[Practice Target]

I see a possible problem for future failure. From the angle I see in the pictures, the Johnny Joint articulation is limited by the shackles. This would definitely cause stress on the bar and the joint. Seams to me that a center mount with a wishbone would be the best choice. This is what i have on my pre-runner and it has 32" of rear wheel articulation.

Is the heater mixing valve not wired to a keyed source? That seems the logical choice.

 

[W.R.Buchanan]

The Rear Axle will only articulate about 10-15 degrees in either direction before it runs into the bump stop. This Jeep will probably not see any Rock Crawling trails as I got sick of fixing them over and over many years ago.

The Mixing VV is part of the A/C system which is not on a keyed circuit it is all controlled by the A/C Control Panel on the dash.. Nothing I can do about that. The draw is very small and the shore power will easily take care of it, and it was necessary to keep the batteries up anyway.

Randy

 

[Practice Target]

The Mixing VV is part of the A/C system which is not on a keyed circuit it is all controlled by the A/C Control Panel on the dash.. Nothing I can do about that. The draw is very small and the shore power will easily take care of it, and it was necessary to keep the batteries up anyway.

Randy

Every car I have ever own had the A/C system on a keyed source since in reality the compressor must be turning for the system to function. Either way I'm sure that what you have decided will work fine.

John~

 

[W.R.Buchanan]

Correction: The A/C is on a Keyed circuit, But that valve appears to get it's power off off a non keyed source somewhere? You'd think I'd know since I wired the whole thing myself?.

I forget too much these days and I ain't getting any better.

Randy

 

[char1355]

Randy, does that heater valve have an electrical connection?

 

[W.R.Buchanan]

Yes and there is three wires going to it.

Randy

 

[W.R.Buchanan]

So I am on to Shore Power. I mounted a receptacle on the right side behind the door,

And mounted the Battery Charger right behind it on the inside of the body.

Working on all this has exposed the biggest problem I have found with this car. You can't get at anything in the cargo area from the Front Seats. You can kind of get to the batteries but you can't do anything but operate the disconnect. As far as me attaching the wires from the battery charger it has to be done with both seats all the way forward and then going in from the tailgate. Then I'm working on my knees and it is not ideal in any way. Hopefully I won't be going back there often.

So there's pics of where it is at right now. All that is left is routing the wiring in a more sanitary manner, and this project will be done.

Randy

Done and working perfectly. Connected last night and batteries fully charged today and on maintenance charge now.

 

[W.R.Buchanan]

I drove the Jeep up to Winchester Canyon Gun Club on Sunday, 100 miles round trip, and it holds it's own on the freeway just fine at 21-2200 rpms. 65-70 MPH. Still has more vibration than I want, but it might be better when I get the Ring on the Vibro Damper and I am expecting good results as it will double the weight of the Damper.. I have also got to do something more appropriate for Weather Stripping as what I got now isn't cutting it.! This is also a major source of the noise in the car.

After an hour on the freeway you can't hear yourself think, and your butt is fully massaged!! Almost like I envisioned during my planning stage.

Getting a consistent 18MPG with $6.50 Diesel Fuel!

Randy

 

[char1355]

Randy, why wouldn't you use the stock 4bt balancer or one from Fluidampr which is essentially the same. Those fluid type are about the only ones that have shown any control on the engine vibration. They weigh about 26 lbs.

 

[W.R.Buchanan]

It's got a stock 4BT damper on it right now. I have a Fluid Damper for a 6BT but it is too big and interferes with the pulley for the AC. There is no other pulley made for that purpose in the position I have it. The only solution available is to increase the weight of the existing VD. We discussed this at length earlier in the thread. I would love to just be able to bolt my Big VD on and be done with it.. But No,,, that's too easy!!!

Randy

 

[W.R.Buchanan]

Had a big win at the gas pump the other day. I filled the Jeep up and it took 13.55 gallons. Miles traveled was 281.3.. This worked out to 20.7 MPG !!! Wow!! Mostly freeway driving at 65-70 mph and the best I'd seen up til now was 18-19mpg once.

The back side of this trip was $6.45/gallon!

Can't be all bad?

Randy

 

[W.R.Buchanan]

Another small Project complete! I had a small amount of front wheel shimmy. I installed a Steering Damper which I have had laying around for years. The bolts wouldn't fit either the tie rods or the Axle Tube..
McMaster Carr to the Rescue. I got two U Bolts with a 1 1/8" id which would go over my 1 1/16" tie rods, and a nice 3" id U Bolt to hold the dead side to the Axle Tube,
I had to open the holes up to accommodate the new bolt.
Note: Tires are 37/12.50-15's that weigh around 125 lbs. each and are balanced as well as could be done at the time. Lots of rotating mass there.
Done and works perfectly. No shimmy at all!

Randy

 

[W.R.Buchanan]

Had another big day at the Gas Station 19.98 MPG over 302 miles!

Randy

 

[char1355]

This current fuel pricing reminds me of the big fuel shortage we had in the 1970's. Waiting in line to buy just 10 gallons at more than double the price it was a few weeks earlier. Sort of strange that the shortage disappeared but the high price didn't. Big oil companies pretty much have the world by the throat. This mess in Ukraine and Russia is driving the oil market. If you look at the numbers the US only gets about 15% of its oil from Russia. Of course there are other countries who are major buyers from them. American consumers aren't too smart. We have some of the largest oil reserves in the world and can produce far more than we consume. The Alaskan oil fields produce enormous amounts but we in the US don't consume one drop of that. It's all exported because we don't have a refinery to process that heavier grade of crude. In 45 years we haven't been smart enough to build a refinery for that crude.