 3,402 Posted March 2 (edited) forgot to ever post this... late last year i bent my Clayton drag-link (from their flip kit) and so i swapped to a Synergy one. i already had that on my wishlist because i run the Synergy tie-rod and so now i only have to carry a single spare TRE that can work on all 4 ends. after installing, i noticed it was just barely hitting the axle-end of my steering stabilizer (not Synergy's fault, i'm running a non-OEM stabilizer setup). i was able to adjust each TRE to center the bar better and now it's all good. yet another flex test after getting it all dialed in: Edited March 2 by theksmith 4 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
theksmith 3,402 Posted March 9 (edited) photo of a very dusty Gadget from the Ruby Wash run (shot by @4x4tographer)... Edited March 9 by theksmith 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
theksmith 3,402 Posted March 26 (edited) a couple months ago i started getting an intermittent squeak coming from the engine bay and soon found all 3 idler pulleys needed replacing (part #4627039aa). i had changed out the 2 easy ones at around 65k miles, so now with 130k on the clock it was time again. i highly recommend everyone carry an extra idler and serpentine belt as your first spare parts, even on a newer rig. constant trail dust (or mud) simply kills the bearings in these little guys pretty fast. i bought a new tensioner assembly (part #4627038aa) in order to replace the third idler that supposedly isn't serviceable separately. after taking off the old assembly, i got a better look, and it turns out you can just pop a plastic cap off the pulley to expose a large T-50 torx bolt, and then that pulley appears to be exactly the same as the other 2! i did have to use an impact to get that pulley bolt out - it seemed to have some white threadlocker on it from the factory. i also noticed the A/C pulley was making sort of a "rattle" when the clutch engaged, and i eventually determined that bearing was sloppy as well. i was doing all this just before our Red Creek trip and a new Mopar pulley/hub/bearing kit (part #68143610ab) was not going to be available in time. so i ordered just a replacement bearing. the bearing is 30mm x 52mm x 22 mm and can be found under a bunch of part numbers, such as 30BD5222A6 for this NSK. the old bearing is sort of crimped in, but you can press it out with a large socket and vice or even a hammer. this got me a nice clean spinning pulley... but i had unknowingly dropped one of the A/C clutch spacers, so the air gap was no longer even close to correct. then, in the process of trying to get it adjusted with some thin washers i had, i accidentally burned up/cracked what i assume is a friction material ring on the pulley. doh! i later learned that even though they don't list it for this application, Napa and Autozone both carry a compressor clutch install kit with a few spacers and a new bolt that will work (Santech part #MT0986). i'd recommend if you change the bearing, you have a set of feeler gauges and get that install kit because the bearing may be slightly different (even if you don't lose a spacer), and getting the air gap correct is important. so after all that - i ended up getting a whole kit from acclutches.com that came with a new hub/pulley/bearing, clutch plate, clutch coil, spacers, snap rings, and end bolt. so it replaces everything that can fail besides the actual compressor itself, uses a genuine NSK bearing, and included good DIY instructions all for under $120. and finally, i of course replaced the serpentine belt while i was in there (part #4627043aa). what started out as a little squeak turned into a few hundred dollars, a weekend trip without A/C, and several days messing around in the engine bay! Edited March 26 by theksmith 2 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
theksmith 3,402 Posted April 7 (edited) a quick mini-mod... i started using my longer ham antenna again recently after realizing how much the stubby one i had was limiting reception. it doesn't fit in the garage though... so i made a little line i can hook onto it, which bends it over enough to fit. grabbing the line is just faster/easier than unscrewing the antenna after each run. Edited April 7 by theksmith 4 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
theksmith 3,402 Posted April 28 (edited) the driver's side of my lovely 3.6L started ticking last weekend on our Mammoth area trip. Joe at On Point Performance & Offroad replaced all the rockers/lifters on the passenger side just over a year ago for me. however, he's booked up for a month and a half right now, so i'm going to tackle this side myself. it cost around $300 in parts/tools to do this side: (12) Valve Rocker Arm 5184296AH12 (12) Valve Lash Adjuster 5184332AA12 (1) Cylinder Head Cover Gasket 5184596AE1 (3) Spark Plug Well Gasket 5184778AB3 (6) Intake Plenum Gasket 5184562AC6 3.6L Camshaft Phaser Timing Chain Tools Engine Assembly Lube i did the spark plugs not too long ago, so i don't think there's anything else i need to change "while i'm in there". i'll probably work on it Sunday and will be using the videos from MotorCity Mechanic on Youtube as a reference: Part 1... and Part 2... Edited April 28 by theksmith 2 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dzJeepChic 2,198 Posted April 28 1 hour ago, theksmith said: i'll probably work on it Sunday and will be using the videos from MotorCity Mechanic on Youtube as a reference: Part 1... and Part 2... That's a huge project, good luck with this! 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
theksmith 3,402 Posted April 29 On 4/28/2022 at 4:36 AM, theksmith said: the driver's side of my lovely 3.6L started ticking last weekend on our Mammoth area trip. Joe at On Point Performance & Offroad replaced all the rockers/lifters on the passenger side just over a year ago for me. however, he's booked up for a month and a half right now, so i'm going to tackle this side myself. it cost around $300 in parts/tools to do this side: (12) Valve Rocker Arm 5184296AH12 (12) Valve Lash Adjuster 5184332AA12 (1) Cylinder Head Cover Gasket 5184596AE1 (3) Spark Plug Well Gasket 5184778AB3 (6) Intake Plenum Gasket 5184562AC6 3.6L Camshaft Phaser Timing Chain Tools Engine Assembly Lube i did the spark plugs not too long ago, so i don't think there's anything else i need to change "while i'm in there". i'll probably work on it Sunday and will be using the videos from MotorCity Mechanic on Youtube as a reference: Part 1... and Part 2... it wasn't too bad of a job - right at 5 hours from start to finish and all tools put away. faster/easier than the oil-cooler replacement was. the passenger side would probably take at least 2 hours longer since on that side you have to remove the inner fender liner, TIPM, battery tray, etc. the biggest PITA is removing (and reinstalling) everything that's in the way before you can even get the valve cover off. the only other challenge i had was getting the phasers back onto the camshafts. i had to use a stiff plastic pry bar and a lot of wiggling even with the chain tension released. i only found one actual rocker that was obviously bad, the rear-most on the exhaust side. there were a few cam lobes with dull spots, but they weren't dull all the way across and i couldn't feel a height difference so i did not elect to replace either camshaft. they must have been marred from previous bad rockers that were replaced under warranty. 3 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Stacey and Scott 1,028 Posted April 29 As long as you DON'T come up with any nifty little mods when you're in there it should be "fine" 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
